Squatting & Anatomical Variations

Squatting is a natural human movement that we have adapted to the strength and conditioning world

This comes with consequences to the human body that we must consider.

In the squat as a human movement, the lower back – the lumbar spine – will naturally flex to allow the pelvis to rotate, which changes the orientation of the hip sockets in space. This allows someone to get deeper and allows the hip joint as a whole to move. You can see an image of this below:

Research on the lower back and real world experience by top level coaches and clinicians suggests that when we squat it’s best to keep the lower back locked and prevent it from moving when we are lift heavy loads, performing high rep exercises, or generating power.

Locking the lumbar spine this way prevents the pelvis from rotating and prevents the re-orientation of the hip socket.

Depending on a person’s limb length and hip joint structure, their squat may be more naturally limited or they may need a different stance or squat variation to train safely for a lifetime while building strength and being empowered.

Don’t misinterpret this – this is not an epidemic issue – but those on the ends of a bell curve in a population will need different variations and considerations or we could be missing ways to help them increase strength, keep their hip joints healthy, and help them meet their fitness goals.

On a similar note, some studies suggest a correlation of hip retroversion with painful hip impingement with a physiological pathway to joint osteoarthritis over time.

This suggests it’s important to identify those who may be retroverted and empower them with the best stance and exercise selection for their anatomy.

What is hip retroversion or anteversion you may ask? It is defined using an image like the one below where there is a measurement taken between the femoral neck and the back of the distal femur: