Is This Considered USPA Depth?

Would this pass in a uspa comp? I’m having a really hard time judging my depth.

From here, no. Top of hip (hip crease) has to be at or below the knee, you are a few inches high.

I think all feds have basically the same rule, but don’t enforce it the same. I have done 1 USPA meet, and I don’t think this would pass.

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No it would not, you’re going to need to get deeper.

the lifter must bend the knees and lower the body until the top surface of the legs at the hip joint is lower than the top of the knees

https://uspa.net/resources/USPA_Rulebook.pdf

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Thats a no from me, dawg

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Alright I see. Could it be the angle though? When I look in the side mirror on warm ups, my hip crease is below the knee. That’s with lighter weight though. I guess I’ll rather be safe than sorry and go a little lower.

How about this? This was one set before the video.

This was the set after the video.

I also have my phone in my left pocket all the time.

For most people their femur will be pointing downward from the knee joint to the hip joint to achieve the hip crease below the knee (since there is more meat on at the top of the hip).

Your femur appears to be pointing upward from the knee to the hip.

It used to be I would hear people would refer to squatting to powerlifting depth like it was high or something. I don’t think they understood the rules. I barely have the mobility to get to depth without butt wink low bar squatting.

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Very last picture looks like maybe depth, but with the phone in your pocket and t-shirt covering your hip crease it’s hard to say. Take the phone out of your pocket, tuck your shirt into your shorts, and record directly from the side (where the judges will be sitting in a meet) to know for sure in the future.

Pause squats can help you fix issues with depth and get more comfortable with the correct bottom position. If you have tight hips and it’s hard to squat to depth one way or another you can try doing goblet squat stretches (can hold a 25lb plate), sit into a full squat (or as deep as you can go) for 10 seconds, squeeze your glutes and push your knees out - hold for 5 seconds, then go back down into a full squat (should be easier to go deeper this time) for 10 sec. again. Do that 3-5 times, you can do that every day if your mobility is not so great. I got that from Squat University, I was having issues with depth going into my last meet and doing that plus a couple other changes fixed my problem.

Probably looking at multi-ply squats.

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None of them, in any fed I can think of.

Easiest way to be sure is set your camera where the side judge would be around where their torso height would be. Then you’ll know.

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No. You’re just not at depth ( on any of them ). You are strong but you need to just work that squat a bit lower. Based on what I’m seeing try this:

Take your squat stance you’ve got in the photo and videos. Keep your heels set, and bring your toes in about half an inch, should take you from about 45 degrees to 60ish. I think that could make a big difference.

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As @chris_ottawa said a lot of that was based off the older geared squat lifts. Powerlifting depth is basically a parallel squat.

Oly lifters naturally squat deeper because it’s better to catch a snatch or clean in a deep squat, less bar travel.

I just say squat for your goals and what works for you.

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Okay guys, thank you all for the replies!
@corstijeir you’re saying to bring my toes more parallel like the left picture?
image
Because isn’t 60 degrees more like the right photo?

@corstijeir also, do you think squatting deeper to hit competition depth will take a big hit on my squat strength?

Not @corstijeir but I’d say in the long term absolutely not barring some freak accident. If you’ve got a meet under eight weeks out it might, just because your groove will change somewhat.

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In between the two photos. Not straight not a big angle out.

You might have to take a small hit but you can quickly adjust to depth. I’d have to see more movement to know if it’s just you don’t know where depth is or if something is preventing you from hitting it.

I’d try the foot position and then just get someone who is honest to judge your depth or video all your sets right from the side and be honest with yourself.

Well I do have a meet October 20th, but I used to squat to depth, but I always got butt wink and lost upper back tightness.

Can I give you my instagram? I have all my training videos there.

That sounds like a hip mobility issue, and maybe you could work on your bracing too. Leading up to my last meet I was having issues squatting to depth mostly because of tight hips, what I did to fix it is every day I did half-kneeling hip flexors stretches (3x20 sec. each side), this hip external rotation stretch:


for 3x30 sec. - you can do that at home on your couch or bed, the back knee can be bent, doesn’t matter.

And the goblet squat stretch as described previously, I started doing it 5-6 time each day and then cut it down to 3 as my mobility improved. Also you can record yourself doing the goblet squat stretch, from the side, to make sure you are actually reaching depth - at first I had a hard time reaching depth on that. After that I do about 8-10 goblet squats, seems like going through the full movement keeps me from getting too tight again the next day but of course you don’t want to turn this into a workout. This is all done holding a 25lb plate, if you don’t have weights at home then just hold something heavy.

I do the goblet squat stretch before I start squatting too. People say not to stretch before lifting, it’s true that if you stretch right before a heavy work set then it will reduce force production but a little bit of stretching before you even touch the bar shouldn’t be a problem and if you can’t actually get into the correct position in the first place then it can only help you since your muscles will still be tight at the bottom of a squat.

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Awesome man! Thank you for taking the time to help, I’ll definitely start with this asap.

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