Think you can squat better than LeBron James? Apparently, some people believe that they can. Conversations on the matter were sparked by a brief clip of the professional athlete performing a squat that was recently shared on one of his social media accounts. So, we sat down with Dave Tate to take a look at the footage and get his thoughts on it. As it turns out, Tate doesn’t care what LeBron’s squat looks like in the slightest.
In viewing the footage for the first time, Tate wonders out loud why everyone is so concerned as to how LeBron squats? As Tate points out, isn’t it more important how he plays basketball? Indeed, the equivalent would be evaluating a powerlifter on their ability to make a free-throw or hit a home run. Nevertheless, although not stated, it seems like people are implying that his squat is too high. Tate admits that he may be squatting high – but in comparison to what? After all, he’s not powerlifting. Furthermore, different kinds of squats serve different purposes, particularly for a professional athlete training in a specific sport. Tate cites the elitefts article on squatting and athletic development that was written by JL Holdsworth back in December of 2017. Perhaps a little education on squat variations would do the general public some good.
The truth is, Tate has no immediate critique to provide on James’ squat. How can anyone make an accurate judgement based on a clip of a one-rep squat that lasts three seconds? To have a productive dialogue around James’ squatting technique, Tate states that he would have to see how this fits within the context of his overall training program. This particular movement may not even be a part of his program, instead simply meant to trigger a reaction from the public.
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As such, Tate remains indifferent to the footage – the fact that he was not even aware that this discussion on James’ squat was occurring is evidence of that. To put it simply, Tate is busy – he does not have time to spare in worrying about how low Lebron James is or isn’t squatting. Tate takes a similar perspective when it comes to his own critics:
There could be people bashing me left and right – I don’t know about it because I’m not going out to look for it, or I don’t see it. Which means I’m indifferent to it, which means I really don’t care.
The bottom line is that Lebron James’ squatting technique makes no difference in Tate’s life one way or another – and truthfully, it shouldn’t in yours, either.
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