I would use your standard squat fairly consistently (perhaps 8-12 weeks long, or if you’re a powerlifter never really get away from that style of squat), and probably rotate other styles of squats every 3-4 weeks.
I agree with full squats, butt to the ground, hamstrings touching calves. The full range of motion. Feet about shoulder width, brace yourself, go down all the way, explode up, breathe, repeat. Some variety in foot position may be good SOMETIMES, but in general, I would stick with a more narrow, shoulder width stance as I think that hits the hip flexors more. Am I right about this? Not sure, but it worked very well for me.
Agree with all.
Close foot stance - i.e. no more than shoulder width apart and feet straight pointing ahead.
Good points, with the exception of the hip flexors remark. The only way the hip flexors work on the squat is as an antagonist. The stance requires more hip flexion, but this tends to load the quads more.
Sorry, AR?? 
Aaah! I see…
Yes, she is…
Well done! 
Do you guys have any sites showing a link/desciption to a full “ATG” squat?
And is it okay to begin with small weight plates under my heels to help with my balance on narrow & deep squats?
Yes, heel lifts can help tremendously when first starting. I use them on almost all beginners.
I was thinking, next gym session, I’ll try deep & narrow squats with a stance slightly-wider than shoulder-width, with the heel blocks. I plan to do so with my toes pointing slightly outwards too. Anything wrong with that?
No, but make sure your toes pointing out is even to your knees pointing out.
Okay, last couple of questions I promise.
Does it matter whether my knees go past my toes?
Also, what is meant by ‘neural spine’?
Second that in a big way. Mark Rippetoe teaches feet pointing out, so I tried it, and narrowly escaped injury. As it was, I missed a bunch of squatting due to the minor hurt I did suffer. My $.02 is that it’s easier to be sure everything is lined up right with feet pointed straight ahead, about shoulder width. Besides, if it’s good enough for Chakarov to bury a triple BW ATF, it should be good enough for the rest of us.
It doesn’t really matter if your knees go past your toes (depending on your technique) because your glute/hamstring involvement should increase as you go lower and lower and the knees aren’t going to work that hard because of active insufficiency.
‘Neutral Spine’ refers to what’s considered optimal spine positioining for loading. For most, it means a slight anterior tilt (like in the ass-shakin’ videos) and good lordotic curve.
My personal feedback using a wide stance and going ass to the grass i found the magnus adductor be very much involved. That doesn’t necessarily mean you have use a closer stance.
Any feedback about that?
Yeah, I use a relatively wide stance and my adductors have developed like crazy (almost over-developed now). I think I’m going to shift back to a more narrow stance for a couple of months and see if I can boost my squat with the change.
Wider stance will include the adductors more.
Speedkills - what is the reasoning behind pointing feet out? I don’t agree. Pointing feet out will almost certainly encourage a knees-out stance and introduce more adductor activation - not necessarily a desired effect.
I agree with the Knee forward point - once it is within reason the knees will travel slightly beyond the feet (of course as a mate of mine says - it depends on foot size!!!)
With a feet slightly out stance (left foot = 11 o’clock, right foot = 1 o’clock) the hips feel more free to move. I’ve been concerned about over-development and imbalance, but I’ve stopped trying to make my squat into something it’s not. I’m still using a wide variety of standing leg movements with different foot placement so I’m counting on those movements to add balance to my leg development.
OK 11 and 1 I can do.
I do think straight ahead is best though.
Let’s not be too anal, but it just that when we’re at 10 and 2 then we’re going way to far out.
Straight ahead is better. Anything else is a sign of compensation for lack of ROM or strength elsewhere in the body (usually it’s the psoas being tight and not functioning properly). By turning out the feet and using hip abduction in place of true hip flexion (to sit down) is not going to do good for your joints in the long run by strengthening the dysfunctions even further.
I hate posts that are supposed to revolutionize squat technique by a “this is right, that is wrong” approach. Next, this will take the, “but I squat 600 pounds so I’m right” turn.