Kaleem08

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I started doing full squats about 2 weeks ago and have been seeing a huge increase in my regular squat 20 pounds added from just dropping the weight and going ass to the grass. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND DOING THESE
 
Like my old coach (and a coupla old girlfriends) told me, "Go deep, go slow."
Like GH said, form before pounds.
 
This should be stickied.

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It's mad seeing all the insane variations of squats I see people doing in the name of 'safety', total insanity.

Remember, their not 'full' squats if you've got a big wedge shaped heel on your shoe, or plates under you heals, or a riser under your hails, or all three like a dude in my gym ... poor guys knees are gonna be destroyed.
 
pest;483524 said:
This should be stickied.

View attachment 25374
View attachment 25375

It's mad seeing all the insane variations of squats I see people doing in the name of 'safety', total insanity.

Remember, their not 'full' squats if you've got a big wedge shaped heel on your shoe, or plates under you heals, or a riser under your hails, or all three like a dude in my gym ... poor guys knees are gonna be destroyed.

Nice pics!
 
I know it's hard to squat in a full squat position when you're as tall as me, but I've done stretching and foam-rolling exercises along with having a pair of Oly shoes. I'll tell you what, It has helped out my gains ALOT. I've been on the Stronglifts 5x5 program modified to me and been benching, squatting, deadlifting and overhead/behind the neck pressing for almost 10 weeks now. Best program I've done imo. Just with squatting full, you've gotta' keep that back straight. I've rounded a few times, but toned down the weight and started putting form over weight.
 
pest;483524 said:
This should be stickied.

View attachment 25374
View attachment 25375

It's mad seeing all the insane variations of squats I see people doing in the name of 'safety', total insanity.

Remember, their not 'full' squats if you've got a big wedge shaped heel on your shoe, or plates under you heals, or a riser under your hails, or all three like a dude in my gym ... poor guys knees are gonna be destroyed.

Totally agree. I've done with board under heels and always had crappy knees, than put some oly shoes on. Knees felt better. You actually strengthen your knees better in a full squat than parallel squat. Front-squats are awesome too. The thing is our natural squat position is compromise by para-squats. When you were a baby, you natural sitting position was atg, butt to ground and you did alot of things in the position. Same with our ancestors as well who didn't have chairs sat in the natural position, butt on calves.
 
I used to back squat atg until I maxed out at 315. Because of my height and the length of my legs I was at a mechanical disadvantage with the increase in weight. So I started just breaking parallel and going maybe 2 inches deeper. That helped keep my form straight for a little while but it just wasn't worth the effort of trying to fix every little movement in my hips and back. Now I just front squat atg and my front squat form is perfect... going for 315x1 by october. My advice for anyone 6 feet tall or taller... if you have trouble back squatting heavy atg try front squats.

Edit: I did Stronglifts 5x5 as well. Best program ever. It took me from a 215 back squat to 315 in about 3-4 months. Deadlift went from 275x5 to 315x5. Overhead press was like... 105x5 and got to 135x5. Bench went from 185x5 to 225x5.
 
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in the past 2 months ive converted to atg squats (and atg front squats). i was previously squatting 120kg x 5 at just above parallel (im 6ft), since changing to ATG squats the weight is only at 90kg x 3. so its a bit of a hit to the ego as im pushing less weight, but ive seen more improvement in my legs
 
jordey;529498 said:
in the past 2 months ive converted to atg squats (and atg front squats). i was previously squatting 120kg x 5 at just above parallel (im 6ft), since changing to ATG squats the weight is only at 90kg x 3. so its a bit of a hit to the ego as im pushing less weight, but ive seen more improvement in my legs

Yeah. But in the end it's a superior way to squat. You build more flexibly, your knees gets saved when you hit ATG, and you learn how to recruit muscles in your pelvic floor to drive more weight up.
 
Tahir Aqbar;529528 said:
Yeah. But in the end it's a superior way to squat. You build more flexibly, your knees gets saved when you hit ATG, and you learn how to recruit muscles in your pelvic floor to drive more weight up.

How do ATG squats save your knees, man? I always thought it would be the opposite because of the outward pressure on your kneecap at the bottom of the movement. I see what you're saying about everything else but I don't understand the part about the knees.
 
From what I read in Convict Conditioning by Paul Wade... blood doesn't flow through cartilage. So the get nutrients to them is through movement. Full movement such as the full squat will benefit them more. It is ideal is the develop your soft tissues to handle the heavy loads and you do so progressively.
 
pjp2002;529543 said:
From what I read in Convict Conditioning by Paul Wade... blood doesn't flow through cartilage. So the get nutrients to them is through movement. Full movement such as the full squat will benefit them more. It is ideal is the develop your soft tissues to handle the heavy loads and you do so progressively.

iiiinteresting. I didn't know that at all. Okay, I'll give these a shot.
 
neognostic;529539 said:
How do ATG squats save your knees, man? I always thought it would be the opposite because of the outward pressure on your kneecap at the bottom of the movement. I see what you're saying about everything else but I don't understand the part about the knees.

Bad form fucks your knees up. Good form and any squat is safe.
 
neognostic;529539 said:
How do ATG squats save your knees, man? I always thought it would be the opposite because of the outward pressure on your kneecap at the bottom of the movement. I see what you're saying about everything else but I don't understand the part about the knees.

When you squat through the whole movement its more naturaland how your knees are meant to work. If you think about when you squat parrelel or higher you have to stop mid movement so a lot of pressure is put on the knees to keep you there. For instance its fairly easy to sit at the bottom of an atg squat with weight, and to stand comfortably with the weight, but if you try and stay halfway (the bottom of a parralel squat) it won't be long before your knees start hurting
 
I won't ever full squat like I use to. If you're a guy of a ridiculous height, you have to find out what works for you. A wide, powerlifting stance type of squat is good enough to hit the quads. I go hard-core when it comes to squats anyway. I've seen a lot of tall lifters doing wide-stance squat. Mike O Hearn is around 6'4'' and does wide-stance squats. Just works for me. However, I've always had knee problems ever since being injured by an on going vehicle when I was seven years old. That leg still bothers me.
 
neognostic;529539 said:
How do ATG squats save your knees, man? I always thought it would be the opposite because of the outward pressure on your kneecap at the bottom of the movement. I see what you're saying about everything else but I don't understand the part about the knees.

When you hit ATG the bones surrounding your patella disconnect, causing absolutely zero pressure to be put on the actual joints. All of the strain goes into the tendons and ligaments, which are built to withstand that type of tension. My plateller tendons are so fucking thick and dense from always atg squatting that they lump up and can be seen when I stand with my quads unflexed.

keepingitbig;532702 said:
I won't ever full squat like I use to. If you're a guy of a ridiculous height, you have to find out what works for you. A wide, powerlifting stance type of squat is good enough to hit the quads. I go hard-core when it comes to squats anyway. I've seen a lot of tall lifters doing wide-stance squat. Mike O Hearn is around 6'4'' and does wide-stance squats. Just works for me. However, I've always had knee problems ever since being injured by an on going vehicle when I was seven years old. That leg still bothers me.

To go atg with proper form when taller we have to front squat. I'm 6'2 and I only front squat heavy. I do back squats all the time but never for low reps because of the mechanical advantage I loose from the barbell distributing weight along my posterior chain instead of my anterior chain. Just food for thought. Otherwise if you want to back squat I'd say at 6 ft there isn't a point in going much deeper than 90 degrees. The range of motion is so far when you're that tall.
 
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