What's Better, Full Or Partial Squats?

The great argument between Squatting full or half has been going around a lot these days. In this article I will explain which exercise is better: The half Squat or the full Squat and what are the benefits and limitations of one over the other. After going through this article you will be fully aware of the best squatting technique.

First off, the deep squats have been getting many a claims these days. Some people are there who find full squats to put the lifter in a more vulnerable position due to the extreme degree of depth one goes into. They argue that it is dangerous both to the knees and the back to go into too much of a deep squat. According to them, it puts an extremely high amount of pressure on your vertebral bone if you descend too deep on squats.

They also believe that it is detrimental to the knees if you go below parallel as it puts the knees in an abrupt position with your legs. However, I think it is more of a myth than a fact that deep squats have adverse effects on your vertebral bone and knees. In fact, it all depends on your form and weight. If you put on the bar more weight than you can handle and descend down with a curved back, you can and certainly will hurt yourself.

I have seen many huge guys hurt themselves by performing squats with the wrong form. Form and positioning is extremely important while performing Squats and if you cannot get these two things right, then you won't be benefited by this great exercise. With the correct form and technique not in place, you will hurt yourself someday.

That's why I advise my clients to practice the perfect squatting technique and get hang of the right form with a weight they can handle before they proceed with adding poundage on this exercise. Full squats have nothing to do with back and knee damage. YOUR FORM, EXERCISE TECHNIQUE AND EGO has! Yeah I mentioned ego. That's because if you go on adding poundages to the bar without caring about the form, then you are heading towards injury.

Similarly, half squats are also being criticized by many people saying that it does not invite much muscle growth as compared to the full squat. It has been also criticized for only hitting the upper quadriceps and not the other important muscle groups such as the hamstrings or the glutes.

Finally, I am going to put an end to this confusion and provide you with the right answer. After much research and personal observation, my final verdict is that FULL SQUATS are not harmful to the knees and way better than the partial ones and here are the reasons why:-

1. We must perform every exercise with a full Range of Motion. This provides for better stimulation of muscles being involved. So why leave the King of the exercises aside?

2. There is a low incidence of lower back pain and knee injury in trainees who perform full squats on a regular basis.

3. Every exercise produces stress around a joint - the body then adapts to this stress.

4. The full squat position has evolved over the ages. I mean the early man used to perform almost all the daily tasks like washing, eating, excreting and cooking in this position. So this is a natural position that has been adopted over the ages. The partial squat position is not a natural but a stressful position.

5. Regular half squatting will decrease your flexibility.

6. If you regularly squat in a partial position, the knee joints get adapted to that particular position. So one day, if it comes to your mind and if you squat deep, then you might injure yourself because of the sudden new stress that it is putting your knee joints under.

7. What about the powerlifters and the Olympic weight lifters? They lift insane loads on squats and perform it full. Then how come they don't have bad knees later in their life? Instead they have the healthiest joints around.

8. Squatting full really activates a good amount of muscle fibres including the ones from the quads, hamstrings, glutes and the calves. Partial Squatting only stimulates the upper quads and slightly hit the lower portion of the quads. That is not much muscle stimulation there.

9. There are more studies that indicate the damage risk of performing partial squats. Till now there has been only one study which indicates full squats as being harmful to the knees.

10. Cooperated contraction of the quadriceps, hamstrings and gastrocnemius which occurs during the full squat motion, maintains integrity around the knee joint.

Now you must have got a good idea why full squats are better than half squats and safe in the long run when it comes to your knee joints. Unfortunately, The Half Squat has become very common these days and almost everyone is seen doing it. This is because of some of the ignorant, full of themselves fitness trainers who preach around the wrong information. You must realize this and ignore any advice of doing partial squats.

Remember, they are bad in the long run. Everything has to be done in a natural way and the FULL SQUAT is 100% natural movement for your knee joints and back.

Now many of you must be half-squatters and hesitant to change your squatting habits. To you people, my advice is to start out slowly with a moderate weight, get a feel of the full squatting range of motion. It might be a little uncomfortable at first because your joints will have adapted to the half stance.

But until you are using the right weight and the right technique you don't have anything to worry about. You will start to get the hang of the exercise gradually and within a couple of months you will be back to your normal squat weight as you get stronger with the movement. And trust me, after you start experience the amazing, never before gains from this exercise, you will never think doing the HALF SQUAT ever again! So keep squatting, eat loads and get big. Until next time. God bless.

Abraham Bagey, Bodybuilding expert, fitness trainer and author of an upcoming bodybuilding e-course.