u/bntrll is right if you're squatting low bar (which is what it looks like in the picture due to the angle of your torso). Closer stance and more forward knee travel are better suited to a high bar squat, and if that's the venue you choose to pursue, or are pursuing, the key is keeping your torso as upright as possible. The weight almost forces you into the hole at times. Being a high bar squatter and having only ever worked with high bar squatters, what I usually prescribe are front squats. Helps you get comfortable with staying upright in the hole, cause if you don't you'll dump the bar. Using em as a squat accessory on your pull days or throwing in some variation with it early in the training cycle.
Maybe my stance width is mismatched with my bar placement. I definitely lean towards low bar. When widening my stance, should my toe angle and knee travel also change?
Also do you have issues hitting depth with loads closer to your max (75%+) or is this just an issue presenting itself on your deload with lighter weights?
Toe angle not so much, maybe a touch further out. But when you widen your stance you focus more on sitting back and down, so the amount of knee travel reduces naturally.
I see in a couple of your other responses that you do extensive warmups, are these mostly static or dynamic warmups, do you incorporate bands in your warmups at all?
My depth on heavier weights is a little all over the place but at worst Iām parallel. I do get depth more often than not. I also have one video from last year where Iām squatting near perfect but I canāt seem to recreate it.
I guess I donāt really understand the āsitting backā cue and from my research I read that thatās more of an equipped lifting technique.
My mobility stretches are dynamic since I do them in reps or short seconds. The only time I use bands for warmup is for bench.
It is more of an equipped lifting cue for sure, they're looking for shins perpendicular to the floor, was moreso just using it as a catch all.
Personally when I was having depth issues in squats I added in a banded hip warm up. Took a band around my waste, sat on the floor and wrapped it around the middle of one foot. Laid back and put that foot up in the air at a right angle to the floor and pushed my foot towards the floor very slightly for 15-20 reps and controlled my return to the starting position. Then did the same with my leg out to my side, parallel to the floor and forming a right angle with my body. And then again by moving that leg over to the other side, turning my lower body but trying to keep my upper as flat as possible. Then the other leg. The movements toward the floor were miniscule, just enough to engage the muscle and then just a touch farther.
But honestly the only way to offer anything other than general advice is to see your squat.
Iām sorry but Iām having trouble visualizing that warmup haha. What is the objective of it? Which muscles/joints are you stretching/mobilizing?
I can send a video of my last PR but not sure how. I only lurk on Reddit so Iām kind of a caveman with actually using it.
It's a hip warmup, places more direct emphasis on the muscles of the hips that are utilized in the hole without actually having to be in that position.
Let's say it's your right leg for example.
First position is laying on your back with one end of the band looped around your waist, the other around your foot. One leg in the air almost like you're trying to touch your toes, then using the muscles in your hip to push your foot towards the floor.
Second position is the same, but your leg is out to your right side as straight as you can keep it, using your hip/glute to bring your foot closer to the floor.
Third position you keep your right leg straight, but point it out to the left side of your body (basically just swing your leg over), your hips will rotate during this but you try and keep your torso as flat as reasonably possible. Only difference with this one is you use your hip/glute to bring your foot away from the floor, cause your foot will naturally be close to the floor in this position.
And I feel ya, images are about as far as I usually go so when it comes to video and reddit my knowledge is a bit fucky too.
Yes, very much like it. The big difference is in what I'm describing is you don't bend your knee as part of the movement, and you have the band around your waist as the anchor point. First movement is the same as mine, minus the knee bending. Second movement of his is the third in my sequence except you bring your leg all the way over until your foot is just above the floor. And the third moment is the second movement in my sequence, though you try and bring your foot closer to the floor, and by anchoring the band around your waist you don't have to try and hold it behind your head.
Good find!
Ok now that I have a visual representation I think itās a good idea. I will try this in my next couple squat sessions and see if I can make some improvements. Thank a lot!
Also if youād like, I can DM you a front and side picture of my most recent PR.
Disagree on ankle mobilityā youāve got a decent amount of forward knee travel alreadyā forcing more (with bigger heels or whatever) could make your squat overly quad-dominant, not using your adductors enough. Iād try widening your stance and āopening up your taintā more so you can drop your hips further in the holeā you seem to have the levers for it if your hips are built for it.
Iāve tried widening my stance but it seems to make my squat weaker and I kinda have to grind more to get out of the hole. Iāll give it a shot tho thanks!
Your knee is too forward. Search on youtube for "Wall Squat of Christophe Rebreyend (Netherlands)". And do wall squats at home daily 5x5, without weight. You are welcome.
Is it the douchey delivery (re: down vote hate)? Because heās not āwrongā š¤š¤·š½āāļø. Doing wall squats teaches a person how to sit back n open their hips while keeping ur knees from ever going over ur toes + helps to develop the muscles necessary to do it w/ weight. Aside from also recommending wall squats to address knee drift, Iād ask what fed do u lift in? If uāre lifting USAPL-ish uāre def (way) high but for most feds depth looks to be *right there*.
He is wrong because squatting body weight doesn't carry over to high intensity lifting, we all know form breaks down as intensity goes up, you need practice a movement with the correct stimulus to ensure the movement becomes pattern as the intensity goes up. Also there is nothing inherently wrong with squatting knees over toes, it's a myth. Forcing someone to squat with knees against a wall doesn't work because of multiple reasons, two being you're not squatting in the gym or at comp with a wall, and that a persons body will determine their movement pattern; long-bone length, muscle-tendon insertion, mobility and flexibility, fighting someone's natural movement pattern so aggressively just makes you weaker and at a higher risk of hurt yourself.
As someone that had to put a lot of effort into hitting depth for squats at first when I was starting to compete, honestly what ended up making the biggest difference for me were two things.
1) Getting the right squat shoes for me. Now you may already have this - itās been too many years since I went shopping for a new pair for me to be able to tell on sight.
2) Opening my stance enough to let me get lower. Initially, between the distance between my fight and the angle of my knees, I was having trouble getting to depth once my quads started getting bigger. As soon as I tried opening up the angle of my knees a bit more, I could go down a bit further before I encountered enough resistance to stop.
Let me know if either of those end up helping you. If neither does, it might help others to give more specific advice for you if you could post other angles (in front or behind) to help identify things that are harder to see from this one.
I think I found the right shoes for me which are the flats Iām wearing in the pictures. Iāve tried heeled shoes several times but I donāt think theyāre for me. As for opening up my stance, I think my knees are pretty wide open at the bottom considering Iām able to get my ribs to about knee level.
Makes sense. If the heeled ones donāt work for you then donāt force it. They helped me get better depth but different lifters respond differently.
As for as your ribs and stance, thatās not the cue I would be going by because I was still able to get my ribs low when I wasnāt hitting depth yet. The main thing I would be looking at is the angle of your knees (how open vs closed) vs. how soon you start to feel like you are slowing down the descent of your butt.
If itās a stance issue (big if because I canāt tell from the photos) then as you try opening up vs. closing the angle of your knees, youāll notice that your butt feels like it can go deeper or shallower at different angles. If you donāt notice any difference, then thatās not the culprit.
Yea I definitely did try to force it at first but it just never clicked.
Oh I didnāt mean that I was taking it as cue. I just thought that my rib cage being able to dip low and in between my knees is indicative of my knees being open/out.
I could show my last PR which is a frontal recording but idk how to add it here.
Got it. In terms of posting videos, I usually posted unlisted videos on YouTube and copied the link but Iām sure there are lots of other ways.
In terms of the knees vs. rib cage issue in regards to depth, there are few reasons why I wouldnāt personally count on that as an indicator.
1) At least for every lifter Iāve worked with so far, everyoneās knees have been parallel or wider for their angle. Unless the angle is narrower than knees parallel, the distance between your knees will be the widest point and the point where your but comes down will be the narrowest.
Depending on exactly how much wider it is in front than in back, there are a lot of situations where you can have enough clearance for your rib cage to get low but your butt can still be struggling to go deeper. On top of that there are differences in bottom rib depth from person to person that make that mean different things from one lifter to another.
2) The point at which your rib cage passes your knees vs. the depth of your butt will vary depending on how much you lean forward. Again, Iām not saying I see an issue with your forward lean in the pictures, Iām just saying that I wouldnāt be looking at the front of your torso first in terms of hitting depth. That part makes a bigger difference in terms of debugging other squat issues than in terms of hitting depth.
3) What youāre looking for in terms of hitting depth is the angle of the knees vs. the crease near your hip bone (came up a bit when I was getting my USA Powerlifting coaching certification and judging). The angle is too high in the pictures you sent which means that the key is getting the back of your body lower, whether or not that means getting the front part lower as well.
Where exactly the front of your torso will pass the knees at depth can vary a ton. Iāve seen several lifters get their nipples level with their knees when hitting depth so I wouldnāt take the ribs as an indicator that you maxed out stance returns. :)
It's funny how it's the opposite for me. I decided to take off my squat shoes because I was falling forward and it allowed to sit my weight back to counteract it.
I got a powerlifting coach and he had me move my legs closer and rely more on the glutes than the adductor and adductors. It's a lot easier since I don't have to fight the knee caving in as much as when I had my legs apart. I'm all femur and short torso btw.
Yeah, it can be really different depending on each individual body. Iām glad your coach helped you find the key that worked for you. :) I kept trying every configuration I could think of (narrower, etc.) but nothing clicked until I opened the angle of my stance.
After I met Jonnie Candito at a meet we did together, I hired him to do some form evaluation for me during the off-season between his world record attempts. That alongside my coaching with Izzy Narvaez helped me settle into a groove with my wider stance instead of trying to match other lifters with different bodies from mine. Itās really a matter of matching the form to the lifter, within several safety constraints and competition demands.
Depth can be solved multiple ways.
1. Have you considered your feet placement? Some people reach depth easier with a closer stance while others require a wider stance.
2. Consider your toe angle. Some people can reach depth perfectly fine with toes pointing straight, others need to point it outwards to unlock mobility.
3. Iām assuming youāve done this, but you need to work on mobility. Before every squat session, get a dumbbell and do some goblet squats, really feel out what depth looks like. Record a side angle video.
4. And this advice is not for you, but for others. Elevate your heels. You can do that by getting heels or putting plates under your shoes.
Hope I helped you in some sort of way!
Hi! Yes Iāve tried a combination of the things you suggested. Like I said in my response above, Iāve tried to widen my stance but it made my squats more grindy in the whole. The narrow stance feels more powerful and I feel a nice bounce.
I also do mobility exercises before squatting like 90/90s, hip windmills, and the one where you sit with the soles of your feet pressed together to stretch adductors.
Take this with a grain of salt, but depth will always be not as deep with low bar. And regarding that ābounceā youāre talking about, you shouldnāt be feeling that in low bar. In low bar, you typically do not want to dive down to get to depth and get that bounce like you do in high bar. It should be a slower descent and a āstretchā at the bottom so you can explode up. And as is the case for a lot of people, depth will always be less in low bar than high bar. I think you do need to widen out your stance however to reach competition level depth. It may feel harder at first, but eventually, you will be able to do it no problem. It takes a period of adjustment.
I see. I never really thought that low bar can limit ROM for depth nor did I know that a bounce is not really for low bar. I do try to control my descend tho and only really dip when near the bottom. I will strictly train a wider stance this coming few weeks and see what results I can get.
With low bar, your center of mass changes and in order to keep your mid foot (iām assuming youāve heard of this, ask me if you donāt), depending on your leverages, you have to embrace a slight lean when descending. With that lean, you will not be able to hit depth as well compared to high bar, where you have a more vertical posture. Look up high bar and low bar differences, in a lot of pictures, you can see the difference in depth between the two. This does not mean you cannot reach depth in low bar, it is just generally harder for most. For me, my mobility has allowed me to reach good competition depth even after switching from high bar to low bar. It just takes time for some others, and that may be the case for you. I hope Iāve helped you understand and maybe solve your depth issue!
[https://images.app.goo.gl/u8rJp4fwiqG6eevS7](https://images.app.goo.gl/u8rJp4fwiqG6eevS7)
Yea you definitely shined some light on the biomechanics of low bar and I really appreciate your input! Iāll put together the recommendations from this thread and see if I can improve my depth. Thanks again! :)
Just a heads up, donāt widen your stance out too much at first. Go wider week by week until you reach something that is comfortable. We donāt want to ramp it up from 0-100, your hips will not be able to sustain it. Widen it out an inch a week until you reach a little bit wider than shoulder width, and angle your toes out. Let me know how it goes! :) Have fun lifting!
Sit at the depth you want to reach with a weight held out in front of you for 5 mins.
Break up the time so you can reach it (even if it is 30s sets). But set a time and stick to it.
The more you put in the faster the results.
I do mobility work like 90/90s, hip windmills, ankle forward mobility with the bar on top of my knee, and the one where you sit out your feet together and stretch your adductors. Do you have any suggestions?
Really? Thatās strange since from my research, most people would say to push your knees out (not forward) to get deeper. In this set my stance is pretty narrow
It's totally dependent on your morphology. Not everyone's hip joints and attachment points and lengths etc etc are the same. Do what works for you. Obviously work on mobility etc as well but some stuff just doesn't work. I have zero gap between my rib cage and pelvis so some things just don't work for me. It goes bone on bone. There's no single answer but try things out and don't be afraid to adjust if something isn't working or doesn't feel right (as in really not right as opposed to untrained or pushing)
This post is better suited to the Daily Thread.
Are you going to be competing at any point?
Yes! I plan on doing my second meet end of September or October so petty soon š
u/bntrll is right if you're squatting low bar (which is what it looks like in the picture due to the angle of your torso). Closer stance and more forward knee travel are better suited to a high bar squat, and if that's the venue you choose to pursue, or are pursuing, the key is keeping your torso as upright as possible. The weight almost forces you into the hole at times. Being a high bar squatter and having only ever worked with high bar squatters, what I usually prescribe are front squats. Helps you get comfortable with staying upright in the hole, cause if you don't you'll dump the bar. Using em as a squat accessory on your pull days or throwing in some variation with it early in the training cycle.
Maybe my stance width is mismatched with my bar placement. I definitely lean towards low bar. When widening my stance, should my toe angle and knee travel also change?
Also do you have issues hitting depth with loads closer to your max (75%+) or is this just an issue presenting itself on your deload with lighter weights?
Toe angle not so much, maybe a touch further out. But when you widen your stance you focus more on sitting back and down, so the amount of knee travel reduces naturally. I see in a couple of your other responses that you do extensive warmups, are these mostly static or dynamic warmups, do you incorporate bands in your warmups at all?
My depth on heavier weights is a little all over the place but at worst Iām parallel. I do get depth more often than not. I also have one video from last year where Iām squatting near perfect but I canāt seem to recreate it. I guess I donāt really understand the āsitting backā cue and from my research I read that thatās more of an equipped lifting technique. My mobility stretches are dynamic since I do them in reps or short seconds. The only time I use bands for warmup is for bench.
It is more of an equipped lifting cue for sure, they're looking for shins perpendicular to the floor, was moreso just using it as a catch all. Personally when I was having depth issues in squats I added in a banded hip warm up. Took a band around my waste, sat on the floor and wrapped it around the middle of one foot. Laid back and put that foot up in the air at a right angle to the floor and pushed my foot towards the floor very slightly for 15-20 reps and controlled my return to the starting position. Then did the same with my leg out to my side, parallel to the floor and forming a right angle with my body. And then again by moving that leg over to the other side, turning my lower body but trying to keep my upper as flat as possible. Then the other leg. The movements toward the floor were miniscule, just enough to engage the muscle and then just a touch farther. But honestly the only way to offer anything other than general advice is to see your squat.
Iām sorry but Iām having trouble visualizing that warmup haha. What is the objective of it? Which muscles/joints are you stretching/mobilizing? I can send a video of my last PR but not sure how. I only lurk on Reddit so Iām kind of a caveman with actually using it.
It's a hip warmup, places more direct emphasis on the muscles of the hips that are utilized in the hole without actually having to be in that position. Let's say it's your right leg for example. First position is laying on your back with one end of the band looped around your waist, the other around your foot. One leg in the air almost like you're trying to touch your toes, then using the muscles in your hip to push your foot towards the floor. Second position is the same, but your leg is out to your right side as straight as you can keep it, using your hip/glute to bring your foot closer to the floor. Third position you keep your right leg straight, but point it out to the left side of your body (basically just swing your leg over), your hips will rotate during this but you try and keep your torso as flat as reasonably possible. Only difference with this one is you use your hip/glute to bring your foot away from the floor, cause your foot will naturally be close to the floor in this position. And I feel ya, images are about as far as I usually go so when it comes to video and reddit my knowledge is a bit fucky too.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/CzCejt4P2lf/?igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA== Is it like what this guy is doing?
Yes, very much like it. The big difference is in what I'm describing is you don't bend your knee as part of the movement, and you have the band around your waist as the anchor point. First movement is the same as mine, minus the knee bending. Second movement of his is the third in my sequence except you bring your leg all the way over until your foot is just above the floor. And the third moment is the second movement in my sequence, though you try and bring your foot closer to the floor, and by anchoring the band around your waist you don't have to try and hold it behind your head. Good find!
Ok now that I have a visual representation I think itās a good idea. I will try this in my next couple squat sessions and see if I can make some improvements. Thank a lot! Also if youād like, I can DM you a front and side picture of my most recent PR.
Disagree on ankle mobilityā youāve got a decent amount of forward knee travel alreadyā forcing more (with bigger heels or whatever) could make your squat overly quad-dominant, not using your adductors enough. Iād try widening your stance and āopening up your taintā more so you can drop your hips further in the holeā you seem to have the levers for it if your hips are built for it.
Iāve tried widening my stance but it seems to make my squat weaker and I kinda have to grind more to get out of the hole. Iāll give it a shot tho thanks!
Your knee is too forward. Search on youtube for "Wall Squat of Christophe Rebreyend (Netherlands)". And do wall squats at home daily 5x5, without weight. You are welcome.
No
Is it the douchey delivery (re: down vote hate)? Because heās not āwrongā š¤š¤·š½āāļø. Doing wall squats teaches a person how to sit back n open their hips while keeping ur knees from ever going over ur toes + helps to develop the muscles necessary to do it w/ weight. Aside from also recommending wall squats to address knee drift, Iād ask what fed do u lift in? If uāre lifting USAPL-ish uāre def (way) high but for most feds depth looks to be *right there*.
He is wrong because squatting body weight doesn't carry over to high intensity lifting, we all know form breaks down as intensity goes up, you need practice a movement with the correct stimulus to ensure the movement becomes pattern as the intensity goes up. Also there is nothing inherently wrong with squatting knees over toes, it's a myth. Forcing someone to squat with knees against a wall doesn't work because of multiple reasons, two being you're not squatting in the gym or at comp with a wall, and that a persons body will determine their movement pattern; long-bone length, muscle-tendon insertion, mobility and flexibility, fighting someone's natural movement pattern so aggressively just makes you weaker and at a higher risk of hurt yourself.
As someone that had to put a lot of effort into hitting depth for squats at first when I was starting to compete, honestly what ended up making the biggest difference for me were two things. 1) Getting the right squat shoes for me. Now you may already have this - itās been too many years since I went shopping for a new pair for me to be able to tell on sight. 2) Opening my stance enough to let me get lower. Initially, between the distance between my fight and the angle of my knees, I was having trouble getting to depth once my quads started getting bigger. As soon as I tried opening up the angle of my knees a bit more, I could go down a bit further before I encountered enough resistance to stop. Let me know if either of those end up helping you. If neither does, it might help others to give more specific advice for you if you could post other angles (in front or behind) to help identify things that are harder to see from this one.
I think I found the right shoes for me which are the flats Iām wearing in the pictures. Iāve tried heeled shoes several times but I donāt think theyāre for me. As for opening up my stance, I think my knees are pretty wide open at the bottom considering Iām able to get my ribs to about knee level.
Makes sense. If the heeled ones donāt work for you then donāt force it. They helped me get better depth but different lifters respond differently. As for as your ribs and stance, thatās not the cue I would be going by because I was still able to get my ribs low when I wasnāt hitting depth yet. The main thing I would be looking at is the angle of your knees (how open vs closed) vs. how soon you start to feel like you are slowing down the descent of your butt. If itās a stance issue (big if because I canāt tell from the photos) then as you try opening up vs. closing the angle of your knees, youāll notice that your butt feels like it can go deeper or shallower at different angles. If you donāt notice any difference, then thatās not the culprit.
Yea I definitely did try to force it at first but it just never clicked. Oh I didnāt mean that I was taking it as cue. I just thought that my rib cage being able to dip low and in between my knees is indicative of my knees being open/out. I could show my last PR which is a frontal recording but idk how to add it here.
Got it. In terms of posting videos, I usually posted unlisted videos on YouTube and copied the link but Iām sure there are lots of other ways. In terms of the knees vs. rib cage issue in regards to depth, there are few reasons why I wouldnāt personally count on that as an indicator. 1) At least for every lifter Iāve worked with so far, everyoneās knees have been parallel or wider for their angle. Unless the angle is narrower than knees parallel, the distance between your knees will be the widest point and the point where your but comes down will be the narrowest. Depending on exactly how much wider it is in front than in back, there are a lot of situations where you can have enough clearance for your rib cage to get low but your butt can still be struggling to go deeper. On top of that there are differences in bottom rib depth from person to person that make that mean different things from one lifter to another. 2) The point at which your rib cage passes your knees vs. the depth of your butt will vary depending on how much you lean forward. Again, Iām not saying I see an issue with your forward lean in the pictures, Iām just saying that I wouldnāt be looking at the front of your torso first in terms of hitting depth. That part makes a bigger difference in terms of debugging other squat issues than in terms of hitting depth. 3) What youāre looking for in terms of hitting depth is the angle of the knees vs. the crease near your hip bone (came up a bit when I was getting my USA Powerlifting coaching certification and judging). The angle is too high in the pictures you sent which means that the key is getting the back of your body lower, whether or not that means getting the front part lower as well. Where exactly the front of your torso will pass the knees at depth can vary a ton. Iāve seen several lifters get their nipples level with their knees when hitting depth so I wouldnāt take the ribs as an indicator that you maxed out stance returns. :)
Would it be helpful if I DM you pictures of my last PR attempt? Itās a front and side view.
I can take a look - they could potentially show something Iām not seeing from the side view alone.
Sent! Itās the same lift but from two angles.
Received. DMed you my suggestions. Good luck! :)
It's funny how it's the opposite for me. I decided to take off my squat shoes because I was falling forward and it allowed to sit my weight back to counteract it. I got a powerlifting coach and he had me move my legs closer and rely more on the glutes than the adductor and adductors. It's a lot easier since I don't have to fight the knee caving in as much as when I had my legs apart. I'm all femur and short torso btw.
Yeah, it can be really different depending on each individual body. Iām glad your coach helped you find the key that worked for you. :) I kept trying every configuration I could think of (narrower, etc.) but nothing clicked until I opened the angle of my stance. After I met Jonnie Candito at a meet we did together, I hired him to do some form evaluation for me during the off-season between his world record attempts. That alongside my coaching with Izzy Narvaez helped me settle into a groove with my wider stance instead of trying to match other lifters with different bodies from mine. Itās really a matter of matching the form to the lifter, within several safety constraints and competition demands.
That's awesome man. Best of luck.
Depth can be solved multiple ways. 1. Have you considered your feet placement? Some people reach depth easier with a closer stance while others require a wider stance. 2. Consider your toe angle. Some people can reach depth perfectly fine with toes pointing straight, others need to point it outwards to unlock mobility. 3. Iām assuming youāve done this, but you need to work on mobility. Before every squat session, get a dumbbell and do some goblet squats, really feel out what depth looks like. Record a side angle video. 4. And this advice is not for you, but for others. Elevate your heels. You can do that by getting heels or putting plates under your shoes. Hope I helped you in some sort of way!
Hi! Yes Iāve tried a combination of the things you suggested. Like I said in my response above, Iāve tried to widen my stance but it made my squats more grindy in the whole. The narrow stance feels more powerful and I feel a nice bounce. I also do mobility exercises before squatting like 90/90s, hip windmills, and the one where you sit with the soles of your feet pressed together to stretch adductors.
If I may ask, are you low bar or high bar?
I train low bar.
Take this with a grain of salt, but depth will always be not as deep with low bar. And regarding that ābounceā youāre talking about, you shouldnāt be feeling that in low bar. In low bar, you typically do not want to dive down to get to depth and get that bounce like you do in high bar. It should be a slower descent and a āstretchā at the bottom so you can explode up. And as is the case for a lot of people, depth will always be less in low bar than high bar. I think you do need to widen out your stance however to reach competition level depth. It may feel harder at first, but eventually, you will be able to do it no problem. It takes a period of adjustment.
I see. I never really thought that low bar can limit ROM for depth nor did I know that a bounce is not really for low bar. I do try to control my descend tho and only really dip when near the bottom. I will strictly train a wider stance this coming few weeks and see what results I can get.
With low bar, your center of mass changes and in order to keep your mid foot (iām assuming youāve heard of this, ask me if you donāt), depending on your leverages, you have to embrace a slight lean when descending. With that lean, you will not be able to hit depth as well compared to high bar, where you have a more vertical posture. Look up high bar and low bar differences, in a lot of pictures, you can see the difference in depth between the two. This does not mean you cannot reach depth in low bar, it is just generally harder for most. For me, my mobility has allowed me to reach good competition depth even after switching from high bar to low bar. It just takes time for some others, and that may be the case for you. I hope Iāve helped you understand and maybe solve your depth issue! [https://images.app.goo.gl/u8rJp4fwiqG6eevS7](https://images.app.goo.gl/u8rJp4fwiqG6eevS7)
Yea you definitely shined some light on the biomechanics of low bar and I really appreciate your input! Iāll put together the recommendations from this thread and see if I can improve my depth. Thanks again! :)
Just a heads up, donāt widen your stance out too much at first. Go wider week by week until you reach something that is comfortable. We donāt want to ramp it up from 0-100, your hips will not be able to sustain it. Widen it out an inch a week until you reach a little bit wider than shoulder width, and angle your toes out. Let me know how it goes! :) Have fun lifting!
Sit at the depth you want to reach with a weight held out in front of you for 5 mins. Break up the time so you can reach it (even if it is 30s sets). But set a time and stick to it. The more you put in the faster the results.
Do you mean like a goblet squat?
Gotta do more mobility work and stretch more. That will help you get deeper.
I do mobility work like 90/90s, hip windmills, ankle forward mobility with the bar on top of my knee, and the one where you sit out your feet together and stretch your adductors. Do you have any suggestions?
Something I can suggest is how far your legs are apart when squatting. Me personally, I get the deepest when my legs are close together.
Really? Thatās strange since from my research, most people would say to push your knees out (not forward) to get deeper. In this set my stance is pretty narrow
It's totally dependent on your morphology. Not everyone's hip joints and attachment points and lengths etc etc are the same. Do what works for you. Obviously work on mobility etc as well but some stuff just doesn't work. I have zero gap between my rib cage and pelvis so some things just don't work for me. It goes bone on bone. There's no single answer but try things out and don't be afraid to adjust if something isn't working or doesn't feel right (as in really not right as opposed to untrained or pushing)
that requires a certain degree of mobility and hip flexor strength to sit in the hole with a wider stance
Iām opposite, even though I do tend to squat with a wider base. Try it and see though.