2 thoughts on “Squat Motion

    • Deep squat is to squat as low as a person physically can without tucking the tailbone under (i.e. change of angle of the SI joint, or “butt-wink”). In a deep squat, the knee joint flexes smaller than 90 degrees and the hip crease sits lower than top of the knee (i.e. below parallel). Due to the depth of deep squat, good hip mobility is required. In addition, hip external rotation is also needed (i.e. toes pointing outwards) for most people to achieve maximum depth. The amount of hip external rotation in deep squat is largely dependent on how deep a person’s femur head inserts into the hip joint (deep insertion requires more hip external rotation for proper deep squat), thus it varies from person to person. Deep squat is bread and butter for Olympic weightlifters, because their sport relies heavily on squatting as deep as possible to catch weight. Powerlifters squat as deep as needed to satisfy their federation’s rules, usually below parallel but not as deep as Olympic weightlifters. However, since other sports do not rely heavily on the ability to perform deep squat, it can be replaced with other type of squat movements that are easier to grasp.

      Squat until 90 degrees is the parallel squat, where a person squat until the knee joint flexes at 90 degrees or the thigh becomes parallel to the ground. To maintain good posture and generate the most force, feet should be parallel to each other and toes facing forward. Generally, one can perform parallel squat with toes facing forward, without any external rotation of the hip. However, if client has poor hip mobility, he/she might need sufficient amount of sessions to practice and get down to the parallel position. Parallel squat is suitable for many sports that require lower body strength and power (except those requiring strength and power at deep squat position).

      Box squat is similar to parallel squat (feet pointing forward and parallel to each other), except one squats down to a box that is set to the height corresponding to his/her parallel squat position. Box squat is usually performed with a pause at the bottom, and/or with bands/chains to execute dynamic power output (i.e. speed squat). Client is instructed to keep core and back tight when pausing on the box. This means that he/she is NOT sitting or resting on the box (this is manifested as a rocking-back motion onto the box). Instead, he/she maintains tension at the bottom, lightly touch or tap the box, then stand up. There should be NO shift in weight of the person during a box squat (i.e. no rock back when sitting on the box); bar moves straight up and straight down. The box should be thought of as a guide to notify client how low to squat and where to pause. It is not a tool for resting at the bottom.

      Best regards,

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