Hi everyone, not posted in a while so I must say I hope everyone is training well.

I'll cut to the chase.

I have been doing squats for 3 weeks now. Last week when I did squats (Barbell at 80lbs to get good form) when I got down to the bottom squatting position I felt a stinging pain in my lower abs. This pain was enough to make me quit my leg workout and stop there.
-At first I thought my tracksuit bottoms were too tight and the cord around the waist was digging into me, but that was not the case. (The pain did feel very similar to this)
-I do not believe I have a hernia as I cannot feel anything out of the ordinary, my parents have never had hernias and the pain only lasts for a short while during/initially after I have worked out.
-My form is pretty decent as I have asked a few people at the gym to check my squatting form. I have also checked in the mirror and I believe my form is fairly good.
-I believe my core strength might need improving, as I have hardly done any core strength exercises for months.

I hate this pain because I really want to do squats rather than use the leg machines

Has anyone experienced anything similar to this?
Can anyone advise me as to what the problem is and how to overcome it?

Man I use to have that same kind of pain in my lower ab area during squats too, which is quite unbearable.

I got i when I started to really increase the poundage on my squats.

What I did was hanging leg raises, weighted twists and sitps on a decline bench and included some compound exercises that incorporate the core a little more.

But my savior was including front squats into leg days. This is a great core exercise that helps any defiencies in your core, and it also helps squating form because you can go so much lower.

This is going to sound odd, but give it a try...

Squat without pants and without tight fitting undergarments.

I had the exact same problem you described while wearing my shorts when I first started squatting a long time ago. I took the pants off and was able to squat without any pain. Since then I only use loose pants with the elastic straps and the pain has never returned.

If taking off the pants altogether doesn't correct the problem as it did for me than answer these questions...

Does the pain persist after the exercise? If so, how long?
Does the pain lessen as you rise up from the squat position?
Does it hurt when you squat in the same form with just an empty barbell?

Thanks for the responses I will take everything said on board.
-The pain lasted for a couple of hours after my squats 2 weeks ago, but last week it was only a very minor pain that lasted a few minutes (I used much lighter weight)
-The pain is only when I get to the bottom of my squat (when I am at full stretch), when I rise I can hardly feel any pain
-Squats are fine with an empty barbell, but when i go around 60lbs+ it starts to hurt.

I may need to do a little more core stability and abs work.
Here is my current abs workout, what I do on Mondays along with Chest and Triceps;
-Swiss ball sit-ups
-Crunches/Oblique crunches
-Lying leg raises on a swiss ball
-Reverse crunches
-Side bends

I am currently doing a split routine and I am considering doing abs twice a week to catch up.
I will try doing squats wearing tracksuit bottoms which don't have cords around the waist. It does sound stupid but it may well play a part in getting rid of the pain.
I will also consider doing front squats in my next leg workout to improve my core.

I think it is my core which is lagging behind as I did not work out my abs very often and there probably is an imbalance which may be causing the pain.

The only strange thing is, the first time I ever did squats, I felt no pain whatsoever...