![]() Plus, you may be able to use a heavier resistance when you’re only doing a partial squat. For the partial squat, the group that did both improved their partial squat max by 14.9% while the full squat group only upgraded their partial squat by 10.2%. The group that did partial and full squats improved their squat max by 8.2% while the full squat group enhanced it by only 5.1%. Each group trained two times per week for seven weeks. In the study, 18 trained men did either six sets of full range-of-motion squats or three full range-of-motion squats and three partial range-of-motion squats. Get Stronger with Half Squats?Īn interesting study looked at the impact adding partial squats to a squat routine has on strength gains. But, you may want to include half squats in your routine as well to work the front and back of the thighs in a more balanced manner. The goal, if you‘re orthopedically sound, should be to descend lower if you’re capable of using good form. Not that you should focus only on half squats. So, doing half squats where the hamstrings and quadriceps get more balanced activation may help prevent a muscle imbalance. In other words, full squats hammer your quads more than your hamstrings. ![]() So, with full squats, you’re placing more force on the rectus femoris, a quadriceps muscle, relative to the biceps femoris, a hamstring muscle in the back of the thigh. Surface EMG activity showed that full squats activate the rectus femoris muscle more than a partial squat, as activation of this muscle goes up as knee flexion increases. They also stabilize the knee and help prevent knee injuries when they’re strong. As such, they play an important role when you walk, run, and jump. The quadriceps, as a whole, flex the hip and extend the knee joint. These include the rectus femoris, vastus medialis, vastus lateralis, and vastus intermedius. What about the quadriceps, the muscles in the front of your thigh? The quadriceps are made up of four muscles. So, half squats are still giving your hamstring a thorough workout. Also, as you descend into a parallel squat and your knees flex more, the gluteus maximus relaxes somewhat. One theory is that the biceps femoris has to work harder to stabilize the knee when you do a partial squat. You might be surprised that the biceps femoris, one of the hamstring muscles, and the gluteus maximus, another muscle in the posterior chain activate more with a half squat than a deeper one. In fact, a measure of surface EMG activity found that the partial squat lead to GREATER muscle activation of the biceps femoris, erector spinae, soleus, and gluteus maximus muscles relative to a full squat. Therefore, both approaches to squatting hit your hamstrings in a manner that promotes growth. You use hamstring muscles when you squat, and muscle activation studies suggest that half squats and full squats place similar stress on the biceps femoris. Strong hamstrings are important for balancing out hip flexors that are often abnormally tight due to sitting too much. Two other hamstring muscles, the semimembranosus and semitendinous flex the knee and extend the trunk when the trunk is in a fixed position. When your knee is bent, the biceps femoris also flexes and rotates the knee inward. The biceps femoris extends the hip when you take a step to start walking. The hamstrings, as a whole, is a group of muscles that act at both the knee and hip. The main muscle in the hamstrings, the muscle group in the back of the thighs, is the biceps femoris, a double-headed muscle. How does muscle activation differ between a half squat and a full squat? First, let’s look at the hamstrings. To do a half squat, most people squat halfway between upright and parallel. In contrast, a half squat is where you descend somewhere between standing upright and the position where your thighs are parallel with the floor. Going below parallel means you’re doing a deep squat. When you do a full squat, you descend into a squat to the point that your thighs are parallel with the floor. Here’s why doing them isn’t a copout after all. But, half squats have some advantages as well. Plus, going deeper is more of a challenge and we know that challenge leads to change. You might think you need to squat to at least parallel to get the full benefit of squats, right? It’s true that squatting deeper, to parallel or below, works the muscles in your lower body, as a whole, more than doing a shallow squat. Shop Cathe Fitness Equipment & Accessoriesĭoing a half squat sounds like a copout.
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