How to Oly Squat

[Freddy]

Ok, its becoming blatantly obvious that precious few of you know how to "olympic" style squat.

There are basically two kinds of back-squat. What we like to refer to as the power-squat, or the powerlifter style squat, or the low bar squat. This is what COMPETITIVE powerlifters and strength athletes should be concerned with. I'll save that for another thread.

Its FAR more important that most of you learn to Olympic style squat first. Most every weight-trainer should know how to do this, whether you're a competitive olympic weightlifter, powerlifter, strongman, highland games athlete, or even if you're just a recreational, non-competitive bodybuilder like most people in this forum...

There is no faster way to get big and strong ALL over your entire body, and the reason that many of you guys do tons of gear and are still big pussies is because you can't Oly squat for shit.

I know most of you are really only concerned with your arms, and might care a little bit about your legs at the end of the day. But your body has to be able to support 20" arms, and it can't support those with a weak ass back and spindly stick-legs.

ALSO, I know that most of you THINK you know how to squat. Well, I'll tell you all that most of you don't.

If you post that you can squat 50 pounds more than you can deadlift, and you're neither a "little person" nor a superheavyweight powerlifter, than you are squatting no where even CLOSE to parallel, much less ass-to-grass like you need to be.

Here is how you properly "oly" squat:
1.) Take a medium-narrow stance. This varies a lot between athletes. Its not really important which stance you prefer, so long as you pick the one that lets you get the DEEPEST. Do NOT pick the one you are strongest at, pick the one that gives you the BIGGEST range of motion. For some athletes, this might even be a slightly wide stance.

2.) Wear the bar as high as possible. Do not wear it low on your back. It should be near your neck or the top of your traps.

3.) Do them raw. This means NO equipment. No tight ass knee wraps, and unless you're a competitive athlete, NO belt. If you're doing them right, knee wraps will just prevent you from getting as deep as possible. Instead, wear neoprene knee sleeves or ace-bandage wraps that can be purchased for very little money at any local pharmacy. Remember, oly squats are FAR better for your knees than quarter squats done with knee wraps on, so stop crying like a 10 year old girl and LEARN how to do it. It might take a week or two.

4.) Footwear is very important. THAT DOES NOT NECESSARILY MEAN EXPENSIVE. Now, I won't lie to you, the BEST footwear is custom made olympic lifting shoes. These can be purchased from a variety of sources, which I may get into later. HOWEVER, if you're too cheap, broke, or lazy to purchase another pair of shoes (though its pretty much a one-time purchase) DO WHAT THE OLDSCHOOL LIFTERS DID! Squat barefoot. No, you won't be able to get QUITE as deep without oly shoes on. But you WILL get pretty DAMN close. Everyone I've ever met or trained with could get ass-to-grass barefoot, and one of my training partners could actually touch the floor with his ass while oly squatting barefoot.

5.) Stop being a fucking pussy about it. I am so sick and damn tired of the excuses for not oly squatting. JS has personally coached literally hundreds of athletes, and has trained with or watched thousands of others. ALL were capable of learning to Oly squat with a few or so weeks practice. My old training partner has pronounced scoliosis and still went on to oly squat 2x bodyweight. If you are hurting your knees, 99.9% of the time its not your genetics, YOU'RE JUST DOING THEM WRONG.

[Grizzly]

But squats hurt my back........................hair. They hurt my back hair. Literally. Between squats and GM's last night, my poor back hair was feeling mighty abused.

[Ramstein II]

Grizzly, do you have a bald spot on your back where that squat bar goes? No disrespect to Olympic lifters (ha ha), but we used to call these "bodybuilder squats" or "high bar squats." We called them "bodybuilder squats" because they swell the quads quite nicely and you can't go as heavy as you can with a wide, powerlifting stance.

EDIT: For some people using a narrow stance and going deep elevating the heal is necessary to keep balance e.g. placing 10-25 lbs plates or board under heals. As far as shoes go, I would say don't squat in running shoes. I see people doing that and it drives me crazy. Running shoes have lots of cushion and are unstable and squishy under weight. Specialized weight lifting shoes are good--some have an elevated heal. I like firm soled cross trainers that are all leather and sturdy.

[chiseled21]

In reply to the shoes, I can squat relativley deep(ass hovers above calves) when wearing nike shox cross trainers, would i be better off using bearfoot or a flat pair of shoes? By the way good post, within the past two months I have began re-training myself on squats to go as deep as possible and to push through the heel and my knees have never felt better. I was one of the"my knees hurt"guys.Then I learned that all the people that say stop at parallel are idiots.lol

[J DUB]

If those are 20kg plates on each side then that is a 660lb, ass to ankles, hardly any lifting gear, squat. Also, look at the size of that guy...he is by no means a monster, I would guess he weighs at most 200-205. Quite impressive I must say, but hardly uncommon among good olympic lifters.

When I was most recently at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, there was a board on one of the walls that has the athletes squats, C&J, and Snatch posted (I think that's all that was up there). I cannot recall seeing one athlete who had anything less than a 2.5x BW squat, and you can be assured that they were using no more lifting gear than the guy in this pic. I cannot remember exactly what Shane Hamman's was, but I believe it was in the 800+ range. Not bad considering these guys only do squats as supplementary work.

[Freddy]

Grizz, Ed Coan has permanent bloody "holes" on his back from where the bar digs in. He's always squatting so they never have time to heal. I know someone who has the "Quads Gym" t-shirt (that Eddy made one of his infamous 1000+ squats in) mounted on the wall of his gym, covered in back-blood. I've competed with Tony Saunders, another ~1000 squatter, but he didn't have these marks on his back. Oh well, would have been cool. Apparently its a rare-treat.

Ramstein, for those who have never seen Olympic lifting shoes, they have the elavated heal that you describe. They are MUCH sturdier than any alternative, including any kind of sneaker or plate placed under the heal, and there are a few brand alternatives as well. There really is no substitute for a good Oly shoe. There is a reason that every olympic athlete wears them!

chiseled21, as long as you're comfortable, and can get DEEP...I mean ass-to-ankles deep, than I would stick with what you've been doing. If not, explore the Oly shoe or barefoot options.

J DUB, I can't recall the actual number...but I believe the sum is actually closer to 700+. I can get back to you, though, you could be correct.

I would bet Shane's Oly squat is higher than 800. He could divebomb squat 1000, ass-to-ankles, with a crappy Z suit on and ace-bandage knee wraps. I know he doesn't focus on, nor really even care about, his squat as much anymore, but I bet its probably higher, no? I've never been to Colorado Springs though, so again...you probably know better than I.

[J DUB]

With standard PL gear on I would be willing to bet that he could squat 1000. He might need a couple weeks to get used to the gear and all that, but he is for sure capable of squatting with the best of them.

Freddy, you should really try to go check out the OTC sometime. The USAW Club Coach and Sports Performance courses are offered there (look on the website for details), and are honestly not that hard. You also do the practical part in their weightroom, which I liked a lot. Mine was taught by Paul Fleschler, an alternate for the 1992 games. You stay in the athlete facilties (which are like dorm rooms) for the weekend with someone else, but this was OK because everyone there was awesome. I am going to Boston for the Westside seminar in Feb., so hopefully that is just as good.

[Freddy]

I would think that Shane has to be good for at least 1000 right now, done powerlifting style. He's stronger than when he did it in competition before, and like I said, when he did it before, it was with a crappy ass Z-suit and ace-bandages on the knees!

I don't see how he could be doing less than 900 Oly style, but if you say it was less I believe you.

Thanks for the info, bud, I know that Colorado Springs is pretty damn bad ass. If I do any traveling this year for training though, it'll be to hangout with JS and his athletes. Again, I appreciate the info though.

Originally Posted by J DUB

With standard PL gear on I would be willing to bet that he could squat 1000. He might need a couple weeks to get used to the gear and all that, but he is for sure capable of squatting with the best of them.

Freddy, you should really try to go check out the OTC sometime. The USAW Club Coach and Sports Performance courses are offered there (look on the website for details), and are honestly not that hard. You also do the practical part in their weightroom, which I liked a lot. Mine was taught by Paul Fleschler, an alternate for the 1992 games. You stay in the athlete facilties (which are like dorm rooms) for the weekend with someone else, but this was OK because everyone there was awesome. I am going to Boston for the Westside seminar in Feb., so hopefully that is just as good.

[AnimalMass]

Great post Fred.

BTW, the lifter pictured is Cuba's Idalberto Aranda, who weighs 77kg (170lbs), and is squatting 290kg (640 lbs) for a double with no belt, spotters, knee wraps, squat suit etc. - All he has is an Olympic lifting singlet and neoprene knee sleeves.

And oh yeah, if that isn't enough, he is squatting it (again, for a double) only 11 hours after cleaning a world record 205.5 kg.

That's why olympic lifters are more badass than any of you fudge packing butt pirate bodybuilders.

Matt

[Madcow2]

Originally Posted by AnimalMass

That's why olympic lifters are more badass than any of you fudge packing butt pirate bodybuilders.

LOL

[Beefster]

Originally Posted by AnimalMass

That's why olympic lifters are more badass than any of you fudge packing butt pirate bodybuilders.

Matt

I can only dream of being a badass one day because it is the true measure of a man. . LOL

Freddy or AM, do you consider the squatting depth of the guy in the pic as going ass-to-ankles or just below parallel?

Thanks,
Beefster
Lifter (neither PLr or BBr)

[Freddy]

Originally Posted by Beefster

I can only dream of being a badass one day because it is the true measure of a man. . LOL

Freddy or AM, do you consider the squatting depth of the guy in the pic as going ass-to-ankles or just below parallel?

Thanks,
Beefster
Lifter (neither PLr or BBr)

I consider that midway between the two. Deeper than just below, but not ass-to-ankles by MY training "standards".

Ass-to-ankles varies from athlete to athlete. Its another way of saying, "as deep as you can possibly get". I'm constantly bragging about how one of my older training partners can touch the ground with his butt. None of the rest of us can do that, but we can get close.

Generally, you want to be deeper than this picture. Go so deep that you can't possibly get any deeper.

This picture is still considered an "oly squat", because its a high bar, narrow stance, raw, squat done as deep as this particular athlete can go. No where near as deep as others can get, but deep for him. You'll notice that his hamstrings are resting on top of his calves.

He could probably get deeper if he took his stance out wider, and brought his hamstrings INSIDE of his calves, but I imagine he's chosen that particular stance because it best carries over to his competition movements (the snatch and C&J).

Remember, his goal isn't hypetrophy, like you guys...his goal is to win an olympic medal.

[AnimalMass]

Well I can only dream of being a pink banana hammock wearing queer, as that is the true measure of a man. LOL

j/k - I have a respect for bodybuilders. What they do is tough, for sure. But it isn't a sport.

In all honesty, what is the true measure of a man? You find something better than a 700lb rock bottom squat, please let me know.

Matt

ps - I think what he is doing is rock bottom, because he has big hamstrings. You can only go as far down as your hamstrings and calves will let you.

[AnimalMass]

Here is a rock bottom squat...

[Freddy]

Originally Posted by AnimalMass

Here is a rock bottom squat...

Yes, agreed...THAT is ass-to-grass. I was looking for that pic, but I must have lost it.