Guest post by Scott Thom
Why are we back squatting individuals that aren’t ready for it?
I’m seeing more and more coaches and trainers lately throw people under the bar, tell them to squat, then pelt them with a plethora of verbal cues, such as:
- Weight on your heels
- Sit in a chair
- Claw your big toe into the ground
- Maintain balance
- Be stable
- Be strong
- Drive through the bar
- Look up
- Look forward
- Big chest
- Vertical posture
- Big breath in
- Exhale with force on the way up
- Push your knees out, point your toes out
- Open up your hips
All of these cues are great but, is something missing?
What’s missing is the kinesthetic “ah-ha” moment, in which a perfect rep is performed, everything clicking into place and your athlete develops a strong feeling for the movement.
I’m not talking about one rep because, that could’ve happened on accident. I’m talking about rep after rep, set after set, for 5 weeks. That is what a front squat will teach you.
Why front squat first? The front squat:
- Forces you to keep your elbows up and pointed straight ahead, teaching you what it feels like to keep a big chest and maintain vertical posture through ROM of squat.
- Teaches you how to push your knees out and point your toes in the same direction as your knees. Thus, helping you to understand what it feels like to open up your hips.
- Forces you to sit back, or your heels will come off the ground. Helping you feel what it means to have your weight balanced. If your weight is too far back and you’re not clawing your big toe into the ground you will feel off-balance.
What is the rush?
Is the Back Squat the king of all exercises? Yes. Can you push more weight with a back squat? Yes. I’ve had coaches and trainers ask me:
“Why punish your athletes by not allowing them to back squat and forcing them to front squat their body weight?”
My response, how long do you want to train your athletes and clients? 10 weeks, 6 months, a year?
I want to train them for a lifetime, so a 5 week phase of reinforcing quality reps and kinesthetic awareness is nothing in the big picture. What is the rush?
What if you don’t build that solid base and max out day comes? You’re fired up, their fired up, music is blaring, and there they are, banging their knees together as they squat, and there you are yelling “push those knees out”!
You’ve been shouting the same cues for the last 3 months, but regardless, their form breaks and, “pop!”, they go down.
You think to yourself, that you were telling them push their knees out, or other typical cues, and that your athlete is simply un-coachable. Unfortunately in this instance, you are the coach that didn’t take the time to “teach” in the early stages of your “relationship” with your athlete, and ingrain in them the feeling of proper squatting.
Benefits of front squatting beyond technique:
Long term coaching is all about creating relationships, and you can’t create a solid relationship without:
- Trust: Believing that you will never put your athlete or client at risk of injury.
- Communication: Explaining the “why” of each exercise, phase, and workout. Why we are training this way, why it will help them reach their goals.
- Respect: Having a purpose with each workout where the mind is right, and both coach and athlete want the same thing: progress.
Once these are established you will automatically make decisions when planning workouts that will benefit your athletes and clients. You will sincerely care about their progress, and rethink the need to rush athletes or clients into things that they might not be ready for.
Putting it together: A practical program
Here is the “Time under Tension” (TuT) 5 week phase to build a solid base. We will use a 2 second pause at the bottom of each repetition to build confidence and strength by increasing the time under tension of the muscle. Weight used does not need to be heavy but, it does need to increase from week to week.
Each exercise is also paired with a “movement prep/corrective exercise” to continue to build kinesthetic awareness and help with any problem areas.
Notice you are front squatting 2x a week so, go up in weight every time you are front squatting if the quality of the squat is solid. The great thing about front squats is if the quality is poor the bar will let you know.
The high frequency of technical front squatting in this sample program is a great way to bring any athlete up to speed in their squat technique quickly.
About Scott Thom:
Scott Thom is the head strength coach for men’s basketball at Washington State University. Previously, he was the strength coach for University of California-Berkeley men’s basketball team and the head basketball coach for Vintage High School (Napa, Calif.) He has over 10 years of experience working with athletes at the high school, collegiate and professional level. You can check out his website at ScottThom.com
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