Good Morning Titans,
Today we’re going to talk about one of my most dreaded movements, the squat. As important as this movement is it’s the only one that when I start getting towards my heavier percentages that I start to actually fear for my safety. Does that mean I’m going to shy away from it? Hell no! I try to squat at least once a week. Most of the time I’ll squat twice but I always make sure to choose a squat that will best help me to achieve whatever goals I have at the time. In this article what I’d like to do is list a few of the most common squats out there, some of their characteristics and what makes them stand apart from other versions of the squat. What I won’t be doing is going into detail about the mechanics of each squat. That would be waaaaay too long of an article and they are best left to have their own individual posts, perhaps even a video for each down the road (that foreshadowing by the way). Let’s get started shall we?
The Low Bar Squat
This is the version of the squat that I use the most often because I believe it’s the biggest all around strength builder. Characterized by a lower bar placement on the back (between the rear delts and the traps.) and a torso with more of a forward learn, this squat tends to get a lot more of the posterior chain involved than some of its counterparts. Because this squat gets a lot more muscle groups involved lifters tend to be able to move a good bit more weight with this version of the squat. It’s perfect for beginners, people with general strength goals and powerlifters.
The High Bar Squat
The rules for this squat are basically the same except you place the bar on top of your traps rather than below them. For most people this tends to lead to a little more upright of a torso and more knee flection. Because of this, less of the hamstrings are involved and the lift becomes a little more quad dominant. This lift is another great option for those with general strength goals, especially if the Olympic lifts are a part of your programming. This is why it tends to be the back squat of choice for CrossFit athletes.
The Front Squat
This time the bar is held in front of the body in the rack position. This causes the torso to be much more upright and the knees to travel further in front of the toes. Unfortunately not every athlete will be built for this squat as athletes with a shorter torso and very mobile ankles tend to be able to move a lot more weight. I am not one of these athletes. As a result I tend to prefer to wear a shoe with a high heel lift in order to help compensate for my ankles. This squat has a high carry over to the Olympic lifts due to the clean forcing the athlete to catch the barbell at the bottom of a front squat. There is also a high carryover to your overhead events that involve leg drive. So if you have a program dedicated to building your overhead press then you should definitely have a lot of front squats in that program.
The Overhead Squat.
This squat is characterized by the bar being held overhead in a snatch grip position. Make sure you break at the hips when you initiate this squat and that you have adequate shoulder mobility to handle it. It’s a must have in your programming if you’re an Olympic lifter because this is the position you’ll catch the snatch in.
The Zercher Squat
Ya’ll ready to get weird. This squat is characterized by holding the bar in the crook of the athlete’s elbows. You can stay very upright with this lift if your quads are strong enough and it has a huge carryover to almost every strongman lift that involves you picking something awkward off the ground and putting it in front of you. (Ex. stones, sandbags, literally every front carry). If you’re going to do this lift I highly recommend you wear elbow sleeves to protect your skin and if you have an axle you should use that in order to help displace some of the load across your arms. This is one lift I really need to program more for myself.
The Safety Squat Bar
If you’ve been doing strongman for more than 10 minutes you’ve probably seen this one before. This one is great for strongman for several reasons. First of all, we hardly ever see a squat in our competitions so there’s really no direct carryover to getting good at a back squat other than general strength building which this also does very well. Secondly, you get to save your elbows and shoulders for more pressing. I don’t know about ya’ll but every time I go heavy with a low bar back squat my elbows will ache for days. This is a great way to squat while saving your elbows for your press. Finally, the camber of the SSB bar has a way of really breaking you down when you come out of the hole. This extra leverage working against you has a direct carryover to all of the awkward lifts you’ll be expected to do during competition and should not be ignored in your programming.
I think that’s enough talking about squats for one day. If you have any questions about any of these lifts or how to program them into your training then feel free to email me at
cameron@atlasstrenghshop.com. I’d love to write your next program. You can also follow us on
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Release the Titan in You,
Cameron Ray
