2 EASY TIPS To Improve Your Squat Depth NOW!

What’s going on Nation! Today I thought I would share with you two things that you can do to help improve your squat depth!

Improving your squat depth is important for a few different reasons:

1. The lower you are able to go, the more GLUTES & HAMSTRINGS you are going to recruit. Going just past 90 degrees is fine if you are powerlifting, but when it comes to bodybuilding, missing out on extra work you could be doing, usually results in less muscle development in the long run.
2. The more squat depth you have, the more you stretch your quads and take advantage of the “stretch reflex” at the bottom in order to build bigger and more powerful quads.

The problem with most people is that they cannot go low enough and hold their chest up at the same time because they are too tight around the hips. This tightness will actually make you weaker on the squat because instead of keeping your body directly underneath the barbell and pushing the weight up with your legs, you start to bend forward (see image below) and this is actually where the lower back pain comes from.

The squat is supposed to be one fluid motion from top to bottom and your torso should ideally stay as upright as possible without going into too much of a lower back bend. If hip tightness is preventing you from properly getting deep, here are the two stretches you need to start doing!

Squat Position Hip Stretch (3 Sets: 15 – 20 Second Hold)

There are a couple of ways to perform this stretch but the second way requires that you have some sort of pole available to hold on to.

The first way, is simply getting into the proper foot stance you would have when you squat, get down as low as you can, put your hands together and start pushing your knees out for 10 to 20 seconds max. You are going to feel a really deep stretch in your adductors and groin area which is exactly what you want to get from this exercise.

The second way to do this stretch, and actually the way I prefer doing it, is utilizing a pole to teach yourself to keep your torso upright. Get in the same position as before with the pole right between your legs, go as low as you can and start spreading your legs by pushing with your elbows. Because you are holding on to the pole, you won’t lose your balance and fall backwards, so this is a great way to work on proper squat depth while staying upright.

Pause Squat Static Stretch (3 Sets: 10 – 15 Second Hold)

To perform this stretch, you are going to need a barbell loaded with relatively light weight. When I try this stretch I usually go with a 45lbs plate on each side and it’s more than enough for me.

So un-rack the barbell, get into the proper foot stance for your own build, go as low as you can and then just hang there for 10-15 seconds. Hopefully, you’ll have enough strength to lift the weight back, but if you don’t, be sure to use a squat rack with the pins set on the proper height in order to catch the bar when you’re done with the stretch. Repeat for 3 - 4 sets in total.

I can guarantee that as soon as you incorporate these two stretches in your squat warm-up routine, you’ll immediately start to notice a huge difference and this is really going to help you take your squats to your next level, get more glute and hamstring activation, which obviously means more gains and less chance of injury!

I hope you learned something from this article and I hope you enjoy tips like these and if you do, be sure to leave a comment down in the comment section below and share the video with your friends! Until next time!