[masraum]

Originally Posted by Jeff Higgins

As a former competitive powerlifter, I can tell you this much: a legal squat, in competition, requires that your femur break parallel to the ground. Is that a "healthy" squat? I'm not sure there is any such thing.

"Ass to grass" is a common term in squatting circles. Going that deep, well below a legal competitive squat, seems to be some sort of a "badge of honor" to some. The potential for injury for most people, however, is very, very real.

Lots of controversy surrounding the squat. Tom Platz had the biggest legs ever seen in bodybuilding, and he saw the squat rack as his "temple". On the other hand, Vasily Alekseyev, who in setting 80 world Olympic Lifting records in the snatch and clean and jerk, never squatted. He preferred step-ups.

Squats are an ego thing. But they can hurt you. I'm missing two discs in my lower back and had my right hip replaced, all attributable to damage done in the squat rack. I would advise against them.

OK, that all makes sense to me. I've seen videos of crazy squat accidents. I can see "break parallel" but only just. To me "ass to grass" seems like a bad thing unless you're doing pretty close to body weight/relatively low weight.

I'm not doing that sort of workout these days.