2 Squat Questions

I am a pretty experienced lifter, squats and deads at my best were in the upper 6’s. Bench around 5. I have always been a “Bodybuilder Type” squatter. Feet slightly wider then shoulder width, but not much more if that.

Over the years Ive seen more and more Wide feet Squats with Heavy Heavy weights. Ive been tinkering with this wide stance, obviously my flexibility isnt there but I know Im at parallel maybe a touch lower.

Is there a right or wrong with feet placement? Wide or Narrow?

Question 2 is, I always squat my best with about 2 weeks between workouts. I force myself to do it weekly however. Just recently took 3 weeks completely off from squats and went in today and did a nice Raw 500x5. Felt great. Felt fresh. Felt like I didnt have the same pop though.

Can someone train squat every 2 weeks instead of weekly?? Has anyone experimented with this??

Thanks guys in advance.

[quote]jmurp1111 wrote:
I am a pretty experienced lifter, squats and deads at my best were in the upper 6’s. Bench around 5. I have always been a “Bodybuilder Type” squatter. Feet slightly wider then shoulder width, but not much more if that.

Over the years Ive seen more and more Wide feet Squats with Heavy Heavy weights. Ive been tinkering with this wide stance, obviously my flexibility isnt there but I know Im at parallel maybe a touch lower.

Is there a right or wrong with feet placement? Wide or Narrow?

Question 2 is, I always squat my best with about 2 weeks between workouts. I force myself to do it weekly however. Just recently took 3 weeks completely off from squats and went in today and did a nice Raw 500x5. Felt great. Felt fresh. Felt like I didnt have the same pop though.

Can someone train squat every 2 weeks instead of weekly?? Has anyone experimented with this??

Thanks guys in advance. [/quote]

if your looking to go with a wider foot stance, id recommend heading over to elite and watching their “so you think you can squat” vids, they really helped me, and dont worry about the flexibility, that will come, i couldnt get very low when i first went wide, but im getting there now.

if squatting once every 2 weeks works for you, then do it. Your strong as shit, and noone knows your body better then you do

I can’t squat or DL heavy on a weekly basis. Sitting at a desk for 8+ hours a day after that turns me into concrete. I tend to alternate (weekly) heavy squats with snatch grip DL (much, much lighter than conventional) and higher rep technique squatting with heavier pulls.

Have you considered an approach where you alternate max effort (heavy) squatting with dynamic effort (lighter but fast) squatting? If might enable you to make faster gains and squat every week. This is what I do, but I am still able to do them both in one week, but stretching it to two should be fine.

Note when doing the dynamic effort squats I box squat to 1 to 2 inches above parallel.

I’ve been doing this now for a while and haven’t needed a deload week in quite some time. Give it a try and see what you think.

Re the foot placement, I don’t think there is “wrong” foot placement. Most people that squat on the wider side tend to use equipment of some sort or another as squatting wide without it can take a toll on you hips. I’m a pretty wide squatter and the last year of squatting predominantly raw has certainly left me with hips that are a bit more beat up. Most people that squat raw tend to do so with a narrower stance (relatively). It doesn’t beat your hips up as much. Of course, you’ll also see lots of people squat narrow in gear and wide raw. If you’re going to use equipment, I’d just find the stance you’re strongest at and use it. If you’re not going to use equipment and already squat fairly narrow, I wouldn’t try to change that.

As far as foot placement, my understanding (may or may not be correct) is that the narrower your stance, the more quad dominant the movement is. The wider your stance, the more the glutes and hamstrings are recruited. I believe most people get more power from their hams than quads, thus the preponderance of wide stances. However, the wider stance does take a toll on your hips if you lift raw. As far as lifting every other week, that can be a very personal thing. The balance you have to find is enough training stimulus versus enough recovery. I actually like Jakerz idea of alternating heavy and speed weeks. You can still get some training stimulus but give yourself a little break.

I squat fairly wide raw and even wider in gear, but you have to be careful. My hips have never given me a problem, but I’ve been bringing my raw stance in lately just to get more quad work. Squatting wide will really work the glutes, hamstrings, and adductors, and you might find that your quads aren’t sore at all. Just try working your feet out an inch or two at a time, and if it doesn’t hurt and you still feel strong, keep going. Walking out squats will give you a good guideline because you just can’t setup too wide and be able to walk it back in with any decent weight.

As far as squatting every two weeks, if you make gains, keep doing it. There is no one best system. You could also squat heavy/DL light one week, and DL heavy/squat light the next.

Can you post a video?

I can post a video this week.