no more back squat??

[Matthew White]

DOUCHEBAGGERY!!!! So, when these kids get huge veiny beefy legs, and weak backs and cores, and hurt themselves out on the football field.............who is gonna get fired. OH,...........THAT GUY!!! On top of that, holy crap man, practice what you preach, dude is a stick figure!

[matthewvincent]

Lou-

Im sure that your CNS does recover faster. That is why heavy back squats are so important. Loading the spine like that triggers the release of various natural hormones in the body including test, GH, and others. I cant imagine getting rid of Back squats unless I was trying to go into BB. There is no other lift that recruits that many different muscles to fire. I am willing to bet that there is not a successful strength athlete out there who is not back squatting.

In general Back squatting sucks and takes a ton of time and energy out of lifting and i don't get to spend more time doing exercises like power cleans prowler due to the CNS fatigue. That is why they work, because they are hard to do and exhausting

[Louis Costa]

Matt;

I agree with squatting for core strength and the benefits of the powerful hormones released and all of those things. I've found that Front/Zerch Squatting for me (still a non successful strength athlete) coupled with Heavy deadlift routine (still stimulating the core / posterior power chain) has worked to increase my strongman production in the working events (tire,stones,axle clean,yoke,farmers) quite a bit actually.

I'm not saying the guy is a genius or even speaking to the strongman community. I did a poor job of alluding to my point in prior point.

I lift belt-less except for max attempts on EVERYTHING. Dropping the back squat simply gives me more energy / more explosion from the rest created from the weekly wear and tear from Deadlifting/Squatting/Event Training to put forth into the very specific training strongman requires.

I Have tried Alternating heavy Bi-weekly Deadlift/Squat routines and found that for me to go heavy enough into the 500 -600 range of squatting even once every two weeks severely effects all the previously mentioned factors. A heavy Yoke week with a speed deadlift week and heavy squat week for instance was way too much for me to recover from.

Many of my strongman events suffered heavily just for the conceived benefits of the backsquat

That is not to say there is no benefit: OBVIOUSLY. For strongman training for myself...this is the way that works for myself

That information coupled with the fact that back squatting is basically an obscure event unless your a WSM athlete led me to the path I'm on now.

This thread is very interesting.....but like everything...i'm sure all factors are based on how you like to train. This works best for me....and to be honest..i never liked the back squat anyways wayyy too hard. ha

[steve-ferreira]

i too have eliminated heavy back squatting for over a year now since a fairly serious back injury where one of the main issues was spinal compression (squatting being a key factor).

since then have also focused on heavy front squatting & deadlifting. not only have most of my events improved, but also has allowed my back to recover further. now in the mid 400's on a deep front squat and can walk away from a serious leg day and even put socks on first thing in the morning without having to come up with clever ways to reach through the pain haha

[Steve Trippe]

I question the judgement of anyone that really believes that a split squat or lunge puts all the stress on one leg. That's just stupid. Mike Boyle has forgotten more about corrective exercise physiology than most people will ever know, but he needs to stick to that. I've met a few of his hockey players, a couple of them went to my college. I couldn't help but think how small and weak they were, and that is coming from someone that's relatively small and weak.

Some people are just looking for excuses not to work hard.

[Matthew White]

Lou,
I just want to say, 700 lbs wearing only a belt, IS TOO A BIG FRIGGIN NUMBER!!! ;(

[Louis Costa]

eh....where I come from...it doesnt really seem all that huge. haha...I've trained with many guys that hit up into the high 7's with legit form on squat.

I was telling my one of the guys I train with during last nights training (squat/deadlift) that I was on marunde just yesterday writing about how i dont squat anymore and here I am the 1st time in six months back squatting.

Only hit 405 for 3 sets of 10 but it was my 1st day back in over a month off and like i said..a.bout 6 months since last back squatting.

ha..i guess i'm still learning what's best. But times like these when i do little or no event training....it felt good to squat!

[Rocco Liogghio]

Sounds like a lot of bunk to me... If your sport is PL'ing and/or Strongman you need to squat. If you are a football player you should probably squat but just as effective...flip a big-ass tire a bunch of times in wet grass. Like maybe 10 sets for 20 flips...that'll get your heart going (cardio) and your back/core/ass/leg muscles stressed. In fact it'll probably make you throwup and cry...or vice-versa.

Not sure anyone but extreme strength athletes should be squatting max weight or depth regularly...anything that requires a suit, belt, wraps, special shoes, etc for one rep sets should only be for PL'ing and Strongman athletes.

IMHO anyway...

R

[Zack C. Nims]

Originally Posted by Rocco Liogghio

Sounds like a lot of bunk to me... If your sport is PL'ing and/or Strongman you need to squat. If you are a football player you should probably squat but just as effective...flip a big-ass tire a bunch of times in wet grass. Like maybe 10 sets for 20 flips...that'll get your heart going (cardio) and your back/core/ass/leg muscles stressed. In fact it'll probably make you throwup and cry...or vice-versa.

Not sure anyone but extreme strength athletes should be squatting max weight or depth regularly...anything that requires a suit, belt, wraps, special shoes, etc for one rep sets should only be for PL'ing and Strongman athletes.

IMHO anyway...

R

Ditto! Man! when i read the "it'll probably make you throwup and cry... or vice-versa" I just started laughing! I can see it now!

[Patrick McGuffin]

Lol at "or vice- versa"