Squats: Full (Ass to Floor) vs. Parallel

[furious]

back from the gym...

Just came back from working out. Learned a few things:

1) Never do a leg workout after 45 mins of hi speed sprinting. Ouch.
2) Sprinting is HARD DAMN WORK! Nothing like the rush of acceleration, tho.
3) Full Squats (ass to heels) are HELL when you are 6'1. they provide a good stretch, tho.
4) People in my gym are not impressed by strength per se, but the level of intensity that you put out.


The lessons learned? Sprinting and full squats are now regular parts of my new regimen. Thanks for the advice, bros.

 

[needsize]

I agree, it is all about intensity, especially when doing legs. I'm generally the strongest guy in my gym, especially around legs, but heavy half assed partial don't impress me, guys with ostrich legs that talk about how big they were before this terrible injury don't impress me, the guy who drives himself to the point of vomiting and staggers out after training legs, even if he's only squatting with a plate aside, that's the one who impresses me!!

 

[herk]

I agree needsize.....it's the intensity that counts, not the amount of weight.

 

[c-sharp minor]

I have been trying deep squats in my workouts recently and have noticed a much better feeling in my quads. I used to have shitty legs but they are quickly becoming one of my best body parts.

Squat till you puke!

 

[b fold the truth]

When you squat to the floor...it puts the extra stress on your hips, in my opinion. I am now doing med/wide box squats for my strength training..haven't done a full squat in a while..but would venture to say that they haven't gone down too much.

B True

 

[DaCypher]

I also find that I have to use a slightly wider than shoulder width stance when squatting below parallel. I find if you use a traditional stance your back will slump on the bottom which will cuase problems. I also find that the wider stance is much more comfortable on the knees as well as pointing my toes slightly outwards (see link to the article in my previous post).

 

[TheGame2001]

squat to the floor

Squatting to the floor really stretches the muscle completely and works it better, you will really notice better development inthe teardrop area. Deep is very key in my opinion.

The leg press really doesn't utilize the same benefits because your not using stablilizer muscles but when doing them bring your knees all the way to chest. move feet closer together and you will work the teardrop better, a bit wider for flair on the quads.

 

[needsize]

I agree that it does put extra stress on the hips but the pay off in muscle growth, for me at least, I feel is worth it. I do also find that when I go that deep I can't squat too narrow as I tend to lose my balance

 

[aurelius]

Injesting horse testosterone will increase muscle growth but I wouldn´t recommend it. purported muscle gains isn´t the end all and be all. going below parallel may increase leg size a bit, but drastically increases the strain on the knee, especially the patella as its pulled taught across the kneecap. A hard enough movement without 365 strapped across your back.

The same goes for knee extensions.

 

[Arioch]

But how drastically is drastically? And with the hamstrings and quadricepts co-contracting during CKCE such as the squat, serving to resist shearing force on the knee joint, how truly dangerous is this? To say nothing of the fact that increase in force is much greater at the hip joint in comparison to the increase in force at the knee joint.