Squat theory

[Lord_Suston]

I had recently noticed that me and my a fellow lifter were the only ones going even close to parallel and beyond. But going down so far my ass actually touched my hamstring and calves and then I would proceed to lift. When I notice this I wondered if I was bouncing of my hams to get some momentum going. my partner said it looked like I took a small bounce, albeit only a cm or two but I was really baffled on why I did this. So this time around I went past parallel but not ATF and paused at the bottom. Let me tell you I am so sore I wish someone would just cut off my legs

So for peeps who go so far the ass hit their hams trey to go just shy and pause

 

[FatRat]

I wouldn’t say I went down that far on Squats (I go to about parallel), but you could be right. I guess at the very least you are taking some tension of the muscle or not requiring it to halt the downward momentum.

I would say that on Leg Press my thighs are tight into my abs and I definitely get an assist there as they tense ready to press the weight back up.

 

[casualbb]

It's actually REALLY REALLY bad for you to bounce. Your knee is already vulnerable in such an open position, and when you bounce, there's a torque force that acts to pull your knee apart, literally. If you go real low on squats, please be careful.

-casualbb

 

[Scotsman]

I often do that on the last set of squats and yes I am usually a useless gimp for the next three days.

Cheers,
Scotsman

 

[louden_swain]

parallel or slightly above is sufficient for me.

 

[PolishHammer1977]

I think each person has there optimal zone for leg development.

2-3 inches below parallel for my hips, hams, glutes and quads.

Parallel or 1 inch below hits me harder in my quads then hams and glutes.

Anything higher than 1 inch above parallel tends to put too much pressure on my knees and hits my quads mostly.

 

[louden_swain]

Sometimes for extra overload it is OK to perform a half squat with 150 to 200 percent above your normal squat poundages. A lot of powerlifters used this method during the 1970s and 1980s. Of course you perform this type of overload every once in a while.

 

[coolcolj]

I've done pause squats, going all the way down, pause for 3 secs and then back up. Harder because of the lose of stretch reflex, but I was no sorer.

 

[Lee]

im starting real squats tommorow, ive been doin hack squats cuz im scared of real squats cuz of my knees. i think ill be ok though, my knees havent been giving me trouble for a few months now. im gonna start by goin to parallel and up, not atf.

 

[Curious George]

Stay away from the smith machine. In my opinion, it is the most useless and dangerous piece of equipment that I know of. It will cause shear forces on the knees that you could possibly regret later with an injury.

When you stop just at parallel, it also causes pressure on the knee-cap. It depends on where your feet spacing is, but you should try and squat below parallel. If you can't, then lighten up the weight. You will notice more lower thigh growth this way.

 

[Lord_Suston]

casual- it was a very small bounce, unitentional

but I think it is mostly due to the fact I have a convenetional stance where my feet ar very close together and my feet are very straight.

Louden- most of the overload stuff iknow about is to prepare a lifter for heavier weight, to get the joints acostomed so as to prevent injury.

 

[PolishHammer1977]

You didnt bounce when we did squats?

We went low!

 

[collegiateLifter]

I gotta pay more attention to this.... i dont intentionally bounce, but think i might a tad.... just gotta keep tension on the muscles

 

[Lee]

Stay away from the smith machine. In my opinion, it is the most useless and dangerous piece of equipment that I know of. It will cause shear forces on the knees that you could possibly regret later with an injury.

When you stop just at parallel, it also causes pressure on the knee-cap. It depends on where your feet spacing is, but you should try and squat below parallel. If you can't, then lighten up the weight. You will notice more lower thigh growth this way.

not sure if this was directed at me, but regardless, some good info, thx dude

 

[Lord_Suston]

You didnt bounce when we did squats?

We went low!

over the last few weeks and months I have tended to bounce, I think much of it comes from mental fatigue. Working nights is not conducive for training especially 12 hours shifts...

BTW I just put in 156 hours in two weeks, needless to say all my lifts were down