Questions tagged [squats]
Barbell squats are one of the three lifts in powerlifting. Questions are about effective technique, variations, and programs for squatting with or without resistance.
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Why is my squat much weaker than my deadlift?
I've always known that my squat wasn't particularly great but after reading some baseline figures for someone of my experience level (just over 2 years consistent training) I've realised my squat is a ...
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Neck position for reducing possibility of back injury in deadlift/squat?
I'm confused on how to get a neutral spine. Natural for me is to look straight ahead, but some say to look down for it ( eg: Mark Rippetoe for squatting).
This Reddit post from thirteen years ago ...
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Should knees rotate during squats?
Knees pointing outwards is a common squat cue, but when I see videos of elite athletes squatting, I often notice them rottating their knees out on the descent, and then rotating them inwards when ...
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How to unrack the front squat?
I'm trying to figure out how to properly unrack the front squat. Unfortunately there seems to be a real scarcity for good quality guides on the same. Also an interesting point was mentioned by Thomas ...
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How to fail a front squat?
From all sources I see on the internet, people front squat outside a squat rack and then throwing it. I have two questions:
Is it not possible to fail a front squat safely in a squat rack?
What ...
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How far out should elbows be externally rotated when front squatting?
It seems in no video on youtube I can find mentions this. Could someone give an authoritative answer/ a guide on how to figure this out?
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Leg pressing the deadlift but not the squat, why?
A good advice I heard for getting more leg activation in deadlift is to leg press the earth away when doing the pull and not starting with shoulder. However, this same cue is not given in squat altho ...
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Is it common to find oneself pulling back downward on the loaded barbell as coming up during a squat?
I’ve often found that when I’m squatting (though usually only when I’m pushing my limits, and especially as I’m tiring, starting to near failure), as I’m coming up and pushing the barbell up with the ...
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Squat bar path turning C shaped, possible causes?
When I squat, I notice that my bar path often turns into a C like shown below:
Now here is what I tried to fix it so far:
Keeping back tight
Valsalva Maneveur
Foot placement (balancing over mid foot)...
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Can't seem to brace when squat is on back
I am trying to do the Valsalva Maneveur when I squat. It seems so that I find it difficult to do it when the weight is on the back, but find it easy to do when I am in a rested state (eg: writing this ...
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Accesory work to improve knee strength for squats
I seem to have issues with my knee when I squat, could someone suggest me some exercises I could do to strengthen them for my squat?
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Leveling hip pelvis after squat un rack
In 2:43 of this video by Jeremy Ethier, it is said to level hip pelvis after squat unrack. What is the idea behind this?
Some sites I've seen that we should start the squat by sitting back a bit, so I ...
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How common are squat marks on shoulders?
I have recently gotten back into squatting and rediscovered something that would happen whenever I squat. For context I was free squatting 185lbs at five sets of six reps
Referencing the attached ...
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One side rising faster than other when doing squat unrack
For some reason, whenever I unrack the squat heavier weights one side of the barbell seems to rise faster than the other during the unracj. What could be the possible causes?
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One leg seems to be doing all the work when squatting
When I'm doing squat, I feel the right leg I have is doing a lot more work lifting up the weight than my left leg. What can I do so that both legs contribute equally?
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Using unevenly bent bars at the gym for squats (general tips and comfort)
At the gym I go to, it seems so all bars got bent as a result of people deadlifting. They have bought no rubber plate nor the platform hence the problem is quite exacerbated. The main problem I have ...
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Does breathing actually improve core tightness?
One can naturally make the core tight by flexing the muscles, so does breathing in allow it to be made more tight? I have seen some guide purport this, but, it doesn't relate with my personal ...
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How wide should the distance between my elbows be for the zercher squat?
It seems so you can go as wide as you want in the elbow distance provided that you make the distance between your feet as wide as possible. So, what is the ideal width between elbows? I find keeping ...
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How to stop barbell rotating in elbow when doing zercher squat?
When unracking the barbell for the zercher squat, the barbell sometimes rolls in the valley created my elbows and it hurts quite a bit. Anyway to stop this?
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Good morning maneuver to fail a squat?
This is mentioned in this video by Mark Rippetoe. I can't understand how is that maneuver possible.
How does one go into the hip hinge position related to the good morning when they're at the bottom ...
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How to overcome fear to fail squat?
If one is it to fail the low bar squat, the way to fail it is given as you remove the hand grip and walk forward. , I have a feeling that I'll have an injury because I can't see the weight I'm ...
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Top quarter reps vs bottom quarter reps for squats?
What do top quarter rep squats train?
I've heard it's explosive power, namely vertical jumping ability. Why is that? Is it actually better than full range of motion squats for that, or simply a more ...
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I cannot tilt my foot inwards
Just for the record I am not asking for any exercises/physical therapy advices, although if its allowed here, I would be very much thankful for these. I mainly want to know how I can describe the ...
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Landmine bar question!
Can you do landline reps with a 5-ft bar? I’m 5’7” female, 45, Med-build. I know most landmine users use a 7’Olympic bar, but I’m just starting out, and I’m not sure if I should buy a 5’, 6’, or 7’. I ...
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Do front/back squats strengthen upper body?
I know it's obviously not gonna be the same as targeting my upper body directly, but will I still get some strength benefits in my upper body from doing front & back squats with a barbell?
I feel ...
user33566
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L5-S1 level sciatica -> attempt to squat, but cannot keep heels on the ground. Worth continuing to try?
60yo male, 176kg. Had L5-S1 protruded disk problems in my 40s - fixed with physical therapy. Then again around my 50s - same fix as before. Hit me again in my late 50s, this time with no relief from ...
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What causes me to lean forward on a barbell squat?
Recently I have been looking at my squat form and notice that I always bend forward too much such that my head is past my knees. When I try and correct myself to have head and knees aligned, it's just ...
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Why knee and hip torques in Squat are always referred to the midfoot line?
The knee and hip moment arms are, in Squat, always evaluated with respect to the midfoot line.
This choice is not obvious for me. In fact, the midfoot is just the point where the centre of gravity of ...
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Why not pushing the knees out of the toes in Squat?
there is lots of information on the web about feet and knees out in Squat. Firstly, I'd like to summarise it here to make it clear.
As explained here by Athlean X, in the Squat:
a bit of external ...
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How do you incorporate/interpret velocity data for a workout?
During a recent squat session I tried out a bar tracking app and unexpectedly it also provided a bunch of velocity data for the set. I know that velocity based training is a thing but I always thought ...
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High-Bar Back Squat being easier than Bodyweight Squat
As difficult as it may seem, I'm able to keep a more neutral spine and feel a better balance in a high-bar back squat (and with sufficient load, obviously not so heavy to worsen my technique) as ...
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Gym Etiquette: Is it bad to hog a squat rack?
I'm currently doing a workout program involving squats, overhead press, deadlifts, and curls. All of this is done with a barbell and squat rack. However it means I'm now using the rack for 30-40 mins ...
user33409
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How much important it is to keep a neutral spine during heavy squat and deadlift?
Keeping a neutral spine have been traditionally considered a must in lifting exercises, especially heavy ones like Squat and Deadlift. The reason I've always been told is that it evenly distributes ...
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Squats - Ankle Tightness
I've always had pain in the back after doing squats and realized that I have tight ankles and this results in butt wink when doing them.
I've come across with a little hack; putting small plates under ...
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Dumbbell deadlift vs. squats
I'm fairly new to heavy lifting. I've been working out at home with adjustable dumbbells (my only equipment). Working out 3 times/week, among the exercises I've had recommended are deadlifts and ...
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How much weight should we place on our heel and how much in our forefoot during squat?
it is known that the best feet setup for squat is the so called tripod stance, which wants you place your weight in three points of the foot:
Base of pinky toe
Base of big toe
Heel
My question is ...
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Which is the proper shoulder-blades setup for front squat?
In high-bar back squat it is good to have retracted and elevated shoulder-blades in order to create a pad in the upper traps that allows us to keep the barbell in a stable position.
Now, what about ...
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Bio-mechanical analysis of squat: torque on the knee and on the hip
There are many biomechanical analyzes of the squat on the web, but there are lots of things are not clear for me.
Let's consider for instance a high-bar back squat. An analysis is provided by this ...
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Why should the knee point outwards in squat?
it's known and written everywhere that knee valgus in squat is bad. But I still haven't found a mechanical explanation of this, and even the best knee setup is not clearly described by most guides (...
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Can you determine if imbalances are muscular or mechanical?
Yesterday I tried out a new exercise, the Hatfield Squat, and then further to the Hatfield split-squat.
I really noticed a difference between the two sides when doing the split squat. With my left ...
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How to balance when doing pistol squats?
I have been doing pistol squats the last few weeks and I feel that my lack of balance is keeping from progressing.
I want to find a way to focus only on muscle strength and not balance, what are some ...
user33979
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How can we be in balance while performing the barbell hack squat?
Unlike conventional squat and deadlift, in the barbell hack squat the barbell won't be over our midfoot.
How can we balance properly?
I've seen also that some people start with the barbell on a ...
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Is it normal to zercher squat 3 times less than one can back squat?
I've done a set of 180kg x 5 lowbar backsquat today (hip crease below knee), and decided to follow up with zerchers. I could not do more than 3 reps with 100kg, and ended up doing 3 sets of 60kg x 4-5 ...
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Why should we put our feet forward in Smith Machine Squat?
Here (and elsewhere) this statement is written about the difference between a standard barbell squat and a smith machine squat:
One major difference between the barbell squat and the Smith machine
...
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What is the perfect Squat depth and tempo? [closed]
I have been lifting for 3 years managed a 170kg/375lbs squat with belt and low bar. Now I wish to start over with my squat and perform it high bar. My question is what is the best depth for the squat (...
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Strange Lower Back Tingling [closed]
This may be piriformis syndrome, but according to the article from squat university it’s not, because the twisting motion and hyperextending motion cause the tingling.
Yesterday, I did beltless front ...
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What is the effective weight of the bar when I'm doing a landmine squat?
When I'm doing a landmine squat the bar weighs 20 kg. As it is pivoted in the corner of the room the effective weight of the bar must be less than its 20 kg but it must contribute something to the ...
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Which is the proper final position in squat?
I struggle with understanding which is the proper final position of squat.
Here this position is proposed:
It's written that it's crucial to:
lock the knees (i.e. having straight legs)
lock the hips
...
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Why is "squatting the deadlift" bad?
In this article the author explains why squatting the deadlift (i.e. deadlifting with a too upright posture) is bad.
He writes:
This in turn both creates unfavourable leverages that cause more ...
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Low back on the way up of squat
I need some advices to understand if my low back posture is correct while squatting.
Let's consider these pictures of me, referred to the way up of squat:
Picture 1): I've arrived at the parallel. I ...
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