Being that I am an undergraduate student at Slippery Rock University, I am frequently asked a multitude of questions from my peers in the field. One of the most common subjects of interest I am asked about are deep squats. Here are some questions and comments I hear day to day, and some of the answers I respond with:
Question: Why squat to depth if I don’t hit those joint angles in my sport?
Answer: Although this seems very rational due to the principle of specificity, it is not entirely true. If your a speed-power athlete, acceleration mechanics are going to put most athletes into deep hip, knee, and ankle positions. To run fast, you have to accelerate well. In addition, squatting deep can strengthen the hip, knee, and ankle thus decreasing the likelihood of injury.
Question: Can’t I just squat to parallel and get the same effect?
Answer: This is a loaded question, and promotes many other questions. For example, are you squatting to the same depth every time? Is your technique proficient as the weight goes up? Do you compromise depth as the weight goes up? How strong is your back? Often times as the weight increases during “parallel”, the quality and safety of the rep goes down.
Comment: Deep squatting is going to hurt my knees!
Answer: While it is true that deep squatting can produce more torque on the knee, the weight is usually lighter relative to a parallel squat. If done correctly, this allows quality to go up while maintaining safety. Squatting to depth may help strengthen the soft tissue around the knee which would decrease the incidence of injury. In addition, the internal forces on the knee are decreased by thigh-calf contact forces which is observed during deep squatting. It may be warranted that individuals with previous knee problems should progress slowly to greater range of motions.
Comment: My back rounds when I go deep, so I can’t squat deep.
Answer: In the field, most coaches call this phenomenon “the butt wink”. The pelvis is entering posterior pelvic tilt as the surrounding musculature is not able to keep the butt out. It may be beneficial to do an extended warmup that addresses this problem, or do some selective mobility work. There is also merit behind practicing squatting deep to increase mobility. This loads the body and addresses the mobility issue.
Question: Why do you believe everyone should squat deep?
Answer: I avoid words such as “everyone, always, and never”, but I do not believe that EVERYONE should squat deep. It would be silly to say that everyone has the same anatomy and physiology. That being said, if safe and effective, squat to depth.
Question: Should you squat to parallel or do partials?
Answer: Partial squats and parallel squats certainly have a place in training athletes. Rhythm squats, 1/4 squats, and 1/2 squats are very joint specific and can play a role in making a program more specific. For example, it may be beneficial to introduce partial squats into a jumpers program later in the season. This would address the specific knee and hip angles seen during jumping. That being said, athletes should rarely take deep squats completely out of a cycle due to the difficulty in re-integrating them.
Question: Why are deep squats your standard?
Answer: Research is starting to indicate that performance increases when using deep squats vs. partial or parallel squats. Due to the deep hip and knee angles, the hips are activated to a greater extent. This is extremely beneficial as we know that the hips play a large role in athletics. In addition, deep squats are much easier to standardize.
Question: Why are deep squats easier to standardize?
Answer: When your down, your down. The standard I have used in determining whether a squat is deep enough is when the hip crease is lower than plane of the top of the knee. Once this angle is achieved it is usually easier to ride the squat to the bottom anyways. As depth is achieved, the preloading of the hamstrings and hips allows most athletes to “bounce” out of the bottom.
Comment: I’m not an athlete, so I’m going to stick to squats to parallel.
Answer: That’s fine. For general population squatting to depth can help realign the pelvis and fix asymmetries, but do as you please.
Comment: My form is perfect and my knees and back are still hurting!
Answer: Do what you can. In most cases this is due to overuse. Take a step back and come back to it in a few days. If an individual really doesn’t believe that squatting to depth is for them, maybe it isn’t.
Feel free to leave other comments and questions you receive.
References:
Hartmann, H., Wirth, K., Klusemann, M., Dalic, J., Matuschek, C., & Schmidtbleicher, D. (2012). Influence of squatting depth on jumping performance. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 1-1.
Pierrynowski, M. (2007). Thigh calf contact force measurements in deep knee flexion. Yearbook of Sports Medicine, 61-61.
Hartmann, H., Wirth, K., & Klusemann, M. (2013). Analysis of the Load on the Knee Joint and Vertebral Column with Changes in Squatting Depth and Weight Load. Sports Medicine, 993-1008.
Bloomquist, K., Langberg, H., Karlsen, S., Madsgaard, S., Boesen, M., & Raastad, T. (2013). Effect of range of motion in heavy load squatting on muscle and tendon adaptations. European Journal of Applied Physiology, 2133-2142.
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