Stature and Flexibility Variables as Discriminators of Foot Contact During the Squat Exercise

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A problem for some novice trainees in a strength program is the inability to maintain complete foot contact with the ground during the parallel squat weight training exercise. The purpose of this study was to determine the relative contribution of selected physical characteristics in discriminating between subjects who were able to maintain complete foot contact with the floor during this exercise and those who could not. Fifty males (X age = 21.1 ± 2.67 years) in beginning weight training classes were measured for height (HT), torso length (TL), femur length (FL), mean of right and left ankle dorsi-flexion (AF), and sit and reach flexibility (SR). Each subject performed three parallel squats with a 20 kg barbell across the top of the trapezius, and with feet shoulder-width apart. Those able to maintain complete foot contact with the ground were classified as Group 1 (n = 42) and all others as Group 2 (n = 8). A correlation matrix revealed that none of the five measured variables shared more than 18 percent common zero-order variance. A full-model multiple discriminant analysis correctly classified 94 percent of the subjects. The relative contribution of each variable to the explained variance from the discriminant function included HT (36.0 percent), TL (33.0 percent), SR (9.3 percent), FL (8.8 percent), and AF (6.9 percent). These data indicate that physical stature and body segment dimensions are more potent discriminators than flexibility measures for the ability to maintain complete foot contact during the parallel squat exercise. Furthermore, tall subjects with relatively short torsos appear to have greater difficulty maintaining foot contact during this exercise than do shorter subjects with relatively long torsos.