I was speaking a someone in a gym recently about squatting. The conversation was more a list of excuses of why they couldn’t do a good squat. So at the end of the day I was reflecting back on the conversation considering some of the points they were making regarding why squats weren’t good for them.
Before I get into the nitty gritty here, let me disclose some of my biases.
I like to lift things, so when the discussion comes to lifting or not my attitude usually sways in favor of lifting.
In discussing points of performance or health, I prefer to program single leg squatting/knee dominant activity versus the more traditional back squat or front squat. Don’t get me wrong, I’ll still plug in the front squat and the trap bar (virtually a squat) where appropriate. The back squat I’ll reserve for individuals who are competing in events that require it, for peeps who have a higher training age and are working in a more 1:1 setting, or for those that will go back to their college or pro strength coach who makes them squat.
Triple extension activity and hinge activity has more carryover to jumping as opposed to squatting in my eyes, but both are prudent.
Finally, Im generalizing here. Squats are an awesome exercise, do them in some form within your training programs.
Good
When dealing with sport performance, squatting is absolutely necessary for a number or reasons. But, beyond the performance world, squatting is important for general population and rehab as well.
Doing all hip dominant activity would eventually lead to overdevelopment of the posterior chain, and more than likely a poor quad:hammy ratio. This would eventually lead to knee joint dysfunction, hip joint dysfunction, poor athletic quality, poor general purpose carryover, and more than likely injury. Including knee dominant activity (squats in their variable forms) helps to keep the ratios balanced, injury down, and improves control of the knee in space. The reality is that most high school athletes coming into the clinic have either overdeveloped quads or extremely underdeveloped everything. For those individuals who are extremely underdeveloped, the best corrective exercise is going to be lift some weight. Parents, even though you’re trying to do a good thing by protecting your kids, get out of the way. You wouldn’t hire a mechanic to do your taxes, don’t hire an artist to train your kid. Find a professional with a good reputation and the appropriate credentials.
Training a squat pattern is essential for basic activities of daily life….like sitting and standing, or going to the bathroom. I would like to preserve these abilities personally.
Squat patterns are a great way to add variety to your general training programs as well. It doesn’t even have to be the traditional back squat. You can do so many different types of squats like goblet varieties, front squat, double kettlebell versions, single leg, split, etc. Not only do they add variety, but they also tend to be so much more of a usurper of energy, requiring the entire body to work.
Bad
Just like with any exercise you potentially perform, squatting has the tendency to get ugly quick leading to injury. If you have the ability to watch high schoolers squat either with their football team/coach or with their buddies it almost seems straight out of a cartoon. Not being able to perform the action without weight they immediately put on 135 because they want to get faster and stronger. It’s difficult to articulate the silly events that occur. For that reason, putting a back squat in for groups of people is a challenge. Front squats are also a challenge because you still have to be able to squat correctly and you need to be semi humble.
Not everyones levers are the same. Simple. Someone with extremely long femurs relative to their trunk will squat significantly different than someone with shorter femur length relative to their trunk. Butt-wink is not a good place to be. Not everyone is going to squat ass to grass, so please stop enforcing that.
People tend to get too crazy with things too soon. Simplicity is such an amazing and under appreciated variable. Monitoring your numbers becomes important so that you’re not exhausting your options too soon. Adding bands, chains, weight releasers, etc are all cool things to post on the gram, but not always necessary unless you need to change the stimulus based on stagnation. Keep it Simple.