Eat, Pray, Squat

The squat is at the top of movements guaranteed to transform you. It has been  said to be the king of all exercises, to grow chest hair and testicular  fortitude, to have magical properties, and even cure cancer. There is something about being pinned between the floor and a heavy bar that catalyses the growth of muscle tissue and power in a human being like few other things can.


There are many points of contention among coaches and pro athletes alike as to the important keys to developing a big squat. Be a technician. Don't over think it. Arch your lower back. Squat to parallell. Squat below parallell. Squat ass to grass. Low bar. High Bar. Wide stance. Narrow stance. Lean forward. Hips back. Stay upright. Knees out. Controlled descent. Hit it fast and hard. Head up. Head back. Head neutral. Look at the sky. Look at an electrical outlet in the corner. Squat heavy. Squat fast. Squat light. Squat to a box. Do goodmornings. And my favorite, "Squat More!".

To make this simple, there are exactly two things you need to concern yourself with before you think about anything else regarding progress that you will or will not make in the gym. Thing 1 is what your goals are. There is a reason powerlifters squat by and large with a low bar and a wide stance whereas olympic lifters squat the opposite. The ultimate goal of a powerlifter is to move more weight given the limitations of the rules. Taking the bar lower and utilizing the hips more in the movement improves leverages and incorporates bigger, stronger muscle groups into the execution. This equates to more weight moved, which means higher placing. An olympic lifter doesn't care about the squat beyond how it can improve his snatch/clean and jerk. Staying upright with a high bar mimics the bottom position of both movements so there is better carryover from increasing squat numbers to better performance. But what if your chosen goals are not so cut and dry? What if you are a strongman? A football player? Bodybuilder? Sprinter? Determining what the end game is for all the wear and tear you put on your body is the most important step to intelligent programming. If you're not maximizing your programming by using basic intelligence, then you are doing it wrong.

Thing 2 is physical limitations. This encompasses everything from limb ratios, injuries, structural strengths and weaknesses, and flexibility. The 50 year old man who hasn't worked out in 30 years is not going to perform to the same specifications that the seasoned 20-something weightlifter will, as will not the two weightlifters who vary in height by 8 inches. This part gets tricky because it can be very subjective. We want to maintain standards that are meaningful and relevant without being so stupidly dogmatic as to assume that any squat not done our way must be wrong.

 

Example. I am 5'10" and carry all of my height in my torso (i.e. I have stubby little arms and legs). I have always squatted with a narrow stance and high bar. By pure anthropamorphy, this was not the best way to maximize my leverages but, because it is how I learned, it became my chosen method. The result over the years was steadily improving strength along with increased flexibility and athleticism; hitting rock bottom and overcoming a load in this awkward position primed me for stone loads and tire flips later on. Fast forward 8 years and I am rehabilitating my lower back, the soft tissue of which has taken a beating over the years and grown scar tissue to compensate. Now, I am so aware of the curvature in my lumbar spine as I break the plane of parallell (some call it a butt-wink: gay) that I can no longer squat in this way without visions of splitting connective tissue and herniated disks. Over the last 6 months I have become comfortable taking my feet out, lowering the bar across my shoulders, and shoving my hips back more, all while maintaining a very upright position. This results in a slow descent with a controlled, but forceful, push out of the hole (no homo). By taking these steps I have 1.) been able to squat consistently without further injuring my lower back, 2.) strengthen the muscles of my glutes, hamstrings, and spinal erectors (which carried straight over to my deadlift), and 3.) familiarize myself with a powerlifting-style squat that will benefit me directly in future squat contests.

Narrow squatting is generally considered to be a more athletic squat. Because it requires more flexibility, range-of-motion, and more effort, adaptations generally lead to improvements in a more diverse range of athletic qualities. They also don't maximize leverages, which means big squats done in a narrow, rock-bottom style are just more impressive. Think of narrow squatting like close-grip pressing; it's a fantastic accessory exercise, but might not be the way you want to attack weight in a meet.

The first thing any lifter should do when beginning a training cycle is to pick exercises that will best suit their goals. Decide what you want to improve in and choose accordingly. All you be better off reaping the benefits of the athleticism developed by narrow squats, or will the overload to your posterior chain from wider squats fit you better? Then consider physical limitations. Are you flexible enough to squat low and narrow? Are there injuries that will be aggravated? Are your femurs too long to squat narrow? Does the length of your torso inhibit an upright position? These questions generally come down to what is more comfortable and effortless.

My goal this year is to hit a 605lb raw squat with a belt and knee wraps to IPF depth. Even though my technique is different, I know ANY type of squatting will lead to size and strength gains and that is the long term goal. This current training cycle will have me squatting wide and just to parallel without wraps. In two months the plan is to reintroduce wraps and smash this number. Wash, rinse, repeat.

That being said I, like most lifters, am struggling to usefully apply all of this informatin without being paralysed by it. Whenever you are doubting your training decisions, just remember this quote which has kept me from storming out of the gym in disgust more times than I can count.

 "In any moment of decision the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing you can do is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is  nothing."    Roosevelt