How deep ?

[anthrax]

We often hear that squatting ass to the grass is dangerous for the knees

But some people (usually the big guys and/or those who know a bit more than the shity personal trainers) say that going parallel is the worse position for the knees and you should either stop a bit before or go deeper

What do you think (and do) ?

 

[Beachbum1546]

i have read that going ass to grass is better for the knees compared to going to parallel.

 

[Tom Treutlein]

Okay, from what I know (which isn't a great deal) going ass to the floor is better. When you do this, the pause at the bottom shifts the stress onto your hips. Larger, more durable muscles, joints, tendons, ligaments...whatever. When you stop during the movement at parallel, the stress is on the knees. This is bad.

Plus, full range of motion is always better. Get in a fight with some guy and go from having him on top of you while your about to stand up, and thrust upward. If you're not used to being in "the pit" at the bottom of an ass-to-floor squat, this is going to more difficult for you.

Not to mention all the big boys do it. Who doesn't wanna follow in their footsteps?

 

[needsize]

Okay, from what I know (which isn't a great deal) going ass to the floor is better. When you do this, the pause at the bottom shifts the stress onto your hips. Larger, more durable muscles, joints, tendons, ligaments...whatever. When you stop during the movement at parallel, the stress is on the knees. This is bad.

my thoughts exactly

 

[Tryn2]

Going deeper has taken some pressure off my knees it seems like.

 

[wnt2bBeast]

Ass to the floor or as low as you can get is best..most people that complain of knee probs only do about 3/4 reps stopping just before parallel..Im not an exercise physiologist maybe bulldog or needsize could comment..As you drop below para and the stress shifts to your hips is there any danger of knee injury on the way back up as the pressure is released off the hips back to the knees/quads etc?

 

[coolcolj]

rock bottom baby

 

[jcp2]

for years i was under the impression the lower the better. It seems lately their have been soem people saying that ass to the grass is rough on the knees becuase, i beleive, the stretch of the tendons across the knee when you get that low. I don't see these articles are not saying to break parallel, but not to go as low as you possilby can. Personally i don't have a good enough background of the knee to give an opinion, but I never see the question addressed properly, it is always ass to grass vs. above parallel. The question that probably needs to be brought up is ass to grass vs. just below parallel where the downward force is taken off the knees and still put on the glutes and hams.

 

[Backlash]

I dunno about the knees, but when I go lower than parallel I end up bending forward more and it does put more stress on my back. I am thinking that this is because of flexibility issues, but that's where I'm at right now.

 

[anthrax]

In everyday's life we rarely stop during the movement at parallel (or there is a chair/couch to make us stop)

 

[guldukat]

I gotta say...

It's just speculation, but I honestly think this "ATF squats are bad for knees" stuff just came about as a bunch of pussies' rationalization to NOT do ATF squats.

I ordinarily wouldn't appeal to motive like that. I try to be a big logic freak and all But truly, I've never seen people who argue against ATF squatting offer one shred of actual evidence for the "bad knees" claim.

 

[OMEGA]

rock bottom only on burnout sets with light weight

only parrallel with heavier weight

 

[Cuthbert]

I think a lot of it depends on how controlled the movement is.

Going to rock bottom is good, but if you're divebombing down to depth and bouncing out of the hole, I think you are putting a lot more strain on the knees than if you were doing so in a controlled manner.

IMO... stopping before parallel and higher puts a lot of stress on the knees, no matter how controlled or uncontrolled. Parallel or below, under control, are MUCH safer.

 

[RaZor Ramon]

rock bottom only on burnout sets with light weight

only parrallel with heavier weight

That makes the most sense to me.

 

[OMEGA]

That makes the most sense to me.

yeah

I will do

5-6 sets pyramiding in weight but never going below parralel

then I go on to do all other leg exercises utilizing isolation movements


then in the end 3 sets with half the weight I utlized on my max squat and just go for broke

 

[[email protected]]

I read somewhere that when you go to paralell that there is six times the weight lifted applied to your knees.

 

[InTraining]

I go ATF on both back and front squats.....

But I might start going only to parallel on back squats as my back has a tendency to round out coming up from the bottom of the movement in the later reps...

 

[coolcolj]

I go ATF on both back and front squats.....

But I might start going only to parallel on back squats as my back has a tendency to round out coming up from the bottom of the movement in the later reps...

RDL or GM iso hold stretches for a min after a workout will fix that pretty quickly. Let your body drop down as it fatigues, just use the bar
Improve flexibility of the hips and lower back really fast

And the same for Bulgarian SPlit ISO hold stretches to do the same for the hip flexors