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Thread: Squat depth

  1. #1
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    Default Squat depth

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    I plan to go to an IPF meet in the future but struggle to judge depth objectively. My question is whether the squat below, which would be an opener, would pass the IPF depth standards. I am aware I need to buy shoes (still saving money for this) and my form is crappy (knees moving forward at the bottom, back angle etc), but my priority now is to hit depth. Still, any advice on fixing my shitty form is more than welcome. I had not expected that proper squat form would be that hard to achieve. For a dyspraxic like me, the motor skills required to coordinate hip, knee, and lower back movement seems to be lacking....

    Weakling tries to squat - YouTube

  2. #2
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    This is a legal squat.

  3. #3
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    Quote Originally Posted by pieza kake View Post
    I plan to go to an IPF meet in the future but struggle to judge depth objectively. My question is whether the squat below, which would be an opener, would pass the IPF depth standards. I am aware I need to buy shoes (still saving money for this) and my form is crappy (knees moving forward at the bottom, back angle etc), but my priority now is to hit depth. Still, any advice on fixing my shitty form is more than welcome. I had not expected that proper squat form would be that hard to achieve. For a dyspraxic like me, the motor skills required to coordinate hip, knee, and lower back movement seems to be lacking....

    Weakling tries to squat - YouTube
    Are you gonna lift in your socks at the meet?
    If not, then put on your lifting shoes.

  4. #4
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    Thanks for your feedback. According to the IPF, the top surface of the legs at the hip joint (i.e. the hip crease) needs to be below the top of the knee. Now in this image https://startingstrength.com/content...t-position.png I would have thought the hip crease is essentially the crease made by the pocket, which would render the squat borderline/illegal. Is there a reasoning for point B in the image being so low? Apart from that, powerlifters with experience in competing in IPF meets claim that generally one needs to squat 2-3 inches below parallel for a squat to be judged legal. Is that true in your experience?

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    Quote Originally Posted by pieza kake View Post
    Thanks for your feedback. According to the IPF, the top surface of the legs at the hip joint (i.e. the hip crease) needs to be below the top of the knee. Now in this image https://startingstrength.com/content...t-position.png I would have thought the hip crease is essentially the crease made by the pocket, which would render the squat borderline/illegal. Is there a reasoning for point B in the image being so low? Apart from that, powerlifters with experience in competing in IPF meets claim that generally one needs to squat 2-3 inches below parallel for a squat to be judged legal. Is that true in your experience?
    In the image you've shown, I don't believe the tip of the arrow in that image is at the hip crease. Mark (who knows more than I ever will) has already indicated that your squat is to legal depth. I haven't competed meaningfully in an eternity so my experience is of no value. We've all seen what we thought were good squats get red-lighted and squats that looked short get three white lights.

    Look at page 28 of the official USAPL rules. https://www.usapowerlifting.com/wp-c...ok-v2021.1.pdf Most people you talk to in a gym can't judge squat depth. They will call it a "parallel" squat if the bottom of your legs are parallel to the floor. That's at least two to three inches short. You will need to go past that.

    I suspect that if you squat in competition the same way you did in the video, though, your lifts will be accepted. For most of us mere mortals (and I'm on the list), there is a slight (and visible) disconnect of the lower back at parallel. The disconnect is greater if you pass through parallel. That's not true for more experienced lifters.

    My best prediction (as scary as this might be) is that your first squat will be accepted at that depth. However, if your second and third lifts are any shallower, they will get rejected.

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by EdTice View Post
    In the image you've shown, I don't believe the tip of the arrow in that image is at the hip crease. Mark (who knows more than I ever will) has already indicated that your squat is to legal depth. I haven't competed meaningfully in an eternity so my experience is of no value. We've all seen what we thought were good squats get red-lighted and squats that looked short get three white lights.

    Look at page 28 of the official USAPL rules. https://www.usapowerlifting.com/wp-c...ok-v2021.1.pdf Most people you talk to in a gym can't judge squat depth. They will call it a "parallel" squat if the bottom of your legs are parallel to the floor. That's at least two to three inches short. You will need to go past that.

    I suspect that if you squat in competition the same way you did in the video, though, your lifts will be accepted. For most of us mere mortals (and I'm on the list), there is a slight (and visible) disconnect of the lower back at parallel. The disconnect is greater if you pass through parallel. That's not true for more experienced lifters.

    My best prediction (as scary as this might be) is that your first squat will be accepted at that depth. However, if your second and third lifts are any shallower, they will get rejected.
    Thanks for your reply. I was aware of the image in the rulebook and have the feeling my squat is an inch or so shallow. Can you elaborate what you mean by 'disconnect of the lower back?' The bottleneck regarding my squat depth is the back angle. I recently switched to SS-style squat and my back seems to be too weak to squat the loads I used to lift with a more vertical but likely over-extended back. So I had to do a big deload, most likely worth it since the depth I could reach with a vertical back was even more questionable.

    I think that with the SS-style squat whenever the uppermost (i.e. anterior) part of my belt touches the thighs, I have hit depth, so that is a cue I could use.

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