Please Scroll Down to See Forums Below 
How is it that I target the glutes the best? Is it on a closed stance? or open V like stance? Also, do the glutes get targeted the most when? When I'm going down or when I pushing the weight back up?
When doing freeweight squats......
- Thread starter Smokescreen
- Start date
Chambewy20
New member
You'll incorporate the glutes more with a wider stance, they will come into play while your down in the hole!
So the point is to come down low and easy. Not just drop to the ground. In other words....negative resistance???
ghettostudmuffin
New member
If you're going all the way down into a full squat you don't want to go slow or too fast. Drop into it as fast as you can without bouncing which for me means about moderate speed.
Go ALL the way down? I mean all the way down! Like ass already touching the floor? Wouldn't that put way too much stress on the knees bringing it back up?
mad_monkey59
New member
Carth said:
the stress transfers over to the hips which are stronger, stopping parellel actually places more stress on the knees then going deep.
Well, when i go down, my glutes do go past my knees. I go down, but I don't all the way down. I"m about a foot and a half from my butt hitting the ground. Is that OK?
Depends on how tall you are. Parallel is top of the thighs parallel to the floor and at this angle your glutes are below your knees relative to the floor. If you are a PL you train for your rules, if you are looking for good all around development you use the full range of your body the same as in every other exercise. At a minimum though, you have to hit parallel - outside of any pride, it's just far more stimulative and effective for progress which is why the guys doing high rep partials with 315 listening to the plates clank have tiny legs and would get driven through the floor if they ever missed stopping at halfway (I've seen it happen and it's damn humorous as long as no one gets hurt - that weight just accelerates down on them, they have no strength to stop it or slow it - very dangerous IMO).
ghettostudmuffin
New member
A full squat to me is going as far down as you can possibly go. My ass is 6-8" from the ground in a full squat. I can't go any lower because my hams are touching my calves. That's how I think of a full squat.
You definitely can't squat too wide a stance for a full squat. My heels are just a little wider than shoulder width on a full squat, any wider and I can't get all the way down and the knees can't be kept in line with the feet properly. Any closer and I can't get that sit down between the legs effect. So I have about a 3" area the heels gotta be in order to do a proper full squat, too close or too wide and the form will break down.
Full squats are hard, but they do give you the peace of mind knowing that you are developing your legs evenly (quads/hams/glutres) by doing them that way and getting the most transfer to jumping and sprinting.
Throw in glute/ham raises wit hfull squats and watch your speed and vertical go up!
I was teaching some plyometrics to a guy and as I was jumping I was amazed how much higher I was going. I've actually got a little hops right now lol. Definitely the full squats and GHR's to thank for that!
You definitely can't squat too wide a stance for a full squat. My heels are just a little wider than shoulder width on a full squat, any wider and I can't get all the way down and the knees can't be kept in line with the feet properly. Any closer and I can't get that sit down between the legs effect. So I have about a 3" area the heels gotta be in order to do a proper full squat, too close or too wide and the form will break down.
Full squats are hard, but they do give you the peace of mind knowing that you are developing your legs evenly (quads/hams/glutres) by doing them that way and getting the most transfer to jumping and sprinting.
Throw in glute/ham raises wit hfull squats and watch your speed and vertical go up!
I was teaching some plyometrics to a guy and as I was jumping I was amazed how much higher I was going. I've actually got a little hops right now lol. Definitely the full squats and GHR's to thank for that!
Scotsman
New member
The glute come into play both at the very bottom of the motion and again at the top when you use hip drive to lock out the motion. In my opinion you should squat full range all the time to make sure that you are getting every muscle possible. As stated above once you break parallel (provided you are sitting back and you aren't out over you knees) the stress transfers mainly to your hips. This also causes the effort to be taken up by the glutes and hams to slow down and then reverse the motion of the squat.
Cheers,
Scotsman
Cheers,
Scotsman
Scotsman said:
So basically ass to the grass huh? But for that...then that would mean I would have to take off just a tad of weight off the barbell huh?
Illuminati
New member
you wanna hit your glutes more in the squat, widen your stance to a PL style. sit back by pushing your glutes back, go at whatever speed you are comfortable at, break parallel, then explode back up.
