I’ve started squatting these last couple of weeks. Everything is good, except when I take it up a notch.
Then at the very bottom of the squat, parallel or a little lower, I go weaker. It feels like an abnormal drop in power. I know the bottom of the squat is one of the hardest points in the lift.
I was wondering if you guys/gals had some exercises that would help my sticking point in the squat. Thanks everybody.
[quote]blake2616 wrote:
I’ve started squatting these last couple of weeks. Everything is good, except when I take it up a notch.
Then at the very bottom of the squat, parallel or a little lower, I go weaker. It feels like an abnormal drop in power. I know the bottom of the squat is one of the hardest points in the lift.
I was wondering if you guys/gals had some exercises that would help my sticking point in the squat. Thanks everybody.[/quote]
Box squats…get one that puts you right below parallel.
Also pause squats, squat down into the hole, wait for the stored kinetic energy to disipate, then squat it up.
Okay, now this is a common misconception that has really taken off with all the PL articles written by geared lifters.
In the squat and the BP, there is only one sticking point, and that is when you are at your most biomechanically disadvantageous position. In the squat, this is when the femur is parallel to the ground, and in the BP, it’s when the humerus is parallel to the ground. This will be the same with everyone, unless they bounce out of the bottom or use their sternum as a springboard.
What this means is that all the advice people have ever given about being strong off the chest or out of the hole is BS. Provided you are lifting RAW and with sound form, everyone fails at the same time. The answer is simply to get stronger.
If you want to squat better and feel stronger out of the hole, just squat heavy and deep. If you want to get stronger faster, do squats but pause at or below parallel for 2-3 seconds on each rep. Again, there’s no way to get over “sticking points” other than getting stronger.
glute work and hamstring work. See GHRs, pull-throughs, RDLs, step ups, long lunges, and anything else that will hit the glutes/hammies. Maybe good mornings too.
But at this point, probably just squat more. Especially since you’ve only started squatting in the last couple weeks.
bottoms up squats are also good. That is, set the bar on the safety pins at the height it would be at in the bottom position of your squat. Then get under it, and squat it up.
[quote]RJ24 wrote:
Okay, now this is a common misconception that has really taken off with all the PL articles written by geared lifters.
In the squat and the BP, there is only one sticking point, and that is when you are at your most biomechanically disadvantageous position. In the squat, this is when the femur is parallel to the ground, and in the BP, it’s when the humerus is parallel to the ground. This will be the same with everyone, unless they bounce out of the bottom or use their sternum as a springboard.
What this means is that all the advice people have ever given about being strong off the chest or out of the hole is BS. Provided you are lifting RAW and with sound form, everyone fails at the same time. The answer is simply to get stronger.
If you want to squat better and feel stronger out of the hole, just squat heavy and deep. If you want to get stronger faster, do squats but pause at or below parallel for 2-3 seconds on each rep. Again, there’s no way to get over “sticking points” other than getting stronger. [/quote]
I disagree. In many cases, a lifter may have built imbalances through poor form, neglecting certain exercises, or whatever. In that case, it is quite possible to have a different sticking point.
For example, my introduction to lifting involved a lot of leg extensions and no other leg work, and as a result it took me a while to build the glute/ ham strength necessary for deep, solid squats.
[quote]saroachman wrote:
RJ24 wrote:
Okay, now this is a common misconception that has really taken off with all the PL articles written by geared lifters.
In the squat and the BP, there is only one sticking point, and that is when you are at your most biomechanically disadvantageous position. In the squat, this is when the femur is parallel to the ground, and in the BP, it’s when the humerus is parallel to the ground. This will be the same with everyone, unless they bounce out of the bottom or use their sternum as a springboard.
What this means is that all the advice people have ever given about being strong off the chest or out of the hole is BS. Provided you are lifting RAW and with sound form, everyone fails at the same time. The answer is simply to get stronger.
If you want to squat better and feel stronger out of the hole, just squat heavy and deep. If you want to get stronger faster, do squats but pause at or below parallel for 2-3 seconds on each rep. Again, there’s no way to get over “sticking points” other than getting stronger.
I disagree. In many cases, a lifter may have built imbalances through poor form, neglecting certain exercises, or whatever. In that case, it is quite possible to have a different sticking point.
For example, my introduction to lifting involved a lot of leg extensions and no other leg work, and as a result it took me a while to build the glute/ ham strength necessary for deep, solid squats.[/quote]
True.
If you are new to squatting, just squat more. It may just be a mental issue that, once you are sitting in the hole, you get the “holy shit this is heavy and I’m in a compromised position” feeling. Squat more. Try some slow negatives and pause squats.
My problem is an unusual one. I always deadlifted before, but never squatted. So I have relatively strong glutes/hams, but I don’t have any quads to write home about. To compensate for this, I have started doing sumo deadlift and more upright squats. In addition to this, I have done some frontsquats. Any other tips to strenghten the quads?
(sorry for hijacking… 
)
[quote]Adamsson wrote:
My problem is an unusual one. I always deadlifted before, but never squatted. So I have relatively strong glutes/hams, but I don’t have any quads to write home about. To compensate for this, I have started doing sumo deadlift and more upright squats. In addition to this, I have done some frontsquats. Any other tips to strenghten the quads?
(sorry for hijacking… ) [/quote]
Leg presses
Do a full squat, not a stop at parallel half squat. Why not work the full range of motion?
[quote]Adamsson wrote:
My problem is an unusual one. I always deadlifted before, but never squatted. So I have relatively strong glutes/hams, but I don’t have any quads to write home about. To compensate for this, I have started doing sumo deadlift and more upright squats. In addition to this, I have done some frontsquats. Any other tips to strenghten the quads?
(sorry for hijacking… ) [/quote]
No problem… I always did deadlifts. So my quads aren’t that great either. Neither are my glutes. My hams took to the stimulus but my glutes trail behind.
Thanks guys for all of your input.
Have you tried analyzing how much weight you can front squat vs. how much weight you can back squat.
For me this weight indicator is really good at helping with the quadricep strenght.
How does your routine looks like and when do you do squats in the routine?
[quote]blake2616 wrote:
I’ve started squatting these last couple of weeks. Everything is good, except when I take it up a notch.
Then at the very bottom of the squat, parallel or a little lower, I go weaker. It feels like an abnormal drop in power. I know the bottom of the squat is one of the hardest points in the lift.
I was wondering if you guys/gals had some exercises that would help my sticking point in the squat. Thanks everybody.[/quote]
Squat off a variety of different height boxes, all below parallel
There is a mental stigma attached to going to rock bottom with heavy weights on the squat, especially when you are new to the exercise.
If your life depended on it I can gaurantee you would get under whatever weight it is you are stuck on and squat it for reps.
No offence inteded here but, the only way for you to get this weight is to forget about your perceived weaknesses (which exist only in your mind) grow a set of balls, get under it and lift it.
If its inspiration you need read this from Dave Tate.
[quote]RJ24 wrote:
Again, there’s no way to get over “sticking points” other than getting stronger. [/quote]
While I don’t agree with most of what he said i do agree with that last statement. More than likely you just found the weight that you need to work with. Just make sure your form is no different between this weight and lower weights.
[quote]sawadeekrob wrote:
Have you tried analyzing how much weight you can front squat vs. how much weight you can back squat.
For me this weight indicator is really good at helping with the quadricep strenght.
How does your routine looks like and when do you do squats in the routine?[/quote]
I haven’t did any front squats, so I don’t know.
I basically do 1x8, move up weight then do 3x6. I know it’s a little weird. I’m just trying to find what rep scheme will work for squats.
It’s not totally true that all raw lifters fail at the same point. One of my training partner has extremely long arms and when he fails a bench press, it’s always near lockout.
You have said you have only been squatting 2 weeks- therefore you have NO weak points you are weak in general. a weakness in a lift will often take a few months of training experience in the lift to appear- just keep squatting and dont think about it too much