Subject: Squat with your HAMSTRINGS...be stronger and save your knees and back!
Learning how to squat with your hamstrings is something most people don't even realize they SHOULD be doing!
After all, you CAN actually perform a squat without really activating the hamstrings.
That being said, it's actually VERY important that you learn how to squat with your hamstrings if you want to protect your knees and lower back and maximize the weight you can lift.
There are several reasons you want to get the hamstrings working when you squat.
1. Increased muscle activation means greater strength. When you get the hamstrings involved, you'll be able to lift more weight because there will be more overall muscle mass contributing to the movement.
2. Hamstring activation balances the torque in the knee joint that the quadriceps are placing on the knee during the squat. One of the main reasons why the leg extension can be so tough on the knees is this unbalanced torque on the knee joint.
By increasing hamstring activation during the squat (out of the bottom, in the deepest point of the squat), you can balance out the forces on the knee joint and potentially get people who THINK they can't squat because of bad knees to successfully perform a squat. The squat goes from a knee-dominant exercise to a hip-dominant exercise.
(and when I say this, I'm not saying this is ALWAYS the case...sometimes there really are structural issues in the knees that won't allow for squatting...this hamstrings CAN help in some cases, though)
3. Hamstring activation at the bottom of the movement helps to maintain the arch of the lumbar spine at the bottom of the movement, helping to better stabilize the spine and protect the lower back.
Nick Nilsson
The "Mad Scientist of Muscle"
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