Why are back squats so good?
- According to Mark Rippetoe “The back squat is literally the only exercise in the entire repertoire of weighted human movement that allows the direct training of the complex movement pattern known as hip drive.” ‘nough said.
- Back squats will help you run faster. One can simply apply more force to the ground when running with a stronger squat – beneficial to both short distance runners as well as long distance runners.
- More mobility and less pain. Doing squats correctly can help increase mobility and strengthen areas that typically deteriorate as we age, such as the knees.
- Back squat can help develop power. Read: I will get better at WODs because I’m more powerful.
- A strong back squat translates directly to your deadlift, clean, and snatch. Again, this boils over into your daily WODs. If doing a WOD prescribed is your goal, squatting can help.
- While the Back Squat utilizes a wide array of muscles, it’s main players are the quads, hamstrings, glutes (butt), and the spinal erectors & abs. You can see the picture I’m painting here folks. We’ve just listed some of the biggest muscle groups in our body, all used by a single exercise
Bottom line guys and gals: Let’s back squat.
Warm-up
Coach’s choice
WOD prep
Back Squat
WOD
Back Squat Party
Starting at 135 perform 2 back squats
EMOM Add 10 pounds per minute up to 225 pounds.
Add 5 pounds per minute until you cannot complete the 2 reps.
Women start at 75 pounds and go up by 10’s until 135.
After 135 go up by 5 pounds.
* Goal is to get a minimum of 12 sets. Scale starting load as needed.
After party
Tabata Style Roation
:20 on, :10 off x 4 rounds (4 minutes, 4x doing each)
Flutter Kicks
Russian Twists
Commando Planks
Bicycle Crunches
Post WOD
Couch stretch 2 minutes per side.
Back squat party…started a little lower (115#) but went up by 10s almost to the end…115 to 235 in 13 rounds…and then up by 5# and hit 240#. Form felt really good until the 235 and the 240…those were a little compromised with some back rounding. All in all, I was happy to hit 240# x 2.
Tabata at the end…made it through the second round of flutter kicks but my back had a little spasm (could have been from doing Russian twists to the beat with Deb!!). Thanks to Eric and Frozen for getting my back straightened out…all good now.
Back Squat Party: 35-125# trying to focus on depth
Enjoyed the After Party!! Keeping beat on those Russian Twists was not easy. Thanks John for keeping up the intensity (and for putting the bike in the warm up).
Got to #285 on the squat party. At 260, I felt like I could go all day long—it’s amazing how quickly that changed.
Back squat party:
75-170, 1@175 (failed 2nd)
Got through 13 rounds, but forgot to switch to adding 5# instead of 10# until round 10, when it started feeling extra heavy! I stayed at that weight (160) for the next round, and then got a couple of more rounds from there. I was right about where I was expecting to be.
Not sure how I felt about the post-party party! But maybe my abs will thank me!
BSP
135-240