Proper Form of Squats

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Oblivion02

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What is the proper form for squats? I've been doing them normal, without barbell, and I would do around 200-300... sets of 50... just to feel something. I went to the gym and was doing it with the same form i used to do it, only with the bar... And a dude "corrected" me and said I had to fold my knees to a 90 degree angle. I was doing that, but today I felt a slight strain on my right knee... I was wondering what is the proper form for this excersise? And if it can be substituted by normal squats (No barbell)... Maybe instead of 10 reps of bar squats, do 20 of normal squats? Help me out plz. Im young, and not looking forward to being injured :)
 
LOL it was part of my Phys Ed class... We had to do squats... I have very strong legs, so when I got home, I'd do some squats, but wouldnt feel anything... SO i did hundreds of them to feel something :) And when I do it with the bar I dont feel much either... I feel more with the hamstring machine... But i dont know... Can the hamstring machine substitute the squats?
 
Correct form for squats:

I'd recomend you put some weight on there and start practicing your form in sets of 10 rep
Hamstring curls can not replace the squat, hamstrings is one of many secondary muscles used in squats.
 
Oh man.

How far are you going down?

You shouldnd only be able to do 300 squats with a bar if your a god or you are cheating on the technique.

Your knees should go past 90degrees.
 
300+ squats was with no bar... no weight... just me... And it was sets of 50... I saw the video, it is a bit more than 90 degree angle... Knees open till shoulder lenght... Not spread out, toes pointing straight forward... Am I correct?
 
There is no reason on God's green earth that I can think of to perform 300 squats. What are your goals? Are you looking to increase leg mass or endurance?

Start putting weight on the bar until it only allows you to do low reps....12 at the most. My legs always responded to low rep, high weight training, 6 reps at the most. Experiment.

Point your toes straight ahead, or pointed a little outward. Feet should be shoulder width apart or more. I like to go a little wider, but I have very long limbs. Let your knees follow the direction that your toes are pointing in. Many would say stop at parallel, but I really don't agree with that, unless you have knee problems or don't know how to squat with correct form. I go down until my hams are touching my calves. This is considered deep squatting. The deeper you go, the more muscle you stimulate. Again, make sure your form is in check before doing this though.
 
Initiate at the hips. Don't break at the knees first because that puts too mush shear stress on the medial and lateral tendons.
 
Cynic said:
Initiate at the hips. Don't break at the knees first because that puts too mush shear stress on the medial and lateral tendons.
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am i the only one who thinks he is sticking his butt out too much? i would think that the heavier you go with this form youre bound to hurt your back.
 
dcjoey said:
am i the only one who thinks he is sticking his butt out too much? i would think that the heavier you go with this form youre bound to hurt your back.
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That' because he's keeping his shins largely vertical. If he let his knees go forward a bit more, his body would be more upright.
 
Dont forget to push from the heels as well. I started out pushing off the front of my feet, however now I do it correctly. One thing I heard from Dan John on a fitcast.com interview was if you are having trouble staying off your toes, lift them when you are pushing the weight up. That really helped me greatly.
 
It helped tremendously. Before this I was trying stay off my toes but sometimes I would automatically lean that way. Now I have no problems.
 
why are his legs so far apart? I was always told to have your legs no more then hip distance apart (not shoulder) and the closer the better to get quad defiition...the wider the legs the easier the squat...

replies please?...
 
Your legs should be at LEAST shoulder width. But yes, the closer the legs, the more emphasis on the quads; while the wider the stance the more emphasis on adductors and hammies.

And I'm gonna go against the grain here and say that you don't have to go to 90 degrees to squat (although I do). It simply depends on what you're looking to get out of the exercise. If you want heavy quad stimulation you should go with a more narrow, higher squat (ie, 2/5 squat so to speak). It's shown time and time again, that the quads are the most active in the beginning of the movement with the glutes and hams coming heavy more at the bottom.

If you want the nice hormonal response, I recommend parallel.
 
momof3 said:
why are his legs so far apart? I was always told to have your legs no more then hip distance apart (not shoulder) and the closer the better to get quad defiition...the wider the legs the easier the squat...

replies please?...
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There are variables involved-goals, levers (limb length), flexibility, etc Closer stance usually incorporates teh quads to a greater degree than wide stance.
 
People go wider (usually during competitions) because the displacement is smaller, and therefore easier. In other words, you have to move the weight a smaller distance, which makes it easier.
 
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