Bolder wrote: ↑Mon Apr 22, 2024 8:00 am
Do you screw your feet into the ground and angle them before you squat? I wonder (a little odd of what I'm saying here, sorry for that).
Here's what I do: I start by getting my stance width, which is about the outer edge of my shoes lining up with my armpits - so
not as far out as my lateral delts, and I think narrower than most. Then yes, I do angle my feet, but barely, maybe 15 degrees or so. It may look like more in my videos, but it's deceptive - my knees come well out over my toes and therefore if you look at my knees it can look as if I've got a very open foot angle, but I actually don't at all. Anyway, I then let my center of gravity drift juuuuuust slightly forward and back (so toward my toes, then toward my heels), back and forth as many times as necessary until I find dead center midfoot where the pressure is even among big toe, little toe, and heel. I let my weight / the bar weight sink there, effectively "sticking" all three parts of the tripod to the floor. Then I initiate the squat.
I don't screw my feet into the floor, spread the floor, or do anything else that would result in external rotation, which - very unpopular opinion incoming - I think is a terrible squat cue. I guess it makes sense if one has a wide stance / otherwise wants to squat out of their hips, but for a quad-centric squat I strongly feel that
internal rotation is what one wants. I don't mean to the point of one's knees caving of course, but that one should fight to keep the thighs in line in front, and against the urge to spread out and get into the hips.