Narrow or wide squat?

[MaxxReps]

So lately I've had a bit of a philosophical change. I'm in my 40's and have been injured a few times in the last few years and it really sucks. Seems to take longer and longer to recover. So lately I've been changing my workout to try to get more out of the weight rather than more weight.

Lately, while squatting I've adopted a pretty narrow stance - I use a 25lb plate on the floor as a guide and have my feet touching each side of it. Also point my toes straight ahead. With this stance and going as low as I can - basically touching the pins of the squat rack I find it very challenging to do sets of 12 with 2 plates.

I have much less strain on my hips and am able to get nice and low, and get my ass out back to keep the weight where it should. Doing it this way feels quad dominant.

Does anyone else squat like this, or like me try to get more work out of less weight?

Comments?

 

[buddhabuilder]

I use a wide stance myself, but I have gotten great results from taking video with a cheap little camera, from a bunch of different angles, and really tweaking my form. I think this is a must, no matter what stance you use.

 

[Tectime]

I like to change my stance and footing every workout. It helps me get a better proportional build and a more thorough workout. And filming will def help to tweek positioning to max different muscle groups.

 

[Evan Tipps]

I used to squat wide stance, then I moved to a close stance and my quads grew a lot more. And I can squat a lot heavier this way as well.

 

[bonacris]

I use narrow with front squats and slightly wider for back squats..

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[ceo]

wider for me is more glute, ham, hip dominant, while narrow is more quad dominant. Use both.

 

[maddox2010]

^^^exactly.

 

[MaxxReps]

I too feel it more in my quads. To the guy who said he could go heavier with a narrower stance this is opposite to most everyone I know at my gym.

 

[dbacik]

Squat wide... Squat narrow... Squat from your pulling position and watch your deadlift maxes go up! Keep your body trying to adapt constantly!

 

[Mad Jasper]

I used to do 3 sets wide and 3 sets narrow but I have moved to 2 squat workouts a week with narrow. Eases the stress on my back.