I have been parrallel squating for quite a while now and have never even considered going deep. After reading about deep squatting and its benefits/risks on here I decided to give it a go today.
A little background. I had complete knee reconstruction on my right knee at age 16 (now 22). ACL, MCL, LCL the works. Took me a while to rehab but I got there and started doing squats again, of course they were parrallel cause I was always told, “Don’t go too far, you will get injured.”
So I listened to what I was told and fought through the subsequent pain. I fell out of lifting when I joined the Navy and just recently (3 months ago) returned to the world I love. Needless to say I went back to parrallel squats. I found that I now had a 2 inch (approximate) range of motion where the pain was excrutiating. From about parrallel to about two inches above and then the pain would subside.
So, like a pussy, I wrapped them bitches up and the pain was reduced but still evident. Now to my experience with deep squats.
Today I decided to try deep squats and see how they shifted the focus on joint pressure. I had been doing 425 X 6 parrallel so I figured I better drop that, especially since I have a new respect for raw lifts. Warmed up 135 ass to calves for 15, no pain. Went to 225 for 10, no pain. Went to my target weight 315 X 8 and guess what? NO PAIN. I did 3 sets at 315 X 8 and felt like my body as born again.
My quads felt attacked and my knees felt like they did before the workout. My hips felt different, not hurt, but worked physically. I am now a deep squatter for good. This experience may not be the same for everyone but it changed my perspective on legs. Maybe now I can finally have my giant quads back.
Thank you to everyone for all the information I was able to read on this subject. Just thought I’d share this, hopefully this is the right part of the forum.