Listen. There’s something you need to think about before you step up to the squat rack (and no it’s not whether or not you’re going to do curls). Are you about to squat because you want to increase your max back squat? Or are you squatting because you want to be a better olympic lifter. For most CrossFitters it always ends up coming back to the olympic lifts. If this is you then there are two things you need to do every time you squat heavy (as opposed to squatting as part of a metcon):
- Rack the bar high on your shoulders (as opposed to the low bar back squat used by power lifters). This will keep your body in a much more upright position, similar to the position found when cleaning or snatching.
- Drop low at the bottom of the squat. Not hip-crease-below-knee low (the standard range of motion for most CrossFit Games events). Low like butt to deck low. If you want to clean or snatch a heavy weight do you think you’ll be able to catch it without dropping well below parallel? You best prepare yourself to be able to drive that thing way up out of the hole.
So to summarize: High bar, low butt.
Pair this article with our post: Squat Technique – Number One Mistake And Correction
Looking for more even more info?
Fletcher Pierce has a great article at Lift Big Eat Big has a great piece entitled Which Method Of Squatting Should You Use. He compares the needs of powerlifters, stongman competitors, and CrossFitters.
Diane Fu puts together a nice post on her tumblr with her take on the topic: A Common Observation Of New Weightlifters
