Squatting (Again)

Bigger Stronger Leaner Competitive Bodybuilding
1

Some of you may have seen my earlier posts about having what I think are flexibillity problems when squatting.

I’ve since been doing a lot of stretching and body weight squats, trying to get as deep as possible.

One method I’ve noticed which enables me to squat down quite a bit deeper and not have to bend over as much is to have my feet / legs quite wide.

I understand that for squatting your legs should be a little wider than shoulder width apart, but my legs are widening even more than that.

Just wanted to check that this is an ok stance to squat with and that I’m not cheating myself or doing the exercise totally wrong.

I am still making an effort to sit back and down when I move south.

Thanks for any replies.

CG

2

Go and check videos on YouTube of powerlifters squatting. The stance is quite wide.

It all really depends on your goals.

Are you into olympic lifting at all or you primarily focusing on parallel squats?

3

Read tip #1.

http://www.musclewithattitude.com/readTopic.do?id=459775

4

Do what Chewie says, plus don’t worry, wide stances like you describe are not wrong. Again, look at some PL videos. It all depends on your goals. Are you planing on competing in PL, OL, BB? It’ll change what you do to some extent. If you are training just to train, squat in the stance that feels best to you.

5

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6529481301858251744

Watch and pay attention. Will help immensely with squat form and “teaching your body to become flexible” and hit proper depth.

-LH

6

The video that Levelheaded posted a link too above is one of the best resources I’ve ever came across on the internet.

Also, I find that doing a few sets of overhead squats, even with just the bar, before any heavy lower body work has helped me hugely. Its got to the stage where my form goes to shit very quickly when I neglect doing them due to time restrictions or pure laziness/stupidity.

If you do decide to incorporate overheads, then go as deep as possible (I go absolutely ATG, deeper than my back squats). Don’t be afraid to sit at the bottom of each rep for a few seconds, and concentrate on pushing your knees out wide, before exploding back up.

They’re a fantastic exercise to incorporate in your warmups for increasing/restoring flexibility, learning to stay upright in the squat, and activating/strengthening the abs and lower back. Give them a try and let us know how you get on.