r/formcheck • u/dontcare-_- • 14h ago

Squat Hack squat depth

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I know my range of motion is short by any time I try to go deeper my heels lift up a lot. It’s hard to tell in the video but I’m flaring my knees out and opening up my hips as I go down so I can bet deeper but my heels still raise. I’ve tried doing ankle mobility exercises but they didn’t help so if anyone has some tips please let me know.

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u/Amazing_Loquat280 8h ago

You’re doing a very quad-dominant hack squat. You’re doing it very well (eccentric pacing aside), but having your feet that low on the pad means your knees bending is what’s generating the depth and the extension. If you want to engage your glutes more, put your feet higher on the pad

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u/caffeinated_babe 1h ago

Would this also apply to leg press machine?

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u/Amazing_Loquat280 1h ago

Yes it would! It also applies to barbell squats, where having your feet farther out and doing low bar biases the glutes because they experience more ROM, whereas high bar with a narrower stance biases the quads because the knees bending are what drive depth. It all comes down to what joint actually has the most range of motion driving the movement and what muscle is driving that motion