This video has been so incredibly helpful in helping me to understand why I can't squat the "proper way." I have long femurs and a short torso, and if I don't take a wider stance or elevate my heels, my chest falls forward or I fall backwards. Coaches and trainers have generally tried to correct my form in ways that are physically impossible for me. Since finding this video, I've shared it many times. I wish all trainers had this information. Thank you so much for sharing!
That sounds like me. Actually trying to not get above the toes has hurt my already beat up knee way more. Also got those spider legs and a short torso. Keep it up man!
Your trainers were retards. But this is very common. They simply get people through standartized training and expect the "good ones" thrive. Screw the outliers for whom is such training totally stupid. Then you have the survivor bias of only people who do well on such training staying in fitness industry and being succesful, so it perpetuates. Most trainers are EXTREMELY ignorant.
A quick video done by Tom Purvis of the Resistance Training Specialist Program (RTS). Tom discusses Squats and the mechanical realities of proportions/mechanics and fold-ability.
The use of this model is simple but brilliant, kind of an eye opener to see a reasonable scenario wherin it would be impossible to safely squat to competition standards.
What it makes you realise is weightlifting competitions are kind of pointless when we all have all different body types. Makes you wonder why they class it by body weight. A tall person is handling a lot more load than a short person with good proportions. Same with bench, I'm 6ft 4, and my arms are nearly twice as long as some people. I'm moving that weight not only twice as far, but the load on the chest is actually double too...for the same weight on the bar.
@@dlg78 You can say this about just about any physical sport lol. For instance swimming. Ever seen that video where they go over Michael Phelp's arm length and how big his hands/feet are? The guy was born to be one of the G.O.A.T's
This is a very cool model. One thing to add is that raising your heels with weightlifting shoes doesn't just give you move dorsiflexsion, it also effectively increases the length of the tibia, and this model shows how much that helps.
I will publish a book on weight training and biomechanics this month. Let me say that this is one of the best introductions I have seen on video so far. I have tried to combat the argument that "you always need to be upright" and "knees should never be forward" for years now, but your simple device demonstrates everything in such a short amount of time, I am more than impressed.
@@sleepingtube Yes, it did. Rip did however have a more or less narrow view on the squat mechanics, some of the stuff he said was just not that useful for anyone outside of powerlifting. For example, the hand position does not work for a lot of people with problematic shoulders. The head position he has used works for the low bar squat, but the low bar squat is not necessary for every single lifter. In fact, I only use it for powerlifters and tend to work with a bar position that is individual for the lifter. Most of my lifters use a slightly higher hybrid or high bar approach to the squat and are using high weights (600+ lbs) just fine. Starting Strength was one great book and it showed me the ropes, but it was dogmatic in its position on the squat and how to do it.
@@FrankTaeger2021true that. There is no one less dogmatic than RTS/Tom Purvis in terms of biomechanics. Looking forward to attending his mastery course next summer in Oklahoma. 😎 You should join too💪
All the squat videos and tutorials i've ever seen can be summed up right here. That's the thing about bar back squat, some people have the proportions to build great legs without compromising their lower backs and some are just going to use all lower back and glutes. It's all about the biomechanics and you can't over come it. Well done man.
Thank you so much for this video! I'm a new lifter and I felt like shit because I have to lean forward on my squats to keep from feeling like I'm falling over backward! I thought I just sucked at squats and got pretty discouraged. This made me feel a lot better about my natural abilities. thank you.
You are really doing the Lord's work with this video. Thank you so much. I have been lifting weights for 20+ years and I always get people telling me about how bad my squat form looks. I always try to explain how my proportions and where my center of gravity as I describe it needs to be to not fall over make it difficult to isolate the quads from the back but for now I will just direct them to this video.
Thanks for the awesome presentation. Folks in the yoga space need to see this as well. There are gross misunderstandings of proportion as it relates to the shapes of poses.
PersonalTrainingdotcom No kidding! I saw some of Tom's videos in 2000 when I first got into personal training. My mentor started years before that! Thanks for sharing this. The exercise world needs MORE information like this.
well it took a long time before agreeing to join this cess-pool called the internet... so many people were stealing and attempting to re-package our material. and doing it wrong anyway! had to happen
PersonalTrainingdotcom It sounds hardcore but you really just have to ignore that. There is no way of really doing anything against it in the end. And it is more important
I've always had the problem of leaning too far forward and could never figure out why, this is probably the best explanation i've found, thank's a lot for the video!
For years I was convinced that having the bar as low as possible was the only way to fix my squat. Except it didn't... It was always lower back dominant and never worked the quads. I often had lower back strain. This video opened my eyes and now it's so clear. I switched to high bar and everything is much better. I can't lift as much yet, but my legs are getting stronger! Thank you!
Fantastic video. This is how I typically describe squat mechanics to clients, but have never used a model like that. The model makes it infinitely easier to understand (and teach). Thanks Tom. I'm definitely going to build myself a model like that! :-)
This is a really good, easy to understand video. I seem to be at the extreme end of the spectrum with short trunk and short tibia, but it's nice to know that my squat form isn't as shitty as I thought it was.
This is one of the best videos I've seen that describe squat mechanics. You've explained it very clearly and made some really great points on limb length relative to flexion. Are you looking to do any other videos? If you're taking requests, I would very much appreciate a deadlift video with the model to explain the mechanics in the same manner.
Absolutely fantastic. I've been wondering for 10 years why i fall backwards doing air squats and now I know, it's my anatomy and I'm built to not squat. xD
I ran track in college long jump triple jump, man I wish I had seen this video back then. My whole life I’ve been fighting with squat and deadlifts. Torso of a 5’9 guy with legs of a 6’1 guy. Whenever we’d work on hip mobility and ankle mobility I could never third world squat without my heels coming off the ground. I’ve actually tweaked my back on deadlift and squat trying to use “proper form”. Glad I saw this video. I’m going to rethink how approach these lifts. A lot of people hate the leg press for example - but I can literally set it on the lowest setting load it up with 7 plates and bring my knees to my chest with no problem. I’m going to focus on building strength more in those movements that are advantageous to my anatomy. Thank for this glad I saw this before I got too old and more than likely injured my spine permanently lol
NEW RULE. Nobody is allowed to make "How to squat or deadlift" Videos, without referring to these concepts in their video. I''ve learned from all the wrong people how THEY squat/Deadlift and have gotten injured so many times following their form advice.
This was a great video. I've recently moved from high to low bar Squat and have been resolving form issues due to carry over, such as back angle and stance width. This has really demonstrated some of the areas I'm trying to fix, especially with the hips back and reducing the knee load.
THIS IS ME. Short tibia, long femur and long torso. My upper body would be so far forward when I would try to squat. Now I put small weights under my feet to elevate my heel which helps me be way more upright. I know I could buy weightlifting shoes but I don't really need them at this stage. Or i widen my stance and have my feet and hips turned more outwards. This vid has confirmed my observations of watching myself and watching others squat though. THANK YOU!
this makes me feel a lot better about myself, because people keep telling me how bad my form is but I physically can't go lower unless i basically fold at the hip :(
Thank you for this video!!! My whole life people where telling me I didn't squat properly and I needed to work on it. I physically couldn't do what they were asking, I would simply fall on my butt becuase my center of gravity was not right (I am very short waisted with longer porportions from my knee to my hip than most people) I would get so frustrated. If I squated with my back straight my heels come off the floor or if I keep my heels on the ground I have to bend over to keep from falling on my butt. This is a great visusal to explain why I can't do what others do so easily.
When I started back squatting I wondered why I couldn't nearly go as low with a barbell than without although I have great flexability. This makes a lot more sense now!
Excellent video. Powerlifting To Win has a good series about levers and moment arms, and Greg Knuckols has a great article about squat variations for different body types - but this video demonstrates both greatly! (don't forget to watch Part 2!)
I used to try to squat like everyone else and I’d fall on the toilet the next day with terrible knee pain. I would go down 75 degrees then let my butt fall the rest of the way, which was just pulling my knees apart. Then I got heeled shoes and it got a little better. It gave me 10 more degrees. But this was back when I switched to high bar for the last months to get it up to my low bar. I tried many things and finally understood I could squat differently with a high bar and it’s ‘ok’. Every coach/athlete etc should watch this. There is no cookie cutter style out there, but the nuances would detract users to channels who just type “how to squat”. This is why the best stuff is found on channels with this little subs. The other channels are like how newspapers were written at a 4th grade reading level lol or something like that. I took my measurements and even though I’m not tall, I’m a “tall squatter” because my femurs are long compared to tibias. I could low bar 315 fairly soon after starting to squat yet doing it on high bar took me months. I thought oh it’s just cause I’m only working quads and not recruiting all the other muscles - that’s maybe half the story. My Dorsi flexion sucks as well from an injury. This is one of those gems you just want to show everyone especially if they can’t grasp what you’re talking about. I’d always go woah that guy is doing high bar in converse and hitting that depths I can’t that’s insane! Nope it’s just anatomical differences Bless you good sir you are amazing
Finally someone demonstrates what I was convinced of for years in my incapability to go fully down in utkatasana! My doc diagnosed me with an overlong femur when I was 12 and yet I'm overflexible so not being able to squat low is definitively not linked to stiffness in my case! Tried to explain that in vain to various pple including yoga teachers. Thank you so much for clarifying this to the public!
I really like the explanation, but i believe this is limited in the way it is presented, because it shows the path of someone squatting very narrowly in a 2D plane, if you used 2 of those to created a 3D plane, each one representing 1 side of the body, even the one with short tibia and long femurs can squat "low" if the legs are spread apart properly, of course, if we keep out feet very close from each other and pointing forward, it's gonna be hell for those like me with poor dorsi flexion (under 4 inches beyond the toes) but by opening wide, we change how much space we need front to back, and it becomes easier to reach depth. I am talking now about a hip socket related thing.
Best explanation I have ever seen. Its frustrating how those with relatively short femurs fail to understand it. It would be like if us long femur folks made them run hurdles and couldn't understand why they struggle.
I have the bad proportions, so I'm now squatting just above parallel, but with more weight than I used to, as I was limited by the load on my knee and position at parallel. I can now lift double. I've basically evened out the load curve, and still getting more load on the knee with the double weight than I did going parallel with half the weight. It works. I think people don't realise that us tall people have much steeper load and extreme load curves through a movement than short people.
I have struggled with squat form for a long time, I even tore my quadratus lumborum because I did a “good morning” squat with improper form; I was taught there was ONE proper foot placement for a squat. Now, after realizing my femur is over 30% of my height, I widened my stance and now my form is excellent. Thank you!
It's hard for me to get into a sitting split squat position, or do ass-too-grass squats because of my long legs. I can only do them when my heels are elevated.
I think this is a great video and does a fantastic job of breaking down the mechanics of the squat and showing the relationship between the knee and the hip works. I was wondering what everyone's thoughts are on moving out of a plane that only moves in the saggital plane and adding in some transverse plane movement such as external rotation at the hip. If you were to add ER to the hip and drive knees out while pushing your hips back it is going to allow you to keep your tibia's more up right while also allowing you to sink your hips back and get good depth with the squat.
Can you do a video just like this explaining optimal foot width and toe pointing direction for squat and a separate video for the deadlift version please? This video was amazingly informative, thank you very much for your time
Oh my god, this video is awesome, explains so much about why my squat sucks (lean way too forward and can never get my butt down, feels like I'll fall over) Thank you for this...
I'm a student in physical therapy and I'm presently working on a project that would reacquire a little squat dude like you have. Did you buy it somewhere or did you make it?
That is interesting as well- would love to take a look at one one of the old course manuals. At any rate, looks like great minds think alike! There are some differences in the interpretation of the physics, but the model is very similar. I look forward to seeing your other materials, and I'm sure there will be some overlap.
20 years of exploring this has led to many interpretations amongst ourselves. But of course, biomechanics is a mathematical science and 1+1=2 every time - we look forward to having you in class sometime.
I would get so mad at my bf telling me to keep my chest up and I would fall backwards from losing my balance. He keep telling me I’m not doing it right and I felt like I physically couldn’t do it no matter what
I **KNEW** I wasn't crazy for thinking my anatomy is what prevented me from doing "proper" squats. I have long femurs and a super short torso relative to the rest of my body, and ankles with limited range. Everyone has told me I need to get deeper, but that never sat right with me as I would start to break down technique in other ways when I went deeper. I deal depth for me is *just* above hip and knees being parallel to the ground. I have found that having some type of elevation on heels has helped me get deeper squats, so maybe proper lifting shoes with slightly elevated heels can help 🤔
OMG. My greater trochanter at 5'9" was level with my 6'2" father. My torso is so short that I can only fit 2 fingers between ribs and pelvis. Now I learned why I can't squat unless I have a SUPER wide stance m,
Any tips or system on how to ''calculate''/asses different peoples proportions? For example if your tibia is less than 20% of your height you have short tibia? Or is it useless to think the proportions as a system and just find the individuals squat type in practice and what feels good for them? :D
WRT segmental proportions is there a ratio to use? What defines proportions? I have: Floor to Knee length of ~ 21.7" Femur length ~ 17.3" Torso length ~ 23.2" I am trying to differentiate whether my squat form (compared to the ideal norm) is primarily due to flat feet (possibly poor mobility and balance issues) or due to segmental proportionality.
I've always wondered why deadlift has always been much easier for me than squats despite putting equal amount of effort into both lifts, this video answers why. 👍
Also, long arms help deadlifts tremendously. Even though I have long legs which is bad for both squat and deadlifts, I can deadlift twice my squat because of my monkey arms.
This is why anterior weight shifting "longer"s the torso and moving knees outward because of greater feet angle and stance width shortens the femur and makes the squat easier.
PersonalTrainingdotcom Hey these videos are great! I was wondering you would ever think about doing a set of video likes these for the deadlift! Or do the same principals apply the same way? Also, is there a way to measure you tibia,femor, torso length and figure out your relative proportions?
I'm the person at the very end, and I actually don't even hate squats, they still feel good. What I hate is people looking at me because I look goofy, or correcting my form and telling me to work on my flexibility, without the slightest understanding of the centre of mass constraints
Great video, awesome to see a model constructed to demonstrate proportion differences so clearly.
CanditoTrainingHQ PersonalTrainingdotcom You know you've made it when Jonnie gives your vid a thumbs up ;)
This video has been so incredibly helpful in helping me to understand why I can't squat the "proper way." I have long femurs and a short torso, and if I don't take a wider stance or elevate my heels, my chest falls forward or I fall backwards. Coaches and trainers have generally tried to correct my form in ways that are physically impossible for me. Since finding this video, I've shared it many times. I wish all trainers had this information. Thank you so much for sharing!
That sounds like me. Actually trying to not get above the toes has hurt my already beat up knee way more.
Also got those spider legs and a short torso.
Keep it up man!
Your trainers were retards. But this is very common. They simply get people through standartized training and expect the "good ones" thrive. Screw the outliers for whom is such training totally stupid. Then you have the survivor bias of only people who do well on such training staying in fitness industry and being succesful, so it perpetuates. Most trainers are EXTREMELY ignorant.
Many so called trainers are ignorant when it comes to this. They believe all sizes fit all.
Finally someone explained it. I have got long legs and short torso- absolutely hate squats, always fall back.
Years later, and it’s still one of the best videos on squatting and foldability
Wow, not a single wasted second in this video. Very clear demonstration.
This has been the most I have learned in 5 minutes and 34 seconds of my entire life. I'm 35 years old.
This is absolutely phenomenal. Thank you!
A quick video done by Tom Purvis of the Resistance Training Specialist Program (RTS).
Tom discusses Squats and the mechanical realities of proportions/mechanics and fold-ability.
The use of this model is simple but brilliant, kind of an eye opener to see a reasonable scenario wherin it would be impossible to safely squat to competition standards.
What it makes you realise is weightlifting competitions are kind of pointless when we all have all different body types. Makes you wonder why they class it by body weight. A tall person is handling a lot more load than a short person with good proportions. Same with bench, I'm 6ft 4, and my arms are nearly twice as long as some people. I'm moving that weight not only twice as far, but the load on the chest is actually double too...for the same weight on the bar.
@@dlg78 You can say this about just about any physical sport lol.
For instance swimming. Ever seen that video where they go over Michael Phelp's arm length and how big his hands/feet are? The guy was born to be one of the G.O.A.T's
@@Hugo-ew2ko not quite the same with weights.
With a long level length with weights you are actually lifting more weight.
Best video series ever to explain squat mechanics ❤
This is a very cool model. One thing to add is that raising your heels with weightlifting shoes doesn't just give you move dorsiflexsion, it also effectively increases the length of the tibia, and this model shows how much that helps.
this right here, is golden information about all the misconceptions and debates about what a "proper" squat should be
Exemplary synopsis of squat mechanics. Well Done!
I will publish a book on weight training and biomechanics this month. Let me say that this is one of the best introductions I have seen on video so far.
I have tried to combat the argument that "you always need to be upright" and "knees should never be forward" for years now, but your simple device demonstrates everything in such a short amount of time, I am more than impressed.
Starting Strength covers this in some detail
@@sleepingtube Yes, it did. Rip did however have a more or less narrow view on the squat mechanics, some of the stuff he said was just not that useful for anyone outside of powerlifting.
For example, the hand position does not work for a lot of people with problematic shoulders. The head position he has used works for the low bar squat, but the low bar squat is not necessary for every single lifter. In fact, I only use it for powerlifters and tend to work with a bar position that is individual for the lifter. Most of my lifters use a slightly higher hybrid or high bar approach to the squat and are using high weights (600+ lbs) just fine.
Starting Strength was one great book and it showed me the ropes, but it was dogmatic in its position on the squat and how to do it.
@@FrankTaeger2021true that. There is no one less dogmatic than RTS/Tom Purvis in terms of biomechanics. Looking forward to attending his mastery course next summer in Oklahoma. 😎 You should join too💪
All the squat videos and tutorials i've ever seen can be summed up right here. That's the thing about bar back squat, some people have the proportions to build great legs without compromising their lower backs and some are just going to use all lower back and glutes. It's all about the biomechanics and you can't over come it. Well done man.
Thank you so much for this video! I'm a new lifter and I felt like shit because I have to lean forward on my squats to keep from feeling like I'm falling over backward! I thought I just sucked at squats and got pretty discouraged. This made me feel a lot better about my natural abilities. thank you.
This man has set the bar for PTs super high. Excellent stuff!
This is, by far, the best description of this I have found. Thank you!
I had to say- this is the single best demonstration showing squating mechanics with respect to body type
Absolutely awesome explanation of proportions and how they influence squatting. Great stuff, Tom! (As usual)
You are really doing the Lord's work with this video. Thank you so much. I have been lifting weights for 20+ years and I always get people telling me about how bad my squat form looks. I always try to explain how my proportions and where my center of gravity as I describe it needs to be to not fall over make it difficult to isolate the quads from the back but for now I will just direct them to this video.
What an incredibly helpful video
Thanks for the awesome presentation. Folks in the yoga space need to see this as well. There are gross misunderstandings of proportion as it relates to the shapes of poses.
I know a guy who is around 175-180cm tall with a relatively short femur.
He squatted 190kg at 17yo. 70kg bw.
This blew my mind when I first saw this in 2005 at RTS123 in Toronto!
you were a late-comer!!
PersonalTrainingdotcom No kidding! I saw some of Tom's videos in 2000 when I first got into personal training. My mentor started years before that! Thanks for sharing this. The exercise world needs MORE information like this.
well it took a long time before agreeing to join this cess-pool called the internet... so many people were stealing and attempting to re-package our material. and doing it wrong anyway! had to happen
PersonalTrainingdotcom It sounds hardcore but you really just have to ignore that. There is no way of really doing anything against it in the end. And it is more important
The single best video on the net explaining squat mechanics. I thank you sir!
I've always had the problem of leaning too far forward and could never figure out why, this is probably the best explanation i've found, thank's a lot for the video!
A very useful model and demonstration which really clarifies how different limb lengths affect the movement -- thank you!
For years I was convinced that having the bar as low as possible was the only way to fix my squat. Except it didn't... It was always lower back dominant and never worked the quads. I often had lower back strain. This video opened my eyes and now it's so clear. I switched to high bar and everything is much better. I can't lift as much yet, but my legs are getting stronger! Thank you!
This is the best video I’ve ever seen on squatting. Thanks a lot.
Wow. I absolutely love this! The guy really explains the intricacies well.
Fantastic video. This is how I typically describe squat mechanics to clients, but have never used a model like that. The model makes it infinitely easier to understand (and teach). Thanks Tom. I'm definitely going to build myself a model like that! :-)
This is a really good, easy to understand video. I seem to be at the extreme end of the spectrum with short trunk and short tibia, but it's nice to know that my squat form isn't as shitty as I thought it was.
The videos on this channels are great - too bad there are not any new content. Cheers
This is one of the best videos I've seen that describe squat mechanics. You've explained it very clearly and made some really great points on limb length relative to flexion. Are you looking to do any other videos? If you're taking requests, I would very much appreciate a deadlift video with the model to explain the mechanics in the same manner.
Absolutely fantastic. I've been wondering for 10 years why i fall backwards doing air squats and now I know, it's my anatomy and I'm built to not squat. xD
I ran track in college long jump triple jump, man I wish I had seen this video back then. My whole life I’ve been fighting with squat and deadlifts. Torso of a 5’9 guy with legs of a 6’1 guy. Whenever we’d work on hip mobility and ankle mobility I could never third world squat without my heels coming off the ground. I’ve actually tweaked my back on deadlift and squat trying to use “proper form”. Glad I saw this video.
I’m going to rethink how approach these lifts. A lot of people hate the leg press for example - but I can literally set it on the lowest setting load it up with 7 plates and bring my knees to my chest with no problem. I’m going to focus on building strength more in those movements that are advantageous to my anatomy. Thank for this glad I saw this before I got too old and more than likely injured my spine permanently lol
Can you share instructions on how you built your model. I would love to make one for teaching purposes.
The single best video on squatting out there.
NEW RULE. Nobody is allowed to make "How to squat or deadlift" Videos, without referring to these concepts in their video. I''ve learned from all the wrong people how THEY squat/Deadlift and have gotten injured so many times following their form advice.
This was a great video. I've recently moved from high to low bar Squat and have been resolving form issues due to carry over, such as back angle and stance width. This has really demonstrated some of the areas I'm trying to fix, especially with the hips back and reducing the knee load.
The best explanation I've ever come across
THIS IS ME. Short tibia, long femur and long torso. My upper body would be so far forward when I would try to squat. Now I put small weights under my feet to elevate my heel which helps me be way more upright. I know I could buy weightlifting shoes but I don't really need them at this stage. Or i widen my stance and have my feet and hips turned more outwards. This vid has confirmed my observations of watching myself and watching others squat though. THANK YOU!
this makes me feel a lot better about myself, because people keep telling me how bad my form is but I physically can't go lower unless i basically fold at the hip :(
Thank you for this video!!! My whole life people where telling me I didn't squat properly and I needed to work on it. I physically couldn't do what they were asking, I would simply fall on my butt becuase my center of gravity was not right (I am very short waisted with longer porportions from my knee to my hip than most people) I would get so frustrated. If I squated with my back straight my heels come off the floor or if I keep my heels on the ground I have to bend over to keep from falling on my butt. This is a great visusal to explain why I can't do what others do so easily.
When I started back squatting I wondered why I couldn't nearly go as low with a barbell than without although I have great flexability. This makes a lot more sense now!
Excellent video. Powerlifting To Win has a good series about levers and moment arms, and Greg Knuckols has a great article about squat variations for different body types - but this video demonstrates both greatly! (don't forget to watch Part 2!)
Fantastic video. I am that last person, so I do split squats and I am able to work the quads! Upside is I am not a terrible deadlifter!
I used to try to squat like everyone else and I’d fall on the toilet the next day with terrible knee pain. I would go down 75 degrees then let my butt fall the rest of the way, which was just pulling my knees apart. Then I got heeled shoes and it got a little better. It gave me 10 more degrees. But this was back when I switched to high bar for the last months to get it up to my low bar. I tried many things and finally understood I could squat differently with a high bar and it’s ‘ok’.
Every coach/athlete etc should watch this. There is no cookie cutter style out there, but the nuances would detract users to channels who just type “how to squat”. This is why the best stuff is found on channels with this little subs. The other channels are like how newspapers were written at a 4th grade reading level lol or something like that.
I took my measurements and even though I’m not tall, I’m a “tall squatter” because my femurs are long compared to tibias. I could low bar 315 fairly soon after starting to squat yet doing it on high bar took me months. I thought oh it’s just cause I’m only working quads and not recruiting all the other muscles - that’s maybe half the story. My Dorsi flexion sucks as well from an injury.
This is one of those gems you just want to show everyone especially if they can’t grasp what you’re talking about. I’d always go woah that guy is doing high bar in converse and hitting that depths I can’t that’s insane! Nope it’s just anatomical differences
Bless you good sir you are amazing
Finally someone demonstrates what I was convinced of for years in my incapability to go fully down in utkatasana! My doc diagnosed me with an overlong femur when I was 12 and yet I'm overflexible so not being able to squat low is definitively not linked to stiffness in my case! Tried to explain that in vain to various pple including yoga teachers. Thank you so much for clarifying this to the public!
this was a great video, having the model to demonstrate the differences in ratios and how it effects stance was so helpful.
I have a short tibia and have NEVER be good and squats. I could seated press over my head more that I could squat. Great video!
I really like the explanation, but i believe this is limited in the way it is presented, because it shows the path of someone squatting very narrowly in a 2D plane, if you used 2 of those to created a 3D plane, each one representing 1 side of the body, even the one with short tibia and long femurs can squat "low" if the legs are spread apart properly, of course, if we keep out feet very close from each other and pointing forward, it's gonna be hell for those like me with poor dorsi flexion (under 4 inches beyond the toes) but by opening wide, we change how much space we need front to back, and it becomes easier to reach depth.
I am talking now about a hip socket related thing.
Best explanation I have ever seen. Its frustrating how those with relatively short femurs fail to understand it. It would be like if us long femur folks made them run hurdles and couldn't understand why they struggle.
This is great and explains so much about my issues, thanks so much!
I never thought about how much this could matter... that's very interesting!
Great video.
I have the bad proportions, so I'm now squatting just above parallel, but with more weight than I used to, as I was limited by the load on my knee and position at parallel. I can now lift double. I've basically evened out the load curve, and still getting more load on the knee with the double weight than I did going parallel with half the weight. It works. I think people don't realise that us tall people have much steeper load and extreme load curves through a movement than short people.
This makes so much sense now, I'm short but I've bot a 16" tibia, I picked up squatting really easily
This video is great, by far the best explanation about how proportions affect the mechanics of the squat. Outstanding job, thanks! :)
I have struggled with squat form for a long time, I even tore my quadratus lumborum because I did a “good morning” squat with improper form; I was taught there was ONE proper foot placement for a squat. Now, after realizing my femur is over 30% of my height, I widened my stance and now my form is excellent. Thank you!
This explains it all. Bravo!
Man I heard you say this in 1989 at NASM. It's about time you finally did this on TH-cam. Wtf took you so long??!
Haha! It took a lot to bring ourselves to do it - thanks for the positive feedback
Fit Fun because people browsing youtube generally exercise less than people that don't browse it
This is the best video on the internet.
It's hard for me to get into a sitting split squat position, or do ass-too-grass squats because of my long legs. I can only do them when my heels are elevated.
I think this is a great video and does a fantastic job of breaking down the mechanics of the squat and showing the relationship between the knee and the hip works. I was wondering what everyone's thoughts are on moving out of a plane that only moves in the saggital plane and adding in some transverse plane movement such as external rotation at the hip. If you were to add ER to the hip and drive knees out while pushing your hips back it is going to allow you to keep your tibia's more up right while also allowing you to sink your hips back and get good depth with the squat.
Watch part 2 for examples and modifications
This is amazing! Thanks to whoever posted this on reddit. Very informative.
Dude. Incredible.
Can you do a video just like this explaining optimal foot width and toe pointing direction for squat and a separate video for the deadlift version please? This video was amazingly informative, thank you very much for your time
Oh my god, this video is awesome, explains so much about why my squat sucks (lean way too forward and can never get my butt down, feels like I'll fall over) Thank you for this...
This is an absolutely brilliant video. Thank you for this content.
Excellent video, covered everything from the standpoint of structure.
This is a brilliant video that brought a lot of things to light for me. Thank you!
So much great info packed into a 5 min video!
Brilliant video. Graphic and simplified.
Wow ... not a PT person, but mechanics make perfect sense after seeing the extreme.
I'm a student in physical therapy and I'm presently working on a project that would reacquire a little squat dude like you have. Did you buy it somewhere or did you make it?
Outstanding video!!! Thanks for the share!!!
Wow.... everybody needs to see these videos
That is interesting as well- would love to take a look at one one of the old course manuals. At any rate, looks like great minds think alike! There are some differences in the interpretation of the physics, but the model is very similar. I look forward to seeing your other materials, and I'm sure there will be some overlap.
20 years of exploring this has led to many interpretations amongst ourselves. But of course, biomechanics is a mathematical science and 1+1=2 every time - we look forward to having you in class sometime.
Amazing! What an excellent demonstration!
I would get so mad at my bf telling me to keep my chest up and I would fall backwards from losing my balance. He keep telling me I’m not doing it right and I felt like I physically couldn’t do it no matter what
I **KNEW** I wasn't crazy for thinking my anatomy is what prevented me from doing "proper" squats. I have long femurs and a super short torso relative to the rest of my body, and ankles with limited range. Everyone has told me I need to get deeper, but that never sat right with me as I would start to break down technique in other ways when I went deeper. I deal depth for me is *just* above hip and knees being parallel to the ground.
I have found that having some type of elevation on heels has helped me get deeper squats, so maybe proper lifting shoes with slightly elevated heels can help 🤔
Very cool to hear these explained thanks
Really great video! Really puts into perspective the differences and their effects! Thanks for the upload!
Please do a video like this for deadlifts! I sucked at dl since I was born
OMG. My greater trochanter at 5'9" was level with my 6'2" father. My torso is so short that I can only fit 2 fingers between ribs and pelvis. Now I learned why I can't squat unless I have a SUPER wide stance m,
Any tips or system on how to ''calculate''/asses different peoples proportions? For example if your tibia is less than 20% of your height you have short tibia? Or is it useless to think the proportions as a system and just find the individuals squat type in practice and what feels good for them? :D
WRT segmental proportions is there a ratio to use?
What defines proportions?
I have:
Floor to Knee length of ~ 21.7"
Femur length ~ 17.3"
Torso length ~ 23.2"
I am trying to differentiate whether my squat form (compared to the ideal norm) is primarily due to flat feet (possibly poor mobility and balance issues) or due to segmental proportionality.
I've always wondered why deadlift has always been much easier for me than squats despite putting equal amount of effort into both lifts, this video answers why. 👍
Also, long arms help deadlifts tremendously.
Even though I have long legs which is bad for both squat and deadlifts, I can deadlift twice my squat because of my monkey arms.
Such wonderful info, thank you!
This is why anterior weight shifting "longer"s the torso and moving knees outward because of greater feet angle and stance width shortens the femur and makes the squat easier.
Extremely insightful and very well-presented. Thanks.
Too Good.. very very Informative. .
amazing demonstration
Brilliant explanation. Thanks a lot!
PersonalTrainingdotcom Hey these videos are great! I was wondering you would ever think about doing a set of video likes these for the deadlift! Or do the same principals apply the same way?
Also, is there a way to measure you tibia,femor, torso length and figure out your relative proportions?
Outstanding visual instruction sir...thx
Question! What about overhead squats? Based on what you said at the beginning it would be extremely dangerous for the knee, no?
Brilliantly explained.
I'm the person at the very end, and I actually don't even hate squats, they still feel good. What I hate is people looking at me because I look goofy, or correcting my form and telling me to work on my flexibility, without the slightest understanding of the centre of mass constraints