It’s a component that I feel many people glaze over, and something that deserves a little more love. Unfortunately, many approach squatting – especially the set-up – with a nonchalant attitude, and subsequently either 1) performance suffers or worse 2) someone gets injured.
What really surprised me was just how much attention the video garnered. It certainly wasn’t for my good looks. I mean I’m pretty, but not that pretty.
What it told me was that it’s a topic that people are interested in and want to learn more about.
Or maybe part of the popularity was that it gave people an opportunity to debate. I couldn’t believe how many people made a stink over something as nondescript as my preference to coach people to grab the bar with their thumbs (rather than set up with the thumbs over the bar).
Some made the case that it places more stress on the wrists.
Okay. So what? Correct me if I’m wrong here, but genrally speaking, squats suck. Like, a lot. We’re not picking daises and running underneath a rainbow here. There’s going to be some level of discomfort going on.
And NEWSLASH: squats are going to place a stress on the body, wrists included.
If for some reason your wrists hurt while grabbing the bar, fine, do it your way. I really could care less, and understand there is some degree of personal preference here.
The main point to hammer and what I felt was lost in translation was the notion that one PULLS DOWN on the bar to increase stability and tightness.
And it’s the latter point – the whole concept of “tightness” – which is the crux of today’s post.
What do we mean by “staying tight” when squatting? And why is it beneficial?
In this short video I cover:
1. Why getting your air, twice (which is something both Mike Robertson and Jim Smith have discussed in the past) is crucial.
AND
2. Why, when box squatting, I’m not a fan of allowing people to rock/relax on the box itself.
While I didn’t mention it in the video, I liken it to a melting candle. Which is to say: losing tightness at the bottom is not going to do your back any favors.
2012 is about thiiiis close to coming to a close, and since we’re all still here (HA!….take that Mayans!) I thought I’d use the last day and highlight the ten most popular posts of the past year based off of the total number of visits/hits each received.
It was the best year yet for TonyGentilcore.com, and I can’t thank everyone enough for their continued readership, and more importantly, support.
If I could give every single one of a hug I would. But not only would that be weird, it’s pretty much impossible. Nevertheless, please know that I am repeatedly grateful to all of you and here’s hoping that 2013 bring us all happiness, love, and PRs!
Fixing the “Tuck Under” When Squatting Parts ONE and TWO
Almost resoundingly, by a few thousand visits, this was a very popular two-part post I wrote on how to fix the tuck under or “butt wink” at the bottom of the squat. I guess people like reading about squats!
I don’t know which is more controversial: CrossFit, the so-called “fiscal cliff” we’re about to nose dive off of, Hitler, or the three weeks worth of facial hair that’s currently on my grill (which is a record for me).
In any case, whenever you mention CrossFit, you can bet that the sirens are blasted, and people are going to come out in droves to express their opinion.
Here I take a firm (albeit fair) take as to why I’m not a fan of kipping pull-ups.
This was a topic of a staff in-service that I did where I discussed some of the (several) intricacies that exist between the box squat and the squat TO box.
As the title suggests, yes, there is a difference.
The impetus behind this post was an email exchange I had with one of my female clients and a discussion we had on the differences between weight loss and fat loss. It’s a topic I feel many people can glue themselves to because we’ve all been there.
The information and logic provides are sound, but if anything else, what’s most impressive of all is my use of the word flummoxed. Seriously, gold star for that one!
I heart deadlifts. So it should come as no surprise that one of the 317 articles (slight exaggeration) I wrote on it should pop up in the top ten. Here I breakdown some common (and uncommon) coaching cues that I often use with my athletes and clients to help improve their technique.
It’s a rhetorical question, because in the grand scheme of things any warm-up is better than no warm-up at all. Although, if I’m going to be a little biased I think this one is pretty money.
I got in a little hot water after posting this article earlier in the year. You would think, after reading some of the comments I received, that I made a case for why women shouldn’t be allowed to vote!
99% of the people “got” the message: how the fitness industry panders to women is a complete joke, and there’s a massive double standard: men should lift weight, women should take yoga class.
Today’s post comes from the one and only Bret Contreras. As he’ll note below, I received an email from a fan of my blog asking me for my opinion on some candid remarks she overheard one of the strength coaches at her university regurgitate to a few other students.
And by using the word regurgitate I’m being really nice.
To say I was shocked at this particular coach’s train of thought would be an understatement, and I had to pinch myself to make sure I didn’t somehow time travel back to 1986.
Which, actually, would be kinda sweet because tv back then was awesome, what with shows like Airwolf, The A-Team, and The Gummi Bears rocking the airwaves.
Nevertheless I was definitely taken for a loop when I read this coach’s comments, and I could think of no one else I’d rather see write an appropriate and thorough response than Bret.
Thankfully he came through with flying colors, and absolutely PWNED the guy. Enjoy!
A Critical Reply to an Uncritical Coach – Bret Contreras
Last month, an avid reader of this blog wrote to Tony requesting expertise. Tony sent it over to me for a good laugh. But I’m always up for a good grilling, so I asked Tony if he’d let me respond. In the past I’ve been disrespectful to those I grill, so I will try my best to remain professional here. The gist is that there’s some strength coach out there (we won’t mention his name) who is simply making a bunch of stuff up. This guy needs to be corrected so his athletes can receive proper training. Below are his comments. In gray is what the reader wrote to Tony, and my responses are in red:
Today I was eavesdropping on a conversation between the head S&C coach and a couple of his practicum students. They were talking about how he teaches the squat to his athletes. The coach said that because so many athletes are stronger in their posterior chain compared to their quads, he strongly discourages his athletes from “sitting back” or having any type of hip hinge movement while squatting to minimize glute and hamstring involvement and target the quads. He said the box squat or squat to a box was a pointless exercise due to the hip hinge requirement and the nearly vertical tibia – he wants his athletes squatting by dropping straight down, staying relatively upright and getting the knees a fair ways beyond the toes. He emphasizes developing quad strength over posterior chain strength in all of his young athletes. Also, he said that prevention of ACL injuries would be enhanced if there was less emphasis on hip hinging and more emphasis on quad strengthening, especially in female athletes.
I pretty much disagree with everything this coach said. I see this all the time, and it’s worth addressing.
Many coaches formulate their methods based on what they think happens and what seems rational in their minds. They don’t read research or utilize the scientific method, and prefer to rely on intuition. They may still achieve good results, as many avenues lead to success. For example, coaches who simply have their athletes full squat and sprint will see improvements in performance. But due to false assumptions and failure to take advantage of the thousands of available prior scientific studies conducted by hardworking sports scientists and strength coaches, their athletes will fail to achieve maximum results, which is unfortunate. At any rate, here is my retort
1. Athletes are supposed to be stronger in their posterior chains compared to their quads. Gluteus maximus plus hamstrings plus adductor magnus should slightly outperform the quadriceps in terms of total muscle force and extension-torque production. If this is the case with athletes (hip extensor dominance), you should be happy and should not try to change the ratio toward quad-dominance. Strong quads are indeed important in sports, but it’s ideal for the hips to stay stronger than the quads.
2. No squat variation is “pointless.” The box squat is a welcome variation as the vertical tibia increases the hip extension moment and decreases the knee extension moment. In other words, more torque is required out of the hips, and less torque is required out of the knees. This is highly beneficial for lifters ranging from newbies, to those prone to experiencing knee pain or injury, to powerlifters. The full squat with an upright stance is also a good variation, especially for Olympic lifters, but not everyone can handle the forces on the knee joint associated with this variation.
3. Actually, quad-dominance increases the risk of ACL injuries, in addition to increasing the risk of hamstring and low back injuries. And actually, youngsters, females, and beginners typically exhibit quad-dominance due to high daily-activation in the quadriceps with concomitant low daily-activation in the glutes. For this reason, hip extension strength, particularly gluteal strength, should be emphasized with these athletes, along with just about every other athlete too.
But wait! There’s more. The reader later sent another email to Tony with more “gems”:
He pretty much had a hate-on for the hip hinge. He said that “vertical displacement” is the key in sprinting and jumping, not the horizontal displacement of the hips moving back and forth. Therefore, the hip hinge should not be emphasized and the quads should. He never tells his athletes to “sit back”. He said that if he had an athlete who was knee-dominant, he would not try to strengthen his/her hips “because then they’ll use their hips for everything.”
Vertical displacement is indeed the key for jumping, but not for sprinting. You do not want to be bouncing up and down excessively when sprinting. The key to sprinting is to produce just enough vertical force to raise the center of mass just enough to cycle the legs back around so they can reproduce horizontal force. Anything greater in terms of vertical force production is wasted energy and will result in slower speeds.
But now I need to address something very alarming.
Nothing we do in the weightroom completely mimics on the field performance.
If resistance training had to exactly mimic sport actions in order to transfer to performance, we would not be able to add resistance, since adding load in any form (bands, vests, sleds, free weights, etc.) immediately changes mechanics.
Squats, RDLs, split squats, hip thrusts, and back extensions would all screw up sprinting and jumping performance. Hell, squats would screw up RDLs and vice-versa, sprints would screw up jumps and vice-versa, etc.
However, we have tons of research showing improved performance and transfer of training from resistance training to sporting actions, from plyometrics to resistance training, and so on and so forth. There is a synergistic effect with the various types of hip extension exercises, and an athlete should be strong in all leg and hip muscles through a full range of motion. This requires multiple exercises.
Of course you don’t want athletes sitting back excessively when they jump, but they can differentiate RDL’s and box squats from jumping performance as they are separate motor qualities.
RDLs and box squats don’t automatically cause athletes to sit back too much when they jump, Oly squats and split squats don’t automatically cause athletes to stay too upright when they jump, and hip thrusts don’t automatically cause athletes to want to lie down on their backs in the middle of a game (note the heavy sarcasm).
As long as there exists a balance in programming, athletic form remains intact. In the weightroom, we strengthen muscles and movement patterns, and the athletes are able to blend the newfound neuromuscular improvements into their jumping and sprinting motor programs.
Last, research shows that the knee extension torque does not increase nearly as much as hip extension torque when transitioning from running to maximal sprinting, submaximal jumping to maximal jumping, and submaximal squats, lunges, and deadlifts to maximal squats, lunges and deadlifts. This is very important as it suggests that continual improvements are reliant upon strengthening the hips!
He thinks “glute activation” is complete BS because there’s no way to “prove” that it works (even using EMG). He said that the simple, low-load, isolated movements that are used to activate the glutes have no transfer to multi-joint movements like the squat or to the performance of the actual sport. I don’t think he believes that the glutes need to be activated in the first place.
There are many ways to show that glute activation works. We can obtain clues by examining the EMG activation, but at the end of the day we need training studies showing significant results. Glute activation is in its infancy in terms of the literature. However, in just the past couple of years, several important studies have emerged:
One showing actual EMG profiles of strongmen performing various strongman exercises. The better performers clearly used their glutes more so than the poorer performers.
One showing increased glute activation with simultaneous decreased hamstring activation during hip extension exercise
One showing increased hip extension strength, decreased hamstring activation during the support phase in running, and cured hamstring cramping in a triathlete
And one showing significantly improved power production during a vertical jump compared to controls and a whole-body vibration warm-up
Considering that many well-respected coaches and rehabilitation specialists such as Tony Gentilcore, Eric Cressey, Mark Verstegen, Michael Boyle, Pavel Tsatsouline, and Stuart McGill have seen good results with glute activation drills, it’s definitely worthy of incorporation until more research emerges. It’s worth mentioning that I am a huge fan of glute activation and believe that research will eventually show its value.
He thinks bracing the core (or whatever you want to call it) is stupid. He said “when would you ever do that when you’re playing your sport? You don’t have time to consciously think about activating your core.” He said that the core had much, much greater activation during the performance of big compound lifts.
I agree with the coach in this situation, aside from when an athlete is about to collide or be struck in the midsection. Sports are markedly different from resistance exercises, both in terms of timing and muscle activation requirements. When you put a heavy bar on your back or in your hands, you place considerably more bending torque on the spine, which requires a much greater amount of spinal stiffening compared to ballistic bodyweight movements.
He doesn’t really like single-leg training, but especially hates the single-leg squat because it “produces too much compensation.” He thinks that training the single-leg squat will only make the athlete better at single-leg squats and won’t transfer to the sport. I have seen him use split squats with his athletes, though.
I’m not sure what he means by “compensation,” but I suspect he’s referring to the oft-seen lumbar flexion and posterior pelvic tilt exhibited in the bottom range of motion during a pistol squat.
It’s worth mentioning that single leg box squats provide a solution for this issue. But the notion that they don’t transfer to performance is absurd.
Take a novice lifter who struggles with a bodyweight squat. Over the course of 12 weeks, utilize progressive overload and get him able to perform five full range pistol squats. Guess what? His barbell squat and vertical jump will have improved along with his pistol squat.
Sure you can argue that the pistol squat isn’t the safest or best way to load the lower body, but it definitely transfers to sport. Everything challenging compound lower body movement does, and the transfer is more pronounced with less experienced lifters.
That’s all for today! Hopefully sports science spreads and coaches are forced to step up their game or be replaced by those who have an appreciation for the scientific method and the literature.
1. I’ve had to keep my lips sealed for far too long on this one, but this past weekend I flew home for the day for a surprise 60th b-day party for both my mom and step-dad. My sister and sister-in-law have been in cohoots for quite some time, and they did an amazing job at pulling off an epic party.
Now, rather than spend ten hours in a car driving to and from NY, I elected – reluctantly – to fly instead.
Five hours in the car vs. a 60 minute flight: easy choice, right?
Upon arriving at the airport early Saturday morning, I looked at my plane and it had freakin propellers. PROPELLERS!!!!!
Anyone who knows me, knows I HATE flying. And, as you can probably surmise, up untll that point I had never flown in such a small plane before. Packed in like sardines, we took off, and I pretty much destroyed the back of my pants.
Long story short, both my parents were caught off guard, and it was awesome to see their reactions when they walked through the door to see all of us standing there.
Everyone: SURPRISE!!!!!!!
Mom [deer in headlights look]: Oh…….oh my gosh, what in tha………OMG, Tony! Where’s Lisa?
Me: Hi Mom, I love you.
Mom: Where’s Lisa?
Me: Happy Birthday!!
Mom: Where’s Lisa?
Needless to say, my Mom really likes my girlfriend…….haha.
2. While away this weekend, I was able to get a quick lift in at my alma mater, SUNY Cortland. I hadn’t been there in like eight years, and it was really surreal to be walking around campus again.
A quick aside: for those that don’t know, Cortland has played host to the NY Jets for the past few seasons during their training camps, and was featured this past season on HBO’s Hard Knocks.
Of course, as expected, I was surrounded by a bunch of dudes with wife-beaters on, doing every bicep curl variation known to man – not to mention the obligatory guy who puts waaaaaaaay too much weight on his back, only to squat down maybe four inches.
It comes with the territory, I suppose; kinda what I expected.
I was didn’t expect, however, was how the facility itself has really improved since I left. While most college (student) gyms are lucky to have one squat rack, this one had three – as well as an olympic platform, various different bars (thick bars, trap bars, etc), a glute ham raise, battle ropes, kettlebells, and a host of other goodies that made me feel like a kid in a candy store.
I kept it pretty simple: worked up to a few heavy singles on the deadlift, followed by some bulgarian split squats, then glute ham raises, and then finished off with some KB windmills and swings. Okay, okay…..I also sneaked in some curls, too. Jesus! But it was only two sets. Okay, three. I mean four.
3. Someone sent me this quote from strength coach Nick Horton, and asked for my response:
But, personally, I’m in favor of dumping box squats all together (we never do them), as the idea of spinal compression from BOTH ends is scary to say the least. You should never sit down when heavy weight is on your back, IMO (powerlifters start throwing stones at me … now). The potential benefits do NOT outweigh the risks.
Still, he’s dead right about Oly squats kicking the butt of box squats. And, that you should squat if you have any interest in not being wimpy.
My Response: We use box squats quite a bit at CP – as we feel it’s a great tool to teach proper depth in the squat. Likewise, we don’t teach our athletes the traditional “powerlifting” box squat (rocking off the box); instead, we teach more of a tap-n-go approach, and to stay tight in the bottom. Additionally – and this is an important point – the spine does a fairly good job at handling compressive loads – it’s sheer loads (rounding of the back) that you have to be careful of.
To that end, we also use Olympic style squats a lot, too. It just depends.
Either way, this is no jab at Coach Horton – the guy trains a ton of athletes and he’s doing things the right way. Besides, there’s more than one way to skin a cat, and who am I to say that he’s wrong and I’m right? We may have different thoughts on certain things, but so long as our athletes are getting better, that’s all that really matters.
4. I will say, though, if we’re going to talk about how NOT to perform box squats, this video pretty much hits the nail on the head. Seriously, if you can make it past the whole “you don’t want to squat to parallel – you should keep your knees below the hips” comment without wanting to jam a pen through your eye, you win!
Since you’re not going to parallel, the key to this exercise is to load it up as heavy as possible, so that the body gets used to handling a lot of weight.
Says the guy with 15 lbs on his back.
A small part of me is thinking this has to be fake – but them again, it probably isn’t. Excuse me while I go jump into a live volcano.
