What is a parallel squat?

Written by Alex Corbett, PT, DPT

In order to understand squat depth, we need to quickly cover some anatomy and put it in the context of who is evaluating the squat. Many organizations such as the Collegiate Strength and Conditioning Coaches Association define a parallel squat to be when the thigh is parallel to the ground, or in our definition, when the femur is parallel to the ground based on the anatomical landmarks of the greater trochanter and lateral femoral epicondyle being level with each other. Breaking parallel may also mean something different in other contexts such as powerlifting, so we’ll cover the differences below.

Squat Anatomy Landmarks

The lateral epicondyle is the bony protrusion on the outside of your knee joint. Based on most people’s anatomy, it is slightly below the top of your knee. The greater trochanter is the bony protrusion at your hip joint. If you stand up, place your hand on your outer hip, and then rotate your foot in & out on the ground like you’re putting out a cigarette, you’ll feel this spot moving. On most people, this about 3/8 the way down from the hip crease (image above shows the hip joint too low). In the anatomy world, these are the two distinct landmarks that that are used to palpate or visually approximate to gauge range of motion. Strength Origins utilizes a visual approximation of thigh-parallel to judge squatting depth.

The hip crease and top of the knee are usually easy to spot, however, depending on the angle and clothing worn, these landmarks may be hard to see. Additionally, sometimes the kneecap is referenced as a landmark for depth, but it is not a good marker to use for the following reason.

As you squat deeper, the kneecap moves downward, so if you landmark the top of the knee cap, you’re actually being penalized the deeper you go.

Powerlifting Squat Depth

Although required depth varies between different powerlifting organizations, most have established that the hip crease must drop below the top of the knee for sufficient depth. In this context, parallel would be the imaginary line that connects the hip crease to the top of the knee. The image below is straight from USAPL’s rulebook, contrasted against our previous diagram.

USAPL squat depth rules — USAPL Squat Depth Rule

As you can see, getting your hip crease below the top of your knee will break parallel, but breaking parallel does not guarantee your hip crease will fall below the top of your knee. Ultimately, it is important to practice your squatting depth based on the rules you’ll be judged on.