How Deep Is Your Squat?

If you know anything about fitness, strength or health you know that the squat is the king of the exercises. Not only does it involve every part of your lower body plus your lower back, sides and tummy; it also creates wonderful hormonal changes that lead to burning body fat and increasing muscle mass, bone strength and good connective tissues. Along with that, squatting hard and heavy strengthens your immune system and your lymphatic system, slows the aging process and has direct links to preventing heart disease, diabetes ad various forms of cancer. It also has a strong carryover to pretty much any other type of physical activity, athletic or not. And more. So, I'm not here to try to sell you on the value of hard and heavy squatting, you already know how great of an exercise it is. I'm here instead to ask you how deep is your squat?

When you look at squatting as a whole, the deeper that you go down, the better off your results will be. How deep should you go? Let's take a look at Olympic Great Anatoly Pisarenko and see:

Now, that is pretty much squatting perfection. High bar, feet close, back straight and ass to the ground. Even if you're not an Olympic lifter and prefer to go more powerlifting style, you still have to admire this one.

Now, go out and make your squats just as good, or even better.

I'll talk with you more later

Yours in strength and health,
Brett Stepan