My Love Affair with the Bulgarian Split Squat

Throughout my followings of internet gurus, I have met, tried, experimented, visited, believed and argued many different points at different times. Louie Simmons was my first. I subscribed to Powerlifting USA to read his column, bought chains, bands, glute ham machines, reverse hypers and a Westside Barbell T-shirt which he gave me (the dog on the shirt was actually his dog). I spent multiple days at the old pizza shop in a strip mall on Demorest Ave in Columbus. Louie is a great coach, incredibly knowledgeable and a great person. In fact, he is such a great person that he said to me it was time to move on and learn from others because what he does, powerlifting, could only get me to a certain point. I needed new concepts that would get me closer to my goal of developing sprinters. He introduced me to John Davies, and I learned a lot. But I still needed more. I saw Bompa, Verkhoshanky, Siff, Weyand, Schroeder, Poliquin, Pfaff, Seagrave, and others speak on multiple occasions. I was one of the first in the US to have a Nemes vibrating plate sold by the Kraaijenhofs and delved into the Bosco stuff. My success was good but not where I wanted to be. Dan Fichter of wannagetfast, got us connected to DB Hammer who was selling limited consultations; we paid to have questions answered and teach us how to build programs that got great results for high school athletes. DB taught me the importance of the Bulgarian split squat and isometric strength. Thus, my love affair began.

Split Squat Technique Generates Biggest Gains

Test an athlete on a movement that matters—40 yard dash, vertical jump, etc.—create a workout, stay with something for three weeks and remeasure. Repeat with others and see what works.

Along this journey, I have kept data on my athletes. I am a track coach who has access to many athletes with a variety of capabilities, and I have a gym and train athletes in a one on one/small group setting. And with these groups, I have always tried to keep notes, film and results on my athletes because my quest is to find exercises that improve athletic development and more importantly sprinting speed. Test an athlete on a movement that matters—40 yard dash, vertical jump, etc.—create a workout, stay with something for three weeks and remeasure. Repeat with others and see what works. For me, the isometric split squat has been a staple that generates powerful athletes. My fastest guys, 10.5-10.8/100m range have always had the strongest “holds” – that is what we call them – and they all jump between 35 to 40 inch vertical jump.

Figure 1: Hammer Strength Deadlift Machine

The evolution of the exercise for me has been an interesting journey. Holding heavy weight in that position can be difficult, even with the safety squat bar. So, while assembling my gym, I came across a yellow Hammer Strength Deadlift machine on eBay for $200 in Seattle. I won it and paid $400 for shipping, and it changed my gym. It came with a bar installed to put your back foot on, and all we had to do was grab and hold for the allotted 30 sec. The problem was that grip strength became the limiting factor. We added straps, but that didn’t work. We tried a variety of belts, OK for some people. But thanks to iron mind straps and Spud belt-squat belts, we put together a system that is very effective because the weight goes to the lower body and is not limited to upper body strength.

Figure 2: Deadlift Machine with Athlete

The position of the athlete may vary. But, basically, one foot goes forward, and one goes back. The weight should hang along the side of the hip, so the weight doesn’t pull the athlete forward. When the athlete squats into position, the knee moves forward over the second toe, and the hips sink back into a squat position. My cue for the athlete is to think that a rope is pulling your knee forward, and a rope is pulling your hips back to stretch the hamstring. It should look like a chair tipped forward. The athlete should feel the pressure in the glute and hamstring of the forward leg and a stretch in the hip flexors in the rear leg. If an athlete feels it in the lower back or quad, their form is off, or the weight is too much. Some athletes get a more intense contraction going down deeper while others get a better contraction not going down as far or even slightly leaned forward. I think the ankle rocker (knee going forward) is key. Once the ankle breaks 90 degrees, the athlete will get a good glute contraction. Another cue is that the shin should be parallel to the spine. That is the perfect position to get a good hip drive in my opinion. We start with a hold in that position for 30 seconds and continually add weight as we progress. You will be shocked to see how fast people increase weight. After a couple of weeks of the 30 second holds, we progress to the Cal Dietz Triphasic holds, where the athlete drops down fast holds for a three count and powers up. A coach can always change the workout with supersets and giant sets by adding single leg jumps or drops from a box.

Figure 3: Deadlift Machine Sideview

What I have found is that the stronger athletes get at this exercise, the faster they run and the higher they jump. I have had athletes who could squat the house but couldn’t run or even hold their body weight in the position. But, once their body learned the position and strengthened this aspect of their movement, they ran faster and jumped higher. Athletes that start with me who can already run may not be great at some of the traditional lifts but always seemed to do very well in the isometric exercises.

Why do I think this is the case? Isometric strength is responsible for stopping the momentum from an action. So, going down in a vertical jump, there needs to be a strength type to stop the movement going down. Most people are slow to reverse this momentum and lose energy in the concentric portion of the jump. Another way to look at it is that it creates a platform to push from. A rubber ball works great on concrete but not so great on sand.

Figure 4: Athlete demonstrates Bulgarian Split Squats on the kBox. Photo courtesy Exxentric.

My latest excursion takes this concept one step further, inertial training. Or in my case, an Exxentric kBox from Flywheel USA. It is a flywheel concept where one pulls on a cable that is connected to a flywheel. As they pull, the wheel spins. At the end of the strap, the flywheel reverses directions and pulls the strap back to the origin. The key is that the athlete stops the spin and reverses the wheel. By the way, the wheel pulls back harder than the concentric pull. Some people call this eccentric training and it is. But, as I sit and spot on my kBox, I have noted that the more explosive people are the ones who can stop that wheel more quickly than others. Again, they are stopping a momentum, in this case a fast moving cable trying to suck them through a small hole in a 25 pound machine. Even more interesting is that fact that as some of the athletes who are less explosive got stronger in their isometric squats, the better they reversed the wheel and the higher they jumped and the faster they ran. So the combination of these tools has been very effective in training athletes to be more explosive.

This post was expertly written by Chris Korfist

What should I do during my rest periods?

Squeezing in a gym session around work and your weekend hangover is difficult. When you finally find the time you need to make the most of every minute. That means no chatting up the pilates class and absolutely no #gymselfies! It also means putting your rest periods to better use than sitting on the bench, swiping through Tinder

Rest periods should change in length depending on the aim of your session. If you’re storming through a circuit you only have 30-45secs between sets and need all of that to catch your breath. But if you’re doing strength training and your rep range rarely heads above five, you should be taking a full 3mins of rest. If you don’t, your CNS won’t recover and your subsequent lifts will suffer.

But 3min rests in a 45min workout eats into much needed gym time. Not what you want when you’ve already pushed back meetings and re-arranged date night to carve out a free hour. To help improve your workout's efficiency we've picked our perfect filler moves to supplement your exercises and help you become stronger, more flexible and injury proof.

Deadlifts

You would have thought this ultimate strength move required all of your effort, but a bit of extra abs work can bolster your future performance. “Working on anterior (front) core strength will help you maintain a flat back throughout the lift,” says Mans. Perfect form means you lift with the correct muscles and can squeeze out that final rep with ease. Perform 1min of front planks, side planks or deadbugs between each set for a side-order of six-pack abs and an extra 10kg on your PB.

Back squats

You won't pack any power into your lower body if your 'squats' involve little more than a slight bend at the knee “Poor hip flexibility means you’ll struggle squatting to the necessary depth,” says Mans. Loosening your muscles with flexibility exercises between sets increases your range of movement and therefore your lift's efficiency. Do 30secs of kneeling hip flexor stretches and psoas quad stretches during your breaks. Google them and thank us later.

Bench press

To get the most out of your time at the bench you need to work through your 'sticking point' – that reallly difficult phase of the move where the bar is 3-5 inches from your chest. Wall slides are the perfect stretch to open out your chest muscles, boosting your range of movement and helping ease the bar's journey. “Wall slides are essential, especially if you've been sat hunched over in front of a desk all day,” says Mans. Do 15 reps every time you break from the bench. They’ll work wonders for your posture and boost your bragging rights.

Shoulder press

Your shoulder is made up of more muscles than you might think. Shoulder stability exercises work the smaller muscles and are essential for overall strength and avoiding injury. “Try 90 degrees external rotation exercises using a cable machine,” says Mans. Set the pin to a light weight and do around 12 reps on each arm. Popping a weak shoulder at the top of a lift won't just hurt like hell, it'll keep you out of the gym for weeks. Don't forget the little guys.

10 Strength Training Principles That Will Make All the Difference

1. Start with Bodyweight

“One can have no smaller or greater mastery than mastery of oneself.” - Leonardo da Vinci

Let’s start with an admission. My name is Chet Morjaria, and I am a barbell addict.Don’t get me wrong; I love strongman and odd-object training too, amongst other forms of lifting heavy things. But for me, the barbell is where it is at.

However, underneath this mentality is a deep foundation of bodyweight training. No matter how much you can squat, pull off the ground, or get over your head - if you cannot pull yourself up to a bar there is a fundamental and functional strength concern that needs to be addressed.

In addition to the impressive levels of strength that can be built through bodyweight training, it requires an understanding of where your body is in space and where it is in relation to itself - kinaesthetic awareness and proprioception. These are crucial elements of any form of strength training. It can also be argued that the carryover from bodyweight strength training to barbell strength training is greater than the other way round, in the majority of cases.

2. Address Weak Links

Whether you like CrossFit or not, there is one aspect of the way CrossFitters train that you cannot deny - addressing weak links will make you stronger, quicker. Whereas CrossFit does this in a generalist fashion, you can be a little more specific when it comes to your strength goals. Work out which movements or body parts let you down when the going gets tough and the weights get heavy. Then address these elements systematically and specifically.

If you don’t know what your weak links are, go to see a good strength coach and find out. Even better, get them to provide you with a program that will bring these up to scratch. Working on your weaknesses will have the biggest carryover to the rest of your life.

3. Utilize Carryover

We’ve seen this concept of carryover mentioned twice now. Time to drag it out from the back of the stage and give it a mic and a spotlight. You have limited time, energy, and other such expendable resources. To get the most out of your training, you need to work out what works for you, in terms of movements, reps, sets, tempo, and more.

There is only one way to truly work out what does work for you. Get yourself under the bar and experiment. Record your experiments and learn from them. You can also speed up that process by learning from those who have been there before.

4. Train with Strong(er) People

There are plenty of ways you can find strong(er) people. Seek out the strongest person in your gym and ask to train with them. Look up a club specific to the type of lifting you do and get yourself down there to train. Find people who eat, sleep, breathe, and compete in it at a high level. You think these people haven’t learned something along the way?

If you don’t think you can learn from such people, you are wrong. Leave your ego in your gym bag and soak up the inspiration from people who have been there, done that, and got the blood-stained T-shirt.

5. Build a Base with the Basics

So far we’ve looked at strategies to employ in order to get yourself stronger. Now let’s make sure you have the strength basics down.

It doesn’t matter what form of strength training floats your boat or what you are lifting - barbells, odd-objects, or kettlebells to name a few. Ensure that you are pushing, pulling, squatting, hinging, and carrying on a regular basis. These are basic human movements and foundational to building a solid base of strength. Make sure none of these are missing from your training.

6. Find the Missing Piece

Listen to your body. ‘Niggles’ or worse, full-blown injury can be your body’s way of letting you know what’s missing from your training program. A good sports therapist will supply you with a prehab or rehab program. Often the pieces in this program are a good indication of what is missing from your fitness routine. Or you could just let me shorten the process for you: You need to do more rows and rotational work.

7. Be Coachable

Whether you are lucky enough to be coached regularly or not, be open to any coaching you receive. There is a difference between being coached and being coachable. Coaching is a two-way process, and those that give the coach something to work with allow the coach to learn about how you work and how you respond to different styles of coaching. A good coach will use this information to help motivate and improve you in a way that works best for you.

8. Choose Your Flavor

Let’s say you are already doing almost all of the points this article lays out. You have the basics down, are conscious of the gaps, and have the right people around you. Yet you do not seem to be getting much closer to your goal.

Don’t take this the wrong way, but it’s likely you are going about your strength training the wrong way. If you are working towards specific strength goals, you need to build the appropriate kind of strength. The foundation is that of absolute strength, but there comes a point where you need to make sure your style of training is a good fit.

Take the Olympic lifts as an example. These are fast lifts. Training in slow and steady movements will not prepare you as well as explosive and powerful ones in terms of developing the flavor of strength required - in this case, speed-strength.

9. Less is Better

We have discussed a number of strength training principles here, and a number of them involve assessing the way that you train. However, do not confuse this with continually adding stuff to your training schedule. We are talking about efficiency of training. Make sure that as you develop your training, you also streamline your approach to optimise virtuosity, recovery and, of course, intensity. Keeping your program sharp in this way will also allow you to simply assess exactly which of the modifications you are make are working and which are not.

10. Test the Mind

Who sets your limits? The body will give up long before the mind does. Find ways to challenge your everyday training principles and push past perceived boundaries. Here are three ways to do so:

• Competition: Put yourself into a competitive situation in your chosen field of play. Anyone who has done so will attest that lifting in a competitive situation is worlds apart from lifting on your own in your favorite corner of the gym. Some people seize up. Others revel at the chance. Whatever happens, you will learn more about yourself and the way your work (or don’t work).
• Coach: A good coach should know you better than you know yourself. Putting yourself in the hands of such a person can help you take yourself to places that you didn’t think possible, knowing that you are still within the realms of safety whilst doing so.
• Change: Mix it up from time to time. I advocate having one play session a week, where you can do whatever you want. Always do combinations of 5s and 3s for squats? Try 20 reps. Always lift with a barbell? Pick up an awkward object and lift that instead. Trying something new removes any notion of a reference point in terms of personal bests, or limits.

(By the way, the answer to the question at the start of this section is there are no limits.)

In summary - be considered about what you train, how you train, and who you train with. Yet sometimes, throw this consideration to the wind and dive head first into unfamiliar territory. Ingest, understand and adopt the strength training principles outlined above to drive your strength to the next level, and beyond.

Why 10 x 3 Is Best for Strength and Size

One of the things that has always stuck in my head as far as training goes is to do the opposite of what most do. Breaking Muscle athlete and super-coach Charles Staley is the guy who said this. It’s a fairly simple concept. If you see people using machines, then do free weights. If you see people doing chest and biceps, then do legs.

But the biggest disconnect usually comes when we talk about volume. Everyone knows typical gym training begins with three sets of ten. There is actually some science behind that. Back in the 1960s, Dr. Thomas DeLorme found that people responded better to multiple sets than they did to a single exposure, both in terms of building muscle size and strength (which explains why high-intensity training doesn’t work long term).

While sets of ten will work to begin with, they do have some limitations, especially for the natural trainee. Sooner or later the decreasing intensity in these sets of ten will have you need to work fewer reps per set. To begin with, a set of ten may leave you out of breath and flushed, but it won’t stay that way. The best way to think about it is like going for a jog. At first it’s difficult to even get around the block, but if you keep running those relaxed runs, you will be covering more and more distance pretty quickly. And at that point the only way to get fitter is to run faster

 

It may seem like a strange analogy, but there are far more similarities than differences between strength and fitness training. Beginners usually find themselves training at around seventy percent of what they are ultimately capable of. In fact, there is even a table to work out how hard you are working based off how many reps per set you are doing called Prilepin’s Table. A single set that is the heaviest thing you can lift once and once only represents 100% of your maximum. Looking at Prilepin’s Table, you’ll see that it goes down and eventually ends up at sets of ten and a corresponding seventy percent effort.

 

One of the things people often lose sight of is how many total reps are in a session. There’s a real reason why top strength coaches record not just weight, but sets and reps in their students’ work, as it helps to calculate the total intensity for the session, and even the training cycle. When you look at successful training plans the majority have one big thing in common - they share a total number of reps between the mid twenties and low thirties.

 

Think about it:

 

• 3 x 10
• 3-4 x 8
• 5 x 5
• 4 x 6
• 6 x 4

 

But there’s one incredibly valuable scheme that is overlooked in these plans, and that is the flip side of the old three sets of ten. What happens when you do ten sets of three? Let’s look at some of the benefits of 10 x 3:

 

• In a lift like the deadlift, where the set up can often be half the battle, this gives a trainee more opportunities to learn how to set up properly.
• Fatigue per set is kept to a minimum, reducing the possibility of injury. It’s rare to hear of people hurting themselves on the first rep of a set, but far more common for people to push hard while fatigued and hurt themselves on the eight, ninth, or tenth rep.
• Instead of thirty reps done at seventy percent intensity, this is thirty reps done at around 85% intensity.

 

This style of training allows for much greater stimulus to be applied to the muscles, which will result in greater strength and hypertrophy along the way. This is a great tool to use with opposing muscle groups and big lifts. Good choices are:

 

• Front squats and Romanian deadlifts
• Front squats and power cleans
• Bench press and chins

 

It can also be used to good effect on its own, and Westside Barbell made the 10x3 workout famous when they started using it for speed work on their Dynamic Effort days. For people who have never tried it, the end result is similar to what Dan John had in mind when detailing the One Lift a Day program. Just know that ten genuinely hard sets of three in a big exercise will take some time to get through, and the rest needed to do all this properly will make what seems like a small workout push out to the hour mark.

 

I’d suggest scheduling no more than two workouts per week for the ten by three sessions and using lower intensity work on the other days. A good sample split would be:

 

• Monday: 10 x 3 front squat and power cleans
• Tuesday: 5 x 5 bench press and chins, 3-4 x 6-8 of another upper-body pair
• Wednesday: Rest or easy cardio
• Thursday: Same as Monday
• Friday: Rest or easy cardio
• Saturday: Same as Tuesday
• Sunday: Rest or easy cardio

 

Give it a try for six weeks and see how fast you grow in size and strength.

How to Use the Front Squat to Improve Strength and Performance

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. The front squat is hands-down my favorite exercise. Whenever I say this, it tends to start a front squat versus back squat debate. Which is crazy, as it’s not an either-or situation. 

But I will say that for an athlete who wants to get all-around strong, steer clear of injury, and maximize carry over into strength sports, the front squat offers a number of advantages.

Why Do Front Squats

In my article When in Doubt, Do Front Squats: 25 Tips for Better Front Squats, I explain:

• From a coaching perspective - Front squats are easier to teach, more self-correcting, and promote better depth. 
• From an injury prevention perspective - Front squats are kinder on the shoulders, and incur less shear forces and compressive forces.
• From an athletic perspective - Front squats facilitate awesome core strength and have incredible carry over into other strength movements. This is not just strength-wise, but in terms of position and mechanics, too.

 

For Olympic weightlifters, the front squat is the best movement for learning the squat clean bottom position. Weightlifting coach Bob Takano explains why in his article Hitting Bottom: 3 Tools to Perfect Your Olympic Lifts:

The best movement for learning the squat clean bottom position is the traditional front squat. This movement performed with an optimal amount of weight will force the body into the bottom position, while simultaneously stretching the tendons and ligaments involved in achieving the position. At this point the front squat is not a strengthening exercise, but a positioning and stretching exercise.

 

For powerlifters, the front squat can be valuable as an assistance exercise to the back squat. For strongmen, the front squat ties in very well to positions within the sport, such as sitting with a Atlas stone on your lap, ready to drive the stone up and onto the platform (pictured below). For CrossFitters, it also has carryover to other movements within the sport, such as thrusters and wall balls.



So let’s take a deeper look at the movement itself, why you might want to perform it, and variations on the standard barbell front squat.

 

How to Perform the Front Squat

For those less familiar with this movement, strength and conditioning coach Traver H. Boehm provides a demonstration and basic explanation in his video on the front squat.

If you prefer a written format, read through this great basic skill review by Breaking Muscle founder, Mindith Rahmat from her article Deconstructing the Front Squat:

• Take time to find your starting position.
• Find your natural foot stance width your feet slightly wider than shoulder width apart and your toes slightly out so your toes can follow the path of your knees.
• Find your grip on the barbell slightly wider than shoulder width.
• Receive the bar from the rack on the front of the shoulders and step back onto the platform.
• Keep chest up and raise the elbows high.
• Stabilize the midline taking in a deep breath.
• Keep the feet flat on the ground pushing down through the heels.
• Squat down until the thighs are below parallel.
• Keep the chest up, back tight, and the elbows high when coming out the squat aggressively drive the elbows up to come out of the hole.

 

How to Improve the Front Squat

When people ask me how they can improve their front squat, they are disappointed when I don’t reply with something secret and Russian. Rather, I’ll ask to have a look at their front squat. The first place to look for improvement is within the movement, every time.

I’ve written two articles to specifically help you with this. For technical tips on the front squat, check out When in Doubt, Do Front Squats: 25 Tips for Better Front Squats – and I’m only half joking about the “when in doubt do front squats” bit.

"The first place to look for improvement is within the movement, every time."

Another way of creating improvement within the movement is to regress the movement down to even simpler forms. In this light, take a look at Squat Therapy: 4 Drills for a Better Squat. Squat therapy will improve your squats through the fact it is formed of four self-correcting movement drills. You are grooving good movement simply by performing the drills.



From regressions, we can move onto variations. Let's take a look at two variations of the movement, and how they compare to the clean grip barbell front squat.

Crossed Arm Grip

Strength coach Jesse Fernandez explains how this variation works in his article A Primer on Front and Back Squats: Crossed-Arm, Clean Grip, Low Bar, and High Bar:

Place the bar in front of your shoulders, resting it directly on top of your deltoids, just as you with clean grip version. You then will cross your hands over the bar, making an “X” when looked at from up above. Elbows will face forward and arms will be parallel to the ground

Why would you vary the grip? It’s a great question. There is less carryover to the clean with crossed arms. Also it’s not actually that easy to secure the weight like this. However, if you or your client has wrist issues, or other mobility or injury issues restricting him or her from performing a standard front squat rack, this is a useful way of facilitating the benefits of the front squat without rack position being the limiting factor in terms of weight.

If clean grip was the ultimate goal, then the root causes of the inability to get into a clean grip rack position must be addressed in parallel.

Left: Clean grip; Right: Crossed arm grip.

Two-Kettlebell Front Squat

This is an incredibly humbling movement. Strength and conditioning coach James Cerbie gives us an example of his client’s experiences with this movement in his article The 2-Kettlebell Front Squat: The Best Exercise You're Not Doing

“Well, that sucked.” My client un-racked the kettlebells and put them on the ground, still contemplating how in the world he got crushed by such little weight (comparatively speaking of course).

 

Here I was taking this guy who considered himself to be pretty strong (and to his credit he was - he could do a mid-300lb front squat relatively easily), and putting him on the struggle-bus with a pair of 24kg kettlebells.

James also lists some key reasons for performing this movement:

• Lower body strength – The increased instability of the kettlebells compensates for the lack of load.
• Core stability – This exercise puts your core on overdrive and forces you to maintain position.
• Grooving the pattern - The previous two points combine to make this movement an effective variation for grooving the squat pattern.
• Breathing into your back - By biasing a little flexion in the bottom of the squat, we can work on good breathing technique.

The article goes on to list how to perform the movement, possible technique flaws, modifications, and even programming – it’s well worth a read.

I hope this article has also been well worth your read. Now, read it again, pick out some points to practice, go do some front squats. Then come come back here and let me know how you got on.

The 20-Rep Squat Routine: Old School Strength Training

For all neophytes who have no clue how to train hard, I suggest you heed some practical lore from the past. Back in the day when they had no sophisticated equipment, no Internet recommendations, and no super-duper nutritional supplements, those who sought to get stronger and grow muscle had to bust their butts with plain old hard work to achieve strength and size gains. They had only the basic means of stimulating muscle tissue - known as barbells and dumbbells - and the smarts to allow for proper rest and recovery following their training.

Surprise! They achieved results. And it still works today in this information-overload environment in which we reside. But the simplicity of hard work has either been blurred or completely lost from all the fancy stuff that pervades our current training culture. So, if it still works, why don't you try "old school" and give it a go? Working hard is still the way to go, no matter how you slice it.

With credit given to Randall Strossen outlining John McCallum's 20-rep squat routine in his book Super Squats, let me tell you about a simple but very difficult program for increasing lower body strength and facilitating weight gain. The 20-rep barbell squat routine. It works. It truly does. But it is brutally difficult.

It goes like this:

Train your lower body twice per week. One session is the 20-rep squat routine and the other is something different like deadlifts, leg presses, or whatever blows your skirt up.

For the 20-rep assault, select a resistance that you would normally use for a tough set of 12 repetitions. With that resistance, perform 20 repetitions. Yes, it's going to be challenging but find a way to squeeze out 8 more reps to get to the 20-rep goal. You can do it if you focus on the task at hand. Hang in there. Catch your breath between reps. Concentrate on getting one rep at a time.

Once you achieve 20 repetitions, it's mission accomplished.

Now that you have gutted it out to achieve the 20-rep goal, rejoice in the moment, and then it's time to move forward. It's now time to do more. Given proper recovery time, your body will have adapted to the previous 20-rep overload stress and can now tolerate more. It is the biological phenomena called the principle of recovery-adaptation. You did it, your body adapted to it, now you are physically able to do even more.

For the next 20-rep squat workout add at least five pounds to the bar (10 pounds maximum). Your goal again is 20-repetitions. You're stronger as a result of the previous 20-rep "death march," so you are capable of achieving 20-repetitions with slightly more resistance.

If you attack it with all-out effort you'll accomplish it. Remember, you only added a few more pounds from the previous successful session so be confident you will achieve the 20-rep goal. Yes, it will be physically and mentally disgusting, but if you want to improve you'll find a way to get it done.

Why am I so confident you can do this? I did it back in the day. In the summer of 1990 at a body weight of 185 pounds, I took the 20-rep squat challenge.

My initial squat session was a demanding (for me) 245 pounds for 20 repetitions a la NO-NO-NO (no belt, no wraps, and no lifting suit). It was simply body against the resistance with zero help from supporting equipment, but I did it.

Each week I added ten pounds to the bar and achieved 20 reps as follows:

• Week 2 = 255 x 20 (ouch!)
• Week 3 = 265 x 20 (yikes!)
• Week 4 = 275 x 20 (ugh!)
• Week 5 = 285 x 20 (yowza!)
• Week 6 = 295 x 20 (!%$@*!)
• Week 7 = 305 x 16 (I couldn't go further. I was done!)

The inevitable wall was hit and so it will be for you, too. Eventually you will reach a point where you cannot keep progressing. At that point you will have pushed it to the limit both physically and mentally. But savor the moment because you obviously moved up. In my case, I went from 245 pounds x 20 reps to 295 pounds x 20 reps. For me - being a genetic trash bag - that was outstanding progress.

If you have the intestinal fortitude to attempt a new challenge to for the purpose of improving your strength and/or weight gain, try the 20-rep squat routine. Understand it will be both physically and mentally demanding, yet it will be simple to implement.

The 20-rep squat routine in review:

1. Train the lower body twice per week, once with the 20-rep barbell squat routine and the other with something without squats.
2. With the 20-rep squat routine, perform the first workout with a resistance that normally challenges you for 12 repetitions. Get 20 reps.
3. For each succeeding 20-rep squat workout add five to 10 pounds on the bar and find a way to accomplish 20 reps.
4. Make sure you are completely recovered prior to attempting the 20-rep workout. It will take everything you have to achieve the 20-rep goal.
5. When you inevitably hit the wall and are unable to achieve 20 reps after weeks of progressive training, at that point you should have made exceptional progress and achieved measurable results.

The 20-rep squat routine is a time-proven means of becoming stronger and larger (all other factors being equal). It should be used sparingly because it is extremely demanding. Old school works if you are willing to work.

The 3 Biggest Mistakes in Developing Fitness Programs

Every workout has a weakness, to combat this problem coaches unfortunately tend to throw in everything but the kitchen sink. Minimizing the weaknesses of various methods isn't challenging if we better understand powerful training principles. As coach Charles Staley has said, "everything has a cost, not everything has a benefit." You can easily apply this to workouts as well. Understand the weaknesses of a workout helps you better construct an entire program.

The lack of success of many fitness programs can be directly traced to not altering training variables. Even those that do try to cycle the various training concepts still miss big on three important ideas. Implementing these methods can enhance the strength of your workouts, easily periodize your programs without having a degree in Soviet sports science, and most importantly give you the opportunity to achieve long-term success.

Mistake #1: Not Altering Load Placement

I have spoken in previous articles in regards to altering holding position and how this principle plays a paramount role in loading, stability, and overall effect of an exercise. That may sound like a justification for only sandbag training, but the truth is that it applies to all forms of strength training. However, very few coaches actually systematically manipulate holding position. Why is this important?

Let's apply this concept with a barbell to get rid of any assumed biases. Front squats and back squats are favorite exercises for many lifters. However, which one do you choose and why? I have always heard of interesting ideas such as front squat works more quads and back squats works more hamstrings. The reality is most coaches do not understand why they are using specific variations of a movement. What does the research say?

In a study by Gullett et al, front and back squatting was directly compared. The researchers concluded, "The front squat was as effective as the back squat in terms of overall muscle recruitment, with significantly less compressive forces and extensor moments." This was also with lighter loads used during the front squat. Digging deeper, one could see some differences, but overall this is very intriguing. Now before you go run off and just start performing front squats, I want you to think bigger picture than just the exercise. This study ultimately demonstrates the value of load placement changing the impact of a movement.

Remember, both are squatting patterns, but it is where the load is applied that changes the outcome for both effectiveness and safety. Seeing such results with lower weights also has to make us wonder how other implements that are strategically placed on the body can also create positive effects even though the loads appear much lighter.

Examples:

• Kettlebell Single Arm Front Squat
• Sandbag Shoulder Squat
• Bear Hug Squats
• Front Loaded (Zercher Squats)

Mistake #2: The "Big Lifts" Are Your Keys to Success

The number one rule of strength training dictates that you perform cleans, squats, presses, and deadlifts, and that you do those lifts first! After all, whatever you place first in the workout does receive priority. I know, I know, the big lifts are all you need to get stronger, but what if that wasn't true?

"Typically these players (NFL players) over-emphasize the two-legged lifts and pulls like squats and power cleans without considering single leg loading. In other words, the pelvis must not drop laterally with high load or high-speed single leg support." These are not my words, rather, those of renowned spinal expert, Dr. Stuart McGill.

Are cleans, squats, deadlifts, and all the other "big lifts" good and important? Of course, but when was the last time you didn't put them first? When was the last time you prioritized other drills where you challenged stability or leverage over load? After all, many of these drills we are referring to may require more neural activation to coordinate the movement than simply high loading.

Examples:

• Lunging in All Directions Under Various Loading Positions
• Bench Pressing or Push-up Single Arm Leveraging
• Step-ups of Different Patterns and Loading Positions
• Single Arm Clean and Presses from Variety of Body Positions
• Carries: Farmer's, Single Arm Farmer's, Shouldering, Front Hold, Single Arm Overhead, Various Overhead Positions

Mistake #3: Not Paying Attention to Tempo

The fitness industry has changed quite a bit in the last ten years. For a long time, performing any type of "quick lift" was almost unheard of in fitness and only reserved for well-qualified athletes. Now, just about everyone is using explosive lifts as part of their program, for both good and bad.


The good? Explosive or quick lifts do help our neuromuscular system and fast-twitch muscle fibers. In fact, one of the fastest qualities we lose as we age is power and this can be related to aging issues such as falling. There definitely is no arguing that fast can be good, if used correctly, but so can slow.

"Slower tempos with lighter weights are an especially useful tool for novice trainees because such protocols produce neuromuscular and hypertrophic adaptations without being dangerous or compromising technique with loads that are too heavy. They are also a staple of programming when recovering from injury to increase blood flow to the injured area, gain strength, and focus on getting to the muscles to fire effectively."

These are the words of renowned strength coach, Charles Poliquin. Since many lifters spend a high volume of work performing quick and/or heavy lifts, I believe the same benefits can be found for the more advanced trainee.

An additional benefit of slower tempos may be in the energy systems. Coach Poliquin cites a study showing how excess post-exercise oxygen consumption was lower for lifts with a faster tempo than slower. Additionally caloric expenditure was shown to be less with the faster than slower tempos. The moral is to vary tempos over the course of training cycles to obtain the benefits of both.

Understanding how to apply these principles can dramatically change the outcome of your programs without having to perform overly complicated exercises. Where do you start in using these concepts? If you have never varied how you hold your weight, start to plan a cycle of one major exercise in which you do so. If you have never prioritized asymmetrical lifts, use that as a secondary movement in your program. If all you have ever performed are highly explosive lifts, try a finisher movement where you focus largely on slowing down the speed of the movement. These principles are easily integrated into any training program and can add motivation for new training goals.

8 Common Squatting Mistakes and How to Correct Them For Stronger Squats

Everyone makes mistakes. I make a lot. Everyone squats. (Don’t they?) I squat a lot. Through the combination of these two things, in addition to coaching a lot of squats, I’ve worked out eight common mistakes that limit squatting potential. Thankfully, I’ve also worked out how to correct them. Have a read over this list and see if you recognize any of these mistakes in yourself or others.

Mistake #1: Squatting Too High

If all the Internet memes are to be believed, squatting deep is possibly the meaning of life. While this is not quite true (everyone knows deadlifts are the meaning of life), squatting deep makes a whole load of sense, beyond proving doctors wrong and motivational posters right. I always think of squatting deep as something that is counterintuitive. When you have a heavy weight on your back, the last thing you want to do is to squat deeper with it. However, getting your ass to the grass has a number of direct benefits to you. You can harness the power of your glutes and hamstrings far better. It also puts you in a better position to get your hips directly underneath the bar quickly. Both of these things actually make the squat easier and have direct transfer to Olympic weightlifting (think getting pinned at rock bottom under a heavy clean.)

Mistake #2: Having Pins That Are Too High

Nope, nothing to do with long legs. In fact, this is the opposite. For those of us who are vertically challenged, we need to ensure we don’t challenge ourselves further by working off pins that are set too high on the rack. By the time you’ve gotten onto your tip-toes to get the weight off the rack, you’ll have lost a good deal of the tension you’ve worked so hard to generate. So don’t be lazy. Move the pins to a height that suits you. Slightly too low is better than slightly too high.

Mistake #3: Being Unconfident

One of the cues I use most often, out of both necessity and effectiveness, is “confident hips.” You know the type of squat I’m talking about - the one where there are no glaring technical issues, but the squat still looks unstable and unconfident, particularly on the way down. It can look like the hips are making their way down in an “S” shape, unsure which way they are going. Cueing confidence with the hips allows the squatter to focus on moving one part of the body correctly and confidently. Whichever style of squat you are going for, when you create a confident path with the hips, many other aspects of the squat will tend to fall into place.

Mistake #4: Always Wearing Assistance Gear

I’m the first person to advocate the use of legitimate lifting accessories, such as belts and knee wraps. They can be powerful aids in allowing your whole body to experience the strengthening benefits of heavier squats, while also keeping injury at bay. However, save these accessories for when it matters. Take a belt, as an example. I believe wearing a belt can actually help to teach the lifter to brace hard (rather than lessen the lifter’s ability to create pressure, as is commonly believed). However, I also believe that lifting beltless has great benefits in terms of creating and maintaining pressure and position, too. Get the best of both worlds, and use the belt when it gets heavy. Actually, just before it gets heavy, as using a belt is a skill to be learned just like any other.

Mistake #5: Breathing Incorrectly

I see this mistake take many forms. Two of the most common are taking a breath as you make your way down to the bottom, and taking a breath into your chest as opposed to into your belly.In fact I’ve often seem both together, and I put this down to the fact that taking a breath into your chest has little impact on the lifter in terms of anything else apart from intake of oxygen, so when it’s done doesn’t really matter either. The two fixes are simple. Point one: take a breath into your belly. This works to create intra-abdominal pressure to make your squat safer and more effective. Point two: this breath should be done before you begin this lift, just as you wouldn’t put your belt on after starting your lift. Maximize pressure before you begin your descent.

Mistake #6: Going Too Heavy Too Often

All you badasses out there will disagree I am sure, but yes, there is such thing a squatting too heavy. Actually, I’ve changed my mind. There isn’t such thing as squatting too heavy, as when you do so, you are no longer doing a squat. You’re doing some bastardized version of the lift. If you’re all caved in on a front squat or your back squat looks more like a good morning, then you are risking injury and training crappy movement patterns. Yes, it happens from time to time, but don’t make a habit of training this way or your body will think that is how it should be done.

Mistake #7: Never Failing

Not to be confused with going to heavy too often, this is in fact the concept of not going heavy enough, due to not having the balls to do so fear of getting pinned under a heavy bar. Almost always, as with many things, the fear is worse than the reality, and the only way to overcome it is to experience failure. In this situation, I may choose to take the lifter up to and through a controlled fail, with good spotters and under my watchful coaching eye. More often than not with this type of lifter the mind gives up before the body does. Form remains intact, but the lifter has given up mentally and is unable to make it out of the bottom of the squat. However, I have found a controlled practice of failure helps to alleviate the fear of being stuck, and gets the lifter to start making more aggressive choices with weight selection. If you’ve never failed a squat before (and I’m always surprised how many people haven’t), then consider this as an option.

Mistake #8: Being Too Quick Between Sets

Looking at this from a wider perspective, I can see lots of possible reasons why people don’t rest enough in between sets. The hasty pace of modern day living leaving little time to train, the desire to fit in as much training as humanly possible, and the CrossFit mentality of doing everything quickly are three potential reasons why I figure I often see squat sets performed back to back (there’s a pun in there somewhere). But to not allow adequate rest is to short-change yourself from strength gains. Allowing full recovery, or as close as possible, in between squat sets is going to ensure that you get the best out of every set. And before you tell me you don’t need the rest, that you are fine without it, have you ever tried it? I bet that not only could you lift heavier across more sets, but also the quality of your reps would improve, too. Rest more, lift more.