Squat Depth: Are you Deep Enough?

Failing to reach legal depth is the most common technical reason that powerlifters fail on the platform for squats. However, how deep is deep enough for a competition squat. For this article I will be looking at the IPF Squat rules for depth, often considered to be the strictest federation for judging depth.

The Squat Depth Rules

According to the IPF rule book under the section titled “Causes for disqualification of a Squat” in regards to squat depth “Failure to bend the knees and lower the body until the top surface of the legs at the hip joint is lower than the top of the knees, as in the diagram”    This however is not a particularly good image for showing the correct depth.

Another image showing depth can be found in the USAPL Rulebook (IPF Affiliate)

This image depicts a deep squat, which, in competition benefits the lifter during a competition squat because the judge has only a few seconds to decide if your squat is legal depth, the slightly lower than legal depth will  mean fewer red lights.

Squat Depth on a real Powerlifter

This first image is that of a squat which would fail in competition for not reaching the correct depth. When a line is drawn from the top of the knee you can clearly see the crease at the hip joint is above the line.

This second photo, demonstrates a legal powerlifting squat depth, in which the hip joint is clearly below the line drawn from the top of the knee.

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