How Do You Pick Your Squat Stance?

I notice my close stance squat feels a lot stronger than my wide, though I do all my ME/DE squatting wide. How do you pick your squat stance?

I chose doing close stance because I think it translates better to jumping/athletic movments in general. It always did feel natural too. I personally think that training close stance, assuming you deadlift also, translates to wide stance squat much better than the other way around

Personally, I think it all translates. Weightlifter who squats 800lbs probably deadlifts over 650 at least.

I’ve learnt to trust where my feet end up after walking the bar out, but it is generally medium-narrow

i like what louie simmons once said in a youtube vid, wide stance ups your narrow. narrow does not up your wide.

i do train wide and narrow. and compete narrow. so i basically use the wide as an alternate lift, ala conjugate system.

[quote]asooneyeonig wrote:
i like what louie simmons once said in a youtube vid, wide stance ups your narrow. narrow does not up your wide.

i do train wide and narrow. and compete narrow. so i basically use the wide as an alternate lift, ala conjugate system.[/quote]

Ive scene that video clip several times and pretty much live by it on Lower DE/ME days. All my work is done wide except for when Reverse Band Squats are due up in my ME rotation. With that lift, I dont use a box and I use my competition stance, which is a bit narrower than my training stance

[quote]@JC_Tree_Trunks wrote:
I chose doing close stance because I think it translates better to jumping/athletic movments in general. It always did feel natural too. I personally think that training close stance, assuming you deadlift also, translates to wide stance squat much better than the other way around[/quote]

Do you lead with the knees, sit back, or just do what feels natural?

The only way to really learn anything in this sport is to experiment and see what you like. That being said, I believe that very few raw lifters will do well in the long term with a very wide stance. It is too hard on the hips.

[quote]louiek wrote:

[quote]@JC_Tree_Trunks wrote:
I chose doing close stance because I think it translates better to jumping/athletic movments in general. It always did feel natural too. I personally think that training close stance, assuming you deadlift also, translates to wide stance squat much better than the other way around[/quote]

Do you lead with the knees, sit back, or just do what feels natural?[/quote]

I lead with the hips and sit back. So I end up doing a mix between oly and powerlifting squat. I never let my but come underneathe my knees which is what I’ve seen man oly lifters do. I do go well past parallel, but I dont go full ATG, just go until its comfroturable to pop up using my hips, which is a chunk below parallel for me

Btw, in my opinion, Louie Simmons is 100% Bullshitting in that video. He is very smart, but he also tends to get really defensive and rationalizes with some of his lifters techniques. Thats why I dont like him, he said his athletes jump higher than the top NFL players at the combnine. And while his point that lifting helps your hops is no doubt true, as a long jumper/powerlifter, I can tell you that that is such a ridiculous comment that he loses credibility for me.

[quote]@JC_Tree_Trunks wrote:

[quote]louiek wrote:

[quote]@JC_Tree_Trunks wrote:
I chose doing close stance because I think it translates better to jumping/athletic movments in general. It always did feel natural too. I personally think that training close stance, assuming you deadlift also, translates to wide stance squat much better than the other way around[/quote]

Do you lead with the knees, sit back, or just do what feels natural?[/quote]

I lead with the hips and sit back. So I end up doing a mix between oly and powerlifting squat. I never let my but come underneathe my knees which is what I’ve seen man oly lifters do. I do go well past parallel, but I dont go full ATG, just go until its comfroturable to pop up using my hips, which is a chunk below parallel for me

Btw, in my opinion, Louie Simmons is 100% Bullshitting in that video. He is very smart, but he also tends to get really defensive and rationalizes with some of his lifters techniques. Thats why I dont like him, he said his athletes jump higher than the top NFL players at the combnine. And while his point that lifting helps your hops is no doubt true, as a long jumper/powerlifter, I can tell you that that is such a ridiculous comment that he loses credibility for me.[/quote]
I’d be willing to bet if you went to westside to train and told Louie that you were a long jumper, you would leave there with a better jump.

[quote]@JC_Tree_Trunks wrote:

[quote]louiek wrote:

[quote]@JC_Tree_Trunks wrote:
I chose doing close stance because I think it translates better to jumping/athletic movments in general. It always did feel natural too. I personally think that training close stance, assuming you deadlift also, translates to wide stance squat much better than the other way around[/quote]

Do you lead with the knees, sit back, or just do what feels natural?[/quote]

I lead with the hips and sit back. So I end up doing a mix between oly and powerlifting squat. I never let my but come underneathe my knees which is what I’ve seen man oly lifters do. I do go well past parallel, but I dont go full ATG, just go until its comfroturable to pop up using my hips, which is a chunk below parallel for me

Btw, in my opinion, Louie Simmons is 100% Bullshitting in that video. He is very smart, but he also tends to get really defensive and rationalizes with some of his lifters techniques. Thats why I dont like him, he said his athletes jump higher than the top NFL players at the combnine. And while his point that lifting helps your hops is no doubt true, as a long jumper/powerlifter, I can tell you that that is such a ridiculous comment that he loses credibility for me.[/quote]

I’m fully aware of your opinions, and I’m sure he’d think you’re a little big for your britches yourself. Though that sounds like more a Mark Rippetoe phrase.

Thanks for contributing nonetheless.

[quote]pbclax1 wrote:
I’d be willing to bet if you went to westside to train and told Louie that you were a long jumper, you would leave there with a better jump.[/quote]

I always think, “It’d be awesome to visit Westside and have Louie teach me,” but then I realize I would be a little embarrassed for a coach of his level to train me.

[quote]pbclax1 wrote:

[quote]@JC_Tree_Trunks wrote:

[quote]louiek wrote:

[quote]@JC_Tree_Trunks wrote:
I chose doing close stance because I think it translates better to jumping/athletic movments in general. It always did feel natural too. I personally think that training close stance, assuming you deadlift also, translates to wide stance squat much better than the other way around[/quote]

Do you lead with the knees, sit back, or just do what feels natural?[/quote]

I lead with the hips and sit back. So I end up doing a mix between oly and powerlifting squat. I never let my but come underneathe my knees which is what I’ve seen man oly lifters do. I do go well past parallel, but I dont go full ATG, just go until its comfroturable to pop up using my hips, which is a chunk below parallel for me

Btw, in my opinion, Louie Simmons is 100% Bullshitting in that video. He is very smart, but he also tends to get really defensive and rationalizes with some of his lifters techniques. Thats why I dont like him, he said his athletes jump higher than the top NFL players at the combnine. And while his point that lifting helps your hops is no doubt true, as a long jumper/powerlifter, I can tell you that that is such a ridiculous comment that he loses credibility for me.[/quote]
I’d be willing to bet if you went to westside to train and told Louie that you were a long jumper, you would leave there with a better jump.[/quote]

Maybe, but considering I jump in college and Louie Simmons doesnt have even a level 3 USATF certification in anything, I would say no. Louie simmons has so many lifters fooled into thinking he knows so much about all of these sports when in reality if he talked to my college coaches about training for jumping/sprinting he would be a joke compared to actual legit coaches in track and field

Common sense

but hey, to each his own. Simmons is a very smart man even though i disagree with many points of his (especially when he reaches outside of pl training), and a large part of that is because he is equipped and on steroids, which adjusts many factors. But like I said, just because I dont like him and his methods, doesnt mean shit. I dont want to argue with anyone because I know that others have very very good reasons to follow his methods.

Personally I think everyone should squat the way they feel comfortable squatting. I always did wide, low-bar squats just because Louie Simmons/Dave Tate/everyone kept saying it was the way to do so, even though I felt I was gonna get torn in half squatting this way.

Then I realized I’m a lot stronger when I squat semi-narrow, not leading with the hips, and high-bar.

Technique is an individual thing, be it for squats, bench or whatever, one needs to find what works or doesn’t.

Go with what allows you to move the most weight.

HOLY COMMON SENSE BATMAN

[quote]daraz wrote:
Common sense[/quote]

I’m going to go on record here and say I’m agreeing with daraz.

[quote]LiquidMercury wrote:

[quote]daraz wrote:
Common sense[/quote]

I’m going to go on record here and say I’m agreeing with daraz.[/quote]

[quote]DixiesFinest wrote:
Go with what allows you to move the most weight.

HOLY COMMON SENSE BATMAN[/quote]

Since this is the powerlifting forum yes, but in all other sports the olympic style squat has a lot more carryover than the most weight lifted squat.