Squats: Wide vs Narrow?

[bigstve12]

mibe is the exact opposite. I squat a lot more with wide stance...i recently switched to narrow b/c my ass is getting too big for my quads. Your weak links are probably your ass and hammys. Id say train the wink links to get stronger...stick to the wide

 

[hellboy]

I've got about a 30 pound difference in my narrow vs my wide stance squats. The weights are pretty low. Wides are around 135 and narrow is around 165. My narrow squats are easily my strongest and the most comfortable for me to do.

Should I just focus on the narrow or should I do the opposite and try and bring up my wides?

 

[spatts]

Can you define narrow and wide? In terms of inches from arch to arch on your feet or something?

 

[hellboy]

Hi Spatts,

Narrow: My feet are parallel and facing straight ahead. They are about 4 inches apart at the arch. Well within shoulder width.

Wide: Feet are wider than shoulder width and feet point to around 30-45 degrees from straight ahead.

My wide stance is not a super wide powerlifter stance. Maybe just a foot past shoulders on each side.

Hope that helps.

 

[Naeem]

I have to do it decenly wide because of shitty knees.

 

[MsBeverlyHills]

thats weird... usually the sumo stance is your stronger lift-- your using the glutes/ hams-- larger muscle groups than just quads (narrow stance).

are you sure your adding up the weight right??? or are you on a Smith machine??

 

[t3c]

hmmm I bet if you worked on bringing up your "wide" you would find that your "narrorow" gets stronger

you could have weak hamstrings,glutes,hips


work your weak link

 

[hellboy]

Hi MissB,

Yep I'm sure I'm adding it up right. And no I'm not using smith machine. Just a bar and a squat cage.

It really is not only easier for me but it also just 'feels' better.

 

[spatts]

hmmm I bet if you worked on bringing up your "wide" you would find that your "narrorow" gets stronger

you could have weak hamstrings,glutes,hips


work your weak link

OH! He's SO smart!

 

[Imakarum_Mirabilis]

Is there a purpose behind bringing your Wide-stance Squats up, such as to decrease the amount of distance the weight is moved (as in PLing)?

If not, perhaps you should not worry so much and keep at your Close-stance Squats, as they feel more natural to you, and perhaps they correspond better with your individual structures.

I Squat OLY style. I have incorporated Wide-stance into my routines of the past for variation and for PL-oriented goals, but it's far more natural for me to stick with my OLY style in most cases. Spending extra time bringing up my Wide-stance variant at the expense of my Close-stance would translate into a longer period of time where I'd be working with loads far lower than I am capable of moving. However, if I were to get into competitive PLing seriously, I'd invest the time and make the switch, just because of the Physics involved.