Quad Size and Squat Depth

Being a wide stance squatter and a sumo style deadlifter, is it beneficial to train the quads heavy? From my understanding, quads aren’t too important in these lifts. Wouldn’t bigger quads just make one have to squat deeper to reach parallel?

The size of the quads have no effect on how deep you need to squat. A correct depth is when the crease of the hip is lower than the highest point of the knee, this doesn’t change with bigger legs. It can be harder for the refs to see the depth on someone with very big legs but that’s pretty much the only way it will effect things.

From USAPL lifter’s handbook:

[quote]Raging_Teddy wrote:
From USAPL lifter’s handbook:

[/quote]

Yes, top of the thigh at the hip joint, that would be the crease where the leg meets the hip. This doesn’t change much - if at all - with increased leg size.

the bigger your teardrop, the higher parallel is, but the difference is still small.

[quote]HERC410 wrote:
the bigger your teardrop, the higher parallel is, but the difference is still small.[/quote]

We have the same rules in the CPU as the USAPL ;), so not the case, any good judge can effectively judge someone with big quads.

To the OP, train your quadriceps as hard as you train everything else, that said you probably won’t need to do the extra assistance work for them that areas like the hamstrings or glutes might require; most of us are quad dominant to some degree.

[quote]Raging_Teddy wrote:
Being a wide stance squatter and a sumo style deadlifter, is it beneficial to train the quads heavy? From my understanding, quads aren’t too important in these lifts. Wouldn’t bigger quads just make one have to squat deeper to reach parallel?[/quote]

If you mean is it important to gain strength in your quads, then yes, it’s very important if you are a raw squatter.

[quote]Power GnP wrote:

[quote]HERC410 wrote:
the bigger your teardrop, the higher parallel is, but the difference is still small.[/quote]

We have the same rules in the CPU as the USAPL ;), so not the case, any good judge can effectively judge someone with big quads.
[/quote]
if i’m not mistaken, and i could be, the rule said lifter must bend knees and descend until the top of the thigh at the hip joint is lower than the top of the thigh at the knee.

[quote]HERC410 wrote:

[quote]Power GnP wrote:

[quote]HERC410 wrote:
the bigger your teardrop, the higher parallel is, but the difference is still small.[/quote]

We have the same rules in the CPU as the USAPL ;), so not the case, any good judge can effectively judge someone with big quads.
[/quote]
if i’m not mistaken, and i could be, the rule said lifter must bend knees and descend until the top of the thigh at the hip joint is lower than the top of the thigh at the knee.[/quote]

“3. Upon receiving the Chief Referee’s signal 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.”

The location of the knee and hip joint do not change with hypertrophy to upper leg musculature. Training the quadriceps heavy over the long term will still have little effect on the size of the muscle at these insertion points (where the thigh is the smallest). But like I said previously, a good referee will not be looking at the muscle itself but those two joints and their angle to one another.

having stronger quads won’t hurt you.
as far as judging depth, it can create some sort of “illusion” for a side judge, but for the most part, that isn’t really an issue.

as for having stronger quads to squat more…

i don’t know, i can still only leg press what i did when i started pl in 03. I had a 225 squat then. I’ve squatted 777 in a meet and am hoping for mid 800 soon. I’m sure that if I did more close stance squatting and leg pressing, I’d be able to squat more. But for the most part, I did no real direct quad work in the past 7 years.

Having stronger quads can help your sumo deadlift.

Why when I see power lifters train in their youtube videos, they only squat slightly below parallel, but rarely ass to grass?

Powerlifters only have to break parallel for the SQ to be good. There’s not much point in going way lower than that because it decreases the poundages you can lift. Besides what does this have to do with the original question?

[quote]HERC410 wrote:

[quote]Power GnP wrote:

[quote]HERC410 wrote:
the bigger your teardrop, the higher parallel is, but the difference is still small.[/quote]

We have the same rules in the CPU as the USAPL ;), so not the case, any good judge can effectively judge someone with big quads.
[/quote]
if i’m not mistaken, and i could be, the rule said lifter must bend knees and descend until the top of the thigh at the hip joint is lower than the top of the thigh at the knee.[/quote]

The hip joint doesn’t change position, no matter how big your quads get