The angle of the foot is sooooo important. Recently, my squat just do not feel right. Today, I tried to turn my feet a loot more out words and that was just fucking miracle. Everything (squat wise) feels lighter and more natural now:)
PowerliftingToWin Nice, the reason I ask is because Dan mentions that quads are for raw powerlifters, and that the squat itself should not be based off the posterior chain. Do you agree with the idea that one should make the quads the primary movers rather than the posterior chain? In your videos you seem to say the opposite so I'm curious to see your stance on this.
There is really no such thing as making the quads or the posterior chain the primer movers. They're both the prime movers. How much can you squat without extending your knees? Zero. How much can you squat without extending your hips? Zero. You need both. It is a matter of degree -- not magnitude.
PowerliftingToWin That is true. So certainly training one's quads would supply benefits to the squat given the inevitable nature of the knees bending, correct?
I am a bigger proponent of strengthening movements instead of muscles, but the logic is sound. If the quads increase in their ability to produce force, how are you not going to squat more? That doesn't necessarily mean doing leg extensions though.
You are an encyclopedia!!!!! If you see these videos, you don't need to search for others. Only one thing... you didn't say anything about the elbows. I just know that you must not let them go back.
I normally squat with my feet shoulder width and straight in front of me. After watching your squating technique videos I'm trying wide stance with feet turned out. Trying it this way my knees hurt. Do think it is a structural problem (similar to the one you describing with the hip sockets)? Or what do you think could be a solution? I have long legs. By the way i really enjoy your videos when you start talking about moment arms and hip angles it really gets me going lol. But seriously I've learned alot in just a few videos. Thank you.
Part 2 lol: 1) Squeezing your grip in as close as possible is also a really good way to exploit and exaggerate any upper-body dysfunction, which can/will lead to a rounded back, trouble hitting depth, etc. 2) The foot depth is individual -- for example, you can point your feet perfectly straight, still externally rotate to the point where your knees are outside your toes, and see how much torque you get throughout your entire lower body. Way more.
1) Common sense still applies. 2) And then you can also damage the lateral meniscus of the knee. This typical Kelly Starrett advice and it is dangerous.
PowerliftingToWin 2) Agreed, it is rougher on the knees, but it is comparable to hyperextension in benching -- the injury rate is going to be extremely low, and you get a lot out of it. Most WLers squat with toes straight/straightish.
Fair enough. If it works better for you, it works better for you. I definitely do my fair share of "risky" things in the gym (hello round back deadlifting)
PowerliftingToWin I was always actually a toes-out sumo squatter, but recently got into a close-stance with toes straight and it just oozes tourque lol. But it is a little rough on the knees. Sometimes it definitely felt like my patella was gonna pop lol.
Izzy thank you! Watched this video before a squat day and PR’d. You really helped me get the bar tighter on my low bar shoulder shelf. 480lbs @ 180 lbs bw
Pull the bar down que helped me so much. I realised i was actually doing this but only towards the end of my sets when reps where getting tough.Now i do this from the start my squat feels a lot stronger thanks.
Awesome vid man. really helped my solve the problem of where my stance should be on squat. When you talked about knees caving in it really made sense. It makes no sense to have a wide stance if your knees cave in! you are spot on. I also get hip pain like a mofo and you explained why that it is. Time to narrow my stance a bit.
Izzy it would mean a lot to me if you could check out my squat form on my most recent vides on my youtube channel & give me some honest criticism. Ive been trying to squat now for close to a year, done mobility work, & still it doesnt to work. I bench 205 yet squat only 175. Thanks & have a good day.
The tighter your grip the bigger the risk of injuring you biceps is, Dave Tate has talked about this c'mon and this is supposed to be a powerlifting channel sumo deadlifting like a bitch
Top video. A must see for the squatter. To all the fucking bros out there, watch and weep. There's no set position it's about getting to know your body I think. Anyone one that tell you to put your feet at a certain angle, how wide to have your hips is a fucking beginner and you should heed their advice akin to being told the world is flat, for they are the ignorant.
I watched your video and liked the effort you put into it but I don't agree with your position on grip width. Upper back tightness isn't dependent on grip width, if you need more info check out Paul Carter's video titled: "Fixing your low bar squat".
I've seen the video. Carter's technique depends on conscious retraction of the scapula. Using a narrow grip, you can force your body into the same position without having to "think" about retracting your scapula. Under heavy loads, this is a huge advantage because, with a narrow grip, you're literally physically incapable of letting your upperback get loose. With Carter's technique, a potential form error could cause upperback looseness. The tradeoff is that his technique is better for the elbow health of those who lack shoulder flexibility.
Izzy thanks for the video, very informative! I have found that hitting depth is never an issue and for me personally the issue is going to low..which is fine when I high bar but I want to just hit parralell in meets but feel that I then lack power out of the hole due to the lack of stretch reflex..on my channel there is a video of my squat, which is basically a dive bombed low bar..any tips to change this would be great. love your work! thanks
I find it easier to hit depth with a wide stance. Get way too much butt-wink and tightness in my lower back with a shoulder-width or slightly wider stance.
Great video. I've honed my bench press and deadlift. now its time for me to focus fire on the squat this phase. I do 585 lbs ATG but am curious to see what I can do with traditional parallel squating. Thank you so much for the great video!
I'm close to hitting the 300lbs squat mark and I noticed a few things wrong with my form. Firstly, I found that too narrow of a stance made it extremely hard to push my knees out, but I also noticed that too wide and it was harder for me to lead with my chest on the finish. Secondly, a medium wide stance seemed to improve my hip drive over the regular stance as well as prevent low back pain. A problem that is still plaguing me however is shoulder/arm/elbow pain. Would this be due to not pushing my elbows up further? Perhaps more shoulder dislocations before going up in weight? I do notice that my palms are facing more upward than they probably should when holding the bar on my back (and yes I use a thumb-less grip).
I have been trying to research my recent left knee pain. I am running Candito's strength program. I have extremely flat feet and squat barefoot. I squat low bar with a medium to wide stance. I do not know if it is my flat feet, I feel like the weight is on the middle of my feet, or the stance? I am going to try the cue for hips at the bottom instead of chest and play around with stances. I am thinking about buying a squat shoe as well. Start with at least a flat sole and go from there.
please can you help me...already two completely unrelated people have come to me while doing squats and told me I was leaning too much forward...the thing is that both of them are competing bodybuilders and also personal trainers...they told me I will hurt myself if I keep doing it this way. Sometimes its frustrating, because I feel like Im progressing on squat constantly and my technique feels good too (I do the powerlifting squat) but if someone likr this comes to me and starts to command me the right way to squat it irritates me because I know they are not showing me a powerlifting squat when demonstrating "the right" technique. Problem is that both of these guys have better physiques than me so I cannot tell them anything.
dont know if anyone is still reading these comments but how low should I go in just general training I prefer to go ass to ankles as I feel like it actually strengthens my knees or should I just stick to parallel even in off season to continue the same motion
Honestly you just got to hit 2-3 inches below parallel. Ass to grass squats are okay but you do leave a lot on the table. I'll refer you to Alan Thrall and when he was learning with barbell medicine (I believe)
Dude thank you thank you thank you. As a powerlifter and coach this os literally THE best educational video I have ever seen and I will be sharing this with every single student I ever get. Thank you. I will be reading those articles, you are amazing.
Good video. Wish this was here a couple years ago. Had to figure it out on my own which led to many set backs before figuring it out. I've finally settled in on a shoulder width stance, toes straight, narrow grip low bar. Its the only stance where I feel I can get a stretch reflex and stay tight at the bottom.
I do lowbar squat with my feet like super close to each other.... if i go any wider my squat get super weak and my knee will cave in a little bit and its hard to hit depth
search up the 'natural squat position' on google images and then pratice this at home or whenever you have time and just sit in that position for a few minutes at a time but try to force your knees out whilst doing it. This really helped me as i couldnt keep my knees out either. hope this helped :)
Do that mean wrist wrap support is a must in order to contract our back to the max? and also avoid wrist pain? i having wrist to elbow pain from heavy squat. considering get a pair of wrist wrap or widen grip...
I would highly recommend wrist wraps and a wider grip if you're having elbow pain. In the past, I used to get the same thing, now, I can take a very narrow grip with no issues.
TheGreatslyfer whatever feels comfortable and which ever stance you can lift more weight with that's what powerlifting is about moving as much weight as possible
Where should one fix their eyes during a medium and wide stance squat. Rippetoe suggests looking down at a fixed point. I am never able to hit adequate depth looking down and lifting the ass up . I have seen a lot of powerlifters hyper extend the neck and look upwards at an angle. I am able to do that and hit depth but end up leading with the chest. Anyway I can correct this ?
I recently converted to a low bar squat and it's a lot better than high bar but am I the only one feeling pain in the elbows? It's started when working my arms in as much as I could. Like in the video also Not during the lift but after it's a radiating pain only coming from elbow and hurts to extend and go to parallel angle
I know your comment was from a year ago and I hope you've already found a solution, but I was having the same issue a few months ago. I realized I have a unproportionally long lower arm which made squatting with a close grip very uncomfortable. I brought my grip out and I've had no issues since. Do what is comfortable, not what others say is "optimal"
I've never personally used one so please realize I am just passing along second hand info. I've heard from fellow lifters it is a poor quality belt that is very hard to break in.
No. Your chest and hips should rise equally and simultaneously. Your back angle on the way down should be the same on the way up until you're almost done with the lift. If you haven't seen my squat leverages video, it might help: Squat Form: Wide Stance vs. Narrow, High Bar vs. Low Bar
