ATF Squats - comments please

[hellboy]

I've been doing squats in a full range for about 3 months now. But not with anywhere near a maximal weight. I usually do 4 sets of 8-10.

I have a lumbar injury that was caused about 5 years ago squatting with bad bad form. I was a dumbass. This causes me to be extremely paranoid about form during my squats now.

I have noticed that when squatting ass to floor it is pretty much Impossible to maintain the lordotic arch at the bottom end of the squat and this concerns me. I would like to put more weight on the bar but I know that without the arch my back will go out again - it did in March and I was walking around with this faggy blue heat pack on it for 3 weeks. I don't wanna do that again.

Anybody got any tips or comments on overcoming this issue? Should I skip the ATF part and just go to parallel? Would stretching or something increase the range that I can maintain the arch?

Thanks for any help.

 

[Tagio]

hey - check out revexrevex's thread about stretching. his back also rounds past parallel and yes it's because of flexibility in the glutes and/or hams.

 

[asiansinc]

I've been doing ass-to-heel squats for several weeks now, and the weight I use is still much MUCH less than what I did with partial range squats.

I did Nelson's leg workout yseterday, and after so many 20-rep squats I thought I was going to die.

My lower back muscles were feeling pretty sore yesterday (although today only my legs are sore). I'm pretty sure my form is good, but going all the way down always makes me feel it in the lower back.

My feet are just about shoulder width apart, with toes pointed very slightly outwards and I'm really flexible.

Does this just mean I need to work on lower back strength?