One more post on A2G since it's relevant to the training.
*It is also the reason why my bench is higher than my squats. If I went parallel wearing wraps and/or a belt, I too would have the weight of the world on my shoulders! 
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Ok, its becoming blatantly obvious that precious few of you know how to "olympic" style squat.
There are basically two kinds of back-squat. What we like to refer to as the power-squat, or the powerlifter style squat, or the low bar squat. This is what COMPETITIVE powerlifters and strength athletes should be concerned with. I'll save that for another thread.
Its FAR more important that most of you learn to Olympic style squat first. Most every weight-trainer should know how to do this, whether you're a competitive olympic weightlifter, powerlifter, strongman, highland games athlete, or even if you're just a recreational, non-competitive bodybuilder like most people in this forum...
There is no faster way to get big and strong ALL over your entire body, and the reason that many of you guys do tons of gear and are still big pussies is because you can't Oly squat for shit!
ALSO, I know that most of you THINK you know how to squat. Well, I'll tell you all that most of you don't.
Here is how you properly "oly" squat:
1.) Take a medium-narrow stance. This varies a lot between athletes. Its not really important which stance you prefer, so long as you pick the one that lets you get the DEEPEST. Do NOT pick the one you are strongest at, pick the one that gives you the BIGGEST range of motion. For some athletes, this might even be a slightly wide stance.
2.) Wear the bar as high as possible. Do not wear it low on your back. It should be near your neck or the top of your traps.
3.) Do them raw. This means NO equipment. No tight ass knee wraps, and unless you're a competitive athlete, NO belt. If you're doing them right, knee wraps will just prevent you from getting as deep as possible. Instead, wear neoprene knee sleeves or ace-bandage wraps that can be purchased for very little money at any local pharmacy. Remember, oly squats are FAR better for your knees than quarter squats done with knee wraps on, so stop crying like a 10 year old girl and LEARN how to do it. It might take a week or two.
4.) Footwear is very important. THAT DOES NOT NECESSARILY MEAN EXPENSIVE. Now, I won't lie to you, the BEST footwear is custom made olympic lifting shoes. These can be purchased from a variety of sources, which I may get into later. HOWEVER, if you're too cheap, broke, or lazy to purchase another pair of shoes (though its pretty much a one-time purchase) DO WHAT THE OLDSCHOOL LIFTERS DID! Squat barefoot. No, you won't be able to get QUITE as deep without oly shoes on. But you WILL get pretty DAMN close. Everyone I've ever met or trained with could get ass-to-grass barefoot, and one of my training partners could actually touch the floor with his ass while oly squatting barefoot.
5.) Stop being a fucking pussy about it. I am so sick and damn tired of the excuses for not oly squatting. JS has personally coached literally hundreds of athletes, and has trained with or watched thousands of others. ALL were capable of learning to Oly squat with a few or so weeks practice. My old training partner has pronounced scoliosis and still went on to oly squat 2x bodyweight. If you are hurting your knees, 99.9% of the time its not your genetics, YOU'RE JUST DOING THEM WRONG.
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There are several schools of thought on squat depth. Many misinformed individuals caution against squatting below parallel, stating that this is hazardous to the knees. Nothing could be further from the truth. (2) Stopping at or above parallel places direct stress on the knees, whereas a deep squat will transfer the load to the hips,(3) which are capable of handling a greater amount of force than the knees should ever be exposed to. Studies have shown that the squat produces lower peak tibeo-femoral(stress at the knee joint) compressive force than both the leg press and the leg extension.(4) For functional strength, one should descend as deeply as possible, and under control. (yes, certain individuals can squat in a ballistic manner, but they are the exception rather than the rule). The further a lifter descends, the more the hamstrings are recruited, and proper squatting displays nearly twice the hamstring involvement of the leg press or leg extension. (5,6) and as one of the functions of the hamstring is to protect the patella tendon (the primary tendon involved in knee extension) during knee extension through a concurrent firing process, the greatest degree of hamstring recruitment should provide the greatest degree of protection to the knee joint. (7) When one is a powerlifter, the top surface of the legs at the hip joint must descend to a point below the top surface of the legs at the knee joint.
2 Ariel, B.G., 1974. Biomechanical analysis of the knee joint during deep knee bends with a heavy load. Biomechanics. IV(1):44-52.
3 High- and low-bar squatting techniques during weight-training. Wretenberg P; Feng Y; Arborelius UP, Med Sci Sports Exerc, 28(2):218-24 1996 Feb
4 An analytical model of the knee for estimation of internal forces during exercise. Zheng N; Fleisig GS; Escamilla RF; Barrentine SW, J Biomech, 31(10):963-7 1998 Oct
5 Biomechanics of the knee during closed kinetic chain and open kinetic chain exercises. Escamilla RF; Fleisig GS; Zheng N; Barrentine SW; Wilk KE; Andrews JR Med Sci Sports Exerc, 30(4):556-69 1998 Apr
6 A comparison of tibiofemoral joint forces and electromyographic activity during open and closed kinetic chain exercises. Wilk KE; Escamilla RF; Fleisig GS; Barrentine SW; Andrews JR; Boyd ML Am J Sports Med, 24(4):518-27 1996 Jul-Aug
7 Chandler TJ and Stone MH. (1991) The squat exercise in athletic conditioning: a review of the literature. NSCA Journal. 13(5): 58-60.
8 Hsieh, H. and P.S. Walker. 1976. Stabilizing mechanisms of the loaded and unloaded knee joint. Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery. 58A(1):87-93.
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Last edited by Darkhorse; 12-20-2005 at 12:48 AM.
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