Here is a situation for you to visualize. Many of us have probably been a part of this situation personally, and many more of us have heard hundreds of different variations of it from others. Imagine working out in a gym... any gym is possible but this is much more likely to happen in a commercial gym like Golds or 24-Hour Fitness. You are in the section of the gym where the squat racks are kept, and you are doing a squat workout. You have the bar loaded to a weight that is challenging for you... let’s say that you have 315 pounds on the bar, the good old three forty-fives and a spring collar on each side. Because you were fortunate enough to have the squat taught to you properly and you’ve got a reasonable amount of training experience, you’re using solid technique and knocking out some good deep reps. You finish your third set, put the bar back in the rack, and then you glance in the mirror and see him coming.



He has been watching you. He is wearing a tank top, leather weightlifting gloves, a gold necklace, Nike basketball shorts, an I-Pod in a velcro pouch on his bicep, and an Oakland Raiders baseball cap (backwards). You know what’s coming and you want to run, but you’re not done training and you pay fifty bucks a month to work out here, so you stand your ground. When he gets to you, he mutters a few basic pleasantries and probably asks you how much you can “hit up” in the squats (his kind have their own language). It does not matter how much you tell him your best one-rep max in the squat is... 400 pounds, 800 pounds, 2,000 pounds... he will either tell you a) he has done a bigger max than you before he “jacked up” his back or b) he knows a guy who can squat between 500-700 pounds more than you. You stand and listen politely as he continues to talk about squatting but you are praying that a terrorist missile will hit the building at any moment, anything to make this conversation end. Finally, he walks away and tightens up his weightlifting belt for his next set of dumbbell curls and you go back to your next set of squats.

If you have been on the receiving end of this conversation, you know how painful it is. If you have actually been the tank top/Raiders cap guy and delivered this conversation to somebody else, you should seek professional help immediately because you are directly contributing to the collapse of civilization.

So why is this situation so familiar to strength athletes? Why can we all relate to it? Because the squat is one of the most controversial, debated, and lied-about exercises in the world of strength training. Thousands, possibly millions, of articles and studies have been published about the squat and how it benefits the development of various types of athletes. Some people will tell you that the squat is the single best strength-building exercise that can be performed with a barbell. Other people will tell you that the squat will lead to horrible injuries. Weightlifters will tell you that powerlifting squats are phony and powerlifters will tell you that weightlifters are weak. And after all of the chalk settles, who has the magical book of truth that explains all the different aspects of the squat?

This article will not examine every facet of squatting. No single article could do that, unless it was longer than a Leo Tolstoy novel. But we should be able to cover some important territory that pertains to competitive lifters and serious strength athletes.

Technique and Style

It is common knowledge that, in most cases, powerlifters and Olympic weightlifters use markedly different techniques in the squat. Olympic lifters generally squat with foot placement that is very close (or identical) to their foot placement in the receiving position of the clean and snatch. They place the bar high on the shoulders, around the base of the neck, and try to descend into the squat by pushing the knees forward and keeping the torso upright. Many people refer to this as a “high bar squat” and it is generally believed that this type of movement utilizes the quadriceps to a high degree. Incidentally, many bodybuilders squat with this style in an attempt to “isolate” their quads. Basically, an Olympic lifter’s squat is designed to mimic and strengthen the positions that the body will utilize during the competition lifts. It is an assistance exercise that functions to improve the snatch and clean and jerk, and the squat technique of most lifters will look roughly the same.

Powerlifters, on the other hand, train the squat as one of their primary competition lifts and different styles will be quite noticeable. There are a variety of powerlifting squat techniques that are all intended to handle the biggest weights possible. Powerlifters will generally place the bar lower on their shoulders than Olympic lifters, sometimes tucking the bar into the “notch” where the deltoids connect with the trapezius muscles. They will usually descend into the squat by “sitting back,” where the bodyweight is shifted to the heels of the foot, the shins are kept perpendicular to the floor, and the torso is leaned forward. This technique is often called a “low-bar squat” and is designed to utilize more of the muscles of the posterior chain, such as the hamstrings, glutes, and spinal erectors. The basic idea here is that distributing the weight of the bar among a wider range of muscle groups will allow the athlete to achieve heavier maxes. Foot placement will vary greatly from lifter to lifter. Some powerlifters, such as the great Steve Goggins and many top Europeans, use a narrow stance with their feet right around shoulder-width. But many others use a wide stance, as with the lifters of Louie Simmons’ Westside Barbell club. An athlete’s body proportions, flexibility, and personal comfort will determine which style is most effective. There is no one single correct method.

Depth is obviously a massive factor in the discussion between Olympic and powerlifting squats. Powerlifters only need to squat low enough to satisfy their competition judging requirements and, interestingly, different federations have different standards of legal depth. Generally speaking, powerlifters have to squat to a position where the thigh is roughly parallel to the floor. Squatting to this depth will only develop the flexibility of the muscles and connective tissue within the range of the movement. This is exactly why so many powerlifters have flexibility problems when they attempt to convert over to full-depth squats. Olympic lifters, however, have to utilize the squat in the same range of motion as the snatch and clean. In other words, full squat depth has to be achieved. Yet here is where it must be acknowledged that some Olympic lifters, in an effort to squat with the biggest weights possible, do not reach maximum depth when they squat—they “squat high.” When this happens, there are possible performance problems that can surface. The athlete who squats high can still achieve improved lower body strength, but the transfer of that strength into the competition lifts will not be optimal. The athlete will be able to handle heavier weights in the squat because of the reduced depth and the resulting leg strength will benefit the snatch and clean and jerk, but that benefit will not be as great as the athlete who squats using full depth. I have spoken with several athletes throughout my career who have disproportionate gaps between their squat strength and their clean and jerk results. For example, I knew an athlete years ago who told me that his squats had been going well in training and that he had recently back squatted 250 kilos for six reps. But in the competition, he clean and jerked 170 kilos. This type of disparity obviously brings into question how correctly he was squatting. Also, high squatting for an Olympic lifter can increase the risk of injury because the connective tissue of the lower body will not be developed to the same degree to which it will be stressed during a maximum clean or snatch.

So who is stronger... Olympic lifters or powerlifters?

This question is the dead horse of all dead horses. I have read internet squatting arguments between powerlifters and Olympic lifters where the hostility was so intense that the argument ended with somebody mentioning that he had a concealed weapons permit and would be willing to shoot anybody who disagreed with him. All of this bickering could be solved by simply acknowledging that there are too many variables and differences between the two sports to accurately compare them. Some of the world records being established in powerlifting are phenomenal. Several superheavyweight lifters, such as Andy Bolton and Brent Mikesell, have officially squatted over 1,100 pounds. Women have officially squatted over 700 pounds. Athletes in the 165 and 181 pound bodyweight classes have officially squatted between 870 and 900 pounds and these numbers have been skyrocketing over the old records of fifteen years ago.

Admittedly, there are some important factors to consider in this discussion, including completely unchecked drug use in many federations, depth judging that is lax almost to the point of non-existence, and supportive equipment such as quadruple-ply canvas slingshot squat suits that can add 300 pounds to a lifter’s one-rep max. Meanwhile, Olympic lifters continue to do their squats wearing cotton gym shorts and a pair of shoes, squatting to full depth at the end of a difficult workout with no spotters or assistance. And even using this approach, some of the world’s top Olympic lifters have been able to reach incredible squat weights. Soviet World Superheavyweight Champions Alexander Kurlovich and Leonid Taranenko had back squats of 350 kilos (771 pounds) and 380 kilos (837 pounds), respectively. Turkey’s Dursun Sevinc, a lifter in the 85 kilo (187 pound) bodyweight class, could front squat 285 kilos (628 pounds). Therefore, could these top Olympic lifters beat the world’s top powerlifters if they squatted the way powerlifters do? Or could the world’s top powerlifters beat the top Olympic lifters if they took off their equipment and squatted to full depth? There are no definitive answers to these questions and this article will not delve into a guessing game that is the equivalent of “Da Bears” fans on Saturday Night Live trying to decide who would win a golf match between Mike Ditka and God.

Here is some ever-faithful personal experience to use as food for thought. I have trained the squat as both an Olympic lifter and a powerlifter. From 2001-2002, I was dabbling back and forth between the two sports and here are some findings. My best Olympic-style squat during this time was 255 kilos/562 pounds (high-bar, full depth, no supportive equipment). Within a few months of this squat, I converted to a pseudo-powerlifting squat. I moved the bar further down on my shoulders and squatted using more of a “sitting back” position with perpendicular shins and forward torso lean. My foot placement stayed exactly the same as my Olympic squat and I continued to squat to full depth. I practiced the squat this way for approximately eight weeks and bought some supportive powerlifting equipment during that time as well. When I decided to try one-rep maxes (1RM), my results were as follows: 1RM squat with a belt only—275 kilos (606 pounds), 1RM squat with belt and knee wraps—300 kilos (661 pounds), 1RM squat with belt, knee wraps, and Inzer squat suit—324.5 kilos (714 pounds). The squat suit I used was loose; I was able to put it on myself in three minutes and I wore the straps down. Therefore, from slightly changing my technique and adding just the bare minimum powerlifting equipment, I was able to improve my squat from 562 pounds to 714 pounds in a short period of time (152 pounds). Many world-class powerlifters have told me that 152 pounds is merely a fraction of how much supportive equipment can add if you really maximize it. I would not hesitate to guess that if I would have bought one of the mega-powered squat suits and squatted to higher depth, the 1RM would have jumped considerably.

General Strength Training and Injuries

Many athletes across the world use some form of squatting to improve their athletic performance. Football, volleyball, track and field, basketball, and various other sports teams incorporate squats into their training programs because of the obvious benefits of lower body strength, core strength, jumping ability, speed, bone density, etc. Not every sport trains the squat with the same intensity as Olympic Weightlifting, nor do they need to. But despite the demands of the sport or the degree to which the squat will be used, proper technique and weight selection is of the utmost importance because these are the keys to injury prevention.

It is possible to get injured while squatting. It is also possible to get injured while jogging, swimming, cycling, playing football, playing basketball, playing soccer, golfing, cheerleading, or typing. During any form of physical activity, the body can sustain some damage. One of the comical aspects of American sports culture is that there are certain sports which are viewed as significantly more dangerous than others, but that view is usually backwards. Almost every parent I have ever introduced to Olympic Weightlifting has an immediate cringing reaction followed by something that sounds like, “Jeez, that looks so dangerous.” They see Olympic Weightlifting as being a bone-popping, ligament-snapping slaughterhouse where their children will be crippled for life. But they have no hesitation about letting their kids join football teams. Then, when fifteen year-old little Johnny blows out his ACL in football practice, everyone just shrugs and says, “It’s part of the game.” I coach football for a living and I have seen more injuries in two seasons of football than I have seen in twenty years of weightlifting.

Vigorous physical activity carries the potential for danger. That is simply something that must be understood. Tiger Woods had to limp through the US Open last year on a knee that had been injured from golf! Marathon runners battle hip bursitis and plica syndrome. Gymnasts slip on the uneven bars and crash face first into the ground. On and on it goes. But for a variety of reasons, deep squatting movements are still thought by many people to be excessively dangerous. The truth, which is verified through years and years of experience from thousands of weightlifters, is that injuries from deep squatting movements are extraordinarily rare if the athlete uses the proper combination of stretching, solid technique, sensible weight selection, warming up, and post-workout recovery. The health and performance benefits far outweigh the risks. If you don’t want to risk getting hurt, it might be wise to select a pastime that involves less squatting. Drag racing might be a more suitable choice, where you are only one gas leak away from a fiery car explosion that will send you into a brick wall at two hundred miles per hour.

Back to the guy with the Raiders cap...

The squat is practically worshiped by many strength enthusiasts. Dale Clark’s famous poem “The Squat” is plastered on the walls of gyms all across the country, concluding with the immortal line “...the trouble with you is you ain’t been SQUATTIN!” Pages of cartoons have been drawn that ridicule the typical flamingo-workout physique, where the guy struts across the gym with his massive pecs and biceps and legs that look like a pair of plyers with shorts on. Some people love the squat, but some people fear it. For the last few years, a photograph has been circulating around the global e-mail network of a powerlifter that supposedly blew his internal organs out through his anus by pushing too hard on a squat. The picture is a phony that was doctored to look that way, but the terror is still out there. It has always been my opinion that the fear associated with the squat is caused by the simple fact that squatting is hard work. Most people don’t want to do things that require massive levels of strain and exertion. It is much easier to simply dismiss it as dangerous, and the exaggerations of the danger can be amazingly bizarre. When I was working out in high school, a coach once told me about an athlete who had attempted a squat that was too heavy for him and it caused his patella to burst out of his skin and fly across the room like it had been shot out of a cannon. These are Boogeyman stories, but the guy with the Raiders cap believes every word of them. This is why it is important for weightlifters and serious strength athletes to develop a thick skin about it and, if possible, find a place to train where everyone understands that mastering the squat is the law of the land.