Squat Basics by Jason W. Burnell Date: Wed, 18 Apr 2001 10:58:13 -0700 From: Jason Burnell Subject: Re: Breathing and squatting Here is an article that will go on Strength Online soon. A longer version will appear in PowerMag. This one is sort of a 'teaser' but it covers the breathing and set up. How I Do The Squat. (or how to build a big squat for the average guy with no genetics) Ok, let's get the first thing out of the way. Many of you reading this must be asking yourselves, "who the heck is Jason Burnell and why should I listen to him telling me how to squat?" Excellent question. After all, I am by no means a big name lifter and chances are that you have never heard of me. I'm pretty much an average guy with a pretty good squat. For the record, in the 220 lbs class I squatted 700 or more 3 times in 2000 (699.75 in March, 705 in June and 710 in October). Ok, 699.75 isn't exactly 700 but it's pretty darn close. 700 is the mark of being a pretty good squatter at 220. 750-800 and you are awesome. I'm not there yet. A glance at the top 100 list will show that quite a few guys in my class squatted 700 or more last year. When you consider how many of that number did it in single ply gear the number goes down. Factor in the number that did it without steroids and it goes down even farther. I'm not knocking the choices other people make or denigrating their hard work. I do, however, recognize a difference between the lifts made in different fashions. I am merely explaining why I may have something worthwhile to offer. Second, I am not going to make the claim that what I'm about to tell you is the "only" way to build a good squat. There are as many different training plans as there are good lifters. However, I 'm pretty sure that most good squatters will agree with 90% or more of what I'm going to say. In fact, what I'm going to present to you isn't even MY theory. Almost everything I've learned, I've learned from OTHER really good (better than me) squatters. I have been very fortunate in that over the past few years I've been able to talk to some of the best squatters of all time. Kirk Karwoski, Rickey Dale Crain, Louie Simmons, Dave Tate and the Great One himself, Eddy Coan, have all been very gracious with their time and have spoken to me on occasion and passed on tidbits that have helped me. This is the essence of what I pass on to you. In the tradition of our sport, I have been helped and I offer my help to you. I hope you find it useful. With that out of the way, let's get right to it. You are in the gym getting ready for your first warm-up set. Let's just crank out a few reps really fast and get to the heavy stuff. WRONG! Many people that I've spoken with do their warm-ups haphazardly and don't get serious until the weight is heavy. That is a big mistake. One thing that almost every good squatter I've spoken with agrees on is that you must perfect your form on the light weights in order to perform well on the heavy weights. A good saying is, "treat the light weights like the heavy weights and then the heavy weights will go up like the light weights." That means focusing on the details from the very first rep of the very first set. Coan stresses this as being a key point. You should try to make every rep the same in terms of set up foot position, bar placement, descent etc. In reality, the set begins before I touch the bar. As I approach the bar, I go through a set of mental checkpoints. These checkpoints are reminders to get all the things right as I approach the bar. I'll list them now and then go into a bit of detail on each one. That list is the beginning of my set up. The set up is the most critical part of a squat. When I look back on missed attempts, I can almost always point to a problem with my set up. Conversely, attempts that I've made usually have a solid setup. Here is the list: * Hands - I grab the bar, always left hand first in the same spot. The key here is to make sure that you are grasping the bar evenly. That is just one step in making sure that you set up in the center of the bar. * Shoulders - I dip under the bar and slide up high, then lower down and wiggle in until the bar is in the precise spot I want it. I take the bar fairly low in the notch between the lateral and posterior delts. There is a spot that just feels 'right' and each set that is where I make sure the bar lies. o Rob Wagner (definitely a World Class Squatter) wrote a very good 2-part article in PLUSA about a year ago that went over bar placement in detail in terms of leverages and torso lengths, etc. I'd suggest this to anyone that is not sure where they should place the bar for maximum effect. o The second part of this is that I squeeze my shoulders and upper back together and rotate my elbows down and forward. This is the base for the arch in my back. * Feet - Next up is foot placement for taking the bar from the racks. This isn't the same as the squat stance. I place my feet about the width of my hips right under me. I'm not saying that you should use the exact same placement as I do but two things are important. Too narrow a stance and you will be out of balance and too wide a stance and you may end up leaning over when you walk out. Find the spot that you feel comfortable and make sure you hit that same spot each time. * Hips - I then get my hips directly under me. You don't want to lean over too far to take the bar from the racks. It's surprising but I see quite a few guys almost do a good morning just to take the bar out of the racks at meets. Just get your hips under you find the spot where you feel tight and powerful. * Air - At this point, I take a medium sized breath and push my abs against my belt while tightening my back to prepare for taking the bar from the racks. At this point, I make sure my back is arched and my chest is up. * Head - Here I focus on a spot on the wall or ceiling. This focus is a key. If you can train yourself to find that spot and focus on it, you will keep your head up. If your head stays up, your chest will stay up and the lift just became a lot easier! This means that you don't take your eyes off that spot, EVER. Do not look down while you walk out with the bar. That takes practice. Most people watch their feet as they walk out with the bar. It is very possible to do that with 70-80% of your max and still get your head and more importantly your chest back up, however when you attempt to do that with a PR weight, it is really hard to get your torso back in position. Practice setting up without looking down. Have your training partners tell you when you get it right and try to repeat that over and over. * Up - This is simply when I take the bar from the racks. An important part of this is that I stop for just a second. This is a tip that Captain Kirk taught me after watching my aborted set up at the 98 USAPL Nationals. Take the bar from the racks and just stop for a second to let the bar and plates settle. This will become very important as you get to heavier weights and the bar tends to whip a bit more. The key that he stressed to me was that you must control the bar at all times. Don't be in such a hurry to back up that you go too fast and let a whippy bar throw you off. We've all seen people take a bar from the racks and immediately step back fast and proceed to lose their balance. The recovery from that takes up far too much energy and ruins your confidence for the actual squat. Note: I'm not saying you should stand there for a long period of time; just enough to allow the bar and plates to stop moving around. * 1,2,3 - This is the maximum number of steps to take. I squat with a wide stance and 3 steps are about right. If you use a narrow stance you can do it in 2 steps. I don't know how many times I've seen people wasting a ton of energy taking 5-10 steps, walking all over the platform trying to set up the squat. You have a limited amount of energy, don't waste too much of it on walking around with the bar on your back. o The first step is a SMALL step back. Just step back enough to clear the racks. Ideally, the first step is about one half the length of my other foot. You don't have to walk back a mile. Then I take one step to the left and one to the right. Boom I'm done. o Following the third step, I again stop to let the bar settle. You don't have to squat as soon as the head ref says, "squat." Make sure you are ready before you descend. * Big Air - Prior to the descent, I take another breath. This is hard to explain. I never fully let the air out that I took just before I took the bar from the racks. Some air does escape while I set up, though. I try to keep as much in as possible to maintain tightness. Anyway, I take a big breath to get as tight as possible and to get as much air in as I can. This is another key to keeping your head and chest up and your back tight. * Butt back, knees out - As I start the descent, I want to sit back. I'm thinking about pushing back with my butt while keeping my knees out. Eddy Coan calls this opening up your groin. At the bottom, my torso is inside or between my legs. o This could go with number 8 also but I'll put it here. If you use a wide stance like mine, you probably want to remember to push off your heels and not wind up on your toes. I actually lift my toes toward the ceiling just before I start the descent to remind myself. This also helps as a physical reminder of how I want the weight to be balanced. o A big key here is to keep your focus on your spot on the descent. DO NOT drop your head or look down. That almost always leads to dropping your chest and rounding forward. I've done this several times. It sucks every time. o Scott Waits - (a lifter from my area in my weight class who out squats me consistently) pointed out in a discussion we had that it is also important not to let the elbows move up and rearward on the ascent. This also can lead to rounding and leaning forward. * Drive back - I think more of driving back against the bar than I do of pushing up. This comes directly from Louie Simmons. Louie's idea is that you have to drive your head back and drive your back against the bar. Where the head goes the body follows. If you maintain a tight arch, as you drive your head back, your hips will come forward. It has worked for me. Those are the basic points that I try to focus on. These alone can make big difference in your performance. The setup is probably the most critical part of the squat for most of the people I know. If you get these things down pat, you will feel more confident every time you set up. There is a bit more however·. Jason W. Burnell STRENGTH ONLINE: http://www.deepsquatter.com/strength/