I know that if you do narrow stance full squats it is for your quads mainly, and that if you do wide stance but only go half way it is more for your hamstrings, so what muscle would be mainly used to do narrow stance but only half way down?
If your going half way its for your ego. Hit parallel at the least. Youll be using more Hip, glutes and hams along with quads
Phill
[quote]Phill wrote:
If your going half way its for your ego. Hit parallel at the least. Youll be using more Hip, glutes and hams along with quads
Phill[/quote]
By half way I meant parallel. If you use a narrow stance and go to parallel will your quads get enough out of it?
Front Squats will hit ur quads more.
The lower the squat, the less the glutes and the more the quads.
I guess I’ll stick to full squats or try front squats then. I was asking because I could use about 1.5x as much on a narrow stance squat to parallel as I could with a narrow stance full squat.
[quote]undeadlift wrote:
The lower the squat, the less the glutes and the more the quads.[/quote]
QFT, but even then, you should try and recruit every muscle possible for your squats. The squat is not an isolation lift. Ass-to-the-grass squats do hit my quads a noticeable amount though. I always recommend deep squats unless you have knee problems. Don’t do anything that hurts.
if you can squat to parrallel that much more than all the way down, i’d make sure your actually hitting parrallel if you are going to shorten the range of motion (ie, i can probably squat almost the same going down real low as stopping at genuine parrallel) unless going very wide
[quote]brian.m wrote:
if you can squat to parrallel that much more than all the way down, i’d make sure your actually hitting parrallel if you are going to shorten the range of motion (ie, i can probably squat almost the same going down real low as stopping at genuine parrallel) unless going very wide[/quote]
I did. I squatted 195 for 2 reps to parallel which I made sure of, but I find it hard going all the way down with 130. I think I could probbaly add about 10 pounds going to parallel and maybe 5 pounds on full squats.
I read all the time that the deeper you go the more the quads, the less the glutes, but that simply does not hold true for me. First thing to fire off to get me out of the hole is my glutes. I squat like Dan John shows in his fitcast video, sitting down between the legs and in order to get up from down there my butt has to fire off and hard or I’ll never get up enough into a mechanical position to use my quads to straighten my legs out. Much like a deadlift, my glutes act as the main force to get the drive thru the hips and “unfold” my body.
But honestly, it is sort of a moot point cause once ya spend enough time squatting to build muscle you will notice the questions will answer themselves and you will be able to adjust according to your body’s development.
[quote]michaelangelos wrote:
I guess I’ll stick to full squats or try front squats then. I was asking because I could use about 1.5x as much on a narrow stance squat to parallel as I could with a narrow stance full squat.[/quote]
Do the one you suck at until it becomes the one you are good at.
[quote]michaelangelos wrote:
I did. I squatted 195 for 2 reps to parallel which I made sure of, but I find it hard going all the way down with 130. I think I could probbaly add about 10 pounds going to parallel and maybe 5 pounds on full squats.[/quote]
Sounds like someone needs some more squat training. This is by no means a bad thing though, and I think working on your squat form should be a journey, not a destination. That sounds corney… but anyways…
Start doing some ass-to-the-grass pistols and lunges. Once you have those down, work in some front squats (a2tg), and then try overheads. Once I made that progression, I noticed my back squat was much more stable and comfortable… and I was able to go deeper than ever with a respectable amount of weight. Hope that helps!
I loves me some squaaats, can’t wait until tomorrow.
I feel a lot of pressure on my hamstrings when I’m lowering myself on parallel squats. I don’t feel anything anywhere pushing myself up though. Full squats, I feel in only my quads.
Are pistols 1-legged squats? If so, I’ve tried them and can’t even lower myself all the way. If I some how manage to, I can’t get myself back up. I guess my quads aren’t strong enough yet. What is a2tg, and what are overheads?
I love squats too… well, squats to parallel are fun, probably because I can use more weight in them than anything else. 
Just go down as far as you can. I am willing to bet that what you are calling parallel is not parallel. It is probably close.
Besides, the goal of lifting is to get bigger and stronger right? Then why cheat yourself.
[quote]Pemdas wrote:
Just go down as far as you can. I am willing to bet that what you are calling parallel is not parallel. It is probably close.
Besides, the goal of lifting is to get bigger and stronger right? Then why cheat yourself.[/quote]
Doesn’t lifting heavier weights make you bigger and stronger?