Charged Depth

How low is low enough?  For a squat, low enough is when the hip crease goes below the knee.  For an air squat?  Yes.  For a front squat?  Yes.  For a back squat?  Yes.  For an overhead squat?  Yes.  The standard is the same for all of them.

The question arises: what if you can’t go that low under load?  The answer is simple: then you can’t handle the load (weight).  Try reducing the weight.  If you can get the hip crease below the knee with the reduced load then you have discovered the weight that you can squat correctly.

The exception to this is when an athlete can’t execute the proper range of motion due to inflexibility or injury.  In this case, the athlete shouldn’t be doing any loading – they should be practicing air squats and the “weighted” squat motions with a PVC stick to develop the proper range of motion.

Hopefully, when you’re told that your 1RM attempt is no good because you were a couple inches short, you take a deep breath, rest a couple minutes and try again.