how far down is best?

[Recruit]

when doing squats, how far down should I go to get the best results, but to protect my knees at the same time? Considering I'm going moderate to heavy with the intention of bulking.

 

[victoria978]

Ass parallel to the floor. No further or you will pay with your knees.

 

[Recruit]

When going heavy, is it alright to use Kneewraps?

 

[MsBeverlyHills]

Ass parallel to the floor. No further or you will pay with your knees.

not true. you always want to break parallel- where the bottom of the hamstrings touch the calves.

"At parallel (where the thigh is parallel to the floor, higher than the depth of a full squat by about 30 degrees), the compressive forces on the patella (kneecap) are actually at their highest (Huberti & Hayes, Journal of Bone Joint Surgery, 1984: 715-724). Decelerating, stopping, and reversing direction at this angle can inspire significant knee pain in even healthy people, whereas full squats present no problem."

 

[Guinness5.0]

Ass parallel to the floor. No further or you will pay with your knees.

I disagree. Depth is good for the knees. Going deep makes the hips the primary load-bearing structure wiht the knees being secondary. Also, going deep causes the hamstrings to act as stabilizers aginst the patellar tendon.

However, if you're performing PL-style squats (which I doubt as you say you're bulking) parallel is fine as the ultra wide stance causes the hips to be the prime load bearers.

Here is a great link that goes in to more detail:
http://www.elitefitness.com/forum/showthread.php?t=332299

 

[Recruit]

I disagree. Depth is good for the knees. Going deep makes the hips the primary load-bearing structure wiht the knees being secondary. Also, going deep causes the hamstrings to act as stabilizers aginst the patellar tendon.

However, if you're performing PL-style squats (which I doubt as you say you're bulking) parallel is fine as the ultra wide stance causes the hips to be the prime load bearers.

Here is a great link that goes in to more detail:
http://www.elitefitness.com/forum/showthread.php?t=332299

Thanks for the link bro.

 

[al420]

Ass parallel to the floor. No further or you will pay with your knees.

Victoria - your legs are really nice, but if mine ever look like that I will be 10 again - lol -

Deep is good, deeper better, deepest bestest

 

[perp69]

I like to go down far enough below to get that nice little bounce from the hammies.

Perp

 

[sidney61199]

I know deep is harder and builds more muscle but I've heard from many people (PT's and such) that the 100% correct way to do a squat is to go parallel to the floor. Say you were in a squat competion, would parallel count or do they want you to go down deep? Thanks for the info.

 

[al420]

I know deep is harder and builds more muscle but I've heard from many people (PT's and such) that the 100% correct way to do a squat is to go parallel to the floor. Say you were in a squat competion, would parallel count or do they want you to go down deep? Thanks for the info.

So - what do the PT's legs look like...or for that matter their bellys....anyone w/ quad size/strength says deep - anyone who is afraid to go deep say's otherwise - it's that simple