Not always. A new study published in Human Movement shows that squat strength is extremely joint-angle specific and different squats improve different aspects of athletic performance.
The study’s authors wanted to see if training with different squats (full, half or quarter) would result in improvements in different areas of athletic performance, such as sprinting or vertical jumping.
The study included healthy, college-age, male athletes who were divided into groups that performed workouts with either full, half or quarter squats over 16 weeks.
The results were rather interesting …
The study showed that quarter squats may be better than half or full squats at improving vertical jump height in college athletes. The same goes for improving sprinting performance – quarter squats appear to improve performance better than full or half squats.
So is it time to do away with full squats to improve vertical jumping and sprinting performance? Let us know in the comments below.