This is a repost but I figured more people might see this on this sub-forum.
Sorry if this is a dumb question but I guess it’s better to ask now than a week before the meet lol. I always try to squat as low as possible when training but was noticing yesterday I have alot of trouble keeping my arch when I hit the “rock bottom” position.
Not sure if this is a flexibility issue, due to build (I’m not that tall but have long legs and a short torso relative to my height)or stance since I use a relatively close stance.
On my last set though I stopped at parallel and kept my arch without any problem.
Should I keep trying to squat super low or just as far as my arch allows and keep working on flexibility? I think squatting deeper will give you more benefits in squatting strength but am concerned this might reinforce bad habits- i.e. losing the arch and tightness and trying to good morning the weight up.
To squat rock bottom or ATG the hamstrings have to relax, so it becomes a primarily quad movement (Assuming you’re using a low bar position). So it’s probably better for you to just squat to about 2 inches below parallel so that the hamstrings stay involved so you get more bang for your buck, especially for powerlifting.
Note: This is based on information from Mark Rippetoe’s Starting Strength book
I’m not by any means an expert on this, but i used to have the most shocking flexibility which caused me to lose my arch when squatting below parallel.
I used to strech by getting into a squat position and grab my shins sort of pull my body forward and down whilst trying to keep my back flat. I did that a few times a day and after squatting, it seemed to help. There was an article a while ago, ‘third world squat’ or something, which recommended something similar. I’d say it would be worth running a search and looking for that one.
But i’d definitely work on the flexibility before going to low. I used to get low back pain when squatting, took me a long time to realise that it was because i used to round my back to get depth
Thank you for your replies. This makes a lot of sense especially the thing about hamstring flexibility. Also I think sometimes I try to descent too fast and lose control and tightness. I will try slowing things down next week and taking these things into consideration and let you know how it goes.