How do you squat?

[jwoody]

I saw on another board an age, weight, max squat thing. Well it got me wondering, how far do you guys go down? I personaly go all the way down, but I know everyone is different, and a lot of people just go parallel. So I just wanted to see what everyone else does?

[Stonecold54]

I would say do what is natural for your body type...height, muscle bellies, bone length all play a factor....there isn't a good answer for that...if someone tall tried to do ass to the ground they would mostly likely develop back problems but for someone of small stature it wouldn't be a problem.

[Shibby]

I voted hams to calves. I've alwasy known it as deep squats, I guess we are getting at the same thing. I like the feeling that I am picking that weight all the way up. I put in my mind that if I really needed to use a squat stance to lift something up, I would have to start from there.

[JUICE]

i just go till it feels right. I get a stance i feel comfortable with and start squating.

[Taylor]

i've been doing box squats for the past year or so....that's closer to parallel, but i consider "parallel" a little bit further down then actual parallel

i gotta use my bench to squat, cause i dont have a squat rack...my bench is one piece, i dont have a seperate bench that pulls out so i'm stuck doin box squats

[wnabeabeast]

Used to go all the way down but not any more,now my knees are kinda shot.
now I only go just past half way,this way I actually am able to isolate my quads,hams and glutes better without putting presure on my knees.

[beefcake]

I go hams to calves, but I accidently put parallel. I used to do just parallel but now i've noticed a difference going ass to the grass. Can't use as much weight as before, but I feel it's better quad developement.

[Shibby]

Originally Posted by beefcake

I go hams to calves, but I accidently put parallel. I used to do just parallel but now i've noticed a difference going ass to the grass. Can't use as much weight as before, but I feel it's better quad developement.

There your vote is counted in the right catagory now

[muscle_n_blood]

I like just below parallel. There are a lot of biomechanical differences in the body that can affect how one squats. for example, a person with long thighs but relatively short lower legs cannot go ass to grass. Balance screws up. Even the length of the feet can affect one's center of gravity (a very important component of a successful heavy squat)

[bowbow]

I recently started doing ham to calf from parallel and I to had to lighten up the weight but feel it's working much better and it hasn't bothered my knees at all.

[WISSLER]

I am a tall fellow (6'2) and parallel just feels right to me. I squat pretty wide so it would be pretty hard to hit calves to hams.

[GearTripper]

i remember reading parallel actually puts more pressure on the knees... i've always gone deep. i've also had to start wearing patella (sp?) straps though.

[Gurck]

Ass to heels. Has any research shown this to be bad? I've heard it can kill the knees... but I seem to get the best pump from it and haven't had any problems so far. Then again, I don't want to be getting knee surgery at 40, looking back, wishing I had gone parallel

[MCSteelers]

Hams to calves!

[Gods Son]

i like ham to calves....when im bulking my stomach gets so damn big i can hardly breath when im all the way down

[powerhouse 48]

if it's heavy, i go just low enough for it to be competition level, when i'm goin light i scrub my bag on the floor.

[Nekrawulf]

Wheres the option for box squats.... or zercher squats

BIASED POLL!

[Mr Incredible2]

Originally Posted by Nekrawulf

Wheres the option for box squats.... or zercher squats

BIASED POLL!

Thats pretty much parralel bro

[Nekrawulf]

there is much more to squats than leg placement =-]

[Starr]

hams to calves.

And here's something I've noticed about myself: I've been doing front squats for a while now and last week I figured I'd go back to regular squats and my damn technique is all messed up now! Anyone experience that?

[Strengthminx]

below parallel every time... i have much longer legs than i have torso, so i was initially worried about my knees, but i haven't had a single problem. my legs have actually improved a lot in terms of ham/glute tie-in development. plus, i'd rather be safe than sorry when it comes to competition depth... can't get redlighted when you hit the ass on the calves
~MINX

[mastakillah]

Ass to the grass. People will sometimes give me these stupid looks when they see me squatin like that. I hate the "if you go past parallel you'll detroy your knees" attitude. That was made up by people who were to scarrrrred to do squats the right way. lol

[Caladin]

hams to calves or ass to the floor. well unless there is a box

[RedMeat]

Think of you knees as hinges and they are made to open and contract, not stop half way. Therefore when you squat and that is back or front squats go ass to the grass your knees don't have to catch you halfway and your gluts catch you at the bottom and in my case my gluts are larger than my quads therefore can handle the weight.

[fog_hat1981]

Originally Posted by RedMeat

Think of you knees as hinges and they are made to open and contract, not stop half way. Therefore when you squat and that is back or front squats go ass to the grass your knees don't have to catch you halfway and your gluts catch you at the bottom and in my case my gluts are larger than my quads therefore can handle the weight.

[mastakillah]

Red Meat, damn thats a good way of lookin at it. I'll have to tell fools that next time they say dont go past parallel.

[beefcake]

Originally Posted by mastakillah

Red Meat, damn thats a good way of lookin at it. I'll have to tell fools that next time they say dont go past parallel.

This is true. Another way to put it simply is that stopping half way is technically using your joints as the brakes, instead of allowing your calves and hams to naturally brake you.