Movement of the Month: Low-bar back squat
Nail down your squat with some tips from Coach Brandon.
“There is simply no other exercise, and certainly no machine, that produces the level of central nervous system activity, improved balance and coordination, skeletal loading and bone density enhancement, muscular stimulation and growth, connective tissue stress and strength, psychological demand and toughness, and overall systematic conditioning than the correctly performed full squat.”
— Mark Rippetoe
When in doubt, squat. It’s the single most important movement we have to build overall body strength and better our fitness level, which in turn improves our everyday lives. When we squat, the aim is to recruit a maximum amount of neurological pathways to stimulate a large group of muscles — that motor recruitment will help our CNS to develop and also create muscle hypertrophy, or muscle growth.
To facilitate this, we must squat. The low-bar squat recruits more of the posterior chain. In contrast, the Olympic-style squat, or “high bar” squat, recruits more of the anterior musculature (quads). Both aid in overall strength and power output. We will focus on the low-bar squat here.
To perform:
Step to a racked barbell placing both feet squarely underneath, loading the bar onto your back just beneath the top spine of the scapulae. The bar should be resting basically underneath the meat of your trapezius back muscles. As your hands address the bar, lift your elbows up and your rear delts will create a shelf for the bar to rest on.
Stand up with both feet and take one step back, settling in a squat stance: feet shoulder width apart and toes pointed out no more than 30 degrees.
Take a big belly breath in and hold, locking down the torso. Initiate the squat by moving your hips back and down, keeping your eyes gazing down about 6 feet in front of you on the floor.
Continue until you reach parallel, where the hip crease is at or below the knee, always driving the knees out.
As you stand, never lead with the chest. Keep your eyes gazing down in front and shove up the sacral area of the lower back just above the butt. When you reach about halfway to the top, start to exhale. Regroup at the top and repeat.
Remember, when in doubt, squat!
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