I spent a few weeks recently at the Poliquin Strength Institute (East Greenwich Rhode Island) listening to lectures and taking in a couple of weeks of training. On the flight back from Rhode Island I read on of the books Coach Poliquin highly recommends – “The development of physical strength” by Anthony Ditillo. After reading the book I to recommend it as one of the best books I have read in a long while. One thing that struck home for me was Ditillo’s thoughts on squats. We speak of the squat as the king of all exercises at Synergy Strength and we teach all those who enter our club to squat correctly as soon as they enter as it truly is a foundational movement for us.
I have taken paragraphs from Ditillo’s book and quoted them below;
On the importance of Squatting;
“It makes no difference where your aims may lie in the world of weights, leg work is of the utmost importance in determining whether you eventually reach your maximum potential or whether you fall by the wayside, somewhere along the road”
Squatting and long-term gains;
“make no mistake about it – hip and thigh specialization is necessary for any great increase of bodily strength and proficiency in which the immediate gains are sought to be held onto for any great length of time”
On body transformation;
“Hip and thigh specialization, with the most emphasis placed upon the various squatting movements, can and will literally transform your physique beyond your wildest dreams, should you have the intelligence and fortitude to undertake a rigorous training regime and all-round training program”
Squatting carry over to other sports;
“The most important aspect of hip and thigh specialization is the over-all conditioning such training will develop in you. It matters not what field of lifting you are interested in, be it powerlifting, olympic weightlifting or bodybuilding, such specialization of the lower body will develop in you the physical condition of a champion class athlete, with legs so strong and enduring that literally any physical task is within your capabilities.”
On Squat mechanics;
“To back squat correctly the bar should be placed high on the traps for better control and balance. The foot spacing should be medium to medium close and the most important part: when lowering into a deep position, keep the torso erect and make the knee the axis of movement, not the hip.At the fully flexed bottom position the leg biceps muscle should be “crushing” the calves with the upper thigh folding over the lower thigh as much as possible.”
The take home points are that everyone should squat as it has a carry over effect to any physical goal that you may have. Also when squatting one should squat full range and not just to parallel. If the flexibility and body awareness allows it one should squat until the hamstrings fully rest over the calves.
I think the last part dealing with mechanics is most important. I typically judge an authors or a trainers basic knowledge around how they teach and execute a squat. To many times I view on the television or in magazines “expert trainers” teaching the squat in a shortened range of motion, knees never passing the toes, and toes straight forward manner, which to me shows a true lack of knowledge on body mechanics and anatomy.
