I’ll be lifting in an IPF affiliated organization (Ontario Powerlifting Association) I’ve been watching some videos of IPF lifters and they have to go very deep in the squat. I’ve always gone to parallel in the gym. My question is…
I seem to have a lot of trouble breaking parallel with the same weight I squat to parallel with. Does anyone have any tips when trying to break parallel? How much should I lighten the load of my 1rm? (currently 345) And should I break parallel in the gym on regular training days or should I save it for meet days?
Tips with trying to go below parallel? Go deeper than parallel, haha.
If you are training for meets, then you should definitely be using the depth that you will be using in competition. A great tool is a digital camera with video function. I videotape almost all of my squats from the side at knee height to make sure I’m breaking parallel on each rep.
My guess is that you’ll be using at LEAST 20lbs less breaking parallel, but give it a try and see what happens.
The rule is that the crease of the hip must go lower then the top of the knee. If you aren’t getting that low then you shouldn’t count it as your max. Just work with whatever weight you can get that low with and work your way back up.
I’m the VP of the APU (Alberta Powerlifting Union) the Alberta equivilant of the OPA.
The IPF rules state…
Upon receiving the Chief Referee�??s signal the lifter must bend the knees and lower the body until the
top surface of the legs at the hip joint is lower than the top of the knees. Only one decent attempt is
allowed. The attempt is deemed to have commenced when the lifters knees have unlocked. The bar may
move from its starting position downwards on the lifters back the thickness / diameter of the bar during
the performance of the lift.
The lifter must recover at will to an upright position with the knees locked. Double bouncing at the
bottom of the squat attempt or any downward movement is not permitted. When the lifter is motionless (in the apparent final position) the Chief Referee will give the signal to rack the bar.
To increase your depth you should be doing dynamic stretching before each workout, as Matt said try videotaping each squat session and evaluate it afterwards for flaws. You should also try tweaking your stance, maybe a closer/wider stance is your calling?
[quote]Donut62 wrote:
If you are squatting wide right now, bringing in your stance will make hitting depth easier.[/quote]
The problem seems to be he can’t squat as much low as he can high… I dunno if he’s actually literally struggling for depth. I agree with what you’re saying about the closer stance tho!!
And OP, take all your reps in training to the depth they need to be for competition. Or perhaps even lower. At least that way if you cut it higher than normal you still have a chance of getting it in.
looks like I’ll be moving my squatting inside the cage.
I’ll take a video on my next ME squat day and post it up in the Westside Powerlifting thread so you guys can have a look and let me know if it’ll pass in a meet. thanks!