[peanut butter]

first let me brief you on the history:

in my gym, the idea is that squatting is bad for you knees if you go under 90 degrees and bad for your lower back. my response to all the other lifters, who are all teenagers are, its better to do full squats as it unloads onto the hamstrings and glutes, while breaking before you reach the bottom puts all the force on your knees. also when box squatting there advice to me is, dont sit on it, just touch and go back up. they say its better because sitting on the box damages your spinal disc, everntually destroying them. my response is simply, why do box squats if you dont sit on the box, your missing half the movement and the pressure on the knees is far more, as the box helps unload the pressure off.

to add to the mismatch of conflicting information, one of the lifters their, who just happens to be training for the commonwealth games and throws discus, hammer and javelin for britain agrees with the information that the rest believe. considering his coach is an ex commonwealth hammer champion (i think), this makes my position uneasy.

then today, a P.E teacher and coach of the local rugby side, agrees with them. to be fair we didnt have a full blow arguement as it was quite civilised and friendly. but he stated his opinion, which i responded to, with both of us acknowledging each others point and parting ways with no distain. the thing is in actual fact i know nothing really about training, especially compared to this man who was very experienced. but i do know what i know, and know about it from reading, not just here but from many sources which as far as i know are reputable.

basically, im wondering what you guys think on the situation and how to resolve it. i was thinking you lot could perhaps post sources, which in detail back up the their opinions, therefore if it ever goes out of hand i can show them the real facts. also its not just to show them im right, so i can show off and so on, because im not that sort of person, and one of the reasons im trying not to push the argument is because i dont want to seem the arrogant know it all without any experience. theres a kid in my year, who to straight with you is weak and lacks confidence in the gym. ive promised to him that id teach him to squat, because its the best exercise for him and his sport (basketball). but with all this conflicting information its hard to get it across. anyway i think ive typed enough, so any help would be much appreciated, thanks

[chia]

I would just ignore him (them) and keep doing REAL squats. There is a wealth of information available on the internet supporting the fact that full squatting is safer and more beneficial, but why waste your time on that when they are probably too stuborn to believe it?

[CelebritySexist]

Are they actually physically stopping you from doing it your way? Why not just tell them where to go and PROVE them wrong by training YOUR way; nothing like proving yourself right in the face of opposition. I understand the altruistic impulse causing you to want to get everyone on board the below parallel train, but some people just won't be swayed. Ask them where they get their sources.

Here are your sources, stolen from some website (exrx.net):
# Boyden G, Kingman J, Dyson R, (2000). A comparison of quadriceps electromyographic activity with the position of the foot during the parallel squat. J Strength Cond Res. 14(4): 379-382.
# Fleck, S.J. and Falkel, J.E. Value of Resistance Training for the Reduction of Sports Injuries. Sports Medicine, 3, 61-68, 1986.
# Fry AC, Smith JC, Schilling BK. Effect of knee position on hip and knee torques during the barbell squat. J Strength Cond Res. 2003 Nov;17(4):629-33.
# Hatfield, F.C. (1989). Power: A Scientific Approach, Contemporary Books, pg. 158.
# Kraemer, W.J., Fleck, S.J. (1993). Strength Training for Young Athletes, Human Kinetics.
# Kreighbaum, E., Katharine, B.M. (1996). Biomechanics; A Qualitative Approach for Studying Human Movement, Allyn & Bacon, 4, Pgs 203-204.
# National Strength and Conditioning Association. The Squat Exercise in Athletic Conditioning, NSCA Position Statements.
# Signorile JF, Kwiatkowksi K, Caruso JF, Robertson B, (1995). Effect of foot position on the electromyographical activity of the superficial quadriceps muscles during the parallel squat and knee extension. J Strength Cond Res. 9:182-187

I think the meat of those studies can be found here, haven't the time to go through it myself:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed

Good hunting!

[BabyPhenom]

Ask them to justify their answer and not just telling you that thier coach said so.

Being a sport coach does nt mean you know how to strength train properly, so does being a hammer champion.

Tell them to get their facts straight

[peanut butter]

cheers