Squats question...

BeanCounter3

Thanks for the suggestions! Helps point me in the right direction. The guy behind the counter at the gym was absolutely useless when I had asked him for some feedback, which brought me here.

aakaakaak

On Youtube search for...

Rippetoe squat
Dave Tate so you think you can squat
medhi squat

JoRocka

How deep are you squatting? You are supposed to feel them in your quads, as well as your hammies and glutes. A wider or more narrow stance will change the feeling, too. (I prefer a wider stance, personally.)

if you are not going all the way down- or even just parallel- it's very quad driven.

full *kitten* to grass hits deeper in the glutes and hammys- same with low bar vs high bar- changes the orientation

But squats are so good because they are compound- and they attack your posterior chain not just your butt.

danimalkeys

The hamstrings and glutes aren't heavily activated until you go down as low as you can, and stop standing up with your toes.

I think stance plays more into that. I don't go as low as I can when doing a high box squat, but doing them with a real wide stance hammers my hams and glutes.

aakaakaak

How deep are you squatting? You are supposed to feel them in your quads, as well as your hammies and glutes. A wider or more narrow stance will change the feeling, too. (I prefer a wider stance, personally.)

if you are not going all the way down- or even just parallel- it's very quad driven.

full *kitten* to grass hits deeper in the glutes and hammys- same with low bar vs high bar- changes the orientation

But squats are so good because they are compound- and they attack your posterior chain not just your butt.

They also pretty much remove the need for major ab work due to having to keep your core rigid and balanced with the bar.

amgreenwell

Stance in the squat has everything to do with which muscles are worked. Standing with your fit under your hips will work the top of the quads. Standing with a wide stance, feet and knees pointed outward will work the glutes and outside of the quads more.

corsairpro

I may have missed it but did anyone directly address bar placement on the back.

High bar squats (sitting on top your trapezius muscles) tends to result in a more upright torso and that in turn focuses more tension onto the quads (simlar to a front squat).

A low bar squat (with the bar resting across your back with the bar just under the bone you feel at the top of your shoulder blade). The low bar squat results in a more angled (forward lean) when squatting and this results in increased lengthening of the posterior chain on the downward movement of the squat and results in greater contraction on the way back up.

I'm sure google or youtube resources are much better at describing the difference but I low bar squat to train hams & glutes and front squat to focus on quads.

JoRocka

The hamstrings and glutes aren't heavily activated until you go down as low as you can, and stop standing up with your toes.

I think stance plays more into that. I don't go as low as I can when doing a high box squat, but doing them with a real wide stance hammers my hams and glutes.

this too... I guess I'm bias- I am a WIDE squatter- like- almost sumo wide- so I definitely feel it down?? (LULZ) back there.

I'm trying to shift to a more narrow stance- but sigh- all the things- it's hard to do ALL the things- ALL The time!

I may have missed it but did anyone directly address bar placement on the back.

I definitely mentioned it.

also regarding ab work.

YES. DEFINITELY FRONT SQUATS = ABS LMAO

FrnkLft

They also pretty much remove the need for major ab work due to having to keep your core rigid and balanced with the bar.

Honestly, I think this is a myth, maybe wishful thinking. Even at 1RM weight, your abs are not really getting "worked". They are only stabilizing the core. It's like saying your legs get hit on the overhead press... sorta, but not really.

meshashesha2012

the toe always having to point forward is a misconception depending on your mobility. not everyone starts squatting with 100% mobility. the most important thing is to make sure that your feet are pointing in the same direction/angle as your knees.

danimalkeys

They also pretty much remove the need for major ab work due to having to keep your core rigid and balanced with the bar.

Honestly, I think this is a myth, maybe wishful thinking. Even at 1RM weight, your abs are not really getting "worked". They are only stabilizing the core. It's like saying your legs get hit on the overhead press... sorta, but not really.

Isn't the purpose of your abs to support/stabilize? I'd think that they'd get enough work with squats and deads that you wouldn't need direct work. If someones routine is leg press and machine stuff, then yeah, they might need some direct work.

I've had some pretty good ab soreness after squats/deadlift workouts before. They definitely get worked when you are pushing your limits with the weight. Of course, it all depends on your goals as to whether you want to do additional work for them.

1capybara

Most people will find their quads are weaker than their hammies and glutes when they begin strength training, once you've been training for a bit you'll probably find the soreness becomes a bit more universal.

ah yes, universal soreness!

j6o4

candito training hq

Search this guy up on youtube. He will teach you both highbar squat and low bar squat.

FrnkLft

candito training hq

Search this guy up on youtube. He will teach you both highbar squat and low bar squat.

Absoluely, Candito is awesome. Keep in mind though that most of his stuff is high bar squatting.