Stuart Mcgill suggests that the hip anatomy of some humans is not designed to allow for a full depth functional squat. Hip angle, shape and alignment vary greatly between humans, dependant on genetic heredity, to the extent that it can alter so called 'normal human movement patterns. '
You may have noticed that some people can squat deep with ease, while others struggle to maintain balance or experience discomfort. One major factor influencing this difference is genetics, specifically femur length and hip structure.
Some people have an inability to squat to depth because in a normal stance( toes forward knees shoulder width apart) have their femur run right into the acetabulum. Those individuals are usually the wide stance people and tend to do better with sumo pull.
Hip Socket Depth
Your ability to flex at the hip (how deep you can squat) is heavily influenced by how deep your hip sockets are. Remember that the hip is a ball and socket joint, the head of your femur (thigh bone) has a “ball” on the end of it, which sits in a curved socket (acetabulum) on your pelvis.
All normal people develop squating, and very deep, when they are babies. If someone doesn't squat to depth, Wich is very easy, they are either afraid or tight. No tightness is not an excuse Ray Williams used to weight as much as strongmen and he always squated to depth.
The short and simple answer is as low as possible. Squatting deeper has not been shown by the research to cause any harm to the knees. The research has actually shown that squatting to 90 degrees puts the most stress and force on your knees, but when you go past 90, there is less force on the knees.
A deep squat requires hip flexion. Tight and weak hips inhibit clients from squatting low and cause compensation which leads to improper technique. The same principle applies to ankle mobility. If a client is unable to sit low into a squat and has poor ankle mobility, their knees will not track forward.
So, we can conclude here that when we're looking at the effect of height on 1 RM back squat, there's not much of an effect. However, this correlation is likely confounded by weight. Our taller people weigh more than our shorter people.
You can enhance your squat depth and overall movement quality by addressing limitations in ROM, strengthening key muscles, and focusing on symmetry and balance. Incorporate these strategies into your fitness routine, and you'll be well on your way to mastering the deep squat.
Research has shown that not only are deep squats safe, but they are actually protective of knee injury as they develop more robust ligaments and joint surfaces. Furthermore, increased strength in the back squat compared to body mass has been shown to be protective against lower extremity injury.
"And the longer your femurs are, the harder it is to perform the back squat with high quality," he adds. Tall guys struggle to maintain balance between pushing their hips back to settle into the squat and keeping their center of mass over the midfoot.
Lay on your back and pull your knee to your chest. If you can pull your knee all the way to your chest without any back movement - they're likely shallow. If you get a pinch or blocked sensation and can't pull past 90 degrees - they're likely deep.
Start out in a “normal squat” stance, but make your feet a bit wider and your toes a bit more turned out. Lower your body while sending your hips backward, as if aiming for a very low seat or stool, until your hips are as low as they can go. You may feel like you are sitting between your feet.
This is a relatively simple process. Stand upright and look at the proportions of your body. Do your legs seem like they're really, really long when you compare them to your torso? If your answer is yes – then your femurs are probably long.
Discussion. This study has demonstrated that in normal subjects, Asians have a higher flexibility in general indicated by their high median Beighton score. The ROMs of wrist and hand was greater in Asians and the difference was statistically significant (p < 0.05).
Squatting with a wide stance will help provide a biomechanical advantage for taller athletes by reducing torque about the knee joints. The wider stance allows the athlete to obtain a lower squatting depth than a more traditional, narrower stance.
Ultimately, it's a balance problem. “Something is loading too much backwards,” he said. This usually means the athlete is trying to raise the chest at the bottom of the squat without pushing the hips forward to right himself.
Try to hold this position for 10 to 20 seconds and then use the support, if needed, to stand. Rest for a minute and repeat two to three more times, resting in between.
I generally recommend athletes squat to legal powerlifting depth where the hip joint breaks parallel. The exception is in athletes with really long legs, for many of them a partial range squat is deep enough that they can't go much lower without rounding their lower back.
Longer femurs cause most to lean forward more during their squat whereas shorter femurs tend to make it easier to stay more upright.
A: No, deep squatting is not inherently bad for the knees.
Simply stated, if you do not have adequate mobility in the ankle, knee, and hips, you will compensate elsewhere and cause more harm than good. The optimal squat depth is highly dependent on individual mobility and injury history.
Squats put a lot of pressure on the knees while they're in a bent position. This position exerts a high amount of compression force on the knee joints. These forces can irritate the cartilage within the knees and worsen pain for people with conditions or injuries such as osteoarthritis and meniscus tears.
As you squat down the crease where your upper thigh and hip joint together should temporarily break below that line (the top of the knee). Here is a pic to illustrate: Note how the crease at the hip (the arrow) temporarily breaks below the top of the kneecap. That's a legal squat.