redesigning my squat

[zapataxiv]

so i have been redesigning my squat.
the tldr version here
I have been following madcow for about as long as i have been lifting seriously and i hit a wall in the late 200's with squats that i couldnt overcome. i searched out a legitimate gym and got some real coaching and managed to make some progress but life got in the way. My dad died and i was torn up about it. i moved across the world to china and half way drunk myself to death while not hitting a gym for years.
i had some spurts of gymming but no real consistency.
then i became a dad and found myself lost in dad bod territory.
my youngest is now 3 years old and i have time to get back to the gym.
getting my squat back was like riding a bike, but i found myself hitting the same wall and getting the same problems.
but living in asia i noticed how people here can just squat so naturally and comfortably for sometimes hours at a time.
my squat was a wide stance not so deep squat (to depth but not a2g), i got knee pain and was weak barely 1.75 x BW.
so before i was doing a high bar squat. so i switched to low bar, and i narrowed my feet and worked on bracing and my walk out. those thigns already fixed my problems from before.
now i am working on really sitting down a2g and getting that bounce out the hole to push weight up

the sherdog version
me weak, knees bitch made, i fill joints with uppercuts. wanna squat deep and be manly man


how do yall squat? and how do yalls knees feel? especially in older ages i am trying to find a way to have that knee health late in life. my wifes grandma is 98 and can go ass to grass like its nothing when people in my family can barely do shit in their late 70's

 

[Fahcough]

Can't make up for different upbringing. Some places sit in primal squat more than chairs. Have to warm up knees and hips before squatting. Squat jumps, box jumps, step ups, assisted pistol , lunges . Then still the 1st few reps take a bit to push ass down, usually 2nd set with more weight it finally starts settling in.

Good job getting back into healthy life styles. Best of luck in your journey.

 

[usernamee]

I don't think you know what tldr means

 

[ChickenBrother]

knees bitch made, i fill joints with uppercuts.

You were right to do that. That was the right thing to do.

so i have been redesigning my squat.
the tldr version here
I have been following madcow for about as long as i have been lifting seriously and i hit a wall in the late 200's with squats that i couldnt overcome. i searched out a legitimate gym and got some real coaching and managed to make some progress but life got in the way. My dad died and i was torn up about it. i moved across the world to china and half way drunk myself to death while not hitting a gym for years.
i had some spurts of gymming but no real consistency.
then i became a dad and found myself lost in dad bod territory.
my youngest is now 3 years old and i have time to get back to the gym.
getting my squat back was like riding a bike, but i found myself hitting the same wall and getting the same problems.
but living in asia i noticed how people here can just squat so naturally and comfortably for sometimes hours at a time.
my squat was a wide stance not so deep squat (to depth but not a2g), i got knee pain and was weak barely 1.75 x BW.
so before i was doing a high bar squat. so i switched to low bar, and i narrowed my feet and worked on bracing and my walk out. those thigns already fixed my problems from before.
now i am working on really sitting down a2g and getting that bounce out the hole to push weight up

the sherdog version
me weak, knees bitch made, i fill joints with uppercuts. wanna squat deep and be manly man


how do yall squat? and how do yalls knees feel? especially in older ages i am trying to find a way to have that knee health late in life. my wifes grandma is 98 and can go ass to grass like its nothing when people in my family can barely do shit in their late 70's

First off, having traveled a lot when I was younger, I'm convinced that toilets that are a hole in the floor like you see in SE Asia, the middle east and elsewhere are a key reason the general population there can drop into and out of a deep ATG squat without even thinking about it. And if you can do an ATG squat, you generally have the posterior and lower back strength and ROM to stand upright and walk under your own power into very old age.

Second, squatting 1.75x BW is pretty strong. For me at least, that's around my ceiling before materially compromising my ability to also train combat sports and have decent cardio but YMMV. I think for most people to squat much heavier than that, they have to prioritize powerlifting and squat 3 x week with adequate recovery.

But the older I get, I’ve come to realize that ROM is at least and possibly more important for overall health than absolute strength once you're doing >1x BW on SBD. I used to do wide stance, (barely) to depth low bar squats because that's how I could do the most weight. But that requires the least ROM. Now I do heels shoulder width apart, high bar squats with torso as upright as possible. I do lighter weight but my form is better and I go ATG.

I highly recommend going to a proper powerlifting/oly coach to give you feedback and cues to help your training. I did 5 sessions earlier this year and that was money well spent and I will probably go back.

As for getting ATG, this specific video and the stretches it shows helped me a lot. It made me realize I have an impingement in my right ankle from past injuries and the banded stretches helped restore some of my ROM:



I also think Knees over toes guy is not completely full of shit and at least some of his stretches make a lot of sense. I do this one almost daily and it's improved my ROM and my knees feel better for it.

 

[Oblivian]

I've had multiple variations of squatting. Squatting more high bar in oly shoes, low bar in flats, bouncing out of the hole, hitting depth and right back up. Different things work at different points in my life. The older that I get, low bar seems to agree with me more. I still supplement with front squats though.

 

[maximus__]

so i have been redesigning my squat.
the tldr version here
I have been following madcow for about as long as i have been lifting seriously and i hit a wall in the late 200's with squats that i couldnt overcome. i searched out a legitimate gym and got some real coaching and managed to make some progress but life got in the way. My dad died and i was torn up about it. i moved across the world to china and half way drunk myself to death while not hitting a gym for years.
i had some spurts of gymming but no real consistency.
then i became a dad and found myself lost in dad bod territory.
my youngest is now 3 years old and i have time to get back to the gym.
getting my squat back was like riding a bike, but i found myself hitting the same wall and getting the same problems.
but living in asia i noticed how people here can just squat so naturally and comfortably for sometimes hours at a time.
my squat was a wide stance not so deep squat (to depth but not a2g), i got knee pain and was weak barely 1.75 x BW.
so before i was doing a high bar squat. so i switched to low bar, and i narrowed my feet and worked on bracing and my walk out. those thigns already fixed my problems from before.
now i am working on really sitting down a2g and getting that bounce out the hole to push weight up

the sherdog version
me weak, knees bitch made, i fill joints with uppercuts. wanna squat deep and be manly man


how do yall squat? and how do yalls knees feel? especially in older ages i am trying to find a way to have that knee health late in life. my wifes grandma is 98 and can go ass to grass like its nothing when people in my family can barely do shit in their late 70's

I squat relatively narrow but highbar so I can stay upright more. I actually prefer not to push my squat as a main lift anymore and use it as a secondary lower body movement focusing on depth or pause variations.

I have been using lunge variations and I think that will remain my go to as I get older. I have good depth when I squat but get the old butt wink. It never used to be an issue, but now it can cause pain the following day. Pushing heavy in the lunge has been a game changer. Less overall back pain, I can deadlift heavy each week and it's been more applicable to my grappling and other training. I also don't have to load my body as heavy and can recover better outside of the initial doms.

 

[Baby Hanma]

I've had multiple variations of squatting. Squatting more high bar in oly shoes, low bar in flats, bouncing out of the hole, hitting depth and right back up. Different things work at different points in my life. The older that I get, low bar seems to agree with me more. I still supplement with front squats though.

High bar, narrow stance, full range of motion squats will mess up anyone's knees. Low bar, wider stance squats with powerlifting standards of depth is safer, albeit less specific to Olympic lifting.

Olympic-style squats are overrated, unless you're an Olympic-style weightlifter.

To be fair though, Olympic squats will give you less stress on your spine and are the best quad builders in known science. But still, they're overrated.

 

[zapataxiv]

High bar, narrow stance, full range of motion squats will mess up anyone's knees. Low bar, wider stance squats with powerlifting standards of depth is safer, albeit less specific to Olympic lifting.

Olympic-style squats are overrated, unless you're an Olympic-style weightlifter.

To be fair though, Olympic squats will give you less stress on your spine and are the best quad builders in known science. But still, they're overrated.

but living in the east I know some heavy squatters specifically former oly style strength athletes and they can hit depth totally healthy later in life
one guy at my gym is 45
and does heavy weights like 145kg oly style to depth and his knees are healthy dude is just comfortable at that depth for days

I wanna know how they accomplish that

 

[Baby Hanma]

but living in the east I know some heavy squatters specifically former oly style strength athletes and they can hit depth totally healthy later in life
one guy at my gym is 45
and does heavy weights like 145kg oly style to depth and his knees are healthy dude is just comfortable at that depth for days

I wanna know how they accomplish that

It's genetics, my friend. Some people are just built for that kind of squat. But for most of us (including them), we will have less stress on our knee joints on a low bar squat.

A low bar squat distributes the force of the weight evenly on our hips, back, and knees. While a high bar Olympic squat will overemphasize the knees because it's meant to train the quads.

Look, if you already do heavy front squats in your program, you wouldn't need to do Olympic back squats. You can happily stick to the low bar back squat and you'd get the best of both worlds.

High bar, full range of motion, narrow stance, Olympic back squats are overrated. That's my opinion on it.

 

[maximus__]

but living in the east I know some heavy squatters specifically former oly style strength athletes and they can hit depth totally healthy later in life
one guy at my gym is 45
and does heavy weights like 145kg oly style to depth and his knees are healthy dude is just comfortable at that depth for days

I wanna know how they accomplish that

Don't listen to @Baby Hanma. He is just trolling. He was squatting Oly style until the start of this year with great depth, unless he was lying.
The only reason to do a low bar back squat is if it works better for you or you are competing in a powerlifting comp and are rocking knee wraps etc.

The data points to deep squats being better for your knees because it uses your entire lower leg musculature to support the weight.
If your goal isn't to squat a world record, you should do whatever squat feels the best for you. Most of my squatting is deep and with pauses these days and I push the weight on single leg work. Only thing I try and avoid is the good old buttwink. Some people are fine, but I find if I let it go too much, my lower back locks up for grappling.

Do what works for you but IMO provided you have the mobility, deeper is better and most studies also point to that as opposed to limiting ROM and chasing big weights.

 

[Baby Hanma]

Don't listen to @Baby Hanma. He is just trolling. He was squatting Oly style until the start of this year with great depth, unless he was lying.
The only reason to do a low bar back squat is if it works better for you or you are competing in a powerlifting comp and are rocking knee wraps etc.

The data points to deep squats being better for your knees because it uses your entire lower leg musculature to support the weight.
If your goal isn't to squat a world record, you should do whatever squat feels the best for you. Most of my squatting is deep and with pauses these days and I push the weight on single leg work. Only thing I try and avoid is the good old buttwink. Some people are fine, but I find if I let it go too much, my lower back locks up for grappling.

Do what works for you but IMO provided you have the mobility, deeper is better and most studies also point to that as opposed to limiting ROM and chasing big weights.

I sincerely don't care what you have to say about me. The OP is smart enough to figure out that I was serious and I'm here to tell you I'm more qualified than most to talk about this stuff.

Get real Maximus. You're just another one of those "keyboard warriors" with a mediocre life outside of the internet. I don't take you seriously anymore.

Leave me alone. Geniuses like me have better things to do than to protect themselves against the slanders of losers like you.

Bye.

 

[zapataxiv]

Don't listen to @Baby Hanma. He is just trolling. He was squatting Oly style until the start of this year with great depth, unless he was lying.
The only reason to do a low bar back squat is if it works better for you or you are competing in a powerlifting comp and are rocking knee wraps etc.

The data points to deep squats being better for your knees because it uses your entire lower leg musculature to support the weight.
If your goal isn't to squat a world record, you should do whatever squat feels the best for you. Most of my squatting is deep and with pauses these days and I push the weight on single leg work. Only thing I try and avoid is the good old buttwink. Some people are fine, but I find if I let it go too much, my lower back locks up for grappling.

Do what works for you but IMO provided you have the mobility, deeper is better and most studies also point to that as opposed to limiting ROM and chasing big weights.

so what do you do about knee drift and butt wink?
i found that breaking at the knees vs hips helps a lot and excessive but wink is one of things that as really beating me up before
tightening the butt helped my knees and holding the weight
I feel like I do lose some tightness when I get all the way down

 

[Volador]

so i have been redesigning my squat.
the tldr version here
I have been following madcow for about as long as i have been lifting seriously and i hit a wall in the late 200's with squats that i couldnt overcome. i searched out a legitimate gym and got some real coaching and managed to make some progress but life got in the way. My dad died and i was torn up about it. i moved across the world to china and half way drunk myself to death while not hitting a gym for years.
i had some spurts of gymming but no real consistency.
then i became a dad and found myself lost in dad bod territory.
my youngest is now 3 years old and i have time to get back to the gym.
getting my squat back was like riding a bike, but i found myself hitting the same wall and getting the same problems.
but living in asia i noticed how people here can just squat so naturally and comfortably for sometimes hours at a time.
my squat was a wide stance not so deep squat (to depth but not a2g), i got knee pain and was weak barely 1.75 x BW.
so before i was doing a high bar squat. so i switched to low bar, and i narrowed my feet and worked on bracing and my walk out. those thigns already fixed my problems from before.
now i am working on really sitting down a2g and getting that bounce out the hole to push weight up

the sherdog version
me weak, knees bitch made, i fill joints with uppercuts. wanna squat deep and be manly man


how do yall squat? and how do yalls knees feel? especially in older ages i am trying to find a way to have that knee health late in life. my wifes grandma is 98 and can go ass to grass like its nothing when people in my family can barely do shit in their late 70's

In general, longer ROM's are a good thing, but you don't need to obsess about going A2G too much. If you're squatting below parallel and you are getting stronger consistently, then you're getting the usual benefits from squatting. Olympic lifters lift that way because it's a requirement for the clean and the snatch, but I don't think there's something special to it otherwise if you just want to be stronger.

I would experiment with low bar, high bar, slightly narrower/wider stances, and see what feels best. Consistent pain-free training with progressive overload is more important than some specific squatting technique. You could also have a "heavy day" where you do your 3x5, 5x5, or whatever it is, and then a lighter day where you can work on some alternate version, like 3x8 or 4x8 paused high bar to maximum depth, and slowly work at improving those without the pressure of going so heavy. None of these things are inherently dangerous for your knees if you take care of not adding weight/volume too suddenly.

I usually squat low bar to depth. There's a day I do sets of 8 SSB pause squats, which require a more upright torso and extra depth. I feel like the more upright torso helps me not bend over too much when I go back to the heavier low bar. At the same time, I had long periods where I trained the low bar exclusively, and I felt fine too. I had meniscus surgery from football many years ago, and most of the times I developed knee pain in the gym were times when I was going HAM with volume and intensity, or doing stupid things like squatting heavy and high volume and also running on concrete on my days off. I also got swollen knees a couple times that I tried to do high volume/high intensity with super A2G squats that I hadn't been really working on before. I think it's just that my body wasn't used to the position and I hadn't worked at it gradually enough. In all this time doing SSB squats to depth, deep leg presses, and experimenting with all kinds of things, I've felt fine. I think it's because I've learned to self-regulate and plan my training better. I felt a slight twinge on my meniscus-less knee last week, and I just dropped one set and went a little lighter. Felt totally fine the next day, like nothing ever happened. In the past, I probably would've just plowed through.

 

[Baby Hanma]

so what do you do about knee drift and butt wink?
i found that breaking at the knees vs hips helps a lot and excessive but wink is one of things that as really beating me up before
tightening the butt helped my knees and holding the weight
I feel like I do lose some tightness when I get all the way down

Dude, I wasn't trolling okay? Come on man.

 

[NoSmilez]

You should check body type. Some people aren't meant to squat ass to grass. I think it's fine if you can hit depth past parallel. You need to play the bar position too. There are stuff that changes when you gain weight or get older. Your shoulder and ankle mobility changes. For me I used to hold the bar very tight and hands close together. Nowadays my hand position is much further out. It's not like strongman or bodybuilder far apart but it's a difference. I just don't have the shoulder or wrist mobility anymore.

Most Asian people can squat ATG fairly easy. In general their femurs aren't too long. You can probably overcome your issue but you really have to dedicate time to ankle mobility or wear weight lifting shoes(squatting on a plate or elevated platform works too). My stance was really wide when I got back into squatting but I worked on my mobility and got back to a narrower stance. Eventually I ditched the weight lifting shoes. It was actually causing me knee pain.

Another thing is that I don't barbell squat as much anymore. I would just do SS for years. Nowadays I train legs twice a week but one of those sessions is a squat variation and the other is a barbell. It can be a SSB, Hack Squat, Pendulum Squat or belt squat as the variation. My legs really "blew" up using this method. The variations allowed me to eliminate the lower back as the limiting factor. My barbell squats also felt more productive and I wasn't as worn out. I used to hate the leg press but it lets me safely train till failure or even beyond failure.

 

[zapataxiv]

Dude, I wasn't trolling okay? Come on man.

I don't think you were trolling
I've seen your posts before you got strong opinions
I still appreciate your advice

 

[zapataxiv]

In general, longer ROM's are a good thing, but you don't need to obsess about going A2G too much. If you're squatting below parallel and you are getting stronger consistently, then you're getting the usual benefits from squatting. Olympic lifters lift that way because it's a requirement for the clean and the snatch, but I don't think there's something special to it otherwise if you just want to be stronger.

I would experiment with low bar, high bar, slightly narrower/wider stances, and see what feels best. Consistent pain-free training with progressive overload is more important than some specific squatting technique. You could also have a "heavy day" where you do your 3x5, 5x5, or whatever it is, and then a lighter day where you can work on some alternate version, like 3x8 or 4x8 paused high bar to maximum depth, and slowly work at improving those without the pressure of going so heavy. None of these things are inherently dangerous for your knees if you take care of not adding weight/volume too suddenly.

I usually squat low bar to depth. There's a day I do sets of 8 SSB pause squats, which require a more upright torso and extra depth. I feel like the more upright torso helps me not bend over too much when I go back to the heavier low bar. At the same time, I had long periods where I trained the low bar exclusively, and I felt fine too. I had meniscus surgery from football many years ago, and most of the times I developed knee pain in the gym were times when I was going HAM with volume and intensity, or doing stupid things like squatting heavy and high volume and also running on concrete on my days off. I also got swollen knees a couple times that I tried to do high volume/high intensity with super A2G squats that I hadn't been really working on before. I think it's just that my body wasn't used to the position and I hadn't worked at it gradually enough. In all this time doing SSB squats to depth, deep leg presses, and experimenting with all kinds of things, I've felt fine. I think it's because I've learned to self-regulate and plan my training better. I felt a slight twinge on my meniscus-less knee last week, and I just dropped one set and went a little lighter. Felt totally fine the next day, like nothing ever happened. In the past, I probably would've just plowed through.

I like this I guess it touches on one of my fears I don't wanna blow out my knees or tear a meniscus
I wanna get a strong squatters but a sustainable squat.
as far as my programming I run madcow
so I squat 3x a week with light to heavy days I usually do paused on the light day also to work on my cues
up right torso is a game changer for me I work on that with bracing and getting real tight under the bar
I think it is one of my old problems with squatting before that really held me back

You should check body type. Some people aren't meant to squat ass to grass. I think it's fine if you can hit depth past parallel. You need to play the bar position too. There are stuff that changes when you gain weight or get older. Your shoulder and ankle mobility changes. For me I used to hold the bar very tight and hands close together. Nowadays my hand position is much further out. It's not like strongman or bodybuilder far apart but it's a difference. I just don't have the shoulder or wrist mobility anymore.

Most Asian people can squat ATG fairly easy. In general their femurs aren't too long. You can probably overcome your issue but you really have to dedicate time to ankle mobility or wear weight lifting shoes(squatting on a plate or elevated platform works too). My stance was really wide when I got back into squatting but I worked on my mobility and got back to a narrower stance. Eventually I ditched the weight lifting shoes. It was actually causing me knee pain.

Another thing is that I don't barbell squat as much anymore. I would just do SS for years. Nowadays I train legs twice a week but one of those sessions is a squat variation and the other is a barbell. It can be a SSB, Hack Squat, Pendulum Squat or belt squat as the variation. My legs really "blew" up using this method. The variations allowed me to eliminate the lower back as the limiting factor. My barbell squats also felt more productive and I wasn't as worn out. I used to hate the leg press but it lets me safely train till failure or even beyond failure.

that's interesting you said that to touch on another subject floating around here.
but I have seen Mike isrealtel among others tall about that idea of eating back on the squats andsubstitu ting more accessory work
which is what most here seem to echo.
how narrow is a narrow to you?
right now I am just shy of shoulder width and it is easy for me to get a2g from there.
idk if my body type is good or bad lol but I am not tall but lanky long arms and legs
I guess Ryan Garcia if he ate himself and aged a decade but hopefully less mental illness

 

[maximus__]

so what do you do about knee drift and butt wink?
i found that breaking at the knees vs hips helps a lot and excessive but wink is one of things that as really beating me up before
tightening the butt helped my knees and holding the weight
I feel like I do lose some tightness when I get all the way down

Squat the appropriate amount of weight so those things aren't an issue. Butt wink happens because of a lack of mobility and inability to maintain an upright torso at that depth. Usually too much weight is when it causes pain.
Oly lifters squat with butt wink no issues, so it's only a major problem if it causes you pain.

Your entire body should be tight during a squat. I used to do like you are saying and break at the hips and sit back keeping my weight on my heels.
Now I squat lighter and squat in a more natural pattern where my knees go over my toes. I don't go full ATG on my max sets but 90% of my squatting is done as deep as possible.
My stance is pretty narrow and definitely more towards high bar. I could probably squat more if I went to parallel but I find that's when I get most of the pain, especially through my knees.

The studies used to point to knee issues from stopping at parallel and then using the knee joint to reverse the movement. It's sounds like you are being smart and working towards a variation that works for you. The best answer is to mix them up in training and do both styles and other variations.

 

[maximus__]

I sincerely don't care what you have to say about me. The OP is smart enough to figure out that I was serious and I'm here to tell you I'm more qualified than most to talk about this stuff.

Get real Maximus. You're just another one of those "keyboard warriors" with a mediocre life outside of the internet. I don't take you seriously anymore.

Leave me alone. Geniuses like me have better things to do than to protect themselves against the slanders of losers like you.

Bye.

Slander? I just pointed out you aren't consistent in your position. Disagreeing with you isn't slander or bullying.

Start of the year it's deep squats and ATG and now you reckon power lifting style is the only way because "knee pain"'.

Your giving absolutes on things you don't know about. You have squatted this way for barely six months and inconsistently from your own admission.
Your position is now a full 180 on a topic that has been done to depth (pardon the pun) and you said the complete opposite of at the start of the year.

High bar, narrow stance, full range of motion squats will mess up anyone's knees. Low bar, wider stance squats with powerlifting standards of depth is safer, albeit less specific to Olympic lifting.

Olympic-style squats are overrated, unless you're an Olympic-style weightlifter.

To be fair though, Olympic squats will give you less stress on your spine and are the best quad builders in known science. But still, they're overrated.

That was the post I initially responded to. Nothing you said is that bad except for saying one type of squat(the main one you did until 6 months ago) will mess up anyones knees.
The opposite is true. As people progress in age they would be better to drop the weight and work on depth. The inability to squat deep is linked with all-cause mortality. Neither squat is worse or better for your knees either way. People lose mobility and naturally progress to a low bar squat, powerlifting style squat because they want to continue to lift the same heavier weights and can't hit depth anymore.Or they get strong enough to chase a big 1RM.

By all means people can squat how they want, but don't give absolutes like saying one type of squat is worse than the others. TS sounds like they found success doing a middle version of both. Does that mean their knees will only half get messed up?

 

[Baby Hanma]

Slander? I just pointed out you aren't consistent in your position. Disagreeing with you isn't slander or bullying.

Start of the year it's deep squats and ATG and now you reckon power lifting style is the only way because "knee pain"'.

Your giving absolutes on things you don't know about. You have squatted this way for barely six months and inconsistently from your own admission.
Your position is now a full 180 on a topic that has been done to depth (pardon the pun) and you said the complete opposite of at the start of the year.

High bar, narrow stance, full range of motion squats will mess up anyone's knees. Low bar, wider stance squats with powerlifting standards of depth is safer, albeit less specific to Olympic lifting.

Olympic-style squats are overrated, unless you're an Olympic-style weightlifter.

To be fair though, Olympic squats will give you less stress on your spine and are the best quad builders in known science. But still, they're overrated.

That was the post I initially responded to. Nothing you said is that bad except for saying one type of squat(the main one you did until 6 months ago) will mess up anyones knees.
The opposite is true. As people progress in age they would be better to drop the weight and work on depth. The inability to squat deep is linked with all-cause mortality. Neither squat is worse or better for your knees either way. People lose mobility and naturally progress to a low bar squat, powerlifting style squat because they want to continue to lift the same heavier weights and can't hit depth anymore.Or they get strong enough to chase a big 1RM.

By all means people can squat how they want, but don't give absolutes like saying one type of squat is worse than the others. TS sounds like they found success doing a middle version of both. Does that mean their knees will only half get messed up?

I have been doing low bar squats for the past one year and eight months bro! Just because I showed a video of me squatting deep with narrow stance from five years ago doesn't mean it's what I preach!