High Hip Angle and the Starting Strength Seminar 

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Or, Why I’ll Keep Doing Most of What I’ve Been Doing

I’m truly happy to have attended a Starting Strength barbell seminar (this one was held in Seattle, WA, from February 27 – March 1st, 2015). It was an important milestone in my education, and I loved being in a room full of strong people lifting heavy, soaking in that combined total of focus and knowledge — but it’s not going to change very much of how I lift or how I train people. Why not? Because three weeks after the seminar, my back has almost recovered from what I’d call a tie for the second-worst episode it’s ever experienced. (Sorry, guys, you’re on a par with hot yoga now!)

After reading Starting Strength a few years ago, I’d already incorporated one of Rippetoe’s main principles into my lifting (i.e. the concept of “moment arm” requiring the load to remain over mid-foot), but I hadn’t yet experienced the high hip angle in the deadlift and squat. It’s contrary to my kettlebell training and StrongFirst certification — which the Starting Strength crew holds in clear contempt (“partial range of motion!”), along with my personal warmup principles (i.e. “histrionics”) and the Functional Movement system, the target of one of Rip’s infamous rants during our final Q&A period.

 

Thinking it Through

Here are some bits that stuck out for me through the weekend:

  • On the continuum of movements requiring mobility, they place powerlifting at the low end.
  • When discussing the three diagnostic angles, they cited back angle (the plane of the torso), hip angle (formed between back and thigh segments), and knee angle (formed between thigh and shank). I asked about dorsiflexion, or ankle mobility. My notes say, “to be addressed later,” but I can’t find any mention of it, and they stuck me in squat shoes as soon as the lifting started… so not a priority.
  • I asked on day 3 why hips had to be high if we could meet the criteria of shoulders ahead of the bar and bar over mid-foot. Rip’s emphatic answer: “It can’t be done!” As in, the body won’t be able to meet those two criteria if the hips are positioned lower.
  • They fully accept the dreaded “butt wink” (pelvic dip at the bottom of a squat) as long as the thoracic spine is held rigidly in extension.

Here’s some of the input I’ve sought out after the workshop:

  • Bret Contreras has analyzed photographs of the strongest heavy conventional deadlift videos. He estimates that with “perfect form,” characterized by a neutral spine and neutral scapulae, the lifters would have to reduce loads between 10-20%.
  • My Wing Chun sifu told me, “I’m not an exercise person, I’m an engineer — and I see too much load on the “x” axis for your vertebrae in that high-hip squat position.”
  • Once my back had recovered sufficiently for me to put a light bar on it, I had someone check me visually from the side, and it appears that at least in my case, the deadlift criteria of shoulders ahead of the bar and bar over mid-foot can indeed be met.
  • Andy Bolton, one of the world’s ridiculously strong deadlifters, is now a convert of an assistance exercise that just happens to use… kettlebells! Kind of full circle, isn’t it?

Distilling an Opinion

One of my most respected sources for back information is Stu McGill. As he says in an interview, when looking at anything to do with if a certain exercise is appropriate for a certain individual, the answer is always “It depends.”

I’ve decided that the Starting Strength high hip angle may well be appropriate for younger, competitive, as-yet-uninjured bodies who want to move the most pounds possible. Me, I’ll stay conservative. My own priority is safe mechanics as a basis for functional strength, aiming for mobility before stability, then strength. That’s why I’m sticking to the back/hip angle that’s been working for me and my clients so far, and why the determining factor of squat depth will remain a neutral lumbar spine.

2020 Update (Because Hindsight is… You Know)

I have been thinking of this article since fall 2019, when I started incorporating (surprise!) a somewhat higher hip angle into my deadlift and swing setups. To admit that we shouldn’t throw the baby out with the bathwater: It does allow for more hamstring loading, and it promotes more upper back initiation of the beginning of the lift. And that’s why it’s good to be alive and keep learning 🙂

Your Two Cents’ Worth, Please

I’d love your input on this one! Please be in touch.