What stance do you take?
Are you ever unsure what the correct feet position is for different exercises? You’re not alone. This article will help you identify the appropriate stance quickly.
Squatting stance and deadlift/jumping stance are the two most common in our training method. It’s also something that we often correct, with people often mixing them up.
Having the incorrect stance can be detrimental to your training. Have you ever tried squatting when your feet are to close together? It’s uncomfortable and you have no room to reach full depth. It will also reduce how much weight you can lift, in turn reducing the effectiveness for the movement.
A simple way to think about it is pulling and pushing. If you’re pulling the bar you’ll use a deadlift/jumping stance. If you’re pushing the bar then a squat stance.
Deadlift/jumping stance set up.
We set up the deadlift/jumping stance about hip width apart with toes forward. To find hip width, point to the pointy bones at the front of the hip. This is your anterior superior iliac spine (ASIS) and will be approx. the width of your feet. This is pretty much standard for most people, but there are exceptions to this rule. These lifts are your conventional deadlifts, RDL’s, cleans, snatches, KB swings, all different types of bi-lateral jumps.
Squat stance set up.
The squat stance is different for everyone and depends on your hip structure and lever lengths. Normally this around shoulder – to just outside shoulder width with toes forward or slightly turned out, not excessively. Because your hip is going through a large range of motion it needs to feel comfortable and you need to find the strongest stance for you. This will take time along with trial and error. If you’re tight, getting in to the strongest stance might not yet be possible until mobility improves. This is important and shouldn’t be overlooked. You’ll need to do the mobility exercises to correct this. These lifts are your back squats, front squats, overhead squats, and often the landing positions of jumps, cleans and snatches.
To make your training more effective get to know your stances, and know which is for what. To take your training to the next level you need to become a student of strength training and learn as much as you can!
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