Rants of a Gym Rat: Squat or Go Home at He's Fit

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Rants of a Gym Rat: Squat or Go Home

Posted April 26, 2008 at 12:00 PM by Donnell Peavy

Section: His Fitness, Strength Training, His Health, Physical Health

squat Squats are considered by many to be among the greatest exercises ever created, and rightfully so. Squats work the legs like no other exercise does and also involves several other muscles of the body. For this reason, squats have been a staple of mass gaining for eons. As a lifter with 28 inch thighs, I am a believer in the power of the squat; it’s an exercise to be taken seriously.

Something that annoys me to no end is when I look at a rack or smith machine, see a guy put eight plates on the bar, hoist it with little effort into the air…then rather anti-climactically squats the weight, his legs never achieving lower than a 140 degree angle. What? No, no, no. These semi squats are what some friends and I dubbed as ‘frat boy squats’ (I just recently discovered that the smith machine curls I ranted about last week are call ‘frat boy curls’ – I guess we all just like to pick on frat boys), and there is absolutely no point in doing them. Ever. I have more respect for the guy who only squats 135 but does it ass to ground than I do for the guy who “squats” 500, but does them frat boy style.

So, just how low should you go?
According to Fred “Dr. Squat” Hatfield, you should squat at least until your thighs are parallel to the floor. Anything beyond that depends on the individual and their flexibility level. “The top of your thighs should be about parallel to the floor or slightly lower, in a well-executed squat. Higher than that, and you’re losing some of the benefit to your quads.” Flexibility comes into play here. Inability to squat to a thighs parallel position is indicative of a lack of flexibility somewhere, either the quad, hamstring or ankle.

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12 Responses to “Rants of a Gym Rat: Squat or Go Home” (Leave a reply)

Sheryl said:

I agree. Squats rock and there are a ton of excellent variations: front squats, cable squats, 1 leg squats and on. Here is a link to video demos of many of them:
http://www.physicalfitnet.com/exercise_video_library/exercise_search.aspx
May 8, 2008 at 10:28 PM
Smith Machine Home Gyms, Power & Squat Racks from Terrace, BC said:

Squat racks do not have the self-arrest feature of a Smith machine; you will need to either use a human spotter or restrict lifting to a weight you can handle safely. More here: http://www.homegymadviser.com/smith-machine-home-gyms.html
March 30, 2009 at 03:13 PM
Leather Sofa said:

Anything beyond that depends on the individual and their flexibility level. “The top of your thighs should be about parallel to the floor or slightly lower, in a well-executed squat. Higher than that, and you’re losing some of the benefit to your quads.” Flexibility comes into play here. Inability to squat to a thighs parallel position is indicative of a lack of flexibility somewhere, either the quad, hamstring or ankle.

Leather Sofa
June 11, 2009 at 01:48 PM
le corbusier said:

it depends on a person’s capability whatever position he can do.
as long as he can do it. anyway we all have different builds.
July 2, 2009 at 11:12 PM
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July 4, 2009 at 04:05 AM
Dining Chair said:

yep, do the squats infront of a mirror and stand on your tippy toes… this works with balance and you can make sure you are going all the way down… feet should be shoulder-length apart
August 3, 2009 at 06:35 PM
dumbbell squat said:

Squats are very important.
September 2, 2009 at 03:19 PM
Nike Air said:

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September 27, 2009 at 03:05 AM
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September 29, 2009 at 10:41 AM
auto insurance said:

squats aren’t really that important.. leg rpesses work just as well
November 19, 2009 at 02:23 PM
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The top of your thighs should be about parallel to the floor or ajf nike shoes slightly lower, in a well-executed squat. Higher than that, and you’re losing some of the benefit to your quads.” Flexibility comes into play here. Inability to squat to a thighs parallel position is indicative of a lack of flexibility somewhere, either the quad, hamstring or ankle
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