How do people feel about squatting parallel or an inch above? I have just finished my first workout where I squat in forever. I always expereince lower back pain and shoulder pain. I tried some of the advice in the Tnation article called the truth about squatting deep I went slow and stayed tight and squatted to parallel or just above and I had my first pain free squat for the first time I can remember.
Most were parallel but some were just high. How do people feel about the depth issue?
[quote]Musashi92 wrote:
How do people feel about squatting parallel or an inch above? I have just finished my first workout where I squat in forever. I always expereince lower back pain and shoulder pain. I tried some of the advice in the Tnation article called the truth about squatting deep I went slow and stayed tight and squatted to parallel or just above and I had my first pain free squat for the first time I can remember.
Most were parallel but some were just high. How do people feel about the depth issue?[/quote]
If you can only squat to parallel or just above pain free, then that’s as low as you go.
[quote]Musashi92 wrote:
How do people feel about squatting parallel or an inch above? I have just finished my first workout where I squat in forever. I always expereince lower back pain and shoulder pain. I tried some of the advice in the Tnation article called the truth about squatting deep I went slow and stayed tight and squatted to parallel or just above and I had my first pain free squat for the first time I can remember.
Most were parallel but some were just high. How do people feel about the depth issue?[/quote]
Good article - like the guy above stated, if you can go parallel, then go parallel. I like watching Mark Rippetoe videos on squat form, really helped me squat without the knee and back pain.
I’d think about a Boring But Big (BBB) type of split (for me, it’s a good way to get the volume needed to grow, and not get stuck doing the same thing every other day):
Day one - press 5/3/1 sets, rows, triceps, triceps triceps
Day two - deadlift 5/3/1 sets, hamstring stuff, and either some direct single-leg work or prowler/sled pushing/pulling
Day three - press 5x10 (50-70%), assistance work fewer reps, but heavier weight than day one
Day four - deadlift 5x10 (50-70%), assistance work fewer reps, but heavier weight than day two
As a side note that you can take or leave, if you have figured out a way to deadlift without hurting yourself, squats should be possible for you. For no other reason than to make your deadlift better. My personal experience is that when my squat goes up, my deadlift goes up (and not necessarily the other way around). Even if all you can handle is low weight/high rep work to build muscle, it’s worth considering. At the end of the day, at least you deadlift.
Possibly useful: I had trouble with my knee for decades due to an anomalous knee cap shape (at least that was the diagnosis). What I found helps a lot is a little wider stance, focusing on sitting back into the squat (initiating the movement with the hips), and wearing knee sleeves (the SBD ones are awesome) from my last warm up set upwards.
Good luck!