How do you squat?

[CrazyShane]

ass to the ground, its the only way i know how and I am 6-1

[SpeedyReedy5]

I go parallel because its less stress on the knees...going hams to calves F**k's with your knees in the long run you might start to get arthritis

[NYCmitch25]

I go parallel because its less stress on the knees...going hams to calves F**k's with your knees in the long run you might start to get arthritis

its a myth... its been disproved

[Mr I]

Please note sig. lol :nerdnew:

Ref your sig

Not to be annoying and to be honest, when I squat I'm not sure where I stop, I probably go below parrallel and I tend to find pointing my toes and knees outwards like 30 degrees comfortable, but I certainly make the concious effort to slow down towards the bottom.

This brings me to my question, if you don't use your knees/quads as brakes then what slows you down? or do you just wait for something to go crack in your knees at the bottom before you think about coming up?

[jwoody]

This brings me to my question, if you don't use your knees/quads as brakes then what slows you down? or do you just wait for something to go crack in your knees at the bottom before you think about coming up?

Well for me, by going all the way down I stop when my calves touch my hams basically, so that is the stopping point, then no where else to go but up.

[Control]

Ref your sig

Not to be annoying and to be honest, when I squat I'm not sure where I stop, I probably go below parrallel and I tend to find pointing my toes and knees outwards like 30 degrees comfortable, but I certainly make the concious effort to slow down towards the bottom.

This brings me to my question, if you don't use your knees/quads as brakes then what slows you down? or do you just wait for something to go crack in your knees at the bottom before you think about coming up?

Have you ever heard the saying "sit in your hips"? That's basically what you're trying to do. For anybody who's learning to squat (or learning to squat deep) the best way to start off is box-squating. I'll find a link....

[Control]

By Louie Simmons:

Now, how do you do a box squat? They are performed just like regular squats. Fill your abdomen with air, and push out against your belt. Push your knees out as far as possible to the sides and with a tightly arched back, squat back, not down, until you completely sit on the box. Every muscle is kept tight while on the box with the exception of the hip flexors. By releasing and then contracting the hip flexors and arching the upper back, you will jump off the box, building tremendous starting strength. Remember to sit back and down, not straight down. Your hamstrings will be strengthened to a high degree, which is essential. Many don't know this, but the hamstrings are hip extensors. Some great squatters have large quads and some do not, but they all have large hamstrings where they tie into the glutes. Remember to sit on the box completely and flex off.

[Control]

By Louie Simmons:

Now, how do you do a box squat? They are performed just like regular squats. Fill your abdomen with air, and push out against your belt. Push your knees out as far as possible to the sides and with a tightly arched back, squat back, not down, until you completely sit on the box. Every muscle is kept tight while on the box with the exception of the hip flexors. By releasing and then contracting the hip flexors and arching the upper back, you will jump off the box, building tremendous starting strength. Remember to sit back and down, not straight down. Your hamstrings will be strengthened to a high degree, which is essential. Many don't know this, but the hamstrings are hip extensors. Some great squatters have large quads and some do not, but they all have large hamstrings where they tie into the glutes. Remember to sit on the box completely and flex off.

"Why does this box style of squatting teach one to squat properly. Because after squatting back so far and releasing the hip and lower oblique muscles, you must first raise the head to raise out of a deep squat. If while descending into a squat, the glutes go back first, then the head must move last. Right? The opposite of this eccentric phase is an concentric contraction, or raising. It only stands to reason that the head must raise first, and the glutes will follow.
We see many lifters get bowed over coming up from a squat because they push with their feet first instead of their head. We are trying to raise the bar, so why not push against the bar first?"

[Control]

If you scroll down there's a video of a box squat under "squat assists"

http://www.joeskopec.com/assist.html

[Mr I]

Thanks control thats helpful. I'll try put that into practice. The one thing I do know is to keep the head up, one you drop your head its game over

[Control]

Thanks control thats helpful. I'll try put that into practice. The one thing I do know is to keep the head up, one you drop your head its game over

Yes, and eyes forward. Looking side-to-side will throw you off.

[Knoxville]

Parallel for me. The Powerlifting circuit that I have competed in states you only need to go parallel. BUT, i'm training for the strength. In competitions, you wrap your knees with an Inzer (other ones out there) stretch wrap. In that case, my knees are more like springs. With a squat suit on and knees wrapped, you can EASILY add 10% to your squat. I have put up 600# on a squat going parallel this way, it'll make you grunt, but the successful lift is a rush like none other.

[Nekrawulf]

uhhh how did this thread end up so high on the training forum... WTF?

[gdbear65]

uhhh how did this thread end up so high on the training forum... WTF?

some voted in the poll - maybe polls should have a cut-off date