Hey, new to this forum, but I am lovin' it so far… This questin is in regards to any sepcific form that you all use when squatting. I have been taught at UC Davis to do the following… On the way down, standard, stick the butt out, 45deg out and down. on the way up, as you lift the butt, pull the knees about a fist length backwards (towards the back) then drive the hips up. What this does is stop the knee from firing back and being put into a hyper extended position. Give it a shot, tell me what you think, I would love to hear your opinions.
Squat form
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Participant
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Participant
Since were on the topic of squats. i do notttttt feel it working my hamstrings.. is this normal am i doing something wrong? do you think sticking my butt out more and arching my back may work them a little more?
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Participant
re no hamstrings…
quik, how deep do you go? I too don't usually feel it in my hammies, but I will admit to not going as far down to activate the hammies as I have read on this board. maybe give that a try? be easy, fast -
Participant
i go down parallell or an inch or 2 past parallell.
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Participant
think posterior chain stuff is really important. I handled all the strength work last year for all the sprinters, jumpers and hurdlers at Ohio University and we did lots and lots to work this area. We only had one hamstring problem all year and that was to a guy who had had chronic hamstring problems his whole career. We did quite a bit of Romanian DLs, Glute-Ham Raises, Stiff Legged DLs, Clean Pulls, etc. I think DEEP squats are great for this area too. When I say deep, I'm not talking about parallel- I'm talking about bottom to the floor- super deep squats. The lower the depth of the squat the more the hamstring muscle group gets involved. When looking for the best exercises to develop the posterior chain, remember that the hamstrings are hip extensors AND knee flexors, and as such both functions needed to be worked. If you can find an exercise to work both roles at the same time then you've got a gem- the Glute-Ham raise (where they come up to parallel and then flex at the knees so that they finish with their torso perpindicular to the ground) is one of the few that will do this for you. There's also some stuff you can do on a stability ball that can do the same thing.
– mike, superadmin.
https://elitetrack.com/messageboard/viewthread.php?tid=102
that's off the LSU strength thread hope it helps!! -
KeymasterFastdude-
Welcome to the board. I've done squats like that before. In fact, I'm pretty sure I squat like that naturally.Another, often contraindicated, seldom-used, and often-frowned upon secret is actually letting the knees move slightly medially (together) during the midpoint of the ascent. The Soviets and Germans found this to be a stronger more natural way to squat than trying (or forcing) to keep the knees aligned with the toes. If you watch most of the Europeans come up from the heavy deep front squat after they have racked their clean, they almost always do this to some extent. They'll even backsquat like this when they go for maxes in the training hall tapes. This of course is Olympic weightlifters and might change with a low-bar, wide-stance, powerlifting style squat.
ELITETRACK Founder
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Participant
how about stance? which stance is most beneficial, how wide?
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Keymaster
It depends what you want to emphasize. A wider stance will allow greater glute-ham activation at lesser knee flexion but less potential maximal knee flexion (due to leverage….you can't go as low as in a narrower stance because you'd tip over). A shoulder width stance will allow you to go as low as flexibility will allow and the lower you go the greater the glute-hip activation. A recent study showed that the stance has little effect on quad activation but does influence muscle activity on the medial thigh (wider = more activation) and glute (as above). These results however were comparing activation at equivalent depths, and as noted above, a narrower stance will permit greater depth and thus equal or greater hip-glute activation. Personally, I think high-bar, full squats with a shoulder width stance are best due to their balance of overall strength development, strength development in extreme ranges of motion, flexibility development, and a more "athletic" or "sport-like" body positioning. Having said that, all squat stances can have a place in a good program.
ELITETRACK Founder
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ParticipantSuper post mike, any one want a case study? Perhaps the use of such variety in an athlete over a whole training period.
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Participant
well Phoenix, I am just now starting my base/end of rehab training and I am of course encorporationg squats. I would love to help out with a study.. what do you have in mind?
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Participant
I am of the belief of both specific and general paths when doing weight work. I like looking at case studies of what people are doing in detail. For example we see a set of squats of 4 x 3 reps and then a reverse hyper of some sort of olympic lift. I am a fan of details of why. I am going to go do far more wide work during the GPP to enhance the post chain of one of my athletes. Perhaps people could start a blog or something since most online training journals on forums look pale.
I guess what it would be nice to explain in detail what people are doing during specific phases. I know someone that goes wide to narrow and one guy that goes narrow to wide and others who go deep to half…. each have specific needs to the individual needs of the athlete from an event and needs perspective.
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