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Questions and answers about sports

How should squat form change based on proportions?

4 min read

Asked by: Hunter Littlebird

How do I make sure squat form is correct?

Your feet should be about shoulder-width apart, your shoulders should rest right underneath the pads, your elbows should be bent, and your hands should be holding the handles. Release the weight and squat down, bending your knees and keeping your back, neck, and head flush against the machine.

What does proper squat form look like?

And we know that if you want to squat and squat properly. You should be square. Right it's like playing golf. Anyway sort of play golf. This should be squared to the line.

What should my squat stance be?

A shoulder-width squat stance should work best; going much wider will probably cause some lateral hip discomfort. Conventional deadlifts should be a better fit than sumo, and with good coaching the client should be able to pull from the floor.

How does body structure affect squatting?

Squat mechanics can be greatly influenced by femoral (thigh bone) length [1, 3, 4]. Lifters with long femur lengths relative to shorter tibia (shin bone) lengths will naturally experience greater forward lean deeper into a squat compared to a lifter with proportional femur-to-tibia lengths [1, 3].

What happens if you do squats wrong?

When you do squats, you’re supposed to feel the strain in your legs. If you’re feeling pain in the lower back, you’re probably doing it wrong. This means that you are putting the weight and work into your lower back muscles instead of your glutes and quadriceps. Pay attention when you squat.

Should your feet be straight when squatting?

During the squat, the entire lower extremity, including the thigh, lower leg, and foot should be in a straight line to optimize loading potential.

Is it OK to lean forward when squatting?

It’s common to have a tendency to lean forward when trying to squat deeper, but a forward-leaning squat could indicate weak glutes and/or tight hip flexors. When the glutes aren’t strong enough, the hip flexors take over to pull you deeper into the squat, causing you to lean forward.

How do I fix a bad squat form?

To fix this common squat mistake, spend a lot of time on your ankle mobility, but don’t neglect your other joints. When it comes to squatting, optimal mobility in all joints (even your upper body) plus great core strength leads to faultless form.

How do I know if my squats are bad?

6 Signs Your Squat Sucks

  1. Your quads are more sore than anything else. Good squats build the thigh muscles evenly. …
  2. Your knees hurt. This is the telltale indicator of bad squatting. …
  3. Your low back is sore. …
  4. You deadlift a lot more than you squat. …
  5. You squat a lot more than you deadlift. …
  6. No one compliments your squat.


How do you tell if I have deep or shallow hip sockets?

And think about the pressure that you feel on the back of your hips. And whether or not that changes. So if I rotate through free range of motion.

Do long legs make squats harder?

The key takeaway is that having long legs for squatting needs to be considered as proportions to the rest of the body. If you have long legs, but you also have a long torso, then you might not actually have any negative effects when it comes to squatting.

How do you tell if you have short or long femurs?

What is this? The best way to tell if long femurs are your problem (as well as a short torso) is to find a chair, bench or stool that — when you sit on it, your thighs are perfectly parallel to the floor. If they are not parallel (meaning, the hips are higher OR lower than the knees), this test won’t be fool proof.

Are squats harder if you’re taller?

But why is squatting. Extra challenging for tall people well it really comes down to having longer torsos. And longer limbs. And as you do the squat. Your center of mass shifts.

Are long femurs good for anything?

Long femurs are a biomechanical disadvantage in the barbell squat exercise, but an advantage in cycling due to torque (measure of force on a rotational object). Short femurs are a big advantage for squatting, but a disadvantage in cycling.