Top 5 Coaching Cues for the Squat

The squat is known as the king of all lower body exercises, and some might argue that it's the greatest overall strength building exercise there is.  Whether you're an athlete, competitive lifter, average gym goer, or just someone looking to improve their quality of life by losing weight or coming back from an injury, you should be squatting.  Because the squat involves such an incredible number of muscle groups in order to complete the movement, it's by far one of the most efficient muscle-building and strength-building lifts you can do.  Also, due to the amount of musculature that becomes activated during a squat, it also prompts one of the largest endocrine responses of any exercise you can do, releasing more muscle-building testosterone into the blood, (trust me it's a good thing).

Squatting is one of the most natural human functions, so why are so many people bad at it?  Look at a young kid.  You'd be surprised how incredibly flexible they are.  They squat down and roll around while playing with a range of motion that most mature adults couldn't even imagine.  The fact is that our sedentary lifestyle is betraying us.  Through years of bad posture, sitting for long hours, and not exercising or training properly, we develop muscular imbalances and lose mobility.  This can cause all kinds of problems in the squat.  Another issue is that many people don't know even the most basic fundamentals of how to properly squat.  Next time you get under the bar, consider these five coaching cues I use for myself and my athletes to improve squat technique.

1) Heels, Heels, Heels!
--I had a hard time deciding what to put at number one here, because both of the first two cues are vitally important.  In the end, I had to go with the one that I most often see neglected by lifters.  From the beginning to the end of the movement, the lifter's heels should be firmly planted in the ground, and the weight should be back on the heels.  The biggest problem I see when squatting is that when individuals reach the bottom of the squat, they either lack the flexibility or their weight is too far forward, causing their heels to raise off the ground.  This means that their weight is either on their toes or the balls of their feet, both of which are problematic.  Sitting back and pushing through the heels activates and involves the glutes and hips in the movement, which are two incredibly large and powerful muscle groups.  So, in order to combat this problem, I first tell athletes to make sure they're sitting back by moving their hips back first.  This brings me to number two...

2) Hips Back
--Another common mistake I see is for athletes to bend at the knees first, or not sitting back at all.  This is a guaranteed way to get your weight going forward, which can lead to the heels coming off the ground.  It can also put unnecessary stress and wear and tear on the knee joint.  In addition to these movement problems which can be dangerous, by not pushing the hips back at the beginning of the squat, you are taking your glutes and hips out of the equation.  Simply put, if you don't push the hips back and push through the heels, you are wasting two of the largest and strongest muscle groups in the human body.  Sit back, sit back, sit back!

Note: Heels firmly planted, hips are back, upper back is tight,
elbows are down and under the bar, head is neutral NOT up,
neutral spine position and superb depth

3) Spread the Knees
--There is always debate about how wide your feet should be and whether or not your toes should be pointed out.  There is no debate about what you should be doing with your knees.  Many times I see lifter's knees cave inward during the concentric portion of the lift.  Again, this puts a tremendous amount of stress on the knee joint and puts you at a much higher risk of injury.  In order to properly engage the hips, remember to spread your knees during both the eccentric and concentric portions of the lift.  If you are squatting in a rack, cue yourself by trying to push your knee joints towards each side of the rack.  You don't actually have to line your knees up with the rack, but trying to do so will remind you to properly activate the hips and spread the knees.

4) Tight Upper Back
--The second you step under the bar, you must have your upper back tight.  Having a tight and contracted upper back to support the bar is vital to maintaining a proper neutral spine position throughout the movement.  I see many people when they get tired or the weights get heavy start to round their thoracic spine, causing their chest to fall forward, turning the squat into more of a good morning.  Many coaches who don't know what they're talking about tell people to keep "their eyes to the sky" in order to keep the chest up.  The problem with this is it causes the lumbar spine to hyperextend, putting too much unnecessary stress on the lower back.  A better coaching cue is to keep a tight upper back throughout the movement by retracting the shoulder blades and driving the elbows down and under the bar.

5) Brace
--In order to protect the spine during the squat and maintain a neutral back position, it's vital to brace at the beginning of a squat movement.  Bracing involves activating the muscles of the low back and abs, and creating a "vacuum" like effect in the abdominal cavity.  You do this back taking a deep breathe into your stomach, and holding it.  Imagine you are trying to push your stomach outward into an imaginary belt if you aren't wearing one.  If you are, take a deep breath and try to actually push your stomach outward into the belt.  The biggest mistake I see people make is breathing improperly or trying to suck in their stomach by contracting their abs.  This is wrong, and actually puts you at risk for injury.  Remember, deep breath and hold at the top, squat, exhale, and repeat.

My Love/Hate Relationship With Olympic Lifting

Now that winter football workouts are back in full swing, I'm back to Olympic lifting frequently as I did last spring.  I've already blown away my personal best clean from last year four times already.  When we tested cleans to start our new training cycle I hit 253 for 3 reps.  Two weeks later, I pulled 264 for 3 and 286 for a single.  I was extremely happy with these improvements, but as in anything else, I have a ton of work to do to get to where I want to be.  

Donny Shankle--American Weightlifting
Legend

As usual, however, when I set my mind to something, I have a really hard time letting it go.  I am constantly thinking of my technique, things I need to improve, and watching videos and reading articles from coaches and people who know more than me.  As much as I want to work on my clean every single day, I need to remind myself it's important to rest and recover so I don't end up burning out and causing myself injury like I did last year. 

At the same time, I recognize that cleaning heavy once a week isn't going to cut it.  Not only do I just enjoy the lift (and hate it simultaneously) but I think I need to practice it frequently to improve my technique.  The clean and jerk is one of the most technical movements anyone can do, with the possible exception of the snatch.  World-class lifters spend their entire careers trying to perfect their technique, and they almost always admit that they were never close to the perfection they strived for.  So for someone in my position, technical work is just as important as lifting heavy.

For the second day in a row today, I woke up and left my room well before the sun even appeared of the horizon to head to Seton Hall.  I'm loving this internship.  I get to work with and train Division 1 athletes all day, and in between sessions train on my own and receiving coaching from two excellent strength coaches and a fellow intern.  The experience is phenomenal and despite the early and long hours with no pay I'm thoroughly enjoying myself.  Today we trained men's and women's golf, followed by women's volleyball and a couple random baseball players.  It was a pretty slow day, so after those teams were done their sessions, I had the opportunity to get in a lift of my own.  I felt great today despite some nagging injuries and soreness.  My clean technique is getting stronger and my overhead position in the jerk is getting more and more comfortable.  

Got great work in, tried some new concepts and new exercises, and had some fun while I was at it.  Rise and grind.  

General Warmup--Jump Rope

Lower Back and Core Stretching/Warmup

Dynamic Warmup

Power/Technique Work

Clean and Jerk--10x1 with 30 seconds rest at 65% 1RM--185 pounds

Strength

Clean Pulls From the Floor--3x3 working sets at 100% 1RM Clean--285 pounds

Upper Body Assistance--3 Rounds

Band Resisted 5-Second Pause Pushups--10

Axle/Fat Bar Barbell Rows--10, 10, 8

Accessory--3 Rounds

 Ryan Brown
of Derby City Crossfit and
Darkside Strength & Conditioning

Double KB Snatches--8 with 50 lb KBs

Squatting Band Pulldowns--Failure

Finisher--2 Rounds

Rack KB Carries--2 laps around the gym with 50 lb KBs

Reverse Hypers (Bodyweight)--15

Hanging Straight Leg Raises--10

The Nutrition Article

First let me say that this is MY approach to nutrition.  This isn't a new diet, this isn't a new concept, and this certainly isn't a scientific explanation of exactly what you should eat, when you should eat it, blah blah blah.  Everyone's body is different, so everyone will react differently to food, which is why I believe that you need to experiment and find what works for you.  With that in mind, here is my unbelievably simple approach to nutrition that has worked for me for over four years now, and what I recommend to most athletes and normal gym goers who question me about nutrition.

As Nick Alvarez pointed out this morning, many people fail in their diet because they try to get too complex.  Simplicity is key.  I understand that people are busy with work, school, sports, etc. and sometimes you can't get the perfect meal you'd like.  Plus, some people just can't follow a complex program predicated on eating perfectly proportioned meals at perfectly timed points throughout the day.  You won't find any of that shit here.  I eat whatever I want, whenever I want it.

The difference between me and many other people is discipline.  I love food as much as the next person.  I grew up in a household where my mother cooked great food every single night.  I loved eating and was always encouraged to eat as much as I wanted of everything.  However, I have learned that that just isn't a healthy way to live.  I have trained myself to view food as fuel.  Every meal is an opportunity to build muscle, minimize fat, and maintain an overall healthy lifestyle.  I now enjoy eating natural whole foods, and literally feel like shit when I consume fast food, desserts, or salty crap.  I don't like it, it's not part of my diet, and it won't be part of yours if your health is of importance to you.

Again, simplicity is key here.  There are no tricks or gimmicks, eat the right stuff and train hard and you will see the results you want.  You must be consistent though, eating right every other day or once a week isn't going to cut it.  Here is a very basic outline of how I approach nutrition.

Proteins

--Cornerstone of my meals

--EVERY single full meal consists of some kind of meat or lean protein source

--Fish, beef, pork, turkey, ground beef, chicken breasts, eggs, I don't discriminate 

--This should be the bulk of what you consume each meal

--Don't worry about portions, just consume (at least 1 possibly even 2 grams per pound of bodyweight a day depending on goals)
--Hungry late at night? Grill chicken and vegetables in mass quantities over the weekend and refrigerate them.  Heat them in the microwave for a great small meal anytime.

Carbs

--Contrary to what many people believe, carbs aren't the demonic nutrient many people think they are

--This is the one place where timing plays a role in my diet

--I limit my carbs to the afternoon hours, as well as pre and post-workout, and cut them down on days I'm not training

--I try not to consume carbs first thing in the morning or late at night

--I am a performance athlete, I lift heavy and train hard, I am also a student, and work an internship, sometimes 10 hours a day, I truly believe carbs are essential to my growth, recovery, and continued efforts in all of these fields

--Limit carbs to whole grain sources:  Whole grain rice, bread, english muffins, oatmeal, triscuits, pasta, and even milk is an excellent source of carbs, making chocolate milk an ideal combination of carbs and protein for post workout consumption

Fruits and Vegetables

--These get their own category

--You should have fruits and/or vegetables at every single meal

--If you are trying to lose weight, limit fruits because of high sugar content, though it's natural sugar, it can still turn to fat if you aren't training hard

--Spinach, kale, broccoli, carrots, and any number of greens I can't think of off the top of my head should be consumed EVERY TIME YOU EAT

--These are full of vital nutrients to support overall health and muscle growth

--Do not neglect fruit and vegetable intake like some dumbass meatheads who think protein is all you need to build muscle

Fats

--Again, fats is not the four-letter word some think

--You need healthy fats to support heart health and overall functioning of the human body

--Aim to consume healthy fats from fatty fish and nuts especially

--My two favorite sources are peanut butter and almonds

--If you crave snacks, get a bag of almonds, they are full of protein and heart-healthy fats 

--Moderation is key, even healthy fats can put weight on you 

Calories

--Like everything else, I don't count

--Try to consume most of your calories from protein sources, with the rest coming from moderate intake from the other categories listed

--If you're trying to lose weight, limit calories on days you're not training

--Understand you have to find what works for you

--Again, calories are necessary for energy and muscle building/growth

--The key is moderation

Water

--Again, this gets it's own category

--If you want to lose weight, or even just be optimally prepared for whatever it is you do, drink nothing but water

--Cut out soda, sports drinks, even fruit juices

--These are all extremely high in sugar, and you can get your healthy sugars elsewhere, you don't need this drinks as well

--Water makes up most of the human body, and helps to flush out waste, hydrate, and help maintain healthy functions

--If you want to lose weight or lean out, cut out all liquids but water from your diet and I guarantee you will immediately see change

Supplementation

--I eat a protein bar every morning to stop the breakdown of muscle tissue that takes place while the body is sleeping

--I try to take another protein supplement at night either in the form of a whey protein shake mixed with peanut butter and skim milk or another protein bar

--Post workout, I eat whole foods and consume either chocolate skim milk or chocolate soy milk because it's delicious

--Don't get too bogged down with supplementation, many supplements are just ploys by companies to get your money

--A simple whey protein supplement once or twice a day is find, most of your protein should be coming from whole food sources (see above)

Beer/Vices
--Yup, no diet is perfect, everyone has their vices
--I love beer, especially dark beer
--Don't compound your vices by eating something crappy else with them, be disciplined elsewhere
--For example, if you get the munchies when you drink, eat almonds or grill chicken and vegetables and store it in the fridge so you have something easy and accessible when you're hungry
--Limit your consumption of your vices, I drink beer at most 1-2 times a week
--You get out what you put in, the less you consume from this category the better your gains and the healthier you will be

That's it.  As I said before, my approach is simple.  I don't worry about counting calories, carbs, or even proportions.  If I want to eat it, I eat it.  Some have said that nutrition is more important than training, and I don't believe that for a second.  If you train hard, and stick to simple, common sense rules of nutrition like eating whole, unprocessed foods, making protein the cornerstone of each meal, and consuming tons of fruits and vegetables, you will be successful.  Be patient, don't try to lean out or lose a ton of weight overnight, begin with a simple, consistent approach to eating right and stick with it.  Look at each meal as fuel for your body and a chance to make yourself a healthier, happier person, and you'll reach your goals.  

GET OUT OF THE FUCKIN' SQUAT RACK

I really need to take a deep breath before typing this one.  Nothing.  I literally mean nothing on this planet pisses me off then some moron standing in the squat rack doing something other then a squat movement.  Simply put ladies and gentlemen.  I don't give a fuck who you are, if you are not squatting, there is no reason to be in the only squat rack in the gym!  

If you haven't guessed yet, I had to pleasure of walking into the gym today and seeing some middle-aged guy doing shrugs with a cambered bar in the squat rack.  The list of other places in the gym you could do these and other ways you could make these happen is endless so I won't even bother getting into them.  Ok, so that sucks, but I still had to warm up and do the power portion of my workout, so no big deal.  I figured for sure he'd be done by the time I was done warming up.

I finished my 20 minute warmup and walked over to begin the power portion of my workout.  Hmm, he's still there, but now he's just standing there...talking to another middle-aged guy who was using straps to do dumbbell curls...

Now I'm starting to get pissed, but I still had to do my power work, so I got too it.  Three sets of muscle snatches later, he's still there.  I'm about to lose it.  But I'm nothing if I can't adapt, so I started warming up my front squat with some quick clean technique work and front squat complexes.  I finished up, and began walking over to the rack without looking, sure that by now, this motherfucker has got to be done.  

If you can't see where this is going yet, he was still there.  I had had it.  I walked up, and literally stood next to him and his buddy as they were talking.  Finally, he looks over, having not actually done a set in about 10 minutes, and goes, "Do you need this?"  He proceeds to unrack the bar and walk away, leaving the cambered bar sitting in the squat.

Next time it happens, I'm going to take that cambered bar over to him and shove it...Nevermind.  Point is, unless your squatting, just get the fuck out of the squat rack.

Now that that's over, on to the training.  Today was a really light day, so I'm not going to get too far into it.  After setting two PRs on Tuesday in the clean at 264 pounds for 3 and 286 pounds for 1, I tweaked my lower back doing some extra work.  With three bulging discs in my lower back from last spring, I've been very careful since then to stretch, rehab, and rest my lower back.  I haven't missed a training session yet, but my work has been lighter, keeping perfect technique and focusing on mobility and low back/abdominal strength so that I don't further aggravate it.  

I skied for seven hours yesterday, so my legs were already shot going into this.  Still got the work done, and had some fun with new movements as well.

General Warmup

Dynamic Warmup

Lower Back Stretching/Activation

Power

Muscle Snatch--3x5 at 135 pounds

Technique/Position Strength

Clean+Front Squat+Slow Negative Deadlift--3x1 at 185 pounds

Strength

Front Squats--4x8

*Worked up to 225 pounds for 8*

Single-Leg Work

Dumbbell Split Squats--3x10 each leg

Assistance

Leg Press--3x12

*4 plates and a quarter on each side*

Abs

Wheel Rollouts--2x15

Stretching/Low Back Rehab

The Best Exercise for Building the Squat

Some will say the best way to build your squat is to...well, squat!  Squat heavy, squat consistently, and squat with PERFECT technique and your squat will increase.  Unfortunately the reality is that most athletes, and most lifters for that matter, including professionals, don't have perfect form.  Their body has become imbalanced from injury or years of training and they lack the mobility that the human body was intended to have to squat with flawless form.  Now, one could and should work to improve mobility, especially of the hips, knees, and ankles, which all must be mobile in order to complete a squat with proper technique.  However, I refuse to believe that even with work, anyone can achieve such a PERFECT squat that they shouldn't do some sort of assistance work to try to build it.

My favorite such assistance exercise is the pause squat.  I have always struggled with squats, and admittedly, they are my weakest lift.  I have had a number of coaches work with me to improve my form, and I have reached a point where I have found a technique that is comfortable and that works for me.  Unfortunately, after years of knee problems, it has taken me a long time to build the strength and size in my legs that I once had.  

This past winter break, while I was working on programming and researching various assistance work for lower body training, I stumbled onto a video of Brandon Lilly and Berea Barbell powerlifters pause squatting.  The benefits of pause squatting immediately resonated with me.  

1) Explosive work with no need for bands, chains, or other accommodating resistance--Because pause squats force the squatter to hold the squat position in the hole for a number of seconds, the stretch reflex is almost completely eliminated from the movement.  Essentially, you can't use the momentum created by the eccentric portion of the lift to explode out of the hole.  So, you have to learn to quickly and forcefully contract the muscles necessary to begin the concentric portion of the lift in order to complete it.  

2) Strengthening the Stabilizer Muscles--My biggest problem when squatting is that I lack the abdominal and lower back strength to maintain a neutral spine position throughout the lift when I get tired or the weight gets heavy.  Pausing for a period of time in the hole forces you to control the weight, keeping all the squatting muscles contracted, including stabilizer muscles like the lower back, upper back, and abdominals.  These muscles are just as vital for squatting as the glutes, calves, hamstrings, and quads, and without them, you squat technique will break down easily.  Since starting pause squatting, my lower back strength and health has increased dramatically, and my ability to hold a neutral spine position throughout the movement is improving as well.

3) Comfort in the Hole--Some young athletes and squatters who are not used to doing the movement have a difficult time reaching depth, and if they can reach full depth, they have a hard time making each squat look the same.  Pause squatting will help you to find the best spot for your body in the hole.  When you sit in the hole, your body automatically adjusts to find the strongest position, (your bodies awesome that way).  The more I have pause squatted, the more my reps look alike, which means my form is improving and my comfort at the bottom of the movement has increased dramatically.

4) Increased Mobility--Around the time I hurt my back last year my mobility was going to shit.  Maybe I was doing too much work, maybe my mobility was just never good, I'm not sure.  However, since football season has ended and I returned to heavy squatting and added pause squats as assistance work, I have noticed that getting down to full depth and even past parallel on squats is no longer an issue for me.  Even better, my setup for the deadlift and the clean has improved!  My hip, ankle, and knee flexibility has increased because when pause squatting, you focus on full range of motion with submaximal weight, which allows your muscles and joints to adapt and become used to such a full range of motion.  Many times, athletes just want to squat heavy all the time, but they use a partial range of motion.  Then, when someone forces them, or they decide to try a full range of motion squat, they are unable too because they've built up such a bad habit of not squatting to full depth that their body has adapted to that range of motion and become so tight that they are unable to go lower.  Pause squatting will help reinforce good technique and a full range of motion squat.

5) Increased Work Capacity--Because pause squats are done with submaximal weight, (I've used anywhere between 50-65% of my 1RM) I try to find ways to manipulate the intensity of the exercise.  One way I've done this is to increase the length of the pause, but another is to use short rest periods between sets.  Usually around 45 seconds, we have used short rest periods to increase our work capacity.  When does form usually start to break down?  When the weights get heavy or you get tired!  So what's the best way to work on this?  Force the body to use good technique with submaximal weight and short rest periods.  You will begin to fatigue, and you must learn to continue to keep your muscles tight throughout the movement when pause squatting.

Start using pause squats as assistance work and watch your squat sore and your technique improve.  Here's a video of a pause squat session I did about a month ago on my dynamic lower body day.  

Testing Week Recap

This week was a big week for everyone.  JMSB athletes reached the peak week of the 3rd cycle of training since the end of football and were hitting a number of max effort lifts while our football team was also testing max effort lifts to begin our winter workouts.  I was extremely happy with the progress I've made since the end of the season, but as always I'm no where near satisfied.  My numbers gave me a great deal of confidence in my programming, and have helped me to see where I need improvement, and what works best for me as an individual moving forward.

With that in mind here are the results of this week of testing and a video of my max deadlifts and squat reps from Monday.  Unfortunately Pis only was able to get 13 of my 20 reps on the squat, but it's still good to see the video because I can catch flaws in form and figure out what I need work on.

Max Deadlift--440x2; 473x1 Both PRs since back injury

Squat for Reps--253x20 PR

Max Clean--253x3 PR

Max Bench--325x3

Pullups for Reps--18 at a bodyweight of 230

Max Squats--363x3

*1,020 pound max effort total on lifts tested for football + 18 pullups at a 230 pound bodyweight