The Rippetoe Squat

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A few months back, I made a thread about how I could bench more than I could squat. I got a lot of good advice in that thread, the best advice was to squat more (just do squats) and to start low and work on repetitions.

That has all really helped me and now I'm happy to say that I can definitely squat more than I can bench. One thing that I learned while squatting is that taking a very wide stance and pointing my feet outwards really reduced the amount of back and knee discomfort. I also started lowering with a very upright posture.

It seemed to work great, but then I watched a video about the Rippetoe squat, where he recommends the same wide stance and outward pointing feet, but that instead of an upright posture, lean forward a bit and look at the floor.

This seemed to emphasize using your ass and more than anything, as he stressed in the video. My Problem though is that when I get up to higher weight, leaning forward causes me to fall forward a bit and i have to correct my position.

What's the issue here? Is the Rippetoe squat bogus? As of now, It decreases my squat rather than increase.
 
A few months back, I made a thread about how I could bench more than I could squat. I got a lot of good advice in that thread, the best advice was to squat more (just do squats) and to start low and work on repetitions.

That has all really helped me and now I'm happy to say that I can definitely squat more than I can bench. One thing that I learned while squatting is that taking a very wide stance and pointing my feet outwards really reduced the amount of back and knee discomfort. I also started lowering with a very upright posture.

It seemed to work great, but then I watched a video about the Rippetoe squat, where he recommends the same wide stance and outward pointing feet, but that instead of an upright posture, lean forward a bit and look at the floor.

This seemed to emphasize using your ass and more than anything, as he stressed in the video. My Problem though is that when I get up to higher weight, leaning forward causes me to fall forward a bit and i have to correct my position.

What's the issue here? Is the Rippetoe squat bogus? As of now, It decreases my squat rather than increase.
The “Rippetoe” squat is just a low bar back squat. If you’re holding the bar too high on your back or are wearing “squat” shoes with a raised heel, you will fall forward when performing them. The slight forward lean, cued by pointing your nipples towards the floor, is so the bar stays on your back. If you stood upright with a low bar position, there would be nothing but your arms holding the bar in place and it would slide off your back or worse, cause shoulder and elbow injuries.
 
Sounds like you're Good Morning'ing the squat at heavier weights. It's a pretty common issue. If you felt more comfortable squatting with more upright posture, and were making progress, I would probably stick to that. There is no standardized way to squat. Everyone has their own unique anatomical biomechanics. Squat safe, and slowly make progress. It's that simple IMHO. To steal a line from Rip himself, don't major in the minors.
 
Yeah the forward lean starts at the set up and is to remain constant throughout the movement. If you find yourself leaning forward more as you descend into the squat or while ascending, that’s not cued as the Rippetoe squat. You’re doing the Layne Norton and that leads to snap city.
 
A few months back, I made a thread about how I could bench more than I could squat. I got a lot of good advice in that thread, the best advice was to squat more (just do squats) and to start low and work on repetitions.

That has all really helped me and now I'm happy to say that I can definitely squat more than I can bench. One thing that I learned while squatting is that taking a very wide stance and pointing my feet outwards really reduced the amount of back and knee discomfort. I also started lowering with a very upright posture.

It seemed to work great, but then I watched a video about the Rippetoe squat, where he recommends the same wide stance and outward pointing feet, but that instead of an upright posture, lean forward a bit and look at the floor.

This seemed to emphasize using your ass and more than anything, as he stressed in the video. My Problem though is that when I get up to higher weight, leaning forward causes me to fall forward a bit and i have to correct my position.

What's the issue here? Is the Rippetoe squat bogus? As of now, It decreases my squat rather than increase.
the range of squat styles runs the gamut in powerlifting, but most of the top squatters look up or straight ahead.
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Both of these guys lift more than Rippetoe or Alan Thrall have ever dreamed of, and have coached more champions.
 
I like high bar better, I messed with that rippitoe lowbar shit for awhile. Maybe I wa dfoingnit wrong, quite possible but it never felt natural to me.
 
I think one of the most common problems with people learning to squat and increasing weight is getting folded. I honestly think it's a bad cue to look down for most. I'm not saying that it can't work, but I feel cues like fighting to keep the chest up and weight back would be more practical for most.
 
A few months back, I made a thread about how I could bench more than I could squat. I got a lot of good advice in that thread, the best advice was to squat more (just do squats) and to start low and work on repetitions.

That has all really helped me and now I'm happy to say that I can definitely squat more than I can bench. One thing that I learned while squatting is that taking a very wide stance and pointing my feet outwards really reduced the amount of back and knee discomfort. I also started lowering with a very upright posture.

It seemed to work great, but then I watched a video about the Rippetoe squat, where he recommends the same wide stance and outward pointing feet, but that instead of an upright posture, lean forward a bit and look at the floor.

This seemed to emphasize using your ass and more than anything, as he stressed in the video. My Problem though is that when I get up to higher weight, leaning forward causes me to fall forward a bit and i have to correct my position.

What's the issue here? Is the Rippetoe squat bogus? As of now, It decreases my squat rather than increase.
I would not recommend this technique. It can easily put you in a compromised position. I would much rather prefer the head and eyes up when squatting to maintain a good posture. For most people anyway, this Rippetoe squat is not advantageous.
 

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