Squats - difference between breaking parallel and ATG?!?
VanderTuig1976
Posts: 145 Member
Hi,
I am currently doing the Stronglifts 5x5 and want to ensure that I go deep enough into the squat for it to count as a rep. My question is - how low should I go? The program recommends that you "break parallel."
From what I understand (and have read), you break parallel when your hips dip below your knees. I tried doing this last night without the barbell and my position at the bottom is what I consider ATG - my booty was practically touching the floor. As the weight gets heavier, I will not be able to go that low.
Can someone please give me some direction on how low I should go - where I should aim for to hit appropriate depth. How will I know when the squat is deep enough? I've done box squats but, again, from what I've read, I need to go lower to break parallel.
Any advice or points would be greatly appreciated - thanks!!!
I am currently doing the Stronglifts 5x5 and want to ensure that I go deep enough into the squat for it to count as a rep. My question is - how low should I go? The program recommends that you "break parallel."
From what I understand (and have read), you break parallel when your hips dip below your knees. I tried doing this last night without the barbell and my position at the bottom is what I consider ATG - my booty was practically touching the floor. As the weight gets heavier, I will not be able to go that low.
Can someone please give me some direction on how low I should go - where I should aim for to hit appropriate depth. How will I know when the squat is deep enough? I've done box squats but, again, from what I've read, I need to go lower to break parallel.
Any advice or points would be greatly appreciated - thanks!!!
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Replies
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i go as deep as i can when i'm warming up with lower weights, atg if i can. But yes as it gets heavier it gets harder , so the idea is to break parallel on your heavy sets. When i was first learning to break parallel, i got a box that was the exact height of how deep i needed to go to be the right depth and squatted a zillion times only using the box as my height gauge until that depth was instilled in my brain so i could feel it. You'll start to know the feeling of that break parallel point and then find the weight you can lift, and thats your working weight for your sets. If you can go lower on your warmups , great. but for your working weight just break parallel. And video tape yourself often to keep an eye on your depth because its easy to start slacking and not know it3
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When I squat the backs of my thighs are touching my calves; that's ATG. I don't know if it's really necessary to go that low, and some people can't physically go that low. I think that as long as you break parallel you're good to go.0
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The squat rack I use has a mirror on the wall that helps me see when I am past parallel0
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The best thing to do is to video yourself and review it later or post it on fitness forums to get other people opinion. Take note of how it feels, review the video and see how low you were. You can also get Coach's Eye app that you can put overlays on the video.
You don't have to go ATG, go low enough so that your thigh is parallel to the ground. If you don't go to parallel, you will only activate the quads and not the glutes and cause muscle imbalance that will put strain on your knee.
This is a good video on how to do it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bs_Ej32IYgo 1 -
I look straight ahead, which is where the mirror is, should I be looking down?1 -
I think a deep squat is the way to go for several reasons. I used to make excuses for not going ATG or close. I'm much better off than I used to be. Deep squats are good for glutes, good for ankle mobility--and I also find that, to some degree, you can "bounce" off the bottom for a more explosive squat that allows you to eventually go pretty heavy again. I had to take a lot of weight off the bar to correct my form. But if was a good investment because now my weight is back where it used to be, except now I do a deeper squat.0
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I look straight ahead, which is where the mirror is, should I be looking down?
its hard to see depth from straight ahead but if you can, then i guess it works. Its easier to see depth from the side, which is why its not a good idea to look to the side0 -
A cue that worked well for me was a band. I strung a light resistance band across the rack at the right height for me to hit parallel. When my butt hit it, I was deep enough. I'm not a huge fan of learning depth by squatting to a box because then you're also stopping at the bottom rather than going down and coming up.
Best of all is training with a partner who knows depth and won't pull their punches when you're high.1 -
I normally go deep enough to rest at the bottom. I do have decent ankle mobility, though.0
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I would go as deep as your hips allow. It's less about how low your butt gets to the ground and more about how much your hips bend. Most people that go much lower than parallel are simply rounding their back the last 2-3 inches down.
Try standing sideways in front of a mirror. Squat as low as you can before you see your back lose it's arch and your butt tucks under. This is the point you want to stay above.0 -
I look straight ahead, which is where the mirror is, should I be looking down?
You should be able to squat with a softball stuck under your chin. Some people look towards the ground, some look in the mirror. As long as your chin is tucked in, you're good.0 -
First of all your glutes still activate when you squat above parallel. It's not an on/off switch where high squats are ALL QUAD and deep squats are now suddenly activating the glutes.
We judge squats in competition based on the position of the hip crease with the top of the knee. The crease of the hip must drop below the top of the knee.
HOWEVER, consider that these are rules of powerlifting competition, and it's important to recognize that goals and individual circumstances need to be considered.
There's certainly developmental benefit to squatting deep but only if you can do so in a safe and effective manner, and some people can't.
Mobility and even anthropometric/structural differences can come into play.
Also, see the post above by Drees about lumbar rounding/buttwink -- that's important and it's an example of why some people may need to squat above parallel.
Finally, don't be hesitant to experiment with stance width and toe angle when it comes to squatting. Depending on hip structure you may be MUCH better at squatting a little narrower or wider with more or less toe angle and you won't know until you experiment with it.1 -
DreesPerformanceTraining wrote: »
I look straight ahead, which is where the mirror is, should I be looking down?
You should be able to squat with a softball stuck under your chin. Some people look towards the ground, some look in the mirror. As long as your chin is tucked in, you're good.
i dont know about chin tucked in, i keep an neutral spine, my chin isn't tucked in. face straight ahead , look where ever you want, but keep a neutral spine, dont bend your neck down which sounds like what you mean by chin tucked in.0 -
I'm honestly not convinced that C-spine position is all that important in the squat or the deadlift as long as it's not negatively impacting other spinal segments.0
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maybe not, but what happens is we tend to go the direction we are facing, and if we start facing different directions the rest of the body will follow, and now you are negatively impacting other things. I suppose if you could tuck your chin and keep everythign else in place it would be ok , but thats a lot of conscious effort when you can just as easily stay neutral and its one less thing to focus on .
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DreesPerformanceTraining wrote: »
I look straight ahead, which is where the mirror is, should I be looking down?
You should be able to squat with a softball stuck under your chin. Some people look towards the ground, some look in the mirror. As long as your chin is tucked in, you're good.
i dont know about chin tucked in, i keep an neutral spine, my chin isn't tucked in. face straight ahead , look where ever you want, but keep a neutral spine, dont bend your neck down which sounds like what you mean by chin tucked in.
Not at all, just a natural downward slope of the chin.0 -
I'm honestly not convinced that C-spine position is all that important in the squat or the deadlift as long as it's not negatively impacting other spinal segments.
In trained individuals you may be right, but most beginners cannot correctly brace their torso without a neutral neck - probably due to poor proprioceptive awareness. There isn't a huge danger with the neck itself unless an individual really cranks back their neck on a deadlift or squat.1
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