BFS PROGRAM Photo by Carole Bettenhausen BFS Vice President John Rowbotham teaches perfect squatting and spotting technique at a recent clinic he gave at Sickles High School in Tampa, Florida. A Closer Look at the PARALLEL SQUAT Answering the critics, once again, about this essential BFS core exercise hen BFS started 32 years he published the results of a study in ries. And even though Klein in his later ago, one of the most 1961 that concluded that full squats writings said he was not opposed to par- Wcontroversial aspects of could adversely affect knee stability. In allel squats, the damage had been done. our program was our promotion of the the years that followed it was shown In the years that followed, weight- squat. We stood by it then as one of the that there were flaws in the study, and lifters, powerlifters and sport scientists best exercises for athletes, and we stand the results could not be reproduced. were eventually able to convince the by it now. Further, other studies showed exactly medical community and lay public Much of the controversy origi- opposite results, namely, that weight- that the squats were not harmful to the nated from the belief that squats were lifters and powerlifters tended to possess knees. Now the most appropriate motto harmful to the knees, an idea that was tighter knee joints than control groups about the importance of the squat introduced by Dr. Karl K. Klein when and were less susceptible to knee inju- exercise for athletes says to the effect, 36 | BIGGER FASTER STRONGER MARCH/APRIL 2008 36-38_squats.indd 36 2/6/08 8:54:04 PM “If you don’t have the squat in your the shortest distance possible, whereas program, you don’t have a program!” at BFS we are trying to lift in such a However, the question still remained manner as to have the best carryover to about just how low an athlete should athletics. squat: to parallel? below parallel? And Since Olympic weightlifters squat how do you determine parallel? all the way down, and in competition actually bounce out of the bottom posi- How Low Should You Go? tion, why doesn’t BFS recommend this The guiding principle in squat- style? After all, knee injuries to com- ting is that it’s necessary to squat so petitive weightlifters are rare, especially that the top of the upper thighs are at compared to other sports. What is least horizontal to the floor so that the wrong with going all the way down? hamstrings are strongly activated. The First, if an athlete has a qualified hamstrings (rear thigh muscles) are a Olympic lifting coach to work with key muscle in sprinting. If you don’t them on this squatting method and squat low enough, you only activate the coach believes this form of squat- the quadriceps (front thigh muscles). ting is superior, fine. But the reality is Further, if an athlete does not squat that a coach in high school may have low enough, then they will not improve 50 kids to work with at the same time, knee stability; and many even decrease Karl K. Klein was responsible for but there are relatively few qualified much of the controversy surrounding knee stability by creating muscle the squat. Details about his controver- Olympic lifting coaches in this country imbalances. sial 1961 research study on the squat and it is difficult for any strength coach At BFS, we offer a simple test to can be found in The Knee in Sports, to give the one-on-one attention this published in 1969, which he coau- help athletes and coaches determine the thored with Fred L. Allman, Jr. type of squatting deserves. Further, it’s proper depth. It’s called the marble test. not so much that squatting deep injures If an athlete were to place an imaginary Certainly not. All we are saying is that the knees but that it places the lower marble on the middle of the top of the an athlete must squat to at least paral- back at a higher risk of injury. thighs during their deepest squat posi- lel to effectively work the hamstrings. Unless an athlete has exceptional tion, which way would the marble roll if As for the sport of powerlifting, the flexibility and proper supervision, what it were real? If the marble rolls towards extraordinarily high poundages lifted often happens when an athlete squats the knees, the athlete is not squatting by many of today’s powerlifters suggest all the way down is that their lower low enough. If the marble would stay that there has been considerable leni- back will round. Rounding places ...squatting all the way down doesn’t work the quads and hamstrings throughout the full range of motion. stationary or roll towards the lifter’s ency among some organizations as to high, unnatural stresses on the lower hips, the depth is fine. What you’ll what parallel is, along with the support- vertebrae of the back (L3, L4 and L5). find by using this standard is that the ive gear that can often add hundreds of Further, this stress is compounded by bottom of the thighs has to be below pounds to a powerlifter’s best result in the fact that the compression forces on parallel at the bottom of the squat. The this exercise. Further, the hyper-wide the spine have been estimated to be six marble test is better than judging the stance used by many powerlifters is not times greater at the bottom of a full position of the bottom of the thigh, the athletic stance that BFS believes squat than at the top (so that an athlete as athletes with large legs would be would have the best carryover to athlet- squatting 200 pounds would have required to squat considerably lower. ics. Another way to think about this 1,200 pounds of compression forces at Does BFS have any problem with is to say that powerlifters are trying to the bottom). Again, if an athlete has an athlete squatting lower than parallel? lift the heaviest weight possible over exceptional flexibility and one-on-one www.biggerfasterstronger.com 1-800-628-9737 | 37 36-38_squats.indd 37 2/5/08 8:31:07 PM BFS PROGRAM coaching from a qualified Olympic lift- ing coach, it would be better to go with a parallel squat, or slightly below. Finally, there is the argument that Bruce Klemens photo squatting all the way down doesn’t If you use the bot- work the quads and hamstrings tom of the thighs to throughout the full range of motion. judge parallel, lifters with large legs such That’s true, but that’s why BFS has as Germany’s Gerd made glute-ham raises and lunges Bonk would have to high-priority auxiliary exercises. Both squat lower. In this photo, Bonk had of these exercises put minimal stresses squatted this weight on the lower back while working the three times (518 pounds), and then on quads, especially the inner thigh muscle his last rep tossed the called the vastus medialis (which crosses weight overhead and the knee joint and is therefore key to dropped it in front of his body. Wow! maintaining knee stability) and all four heads of the hamstrings. records. The instructional video that is knurling, to more properly secure the Safety Precautions now available on our website will dem- weight on the shoulders, and a stiffer In addition to proper technique, onstrate proper spotting technique. barbell. The more flexible (and more there is the issue of safety in performing Finally, proper equipment should expensive) Olympic bars are great for the lift. Because relatively heavy weights be used. It’s best to squat inside a power power cleans, but that same flexibility can be used in the squat, it’s essential rack, with safety pins adjusted to the makes it difficult to control the barbell that proper spotting be used. Although proper height. However, the safety pins during a squat. it’s possible to squat safely with one should be thought of as more “death As we have done for the past 32 spotter (standing behind the lifter), we control,” that is, a last-resort method years, BFS stands behind the paral- prefer that three spotters be used (two of ensuring the safety of the athlete, lel squat as one of the most effective at the side and one behind). In addition as dropping any barbell on these pins core exercises for improving athletic to spotting, the side spotters can judge from more than a few inches can easily performance. spotting depth and technique and can damage the barbell. Also, it’s better to Again, it’s difficult to show proper encourage the athlete to break personal use Olympic barbells that have center squatting and spotting technique in one short article or with a few photos; therefore we’ve posted a video clip of squatting technique (from our exercise instruction DVD) on our website. It will remain there until the publication of our May/June 2008 issue. Also, as detailed as this video is, nothing beats having a BFS clinic to ensure that athletes are performing the lift correctly and coaches know how to demonstrate and teach perfect technique. Because it’s diffi cult to understand correct form in the parallel squat from just a few photos, we have downloaded the complete parallel squat portion of our exercise DVD onto our website using the Maxcast format as shown. It will remain there until the pub- lication of our May/June 2008 issue.