Squat depth
llfretwell
Posts: 218 Member
Squats. I'm trying to squat deep but I'm not sure if I'm going deep enough. Are my legs REQUIRED to be parallel with the floor? I'm not quite there yet. Should I keep increasing the weight even though my legs aren't parallel with the floor or should I stay at a certain weight until I achieve that?
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Make sure your low back isn't rounding at the bottom if you try to go deep. I had a personal trainer raise my squat depth up because of "butt wink", even at low weights. I can still feel it in my glutes if my stance is wide enough and I think about lifting with them. I also do other exercises to make sure I'm hitting the hammies and glutes.0
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Not squatting to parallel or slightly below puts you at greater risk of injury. It is not recommended to increase weight until you get your form down as the added weight increases your chance of injury even more.
Are you having problems with the mechanics of the squat or mobility issues? Or other issue that is causing you to not hit parallel?0 -
You really should try to work on depth. Try box squats and play with your stance a bit before you increase too much.
I wouldn't go up in weight if your flexibility isn't quite there yet - might as well do squats for all that they're worth, and half squats work pretty much just the quads (and are not all that great for knees)0 -
You should be hitting AT LEAST parallel, but ideally you want your hip joints to break past parallel of your knee joints. Quarter and half squats are worse on your knees and ankles than full squats.
If you can't do this with the weight you currently have, you'll need to drop your weight. THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH THAT! I recently dropped my weight from 175 pounds to 115 to correct my form. I too wasn't breaking parallel. Since I've fixed my form, my glutes have really gotten strong and grown (squat booty for the win!).0 -
If you have problems with hip flexibility (as I do) try third world squats and Joe DeFranco's Limber 11.0
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Squat depth is so big for me. I squat deep but I've come to realize I have a definite butt wink. Uh oh! Obviously, I should work on flexibility and lower the weight, right? I've been doing 5x5 for about 7 months now. Squat has been stuck around 115-125lbs since September, deadlift is only going up and I just did 210lbs on Monday; I'm loving this program but I'm noticing I want to be more exact with my technique. I'm also trying to help some mom friends start the program so I want to be able to talk about the form well too!0
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The crease of your hip should be at or below the top of the knee.0
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I've been wondering about this too. What if you're really close to parallel but not quite there? Still deload or just maintain weight and keep working on depth?0
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Swoon at SS's arms lol
Ahem, sorry carry on0 -
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Hahaha given my status update today I can see that conclusion being drawn lol
But seriously - look at them!! Look at theeeeeeeem!0 -
Wish gym had a mirror to the side of the cage that had easy access... And that is the first time I've wished for a mirror of any type. hmmm interesting.
Oh and *looks*
Had to refer to the gay boys in my head to validate though on the arm viewing.
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But seriously - look at them!! Look at theeeeeeeem!
"so there was this guy in this thread . . ."
@llfretwell, my muggle's way of explaining the thing to myself is that squats are stronger when you 'load' your hamstrings, i.e. stretch them out tight enough that they actually want to re-shorten themselves and push you upright again. and from my best guess about how anatomy works, that doesn't really happen until/unless your hip crease gets low enough relative to your knees. credit to mark rippetoe for turning this lightbulb on in my head after SIX MONTHS of me hearing the words used and just not getting it in actual practical terms.
prior to that parallel point, your hamstrings aren't taking full part in the equation so more of the weight and more of the work has to be done by your quads. and about my own experience of how that worked out for my knees: what krok said. at least one quad muscle crosses all the way over your kneecap, so stretching that muscle tight and then shortening it again means you're squooshing your kneecaps against the cartilage/bone underneath with every rep - and the force is worse every time you add 5 more pounds to your load.
whereas hamstrings don't go anywhere near your kneecap and so it's much more comfortable to let them do much more of the work. it's just mechanically more possible to let them get in on the act if you get low.
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Thank ya'll so very much for all of the advice. I think I'll watch some videos on form. My husband lifts also and has been encouraging me to watch them.
With that being said, I think I'll go ahead and deload today to work on it. So... how should I do that? Right now I'm only squatting at 100 lbs. (I've only been doing SL for a month). How much lower should I go with the weight and do I have to decrease gradually?0 -
llfretwell wrote: »Thank ya'll so very much for all of the advice. I think I'll watch some videos on form. My husband lifts also and has been encouraging me to watch them.
With that being said, I think I'll go ahead and deload today to work on it. So... how should I do that? Right now I'm only squatting at 100 lbs. (I've only been doing SL for a month). How much lower should I go with the weight and do I have to decrease gradually?
How much lower you go on the weight depends on you. Pick a weight that is "easy" to squat so you can move it fairly easily with proper form. (When I deloaded, I went from 175 pounds to 115 pounds because I knew 115 would be easy for me after working with much higher weights.) You may be able to drop from 100 to around 65 as a re-start weight. If that is still too heavy, nothing wrong with dropping more. Make sure (either via video or with a spotter) that you have proper form at whatever weight you decide to restart at, if you don't then you'll want to drop a bit more (if possible).
You can also start your set today with nothing (just do some air squats) to check your form. You'll want to watch from the side so you can see how low you get to make sure you are able to get past parallel.
I didn't decrease gradually (went from 175 one day to 115 the next lifting day). It hasn't hurt my progress since.0 -
llfretwell wrote: »Thank ya'll so very much for all of the advice. I think I'll watch some videos on form. My husband lifts also and has been encouraging me to watch them.
With that being said, I think I'll go ahead and deload today to work on it. So... how should I do that? Right now I'm only squatting at 100 lbs. (I've only been doing SL for a month). How much lower should I go with the weight and do I have to decrease gradually?
Do some box squats with bodyweight only. If you can't reach a knee high box that way, stick to that until you can. Maybe find a higher bench and work on reaching it, then work your way down. (try not to sit on the box but just touch your butt. You want to practice staying tight all the way through even. This is not box squats where you try to generate all the power from a prone sitting position, you're just using a guide to know you've reached depth)
If you don't have access to boxes, most benches will do. My gym also has some big medicine balls which are a pretty good size for that too, so you can look around and be creative
If you got this with bodyweight, try 45 (the bar) for a set of 5. If you can still reach the box, jump up by 10lbs until your form breaks down. Then scale back to the previous weight and work your way back up from there for the following workouts. If you struggle with 45, stay there and use the lowering box trick and make sure your form is tight until you have it down pat.0 -
Is butt wink when you arch your back?0
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MissHolidayGolightly wrote: »Is butt wink when you arch your back?
Butt wink is actually when your tailbone tucks under as you reach a certain depth, which leads to lower back rounding, actually. I like this picture to show it:
http://deansomerset.com/butt-wink-aout-hamstrings/0 -
Xcalygrl, thank you! I will play around with the weight today to see what works for me.
Krokador, what a good idea! I have never heard of doing that. My husband and I lift at home, but I'll see today if our bench is a good height to do box squats. If not, I'll try to find something else. Thank you for that idea!0 -
So how does one work on getting rid of butt wink (LOL)? Is it a flexibility issue or an anatomy issue? In other words... can it be fixed? I think I do this, and I know I'm not very flexible.
(Now I see the box squats mentioned above). Another question... if you stick your butt out really far to prevent butt wink, isn't that arching your back in the other direction? Is that safe? I find it makes my back very sore (my spine).0 -
Thanks for Googling that for me
I don't think I do that but will make sure today. 0 -
So how does one work on getting rid of butt wink (LOL)? Is it a flexibility issue or an anatomy issue? In other words... can it be fixed? I think I do this, and I know I'm not very flexible.
This is one of my questions as well, how to fix it! (I clearly don't know how to quote properly)0 -
So how does one work on getting rid of butt wink (LOL)? Is it a flexibility issue or an anatomy issue? In other words... can it be fixed? I think I do this, and I know I'm not very flexible.
(Now I see the box squats mentioned above). Another question... if you stick your butt out really far to prevent butt wink, isn't that arching your back in the other direction? Is that safe? I find it makes my back very sore (my spine).
Oh and to clarify, I watched form videos so I know I should keep my upper back tight, chest out, head looking ahead, break at the knees first and push knees out, toes turned out a bit. But I can still feel a bit o' butt wink.0 -
Mewlingstork wrote: »So how does one work on getting rid of butt wink (LOL)? Is it a flexibility issue or an anatomy issue? In other words... can it be fixed? I think I do this, and I know I'm not very flexible.
This is one of my questions as well, how to fix it! (I clearly don't know how to quote properly)
I think the MFP forums are tricky when it comes to quotes too as I just had to edit MY post as well! And I thought I was tech savvy! :P
The article I linked below the picture seemed to address it pretty well (here it is again: http://deansomerset.com/butt-wink-aout-hamstrings/), there are many other really good sources out there you can google, but the bottom line tends to be
1- Work on mobility
2- Play around with stance/bar position to feel your anatomical advantages
3- Work on core stability and strength
4- Some people just aren't meant to squat ATG, but everyone should be able to hit parallel0 -
In addition to mobility sometimes butt wink is caused by underactive or weak hamstrings.0
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I forgot to say one would typically only squat a ATG if they are high bar or front squatting. With a typical low bar stance you would ideally squat below parallel, but not ATG as you're sticking your butt back not dropping straight down. What do I know though I'm just a meathead.0
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Yes, but you're my favorite meathead!Fittreelol wrote: »I forgot to say one would typically only squat a ATG if they are high bar or front squatting. With a typical low bar stance you would ideally squat below parallel, but not ATG as you're sticking your butt back not dropping straight down. What do I know though I'm just a meathead.
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Mewlingstork wrote: »So how does one work on getting rid of butt wink (LOL)? Is it a flexibility issue or an anatomy issue? In other words... can it be fixed? I think I do this, and I know I'm not very flexible.
This is one of my questions as well, how to fix it! (I clearly don't know how to quote properly)
I think the MFP forums are tricky when it comes to quotes too as I just had to edit MY post as well! And I thought I was tech savvy! :P
The article I linked below the picture seemed to address it pretty well (here it is again: http://deansomerset.com/butt-wink-aout-hamstrings/), there are many other really good sources out there you can google, but the bottom line tends to be
1- Work on mobility
2- Play around with stance/bar position to feel your anatomical advantages
3- Work on core stability and strength
4- Some people just aren't meant to squat ATG, but everyone should be able to hit parallel
Bwahahah I definitely meant "squat" not "quote".
I guess it's time to actually start stretching. Hopefully I do it for more than 2 days this time around...0 -
This was part of my check-in today, but I think it makes more sense to throw it out to all ya'll here:
I think I had a bit of an epiphany with squat form today. I think my lower leg (tibia, fibia, etc.) might literally be too short for me to actually get parallel / below parallel in my squats -- at least for a very, very long time. I was doing some bodyweight squats while looking in the mirror, and honest to god, my thigh crease area doesn't get below parallel to my knees until I am in the *kitten*-to-grass position.
And then I got to thinking -- I have to stack *three* 25 lbs. plates under each foot when I bench because my legs are so short that when I lay back on the bench, I can't put my feet flat on the ground. Like, not even close!
So, obviously, I have to do some interwebs searching to find out more about if other people have this problem and how they might deal with this, but in the meantime, I'd be curious to hear your thoughts.
Is having Shorty McShortster legs even a thing that could prevent me from parallel-ing?0
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