For a long time I never went past parallel when squatting, then after reading more info on here about good squatting I decided thats what I should do! So after getting to over 300lb to parallel, I dropped weight to just 130lb and started going all the way down, quickly built up to 200lb before the rapid progress tailed off. My only worry, is that the overall weight is still far less than I was doing 6 months ago to parallel. What are peoples opinions? Should I stick with the ATG squat or do both types of squat? Just curious about what will be best in the long term, thanks
i used to go ass to grass when i was proper bodybuilding... i had nice 27.5" thighs to show for it but also a backside to make a silverback blush going so low calls the glutes into play more than if you were going parallel. i say find a happy medium between the two, i dont go ATG but i'm not too far from it
The large discrepancy is probably due to your "parallel" not being fully parallel. You see, parallel is when the top of your thighs are parallel to the ground, not when your knee angle is 90 degrees. Unless you have a reason to concentrate on one (ie competition), do both. But make sure you hit legal depth in parallel squats to get the full benefit.
They were at least parallel, I found I felt much weaker once I'd bottomed out. What is classed as depth for competitions? I think I'll modify what I'm doing again as TKDGuy & Stallion have said. Find a good balance inbetween before my ass gets massive Thanks guys
i do squats, but i don't have any weights and have some rubbish dumbells i use to add a little more weight, i am hoping to increase my jump height, so whats the best way to do them ?? i do pistols as well
I know what your saying. I've always trained to full parallel or more, so I couldn't comment. I also go fully down on the leg press, when the slider hits the bottom. But the hardest movement for me is still the last couple of inches when going ATG, its like hit a weak spot. Maybe its just because I've never trained that range of movement before. I'm still considering whether to find a balance between parallel and ATG or just to do both....
There is nothing wrong with a good posterior chain (ie: massive ass). i like ATG with both front and back squats. there is something deeply satisfying about sitting in the hole for about 30 seconds getting yourself ready for that last rep.
While I don't tend to often discuss my ass on forums, it does seem big enough. I'll not be happy if I end up with J-Lo bottom
My solution has been to up the weight as touch and go just below parallel. Feels a better balance, I'll work on this for a couple of months and see how it goes.
I'm starting to get sick of ATG front squats. The fact that I'm not built for squats means ATG sucks even more (longer limbs). I think, like you, I will try a happy medium from now on in front squatting (besides, it's good to mix it up every so often). This way I can handle some more weight, still have a decent ROM, and maybe stop growing my butt (yeah, I got the squatter's bum too... wanna bounce a quarter off it?).
I've found that if I find the "hole", then I am at my strongest to explode out of it. When I just go to parallel, then I feel like I'm searching for position. At least for me, the difference usually is when I go into the hole, I'm using my bicep femoris to pull me down (under my control) into it (usually ATG, or at least an inch from it) rather than merely sinking or dropping down.
On a related note, what should the ratio of a full front squat be to a full regular squat? Front squats always seem harder to me, but I surprised myself today when I managed 168 pounds (sad, I know, but better than where I started.)
I think everybody is different. My front squats are very close to my back squats. Once you spend a good amount of time with both, the front squat is usually around 80% of your backsquat. Mines about 90% btw (which I think is very weird).
Hmm. If my front squat is 80% of my back squat, I should be able to full squat 210. Just the other day I parallel squatted 218, which was pretty tough. I probably couldn't have gone more than about 5 or 10 pounds heavier. I'm almost positive my full squat is at least 20 or 30 pounds less than my parallel squat, but it seems easier than front squatting. Maybe I'll test my full squat max.
I think my front squat numbers in relation to back squat numbers are WAAAAYYYYY off. I know I can squat 225 to at least parallel for 10 reps (not really near failure). I can front squat 135 for maybe 5 or 6 reps ATG (8 is probably failure for me). That's a major discrepancy I'd think. Maybe I'm just broken....eh.
Ok, so I was wrong. I did test my full squat today, and I started at a rather light 111 pounds because I was a bit scared to test it with no cage or spotter. That was really easy though so I bumped it up pretty quickly and got to 212. That was pretty tough and I didn't want to fail and risk injury, but I was so close to my parallel squat that I decided to go for 218 anyway, and I got it.
