Not all squats are created equal! Stance, grip, load, positioning, and equipment, all influence the targeting of specific muscle groups.

Wide stance squats tend to recruit more of the posterior chain, such as the glutes, hamstrings, postural muscles of the spine, and even the adductors on the inner thighs. With the feet in a wider position, the hips have room to hinge more while getting to depth in a squat. Use movements such as the low bar back squat, V squat machine, belt squat and dumbbell sumo squat to target these muscles.

Narrow stand squats tend to allow athletes to recruit into the quadriceps more. This is due to increased knee flexion required to get to squat depth. This is most appropriate to do with a high bar back squat, front squat, hack squat machine or heel elevate goblet squat with the load in front of the body. Facilitating more flexion of the knee less hinging at the hip can help athletes maintain a more upright torso, taking stress out of the lower spine.

So which one should you do? It’s great to practice all of them, but if you are targeting specific muscles, you might think of variations that fall into those respective categories. If you’re trying to grow a big backside and booty, you might go with wider Stance variations. If you’re looking to develop big quad sweeps or go easier on your lower back, you might go with some of the narrow stance or heal elevated variations with the load closer to the front of the body. Check out an awesome mix of these exercises each week Thundrbro and Alpha Babe training. 

#bodybuilding #crossfit #functionalhypertrophytraining #muscleanarchy