Olympic squats, also called bodybuilding squats, differ from powerlifting squats in key areas. Both forms of squats require you to use your body as a spring, compressing at the knees and hips to deliver lifting force to a weight across your shoulders. Each style of squat has its proponents, and both squat types are worth studying for bodybuilders who want to experience the differences in form for themselves.
Knee Position
A classic Olympic squat requires a significantly deeper bend in your knees than the powerlifting squat. During a powerlifting squat, your knees never form an acute angle or project beyond your feet. Your shins stay close to vertical. Good form in an Olympic squat involves dipping your upper body low enough to form a noticeably acute angle of 45 to 55 degrees with your knees. Your knees travel slightly beyond your feet to counterbalance the degree of the bend at your hips. In an Olympic squat, your knees bear more force than they do during a powerlifting squat. Conversely, a powerlifting squat applies more force to the lower back, gluteus muscles and quadriceps.
Hip Position
In both types of squats, the angle of your hip bend corresponds to the angle of your knee bend to keep the weight distributed evenly and traveling on a perfectly vertical plane as you lift and lower. In a powerlifting squat, the knee bend is shallower, so the hip bend deepens to compensate. Olympic squats have a roughly equal distribution of bend, with both the knees and the hips forming similar acute angles during the lowest point of the squat.
Weight Position
The initial position for an Olympic squat is upright with the weight across the highest point of the shoulders. A powerlifting squat begins with a slight forward tilt and the weight bar lower on the back and shoulders. That slightly forward stance translates into a capacity for a heavier lift, but it also applies more force to your lower back than the relatively vertical posture of an Olympic squat.
Powerlifting Squat Benefits and Drawbacks
If your aim is to lift as much weight as possible, the powerlifting squat will maximize the load you can lift. Because it uses the massive quadriceps and gluteus muscles, it provides the greatest amount of lifting force. This style of squat also applies less stress to your knees. However, the stress you save on your knees instead travels to your lower back during a PL squat. The position of your hips may initially feel unnatural because your body is accustomed to bending knees and hips equally to lower itself into a squat.
Olympic Squat Benefits and Drawbacks
An Olympic squat distributes the weight more evenly throughout your body, applying force to your knees, hips and lower back in roughly equal proportions. You also get a greater degree of motion from an Olympic squat, so if you're performing squats for exercise, you'll work more major muscle groups with this style of squat. Although that even distribution of stress preserves your lower back from injury, it applies more stress to your knees than a powerlifting squat. If you have sustained prior knee injuries, deep squats may exacerbate existing knee trouble.
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