The back squat is one of the most powerful movements you can utilize as an athlete. I’m taking you through the ultimate guide to the back squat for athletes – including why you should incorporate it into your training, how to program the back squat into your lower body workouts, and a step by step guide for how to do the back squat. Let’s get into it.
WHY DO THE BACK SQUAT?
There are many variations of the squat that are beneficial for you as an athlete to increase your strength. The back squat is one of the main staples and oftentimes used as a metric you can watch over the course of the offseason to measure how your lower body power increases over time. I like having athletes use the back squat to get an idea of how effectively you can produce power off the ground with two feet. This can easily be related to your vertical jump or broad jump ability.
Most important is how this relates to your ability on the field or court. Working to increase your back squat will help you enhance your layup, or sprint power to get to base or the end zone. Here’s a 1 month plan to increase your squat in just 30 days.
How to do the back squat?
Start with your bar set up on a squat rack at the appropriate height or typically about level with your collar bones. Begin by placing your hands on the bar just outside of shoulder’s width distance. Start to approach the bar by bringing your whole body under the bar, setting yourself up so that it sits just on top of your traps. Next think about pinning your shoulder blades together to keep them locked in place.
Bring your feet just under the hips and then stand so that you’re upright, taking a few steps back balancing the bar. Depending on which variation of the back squat you’re performing, you’ll set up for the appropriate squat stance which is also unique to each athlete based on mobility, etc. Your squat stance might be a bit wider, or you can place the feet directly under the hips. Play around with a few variations until you feel what’s most comfortable and effective for you. From here reach the hips, glutes, and hamstrings back into space trying to keep the shins as vertical as possible and the elbows underneath the hands. Lower down slowly into the full depth of your squat.
As you prepare to stand, think about screwing your feet into the ground by driving down and out and moving the knees outward slightly. Use this torque to bring you all the way to standing.
How to program the back squat:
There’s a number of ways you can program the back squat but I always recommend beginning with about 3 sets of 10 repetitions and changing up your numbers based on where you are in the season, and how advanced you are.
While the squat guide will bring you all new results with your max squat, to play like an elite level athlete you need the right training protocol.
If this sounds like the kind of program for you, you need to grab a copy of the Athletic Strength Formula.
An effective strength program like this brings so much value. I believe in this product so much, I’m even offering you a 90 day, money back guarantee.
But don’t just take my word for it… hundreds of happy athletes are bringing me feedback like:
“Added 90 pounds to my squat and bench”
“Drastically increased my squat in just 1 month”
“Easy template to build strength”
If you’re ready for major gains in the gym, more points on the field and a more athletic build…
