Squat Depth: Revisited 

[Evolution of Alan Thrall] 2013: Ass to grass or it doesn't count. 2016: Squatting ass to grass is a problem. 2019: Eh, it doesn't really matter. 2022: Squats are bad.

WHAT'S CRACKIN' GUYS LOWBAR AIRSOFT HERE. Alan, this video is next level. The editing, information flow and well placed humour are all seamlessly combined here. I respect the amount of time you put into this. This is the new standard. I thought Jeff's exceptionally well edited videos were maybe the future direction of "informative" RU-vid Fitness but this...this right here is it. Now lets get this video to 1 million views.

Senpai noticed me!!!

I remember a video of Clarence where he was asked why he squats so frequently, to which he responded:"I just like to squat." And I think that's beautiful !

I love how he went through almost the entire RU-vid lifting community. “What is this a Jeff Nippard video” lol

The production you put into this... And very informative as always. Thanks!

The commitment to stand outside with a sign is something you just have to appreciate

Pro tip: Learn to squat like slav, not western spy, witness squat gains

The tool album joke literally made me laugh out loud

That's the first time I've seen Alan fail a squat and I'm humbled to see it

This is refreshing. I can do beautifully low, ass to grass front squats. But I simply am not comfortable doing it with a back squat. One of my legs is almost an inch shorter than the other so I'm fairly crooked and have tweaked my lower back too many times to count.

This gave me squat confidence I didn't think I needed

That Omar impression 😂 Got the asschest and everything

DO NOT MOVE THE BARBELL?!

Thanks to Alan I don't train with a watch, my phone or any clock of any sort! #TRAINUNTIMED !

“What is this? A Jeff Nippard video?? Hahaha oh I died

Vastus Lateralus is my favorite Tool album

Can't have a video about squat depth without Clarence Kennedy in it.

"Ilya Ilyin. He's a local, mediocre weightlifter" - HAHAHA

Love your work Alan. It's great that you made this video. I had to do years of research to figure out that squat depth is genetic. There is no, "one size fits all." Range of motion is individual depending on the person. Everyone argues that you have to squat as low as you can to develop the posterior chain. Let's analyze this. The posterior chain (glutes/hamstring) are responsible for hip extension. In order to extend the hips. You must flex at the hips. The hip flexors flex the hips. It's similar to how your biceps flex your elbow. And your tricep extends the elbow. Now that we understand that in order to fully work the posterior chain in a squat, we must get a good amount of hip flexion. But here is where things get tricky. And we move to the skeleton and anatomy. You run out of hip flexion once your femur makes contact with your hip socket. And once you run out of hip flexion. The only way to get lower in a squat, is to compensate and flex at the spine (butt wink). When this happens. You aren't flexing anymore at the hips. And the stress will shift to your lower back. The stress is taken away from the posterior chain. And placed on the lower back. And since your knees are still flexing, this load can go to the quads and knees as well. Think of when you are doing bicep curls. If your elbow is going up, that is your shoulders now doing the work. And not the biceps anymore. In order to keep tension on the posterior chain, and protect the lower back and knees, you have to squat with a neutral spine (maintaining the natural curvature of the spine). But here is the thing. Everyone's anatomy is different. Everyone has different femur and hip socket shapes. Some people don't have the right amount of hip flexion to squat parallel. And in order to get parallel, they have to butt wink. Some people can only quarter squat or half squat before they butt wink or strain their knees. And before you throw me under the bus. Let me provide research. This article is on Bret Contreras website. Featuring strength coach Dean Somersett. For those of you who don't know, Bret Contreras is a legendary strength coach. A sport scientist. And he invented the exercise, "the hip thrust." bretcontreras.com/no-two-hips-are-the-same-how-anatomical-variance-can-affect-your-range-of-motion/ That article explains hip flexion and anatomy. And if that article is too long and boring. Here is a video of Bret Contreras himself: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-F08IsODLRZk.html In that video he discusses how those with limited hip flexion have what is called a, "celtic hip." Basically they can only do a half squat or quarter squat before they butt wink. Here is an article on T-Nation regarding squat depth, and showing how to measure an individuals hip flexion: www.t-nation.com/training/squat-depth-the-final-answer And if the article is too long, these 2 videos should do: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Scgb0FhkohQ.html&feature=emb_title ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-HBH5lz35nos.html&feature=emb_title And if you research Dr. Stuart McGill, he emphasizes how there should little to no movement on the spine when squatting and deadlifting. For health and longevity of the lower back. But if you have the ability to squat to parallel or below, with the right amount of hip flexion to keep the spine neutral, then you should squat to depth. Full range of motion is individual and it is not a, "one size fits all." And I already know you are going to argue, "but studies show that ATG squats are safer on the knees. And half squats place the most sheer force on the knees." It's true. But once again this depends on the individual. How do we know the people in the study weren't doing sissy squats? As apposed to loading the hips? How do you know the study only grabbed people who have the right hip amount of flexion and can squat ATG with a neutral spine? And it's not only about hip flexion. Mechanics change due to proportions as well. Such as limb length. But we already know that once you butt wink, you unload the hips. And the stress will go to your lower back, and knees. Here are 2 more articles that discuss squat mechanics and joint positioning: www.elitefts.com/education/the-squat-and-athletic-development-how-weve-all-been-fcking-it-up/ www.elitefts.com/education/the-squat-and-athletic-development-how-we-have-all-been-fcking-it-up-redefining-the-squat/

This is why your channel is by far the best. You've updated so much of your content based on your experiences, and have repeatedly thrown your old methods and logic under the bus. Thank you so much for all you do and for your service to our country. Your content has helped me so much, I can't possibly thank you enough. I was weak and lacked much confidence before I found your channel about 6 months ago. You've inspired me a great deal. Now my confidence is high, my form on every lift has improved dramatically (squat from 155 @ RPE10 to 285 @ RPE8, deadlift from 215 @ RPE10 to 330 @ RPE8, and bench from 145@RPE10 to 225@RPE8), and everything in my life is starting to fall into place. Thanks again, man. Have a great day.

That intro was top notch

Thank you for making this video. This issue has plagued the fitness community and caused me a ton of issues when I first started and drove me insane for years thinking I had to go below parallel. As a matter of fact, I can’t do it without injuring myself. I have a hip joint deformity like many other people do. My squat looks a lot like your friends who are Olympic weightlifters and that’s as low as I can go. I wish someone told me it was okay when I first started. It would have saved me a lot of the bullshit I went through as a beginner.

The dad laugh at 10:30 is so good lol. Hope Clarence can find his way to Untamed Strength one day.

"What is this a jeff nippard video"😂

This is probably the best video you've ever made, awesome shit. also Kennedy is a beast!

Thanks for this! I told my physio how I started getting knee pain when I started squatting below parallel. The physio did a full form check and movement screen and everything was spot on, then told me "well, squat a little higher then to 90 degrees since that doesnt hurt". I haven't had pain since. It seems like common sense but everywhere I look is telling me how below parallel is best for your knees. Just not my knees in particular. So it's nice to see a super strong dude like you debunk this myth that's its an absolute must to squat below parellel, especially since I'm not a power lifter.

For me I find squatting my hip crease below my knee crease to be the most comfortable, going lower strains my lower back and higher feels like I’m cheating

Dad jokes on another level

I take a more....intuitive? approach to squats. I used to obsess over depth but I learned that squatting ATG actually puts strain on my lower back but if I squat to parallel, my muscles stay contracted the entire time and it doesn’t hurt my back. My back pain got 1000% better when I started doing what feels best as opposed to obsessing over my form 😬

I don't care about the validity of your information. I just love the dedication you have to making loads of B-roll for your videos. Good man. Keep that shit up

You steped up the game in this video and it left a satisfying feelin... idk why. Production GainZ

7:46 me every time I see Alan's new upload.

Clarence is starting to look like a movie star. I shouldn't be crushing out on your video, but damn.

I've been watching for a few years now. First comment - but just wanted to pass along my thanks for the great instruction, entertaining comment, and the help you've given me (and all of us) at improving my (our) lifts. I am now a much more technically proficient lifter than I was 2 years ago when I started watching. So, thanks for everything. The squat depth video you made a while ago about how you were cutting depth to remain tight and controlled throughout the movement was game changing to me - I always squatted Ass to Grass. Deadlift was always my most challenging lift, I had huge issues with rounding my back - no longer. These are the results of your coaching through these videos.

Not sure how this isn’t at a million views yet. One of the best videos of all time.

"Can we stop pausing, zooming in" hahaha

our boy alOn getting lean, those carrots work man

Alan, your video is art. You’re the most creative producers of youTube content in general. One could think your greatest talent is creating physical strength. It’s not. It’s your art.

I used to not care very much about depth tbh, but then I decided I might want to be a powerlifter. I lacked good flexibility, so what I did was lower the weight I was doing and work on getting deeper. This meant wider stance, greater toe angle and more hip flexion. When I went back to doing heavier weight, I felt a lot stronger doing it. Just adding my two cents.

I see Clarence, I hit the thumbs up button. simple.

Great timing! Just looking right now at some of your old squat videos to try and improve my form 👍

Thanks for this video. Got limited hip mobility, instead of comparing to certain standards, I can just squat to what feels comfortable, in my case about parallel.

We're all just out here squattin'. Awesome video, thank you.

"All actually tool abums"- comedic delivery was on point

I bet the 17 dislikes are quarter squatters 🤷🏻‍♂️

Thank you Alan. Reinforced the facts. And, Clarence is just an alien beast.

Holy fuck that sneaky Steve Brule cameo had me in stitches bro, hahahaha

Alan, your banana peeling technique could use some work. I think you could benefit from a more bottom-up approach

Toshiki Yamamoto is another ATG squat king in Japan

Just yesterday, I was beating myself up for just hitting parallel. Doing some squat soul searchin’. I’m not at an IPF meet nor is one in the works. Thanks for the reality check! Always the best, Mr. Thrall.

I'm new to weight lifting; bought myself a bar and a few plates and I can say I keep coming back to your kind of info and humor. It's no nonsense and applies to people like me, who needs to understand differences between "I this right or am I gonna hurt myself etc." Awesome video! Works for me!

"I have friends who don't squat to depth and I want to be square with them" revisited

I dropped my squat weight 40 pounds from low bar just so it can look like Clarence Kennedy's squat. I realized I had the mobility to do so, but it requires a lot of focus and effort. It's just really satisfying to know that you're hitting consistent depth with every single rep (no room for cheating). I don't compete so I don't care about the number on the bar, as long as I see results.

I’ve watched 100s of videos on lifting info and form. It’s so refreshing to see some funny shit added in.

I started to narrow my stance since a trainer at a gym told me to. Because of that, I haven't been squatting to the depth that I want to be (aka powerlifting depth although I'm not a powerlifter). Definitely going to go back to a wider stance cause this video just made me realize that's the reason why.

Alan: ".....VMO....." Jordan: **triggered**

The intro was creative! Well done.

There's always so much speculation about topics like this, and it's nice to see a clear opinion from someone with experience.

I just squat for strength and fun mainly. After trying many styles based on who I follow on here, Alan included, it's melded into a form that works for me. Being in what I consider still a novice to compound movements, I got complimented by a trainer on my squat. He mentioned it reminded him of 'the train untamed guy' on RU-vid. I try my best to utilize what you put out there, bud. Thanks for your vids.

I saw my progress continuously accelerate when I started stopping when my thighs were parallel with the ground (and my knees past my feet) instead of going deeper. I still try to go deep on my warmup sets, but once I get near my one rep max I stop at 90 degrees.

Not getting enough depth actually made me stop squatting to try to get more flexible to squat lower. Unfortunately I ended up not lifting at all anymore but there's other reasons for that. Hopefully one day I'll get there

Dead giveaway someone was a Marine #352: their Drill Instructor impersonation is always spot on

Best video you have ever done man. Jabs here and there so quick most might not even catch them. Awesome.

Love this video. It’s something i have never been sure about, my own technique. Should i lower weight and go deeper ? I never plan to compete , i just want to squat as best i can and increase the weight over time.

"Is this a Jeff Nippard video?" made me laugh so loud that my neighbours probably heard it.

I like how you added a bunch of different fitness youtubers in this video. Keep up the good work Alan!

Fantastic video! I LOVED IT! I'm an old guy, "retired" caver now retraining after losing a good bit of fat over the past year. Gym climbing, body weight stuff, biking; probably will start doing some runs in the next few months, since the lower limb joints seem pretty solid. Sadly, the old shoulder injuries have been giving me hell for several weeks so my pull/push/row stuff has been forced into an idle-on-the-run-way status until I can get my right rotator cuff de-fucked. For me flexibility, coordination, endurance and sufficient strength are most important things, so intensity is only valuable to the extent that it trains for those goals, or else to the extent it increases metabolism. After age 50 and without any juice, it seems hard to know how valuable intensity really is. But one thing I can tell you for certain: if the ligaments and tendons are not up to snuff, more intensity ain't gonna help! With all that said, deeper squats with less weight are what seem right for me right now. Each athlete has to (or should anyway) decide what is right for them and the fact you convey that axiom is the greatest part of your video!

Oh cool finally a new tool album to listen to while I spend time trying to perfect Kennedy depth 🤣

More hypertrophy from deep squats could be attributed to the large stretch on your quads at the bottom

You're going to be a great dad. Your dad jokes are spot on. As a fellow dad, I approve your entrance into the community.

All fair points and I agree the importance of depth is overblown unless you compete in PL or Oly. But with regards to the Ilya Ilyin point, he doesn't squat to depth when he goes heavy due to chronic back issues, there are videos of younger Ilya going full ATG. He is developed enough as a true elite lifter (well maybe not anymore without his special vitamins sadly) but beginners need to actually develop the ability to hold heavy weights in the bottom of the squat position so I'd argue that it is important for beginner oly lifters to squat to depth. (Including myself) Or to put it better, Ilya has probably already done more heavy ATG squats over his entire life than most of us will ever do in our lifetime.

Personally it was always unnatural for me to stop and not go ATG. My hip mobility allows it. I'd rather go with what feels more natural even with lower weight than doing experiments.

I'm a simple man, I see Clarence, I like

Awesome and entertaining as always! My wife and I have been doing the "box" squat for sometime now and it has helped get a deeper squat for the both of us as our weight continues to go up. Guys are now asking little ol' me how I'm getting so low

Great video Alan and I respect the fact that you are man enough to admit that sometimes you do change your opinion on certain matters. Nice job! 👍

"What is this a Jeff Nippard video?" 😂😂😂

problem with these studies are always the numbers. smth being "more effective" is great and all but if its 1% who cares? or smth simple like the reps being fixed meaning both variations are 3 sets of 10. big shocker that the one with more rom and more time under tension would produce better results if the reps arent adjusted. most important to me are form and listening to my body. if i dont get to depth but i feel like if i go further its gonna be bad i dont. an injury that takes 4+ months to heal and then 1+ years of getting back to my old shape (if it isnt smth permanent) is not worth satisfying my ego. ever.

Great video Alan!! From creativity to subject to production, just awesome!!

Coming back to your channel after a long break and lovin it, crackin me up

9:13 go follow Zack Telander y'all this was a great video, Alan!

Dis gonna be gooooood

what a legendary video.... the end is the best part. kudos

I really appreciate going through various examples of different people squatting. Avoids the excuse of 'his physiology is different to mine!' and the like. Also shows slightly different adjustments to try out. Gotta admit, range is a struggle for me, but part of that is fixing form. Have been watching videos for exactly that. Things I've learnt from your videos alone so far - I had th bar adjustment wrong, wasn't pointing my toes out at all. Tried to adjust and made some progress. Will take some experimenting and video review to fix.

Clarence “Harry Squatter” Kennedy

Excuse me sir. Can I talk to you about your squat depth?

I've followed links to a few of your videos and got some good info from them, but this one I clicked on from the side bar got me to sub. Nice stuff man.

Death - Leprosy and Sepultura - Arise on 2:22! Love It! Thanks for your videos Alan, greetings from Brazil!

Bruh, all this reference is killing me, . good one

1:37 great Omar intro, you forgot to thank him

Dude Im a subscriber. Outstanding video love the knowledge and the entertainment.

LOOLLL Love Alan as always, glad this is still a video promoting proper depth. Like FFS what's really the point to quarter squat or barely 90 degree squat...

Seriously Hilarious Video but also very informative 👍🏻👍🏻

4:04 NOW THATS DEEEEEEP I LOVE IT 5:02 was about to mention your ass feels good after ATG squats

Outstanding Alan. Thanks for being the voice of reason.

That video was just ... exactly what i wanted from youtube today. I didnt even know it until i saw it.

"which are all tool albums" I almost fell off my couch

“These are actually all tool albums.” I actually had to look 😂

I love it when Alan is funny. I like his humor. Thank you.

This video is excellent. Excellent topic and excellent quality, not unlike most of your other videos. Thank you for being awesome.