how far do you squat?

[speese]

how far down do you squat?

[speese]

just curious, and do any of you think that doing it one way holds a big advantage over the other? when i was doing olympic style weightlifting, i used to do full squats and my legs were bigger back then, but then again i was working my legs about every day and squatting 3 times a week. now i squat once a week and go about to parallel so i can go a little heavier.

[daem]

i think about squats and leg presses in the same manner.

if i put a heavier amount of weight on it than i can do without cheating, i am naturally not going to go down as far or let the sled go down as far.

the deeper you go the better the quad is hit and the less you use your hamstrings to aid in the movement.

if you are going to go past parallel, use a smith machine and place your feet about 2-3 feet ahead of the bar. by going all the way to the floor and raising, i gained 40 pounds on my squat in the first 3 weeks of my current cycle to get to a pleasing 575 for 2 reps.

by doing it this way you will get the benefit of a standing hacksquat almost and also target the longer heads of the quads.

[jman98z24]

Not to offend anyone here, but I am soo sick of seeing people in the gym load up a lot of weight on the bar to look tough, and then they only end up doing 1\4 squats. I go as far down as physically possible, and when I do squats people are always amazed at how far I go down(way below parallell). I guess 1\4 or 1\2 reps can give you good results,but I feel like I am cheating myself if I don't go all the way down.

[RON]

I go a little bit lower than half. Any farther and my back starts to loose proper form. Plus the old knees aren't what they used to be. I started training about 15 years ago. Minus about 4 where I flaked off. Thats 11 years of punishing my joints. Plus I haven't been under 200lbs since I was 15 years old. So thats a lot of extra stress on my knees right there.

[Vibrantred94gt]

I go to below paralell when the lower back permits. Sometimes all I can do is half squats, but if that is the case, I superset with the laydown leg press. I sometimes do this while doing full squats as well.

[Juggernaut]

I change up a bit with the squat. However, I generally hit the legs twice a week. Once a week it's a$$ to the floor and the next day it's parallel w/walk-outs. I don't get much out of 1/2 or 1/4 squats, imo.

[sin]

i was just thinking about this today. it seems like back in the day i didnt go as deep and the size of my legs increased dramatically, because i was using heavier weights. now i go past paralell and i think it focuses better on the vastus medialis and the rectus femoris, but the size and strength of my legs is less than it used to be.

[nevaenuf]

If im showing off, then I put alot of weight on the bar and do quarter squats, girls just look at the weight-they dont care how far down you go. But if im really working out then I go all the way down.

[xtremesport14]

I go down a little farther than sitting position. I keep my legs a little more forward than the norm and go down into the sitting position. I use the hack machine though.

[IronRhino]

Maybe it's because I'm probably older than most of the users here, Maybe it's because 20-25 yrs ago we trained till we almost threw up, or maybe I'm just massochistic but I've always felt if you don't practically leave a butt imprint on floor you're doing a sissy squat. Bad on the knees? Only if you don't do exercises deliberately aimed at strengthening joints.

Regarding hypertrophy, quads take quite a beating every day, unless you spend it in bed. So you adapt/modify your training to accommodate. Getting the attention of the chicks at the gym with high weight and a very slight squat--maybe, but they'll be impressed if you work to get the high weight on a full squat and then you'll also have the respect of the guys in the know. Just my dos centavos...

[wrstlr69sdnl]

I go alittle lower than parallel with my legs close together seems to work more quads and spreds out my legs more

[chicamahomico]

the deeper you go the better the quad is hit and the less you use your hamstrings to aid in the movement.

Actually, the deeper you go the more the hamstrings, glutes and hip flexors come into play. You can build a huge set of quads with 1\2 squats at the expense of your posterior chain development.

[tony_canuck]

all the way down, ass to the floor. I love the feeling of deep squats.....

[palme]

all the way down, ass to the floor. I love the feeling of deep squats.....

Im with you bro, i go as deep as i can before going up as explosive as i can.

[Juggernaut]

Anyone tried jumping with the weights on the lift portion of the movement? I've read something about it some time back. I guess it's like what Palme stated but expolsive enough to try and get your feet off the ground. No doubt you can't use a really heavy weight.

[Money Boss Hustla]

I have tree trunk legs so I rarely work them. When squatting I use lighter weights but more reps. I take it easy and only go about half way down (give or take)...or parallel in your poll.

[big daddy k de]

low to grow.. but not to low

[GetPsycho]

i prefer deep front squats. back squats are dont to parallel

[symatech]

I always go parallel

[pumpseeker]

ass to the floor on squats

knees to the chest on presses

The only way to grow!

[Kid Shred]

till my knees crack

[WiLLpOwEr]

Honestly, if you were to actually see yourself training, you would realize that "ass to the floor" in unrealistic. If you're going low, and you got the safety bars low, then I'd say you're going 6 inches below parallel. Any lower than that and you are not going to have any strength left, plus you will use a lot of your lower back. That's what your body was designed to do, aid moving weight by using all of your muscles.

Just something to think about before you reply something that will confuse newbies.

[Tuggy]

I go to parallel. It burns my quads eally well.

[bigol'legs]

I usually go parallel. Has anyone tried this.. its kinda hard to explain. But you know how to do a sissy squat? well put 135 on your back and do a squat and strech your quads forward till your knees hit the floor. Then sit back and push up. It really hits your upper quad like sissy squat stretching. And since your going light it wont hurt your knees.

[kilroy]

i do nothing but box squats twice a week. I have a dynamic day. 8 sets of 3 with chains working on relaxing the hip flexors on the box then popping off for explosiveness. Max effort day box squats working to a 3 rep max for a new PR. If you want the squat numbers to go up GHD's and reverse hypers can be crucial