Deep Squats - Tips to Help Get to Grass

Experts will tell you the deep squats are of more benefit to muscle development than just going to 90 degrees. Some individuals have a lot of difficulty getting "ass to grass". Here are a few tips to help you get there.

Deep Squats with a Wider Stance

The natural angle of your hips and thigh bone can be an advantage. Too many lifters keep their toes pointed straight ahead when they should be slightly turned out. Keeping your feet just outside hip width (around shoulder width) will also help. The other benefit is that it will force your glutes to take more of the load so the larger muscles being activated will help to lift larger weights with more stability.

Keep Your Heels Up

This will work the opposite of the wide stance squat. Putting your heels on a low platform (a narrow board) will keep your calf muscles shorter and your knees over or just a bit ahead of your toes. Instead of activating your glutes, this will put the emphasis on your quads. This happens because you will tend to stay more upright with your heels elevated in a deep squat.

Flexibility

A general lack of flexibility will really hamper your ability to do a deep squat. Perform a good warm up and take the time to stretch everyday. Make sure to stretch your calves with your toes pointed in, neutral and out to get all three areas of the muscle. Take a full 20 seconds with each stretch.

The other main area to stretch for deep squats is the lower back. Rounding your back when squatting will put you into an uncomfortable position that can lead to injury. There are a number of stretches you can do with great benefits. Loose back muscles will really help to get a deep squat.

Using Chains

Chains give you the ability to add weight at the top of the movement and less weight at the bottom. By doing so, you can help take the pressure off your joints and increase your stability at the difficult lower portion of the movement.

In the end, getting a deep squat as best you can can really boost your muscle development and strength gains. Poor flexibility will hamper your efforts so do not go any further down than is comfortable. Doing so can cause injury. Try these recommendation to improve your form and get your "ass to grass".

My name is Jacques Delorme and I run a youth nutrition blog at http://visportsnutrition.ca where you can get all sorts of information on nutrition, exercise and motivation for youth athletes. Visit my site and feel free to leave comments and questions if you need more information.

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