I never thought I’d be able to do a “legal” powerlift squat (parallel). I started squating and saw the weight going up rapidly. I had increased from 95# to about 350# in several months. But, then I began reading Dr. Squat, T-Nation, Westside, etc. and realized I was doing 1/4 squats. And realized the heavier I went the shallower my squat.
I lightened up to about 135#. Still couldn’t get parallel. I decided to try the Smith Squat Machine (I know this are not popular here). I stayed light and forced myself to go deeper while the fixed bar path kept my back upright. I also concentrated on back arch, pushing hips back, and pushing knees out. Kept working deeper until the flexibility allowed me to go well below parallel. I continued to free weight squats at 135 but focused on improved depth. About the time I got slightly below parallel I gave up the Smith and learned about box squatting.
My parallel box is 16". I generally do box squats at 12", 14", and 16". Sometimes I do supramax work at 18". But, during warmups I’ve worked down to 10" and plan to try and get down to 8" or possibly even 6". I’ve been using chains for about 1 year. Thought they were great. Then added bands about 6 months ago – extreme difference. I now work through a 3 week chain wave, 1 week deload to straight weight, 3 week band wave, then three week straight weight wave. Seem to get a 15# to 20# increase in 1RM each cycle.
My raw squat 1RM (parallel to slightly below) is 495 – 3 years training. Planning to get some gear and see what that will do for me.
what do you guys think about using the guided rack - not sure what the term is, but the racks with the track for the bar to travel…
anyway, i’ve been using that for my squats, which allows me to ‘lean back’ a bit, keeping my torso very straight at bottom of the movement. my goal is to work overall lower body and my core with this exercise. do you guys think its a good idea to do what i am doing?
additionally, i squat all the way down, with narrow stands - should i be pointing my toes out a bit, or keep it parellel to eachother?
additionally, i squat all the way down, with narrow stands - should i be pointing my toes out a bit, or keep it parellel to eachother?
thanks for your input![/quote]
You should point them out to where it is comfortable. Anywhere from “11 o’clock and 1 o’clock” to straight ahead is probably good. It depends on the alignment of your femurs I believe.
I used to compete in Olympic lifting, so I became very good at squatting ass-to-the-ground. I highly recommend squatting as low as you can.
However, I’ve been doing more of a powerlifting squat lately, so I go parallel or just below (see pic above - this was on my way down). I use a wider stance for powerlifting squats and it recruits your hammies just fine as long as you go down low enough.
I still recommend squatting lower in most instances. For some of my Max Effort Squat/Deadlift days, I squat ass-to-the-ground when doing high-bar squats or front squats.
[quote]Going Solo wrote:
Full Range of Motion for the style of Squat you are using. Don’t do partial motion squats.
originally prepared and posted by Arioch and Spatts at elitefitness.com:
“There are several schools of thought on squat depth. Many misinformed individuals caution against squatting below parallel, stating that this is hazardous to the knees. Nothing could be further from the truth. (2) Stopping at or above parallel places direct stress on the knees, whereas a deep squat will transfer the load to the hips,(3) which are capable of handling a greater amount of force than the knees should ever be exposed to. Studies have shown that the squat produces lower peak tibeo-femoral(stress at the knee joint) compressive force than both the leg press and the leg extension.(4) For functional strength, one should descend as deeply as possible, and under control. (yes, certain individuals can squat in a ballistic manner, but they are the exception rather than the rule). The further a lifter descends, the more the hamstrings are recruited, and proper squatting displays nearly twice the hamstring involvement of the leg press or leg extension. (5,6) and as one of the functions of the hamstring is to protect the patella tendon (the primary tendon involved in knee extension) during knee extension through a concurrent firing process, the greatest degree of hamstring recruitment should provide the greatest degree of protection to the knee joint. (7) When one is a powerlifter, the top surface of the legs at the hip joint must descend to a point below the top surface of the legs at the knee joint.”[/quote]
I can confirm this with my own exeperience. My knees were often irritated when I stopped at parallel, or just below parallel. Now I drop all the way down and have no knee problems at all anymore…
Emery Miller is a National Level Competitive Bodybuilder, who posted a series of sequential pics of her squat set-up and form. I thought that she exhibited the best technique I’ve ever seen in the Squat.
I think that as beginners, the technique that you develop from the start is paramount in ANY exercise.
“As low as you can go . . . without breaking form.”
Well, that’s just it, isn’t it? I cracked a vertabrae doing that (yes, I’m stupid sometimes). It might be a fag cop-out, but parallel squats then heavy leg presses will keep me from doing THAT again!
