1/4 squats. Why do people do it?

[bruce9241]

I keep noticing people do 1/4 squats. At first glance one would say they're trying to show off how much weight they can squat. This sounds reasonable, but I've noticed a few things lately.

Today I saw a middle aged gentleman quarter squating. He wasn't showing off or anything because he was in the leg area by himself(I was the only other person there) and he only had on 1plate (135lbs). He did these 1/4 squats that were so shallow he barely even moved.

Does quarter squatting actually have any type of muscular benefits? Does it even work anything? I'm sure this man wasn't trying to show off. Could most people who 1/4 squat actually not know how to squat properly?

This is a serious question, not one to make fun of 1/4 squatters. Just wondering because I see it so much. A lot of the times it's some young kids trying to show off, but sometimes I see older people genuinely trying to get a good workout from it.

 

[fortunatesun]

Progressive Movement Training -

Dates back to ancient Greece but the modern day practitioner who made it famous was Paul Anderson who was said to have a 1,200 lb. squat to his credit.

He started with the pins set at 4" below lockout and gradually work down in 3" increments.

The Tight Tan Slacks of Dezso Ban: Squat Training - Paul Anderson

Older people may do it to strengthen their joints. I think it's also useful for soccer and tennis players who want to increase acceleration w/o having to lift major weights which may conflict with other training.

 

[JL_204]

They may just be scared to hurt their knees or something. Or they may just not know what they're doing.

Why dont you ask him next time???

 

[bruce9241]

on a side note: I saw this old man today do the deepest squat I've ever seen. He was real skinny and super flexible. His ass was literally touching the floor. He only had on 25's on the bar, but it was impressive.

 

[SaiBoT]

Progressive Movement Training -

Dates back to ancient Greece but the modern day practitioner who made it famous was Paul Anderson who was said to have a 1,200 lb. squat to his credit.

He started with the pins set at 4" below lockout and gradually work down in 3" increments.

The Tight Tan Slacks of Dezso Ban: Squat Training - Paul Anderson

Older people may do it to strengthen their joints. I think it's also useful for soccer and tennis players who want to increase acceleration w/o having to lift major weights which may conflict with other training.

Though I don't post it in my log, I do this alot of times with heaviest weight possible and the only reason i do it it's because i want to my body and cns get used to take on heavy weights so when I'm doing full olympic squats I don't lose my groove and actually be abe to lift more. It's something that always made sense to me. It's like bench lockouts and rack pulls.

 

[artificialaspirations]

ignorance and ego at my gym.

 

[hoedawg]

im 29 and i do a half motion on my squats..and at that i do them on a smith machine

a have a few reasons for it..

my back..and it huyrts my knee to go too low

i run alot and squating too much or doing a full squat leaves my legs too sore

alot of it mostly has to do with the type of training that i do

alot of people have different believes as to what works best

i think it comes down to the actual person and their goals along with their style of training

 

[timtim]

Progressive Movement Training -

Dates back to ancient Greece but the modern day practitioner who made it famous was Paul Anderson who was said to have a 1,200 lb. squat to his credit.

He started with the pins set at 4" below lockout and gradually work down in 3" increments.

The Tight Tan Slacks of Dezso Ban: Squat Training - Paul Anderson

Older people may do it to strengthen their joints. I think it's also useful for soccer and tennis players who want to increase acceleration w/o having to lift major weights which may conflict with other training.

i use these alot but like you said, i drop 3 inches every 2 weeks till im in the hole. training the strongest part of the movement all the way down to the weakest. gets my squat numbers up. its crazy when you do a 1/4 with close to 700 pounds. you actually feel any bodyfat you have shake because the rest of the body is tense from head to toe. great exercise. definately not for ego. if that was the case, rack pulls and rack lockouts are just for ego.

 

[captainahole]

Majority of the time I think it's two reasons.

One is people trying to show off how heavy they can lift and are kidding themselves.
second is some people actually don't realize they are not going deeper then they think.

I have given up on helping people correct form. To many take it as an insult instead of genuine help.

Sometimes I even cheat if my knees are sore but I can't not do my routine but I do feel guilty for it.

 

[timtim]

are you people calling ego talking about people set up in a power rack with the weight on the safety bars? i can 100% assure you this is not an ego exercise. on the other hand, if youre talking about people who are loading the bar, taking 2 steps, and squating 3 inches, then yes, i could see that as an ego move.