Now the Doc Squat is about power and the use of all possible aid like lifting suits,thick belt, knee wraps, much more sophisticated style, by spreading feet past shoulder width. After that the bar is carried as far down the back as your P.L. rules allow you to, (below the delts) with a lot of forward leaning so that the glutes and spinal erectors (low back) can share the weight with the thighs. In the sport of powerlifting this actual lift is given as completed once the top of the thighs hit parallel.
It makes quite a big difference using the P.L. technique as your lifts can be increased by an incredible 20% in weight, that is if with compare this to more upright and deeper squat techniques that are used in bodybuilding. I am a great listener when it comes to what Fred Hatfield has to say about lifting, and he encourages the use of padded towel in order to reduce your neck suffering from the bar that is across the vertebral column. He also repeats on a regular basis that you should never relax while in the low position, cause this will no doubt damage your knees.
Someone who doesn’t have a genetic advantage is the great Arnold and would you believe that he too fell into the trap of only training his upper body. Once he had rectified that mistake by really training hard on legs he began to see the most incredible results. He actually managed to train just squats for an amazing 3 hours and up to 50 sets, and the standard squat producing the best results. Arnold just like the rest of us has had to learn the difficult way, and he also advices lifters not to bounce when in the low squat position and also try and use simple controlled movements.
I would be brave enough to say that in my opinion the strongest leg developer in bodybuilding would have to be Tom Platz. He started bodybuildy at the early age of 14 and he remembers that he managed a first set of squats of 10 reps and with a load of 9Olbs/4Okg, so he decided to turn to powerlifting when he was 19. His first training routines were so tough with squats as his main exercise. It’s still gets me to know that he could lift 25Olbs/II3.3k and could squat for IO minutes and working up to I5O reps, by resting and then repeating.
In 1982 at the Mr Olympia contest, the guy did 2O reps with 5I5lbs/233.5k and 8 reps with 635lbs/288k at a mere 22Olbs/99.7k bodyweight, and incredibly enough without using knee wraps. I must admit that I have always looked up to Platz’s strict controlled form and it’s still pretty welll the same. Squats is must for all champs and make sure you get a good look at Ronnie Coleman’s amazing legs.
Should you ever come across Flex Wheeler, Chris Cormier or Kevin Levrone doing a front ab and thighs, you can just see how hard and well they have trained. Any up and coming champion will have to do a variety of squats, but always using common sense as a guide. If you do take this type of training seriously then avoid over training, bad form and do over do it with the weight used.
What we are really trying to achieve with this type of exercise is to make the muscles work really hard, so the amount of weight used is not the important factor. We need to get it into our heads that this is not a power lifting exercise, but a development exercise so make sure you do lighter, high reps squats. You probably just hate squats just like the majority of bodybuilders, but try a few sessions and you will soon see what it can do for your muscle development.
Posted by heavysquater 
