Squats For You and Me

Let’s take a look at squats. Everybody should be doing them for a variety of reasons.

There are many variations of squatting movements: hip-belt squats, back squats done powerlifting style or Olympic lifting style, front squats, overhead squats, hack squats, Zercher squats, dumbbell and kettlebell squats with one or two DB’s/KB’s, all kinds of odd object squats, goblet squats, bodyweight squats, pistols (one leg squat) and so on.

What you decide to use or implement in your training should be dictated by your goals.

For instance, if you are competing in Olympic lifting, you may do back squats but focus more on front squats to help you recover from a heavy clean. You would probably also include overhead squats to work on recovering from a snatch.

A powerlifter may use a few other forms of squats but would focus on back squats with a wider stance and the bar held low on the upper back.

Someone more interested in body-weight training would probably focus on Hindu squats, body-weight squats done conventionally and on pistols.
Someone with a previous injury that aggravates them from time to time might opt for hip-belt squats and goblet squats.

First off, we have to decide what results we are looking for from our squatting. Is it to become as big as we can? Then higher rep back squats are probably the order for the day.

Are we looking to compete in powerlifting? Then train the competitive lift more frequently than other forms of squatting.

Are we just looking for a strong pair of legs that we can cut and run with over varied terrain? Well then, we might look at incorporating more squatting variety into our routine.

So, first, determine what you need from squatting, what are our goals? What is the priority we need from our training? What kind of results do we need from squatting? Bigger body, bigger total weight lifted, assistance work to complement another lift, a different stressor to the leg musculature and joints to bulletproof them from injury?

Then once we know that, we can explore what we want to incorporate into our training.

Now, just because we might compete in Olympic lifting, for example, does not mean we don’t back squat or we won’t work on goblet squats. But those exercises would not be the main focus of our training. They would probably be cycled in and out depending on how close we were to a competition, how long we had been lifting (as in years of experience) perhaps as part of a pre-hab or rehab routine, etc.

Now lets say we don’t compete in any form of lifting but do like to focus on a particular type of training. We might gravitate to powerlifting or Olympic lifting, for example, but never try out a competition. Maybe we  just like lifting that way.

Hey, nothing wrong with that. Some people enjoy following the routines for strongman training or Highlands Games type training and others like just focusing on powerlifting, even if they never compete. Whatever floats your boat. The important thing is you are trying to improve yourself through training.

So, for those of us who don’t compete in any particular competition, (even if we gravitate to training as if we were going to compete), we can usually benefit by branching out a little more in the types of squats we do, since we are not looking at setting any records in a particular competition.

Now, personally, I don’t back squat with a barbell that often anymore. I used to years ago. But for me I found back squats hard on my back. But that is me, you may be different. You have only one body and it is built a certain way. You can’t change the length of your arms, torso or legs. So a particular body-type will be more comfortable squatting a certain way.

Me, I hate power-lifting style squats, you know:  real wide foot placement and the bar half-way down the back with a huge forward lean. I much prefer an Olmpic style squat: bar high on the back sitting on the traps, a deep butt to the ground squat and a more vertical spine. It just feels way better to me.

I have followed the Super Squats routine by Randall J. Strossen and worked up to a 315 lb. squat for 20 reps. I took every rep deep! I set up in a power rack and set the pins purposely low and would take every rep down until I pinged the bar on the pin. I’d pause and then shoot back up. It was killer for me as I have long legs. But it put a couple of inches on my legs and packed some meat on my bones in just a few months.

I have also worked on heavier squats, going for 425-450 lbs. doing 5 reps and taking each rep deep. Again, this may not be heavy by some people’s standards, but for me it was pretty dang good. I also dabbled with quarter squats, (though I took them a little deeper, probably more like a third of a squat), and used around 600 lbs,  for 10-15 reps.

I was in my late twenty’s and early thirty’s when I did this, so it wasn’t exactly like I was a spring chicken just out of high school or college. Some of it was also after a pretty bad back injury.

At the time I was also riding a mountain bike back and forth to work 2-3 times a week (9 miles one way) hiking nearly every other day, doing sprints on hills or bleachers, and doing heavy carries with a timber beam up and down hill twice a week  (long before loaded carries hit everyone’s must-do list).

No doubt, I probably would have fared better lifting heavier weights had I not been doing all the other stuff. But I always liked being able to do many things more than above average than  just one or two things way above average.

I think back squats are a great exercise to build a good solid foundation of strength that you can tap into for years to come. You must decide how to fit them into your training. You must decide whether you need to do barbell back squats or not.

Now, back to that “you can’t change how you are built” thing. This really does affect the results you get from training various exercises. Years ago, when I was a teenager, one of my best friends and I would train with weights. We had read Arnold Schwarzenegger’s book  “Arnold: The Education of a Bodybuilder” and were training on information from that book. My friend was short and I was much taller. We would lift the same weights on some exercises, but he got bigger way faster than me. Also, I noticed in some lifts he excelled and I couldn’t lift as heavy or do as many reps and sets, but on other lifts I could lift more.

See where this is going?

Depending on how you are built (and don’t forget to take into account other factors like age, injuries, other training obligations, diet, etc.) back squats may be just the ticket for you to hit your stride, or they may be the ticket that blows your back out.

Generally, and this should be taken with a grain of salt, but generally it is true that shorter people and shorter broad shouldered people will find back squats for low reps to be a great results producing lift. Whereas taller people with long arms and legs will find low rep heavy squats to be a back killer. For taller individuals, higher reps at a lighter weight will probably be easier on the back and give better results if you are trying to build more muscularity and bulk.

I think Dan John’s book “Mass Made Simple” has excellent advice for the majority of people who train lifting weights and want to use the back squat and are interested in bulking up, that means putting on some good muscular body-weight. In that book he mentions weights to be lifted based on the persons current body-weight that I agree are very realistic numbers for the majority of people.

If you are going to try high rep back squats (reps in the range of 20-50) you would be far better off in not going too heavy. I know that doing over 300 pounds in good form is not easy.

When you are back squatting a weight around 50 pounds or more than your body-weight, maintaining proper form as the reps keep climbing is not easy. It takes great form locked in from more than just a few months of focused squatting. It takes laser-beam focus on your technique and an ability to block out all distractions. One slip up with a heavy load for high reps on your back and you will be a hurtin’ unit!

Too many will blow the back out at that weight. I agree with Dan when he says 225 lbs. is a good top end weight for that many reps for a man who weighs over 200 pounds.

Basically, you would work up to squatting your body-weight for reps in the 30-50 rep range. The details are in the book, which I highly recommend for those interested in following a great program all laid out for you.

I have had an alternative pick Olympic lifter train me on squats so I know my squat is good, yet I always seek to lock it in and improve on it no matter what implement  I am squatting with and with what style.

Currently, I do not back squat a lot. I am working more on front squats, overhead squats and goblet squats. Also, some pistol training. This is not to say back squats are bad. They can be a great method to train with. I’ve put my time in with back squats and I do touch back with them from time to time.

So, do you need to back squat with a barbell?

Probably.

It depends:

On you and your goals.

Ask yourself:

What are the end results you are looking for from training a particular lift or loaded movement?

Will that lift, weight, set/rep scheme get you that result?

Will another movement work better?

Would one exercise or a combination of similar movements get you better results?

What is safer for your body in the condition it is in?

I think working up to a barbell loaded to your body-weight squat for high reps is realistic for those who have been training for awhile. If you haven’t, then learn how to lift properly and get some time and experience under your belt.

Remember, fatigue makes form break down, unless you focus and have built up the required enduring-strength over time to keep that technique locked in even under duress of high rep squats with a barbell on your back.

Let’s face it, doing a back squat with your body-weight loaded on a barbell for reps in the 30-50 rep range is not easy. Building up to that standard will build a strong, tough body and a tough mental outlook. It builds fortitude. I doubt that most trainees in a gym can even do this even though they may have been training for years.

But, this goal may not be for you depending on age, injuries, etc.

Does this mean you shouldn’t squat?

Well, maybe not back squats with a barbell, but as already noted, there are plenty of alternative choices when it comes to squatting.

We’ll touch on squats more in another article, and on goblet squats in particular.

Until then,

show that you do know squat about squatting by doing them.