Squat Progressions for Athletes
By
Jason Pegg
"What happens when they're too weak to squat?"
After looking at a lot of the questions on the Q&A at EliteFTS, as well as
answering them, this is one of the most common questions I’ve come across. It’s
also something I deal with every day.
First, when it comes to these athletes, they’re not weak. They may not
be able to barbell squat yet, but you absolutely cannot look at them as
weak. If you do this with a high school or younger athlete, not only will you
sell them short, but chances are good that you’ll be perceived as an asshole.
Not something you want if you’re working as a physical preparation coach and
they’re paying you, and not good for business! Remember this: if you don't
squat, you don't win, and I don't care what Mike Boyle says!
One of the things I’ve done from day one - even before I was a coach and we
just had powerlifters coming into the gym - was use a progression-based
approach. I’d start small and work them up to using a barbell on their backs
full-time. I’ll say that this does take some time, and that some will take
longer than others. The fastest we’ve had it happen is about two weeks, and some
have been at it six weeks or more. You’ll just have to find some indicators with
your athletes to know when they’re ready.
The progression I use is a four-step process. It starts with the initial
assessment of the athlete. As part of the assessment, we do a bodyweight squat
test. It’s simply a pass/fail 10 rep bodyweight squat. I like it a lot because
it lets me see where the athletes are at in strength, and it gives me an idea of
how they control their bodies in space. All squats are done to the appropriate
depth, and I’ll call the athletes up at each rep. A pass consists of 10 reps to
the appropriate depth without a large amount of effort. A fail consists of less
than 10 reps, the inability to get to depth, or a great amount of difficulty to
get all of the reps. I realize this is completely subjective, but if you can’t
tell when someone is putting in a ton of effort, you don't need to be coaching
or training anyone. Athletes who pass start with the second step of the process,
while those who fail will start at the first.
Before I get into the progressions, I want to include this addendum, if you
will. Once they start with me in the gym, they have SOMETHING on their back, and
we do technique work all of the time. For some, it may only be a one-inch piece
of PVC pipe. Others may start with an empty bar. Some may need to simply work on
their setup under the bar, while others may use unloaded or lightly loaded sets
with an Olympic bar. Regardless, work technique immediately. It doesn't have to
take a lot of time, and shouldn't take more than five minutes. The best part of
this is that you don't have bad technique to try to teach over, as they've
probably never done the exercises! Just make sure you’re hitting technique first
in the workout. I do it as part of an extended warm-up. Remember, it’s short,
but effective.
After the technique work is finished, we have to remember there’s still work
to be done. You have to get them to the barbell eventually, right? Exactly.
That leads to the first step in the progression: bodyweight squats to a high
box. This will require a bit of trial and error on your part, as some will be
able to squat deeper than others. Some may need a VERY high box, while others
will be closer to depth. Once they can get 10 solid reps to a parallel box, get
rid of it. I firmly believe that while box squatting is good for powerlifters,
it cheats athletes out of a lot of quad and glute development they will need on
the field or court. This is especially true for younger athletes. Once they can
hit two sets of 10 to the same standard, it’s time to move them to the second
step.
The second step I use is front squats with kettlebells and dumbbells. I like
kettlebells more, as they seem to be easier for the athletes to control, gets
the weight out in front of them and helps improve their upper and lower back
strength. However, the progression between sizes in our gym is big - about five
kilos per set. Sometimes you’ll have to use both. The progressions here are
close to the same as they were for the bodyweight squats, except that you don’t
move the box height up! Remember, these are progressions, not regressions! The
loading is a bit different here as well. Although they may not be ready to squat
with a bar, they still need to get stronger! Depending on what phase of their
training they’re in, the rep scheme can be anywhere from 4 - 12. Get them strong
and off of the box!
Once they become proficient at the front squats, move along to the dumbbells.
You can really start to up the weights, if you're getting indications that
they’re ready. When they get to this point, coaching becomes paramount, as
they’ll do whatever they can to get the reps. I actually coach these the exact
same way as I do the back squat. I tell them to keep their head and chest high,
their back arched, and their upper back tight and shoulders back. The one
exception here compared to the other two steps is that I won’t use a box. When
the athletes start to fatigue, it seems that they also tend to not keep their
hamstrings tight at the bottom of the movement, making a sort of dive bomb out
of the last one to six inches. The box isn't really conducive to safety in this
regard. Something else I try to be mindful of is that the set needs to stop when
the form breaks, regardless of whether they’ve met the rep range or not.
Remember that this will have direct carryover to their barbell squat, and you
don't want to reinforce bad technique here that could/would transfer to their
squat.
Here are a couple of other things to remember.
- You don't have to adhere hard and fast to the progressions. I’d
recommend you work between them. That being said, where you have them at is
where the bulk of their squat work should happen. It takes some time to get all
of the intermuscular and intramuscular coordination down, and you don't want to
injure a kid doing something he isn't ready to do. Remember that the end goal is
to get them squatting, but the first goal is to keep them healthy.
- Something else you should remember is that you need to be coaching
these kids ALL THE TIME - not only on technique, but remind them what the end
goal is and why they're doing these "stupid exercises” ( I've actually heard
that one from a kid!). Make sure that you’re offering enough mental support to
get them to the point where they’ll be squatting with their buddies and
teammates. If you have earned the trust of the athlete, you’ll find that these
arguments fall off quickly, and that the kids will work like dogs to get better.
That’s all we really want anyway, isn't it?
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