Sticking point on squats

[the People's Champ]

on my last set of squats, I could not go to parallell. I had 245 on the bar, and on the way down, my hips seemed to be the weak point, as they could not stay in position. they started to sway, and all I could do was a half (ass) sqaut. is there a way to strengthen the bottom part of the squat? obviously, my sticking point is at the bottom. I normally do full squats, and once in a while atf squats and box squats to change it up. what part of my body is the weak link here? I haven't done the leg press in a long while as well. could I substitute that for my squats for one workout? I have concluded that my lower back is the culprit, not being up to par with the rest of the muscles involved for a squat, as well as my hips. any suggestions?

 

[bignate73]

glutes and hams. hit some high step ups for a while with emphasis on the glute contraction.

 

[BBBodie]

Deadlifts homeboy.

Nothing strengths your hams and glutes like good ol' fashioned deads.

I do Romanian Deads *(based on Dr. Squats philosophy of safety for your lower back as opposed to Stiff legged Deads).

Doesnt have to be heavy either, I started at 135#, tack 50#, tack another set of plates, etc. and go 135, 185, 225, 275 and back down again, each time just short of failure.

Do this twice a week with light Good Mornings (2 25# plates on a bar to start) at 95#, then tack a pair of 10#'s each time (do 5 sets pyramid, so 95, 115, 135, 115, 95) to just short of failure. I started this a few months ago and currently do a warm up of 115#, then 165, 185, 165, 135 for reps just short of failure.

Do both of these twice a week, and you'll be squattin in a nice range.....how do I know? My squat was your's 3 months ago, I'm now squatting (Hatfield bar) mid-400's (don't know our Hatfield bar weight but it's around 75#) and 8 plates (4 per side). for 8 reps. On the Assisted Squat machine (an isolation machine) repped vertical 675# for 5 reps two weeks ago and blew me out of legs for 8 days I was so sore .

Bottom line, I never would have tried either of these without a lot of Deads and Good Mornings.

Enjoy the pain, if you're not cramping up in the evening you didnt go heavy enough or as my gal says....you pussed out.

 

[the People's Champ]

bump. looks like my hams and glutes are my weak points. anyone else?

 

[XXX-Ray]

try hack squats and stiff legged to strenghten the lower quads and the hams

 

[BodybuildingUniverse]

I personally feel strongest out of the hole and get stuck at about the halfway up point. Band work helped on this big time. If your goal is pure strength, you HAVE to invest in some bands. They teach you speed and explosiveness...