The Easiest Way to Improve Your Athleticism for Almost Any Sport or Competition: Perfecting the High Bar Olympic Back Squat
The back squat has been called the king of all lifts.
If you squat heavy, with good technique to parallel or below, then it’s a pretty safe bet that you’re an overall strong person who can probably jump into almost any sport and rise to the top.
My 1RM strength standards for men for the high bar olympic back squat are:
- New Born Kitten Strong – 0.5x bodyweight
- Old Man Strong – 1x bodyweight
- High School Athlete Strong – 1.5x bodyweight
- Mike Bledsoe Strong – 2x bodyweight
- Wolverine Strong – 2.5x bodyweight
Ladies will usually be about 70% of those numbers.
Technique for all squats are pretty much the same.
- Heels on the ground
- Neutral spine
- Knees over toes (same plane as foot)
- Shin as vertical as you can get it
If you start to not be able to do any of the above technique points perfectly then that’s when you cut off your depth and stand back up.
Never practice poor movement patterns! Work on your mobility and technique until you can do it right to parallel or below.
Homework:
Video yourself squatting without a shirt from the front and from the side and see how low you can get before your low back starts to round or your knees start to head towards each other.
See ya tomorrow,
Doug