Licensed PTs or certified meatheads/gym trainers: foot position for deep squats?

[DOOFUS]

I've always been a toes straight ahead guy, because that's what I was taught. I can get parallel, but not much lower.

I see the full-on meatheads with toes slightly out to get below parallel.

What should a bike nerd do? Toes out to get more gluteas medias and VMO development by going deeper, or toes ahead because that's how you pedal?

[David Tollefson]

In line with the quads, under the knees.

[DOOFUS]

so toes slightly out to achieve that alignment

[Too Tall]

so toes slightly out to achieve that alignment

Yep. Works for me. No pain or aching after.

[David Tollefson]

so toes slightly out to achieve that alignment

Dizactly.

[ned]

Doof- Make sure your knees stay aligned (but behind) your 2nd toes. You're going to have the tendency to let your knees dive inward (medial) because of your ankle mechanics. Monitor this with a mirror and keep those butt cheeks tight.

[seanile]

i like to do a jumpie and then stop in the squat portion, and see how im formatted for that. but the basics are toes slightly out, feet under your knees, weight on your heels, hips forward/lower back straight, and chest out. flex your whole body, especially your upper back by squeezing your shoulders together, thisll open your chest.
your feet shouldnt be straight forward unless they naturally sit that way (which they dont for peeps without weird feets).

[11.4]

You're really opening up a number of issues here. First, feet parallel and close together is not and never has been proper technique for any form of weightlifting. Just because we clip our feet in that way doesn't mean it's the right way to lift weights. You really want your hip, knee, and ankle joints to work through motions that are natural for them, and that really isn't. More importantly, parallel feet change the way you lift weight and how much you lift.

If you want to lift weights, you basically have a choice between powerlifting and Olympic. The actual events have evolved to be quite different (Olympic has the snatch and the clean-and-jerk and no squat at all, and powerlifting has the bench which isn't of much use to cyclists), but the basic lifts are fairly close. The hand positions are different, the bar is higher up on your shoulders with the Olympic, the lifts vary in depth, and the bar itself is different (the Olympic bar has smoother bearings and has more of a bounce), and so on. But you asked about feet. The squat positions are slightly different -- depth, width of the knees, and so on. But the knees always follow the feet, and the feet are pointed outwards. Some people use a hybrid position, and for cycling, your focus is probably on the back squat, dead lift, and clean, so you'll likely be using one version of foot position for one lift, another version for another lift. I'd strongly suggest you get a good book and video like Starting Strength, by Mark Rippetoe. Some people love him, a few despise him (mostly for his views, not for his coaching), but he has very good materials that will keep you safe and improving. A lot of the track world follows his style. It's more powerlifting than Olympic, but still a little bit of both.

The actual position your feet take, and that your knees follow, isn't written in stone. It's really about your own anatomic form and to an extent (and this is the competitive weightlifting guy speaking) how much you can lift in each position. You'll find that you can rack an additional 40-50 pounds if you change your feet position slightly. That's because you change your whole body position when your foot position changes -- it alters how you use your hips versus thighs versus back, how upright your back is, and so on. This is why powerlifters tend to use zero-lift shoes and Olympic lifters use relatively high heels. So your question is not about protecting knees or simply matching the action on the bike ... it's all about how your whole body participates in the lift. And for cycling you aren't just trying to build monster thighs -- you want to have coordinated strength development including your legs, hips, core, etc., and that's what these lifts are so good for. Slight changes in foot position will give major changes in hip development, quad development, lower back, upper back. etc.

I know this sounds like a bit of a wandering explanation, but the whole issue is very involved and better addressed with a coach or with a lot of reading material. You can get tons of good weightlifting guidance on the internet. Just google "Olympic vs. powerlifting" and see what comes up. You'll get a better idea that way. Hope that makes sense.