I used to do squats to parallel and got decently strong (26 x 225). I recently started doing ass to grass pause squats and I feel they are more consistent and difficult to cheat. Some people say ass to grass is unnecessary or even harmful. What is the deal, Veeky Forums?
Please include the number of years you've been lifting with your answer, so I have some indication about whether you know what you're talking about.
>26 x 225
wat? you do 26 reps of 2pl8?
yup
Why is that your standard for squat strength?
is ATG a choice? like if i could, i would...
I have a low rep leg day and a high rep leg day. On high rep day, I aim for 20 reps on my squats.
well how much do you lift on your low rep day?
It's kind of a hot topic.
The fact of the matter is that most of the time, a longer range of motion is superior to a shorter range of motion, even if you can use a bit more weight by cutting the range short.
If it's comfortable to you to go below parallel, you should probably be doing so most of the time. That doesn't mean you can't occassionally use less ROM to get a different stimulus or get used to more weight or whatever. But most of the time, go full ROM.
That being said, contrary to what most people think, full ROM in this regard does not mean crash into your absolute end-range. You're much safer if you stop an inch before that point. Less wear on your hips, and less of a chance to lose back position.
To all of you out there going down to RIGHT before your back rounds, you should seriously consider cutting your range just a little sooner. I promise you'll feel way more comfortable.
Noice. It's probably more healthy and beneficial to hypertrophy to include a high rep day. Post legs
I started doing that with my front squats, only at 20 reps with 62,5 kg aiming to increase by 2,5 every week. Seeing nice growth
Then why not say what you squat on your low rep days? It would a much better standard of strength to go by
Not that guy, but I salute anybody who does 26 reps in the squat. Doing a 3RM is a goddamn vacation in comparison.
Going much below parallel for most people means loosening something up, often the hamstrings or to some degree the glutes. You don't want this. So going deep is bad if you're losing any tension in any muscles.
What you want out of this exercise is to carry as much weight as possible over a full range of motion for all the muscles. This is generally accomplished by a parallel squat. Squatting deeper usually just makes the exercise harder, but not more productive (or less productive, as going that deep usually requires you to reduce weight).
Sort of like having someone kick you in the balls at the bottom of each rep would make it more difficult, but do nothing to help you gain strength.
Ya but if he can do 225 for 26 my guess is he can move some decent weight
5'10 ~187lb
nice man, what does your diet consist of when bulking? I'm 5'10 also but only 165lbs and really want to gain weight but having a hard time even though I'm eating quite a bit
Currently eating about 3700-4300 cals per day (50/25/25%-ish carb/fat/protein) although I think I'll slow it down to 3900-4000 per day in the next few weeks so as to not get too fat for the springtime cut.
were you gaining a lot of fat when you first started bulking? I'm starting to gain some more size but I notice my cheeks are a little chubbier and I'm getting some fat even though I exercise 4 times a week with cardio
That just mean you're eating too much, or just too much sugar.
This. I have nowhere near the hip and ankle mobility to do this.
Not op, but what if you were to perform the squat at a slower dip putting more tension on said muscles that would loosen up due to quick dips that go past parallel. Would that be unsafe?
i was going atg as low as possible for a while but when i started squatting around 2.5pl8s for reps i started noticing some hip impingement on my right hip flexor. was squatting with knees and toes pointed out so i brought them in and started hitting parallel and the pain went away after a week.
it's still a little irritated since i haven't stopped squatting but it seems that the form adjustment has helped even though i catch myself stopping above parallel every now and then on one of my last reps in the harder work sets.
go as low as you can without lumbar flexion, which for most people will not be ATG but a little above that
how low that is depends on hip socket geometry (totally out of your control and there is nothing you can do to change it)
For pure strength gains you only need to break parallel, no need to close the knee joint completely.
Training a slow eccentric and a fast concentric is good for building explosiveness, but not jecessarily strength and mass. For strength it's all about total weight moved in the concentric. For mass it's time actually under tension.
Old fag 45+, lifting 25+, bro science plus engineer. Struggle to get to 90 due to rooted ankles so my 2c only.
The weight has to travel through your body and get to the ground somehow hence keep the weight over your feet or you introduce bending moments (instability) at ground level.
Squatting past parallel makes the thigh go from compression and shear to tension and shear. The knee ligaments have to transfer the weight to the shin bone to the ground. If you go past square you put the knee ligaments in some tension.
This would suggests more risk of knee injury and maybe hip. God speed user.
Still a beginner (just under 2pl8 for 3x5) so take this with a grain of salt.
If your joints allow for large ROM, it might not be the best idea to go as far as possible (ATG) because your back might round (butt wink) before the end of the ROM even if you try to keep your back straight. Set up a camera and record yourself from behind or from the side. If your butt is winking, reduce ROM. In my experience, it's difficult to keep tension in the core and get back up once the butt wink has happened -- I've had to cancel a couple of sets that I SHOULD have been able to do, simply because I lost tension in my lower body and couldn't go back up.
Parallel is the sitting position, which is incomplete and puts more stress on your knees. ATG is superior for this reason alone, with the added plus of glute gains.