HOW TO SQUAT according to your biomechanics
Unlock Your Squat
Any devoted lifter will attest to the indescribable rush of hitting a new PR (Personal Record) in the squat. Stacking those plates and sinking into a deep, powerful squat offers a sense of accomplishment that's unparalleled. But what do you do when you hit a plateau? It's time to dig deeper and strategize.
This article dives into three crucial aspects:
Understanding your body mechanics
Enhancing mobility
Strengthening stabilizer muscles.
How Can Understanding Your Body's Unique Mechanics Improve Your Squat?
The first step toward squat mastery is evaluating your unique biomechanical leverage, or in other words: your “limb lengths”. A personalized approach beats a generic training plan any day.
For Long-Legged Individuals:
You naturally excel in movements that involve hip hinges.
To balance your squat, consider exercises that focus on your quads:
Quad/Cyclist Squats: These emphasize quad activation.
Hack Squats: Great for quad development.
Heels Elevated Squat: Allows a more upright torso, emphasizing quads.
Note: Forward trunk lean during your squat will shift tension to the hips and away from the quads. Machine and isolation exercises, like the leg press with feet in a low position and leg extensions, are also recommended and a great addition.
For Shorter-Legged individuals:
Your anatomy favors knee flexion, making posterior chain exercises particularly effective:
Good Mornings: Targets the hamstrings and glutes. (Bottom Range)
Romanian Deadlifts: Excellent for hamstrings and lower back. (Mid Range)
Reverse Hyper Extension: Great for spinal erectors and glutes. (Top Range)
Note: that each hip extension exercise listed targets a different part of the strength curve:
Top range
Middle range
Bottom range
It's crucial to vary your exercise selection throughout different phases of your training program. This ensures that you strengthen the entire chain as a whole, rather than overloading one specific part of the strength curve and neglecting the others.
Understanding your unique body proportions lets you remove guesswork from program design and tailor your plan to maximize your advantages.
How Can Mastering Mobility Lead to a Flawless Squat?
Squatting requires comprehensive mobility in your ankles, knees, hips, and shoulders.
Pay close attention to areas that could be restricting your movement:
Ankle Flexion: Directly impacts your squat depth.
Hip Flexors: These can affect your torso angle and overall balance during the squat.
Shoulder Mobility: Influences your barbell placement and stability.
Piriformis and Hip Rotators: Crucial for achieving greater squat depth and hip comfort.
Investing time in targeted stretches before and after training—or even on off days—can be highly beneficial. Improved mobility not only allows for a deeper squat but also enhances its power and efficiency.
How Can Strengthening Stabilizer Muscles Bulletproof Your Squat?
Although quads, glutes, and hamstrings are the main players, squatting is a full-body movement. A weak link anywhere can disrupt the entire kinetic chain.
Abdominals: Essential for stability.
Vastus Medialis: An often-neglected quad muscle that provides knee stability.
Lower Back: Strength here protects against injuries and facilitates power transfer.
QL (Quadratus Lumborum): Helps stabilize the trunk and the pelvis.
Calves (Soleus and Gastrocnemius): These contribute to knee stability and improve force transfer to the ground.
By focusing on these stabilizer muscles, your squats will be smoother, more stable, and powerful, enabling you to safely push your limits.
To wrap things up, the keys to maximizing your squat potential involve understanding your unique biomechanics, mastering mobility, and strengthening stabilizer muscles.
Armed with these strategies, the sky's the limit for your squat gains.
We'd love to hear about your progress, so don't hesitate to share your experience with us!
