I think it’s because there’s a lot of additional propulsion coming out of the hole. Know what I’m saying?
Stopping at parallel just doesn’t feel very natural to me…
Think of it this way: Tribesmen and people who don’t know SHIT about anatomy or the internet or anything outside of their village all squat down full depth when just chillin’ around. Coincidence?
The torque arm at your knee is longest at parallel (the longest horizontal distance from knee to hip). Below parallel you are actually shortening the moment arm. You are also probably getting some compressive forces at the knee that may assist some.
You are however doing more work going deeper.
You may just need some getting used to parallel squats.
i think ATG gives you just the slightest bounce at the bottom… perhaps making it a bit easier… whereas in a parallel squat you have to emphasize control on the eccentric portion. I personally have short legs so parallel makes more sense for me… my lower back rounds out on a deep atg squat.
Not, really. If you are talking about the same weight on the bar, ATG is harder for most people period. One can look at difference in the weights one uses between ATG and parellel. You just have to get used to doing the parallel movement again as you did ATG for years.
[quote]DoubleDuce wrote:
The torque arm at your knee is longest at parallel (the longest horizontal distance from knee to hip). Below parallel you are actually shortening the moment arm. You are also probably getting some compressive forces at the knee that may assist some.
You are however doing more work going deeper.
You may just need some getting used to parallel squats.
[/quote]
That does make sense as the sticking point of heavy squats seems to be right at parallel instead of out of the hole.
Unless going into the 2-3 rep range which I rarely do I am now a believer in lightening the load a little bit and focusing on full ROM and contraction of the muscle. Also making sure I’m putting the load on the muscle I want trained instead of just lifting the weight.
Building up my upper chest that way has led me to do it on a lot of my exercises and I’ve made a lot of improvements since doing that.
As far as your question or thought it could be that your body is used to ATG now so if your doing a partial with heavier weight you body is just confused.
It could also be that you are now consciously stopping the weight at parallel forcing your body to use the quads to stop the weight and then contract to move it.
Before when you went parallel then your mind/quads thought that once you hit around parallel that you were at the bottom of the movement and the muscles were firing different than they do now.
If you are focusing on muscle growth then you want to activate as many muscles as you can during the squat. The amount of weight you lift is irrevelant. The amount of force generated per unit of muscle is what matters. So BB’ers should go as deep as possible even if that means lightening the load.
You’ll see many athletes only go to parallel because they are concerned more with strength, ie: moving as much weight as possible, and not many sports require anything approaching ATG (save for OL).
Sticking point in the squat will typically be the point of most resistance. This will be around parallel but can differ depending on your form. ATG’s are harder and require less weight mostly due to the range of motion being used as you have to contract the muscles to a greater extent over a longer duration. So, if you are strongest at parallel you can’t use that same weight to go below parallel.
going to parallel puts the greatest stress on the knees. When you go lower, the hamstrings become involved, so it is actually easier on your quads to go A2G than parallel
Think of it this way: Tribesmen and people who don’t know SHIT about anatomy or the internet or anything outside of their village all squat down full depth when just chillin’ around. Coincidence?[/quote]
They would also round their back when picking up a big ass rock. Natural doesn’t always mean better/safer.
[quote]plateau wrote:
I’m pretty sure partial movements for all exercises are easier than full ROM.[/quote]
I understand why, but my question was more specific. Reversing the movement is harder at parallel than ATG, at least for me. I can squat heavier if I stop below parallel or above, but right at midpoint I have to lighten the load.
[quote]Anonymas wrote:
going to parallel puts the greatest stress on the knees. When you go lower, the hamstrings become involved, so it is actually easier on your quads to go A2G than parallel
[/quote]
correct form for parallel squat places pretty much all the stress on the most powerful glute/hams. that’s why you lift a ton in that form.
and hang cleans harder than normal cleans albeit partial.