Is it OK to squat with wide stance?

Taking a wider stance than shoulder-width has been shown to provide the same level of quad activation as a traditional “narrow” stance, but squatting wide also provides distinct advantages. Go wide, and you’ll feel it in your glutes, your overall strength, and maybe in the back and knee pain you don’t feel.

Why is my squat mobility so bad?

This poor range of movement often comes from tightness of the muscles within the hip flex, tightness in the calves, and all over body strength, which can be easily fixed with stretches, and specific exercises to maximise your mobility.

Do wide stance squats target glutes?

In a wide stance squat, the posterior displacement of the hips activates the glutes to a far greater extent than in a traditional squat (2). The posterior motion decreases anterior tracking of the knee. Wide stance squats allow for a movement that produces more work at the hips than traditional squats.

Is wide stance squat easier?

A 1.5 times shoulder-width stance will be stronger for most people because (1) there’s greater glute activation, (2) it requires less ankle mobility, (3) it produces more power than narrow squats, and (4) it can protect against excessive lumbar flexion (low back rounding) while squatting.

Are wide stance squats bad for knees?

A wider stance requires the lifter to stay more vertical in the shins, taking some of the pressure off of the knees. The weight in a narrow squat is pushed anterior, which isn’t necessarily bad, but it does put more stress on the knee.

Do squats improve mobility?

Squats are a great exercise – they work the legs, core and back – but they’re only effective if done properly with the correct technique, and using the correct techniques means having the mobility to do so. Squat mobility is pretty damn important.

Do squats make you more flexible?

Regularly performing squats helps you become more and more flexible. How…? They require you to bend and stretch your leg muscles, including your calves, knees, hamstrings, and quadriceps. Deep squats work harder to improve the flexibility of your back, hips, and legs.

What squat stance is best for glutes?

sumo squat
A sumo squat is excellent for targeting your glutes. A wider stance keeps your hips externally rotated to promote greater glute activation. Stand with your feet wider than shoulder width, your toes pointed slightly outward, and your hands out in front of you.

Can you do wide squats with a narrow stance?

If you squat in a narrow stance, you can use a wide stance squat as a “special method”, which I detail in my article on 10 Special Exercises To Improve Your Powerlifting Movements. The following is a general rule of thumb for where you should start with your stance:

How to find your best squat stance-movement fix?

In order to objectively assess all unique variables of both the femur and acetabulum interplay as a functioning unit that can be scaled up with the squat pattern, a standard orthopedic assessment called the quadrant test, also known as the hip scour, test can be used (2).

Which is better wide squats or medium squats?

A study by Escamilla et al. (2001) looked at three squat stances: narrow, medium, and wide. They measured both the knee and hip angles at varying points in the lift. The conclusion was that all three squat stances were knee dominant, and in particular, the wide stance squats were the most knee-dominant at every phase of the movement.

Which is the best stance width for powerlifting?

They found that a stance width of 1.5X shoulder-width distance produced the most amount of power when compared with other stance widths. To achieve a “1.5X of shoulder-width distance” you can measure the distance between each shoulder and multiply it by 1.5.