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7 Reasons To Squat Deep
by Bret Contreras

1. Squatting Deep Increases Glute Activity

In 2002, Caterisano et al. investigated squat depth and EMG activity of the quads, hams, and glutes. While quad and ham activity didn't change, glute max activity increased with increasing depth.

I should mention that there's a big flaw with this study in that the researchers used the same loads with the varying depths. We all know that lifters can quarter-squat more than they can half-squat and half-squat more than they can deep squat. Nevertheless, this study indicates that going deeper leads to greater glute activation.

2. Squatting Deep Increases Hip Extension Torque

In 2012, Bryanton et al. investigated squat depth and joint moments at the ankles, knees, and hips. As the squat ROM went deeper, the hips ended up picking up more of the load compared to the knees and the ankles. This lends support to the Caterisano study cited in reason #1.

3. Squatting Deep Increases Lumbopelvic Stabilization Requirements

Gorsuch et al. (2012) showed that parallel squats led to greater erector spinae and rectus femoris activity compared to partial squats, indicating that there are greater lumbopelvic stability requirements when going deeper.

4. Deep Squats Transfer Better to Vertical Jump

In 2012, Hartmann et al. examined the transfer of deep squats versus partial squats on vertical jump performance. The researchers found that deep squats (both front and back) transferred favorably to jumping, whereas heavy quarter squats did not.

5. Deep Squats Lead to Greater Postactivation Potentiation (PAP)

Esformes & Bampouras (2013) found that parallel squats elicited greater PAP than quarter squats. For those unfamiliar with PAP, it basically means that performing an activity (squats in this case) can improve subsequent performance by increasing muscle force production.

Parallel squats were found to improve countermovement jump performance (greater jump height, peak power, impulse, and flight times) to a greater degree than quarter squats. Therefore, if performing contrast/complex training, deeper squats are a wiser choice than partials.

6. Deep Squats do a Better Job at Increasing Thigh Hypertrophy

A new study by Bloomquist et al. (2013) investigated the effects of deep squat versus shallow squat training on a number of variables. Deep squats produced much greater leg hypertrophy compared to shallow squats.

7. Deep Squats do a Better Job at Increasing Squat Strength to Parallel Depths

Regarding strength gains in deep versus shallow squats, both types of squats will improve deep and shallow squatting strength. However, the Bloomquist and Hartmann studies show that deeper squats lead to greater strength gains in deep squats and greater knee-extension strength at long muscle lengths, indicating that strength gains are somewhat specific to the range of motion (ROM) employed.

Performing shallow squats will in fact lead to greater strength gains in shallow squatting compared to performing deep squats, but this doesn't result in greater hypertrophy or jump adaptations. -- BC. #squat