Lifting Weights: squat

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  • james6998
    james6998 Posts: 743 Member
    Back in the day when i was a powerlifter, it was about weight moved. I would box squat only to about the range of just before parallel or parallel even. I still box squat but now {started over} I box squat quite a bit below parallel and the weights are slowly going back up. Its all about doing it right and my bad habits in the past left me starting over. I started out with 5 steps in my gym high for a box squat which was just above parallel. Now i am down to 4 steps and about to lower to 3 steps which is almost *kitten* to the grass. Very happy with the progress with deeps squats.
  • mdivamuffin
    mdivamuffin Posts: 164 Member
    Cheers for the replies. I have no problem going parallel without any weights so i guess I'll lower the weights right down and start over. :smile:
  • millionairesstv
    millionairesstv Posts: 55 Member
    good advice about looking at u tube for form .I use it to to mix up my exercises:wink:
  • KarenJanine
    KarenJanine Posts: 3,497 Member
    Does anybody else have to use a wide stance while squatting?

    I do. I have very long femurs relative to my height so keeping my weight back is quite difficult for me. I've been using box squats to help this as it provides a bit of security that I can't fall backwards. I've got a box set to just below parallel, squat down to just touch it before rising back up.
  • james6998
    james6998 Posts: 743 Member
    Does anybody else have to use a wide stance while squatting?

    I do. I have very long femurs relative to my height so keeping my weight back is quite difficult for me. I've been using box squats to help this as it provides a bit of security that I can't fall backwards. I've got a box set to just below parallel, squat down to just touch it before rising back up.
    Honestly, dont knock this until you try it. Back squats are all about glutes and hamstrings. If you are scared of falling backwards you are going to rely on your quads to keep that from happening or worse, your knees. If you find when you come up if you are coming up on your toes, you are doing it wrong. Squats come from the heels.
  • JKDLady
    JKDLady Posts: 131 Member
    Read Starting Strength by Mark Rippetoe. His description of the proper form for squat is like over 60 pages. There are so many things that you have to pay attention to for the squat. To ensure you can squat low enough keep your knees out and in line with your feet, feet at least shoulder length apart and turned out at a 30 degree angle, and yes, top if thighs should go parallel. Anything above parallel is hard on your knees. Good luck.

    I agree with this. I was following The New Rules of Fitness for Women, and I couldn't get low enough on the squats. My knees and lower back started hurting, so I decided that my form had to be wrong. I started reading Starting Strength and have been focusing on my squats. I can now go slightly below parallel. While the reading is very detailed, I found that it helped me more than I could imagine.

    After reading the squat section, I used a non-weight bar, a long stick basically, to work on my form with no weight. The one little bit of advice that made it work for me was the direction of my gaze. It was 4-5 feet in front of me on the ground. As soon as I did that, bingo. I then moved on to the Olympic bar with no problems.
  • Huffdogg
    Huffdogg Posts: 1,934 Member
    For testing your max strength, go to parallel. For training, no reason not to go as deep as you can. The greater the range of motion, the better the training effect.

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