Muscle Gain Forum

My squat feels solid, but I grind like crazy coming out of the hole. Any tips, drills or accessories that helped you explode faster from the bottom?

Bro this is super common. You’re probably losing tightness in the hole. Try paused squats (2–3 sec at the bottom). Builds that starting strength like crazy.

I used to get stapled outta the hole too lol. What helped me most was box squats slightly below parallel and really focusing on driving hips + chest up together. If your chest shoots forward, you’re done.

Yeah I think I might be losing tightness tbh. Do you guys stay super braced even at the very bottom or relax a bit?

Never relax, man. Stay braced like someone’s about to punch you in the gut the whole time. Also think “push the floor away” instead of just standing up. Sounds dumb but it clicks.

Add some pin squats starting from the hole. Set safeties right at depth and explode from dead stop. No stretch reflex = pure strength. Humbling af though

Could be weak quads tbh. Everyone loves saying “posterior chain bro” but getting out of the hole is quad city. Front squats and high bar work helped me blow past that sticking point.

Front squats actually make sense, mine are trash compared to my back squat. Might explain a lot.

Speed work helped me a ton. Like 60–70% for fast doubles, focusing on bar speed. Teaches your body to be explosive instead of grinding every rep.

Not enough people talk about ankle mobility either. If your knees can’t travel forward, you’re gonna fold and stall. Open those ankles up and your positioning in the hole gets way stronger.