Squat Depth, Clarified

I see a lot of talk online about squat depth: ass to grass this, parallel that, so wanted to do a quick hit to clarify this topic.

We use low bar squat as our primary squat, because when performed correctly, it best fulfills our criteria of 1) training the most muscle mass, 2) over the longest effective ROM, 3) in a way that facilitates the use of the most weight, so that 4) we can get stronger.

These criteria are guidelines not absolute physical rules of nature, so I do program high bar, safety bar, and sometimes front squats and belt squats and other variations for my more advanced lifters - and these variations have different natural depth points, but for novices and early intermediates, hewing strictly to these criteria and using the low bar squat to just below parallel is the way to go.

So that all said, what is proper squat depth for a low bar squat and what does it look like in practice?

Layman’s Definition of Squat Depth

Here’s some actual feedback I wrote to an online client yesterday, who was worried her squat was high (it wasn't, they were all deep, but she was worried):

"Just to clarify to make sure we're on the same page: what we want to be just below parallel is the crease of the hip relative to the plane formed by the top of the kneecap. We want the hip crease to pass below, but only just below, that plane. An inch below is optimal. Two inches below is still great. 3 inches and things start to get loose but OK. Below 3 inches and that's when you start to get loosey goosey and the rebound is really muted because of that.

Going TO parallel isn't a tragedy if it happens on a stray rep here and there, but if it happens often, needs to be addressed."

What it Looks Like in Practice

Here’s a conveniently laid out picture where you can see how each of these 4 positions look in real life. Zoom in to see the difference and track the barbell's height relative to the holes in the rack, as I go from above parallel to parallel to just below parallel to about as low as you want to go before things start loosening up: