I like this thread. OP comes in here with his half squat, gets some dickish (deservedly) responses, and keeps a good attitude and probly becomes a better squatter because of it. Pretty awesome for a public forum if you ask me.
Btw my “squat” looked about exactly like that when I first came here too.
[quote]mkral55 wrote:
I like this thread. OP comes in here with his half squat, gets some dickish (deservedly) responses, and keeps a good attitude and probly becomes a better squatter because of it. Pretty awesome for a public forum if you ask me.
Btw my “squat” looked about exactly like that when I first came here too.[/quote]
I wouldn’t say deservedly. Hahah. I came here seeking advice, not insults. I’m not quite sure why every post must have more insults than actual advice, ya know? Well anyways, I finally got below parallel today. I found the just sitting in the squatted position acting as if I’m hold the bar helps. I would hold it for about 30 seconds at a time. Did this for the past couple days. Going to ad weight on monday.
[quote]Aidan76543 wrote:
[quote]mkral55 wrote:
I like this thread. OP comes in here with his half squat, gets some dickish (deservedly) responses, and keeps a good attitude and probly becomes a better squatter because of it. Pretty awesome for a public forum if you ask me.
Btw my “squat” looked about exactly like that when I first came here too.[/quote]
I wouldn’t say deservedly. Hahah. I came here seeking advice, not insults. I’m not quite sure why every post must have more insults than actual advice, ya know? Well anyways, I finally got below parallel today. I found the just sitting in the squatted position acting as if I’m hold the bar helps. I would hold it for about 30 seconds at a time. Did this for the past couple days. Going to ad weight on monday.[/quote]
Think of it as tough love. Everyone sounds angry on the internet. Id say the exact same words to someone in person, but it would sound supportive somehow. At least I think it would, maybe we are just all assholes.
[quote]mkral55 wrote:
Think of it as tough love. Everyone sounds angry on the internet. Id say the exact same words to someone in person, but it would sound supportive somehow. At least I think it would, maybe we are just all assholes. [/quote]
In case this is serious, just going to echo what many have already said. That video wasn’t close to a parallel squat. Less weight, more depth, practice practice until you can do more weight with proper depth. Video directly from the side, make sure every single rep of every single set the crease of your hip goes below your kneecap.
[quote]T3hPwnisher wrote:
[quote]Sam_Boy wrote:
@ T3hPwnisher Cheers just wanted to make sure, well I am steadily increasing weight at parallel with no knee or ankle problems and the next day my glutes and quads hurt so guess that means carry on as I am?
[/quote]
If the goal of your squatting is to steadily increase weight at parallel with no knee or ankle problems and the next day your glutes and quads hurt, then your technique is meeting your goals. If that is not your goal, you have to ask if this technique is meeting your goal.[/quote]
My goal is to steadily increase weight squatting exactly as you say for hypertrophy purposes, the next day my knee and ankles don’t hurt and my quads and glutes do so all good im guessing right.
I just read somewhere that going lower is sometimes better on the knees if you have the flexibility is there any truth in that?
Like a few people mentioned, I’d drop the back squat for a bit, maybe even a month if you are training legs regularly (2x/week).
Goblets help with the issue of depth. Dan John is the king of goblet squats, look up those articles here. Practice with a fairly close stance (half width of your current one).
Also, this isn’t a box squat promotion, but squat to a box from now until you figure out where depth is. We can all argue about box height, but a 12" box is a good goal. I’m 5’9" and use 12" for back squatting, no problem. I do “heavy” depth work for BS to a 9" box (narrower stance), but can sit on a box at 6" while goblet squatting. I have tall clients and friends 6’2"+ that can squat 300+ to a 12" box no sweat.
A common progression is goblets for squatting (plus various non barbell leg work as accessory), then front squatting/zerchers, then BS with regards to depth.
Good luck. A lot of us started in this boat. Give the goblets-> front squat progression at least a month.
Also, stretch the hell out of your quads and hip flexors, every fucking day. 2-3 min each leg, minimum lol.
[quote]Sam_Boy wrote:
My goal is to steadily increase weight squatting exactly as you say for hypertrophy purposes, the next day my knee and ankles don’t hurt and my quads and glutes do so all good im guessing right.
I just read somewhere that going lower is sometimes better on the knees if you have the flexibility is there any truth in that?
[/quote]
I would say, based on the above, your goal is simply hypertrophy, and increaing weight is the method.
Don’t guess all is good, measure using a metric. If your goal is hypertrophy, take measurements of your legs and ensure that your method is helping you meet your goal. If it is, then all is good. If not, make adjustments. You may find that you need to squat deeper or shallower to meet your goal, or you need to bring your feet in or spread them out, or the bar needs to be higher or lower, etc.
In general, do what it takes to reach whatever your goal is, regardless of what is “right”.
Your feet are way to wide for squatting raw.
Can you squat down to ATG without a bar and keep your heels flat and a somewhat upright posture? If not keep at it until you do. Then you proceed on to the bar.
[quote]T3hPwnisher wrote:
[quote]Sam_Boy wrote:
My goal is to steadily increase weight squatting exactly as you say for hypertrophy purposes, the next day my knee and ankles don’t hurt and my quads and glutes do so all good im guessing right.
I just read somewhere that going lower is sometimes better on the knees if you have the flexibility is there any truth in that?
[/quote]
I would say, based on the above, your goal is simply hypertrophy, and increaing weight is the method.
Don’t guess all is good, measure using a metric. If your goal is hypertrophy, take measurements of your legs and ensure that your method is helping you meet your goal. If it is, then all is good. If not, make adjustments. You may find that you need to squat deeper or shallower to meet your goal, or you need to bring your feet in or spread them out, or the bar needs to be higher or lower, etc.
In general, do what it takes to reach whatever your goal is, regardless of what is “right”.[/quote]
Yep cheers mate
I am thinking of investing in a squat box anyone use these? any thoughts? I want to use it to be able to go lower and get a bigger ROM for growth but without the risk of collapsing at the bottom.
I’d just look up how to make one. The one’s you buy are pretty pricey. And even if you don’t regularly incorporate squats, just for the sake of your health, I’d at least figure out how to squat parallel with a goblet squat. That way, you don’t end up hurting yourself if you go below the ROM you’re used just playing a pick up game of basketball or what have you.
I can squat parallel with goblet, front squat and back squat with no issue, I actually go below parallel a bit but I’m planning on pushing my squat pretty hard soon and am just thinking that if I have something there I can go lower with less fear of not coming back up.
They really are pricey aren’t they, I’m looking at making one maybe out of the kind of plastic reinforced bottle crate workman stand on, cant think what they are called though.
[quote]FISCHER613 wrote:
Your feet are way to wide for squatting raw.
Can you squat down to ATG without a bar and keep your heels flat and a somewhat upright posture? If not keep at it until you do. Then you proceed on to the bar.
[/quote]
No. I have never been able to get below parallel without bad knee and hip pain. Even without the bar. Just from what I’ve been doing lately, I can’t even get anywhere near competition standards even with my heels elevated a bit and my shoes off. It’s a pretty shitty situation.
I think that many of us have been in your situation and it required a lot of stretching, technique, dumbell and empty bar work in order to get out of it. You’ve got some great advice here. Check out the article “Third World Squat” on this website, look into some of Kelly Starrett’s squat mobility exercises, and hammer out those goblet squats and front squats before you proceed to back squats again. Timed, weighted holds with perfect posture in the lowest position you can possibly achieve in a goblet squat work wonders. Good luck!
If you can’t squat deep enough right now, don’t sweat it. Work on these two things: #1 goblet squat as deep as you comfortably can, pausing at the bottom; #2 squat to a box, set the box as high as you need to where you can squat correctly, sitting back and keeping the weight on your heels.
Over time you will be able to get deeper with #1 and lower the box on #2. But the key is to start where you are and not try to force a depth right away at which you can’t perform the movements correctly.
[quote]Aidan76543 wrote:
[quote]FISCHER613 wrote:
Your feet are way to wide for squatting raw.
Can you squat down to ATG without a bar and keep your heels flat and a somewhat upright posture? If not keep at it until you do. Then you proceed on to the bar.
[/quote]
No. I have never been able to get below parallel without bad knee and hip pain. Even without the bar. Just from what I’ve been doing lately, I can’t even get anywhere near competition standards even with my heels elevated a bit and my shoes off. It’s a pretty shitty situation.[/quote]
I haven’t really been following along so forgive me if I’m misunderstanding or repeating others.
I use to squat very wide, I thought that was the way to big numbers. I had the same issues, knees hurt, hips hurt, etc…
I switch to front squat going as deep as I could for about a month and then added back squats back in to my routine using a more Olympic style squat. The warm-up and early sets are as deep as possible (maybe 1-2" off the ground) and even on work sets going deeper than any federation would require. My knees, back, and hips have never felt better. I mean within a few weeks it was nigh and day. A complete 180 in how I felt. Just my .02 cents, hope it helps.