Walk into any public weight room, membership gym, high school training facility or, dare I say, football weight room and you will see tons of people who appear to be missing the basics. For our purposes this means doing things correctly within the context of the weight room itself: performing lifts correctly and in a fashion that is both beneficial, safe, and will keep you racing towards your goals.
What does all of this mean? Well, as a baby does not come out of the womb and immediately start walking, it is nearly impossible to expect someone who cant bodyweight squat to be able to squat with a loaded barbell on their back. There is a process, as well as a good deal of maturity that gets the child to the point of being able to walk. For us, lets examine the squat. Too often, an athlete or your typical gym goer approaches the squat rack, attempts to squat, and fails horribly. Now, sometimes the person may get lucky, do it correctly, and squat deep enough. Frequently, however, they are never taught the steps prior to squatting that can and will eventually make them good. These, my friends, are the basics, the fundamentals that take us to our goals in a logical and beneficial manner.
For many gym goers the lack of form or technique in doing the squat comes from being told to do it and never taught the fundamentals of the lift or a squat progression. The lack of fundamentals leads to someone performing the lift incorrectly and increasing their chances of injury in several different parts of their body. A proper squat progression often starts without a bar at all. For the squat, many start with what is called the goblet squat. The goblet squat is very beneficial to athletes/lifters as it begins teaching proper squat form with a reduced load before the athlete or client will ever get under a bar.
Following the goblet squat is the front squat. Front squats are very beneficial to our squat progression as it teaches what many would call squat posture. The lifter must remain upright through out the entire lift or else they will dump the bar forward. Again teaching posture so that you will not find yourself caving after getting out of the hole with a squat. With learning both the goblet and front squat you will have a pretty good handle on feet placement, depth, and posture.
Lastly, upon mastery of both the goblet and front squat, the next step is to take your lifter to the most commonly known barbell squat. This can now be safely done and be beneficial to the lifter as they have mastered the basics of the lift itself through using the other lifts.
In review, make sure that before youre running (squatting with a barbell) you have learned to both crawl (goblet squat), and walk (front squat). This will ensure that you are successful under the bar and doing things correctly to keep you working towards your goal and injury free. Follow the basics and teach yourself the fundamentals of the lifts!
What does all of this mean? Well, as a baby does not come out of the womb and immediately start walking, it is nearly impossible to expect someone who cant bodyweight squat to be able to squat with a loaded barbell on their back. There is a process, as well as a good deal of maturity that gets the child to the point of being able to walk. For us, lets examine the squat. Too often, an athlete or your typical gym goer approaches the squat rack, attempts to squat, and fails horribly. Now, sometimes the person may get lucky, do it correctly, and squat deep enough. Frequently, however, they are never taught the steps prior to squatting that can and will eventually make them good. These, my friends, are the basics, the fundamentals that take us to our goals in a logical and beneficial manner.
For many gym goers the lack of form or technique in doing the squat comes from being told to do it and never taught the fundamentals of the lift or a squat progression. The lack of fundamentals leads to someone performing the lift incorrectly and increasing their chances of injury in several different parts of their body. A proper squat progression often starts without a bar at all. For the squat, many start with what is called the goblet squat. The goblet squat is very beneficial to athletes/lifters as it begins teaching proper squat form with a reduced load before the athlete or client will ever get under a bar.
Following the goblet squat is the front squat. Front squats are very beneficial to our squat progression as it teaches what many would call squat posture. The lifter must remain upright through out the entire lift or else they will dump the bar forward. Again teaching posture so that you will not find yourself caving after getting out of the hole with a squat. With learning both the goblet and front squat you will have a pretty good handle on feet placement, depth, and posture.
Lastly, upon mastery of both the goblet and front squat, the next step is to take your lifter to the most commonly known barbell squat. This can now be safely done and be beneficial to the lifter as they have mastered the basics of the lift itself through using the other lifts.
In review, make sure that before youre running (squatting with a barbell) you have learned to both crawl (goblet squat), and walk (front squat). This will ensure that you are successful under the bar and doing things correctly to keep you working towards your goal and injury free. Follow the basics and teach yourself the fundamentals of the lifts!
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