Most people seem to be strongest at heels about shoulder width, but as has been noted, your mileage may vary. Experimentation has proven its value time and again.
Member
Squat Width
I've been having a problem with leaning forward in my squats lately.
Last night I decided to try widening my squats stance a good 6 inches and suddenly I felt like I was more balanced all the way up and down.
I also ripped my gym shorts in half and gave the young lady doing triceps kickbacks a show as I finished my sets before retreating to the locker room.
So the question that I haven't seen answered is. How do you I find my optimal stance width? Wider than I was doing it is clearly gooder.
Is there a good rule of thumb or do I just experiment until I find the sweet spot?
TMPHBITEU
Most people seem to be strongest at heels about shoulder width, but as has been noted, your mileage may vary. Experimentation has proven its value time and again.
Member
Is there any downside in going too wide? Or is the ideal width for a person the one that produces the best results, regardless of how much wider it is than shoulder-width? Thanks coach.
TMPHBITEU
Too wide hurts your hips and keeps you from getting depth.
Member
Do you mean "hurts your hips" as in "causes pain," or "causes injury?"Originally Posted by Mark Rippetoe
Member
I stood in front of a mirror and looked at my new wider stance. I don't generally squat in front of a mirror.
The heels are essentially at shoulder width as you said. thanks.
TMPHBITEU
They are the same thing if done long enough. But primarily it just makes it hard to get depth. Powerlifters will use a wide stance with a more forward toe angle than parallel with the femurs to tighten up both the hip joint capsule and the knee capsule, so as to use the tightness for added rebound. This is fine for a competitor whose primary concern is total. I never recommend this for novices or people training for general strength.
Posting Permissions