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Squats form question

FuriousWO

FuriousWO

New Member
I'm pretty new to squats but I'm doing them now and getting a little stronger every week. I'm not clear on the best form. Which is better/right?

Thighs parallel to the floor OR deep squats all the way down?

I've been doing them thighs parallel but i got to thinking (after seeing another guy) that I should lighten up the weight and go all the way down
 
FuriousWO said:
I'm pretty new to squats but I'm doing them now and getting a little stronger every week. I'm not clear on the best form. Which is better/right?

Thighs parallel to the floor OR deep squats all the way down?

I've been doing them thighs parallel but i got to thinking (after seeing another guy) that I should lighten up the weight and go all the way down
Click to expand...

Its all a matter of what you like. I do parallel and sometimes I do ass to the grass. As long as you're going parallel you're good. When I first started out I would put a seat behind me to teach me good form. You don't actually sit down, you just lightly tap it. I think a lot of people get carried away with ass to the grass. Maybe @weighted chinup can give you some better advice?
 
Most people will agree that for bodybuilding purposes stopping at parallel or just slightly below parallel is acceptable and should give you full quad activation.

My personal preference is to go as deep as I can, below parallel. I front squat with a very narrow stance and I feel like going below parallel has slightly better quad activation, but there are other advantages too like flexibility and mobility which play a larger role when going ATG. I have heard that certain muscles within the thigh get hit better when you go as deep as you can.

Try out both and see what you prefer, ass to grass/maximal depth feels WAY more comfortable to me then stopping at parallel and I feel that with a narrow stance its SLIGHTLY better at activating my quads, although parallel or just below is perfectly fine as well.

A trick you can do to help you hit better depth and improve flexibility is to squat on 5lb plates. Put your heel on the edge of the plates. You are essentially simulating a pair of olympic weightlifting shoes. This gives you better depth and helps keep a more upright position when you are heavily fatigued.

Going ass2grass looks cooler too :)
 
If you can go all the way down with a near vertical torso in the hole AND keep your heels flat on the ground, then you should develop that with a lighter weight and progress to heavy as you master the form.

I'm biased to going for ROM more than Maximal Strength because IMHO it translates to more athletic movements.

Now that doesn't mean a low bar, parallel, powerlifting style squat is crap. The upside of that is that you can load more weight which will lead to faster gains and adaptations. It will also develop more of your posterior chain as well as is safer for your knees. It also is easier to learn as far as form for the novice squatter.

Bottom line is you have to assess your goals and also get someone experienced to coach your form once you choose one. Either high bar-atg-Olympic style or low bar-parallel-Powerlifting style or My favorite Gangnam style. Heeeeeeeeey Sexy Lady!!!
 
Excellent post @romaleos, I really like using exercises and forms and rom's that carry over into other athletic abilities as well. Bodybuilding is my main goal but anything that can make you a more well rounded athlete that also builds up your physique is something I always try and implement where appropriate. Would I be wrong in assuming you are an oly lifter?

Also, slightly off topic, but for anyone who is interested, here is a list of all kinds of squat variations you can do, its extremely comprehensive and 90% of the variations are for addressing specific athletic goals, but still might be useful for some, its from the book Supertraining by Yuri Verkhoshansky.

G10Z7Cv.png
 
weighted chinup said:
Excellent post @romaleos, I really like using exercises and forms and rom's that carry over into other athletic abilities as well. Bodybuilding is my main goal but anything that can make you a more well rounded athlete that also builds up your physique is something I always try and implement where appropriate. Would I be wrong in assuming you are an oly lifter?

Also, slightly off topic, but for anyone who is interested, here is a list of all kinds of squat variations you can do, its extremely comprehensive and 90% of the variations are for addressing specific athletic goals, but still might be useful for some, its from the book Supertraining by Yuri Verkhoshansky.

G10Z7Cv.png
Click to expand...
Thanks @weighted chinup. Btw I have that book to but I just like to look at it and tell myself I'll read it cover to cover one day. LOL! After reading the NSCA CSCS text twice, I'm taking a break from reading S&C bibles like Supertraining. I'm just training and coaching trying to buildup my anecdotal hands on knowledge instead of relying on science and book smarts.

Am I an oly lifter? Yes and no. I developed and use a conjugated training program with Olympic lifts as the centerpiece and foundation. I do not compete obviously because I associate with Meso. And I can appreciate a beautiful Snatch. Heeeeeeey Sexy Lady!!! Gang nam style!
 
romaleos said:
Thanks @weighted chinup. Btw I have that book to but I just like to look at it and tell myself I'll read it cover to cover one day. LOL! After reading the NSCA CSCS text twice, I'm taking a break from reading S&C bibles like Supertraining. I'm just training and coaching trying to buildup my anecdotal hands on knowledge instead of relying on science and book smarts.

Am I an oly lifter? Yes and no. I developed and use a conjugated training program with Olympic lifts as the centerpiece and foundation. I do not compete obviously because I associate with Meso. And I can appreciate a beautiful Snatch. Heeeeeeey Sexy Lady!!! Gang nam style!
Click to expand...

Ahah good stuff man. I never read the book cover to cover either so don't feel bad, I just use it to look things up sometimes.

I would pretty much be completely burnt out just by reading one of those books fully so I can't imagine having to go through these damn things on the regular. Its good for looking something specific up, but training and lifting in the gym is what I enjoy doing the most, and I'm sure you and I wouldn't even agree with EVERYTHING written in those books in the first place ;)

The best info I have ever learned has been from trying things out in the gym and making changes over time to my routine and training.
 
weighted chinup said:
The best info I have ever learned has been from trying things out in the gym and making changes over time to my routine and training.
Click to expand...
Don't get me wrong, I love applying research, developing training methodologies, and guinea pigging athletes and myself. BUT 99% of the time good ol bro science is where the gainz are at. Preaching to the choir man. Good stuff!
 
weighted chinup said:
Ahah fucking lucky guy! Toss some athletes my way, I wouldn't mind running a few training experiments myself haha.
Click to expand...
I get mine from the local crossfit gyms. Been offered to intern at some legit performance centers but S&C is just a hobby and not a career for me yet.

Plus I'm noticing that a lot of pro ballers have crap form which leads me to believe that they are just born to play. Unfortunately you can't train genetics.
 
weighted chinup said:
Truth ^.

S&C seems like it WOULD be more fun as a hobby or a tool to improve your own performance instead of a career, unless you are working with some world class athletes or pumping out champions on the regular :)
Click to expand...
Have you seen elite crossfit women athletes? That brings out a whole new meaning to "pumping out champions" hahaha! Seriously, I wouldn't mind working with NFL athletes. So much untapped potential if you can get an elite player to buy in to your programming.
 
Was going atg at one point and started suffering from lower back pain. Noticed there's a point in the squat where some peoples butt will "wink", your hips push forward and the lower back rounds. This causes me pain while others feel nothing. Something to do with mobility I'm sure.
But for me stopping right before the hip rotation is perfect which happens to be at parallel or ever so slightly below


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Yes the infamous butt wink. Honestly, I don't fully understand all that's going on. I get lost in the physio-esoteric talk. For myself, I can attest that it's cause is not maintaining a tight lumbar throughout the lift. You have to maintain maximal tension from the start and only release enough to allow knee and hip flexion. This is where form and practice comes in as well as proper coaching.

Learn your body's capabilities, practice the movements, and train hard. You'd be surprised how much you can achieve if you want it bad enough.
 
Also stopping at a blunt 90 will load your knees up . So either a hair above parrellel or just below . I can't go Atg until I resolve my popping knee but that's what I always prefered
 
I alternate low bar squats, with full ROM, with front squats. Front squats make truly a2g possible and, especially if you pause and breath at the bottom, work your abs harder than any other exercise I know of.

Sometimes I also do overhead squats, just because I can.

In my own personal experience, stopping halfway, i.e. squatting to parallel, feels awkward on my knees. I sometimes do the opposite, though, going from the bottom to just above parallel then back into the hole. It trains the hardest part of the lift.
 
My problem with low bar and full rom is that it begins to look like a good morning the heavier it gets. Maybe I got weak hams.

Yes! OHS are the tits! OHS single leg squat on a stability ball and you are winning the crossfits bro!
 
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