Everyone likes to set a new personal record (PR),
but doing so at the expense of a movement’s integrity runs counter to the end
goal. Take the squat, for example. I often see athletes stopping well short of
bottom, or in far too many cases, parallel, just to set a “new” PR. I suspect they do this for any number of
reasons, all of them negative: they were never taught proper squat mechanics, they
lack the necessary hip mobility to reach bottom, they do not respect movement
standards, and/or they seek to satisfy their inner desire to “be stronger than
ever before.”
In the sport of weightlifting, shallow squatting
will most likely limit your total, as I rarely see these athletes cleaning max
weights. They either restrict themselves
to power cleaning, or they try to catch all their cleans right at, or just
above parallel (not surprisingly, the point where they cut their squats
short). In addition to this drawback, a
shallow squatter will never develop the hip, torso, and posterior chain
strength and flexibility of their “bottom”
squatting peers. Personally, I don’t
know how anyone can cut a squat short and stand up, for if I fail to “catch the
bounce” I will get pinned.
In short, if you choose to occupy a squat rack, occupy
it with pride and execute proper squats.
Furthermore, resist the urge to judge your training progress solely on
the weight on the bar.
right on!
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