Daily Maestroism
DM #66
Thursday, July 28th, 2016
DM #66: Unless you have the exact same body proportions, stop trying to make your squat look exactly like your swolemate's squat.
I've talked quite a bit about how the ankle, hip, and midline stability will play a role in the squat, but a huge thing that we must also consider is the torso:femur length ratio. The human body is made up of a bunch of levers, and thus movement can always be viewed in terms of physics and math.
When it comes to squatting, those folks with shorter torsos and/or longer femurs, will have a difficult time maintaining a super upright position when squatting, especially with a loaded back squat. Conversely, the person with a longer torso, or relatively shorter femurs, will have a much easier time creating that beautiful upright torso we all champion as the ideal (loaded) deep squat position.
The reasoning behind this is simple physics. When squatting, the weight must remain centered over your midfoot for balance and ideal positioning. As we squat, the distance from our midfoot to our butt must be counter-balanced by leaning forward to allow the base of the neck (where the barbell is resting) to remain over the midfoot. For the person with long femurs, this means they must lean forward more in order to cover that longer distance and counterbalance that weight. On the flip side, the person was shorter femurs is able to stay more upright as there is a shorter distance from their midfoot to their butt.
Very simple trigonometry and right triangles, really. So, feel free to use those SOHCAHTOA skills to to prove to yourself that your squat likely won't be identical to your friend's. Or you could just take my word for it ?
PS – I realize that this DM could really use a visual aide, so I'll see what I can do about getting one posted tomorrow.
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