should I squat to the floor?

[Bozwell]

heres the problem Ive always done squats as far to the floor as I can get
but people in the gym keep telling me it is bad for my back,bad for my knees and now in this months mens health it says if you squat arse to the floor you risk seriouse damage to your knees,what gives?
Ive read the squat fax and my squats seem fine by that ,or are all these people just full of shit
cheers

 

[nsashbl01]

Here's what my doc tells me. "If it aint to the floor, it aint squat"!

 

[wnt2bBeast]

heres the problem Ive always done squats as far to the floor as I can get
but people in the gym keep telling me it is bad for my back,bad for my knees and now in this months mens health it says if you squat arse to the floor you risk seriouse damage to your knees,what gives?
Ive read the squat fax and my squats seem fine by that ,or are all these people just full of shit
cheers

first off squatting all the way down is not bad for the knees..it will transfer the load from the knees to the hips/glutes..stopping at 90 degrees places most of the torque/strain directly on the knees..i would not trust mens health for any info on lifting most are just plain wrong and stupid..

second-it depends on your goals..In powerlifting all you need to do is break parallel..you do not get extra points or whatever for squatting ass to ankles..

while many rave about Capt Kirk and rightfully so there is nothing extra gained in competetive PL for squatting as deep as he does..

if your goal is to just build your quads then i would go as deep as possible with heavy weights while keeping my stance about shoulder width

 

[|3ossman]

ass to the grass is the only way i squat, but its not necessary like these guys said already. It is the best way to squat for mass though. if your worried about your knees, which you shouldnt be, get some knee wraps to use when your going heavy. I have never had a problem with my knees, only thing that bothers them is when im doing really heavy leg extensions some times.

 

[blut wump]

Download and read this. It answers all your squat anatomy questions and whether to go ATF:
http://purepowermag.com/samples/pdf/squat1to39.pdf

The link was originally posted by curgeo in another thread.

 

[maldorf]

I have always gone very deep in my squats and never really had any serious knee issues. They have been getting sore lately, but that is because I have been training very low rep and am approaching a PR. I think the most imporant thing you can do is warm up your knees very well. I do at least 3 or 4 warmup sets with progressively heavier weights and also do light leg extns.

 

[Bozwell]

cheers to ,looks like Ill be fine as I dont compeate(sp?)yet,my goals are mainly for streanth but extra size is always welcome

 

[riverrock]

Bozwell,

Great to see another Brit On Board! Anyhow, you do not squat from the need, you squat br driving your glutes back, go well beyond parallel and drive right up through the bar and back to the standing position again

There are 3 guys in our gym who make me laugh everytime they come in. They are your typical "beach Boys" They like to look good and do a small bit of training at the same time. Anyhow, these boys keep piling on the weight onto the squat bar, but everytime they are squatting worse and worse. They don't even go 1/4 down never mind reaching parallel. Then they go "Good Squat Man" to each other. I am coming close to going over to them and saying "Back Off girls, I'll show you how to squat"!! The point is, as a rule of thumb, ignore others in the gym and concentrate from learning off those who know their weights properly.

 

[Bozwell]

Bozwell,

Great to see another Brit On Board! Anyhow, you do not squat from the need, you squat br driving your glutes back, go well beyond parallel and drive right up through the bar and back to the standing position again

There are 3 guys in our gym who make me laugh everytime they come in. They are your typical "beach Boys" They like to look good and do a small bit of training at the same time. Anyhow, these boys keep piling on the weight onto the squat bar, but everytime they are squatting worse and worse. They don't even go 1/4 down never mind reaching parallel. Then they go "Good Squat Man" to each other. I am coming close to going over to them and saying "Back Off girls, I'll show you how to squat"!! The point is, as a rule of thumb, ignore others in the gym and concentrate from learning off those who know their weights properly.

Yes these people you know seem very much like the ones I know (there must be idiots everywere) this one guy said when you squat its jus like getting out of a chair and he never gose below parralel

 

[chase152]

I go just below parallel. To me the whole chair thing is cheating. Alot of people when doing it don't go down enough. So I always go down just a bit more just to be safe..

 

[Extra_Strong]

hell yes .. not go down to where you rest or unflex you quad. go as far as you can and are able to keep tention. Kill That Shit..

 

[riverrock]

Yes these people you know seem very much like the ones I know (there must be idiots everywere) this one guy said when you squat its jus like getting out of a chair and he never gose below parralel

A Bar Stool Squatter so!!!!

 

[Scooter28]

I've had my knee caps scrapped because of doing HEAVY DEEP squats...now I only go parallel....just my expereince. If you're not having any problems, then go for it...

 

[bignate73]

first...men's health.....come on.

second....dont relax at the bottom and especially don't bounce, this is where most everyone screws up their knees. its not the depth, its what you do when you are down there. lower, stay tight, reverse and come up.

 

[chase152]

You'll have a dumpy ass if you do them too much... I used to do squats to the floor all the time. My ass sticks out too much now..

 

[riverrock]

You'll have a dumpy ass if you do them too much... I used to do squats to the floor all the time. My ass sticks out too much now..

As DJ Casper said in the Cha-Cha slide "How low can you go...all the way to the floor". Might have been a corny song, but he was right!

 

[Falklands]

As DJ Casper said in the Cha-Cha slide "How low can you go...all the way to the floor". Might have been a corny song, but he was right!

Can you bring it to the top, like you never never stop - how low can you go!!!!

 

[future]

Make sure you squat in a comfortable ROM. That is the most important thing.

 

[stilleto]

I go just below parallel. To me the whole chair thing is cheating. Alot of people when doing it don't go down enough. So I always go down just a bit more just to be safe..

cheating... lol...
its called a box squat- its not supposed to be in place of regular squats...
anyway, don't believe what you read in men's fitness mags. they aren't written by doctors, they are written by writers, and its only one view.

anyway, you can squat low- its not bad for your knees. make sure your feet are pointed at a comfortable angle and your feet are spread apart and your ass goes BACK.