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TCERTIFIED WEIGHTLIFTING PERFORMANCE COACHNotebook

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THE SQUAT

Squatting as a part of Olympic weightlifting cannot be overlooked. It will be a large part of any good training program, but also factors into every single competition-style lift completed. Leg strength will influence the athlete’s ability to both pull the bar and stand up with

it after receiving. More importantly, the athlete must be accustomed to the position of a deep squat—both stance and depth—in order to have any success with Olympic weightlifting.

The correct depth of a squat is the lowest point the athlete can attain while maintaining optimal posture (very nearly vertical). Ideally, all athletes could reach maximum depth dictated solely by anthropometric qualities (that is, the length of the torso and relative lengths of the upper and lower leg). However, in reality, many restrictions that inhibit maximal squat depth are developed rather than inherited. Limitations in ankle dorsiflexion and hip flexion are typically the root cause.

Any developed limitation to depth will lead to a corresponding correction toward a position with incorrect posture. Limitation at the ankles that prevents the shins from traveling forward of the toes will lead to a shift of the hips backward and a forward inclination of the torso. This accommodation will compromise the athlete’s balance. Inadequate hip flexion is often compensated through rounding of the spine, thereby negatively impacting bar travel and often leading to injury. For this reason, the squatting position in Olympic lifting should not be coached as “vertical shins” or “keep the knees behind the toes.” While this can be a perfectly acceptable way to teach and coach the squat for most individuals or athletes, the Olympic lifting athlete should work on achieving depth through (at least partially) pushing the knees forward of the toes.

Ultimately, our quest for a deeper (or even the deepest) squat depth possible is due to the desire to lift more weight. At limit weights, the athlete is often unable to pull the bar any higher, and the true separation

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point from “just okay” to “great lifter” comes in the athlete’s ability to receive the bar at lower positions. In order to successfully receive the bar at lower positions, the athlete must practice at lower positions in all squatting movements, including the back squat, front squat, and overhead squat.

To establish the correct squat depth and patterning—one in which the athlete’s torso can be the most vertical at the deepest level of hip flexion—he or she could certainly try different stances with weight on the back or chest and see what works best. Additionally, there are two more appropriate drills that I use with my athletes that help reinforce this concept under no load.

Four-Point Squat or Rock Backs (Fig. 2)The athlete should begin in the “all fours”

position with the hands on the ground directly beneath the shoulders, the knees on the ground directly beneath the hips, and the ankles dorsiflexed. The feet should be on the ground and the knees should be positioned in front. The core should be braced tightly, and a breath should be brought deep into the belly using the diaphragm.

Using the hands, the athlete should push back toward the heels, gently rocking back and forth. The marker for a successful repetition is one in which the lower back does not round. At the furthest position, the athlete can push into the ground with good technique. Ideally, optimum technique involves a vertical (in this case

The Powerlifting SquatPowerlifting is an entirely different sport, where the depth is defined as “parallel.” This ultimately means that athletes in that sport are benefited by choosing a stance that allows them to get to this defined depth in the easiest way possible. The result is the super-wide stance that we see in powerlifting circles (Fig. 4.1) and the one in which some of the greatest weights in history have been squatted.

Additionally, many athletes who proclaim the benefits of a wide stance squat are aided by the addition of squat suits that are multiple plies of super-thick denim. With the aid of these suits, one can almost sit back into them and still make a lift. This is not effective for weightlifting.

Figure 1Powerlifting squat form

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horizontal) torso with the hips near the ankles and the eyes focused directly ahead. If lumbar flexion occurs, the athlete should widen the stance while keeping the knees directly in front of the feet.

We have all seen the photo of a baby squatting before: you know, the one where our lack of mobility is seemingly mocked by the infant with the full hips-to-heels squat. Nearly all infants spend time doing this rocking motion before crawling. This trains the motor novice to learn to squat and move, and it can train an athlete to do the same.

Ground Up Squat (Fig. 4)The limitation to the four-point squat is the

inability of the athlete to gain more dorsiflexion while hitting the “bottom position.” This drill can help the coach identify restrictions in hip mobility and find the ideal stance to accommodate the athlete’s hip mobility and unique structural anatomy. However, identifying problems in dorsiflexion requires further investigation.

The ground up squat is a simple progression from the four-point squat in order to complete the squatting position. Utilizing the same start position as the four-point squat, the athlete should walk the hands back to get the heels as close to the hips as possible. The athlete should then continue walking the hands back closer to the hips while maintaining a strong braced trunk.

At the deepest position, the athlete should push off the ground with the hands to assume a full squat position. The heels should rock back to the ground, and the torso should move to an upright position. This motion should happen with a shove of the hands as well as a slight anterior migration of the knees. By using the hands and the feet to assume this position, we are creating a richer motor learning environment

Figure 2Four-point squat/rock back

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Eyes in the SquatI get the question a lot: “Where should my eyes be focused during my squats?” The answer, as usual, is it depends.

The aim of the eyes often directs the degree to which the cervical spine is extended or flexed. For a squat, we want the cervical spine to be neither flexed or hyperextended. Moving down the chain, cervical hyperextension can lead to corresponding lumbar extension which we should avoid with load in our hands or on the back.

The ideal position is somewhere in the middle ground between flexion and hyperextension, neither down nor straight up.

As seen here (Fig. 3), the eyes may be focused forward (left), slightly up (middle), or extended (right) depending on athlete need and preference.

Figure 3Variations in the squat: Back squat with eyes focused ahead (left), kettlebell squat with eyes focused slightly up (middle), and front squat with eyes focused up (right)

within which to learn the squat. Rather than two points of contact on the ground (the feet), we have four points (hands and feet). This leads to more kinesthetic information for the body to use in order to find the right bottom position of a squat.

While Newton’s third law (every action has an equal and opposite reaction) still applies to the squat, there is another piece of the puzzle that must come into play in order to determine the appropriate width of the squat stance. Without a doubt, creating great force into the platform will be necessary to receive the bar and squat the weight up. However, a more important consideration is how low the athlete is able to receive the bar in the squat stance. This fact

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necessitates the use of a narrower stance than typically used in powerlifting. The ideal position in the Olympic lifting squat is one in which the athlete is able to go the lowest while maintaining the most vertical posture possible.

Ground Up Goblet Squat (Fig. 5)The final progression in squatting before the

athlete touches the barbell is the ground up goblet squat. This movement is used to introduce the athlete to additional loading before the addition of the weight of a barbell. The ground up kettlebell squat is excellent for making the athlete replicate the body positions of both the overhead and front squat positions.

The athlete should perform this squat in the same way as performing the ground up squat without weight with one exception. Namely, a kettlebell placed between the feet should be used and the athlete should walk the hips back toward the heels and push off with the hands until the heels come down on the ground at the lowest portion of a deep squat. The athlete should grasp the kettlebell by the horns with the elbows positioned inside the alignment of the knees.

While curling the kettlebell to the chest, the athlete’s arms should be tight to the body and to the kettlebell. The athlete should tighten the torso to curl the weight, maintaining that position in the bottom of the goblet squat.

To complete the movement, the athlete should stand up with the kettlebell in the hands then place it back on the ground.

Figure 4Ground up squat

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Transition of the Feet (Fig. 6)It is important to point out that the pulling stance

and the squatting stance can be very different. Often, a narrow stance is used for the pull while the receiving position is typically wider as in a squat. It is very important for the athlete to be comfortable moving from one stance to the other with little effort because the last thing we want to do when we have serious weight on the bar is to think about where the feet are going to end up after the pull.

The athlete should transition from the pulling stance to the receiving stance quickly and the feet should be moved with minimal vertical displacement. The athlete should practice this quick movement by starting in the pulling position and quickly jumping the feet wider and into a receiving position. Lowering the hips to a quarter squat and—if necessary—practicing the movement with a full squat can be beneficial for improved performance.

The coach should remember that the pulling stance and the receiving stance are exactly the same when it comes to the athlete’s distribution of weight across each foot. For the most part (only isolated instances exist in which this is not true), the athlete’s weight should be distributed evenly across the length of the foot.

For this drill, the coach should use the cue to “jump from the heels and land on the heels,” meaning that the athlete’s weight should begin and end on a flat foot. This is not to say that during the course of extension during the lift that the athlete will not reach the toes. In all likelihood, the athlete performing the movement correctly will be on the toes at the completion of (but not before) the pull.

Figure 5Ground up kettlebell squat

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Figure 6Transition of the feet

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