Squats

[dth4lf]

I've been working on my squat form as of recently. Found this guy's vid on YouTube. I like his no nonsense approach. Thought I'd share.

[wild_wild_wes]

Thanks for posting! He pointed out a few mistakes I was making.

[dth4lf]

Thanks for posting! He pointed out a few mistakes I was making.

Absolutely! Prompted a few changes on my part as well. Particularly proper depth and foot placement.

[bambikillr]

good info, thanks for sharing

[wild_wild_wes]

Okay, I'm just not able to get past parallel...or I'm even slightly above. How do I get lower? I'm trying, but it feels I'm running into physiognomy, or something.

[dth4lf]

Okay, I'm just not able to get past parallel...or I'm even slightly above. How do I get lower? I'm trying, but it feels I'm running into physiognomy, or something.

1)Make sure your feet are shoulder width or slightly wider apart.

2) Be sure to point your toes out a bit. Not quite a 45 degree angle, possibly around 30 degrees. This will ensure that when you squat your thighs will be out of the way of your torso as you lower into position.

There's obviously a bit more to it than this, but you should be able to squat damn near ATG by following these two cues.

[WillBrink]

1)Make sure your feet are shoulder width or slightly wider apart.

2) Be sure to point your toes out a bit. Not quite a 45 degree angle, possibly around 30 degrees. This will ensure that when you squat your thighs will be out of the way of your torso as you lower into position.

There's obviously a bit more to it than this, but you should be able to squat damn near ATG by following these two ques.

There's no particular reason one needs to squat ATG to benefit from squats however. As one who used to do it as a matter of ego more than benefit per se in my younger days, I have come to appreciate the fact different people have different mechanics, flexibility, goals, etc and there's no absolutes in the need for ATG style squatting and benefits.

[Devildawg2531]

There's no particular reason one needs to squat ATG to benefit from squats however. As one who used to do it as a matter of ego more than benefit per se in my younger days, I have come to appreciate the fact different people have different mechanics, flexibility, goals, etc and there's no absolutes in the need for ATG style squatting and benefits.

From an orthopedic standpoint the squat form in the video is a knee wrecker. He's bouncing out of the bottom (much more joint friendly to pause) also at the top he's locking his knees out explosively (should maintain a slight bend). Its a young dude in the video - I will predict he wont be doing much squatting in 10 years if he maintains his current form.

[QuickStrike]

Imo stopping the descent suddenly and changing direction above parallel is terrible for your knees. Much better to squat ATG without abusing the stretch reflex too much.


Unless there is a specific condition with your knees or something, its probably a mobility issue. Stretching out your ankles and wearing olympic lifting shoes should help tremendously.


As someone who is trying to improve his squats by doing paused squats from the bottom, I feel that there IS a difference when going full range of motion. One could do a lot more weight with partial squats so they are more ego driven than ATG squats.

[duece71]

Any danger with knee problems with the technique used in the video? With a large amount of weight, I would be leery about going that low. I have only gone slightly below parallel and then back up so as to minimize the potential for knee injury. A personal trainer that I use frequently hasn't said anything about my technique, so I figure it's ok?