[quote]Gael wrote:
When you stop at parallel, it is possible to keep your knees behind your toes. If you go A2G, your knees go way past your toes.[/quote]
Not necessarily. I can do a wall squat all the way down to where I’m resting on my calves, and never touch the wall. It takes practice and some mobility work, but it can be done.
olympians do atg. they can literally sit on their heels with tremendous weight. for us measly amateurs, i say at least break parallel.
start small and work your way up. you’ll eventually find your zone.
I also feel more comfortable going hams to calves. I hit the supports on our squat rack like the one pictured, and have to use the adjustable power rack. I’m 5’ 10’'. I do admittedly have a slight rounding of the lower back at the bottom, but it’s never caused my any pain or discomfort.
Any suggestions on what I need to address to prevent the back rounding? Stretching of…?
[quote]ZeusNathan wrote:
olympians do atg. they can literally sit on their heels with tremendous weight. for us measly amateurs, i say at least break parallel.
start small and work your way up. you’ll eventually find your zone.[/quote]
That’s what I do.
It all depends on your flexibility. Everyone I’ve ever seen always end up with their heels rising.
If I go below parallel it feels like my lateral ligaments are rubbing/grinding over the leg bones, not a good feeling. Doesn’t hurt, just feels really weird so I stop near or slightly above parallel
I go below parallel. If I stop right above or below I have no trouble, but stopping right at the parallel point gives me knee pain.
Plus I like the stretch I get in my quads if I go very low. I also raise my heels and tend to feel more quads when I shift the weight forward onto the balls of my feet rather than my heels.
I usually do front squats though.
I used to just break parallel. I decided that after analysing the borderline shitness of my form I was only scared of dropping even lower because I would not be able to get out of the hole with proper form. Evidently I dropped some weight off and was able to squat properly and as low as I could possible go.
Although my ego was hurt dropping 20kg off the bar, my joints and lower back thanked me in the end. I hypothesised that my supporting systems were not up to the strength my legs could generate, but that said my leg workouts felt far more productive when squatting deeper.
[quote]jehovasfitness wrote:
If I go below parallel it feels like my lateral ligaments are rubbing/grinding over the leg bones, not a good feeling. Doesn’t hurt, just feels really weird so I stop near or slightly above parallel[/quote]
that is probably why you have those problems