Apologies if this question has been asked, but I have searched and not found the answer.
Im thinking of buying some oly shoes to squat in. Im 6’2, with long bird legs and dont have the best ankle flexibility. My question is assuming oly shoes will help me achieve greater depth when back squatting, will this also help me activate/use more muscle?
For bonus points: Does one have to be concerned with lower back rounding when front squatting, or is there not enough pressure placed on the lower back in this case that its not worth worrying about?
Oly shoes are great for guys who squat with narrower stance such as high bar and front squatting. They will definetlt allow for greater depth but anyone who has good ankle mobility should limit them. I had awesome flexibility and I started using Oly shoes for all my squatting and I decided to switch to some wide stance flat foot squatting my mobility had diminished alot. I now use them for nothing but overhead press.
I am sure the more range of motion you can get out of squats the more muscles you will activate during squat espeacially in the posterior chain.
Obviously in any squat you need to worry about keeping your lower back tight and straight as possible through the lift. A few of the reasons you hear front squats are not as bad on the lower back is because once you get heavy if your upper back that fails not generally you lower. Also in a heavy back squat if you lean over you can still muscle through which can be hazardous to your lower back. Although in a front squat chances are you lean over the weight is going to crash to the floor before you could do any serious damage.