[GqArtguy]

Originally posted by Rev:
COOL! I've been walking around my apartment practicing squating with toes off the ground, dude it helps A LOT! I'm sitting waaaaaaaaay back and all the pressure is on my heel...although it would really suck to fall backwards, I'll just have to practice it a lot. YOU'RE THE MAN! thanks!

You dont want all of the weight on your heels or else youre not going to come back up. There have been times where I cleaned and pull back too far without shifitng the body and had all of the weight on my heels. Couldnt get up to save my life.

Now, a 45 degree tilt in the torso is acceptable, just look at what positions o-lifters are in and make sure youre at about that same level. A perfectly verticle torso isnt going to happen, not even in a front squat.

What I do to minimize the lean is to point my toes outward (about 45 degrees) and make sure that I open my hips on the way down so that my hip, knee, and shin are all in line with my toes. Also, think about lower body as a cradle, like a hammock, and youre lowering your torso directly down the center of it. Doing this I get a very elastic feeling when I squat and can definately feel the hips involved. In this rock bottom position, you should be able to flex your glutes a bit. Theyre already flexed to control the descent, but you should have a little latitude left and youll find if you squeeze them, your body will automatically come up despite your legs. Its like squeezing something in your hand having it pop up out of your hand because of the pressure.

I hope this makes sense, it takes practice to know your body and feel this and more practice to utilize this at the right time, but it will come. It will leave you sore as hell the next day too.