Effects of barbell back squat stance width on sagittal and frontal hip and knee kinetics

Abstract

Different stance widths are commonly utilized when completing the barbell back squat during athletic general preparedness training. Width manipulation is thought to influence sagittal plane stimuli to the hip and knee extensors, the primary extensor musculature in the squat. However, how width manipulation affects frontal plane stimuli is less understood. Knowledge of hip and knee net joint moments (NJM) could improve exercise selection when aiming to improve sport-specific performance and prevent injuries. Fourteen adult amateur rugby athletes were recruited for this study. After a familiarization period, participants performed wide- (WIDE, 1.5× greater trochanter width) and narrow-stance (NARROW, 1× greater trochanter width) barbell back squats to femur parallel depth, using relative loads of 70% and 85% of one-repetition maximum. Sagittal and frontal plane hip and knee kinetics and kinematics were compared between widths. A Bonferroni-corrected alpha of 0.01 was employed as the threshold for statistical significance. Knee flexion angle was statistically greater in NARROW than WIDE (P < 0.0001, d = 2.56-2.86); no statistical differences were observed for hip flexion angle between conditions (P = 0.049-0.109, d = 0.33-0.38). Hip-to-knee extension NJM ratios and knee adduction NJMs were statistically greater in WIDE than NARROW (P < 0.007, d = 0.51-1.41). At femur parallel, stance width manipulation in the barbell back squat may provide substantial differences in biomechanical stimulus in both the sagittal plane and the frontal plane. In certain contexts, these differences may have clinically relevant longitudinal implications, from both a performance and a injury prevention standpoint, which are discussed.

New Insights About the Sticking Region in Back Squats: An Analysis of Kinematics, Kinetics, and Myoelectric Activity

“…Nevertheless, our EMG data on the adductor longus and gluteus medius could not confirm this speculation. However, it may be that increasing the stance width could influence how these muscles contribute to hip adduction and abduction moments because of an increased mediolateral to vertical force ratio for the wide stance back squat, as reported by Lahti et al (2019).…”

“…performance (Benz and West Chester, 1989;Fry et al, 1993;Wretenberg et al, 1996;Anderson et al, 1998;Mccaw and Melose, 1999;Escamilla et al, 2001a,b;Pereira et al, 2010;Bryanton et al, 2012;Swinton et al, 2012;Saeterbakken et al, 2016;Glassbrook et al, 2019;Lahti et al, 2019;van den Tillaar, 2019;Maddox et al, 2020;Maddox and Bennett, 2021).…”

“…The squat is commonly used in strength and conditioning preparation in a variety of sports, including the competitive sports of powerlifting and weightlifting, as well as rehabilitation. There are many variations of squats (Glassbrook et al, 2017 ), and many studies have investigated different variations of squat technique to enhance squatting performance (Benz and West Chester, 1989 ; Fry et al, 1993 ; Wretenberg et al, 1996 ; Anderson et al, 1998 ; Mccaw and Melose, 1999 ; Escamilla et al, 2001a , b ; Pereira et al, 2010 ; Bryanton et al, 2012 ; Swinton et al, 2012 ; Saeterbakken et al, 2016 ; Glassbrook et al, 2019 ; Lahti et al, 2019 ; van den Tillaar, 2019 ; Maddox et al, 2020 ; van den Tillaar and Larsen, 2020 ; van den Tillaar et al, 2020 ; Maddox and Bennett, 2021 ).…”

Task‐specific strength increases after lower‐limb compound resistance training occurred in the absence of corticospinal changes in vastus lateralis

“…Neuromuscular function was assessed during non-specific isometric KE, and a task-specific IS. Electromyographic responses were assessed in the vastus lateralis (VL) as this muscle is heavily implicated in knee extension, while the knee extensors are prime movers in the squat exercise (Delgado, Drinkwater, Banyard, Haff, & Nosaka, 2019;Lahti, Hegyi, Vigotsky, & Ahtiainen, 2019) and were considered an appropriate muscle group for the investigation. Moreover, we selected the VL as opposed to the rectus femoris (RF) since we have previously shown that at submaximal contraction intensities, the EMG activity and evoked responses in the RF exhibit poorer agreement between the IS and KE tasks compared to the VL (Brownstein et al, 2018a), which could potentially make the RF less sensitive to changes.…”

Acute effects of knee wraps/sleeve on kinetics, kinematics and muscle forces during the barbell back squat

“…For data collection, all participants presented to the laboratory 48 hours after their previous lower-body resistance training session. Before the measured squats were initiated, a general warm up was completed, followed by squat warm-up sets with 30 and 50% of 1RM (13).…”