Squat Form Checklist

[Tornado]

You should lead with the head/shoulders on both lifts. For the squat, when I am coming out of the hole, I imagine trying to toss the bar off my back.

This is another gem that most guys should etch into their minds.

 

[TheCuttlefish]

okay, so - thighs parallel or as far down as i can go?

right now, i'm going all the way to the ground, but i rarely see people do this and i've had a couple people say to me that parallel is far enough.

my personal opinion - if you can go farther, go farther. what's the general consensus here?

What most people do is NOT a good way of deciding what is best.

eg. In the middle ages MOST people were dirty potato farmers with plague.

 

[Standard]

okay, so - thighs parallel or as far down as i can go?

right now, i'm going all the way to the ground, but i rarely see people do this and i've had a couple people say to me that parallel is far enough.

my personal opinion - if you can go farther, go farther. what's the general consensus here?

Either is fine, the choice should depends on goals

 

[Tornado]

What most people do is NOT a good way of deciding what is best.

eg. In the middle ages MOST people were dirty potato farmers with plague.

Who were squatting deep to pick up their potatoes

 

[Gavin LeFever]

It can, and the old cat is 100% right. And it's not even that you have to be flexible, just flexible in the right place.

If you're power squatting, your hips and hams need to have decent mobility at the very least.

Pushing the knees out becomes much less exaggerated if you're doing narrow stance squatting. But overall flexibility requirements sky rocket.

if i do a wide PL-style squat, i feel intense pressure on my hips as i reach parallel. the pressure makes me feel like my hips are in a weak position and I'm riding the thin line of injury.

my flexibility is better than most folks, especially at the hips, minus this one position.

on shoulder-width ATG squats, no problems.. which is why I do them.

problem:
A) flexibility
B) weak hips
C) not finding the groove
D) all of the above

 

[kaboom187]

I'm sad, lately i havent' been able to back squat cause my shoulder flexibliity got all fucked up at some point, probably from failing miserably on bench and straining them. I miss low bar squats, front squats just don't feel the same.

Anything i can do to loosen up the shoulders and help me get back the flexibility? whenever i put the bar in position, feels like my shoulders are ready to pop cause they are so tight.