My lanky self and lack of quad strengh

[PrimalFish]

Hi Mark,

I'm 6,6, 235 pounds with very long legs and a short upper body. Over the past year, I've managed to work up my Low-Bar Squat/Good-Morning to a 1 rep max of 300. My posterior chain has gotten much stronger. My quads feel weak in comparison off balance as I want to be strong "shooting straight up" out of the hole as well. So I tried front squatting the other day and maxed out at 160 which seems very disproportionate. In the book you say a person with long legs and short torso is not built to front squat and I agree because I do find myself arched forward at the bottom and my hips still shooting up first. In fact, I look at the bottom of the front squat how most guys look at the bottom of the Low Bar Squat. Even if I manage to get a little deeper I feel like the Front Squat is going to work my glutes more because of my build. So since Front squats don't seem to be right for me, how can I effectively balance my leg strength? Maybe I should be high bar squatting with a wide stance? I sucks because I tried this for the first time yesterday and my knees are killing me now. I think I used very good form and when I reached parallel it looked more like a position most guys would hit low bar squatting, so maybe this is the squat I should be using and working on getting better at? Or do you think I should keep low bar squat and start using the leg press?

Thanks you.

[Mark Rippetoe]

What empirical data suggest that your leg strength is "imbalanced"?

[PrimalFish]

My front squat to back squat ratio, which would be even lower if I didn't shoot my hips out and almost lose the bar. My quads feel weak when I walk up the stairs and my ass shoots out so I can use "hip drive" to go up them. My knees hurt sometimes and I feel like the muscle around my kneecap is not as strong as it should be. Mostly, I just feel like my anterior chain is not strong and I want it to feel. I have watched most of the videos of you and others you're teaching squatting online (and I have the DVD) and I say to myself "now that's a nice balanced squat, look at them working all that muscle mass" but then when I squat I feel like I am not getting the same benefits because of my anthropometry. I do much more good morning/low back work and much less quad work then anyone I have ever seen do the squat, even though I have much more quad then they do. I've got all this quad Mark, and I need these things to realize their potential. If I High Bar Squat with a wide stance, I kind of feel like I'm just leveling out the playing field and turning myself into a "normal" built person. Or should I be doing another exercise too? I do feel like I'm whining like a bitch here. Wahhh Waahhh my poor little quads don't work right going up the stairs, give me permission to do a leg press....but whatever, it's how I feel deep in my heart.

[Mark Rippetoe]

Your FS/S ratio has nothing to do with your quad strength, and everything to do with your anthropometry, as you have already observed.

[PrimalFish]

I just looked at the book again (3rd edition SS) and I think I may have gotten confused with the difference between high-bar and olympic squats ( I though they were the same thing). I don't want to do an olympic squat, as I see them online, where you drop straight down and shorten the hamstrings so they are not used as effectively (this looks like a front squat to me). What I'm talking about is moving the bar a up to my traps and widening my stance so I still hit a position at the bottom that is parallel and the hamstrings are fully stretched and my pelvis given to my low back and not my hamstrings. Based on my proportions putting the bar an inch or so higher on my back seems to just make my upper body a little longer, the same as spreading my leg wider, so I can more effectively do a squat where I'm working as much muscle mass as possible and still effectively use hip drive. Would you agree with this?

[partyb]

...or you're too skinny and need a sandwich.

[Frayedknot]

Stop making excuses about why you can't do the program and why you can't get strong. Learn to squat correctly and fucking squat.

[PrimalFish]

In other words, it seems to me like the Low Bar Squat has less to do with the actual low bar position and allot more to do with all the other aspects that make this squat unique that you teach in the book. Shouldn't the actual position of the bar be based on a person's build, similar to a person's exact stance? Some people may need a wider stance and some may need a higher bar position?

[Mark Rippetoe]

Try it and see.

[PrimalFish]

I will do this and report back. Im thinking either 1-the bar will roll on to my neck, 2-I wont be able to keep my pelvic tilt in line with my lumbar, or 3-it will work out perfectly.