# The powerlifters Squat



## chris jenkins (Aug 14, 2004)

Some simple changes to your squat could make a big difference, so I thought I'd stick a few of them together for anybody that wants to improve the squat. Ive taken some information from some other lifters and my own experience.

BAR PLACEMENT

The bar should go in a groove that is created when you hold your arms back between the posterior and medial head of your deltoids and right below the bulk of your upper traps. Its a little bit of a stretch for some people with bigger frames so a wider grip could be better with the elbows high, I grip the bar fairly close but wear elbow supports as I sometimes suffer being in this tight. If you have a medium to small frame you can try Keeping your head up and your elbows as far back as you can and down, the bar should stay put. With a closer hand spacing you stay tighter and in better control of the bar. Try and keep upright with your abdominals flexed. I squeeze my abs hard against my belt at the start of the lift and find it easyer to unrack the weight this way.

If your used to having the bar high on your traps, trying to squat with the bar low on your back, this will feel strange at first but with time gets easyer. Your balance will be affected having the bar in this area above the traps. I used to squat with a high bar placement and I used to get a lump at the botttom of my neck from where the bar was rubbing. I had to start from scratch to improve my bar placement, I just stuck with 60 kg's on the bar for weeks until I got it right.

FOOT POSITION

When I set up for the squat I position my feet pointing out, I find I get a lot more from my hip's and glutes. Try and position your feet at a ten to two angle. I find hitting seated calves heavy once a week helps your stability on the squat, I dropped this exercise for a few weeks last year and my foot position was all to cock.

CLOTHING

Try to wear a top or t'shirt that will let the bar sit nice on your back, I've seen people wearing hoodies and lycra tops it just makes your squat more difficult. Use plenty of chalk on your back, so the bar wont keep moving around and is snug you will feel stronger. As for what to wear on your feet this topic is debatable, Ive used a boot with a heel but I find I lean forward a lot and my squat is hunched over. Inzer make a nice squat shoe (http://www.inzernet.com/)with a heel if you prefer that style of squating, my training partner uses cat's and can get away with this type of squating. I like to use a flat footed shoe, Metal make a nice squat and deadlift shoe (www.go*metal*.com) that grips the floor and give you lots of stability. This type of shoe stops me from leaning over in the squat.

KNEE WRAPS

Knee wraps can add 20-30kg's to your squat, the best on the market are Titan, Inzer and Metal. I have recently used the Metal triple black line and they are good if they are wrapped extremely tight. I lately have been using them for my lighter set's, for my heavyer sets I find the Inzer red and black iron wraps are the strongest. They could also save your knee's from years of abuse.

POWER BELT

I think a good powerbelt keeps your body upright when squating improving your technique. You could add a few kg's to the squat just by using a belt. Dont forget to add a few set's without a belt to keep your lumbar muscles nice and strong. If you find it a pain in the but tightening your belt you could try a levere/buckle belt that you can adjust to fit your size. Its a lot easyer to use and it just clips shut.


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## chris jenkins (Aug 14, 2004)

Here is a pic of me squating 340kg out in Finland with cat boots on, they didnt help my balance. My legs are 2 wide and Im leaning over 2 much.


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## chris jenkins (Aug 14, 2004)

Here is Matt Kroczaleski with over 400kg with no knee wraps and a wide grip low bar placement.


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## chris jenkins (Aug 14, 2004)

Here's 82.5kg's lifter Justin Hurley squating an easy 300kg no knee wraps with a high bar placement.


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## Ellis (Mar 18, 2006)

nice pics, I can see what you mean about your squat, why did you squat in cat boots, they also have quite a big heel on aswell which woudn't help. You can see how your knees are bowing in alot when you start to lean forward, did you manage to make depth on that squat when leaning forward.

I like the pic of matt nice low bar placement, Ive tried different bar placements, I place my not as low as matts yet not a high as Justin. I think its just a personal thing, I know justin says he feels more comfortable with the bar placed high. Tho it also depends on squat technique, where matt squats with some forward lean and therefore more lower back justin squats very upright with little lower back and more leg involvement.


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## big pete (Mar 23, 2004)

ive moved from wide stance to shoulder width now, and i can honestly say ive improved. my quads are a stronger feature and then giving them more work seems beneficial.

my bar placement (now) is very similar to justins.


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## Ellis (Mar 18, 2006)

when going for a true max, would you not switch back to a wide stance just so you can utilise more muscle involvement from glutes, hips, hams. and reduce distance of squat?


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## big pete (Mar 23, 2004)

i get stuck at the bottom of the lift now!!

when im down to parallel, the bar couldnt possibly shift me any furthr down, but i find it difficult (now) to get drive from that lowest point!!

its silly, i progressed well when i switched to that format, but now ive moved narrower leg, its nigh on impossible to go back to it!

there seems to be a huge carryover between the narrower squat and front squatting


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## Ellis (Mar 18, 2006)

If i was to squat narrow I wouldn't be able to get down past parallel, the only way I can is wide stance and pushing the knees right out to the sides and let the weight push me down.

Any news on your entry the PL europeans?


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## big pete (Mar 23, 2004)

just waiting to hear back about arrangements for hat time period (i think my mrs has booked a holiday and not said anything)

i might just enter and hope i get the all clear, infact il mail Carter now!! lol

also, is there a new site for BPO, i cant access it any more from the WPF site?


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## chris jenkins (Aug 14, 2004)

Ellis said:


> nice pics, I can see what you mean about your squat, why did you squat in cat boots, they also have quite a big heel on aswell which woudn't help. You can see how your knees are bowing in alot when you start to lean forward, did you manage to make depth on that squat when leaning forward.
> 
> I like the pic of matt nice low bar placement, Ive tried different bar placements, I place my not as low as matts yet not a high as Justin. I think its just a personal thing, I know justin says he feels more comfortable with the bar placed high. Tho it also depends on squat technique, where matt squats with some forward lean and therefore more lower back justin squats very upright with little lower back and more leg involvement.


In the pic I had the Canvas suit straps real tight and it was a ****ing bitch to make depth. I had my wraps on for about ten mins before the lift and my legs went numb. I only had about 4 weeks training in the suit and the Levathian suit is a beast if you are not used to it. I sit right back in to my squat now, with the straps not so tight and my balance is better. As for the Cats, I noticed a load of Yanks using them when I went to Atlanta so I thought I would give it a try. I stick to my Metal boots with a flat sole now.


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## Ellis (Mar 18, 2006)

Good stuff, only 8 days to the closing date so will have to get entry in quickly.

You should be able to get to the BPO site, go onto www.wpfpowerlifting.com then go onto links and scroll down you should see BPO home page link that you can click on that.


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## big pete (Mar 23, 2004)

thats what i did before, but its been disabled.

carter mailed the correct addy now, so i had a butchers on that 

7 days and counting


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## Ellis (Mar 18, 2006)

good stuff, bodyweight is finally rising again 118 yesterday, wana hit the 120 at least by the comp.

Suits coming out of the closet next week.

Is carter sending you a entry form?


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## big pete (Mar 23, 2004)

got it on PDF through the email, so gonna print it off and send it that way.

had a couple of trail runs in the suit, but its gonna be religious as of next week too


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## Ellis (Mar 18, 2006)

guess Ill see you there then and we'll be competing against each other, prosuming your staying 125 class?


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## big pete (Mar 23, 2004)

yeah, bout 123k at the mo, but ive gotta tidy the diet up so i doubt il put any more weight on!

itll be good to go against you! what sort of total you aiming for? if i dont get ****ed up from the SM comp in 3 weeks, itll be...

350-370k squat

225k bench

330k dead


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## Ellis (Mar 18, 2006)

I never like to predict what I'm going to hit as I hate predicting with the poss of ****ing up and until I have a session or 2 with suits on Im not to sure.

If you hit those lifts you will have the edge over me but I asure you ill be pushing you and Mark Grithis all the way.

It'll make for an exciting day.


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## Mr fixit (Mar 9, 2007)

You should always give extra support to the knees with this weight, ongoing tension within the knees will pay back ten fold in years to come. I have had many people needing treatment and in some cases surgery to correct knee wear.


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## chris jenkins (Aug 14, 2004)

I have squated raw and squated heavy with equipment. Your knee's will take a pounding if you squat raw all the time with heavy weight. I like to think that the Inzer wraps are keeping me lifting longer.


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## paulo (Feb 17, 2007)

any of you guys had or know of any lumber back injuries and been able to make serious come back post injury??


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## MXD (Jan 23, 2008)

chris jenkins said:


> I have squated raw and squated heavy with equipment. Your knee's will take a pounding if you squat raw all the time with heavy weight. I like to think that the Inzer wraps are keeping me lifting longer.


I squat raw, I'm a 75k lifter I just did a 150 5*5 about 1" below //.

When I lift equipped (rapps) I find the add about 20k to my lift.


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## Benito (Jan 3, 2008)

Interesting stuff. Heard that before that knee wraps add some poundage to your squat but wasn't quite so sure about them as a training aid. I'm probably a little ignorant in -terms of powerlifting equipment. I've watched some of your lifts Chris and I must say they are very impressive. What weight class do you compete in?Also, liked your post on squat technique some very good pointers there. It can be lost at times that PLing is\n't just brute force. Also, will you generally train in a squat suit, raw, or a bit both.


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## Porky Pie (Aug 2, 2007)

paulo said:


> any of you guys had or know of any lumber back injuries and been able to make serious come back post injury??


Yes - I've had back surgery for slipped disks. Was in hospital in 99' and then had another bad flare up in 04' with the same injury. Mainly differed siatic pain in the glute and leg, no localised pain in the back itself.

I lost three years training out with these two injuries. I'm lifting and am reasonably competitive again (350kgs squat @110kgs).

Saying that, I think I've been a mixture of both lucky and stupid. The best advice I'd give from my experience is to be very conservative and take your time but also to be persistant and completely ignore medical advice.


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## paulo (Feb 17, 2007)

thanks for reply mate -i appreciate it


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## chris jenkins (Aug 14, 2004)

Benito said:


> Interesting stuff. Heard that before that knee wraps add some poundage to your squat but wasn't quite so sure about them as a training aid. I'm probably a little ignorant in -terms of powerlifting equipment. I've watched some of your lifts Chris and I must say they are very impressive. What weight class do you compete in?Also, liked your post on squat technique some very good pointers there. It can be lost at times that PLing is\n't just brute force. Also, will you generally train in a squat suit, raw, or a bit both.


Hi bro, well thank you very much..

I'm in the 90kg class at the moment but hoping to move up to 100kg... I feel that if you compete in a suit you should really do a lot of training in the kit. The groove you hit on the squat is different to that of a raw squat. I would say in defence though that its a good idea to get as strong as possible raw first then work in the equipment. I have done a lot of raw training over the last few month's. I bench to a pb or near my max raw then put my shirt on and keep working, closer to a show I will put my shirt on a lot sooner.


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## NICK_1 (Jan 27, 2009)

just found this post, been looking for squatting tips - great post - will take you advise next leg session - thanks for the tips Chris!


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