squat

Today we’re going to continue our series on low back pain during the squat by applying a novel concept to help us understand WHY back pain occurs. Physical Therapist Gray Cook (author of the book Movement and creator of the FMS screen) along with strength coach Mike Boyle coined the...

What Is the Smolov Squat Program? The Smolov Squat Program, often shortened to “Smolov,” is a 13-week weightlifting program designed to increase your squat strength. It was named after its creator and “Russian Master of Sport,” Sergey Smolov, who reportedly used its principles to train the...

Squats rule! I’m pretty sure I have mentioned that squats were my favorite exercise before, but oh well, let me do it again – Squats are my favorite exercise! Alright, now that’s out of the way, and seeing as how I’m weirdly excited about squatting right now, I figured it would be a good time...

written by JAMES CLEAR STRENGTH TRAINING Ilove squats — and you should too. Squats have made me a better athlete. Squats have made me stronger, leaner, and more explosive. Squats have made me more mentally tough and more resistant to injury. Given all of those benefits, you may be wondering...

If you have a rack, bar, and plates, then you have the tools necessary to train. These two full-body programs can help you achieve personal fitness success. Over the last several years, there has been a movement in the fitness world – training at home. Home gym equipment has been a big hit and...

There are some exercises and machines lifters sometimes discount as legitimate strength- and mass-gaining movements. Smith machine squats sometimes fall into this dubious category by many hardcore ironheads. To most, barbell squats will always be the king of the squats as they build the most...

Beyond Biceps Build Legs With This Bar Beyond Biceps Build Legs With This Bar 4 Effective Lower-Body Exercises It’s not just for curls. Use the EZ-bar for classic leg exercises and set fire to your quads, hams, and glutes. Here’s how. Every gym has an EZ-curl bar 21, and it’s not just for arm...

The squat is one of the most effective exercises as developing size and strength for the lower body. It’s also one of the most dangerous exercises that can be performed when it’s done incorrectly or if you don’t have a spotter. If you are coming out of the hole and get stuck without reliable...

We've always preferred to read books written by (or about) strongmen and weightlifters from the early 1900s to the '60s. Back then, they didn't have the Internet or any pre-formed lifting dogma; everybody who trained with weights was basically left to themselves. They found out what worked and...

Squats are your training program's foundation, but are you doing them right? Tour any commercial gym. You'll see shallow, knee-caving pseudo-squats. Hint: That's not how to squat. To optimize muscle growth and allow a lifetime of injury-free training, you may need a few tweaks to your squat...

After years in the iron game, PRs get harder to hit. There comes a point where you can't just go to the gym each day and pull a new personal best out of your butt. If you're an advanced lifter you'll need a better strategy and maybe a "trick" or two to continue to up your poundages. If you're...

Barbell back squats are arguably the king of all leg exercises, with the barbell front squat close behind. Back squats are part of the powerlifting big 3, but the front squat and the various front squat variations, although less load, is used because of the reduced stability; they have better...

Working out from home? Experiment with ways to mimic the angles and positions you normally get at the gym but using the equipment you have available. "But I don't have a lot of equipment or heavy weights!" It can still be done. In fact, let's eliminate ALL excuses and pretend like you only...

The squat-stance deadlift combines the best elements of conventional and sumo. It basically has no sticking point. Unlike the other two styles of deadlift, it has even tension throughout. This deadlift style has incredible transfer– squat to deadlift and deadlift to squat. Each time you train...

It's time to ditch the squat rack. If you want strength and size gains, picking stuff up from the floor is the way to go. You'll develop bigger lats, arms, abs, glutes, and legs in the process. That's what the Cronus squat – named after the king of the Titans – is all about. Think of a Zercher...

WHICH ONE IS BETTER? For over a decade now, fitness pros have been arguing about unilateral and bilateral training. As a fresher, unilateral means "one side" or "one limb." Think of a one-arm dumbbell bench press. Bilateral means using both arms or both legs, like a standard barbell bench press...

With all the cool shiny gym “toys,” it is easy for you to get sucked into needing to use them all to get a great full-body workout. In reality, you don’t need much space, a lot of time, or multiple pieces of equipment to get a great training. Just take this full body landmine workout for...

Adding in a calf raise after every squat rep is a small tweak that can make a big change to the intensity of your squat workouts through more lower-body muscle involvement. COACHING TIPS Squats work great "as is," which is why we don't always add in the extra calf raise. But we do like to...

BIG UPS I get asked a lot of questions from trainees. Here are the four most frequent: How can I improve my bench? How can I lose fat while gaining muscle? How can I improve my vertical jump? Coach, why does it burn when I pee? Okay, I'm kidding about that last one, but the first few really...

Squats are vital for building tree-trunk legs. But if you want to develop the most impressive quads possible, you'd better start rethinking your definition of squats. The classic versions (back and front squats) fail to effectively hit all the muscles that make up the quadriceps. That's where a...