How to unstick your squat

Muscle & Fitness, August, 2004 by Jim Stoppani

"You're only as strong as your weakest link." While this maxim can be applied to many situations in and out of the gym, it holds especially true for the squat--and new research underscores this point. Another maxim to remember about weightlifting: To load a muscle optimally, it should be heavily taxed throughout the range of motion. Yet when you squat from the point where your legs are parallel to the floor (90 degrees at the knees) and back up (about 180 degrees at the knees), the amount of weight you can push depends on the weakest angle in that full range of motion. In other words, you only tax the muscles to their limits at the "sticking point" of the squat. Knowing exactly where your sticking point and strongest point in the squat are can help you boost your squat strength ... and leg growth.

REFERENCES

Paulus, D.C., et al. Biomedical Sciences Instrumentation 40:277-282, 2004.

RELATED ARTICLE: Stop Training

Scientists from the University of Arkansas (Fort Smith) modified a Smith machine with pneumatics and a computer control unit so they could precisely measure the weakest (sticking) and strongest point in the squat for 24 men and women. They discovered, as many lifters already knew, that the point where the knees are at 90 degrees (thighs about parallel to the floor) was indeed the weakest point in the squat; the strongest point was when the knees were at 150 degrees. So to increase your squat strength, consider training isometrically at 90 degrees by setting the pins on a power rack at a point where your thighs are parallel to the floor. Squat with an unloaded bar pressing on the underside of the pins, pushing against the pins as hard as you can for about 10 seconds. Repeat 2-3 times with 2-3-minute rest periods in between. This will increase your strength at the angle that's your weakest link in the squat and will allow you to get more weight in full-ROM squats.

RELATED ARTICLE: SUPER THIGHS

THESE STUDY RESULTS ALSO MAKE A STRONG CASE for occasionally doing partial-rep squat training. Go down to just short of a half squat and no lower, using a weight that allows you to get only 6-8 partial reps. Because this range of motion is your strongest, the weight will be heavier than you could normally use for 6-8 reps of full squats. And using a heavier weight means greater size to come.

RELATED ARTICLE: WEAK IN THE HOLE

This figure shows where you're strongest in the squat and where you're weakest (sticking point). Training specifically at each angle as described in "Stop Training" and "Super Thighs" will boost your leg strength and mass.

BY JIM STOPPANI, PHD