Hi Mike and others, I bombed out at the recent Brits bpc anyway couldnt get depth in a 2 ply boss suit plus single ply briefs always about 1 inch off depth,
In single ply centurion last year at the UK OPEN, I did 250kg and 260kg easy in comp, heres the videos and they were deep as you can see.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYNjqLoc3oU
Ive now changed over to titan 2 ply boss suit plus single ply briefs now, I bombed out at the brits 4 days ago, opening on 260kg, then going to 275kg, which I thought would be comfy weights to be honest,
My stance on this day is what I consider super wide. heres a vid of my squat 2 days ago in the gym, I went crazy and squatted
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=baq44JxWz-M
Anyways Ive never ben comfortable with a wide squat stance, I never squat wide raw, in fact how I lifted in my centurion is how I squat raw and during the lead up last year in wearing the centurion I took my stance in because I struggled to hit depth in training, when I take stance out wide, I feel my groin is going to break and it hurts sometimes but I think maybe this is how it should be????
Anyways should I bring my stance closer to this 2 ply suit, just a bit wider than the centurion stance, I find I hit depth better with a closer stance, Im not use to wide squatting.
I will answer since I am one of the few multiply lifters on this board.
Stance depends on the suit, personal preference, and squatting style. I train in both a Metal Pro and Metal Ace, and have no problems getting to depth, both are very tight, I can still hit depth with 85-90%.
With the Pro, I use a "narrow" stance (at least for multiply) with my feet a bit outside shoulder width. I descend rather quickly, just like you, because that is the easiest way to get to depth.
With the Ace, however, my stance is as wide as I can get it while still maintaining balance. The descent in this suit is pretty slow, the suit locks about 1-2 inches above parallel, so you REALLY have to force your knees out and sit back with the weight. If you are patient enough (and you don't pass out!) you will eventually hit depth. I think this is your problem from watching the vid, just sit back and let the weight sink down.
I have not used the Boss (but I want to!) so I cannot say whether it is more like the pro or ace, but hopefully I have helped in some way. As reference, my raw squat is pretty narrow, roughly shoulder width.
I've noticed we (as a forum) are having some squat depth issues, so I was planning on writing an article on what I learned to help me solve mine. But who knows how long that will take me....
In the meantime, here's my opinion (granted I've never done multiply). The more gear you have, the more aggressive you have to be. Descent has to be quick (as quick as possible), but in control. Make sure you are locked in and your knees are turned out before you even start the descent. Then, if you have to, be patient in the bottom. If all else fails, reduce the help offered by the gear (loosen straps, looser suit, drop briefs, etc). Pushing the knees out and descent speed seem to be the biggest factors in hitting depth.
Sorry about the bad luck, man. But don't worry -- you'll get your chance.
Anyways I still got the chance to do the world champs in november because I am a junior, even though I bombed the head of the BPC will look past that, so its back to training,
thanks for advice, yeah without briefs I can hit depth lot easier, I was just looking for an extra 10 or 20kg I could get from adding the briefs, I have the videos of my squats from brits, and the opener looks deep! duno how I failed, in fact my form looks descent, if I was off depth it was hardly by much at all, Il put vids up on here when I can
I've been squatting W-I-D-E since 1979. I believe Ricky Dale Crain was probably one of the few other wide stance squatters at that time. Your wide stance would be a medium stance for me, or at least back in my heavy squatting days, before I completely tore the lower quad off the bone in 2003 (that's what happens when your rear spotter runs instead of grabbing you!). Anyway, nostalgia aside, I'm going to email you an article on squatting, with an emphasis on the wide stance that was published in PL USA back in 1999. Overlook the improper sentence breaks. Something was obviously lost in the "copy and paste" when sent to PL USA.
Two things that will be of greatest application for your style. One, your opener should be your last warm-up and in a looser-fitting suit. Get on the board; it takes the pressure off. Second, with the wide stance, because of the hip lock at the bottom, it is typicallly necessary to force "dip" at the bottom to hit your depth. The force-dip accomplishes two things; 1) it enables you to break parallel 2) It provides for greater acceleration out of the bottom due to the rebound.
Watching your training video, there did not appear to be any strain on hitting depth; you appeared to just cut it short.
As far as the groin strain, it takes awhile to get used to the wide stance. Always thoroughly pre-stretch the groin prior to squatting and if you ever have a groin pull, do NOT squat wide! A groin pull is what led to my demise. I had a slight groin pull on the left side and was unconsciously allowing my left knee to toe in to reduce the pain. That did not present a problem until my second attempt at 700 in 2003. Allowing the left knee to toe in caused an interior dislocation of the knee at the bottom position and when the rear spotter failed to grab me, I went straight down with the weight on me, causing the quad separation on the left leg and additional damage to the right knee. I still squat today but only something I can do for 5-6 reps in the Smith Machine in a loose suit, which is right at 500.
