The Activation of Gluteal, Thigh, and Lower Back Muscles in Different Squat Variations Performed by Competitive Bodybuilders: Implications for Resistance Training

The present study investigated the activation of gluteal, thigh, and lower back muscles in different squat variations. Ten male competitive bodybuilders perform back-squat at full (full-BS) or parallel (parallel-BS) depth, using large feet-stance (sumo-BS), and enhancing the feet external rotation (external-rotated-sumo-BS) and front-squat (FS) at 80% 1-RM. The normalized surface electromyographic root-mean-square (sEMG RMS) amplitude of and was recorded during both the ascending and descending phase of each exercise. During the descending phase, greater sEMG RMS amplitude of and was found in FS vs. all other exercises ( < 0.05). Additionally, FS elicited more than all other exercises. During the ascending phase, both sumo-BS and external-rotated-sumo-BS showed greater and activation compared to all other exercises ( < 0.05). Moreover, activation was greater in FS compared to full-BS ( < 0.05). No between-exercise difference was found in and showed no between-exercise difference. FS needs more backward stabilization during the descending phase. Larger feet-stance increases thigh muscles activity, possibly because of their longer length. These findings show how bodybuilders uniquely recruit muscles when performing different squat variations.