Adding variation to squats...

[IJ300]

I've been doing ATG squats for as long as i can remember with the same stance. I'm looking to add some variation, so is it ok to go back to squating parallel, or would that be unbenefital to my hams and glutes?

I know I can switch my stance up, but I find it hard to go real deep with a wide stance, and I have bad balance when my feet are too close together.

 

[NordicNacho]

Do you do front squats? You can always mess with the timeing going down slow on squats just about kills me.

 

[IJ300]

Yea, I do front squats. The thing is though, I squat twice a week. One day I always do ATG back squats. Then on the next day I squat, I usually do some different type of squat, like a front squat or zercher squat (ATG of course). I do these exercises with less intensity and volume though because of the back squats I did earlier in the week.

 

[buening]

Honestly, how much difference is there between ATG and parallel? Unless you have very long legs or are very flexible, the ROM difference is probably small. If you want to mix things up, try some front squats. Bulgarian squats will eat you for breakfast. You might give those a shot. You may also try varying your rep range in the ATG squats if you are at a plateau. If the weight is still going up then i wouldn't even mess with anything

 

[IJ300]

I do vary my reps on squats, it's just that I'm bored with doing back squats. And as I stated before I do do front squats, and I do like bulgarian spilt squats, but I use them for more of an accessory exercise.

 

[fufu]

Bulgarian squats!

 

[DOMS]

Overhead Squats for the win.

 

[AKIRA]

Bulgarian squats!

Agreed. They still kill me.

 

[danzik17]

Overhead Squats for the win.

those goddamn squats kill me my arms just aren't flexible enough to get into the right position to do them.

 

[buening]

Overhead Squats for the win.

In my opinion these are good if you do a lot of olympic lifting and snatch lifts. If you are used to doing 200-250lb back squats and you don't do any snatch lifts, you'll be lifting a whole lot less with overhead squats. Until you can snatch a decent amount over your head and can maintain balance (the hard part), your legs will be underworked and your shoulders/traps will be overworked.

 

[DOMS]

those goddamn squats kill me my arms just aren't flexible enough to get into the right position to do them.

I wasn't when I started, either. You just need to keep doing them to build up the flexibility.

You can also try Lumberjack Squats.

Hell, if you're feeling a little frisky, you could try Jump Squats.

 

[DOMS]

In my opinion these are good if you do a lot of olympic lifting and snatch lifts. If you are used to doing 200-250lb back squats and you don't do any snatch lifts, you'll be lifting a whole lot less with overhead squats. Until you can snatch a decent amount over your head and can maintain balance (the hard part), your legs will be underworked and your shoulders/traps will be overworked.

I can buy into that. I Squat around 240-265, and I only OH Squat about 90.

 

[buening]

Yeah OH squats are whole different animal My hardest part is not getting the weight up there, but keeping the weight balanced over my head as i squat down. I guess i'm a bit hesitant that the weight will move back to far and either injure my shoulder from hyperextension or drop the weight on top of my back/shoulders. Dangerous lift without proper Oly training, which i unfortunately lack at the moment