I've been helping my GF go to the gym and learn how to exercise, but she's having trouble with squat...

I've been helping my GF go to the gym and learn how to exercise, but she's having trouble with squat. Even if it's just the bar, she only makes it halfway down before she ends up leaning forward, she says it might just be that it's too heavy. She's tightening her core, balanced midfoot, pushing knees out, but she can't seem to break parallel. Should she do another exercise until she's strong enough? Should I have her work on strengthening her core since she's curling forward, or is there something I might be missing?

Have her do more core work and do body squats until she can get proper form. When she can do a couple reps no problem then move her to weighted squats. If the bar is too heavy after that (presuming 45lb bar), use dumbbells or a ez curl bar at lower weight.

Currently PT for a guy that is having a similiar problem.

Godspeed user. Good lifting to you and your gf.

It is a 45 bar, and I will do just that then, thank you!

Good lifting to you and your client as well.

Try box squats at first?
maybe it's a mobility issue and she just needs to learn how to squat properly. Squatting actually isn't that easy for most people.

any vids? (legitimate)

Does she have long legs in relation to her torso?

If so, she may have to keep her back straighter to counterbalance.

How is her ankle dorsiflexion?

Look for Marisa Inda and JTS stuff.

This may be simplifying it too much, but has she tried going down on her heels, then pushing back up through her heels?
Balancing on your heels rather than midfoot helped a mate of mine with his leaning issue.


Also consider using a lighter dumbell and working your way up.

>Does she have long legs in relation to her torso?
Whats the ratio?

I asked previously if she was comfortable with videos for form review, but she said she was to shy.

Um, she seems fairly balanced but I'm not sure. I'm mostly self-taught and never had problems starting out so I never had to measure someone's torso/limb ratio before.

I have no idea. She does have a pin in her ankle from when she fell off a cliff years ago, but she says it doesn't bother her while she squats. Do you think it could have anything to do with her torso leaning forward?

I always thought you were supposed to balance midfoot during a squat?

most likely has too little ankle mobility
> Do you think it could have anything to do with her torso leaning forward?
lol, of course
If you lack ankle mobility you will lean forward
very likely her ankle mobility is reduced due to that pin

Post her tits ass and vag pics

OP you need her to stop eating bread

Would there be a way to work around that or anything to strengthen the ankle, or is her lean just something we need to work with?

squat shoes are more or less made for exactly this problem, like the ones with the little platforms on them. next time place some 2.5lb plates under her ankles...if that helps and she's serious about working out she should consider investing in a pair. could probably get a cheap pair now or boxing day.

I will add the 2.5lb plates trick to the list of things to try. Thanks mate!

also make sure she's putting weight on her ankles, not midfoot

Watch her from the side while she squats (maybe take a video.) Is the bar really moving in a vertical path over the middle of the foot? I bet it's not.

Keep her squatting so that she can get even hotter for me when you're not nearby. I will doggy her ass for you OP. Thx bai
T. Chad

It moves vertical line until about halfway down, then it goes forward over her toes.

Low bar or high?

Low bar

Seems like a flexibility issue - if she can initially find depth by her ass traveling downward, then, after reaching the limit of her dorsal flexibility, she might be bending over to compensate.

Does it look something like this?

Somewhere around #4. She has the bodyweight squat down (with and without a pvc bar) so do you think the weight might be causing her to tense up?

Ok, so i understand... does her squat start to look like 4 as she is going down or as she is coming up?

If its as she is coming up, she basically is not strong enough and is using her lower back to lift the weight known as shooting at the hips.

If its as she is going down Its probably due to flexibility or it could be her anatomy.

Does she have really long femurs to the rest of her body?

It's when she's going down. Her femurs are not noticeably long as far as I've noticed.

It's embarassing but as a dude I had this exact same problem when I first started lifting. A whole life of bad posture from sitting down, you have to retrain the body. Make her do bodyweight squats for at least a month or however long it takes, focusing on proper form until she can do at least five sets of ten good bodyweight squats. Mix it up with goblet squats too (kettlebell squats). Once the body gets used to it, gradually move back to barbell squats.

work on ankle flexability

Her posterior chain is too tight. She needs to practice the movement and stretch. She's pitching forward because her knees are trying to go forward to hit depth but they can't because her hams and glutes aren't flexible enough to allow the knees to move forward without coming forward themselves.

Oh and work on ankle flexibility, can't believe I forgot that.

thicc

I will add it to the list, thanks!

Ok, so what are some sources or exercises I can use to help her train flexibility?

Ok, so next gym session i would suggest get her to squat with a wider stance if she wants to do low bar. From a side on view, it reduces the length of her femurs and can be easier for tall lifters.

Alternatively, she could switch to high bar, which would probably be safer. She would need to work on ankle flexibility to compensate for her long femurs.

this will strengthen the lower back. also try deadlifts. the lower back keeps you upright

She has been doing deadlifts, but I will also consider the back extensions as well.