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Wellness Wednesday for November 16, 2022

The Wednesday Wellness threads are meant to encourage users to ask for and provide advice and motivation to improve their lives. It isn't intended as a 'containment thread' and any content which could go here could instead be posted in its own thread. You could post:

  • Requests for advice and / or encouragement. On basically any topic and for any scale of problem.

  • Updates to let us know how you are doing. This provides valuable feedback on past advice / encouragement and will hopefully make people feel a little more motivated to follow through. If you want to be reminded to post your update, see the post titled 'update reminders', below.

  • Advice. This can be in response to a request for advice or just something that you think could be generally useful for many people here.

  • Encouragement. Probably best directed at specific users, but if you feel like just encouraging people in general I don't think anyone is going to object. I don't think I really need to say this, but just to be clear; encouragement should have a generally positive tone and not shame people (if people feel that shame might be an effective tool for motivating people, please discuss this so we can form a group consensus on how to use it rather than just trying it).

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From Greg Nuckols' guide on squatting:

What do I do about buttwink?

Buttwink is the nemesis of many. If you aren’t aware, buttwink occurs when the lumbar spine rounds and the pelvis tilts posteriorly a bit at the bottom of the squat. As previous mentioned, this increases shear forces on the spine, and should be avoided as much as possible.

The first thing you should figure out: Is it buttwink, or is it simply your spine going back to neutral? If you squat with a hard arch, your lumbar spine is hyperextended and your pelvis is anteriorly tilted throughout the descent. When you reach the bottom of the squat, what looks like buttwink at first glance may simply be your lumbar spine and pelvis moving from hyperextension and anterior tilt back toward neutral. Get a video of your squat from the side, and see whether your back looks like it’s going from a big arch to a smaller arch, or whether it’s going from a slight arch to being rounded.

If it is buttwink, the first thing you should do is test whether you can actually squat to depth without buttwink. Some people’s hip anatomy simply won’t allow them to. You can use this assessment to find out:

The one little thing I’d change about the assessment the way it’s presented in this video: drop your chest a little closer to the floor so that the assessment more closely mimics a horizontal squat.

If you pass this test and you can reach the required level of hip flexion without buttwink (your hip crease can get behind your knee without buttwink), then it’s not a mobility issue – it’s a control issue.

There are two strategies you can use to try to address this problem:

  1. Remember the difference between squats and deadlifts: most people naturally brace better for anteriorly loaded movements.

Start with a goblet squat. See if you can squat without buttwink when goblet squatting. If you can, add load each session until it simply becomes challenging to get the dumbbell or kettlebell in position to keep goblet squatting. After that, move on to front squats, which are still anteriorly loaded, but more challenging than goblet squats. You should be able to front squat without buttwink after really mastering the goblet squat. After 4-6 weeks of front squats, move on to high bar back squats, which you should be able to control well at this point. If that goes well, then give low bar back squats a shot (if you want to low bar back squat).

  1. Use progressive range of motion. See how deep you can squat without your butt starting to tuck under. Set the safety pins to that height, and squat to the pins, starting with a slightly lighter load than you were squatting before (since it’s a little hard to squat to pins). Squat down to the pins, let the bar rest on them for a second (don’t bounce the bar off the pins), and come up. Every week or two, lower the pins one position. Keep going until you’re squatting to depth.