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Squats-wide stance vs close/olympic stance...; whatever you wanna name em
Topic Started: Jul 15 2005, 07:15 PM (499 Views)
IronBender800
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Ive been doing 20 rep squats using a medium wide stance. Ive been having a very hard time because my hips have been getting VERY sore to the point where my warm ups are my most painful sets. With heavier weight it forced me down and wasnt as painful.

So anyways i did my usual 20 rep set and only got 11 reps goal was 20. Once again hips were very tight and sore. Then i noticed a guy next to me doing perfect deep squats using a pretty close stance so i decided to give it a shot.

Well, to my surprise they felt awesome. No hip soreness and textbook form. Used a pretty narrow stance.

So my question is have any of you exerienced any hip tightness using a wider stance and which stance do you all prefer? I know the stance people use will vary depending on body type/mechanics but i just want a good discussion on this.

I personally say FUCK wide stance!!!!!!! Close feels soooo much damn better.
Stats: 5'9 214lbs compete 198

Squat 435 raw/505 in metal ace briefs with blue bands all done using monolift

Bench 315 but have been good for at least 330 (225x15)

Deadlift 505 455x10 495x5
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Captain
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First off- Nice to see you posting here again!

This is a very interesting topic, one that has many different points to each side. Let's contrast the two stances


Widestance
1) May allow for a more upright stance

2) works the hips hard! If your sport needs strong hips or if you have weak hips, this could be a benefit of using WS

3) Activates the Glutes/Hams even more, especially depending on depth. The lower you go, the more glutes you use obviously. The WS squat will use more hamstring by default, however

4) May allow for the use of more weight, a benefit for strength lifters and powerlifters

Close Stance

1) Will allow for a fuller, deeper ROM, which many believe feels better, more natural, and more efficient

2) Excellent for the development of the quads

3) Olympic lifters would most likely benefit the most from the CS squat because of the related stances. A full CS squat would be best at aiding the olympic lfter that does the full squat versions of their lifts

4) Has a tendency of causing the lifter to round their back in the bottom position, especially if the lifter is tall, or inflexible.

------------------------------------

Personally, what do I think? Both stances should be used! I personally enjoy WS squats more, because I feel more stable with them.

-Steel
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IronBender800
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Yeah, like i said to each his own. Stance def depends on goals and body mechanics like taller people typically need a wider stance.

Have you had problems with hip soreness using a wide stance?
Stats: 5'9 214lbs compete 198

Squat 435 raw/505 in metal ace briefs with blue bands all done using monolift

Bench 315 but have been good for at least 330 (225x15)

Deadlift 505 455x10 495x5
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IronBender800
Jul 15 2005, 07:36 PM
Yeah, like i said to each his own. Stance def depends on goals and body mechanics like taller people typically need a wider stance.

Have you had problems with hip soreness using a wide stance?

Or longer legged guys like me like wide stance. :)

My hips had no problem with the wide stance. Occassional cramping, but nothing really.
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IronBender800
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Hmm, maybe it was the high reps and frequency that did me in?

Well, im sure now that close suits me better. I get much deeper and hits my skinny ass quads a lot more:D.
Stats: 5'9 214lbs compete 198

Squat 435 raw/505 in metal ace briefs with blue bands all done using monolift

Bench 315 but have been good for at least 330 (225x15)

Deadlift 505 455x10 495x5
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IronBender800
Jul 15 2005, 07:46 PM
Hmm, maybe it was the high reps and frequency that did me in?

Well, im sure now that close suits me better. I get much deeper and hits my skinny ass quads a lot more:D.

I think you were pushing your limits of ROM personally, and with the volume you were going at, you really gave your hips a pounding.

Stick with CS then. :)

-Steel
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IronBender800
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What would my range of motion have to do with my hips getting so sore?

Wide stance with like 135 i couldnt even hit parallel because my hips were so tight but once i got into my working weights i could get just below because the weight forces me down further.

But i dont see what that has to do with my hips getting so sore...
Stats: 5'9 214lbs compete 198

Squat 435 raw/505 in metal ace briefs with blue bands all done using monolift

Bench 315 but have been good for at least 330 (225x15)

Deadlift 505 455x10 495x5
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IronBender800
Jul 15 2005, 07:53 PM
What would my range of motion have to do with my hips getting so sore?

Wide stance with like 135 i couldnt even hit parallel because my hips were so tight but once i got into my working weights i could get just below because the weight forces me down further.

But i dont see what that has to do with my hips getting so sore...

I've always been told this:

If you must force yourself to a certain range of motion, you are going too far.

In actuality, what you were really doing was over stretching and micro-tearing your hips.

If you needed weight to reach proper depth, then that sure shows that you arent flexible enough yet for the stance. Maybe it was too wide, perhaps?

How wide was your stance?
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IronBender800
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Makes sense.

Well when i first started i could squat below parallel with light or heavy weight no problem so i dont think flexibility was an issue. But the micro tearing makes sense.
Stats: 5'9 214lbs compete 198

Squat 435 raw/505 in metal ace briefs with blue bands all done using monolift

Bench 315 but have been good for at least 330 (225x15)

Deadlift 505 455x10 495x5
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IronBender800
Jul 15 2005, 08:03 PM
Makes sense.

Well when i first started i could squat below parallel with light or heavy weight no problem so i dont think flexibility was an issue. But the micro tearing makes sense.

Well if you couldn't at the time, you weren't flexible enough at the time, don't you think? Just semantics I guess, but you get the idea.

Are you going to try widening your stance subtly? Or are you purely sticking to CS?
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Liftin4Ever
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In the past I have always squatted with a medium stance. A few weeks ago I tried a pretty wide stance. I didn't have any problems moving weight around, except like IB it was harder to get to parallel, but with some weight I didn't have issues. But then I started to have knee problems, and I figured I would try ATG to see if that would be better. Well, I couldn't go ATG with a wide stance, so I moved back to my medium stance, started going ATG (and beltless), no more knee problems and I am as strong as ever.

Just my 2 cents.

EDIT: My medium stance is actually not very wide, I just call it that since it could be even narrower :lol:
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BRADP
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If I want to do widestance I have to warm up forever, or I will never hit paralell, so i stick with shoulder width
Hell yeah I'm American.
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BRADP
Aug 4 2005, 02:05 AM
If I want to do widestance I have to warm up forever, or I will never hit paralell, so i stick with shoulder width

How wide would you be going that you can't hit parallel?
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BRADP
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I have old man hips, if I use a wide stance my hips just stop going down a few inches before paralell. i can hit paralell if I warmup for like 30 min, but thats a hassle, so I stick to shoulder width
Hell yeah I'm American.
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BRADP
Aug 4 2005, 03:05 PM
I have old man hips, if I use a wide stance my hips just stop going down a few inches before paralell. i can hit paralell if I warmup for like 30 min, but thats a hassle, so I stick to shoulder width

Yeah but I mean, how wide apart are your feet that you can't go parallel? My rack is about 3 feet wide, little more, little less, and my toes almost touch the sides(I angle my feet out) and I can go parallel.
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