Building A World Record Squat - Pt2

Pt2 - Women's Powerlifting Records

Introduction

Welcome to Part 2 of the Powerlifting technical series, as with last week I will be pulling apart the squat but for today i will be diving into the Women’s world records and finding those common themes that are present across all of the biggest squats in classic Powerlifting.

I think it’s important to repeat the reason for this analysis.

I believe that although there is variance between lifters’ technique and their own strategy for producing force to squat enormous weights there will be a common thread that links all of the best lifts together and these styles, landmarks, shapes and kit preferences are what we need to understand to be able to coach effectively and to self coach effectively.

Technique is your strategy for applying force into the ground and the bar so understanding what things to be aware of and what to work towards will shape your training in a different way than just using a model that focusses on doing more work (reps and bar load).

The Records

Women’s Powerlifting has grown in popularity and with the increase in the talent pool we are now seeing some outrageous numbers and more recently (past 18 months) the first woman to cross 300kg in the classic division of the sport.

The most notable thing is that no record is older than Feb ‘24, if there were an indication that this side of the sport is flourishing and on the up then this is it.

Further to that is the quality and relative strength of the lifters, no is no direct comparison due to the weight class differences, so relative loads help compare apple to apples. 6/8 records are over 3 x bodyweight with Tiffany Chapon creeping into 3.54 x bodyweight. Phenomenal strength an dwhen you get to the supers and weight is unrestricted, Sonita Mulah is at 2.36 x bodyweight compared to Jesus Olivares at 2.56 x BW.

A total hypothetical but potentially helps with context, if Sonita were of the same size as Jesus competing in the mens classes she would be at 440kg and knocking on 1000lbs.

Another interesting piece of information which confirms we are just at the tipping point of where the women’s classes will go is the rate of progress of these records over time. If they continue at the current rate with record's in all classes being broken yearly we could be seeing some insane weights being lifted the tables below show the rate of progress across the weight classes plus a progression based on rate of improvement as to where they could be in 3 years time.

These are some outstanding number already, but the potential here is unbelievable and will take women’s Powerlifting to an unheard of level.

The Process

If you didn’t read the previous newsletter I outlined the process more thoroughly there, but essentially I will take a video of each world record and break down the following components:

• Equipment

• Footwear

• Belt Placement

• Pre-Lift Setup

• Bar Position

• Hand Placement

• Elbow Angle

• Walkout

• Stance

• Breathing and Bracing

• Head Position

• Movement Execution

• Initial Movement

• Shin Angle

• Knee Valgus

• Thoracic Extension

We are looking for common themes across the best in all weight classes to find those things that are key to achieving great squats. Once completed I will provide a summary of the key similarities which you can then take into your own analysis and coaching moving forwards.

Equipment

Footwear

A complete split down the middle regarding footwear, flat or heels seems to be purely down to preference, although with further analysis there is a trend toward the bias toward a neutral shin angle and wearing flats over heels and heels being a preference for those who had narrower stance. Although it would appear individual preference is the overriding takeaway i would argue that if you are a narrower squatter and you trend towards a positive shin angle.

Belt Placement

All lifters showed a lower belt placement than higher but it must be noted that due to the stature of the women and the standardised size of a Powerlifting belt this is hard to distinguish compared tot he mens classes. the belt covers the majority of the trunk between the pelvis and the ribcage.

Pre-Lift Set Up

Bar Position

Every lifter utilises a low bar position, there is a small amount of variance with Pluen Dekkers and Karlina Tongotea utilising a lower than average bar position. The uniformity in bar position across all lifters suggests this is a crucial technical element for maximising squat performance.

Hand Placement

Different to the mens classes there is complete uniformity with the women all using a hand placement inside the rings, but as mentioned the stature of the women i different to men and the amount of muscle mass across the upper limb may allow for narrower hand placements. As a recommendation it would appear beneficial to have the hands inside the rings although I find it unlikely that many women will have this technical issue.

Elbow Angle

According to the data, 6/8 lifters preferred a downward-pointing elbow angle. Only two lifters (Pleun and Tongotea) used elbows pointing backward. Again this is likely due to the inherent higher levels of flexibility in women. It would be quite clear that it is advantageous to have elbows down in the squat.

Walkout

Looking at the walkout, there is variation among the lifters: Chapon uses 2 steps, Pleun and Jacobs both use 3 steps, Bavoil consistently uses 2 steps (appears twice in the data), Tongotea uses 4 steps, Lawrence uses 3 steps, and Muluh uses 3 steps. This shows that while there's some variation in walkout preferences, most of the elite world record female lifters tend to use either 2 or 3 steps in their walkout setup.

Stance

Looking at the stance data from the table, there is significant variation among the elite female lifters. Three lifters (Jacobs, Lawrence, and Muluh) use an outside shoulder width stance, two lifters (Pleun and Tongotea) use shoulder width stance, and three lifters (Chapon and two instances of Bavoil) use an inside shoulder width stance. This diversity in stance width suggests that individual biomechanics and preference may play a more important role than adhering to a single "optimal" stance width. Find something and stick with it.

Breathing and Bracing

With breathing and bracing data, all lifters demonstrated visible breath-taking during their setup. The majority of lifters showed a slight drop in ribcage during the brace, including Chapon, Jacobs, both instances of Bavoil, and Muluh. Only Tongotea and Lawrence exhibited a slight lift in ribcage, while Pleun maintained no change in ribcage position. This data suggests that maintaining a controlled breath (75% max inhalation) with a tendency toward a slight ribcage drop is the most common approach among elite female powerlifters. Likely due to maintaining ribcage stacking and bar path throughout the lift

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Head Position

Looking at the head position data from the women's powerlifters, 5/8 lifters had their head up, while 3/8 had their head down. Looking down appear to be a very specific technical modification for certain lifters. Both Chapon and Tongotea look down but exhibit very different style in general within the squat, almost further proving the bespoke nature of the cue. The recommendation would be to look up slightly when squatting.

Movement Execution

Initial Movement

The vast majority (7/8) lifters demonstrated a hip-dominant approach when initiating the squat, with Chapon being the only lifter using a knee-dominant pattern. This shows a strong preference among elite female powerlifters for leading with the hips during the descent phase of the squat. it would be strongly recommended to adopt a hip first approach to squatting maximal weights.

Shin Angle (Knees Over Toes)

Based on the data, there's an even split between positive shin angles (where knees travel forward over toes) and neutral shin angles. As mentioned earlier there is an interesting pattern emerges where lifters using heeled shoes tend to show more positive shin angles, while those in flats maintain more neutral shin angles. For optimal performance, lifters should choose their footwear based on their preferred squatting style, if you tend toward a narrower stance with forward knee travel, heeled shoes might be beneficial. Conversely, if you prefer a wider stance with more vertical shins, flat shoes could be the better choice. Ankle dorsiflexion range is a big component of here. More knee over toe requires more dorsiflexion, a heeled show provide greater relative dorsiflexion.

Knee Valgus (Knee Cave)

Looking at the women's data, 6 out of 8 lifters showed knee valgus during the squat ascent, with only Tongotea and Muluh showing no valgus. This contrasts significantly with the men's data where there was a complete absence of knee valgus during world record attempts.

This difference between men and women's squatting mechanics likely relates to anatomical and biomechanical factors. Women typically have wider hips and different Q-angles compared to me

n, which could predispose them to greater knee valgus in squatting. However, as noted in the men's analysis, the absence of valgus in elite male lifters suggests that while it may be common in female lifters, it's not necessarily optimal for maximal performance. The recommendation remains to address this through targeted programming and technique work focusing on individual muscle weaknesses and motor control in compromised ranges. A really interesting topic and I think a comparison of the women’s records within equipped and classic may shed more light on the absolute loads and outcomes?

Thoracic Extension (Upper Back Rounding)

All eight lifters consistently maintained thoracic extension throughout their lifts. This unanimous pattern suggests that maintaining proper thoracic extension and ribcage stacking is a crucial technical element for successful maximal squats among elite female powerlifters.

The Roundup

What would you want you squat to look like? What are the key aspects to focus on. I believe the table below helps narrow the options down

Next Week

Next week I will be moving to the bench press and working through the world records there. One of my favourite lifts so I’m looking forwards to getting stuck into the analysis of it all.