Big E
We have been after tested and proven FACTS.
When it comes to all training, there are a lot of questions. Many of which are completely overlooked, replaced instead by the massive amount of online noise created by uneducated opinions. Let people comment or speak online enough, and you will quickly see their truth.
The area of SQUAT DEPTH is without question an area of endless debate
Every single day, you see self-proclaimed internet coaches shouting that if you aren't dropping your hip crease below your knees, your squat doesn't count. They preach "ass-to-grass" like it's a universal law.
It’s not fully fact based, and if not understood, is a fast track to a high range of injuries.
In a world of biased personal opinions with minimal requirement of provable, studied, and proven applications, sitting back and listening allows a quick separation. If you want real human performance, real longevity, and real strength, you need to question the local mentality types whose training style only knows one mannerism or stance and learn the true science: the amount of depth has variables and reasons, and each one is completely dependent on individual purpose and ability.
1. THE INDIVIDUAL
Firstly, we have to look at the INDIVIDUAL themselves.
Is an individual's assessment openly known or been discussed before they load a barbell? Has their hip ROM (range of motion) been tested to see their unique structural integrity and ability? Have past injuries and their extremity been discussed and fully understood?
The cold truth is that everyone’s hip anatomy is different. The depth of your hip sockets, the angle of your femoral neck, and your natural structural mechanics dictate how low you can safely go under load. If your bone structure physically limits your deep range of motion, forcing yourself into an ultra-deep squat isn't "hardcore", it’s stupidity.
When your hips hit a structural wall, your body has to find that extra movement somewhere else. It finds it by throwing the load directly into your lower back. Jamming yourself into a position just because of an online trend is precisely how you increase injury rates to a level that can completely strip your ability to train at all. This exact blind spot is where online comments increase high ranges of injuries through a complete lack of knowledge.
2. THE PURPOSE
Secondly, what is the squat being utilized for, or what is the PURPOSE?
Not all squats are created equal, that’s the know-how of real training. The internet wants you to believe that a partial squat is just a failed full squat. They are completely wrong. There must be an advanced understanding that different ranges of depth, foot positions, speed, weight variances, training styles, and bar types all equate back to a specific purpose.
A squat is a tool, and you have to select the right tool for the job.
½ Squats have their place as a highly effective tool.
Box Squats break the eccentric-concentric chain to build pure starting power.
Sumo and Ultra-Wide Stances alter the leverage to hit distinct hip and hamstring protocols.
¾, Ass-to-Grass, and Competition Stances all serve completely different technical metrics.
They are all tools, to be used to build up specific anatomical needs towards an end goal. When you realize that every variance alters the thinking toward a specific required result, the science comes into play.
3. THE SCIENCE
Thirdly, is the scientific alterations for both physics and anatomics to come into play.
A ½ squat has far more levels to it than just the simple squat aspect as a movement. When you limit the depth to a partial range, you can safely overload the mechanical structure of your body with weight you could never hope to stand up with from the bottom pin.
That heavy overload matters:
Bone Densification & Remodeling: Overloaded weight has massive bone densification and remodeling effects that are highly needed for true structural longevity.
Rate of Force Development (RFD): Weight moved explosively from this position creates a much higher RFD.
Physical Adaptation: This explosive output creates many needed effects in bone, tendon, and muscle type adaptations.
Those adaptations alter your physical output for higher explosive ratios. In turn, those explosive ratios have a much higher sport transfer. When you look at the biomechanics, it becomes much more than just a squat, now it is true human performance.
REVERSE QUESTIONS FOR THE "EXPERTS"
Before anyone hands out a depth critique, specific factors must be answered. For those who blindly force the "ass-to-grass" ideology on everyone, answer these two questions:
If an individual's injuries on a specific day hinder their physical capacity to hit a "supposed" needed depth, but forcing it will advance their injuries to a worsened state, did the coach giving this advice succeed or fail in their job?
If the depth of online opinion increases an injury so severely that it puts an athlete into a potential state of paralysis, what level of professional are we actually dealing with that would say this is the best approach?
Answering these questions changes your entire philosophy. It forces you to autoregulate. Autoregulation is one of the highest standards of training. It allows an endless, continuous escalation of successes because it is contoured and built around the very thing everything should be, the INDIVIDUAL.
TESTED WITH EXTREME PREJUDICE
In regards to Rocenpro, these answers were not debated in an online forum. They show decades of research born from both injury and deep, studied understanding. They were learned with extreme prejudice at the highest levels.
While many people speak theoretically from the comfort of their keyboards, we had to live it. Many involved in Rocenpro have had severe back injuries that caused severe damage and lifestyle issues. This case study, Big E: has had 3 broken vertebrae in his back, which includes disc degenerations and perforations in multiple levels of the spine. If we had listened to the standard online consensus, it potentially could have put him into a state of paralysis and permanently ended any training ability.
When your lifestyle and physical mobility are on the line, you don't take information from entry levels. You seek out high-level information from the most established, tested minds the world has—those with provable results at high weight thresholds. We put these exact questions and needs to the test through a rigid level of testing, real-world application, and recorded procedures.
So when you see comments made about squat depth, take a moment to check the credibility, maturity, and knowledge base of the person speaking. There is a time and place for everything, but only if individuals understand the full spectrum of training.
Remember this one rule: opinions only count for those who accept second best. Get your anatomy tested, understand the purpose of your movement, apply the actual science, autoregulate for your body, and build real human performance.
The rest of your life will thank you for it ………….
Names include the best back doctors, the world's strongest locations, and the strongest humans whose work, pictures, and applicable techniques we have personally put to the test: a few below
@elliotbaulm
@jlholdsworth
@briancaroll
@backdoctor
@joedefranco
@smittydiesel
@elliotlord
@westsidebarbell