Improving squat depth

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Scott Birdby Scott Bird | August 12, 2006
Filed in Articles , workouts | 9 comments

Nowhere near parallelDuring a few sets of squats yesterday I asked my dad to tell me how deep I was going (in relation to parallel). He moved his hands apart as if describing ‘the one that got away’, and I knew there was going to be some work to do. In short, I was nowhere near it.

I turned to the Ian King article 5 Ways to go Deeper; an excellent piece on the basic ways to improve squat depth. The first of these - simply holding onto a stable vertical bar (or anything that won’t move), squat down as far as possible. In my case I can achieve depth easily when doing this - which points to a poor technique rather than inflexibility. Let the retraining commence.

Well past itOf course, if you find that inflexibility is indeed a factor, the above article will also help you out. Also worth reading is King’s The Lazy Man’s Guide to Stretching, which outlines some of the stretches to be done before squatting.

As for my own retraining, I began by following King’s slow bodyweight squatting recommendations; and will supplement this with some of the stretching (notably the shins) and a few light sets with the bar tomorrow. It’s going to be a long journey, but I’ve no doubt that the benefits will be enormous.


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Comments

1

That’s a very wise journey to undertake. I’m not much of a squatting expert and have generally had the opposite problem of going needlessly deep, but the one thing that made me understand the squat a bit better was to spread the knees out on descent and try to sit down kind of between them. Yes, you need to sit back, but you also need to open up a hole to sit in, otherwise you’ll end up like a jacknife. This is especially crucial if you squat a bit wider, which I would definitively recommend you try if maximum weights are your goal. Now, I only need to get accustomed to keeping the knees out on ascent, which is surprisingly easy if I just remember to try to actually spread the floor apart. Learning to squat isn’t easy, but it pays off handsomely. :-)

Posted by: Kris | August 12, 2006 8:54 PM

2

Scott, Kris’ recommendation was one Jamie left me when we had our whole squatting debate a week or two ago. Looking at the picture, sure you have flexibility, but it’s not clear you can balance in that position without holding on to something.

Nancy is similar to you in flexibility as you can see in our most recent Smith squat analysis. I think her issue ultimately boils down to balance in the context of a big weight on a back that is sometimes tricky.

I have the $50 (ouch!) Cressey DVD now plus your resources for flexibility which (along with some balance) is my issue.

Posted by: Bud Gibson | August 13, 2006 3:56 AM

3

Thanks guys. I just had a bit of a session which involved some standing shin stretches and several sets of ultra slow bodyweight squats as per the article above. Remaining conscious of spreading knees and dropping between them (as per your suggestion Kris) certainly helped; and reaching parallel doesn’t seem as far away as it did yesterday.

I think the other area of inflexibility that needs some immediate attention is below the front of each shoulder; imagine you’re holding a bar on your back and swing your elbows forward, and you’ll probably feel the area I mean. The other alternative is to invest in a Top Squat :)

Bud: I’m very keen to hear more about the Cressey DVD, once you’ve had a chance to digest it properly. Looks like a good one.

Posted by: Scott | August 13, 2006 2:10 PM

4

Scott, interesting comparison. What does King say about the difference in the center of gravity between the two squats?

Posted by: nancy | August 14, 2006 12:39 PM

5

Nancy,

Nothing that I’ve seen so far - though clearly there is a difference. I’ve been doing the bodyweight squats with arms behind the back to compensate for this.

Posted by: Scott | August 14, 2006 4:11 PM

6

Scott, I have just posted an extensive commentary on your squatting problem in my own blog. I hope you don’t mind me reproducing your photo in the post.

Regards
Bruce

Posted by: Bruce Ross | August 15, 2006 8:23 AM

7

Bruce, I’ve just posted comments on your blog - excellent post - and I certainly don’t mind the photo being reproduced. I think of it only as a ‘before’ picture.

Posted by: Scott | August 15, 2006 10:57 AM

8

just a sugestion;when I squat alone I use some sort of a gauge{a bench set to the correct level}it really helps on the last few reps when you may not hit exactly on the spot.

Posted by: gaaack2003 | November 14, 2006 4:39 AM

9

Cheers gaaack, that’s a great idea.

Posted by: Scott | November 15, 2006 12:35 AM

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