The move away from equipped lifting has definitely shifted the focus for sure. With a squat suit on you want to load up the suit as much as possible, which means a stance like Tate has above, and you are using weight that you simply couldn’t handle with significant knee travel. Without a suit that extreme is definitely not going to be your biggest squat as so the emphasis shifts forward so you are balancing getting the most out of your quads and glutes with the minimum ROM at each joint (in the context of a max squat). The ‘sweet spot’ for everyone is going to vary depending on individual leverages and hip anatomy and ability to get into different positions. You might even find a few big raw squatters with very narrow stances, but there could be a number of factors causing them to use that, like its the only position they can hit depth with.
Id argue Amit is on the narrow side for sure, but still wider than @Bagsy from what I can see and he is far more vertical at the bottom.
@Bagsy Sorry for the derail here, and im not trying to demolish your squat. It looks good and I’m just talking tweaks based on the issues you identified.
I’m just speaking in principle. Muscle/strength is built most efficiently at > 50% 1RM tho as low as 30% 1RM will do. In the context of pull ups body weight may well be sufficient. For some people like @whang who are less proficient they may find bodyweight is full on strength training at higher percentages of 1RM. Efficiency is the key word here because sure u can get stronger in less efficient ways but most people want a bit more bang for buck if possible.
I hesitate to use anecdote to justify anything unless it’s pretty close which I ain’t in this case like ima male around 90kg with best pull up +55kg strapped to my nutz because there’s a lot of individual difference to training response.
Thanks all for the discussion. I feel the root of the problem is that I feel most “comfortable” squatting using my current stance and amount of knee travel, which favors my weak legs and therefore doesn’t make my life easier. Maybe I could throw more weight on the bar if I changed things, but it’s not like I’m necessarily getting stronger while doing that. I don’t care about absolute 1RMS, and though I prioritize strength over pure aesthetics, I also think my lack of muscle mass hinders my lifts.
Not that the provided examples are bad, but to also consider women, look at Marisa Inda’s squat. Very narrow.
Also, I again also think that @guineapig forgets that I am someone who can barely crank out BW movements as it is and will probably never in my life load them with as much weight mentioned in his examples. It’s not like I can do 20 pull ups right now. I mostly do sets of 6 during a session – I don’t feel this indicates an urgent need to do weighted reps to get stronger on this movement.
Do you have a pull-up bar somewhere friendly so you can just sneak reps in during the week or would you like a progression that works very well to add some reps into your warm-up without fatiguing you that’ll increase your pull-up work capacity quite quickly or are you happy with what you’re doing now?
For sure, but getting better at everything is a goal. And not everything can be of paramount importance. Don’t need to do weighted chins for reps tomorrow. Besides, my recovery is poor enough in a caloric deficit, and weight loss already makes me “better” at pull ups anyway.
That I managed to lift today is a miracle. The past several days have been miserable – long working hours every day since Wednesday, and then I couldn’t sleep probably from all the stress. Woke up at 3 AM and did this on < 4 hours rest. With that said, I’m pleasantly surprised by squats today. Thought I’d barely get 5 reps. I think my form deteriorated on the last 2-3 reps though.
Sorry to revive the derail but my brain hasn’t been my friend. Let’s say your goal is max poundage (raw). You have okay dorsiflexion . You’re hip dominant. Does oly shoes help or are they forcing you into a style that’ll be weaker? Just theoretically. I’m asking for me, but I’m not sure flat soles are pain free at the hip joint. Trying to figure out if it’s worth exploring flat soles.
. You’re hip dominant. Does oly shoes help or are they forcing you into a style that’ll be weaker? Just theoretically. I’m asking for me, but I’m not sure flat soles are pain free at the hip joint. Trying to figure out if it’s worth exploring flat soles.