L.I.F.T.

Chris at Conditioning Research posted a great entry about the different benefits of squatting and deadlifting.

What really caught my attention was this quote from Matt Metzgar, taken from a post on his blog:

“Toddlers squat constantly, but it is all “mobility” work. The squats are done for the purposes of movement, not for the purposes of lifting a weight. If a toddler wants to lift a weight, they shift into a deadlift position.”

we all used to do it...what happened?!

The Back Squat

As far as squatting goes, there are a ton of squatting types/forms.  What the authors above are talking about is a natural full-squat position, similar to the resting/seated position used by most people in most “undeveloped” countries:

many still do...

The exercise called “the back squat” involves placing a bar across your upper back, and squatting with it.  As the authors mention (and Mike Boyle harps on), this can cause injury if proper form isn’t maintained – that is, if you progress too fast in weight.

The body is only as strong as its weakest link, and, in most “modern” people the lower back is a very weak link.  When you put that weight on your shoulders, and squat down, if your mobility sucks, you bend forward, and all of that weight goes to your weak link.

Then the weak link breaks.

The “back squat” though, is called the “back squat” not just because you put the weight on your back, but because it is a back exercise.  The back squat, traditionally, was thought of more as a strengthener of the back than of the legs.  The deadlift, as the authors above mention as well, was traditionally a leg exercise – though not even the “predominant” leg exercise…that was the “front squat.”

The Front Squat

The front squat involves supporting a bar across the front of your shoulders, and squatting with the weight held there.

The front squat usually allows for a much greater range of motion than the back squat, because the weight is ahead of the individual.  It also uses the quadriceps much more than the back squat, and can take a lot of the loading off of the lower back, as the back is necessarily kept in a more upright position (to avoid falling over).

This is the squat used in Olympic lifting, where lifters frequently achieve weights in excess of 3 or 4 times their bodyweight.  And it uses the “full squat” (“mobility”) position.

The Deadlift

The deadlift was called “The Health Lift” by most writers before 1970.  It was considered the single best lift for achieving total body strength.  I think it still is.

However, the deadlift has its own problems, which are, or can be, very similar to those encountered in the back squat.

If form is sacrificed in the traditional deadlift, and the lumbar spine rounds, the load, again, is transferred to that spot, and the weakest link goes.

The Goal – Maximal Strength within Proper Technique

The problem with all of these discussions is that they try to make a claim that one exercise is “better” than another.  That “better” can mean “builds more strength,” or “is less dangerous,” or “has a higher functional carryover.”

But there is no absolute truth…except, maybe, this:

If you do any exercise with proper technique, to the current limit at which you can sustain proper technique, and progress as you are able, you will be fine.

No exercise is “better” than any other.  They’re all good.  They all have their time and place.

The problem happens when people try to rush things, and sacrifice technique for “success.”

Sacrificing technique for success = failure.

Write that on your whiteboard.

I posted a couple of days ago about Mike Boyle’s claim that people shouldn’t do bilateral barbell (especially, back) squats anymore.

His reasoning is that the back is a bad “transducer” of force from the legs to the upper body.

While I disagree with this use of the word “tranducer,” we won’t go into that here.

Instead, let’s talk about what Coach Boyle wrote on his blog today.  At the bottom, in the post script, it reads:

PS- We haven’t stopped doing bilateral exercises or, lifting heavy weights. We still Trap Bar Deadlift and Olympic lift. I also think that bilateral exercise is crucial for beginners. However, if you have experienced athletes and you want to keep them healthy and get them strong consider the Rear Foot Elevated Split Squat.

Wait Coach Boyle…your athletes still do the Olympic Lifts and deadlifts?!  But I thought the back was a bad “transducer” of force from lower to upper body – the limiting factor in people’s ability to move force with their legs!

What lift requires more “transduction” of power than the Olympic lifts?!  What lift requires more transduction of force than the deadlift?

So you don’t do backsquats anymore, because the back is the limiting factor in gaining leg strength?  So your athletes with weak backs go from their single-leg squats to deadlifts and O-lifts?

I’m confused.

For one thing, it’s potentially dangerous to have legs that are inordinately stronger than your back.  The back is the place where force is transferred from legs to upper body.

As anyone knows, who ever watched “The Weakest Link” – the weakest link goes first!

In this case, the weakest link is Coach Boyle.

I have nothing against you Coach, but it’s this type of thoughtless sensationalist self-aggrandizing bullshit that’s destr0ying the physical training industry in this country and getting people hurt!

So STOP IT.

1. Stop the reductionism.
The body is not a bunch of independently moving limbs connected by “transducers.”  The body is a single unit.  Any effect to one part of it, effects all of the rest of it.

2. Stop the stupid/sensationalist claims for specific exercises.
There’s no “magic exercise” for any bodypart or for the body as a whole.  The body cannot be pigeonholed, as much as you might like to do that.  You have to work the whole thing, you have to do it all, you have to figure it out.  You have to break it down and let it rebuild itself.  Strictly “anaerobic” training (which is a misnomer anyway) will make you a fumbling oaf.  Strictly “aerobic” training will make you a sickly Auschwitz-victim-looking ghost of a human being.

Stop pushing this bullshit information.  Learn the basics.  Practice the basics.  Preach the basics.

In case you don’t know what I mean, I’ll give you a brief outline of what the basics are here:

Basic Human Anatomy/Physiology – learn it.

Basic Biomechanics – force-transfers

Basic Exercise Physiology – things like “progressive resistance,” allo-/homeo-stasis, overload, adaptation, etc.

Basic Dietary Facts – so simple that a child knows them naturally…

Basic Games, Basic Play – if you shut your chattering brain down for a few minutes, you’ll be able to remember these yourself…you don’t have to pay anyone or read anything.

Basic Psychology – Know Thyself.

Six things.  Figure them out.  Take a class.  You can download/view/listen to most of that information for free on the internet (check out Wikipedia, and the iTunes University site).

I think that’s it.  Is there anything else?  Anyone out there in Readerland?

In all things, go to the source.

It’s extremely popular these days for people to treat symptoms of disease, or to address perceived causes of illness, without digging deeper to find out what the real source of the problem is.

Coach Mike Boyle recently posted about ditching back squats in athletic training programs in favor of single-leg squats (thanks, Aaron, for linking to this).  His reasoning?  The low back is the limiting factor for building strength in the legs of athletes.

While that sounds really good, it ignores an important point.  THE LOW BACK IS THE PLACE WHERE LEG POWER TRANSFERS TO UPPER BODY POWER-EXPRESSION AND MOVEMENT.

Coach Boyle is saying that his athletes don’t back squat because it’s dangerous for their low backs, or that their low-backs can’t tolerate it.

Well, yes, if they’re substituting hip mobility for low-back mobility.  Or if their thoracic spines are so inflexible that they can’t rack a bar on their traps properly.  Or if their hamstrings are so tight that their hips dive under when they sit down.

Thing is, the problem could be any OR ALL of those.  Or it could be calf/ankle ROM limitations.  Or it could be that they just have poor motor-patterning.  Etc. etc. etc.

Bypassing the back squat because an athlete has functional limitations is like staying away from vegetables because they’re hard to chew.

You aren’t solving the problem.  If anything, you’re going to make it worse!

You have to address the problems before you start loading the body.  You can’t slap load on a dysfunctional frame and expect it to iron itself out.

If anyone wants to know how to fix their dysfunctions, go get Pete Egoscue’s book “Pain Free” and read it and apply it to yourself.  Or, go to an Egoscue clinic and get a e-cise menu from one of their practitioners.  DO IT.  It works.

I’m not saying single-leg exercises are bad.  I think they’re great!  Taking an athlete who is fully capable of deep (full) and heavy back, front, or overhead squats, and putting them through a rotation of single-leg squats, is a wonderful idea!

Just don’t try to shortcut dysfunction by creating new exercises and making dogmatic statements about “always” and “never.”