sqaut foot placement

[kaukasion]

ive always heard that you feet should be no further than your shoulders apart
i keep about a 60 degree angle with toes pointing away from each other
and its easy to knock me off balance

well the reason ive been wondering is in all thes powerlifting video's n stuff i see people with realy wide stances

i go down till my ass touches my calves
how do you think i should keep my feet to try to have a lil better balance

also im kinda an oddball size

6'2"
30" legs

long wide upper body
with about 6'7" wingspan

thanks for any advice offered in advance

 

[b fold the truth]

I'm not a powerlifter or OLY lifter but...

When I power squat my stance is WIDE. Wider than the squat rack. I wear Chucks when I squat like this.

When I front Squat or OLY squat, my heels are about shoulder width or a couple inches wider per foot.

This is with 603

 

[enigma4dub]

I'm not a powerlifter or OLY lifter but...

When I power squat my stance is WIDE. Wider than the squat rack. I wear Chucks when I squat like this.

When I front Squat or OLY squat, my heels are about shoulder width or a couple inches wider per foot.

This is with 603

good suff!

 

[Cynical Simian]

This is pretty much restating the first reply, but the reason the powerlifters are using a wide stance is that they're (big surprise) doing powerlifting squats instead Olympic ones. Look for Guinness's old "critique my squat" thread if you want a video of Oly form and a good explanation of the difference between the two styles by BiggT.

 

[lifersfc]

I'm slightly wider than shoulder width, with toes pointed out maybe 30 degrees or so. I guess that's an oly stance.

 

[TheOak84]

thats perfect Clint, i stop a few inches higher then that, and a bit of a wider stance.

i used to squat like dave draper, close and deep, but my knees cant take that... and it made my hips weak

since i changed, my hams got bigger, my deadlift went up, the squat as well...

 

[riverrock]

For a while, I had to take the wider stance due to inflexibility. But I have since put alot of work into my stretching and now have a stance just beyond shoulder width with toes about 45' pointing out. The big one is getting the glutes pushed back.

 

[nelmsjer]

Great squat! I think the coolest thing about that picture is that there is no more room on the bar...

 

[kaukasion]

thanks for the info
any other tips about balance i seem to like to tip foreward and without a cage it seems dangerous

 

[b fold the truth]

thats perfect Clint, i stop a few inches higher then that, and a bit of a wider stance.

i used to squat like dave draper, close and deep, but my knees cant take that... and it made my hips weak

since i changed, my hams got bigger, my deadlift went up, the squat as well...

A good OLY squat has been a goal of mine for a while. I'm very quad weak. Been working on front squats for about a month now and hope to hit a raw or lightly wrapped 500 soon.

My stance isn't too close, I think that my heels are about my shoulder width but my shoulders are fairly wide anyway. The knee wraps that I'm wearing are the really light ones that you can get from the APT site. I really like them for training as they don't seem to give hardly anything strength wise but really help with support. I could do a full leg curl with these on. I have some of their stronger ones and they are night and day though.

I need to get back to my wide stanced box squats and good mornings though. I have a big show comming up soon for EuroSport with some HEAVY events in it (including a big pull for reps). I've had some REALLY bad workouts (especially lower body) for the past month. If it weren't for bad luck I'd have no luck. Friend died, puppy died in my hand, rear differential SPLIT on the suv, etc... All in the past month. I'm really a mental lifter. When life gets me down, my training goes down.

How often were you close stanced squatting?

 

[Jim Ouini]

Great squat b fold.

Sorry about the puppy (and the other things), our dog is sick and the vet said her condition is 'guarded' and yeah it was hard to concentrate on my workout. She's my all time favorite dog, too (the one in my avi).

 

[musketeer]

I feel natural with about 10-12 inches between my heels and my toes out at 45 degrees. When I go wide like in b-fold piccy, all I can feel is my hips and hams.

Goes to show that different people can get good results from different things...

 

[Tweakle]

tough break Clint, hope things get better for you soon.

that is exactly how I free squat BTW .. always sit between my legs even with high bar squats

 

[coolcolj]

athletic stance is a good all rounder

 

[TheOak84]

How often were you close stanced squatting?

prolly about 3 years, i was the guy who did 315.. but half way down.. then i changed, and had to start fresh again. its better though

 

[UrlMighty]

Close-stance and wide-stance squatting are two very different lifts. Try different foot angles and spacing until you find your own comfort zone. That might change as your hips get tired or gain strength.

 

[b fold the truth]

prolly about 3 years, i was the guy who did 315.. but half way down.. then i changed, and had to start fresh again. its better though

What I meant was...once a week? Once a month? 2-3x per week?

I was doing my OLY squats about every Sunday for a while and my box squats (wide, pler style) on Wednesays. My knees started bothering me from the OLY squats till I added those APT knee wraps. Of course, I also did more stretching, worked on my form more, and started OLY squatting every other week instead.

Having good luck with the front squats though. Not as much pressure on the spine, hips, knees, or CNS so far...and I'm front squatting 3x a week and box squatting once a week.

 

[TheOak84]

What I meant was...once a week? Once a month? 2-3x per week?

I was doing my OLY squats about every Sunday for a while and my box squats (wide, pler style) on Wednesays. My knees started bothering me from the OLY squats till I added those APT knee wraps. Of course, I also did more stretching, worked on my form more, and started OLY squatting every other week instead.

Having good luck with the front squats though. Not as much pressure on the spine, hips, knees, or CNS so far...and I'm front squatting 3x a week and box squatting once a week.

oh, i didnt know of any other stance, and i squatted 2x a week, now im doin one 1x a week wide stance, 1x a week box squat jumps, and 1x a week lunge.

its goin pretty good