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With all the talk about high squats I've seen this year...
I will be the first to admit that I have had some questionable squats passed. But I've also had many perfectly good ones red lighted. In fact, I distinctly remember bombing out of one Nationals. Over the course of the three attempts, I kept stripping gear off until I was squatting in briefs and a singlet. All three lifts were red lighted. After the third, my coach asked the judges, "What the hell was wrong with that one?" The answer was that my depth was excellent. I was red-lighted for ten other reasons. Whatever the hell that meant. Regardless, the sport is made up of good and bad calls.
But, what if you want to squat high? I mean, that is what seems to spark the most attention nowadays. And with social media, it's all about attention... right?
Having missed many squats due to depth, I can offer some advice for those who are looking to squat high.
Embrace it!
First, embrace it. Don't deny it. When people begin to draw attention to it, all you have to do is say "I know, it's awesome." Why deny it? I don't get it. In the game of football, all you have to do is cross the goal line, right? Yes, there are some that take it deep in the end zone but it's six points if you shave the cone or barely touch down at the back of the end zone. When you squat, all you have to do is break. Or, more importantly, get white lights.
Don't ever try to squat too deep, EVER. You see, if you do take it to the hole, or drop way in the bucket, there is simply no angle or gear that will make it look high. From the back, side, front, and hell even overhead, the shit will always look way too deep. If your goal is attention, then never do this. You will get way fewer comments about your ATG squat than you will about your giraffe pussy attempt.
Technical Aspects!
Now for some technical aspects. After you get set up and begin to descend, never lower for more than a two count. One thousand one, one thousand two, then stand the hell up! None of this one thousand three shit. Just UP.
After you get up and fall back into the rack, throw your hands up in victory! No, no, no, do not hang your head in shame or wait for the lights. Just V I C T O R Y! Step under the bar, toss your arms up, and take pride in doing what so few can do.
Lastly, film only from the front because this reduces any chance of seeing what the judges will see. And, since lifts always look high from this angle, your squat will always seem higher than you intended.
Not everyone can do this. It's not easy to do, but if you can pull it off - I mean really pull it off - you can make history!
More Tips and Tricks
Have your bros spot. The side spotter should be positioned in a way that their ass and legs make it hard for the side judge to see. The back spotter should spread their fingers wide and keep them close to the hips in a way that obscures the position of your hip crease. After all, the benefit of the doubt goes to the lifter if the judge can't see!
Wear black. Even if you wear light-colored suit or singlet, spray paint it black from the torso down.
If you miss the first two attempts, make sure your helper gets the MC to announce that you "Need this to stay in the meet." Oh shit! Wait! That's not the case anymore. You can "bomb" out and still stay in the meet. Well, I will leave this just in case.
If there is a younger judge without much experience, find the one person in the room with the biggest name and have them call depth from that side. Since the judge will have no clue, they will pop a white light as long as you stand up.
Depending on the federation, the head judge can't judge depth unless it's a mile high... and by that I mean a mile high. This means you should have an automatic white from the front, so all you need is one side white. You may not know this, but you always will look higher (or lower) on one side more than the other. You want to have whoever is calling you up to do so on your higher side. Remember, you only need one side white.
Half Serious / Half Joking
Since this is half serious and half joking, there's something significant to note here. If you know you got a "gift", you have to take this into account with your next training cycle because the next meet, you may have to take it deeper. If you base your training on a lift that you can't hit in front of other judges, you will be fucked come the next meet.
Lastly, be honest with yourself, your training partners, and clients. Maybe you get a "gift " or you get "ripped off". That's how it goes. But always remember it's competition and you can't control what the judges do (you can try to influence), but you can control how you train. If you always train high, there's no way you will be able to take it lower if you need to.
This shit is "in the bucket"
Oh did I just tell you to squat high?
I will leave that for you to debate but I will say you don't get pounds added to your lift for sitting 4 inches below. Well, that's not entirely true. I do know some people that get a great rebound and if they did try to squat only to the required depth it would kill their squat. Judges - judge, lifters - lift, and critics - criticize.
Oh, and if you have been around long enough that you can judge a squat from the front, you may not always be right. You will be right most of the time but not always.
If I can leave with a parting thought, it's this. For every squat that gets blasted for being high there were hundreds, if not thousands, that were done without question that very same week. And yes, this includes top 20 lifts. For every failed drug test there are hundreds, if not thousands, that passed. For every bench that wasn't locked out, there were thousands that were. With each year we see fewer and fewer "controversial" things happen in the sport so embrace the great lifts and ignore what you feel is bullshit.
To bring attention to the BS does the opposite of what people think it does.
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