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Guy Walks Into a Squat Rack ...
The biggest news last week, judging by the reaction on Internet strength-training forums, is Mike Boyle's attack on conventional squats, particularly the part where he looks right into the camera and says, "Don't do conventional squats anymore."
Doesn't get any less ambiguous than that.
Boyle's rationale is that the weak link in squatting is the lower back, which he says is a poor transducer of power. The muscles of the legs are worked better in a split stance, where the back is less of a limiting factor. His preferred lower-body exercise is the rear-foot-elevated split squat, or RFESS. Most of us know it as the Bulgarian split squat.
I got the email from Mike the same day as everyone else. The difference is that I wasn't really surprised by his position. When I was at TMUSCLE, I edited Mike's article on split squats, which made the same argument, more or less. It went up on August 3.
But even then, I wasn't completely surprised by Mike's position. Back in 2004, I helped create and edit a short-lived spinoff of Men's Health magazine called Muscle. In the second issue, I asked strength-training historian Terry Todd to apply a B.S. detector to all those exercises with commie cred -- Romanian deadlift, Russian twist, etc.
Although it didn't end up in the article, Todd told me that Eastern European Olympic weightlifters had abandoned heavy squats in favor of an exercise called the Bulgarian step-up. It's a step-up with a barbell on your shoulders, using a higher step than most of us would use for the conventional version of the exercise.
Olympic lifters, of course, have unique goals and demands; they're lifting to become better lifters, not better hockey or football players. Still, it seems counterintuitive for guys who compete in the snatch and clean and jerk -- bilateral exercises, mostly -- to train one leg at a time. And yet, Todd told me, these elite weightlifters found Bulgarian step-ups were not only superior as a supplemental exercise to increase leg strength, they also produced better muscle hypertrophy than conventional squats.
So does this mean it's time to drop conventional back and front squats altogether? No. I agree with Jason Ferruggia, who says that max-weight back squats are safer than max-weight split squats or step-ups.
But let's step back from the needs of elite and advanced lifters. In an average gym, those guys are a tiny percentage of the population. What do we recommend for beginners and intermediates, guys who're unlikely to load up the bar for max singles, doubles, or triples in any exercise?
Even Mike Boyle says conventional squats are important for beginners to master. I'd go farther and say that everybody in the gym who's training seriously should be able to do a back squat with good form. It's a fundamental strength-building exercise, and if you can't squat properly, the chances are really, really good that you can't do other lower-body exercises.
The more serious intermediates -- the ones who're trying to improve their size and strength, vs. the ones who're more interested in holding onto what they've already built -- should probably know how to do front squats. They're certainly more challenging technically (especially if you're like me, and inevitably end up with the bar nuzzling your trachea), and probably more back-friendly, since they force you to lift with an upright posture.
But I also think everyone who takes training seriously should know how to do lunges, split squats, and step-ups. They're every bit as fundamental to human movement as squats and deadlifts. Rear-foot-elevated split squats are among the most difficult exercises I've done in my own workouts. My goal in my next workout is 10 reps with each leg using 95 pounds. Back squats with 225 or more were a lot more fun.
That's why, when the name-calling ends, I think Boyle's anti-squat position will end up in the mainstream of training philosophy and practice. Few people in gyms today need or want to load up for max efforts on back or front squats. I think most people will benefit from focusing more on split-stance lower-body exercises and less on bilateral exercises like back squats.
Just so long as nobody messes with deadlifts, we should all be fine with this new approach.
The Rundown
Lou Schuler is an award-winning fitness journalist and author. He began this weblog on menshealth.com in September 2003. If, for any reason, you need to know more about this middle-aged, bald-headed man, click here.
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Comments For This Entry
Posted by Bryan Krahn at 11:20AM on November 01, 2009
Hey Lou,
I gave this article the initial edit before sending it off to you, and I remember having some issues with it.
Specifically, Boyle's split squat videos seem to advocate that the knee doesn't travel past the toe; which permits some of the heavy loads that he describes.
But I perform this lift the way I was taught by Poliquin: knee traveling well over the toe til hamstring touches calf. This greatly increases ROM (and next day soreness) but seriously reduces the load you can use.
Which is better? While I always like handling heavier weights, I find CP's method much more challenging; is that more effective? Who knows.
But Boyle's points regarding loading issues with back squats are well taken.
Bryan
Posted by Lou Schuler at 05:11AM on November 02, 2009
Those are good points, Bryan. ROM matters. Granted, the average guy doing back squats in a gym isn't going hams-to-calves either.
I can't go that low in either version. I can descend until the tops of my thighs are parallel to the floor in the back squat, but probably can't keep a neutral spine if I go much lower. And even if I could, my knees couldn't take the added stress.
I'm using front squats and rear-foot-elevated squats in my current program. My knees certainly prefer the latter, for what that's worth.
Posted by Joe at 07:37AM on November 03, 2009
Goodness me I never knew there was so much to know about squatting! Very interesting, thanks.
Posted by jamie hale at 08:46AM on December 08, 2009
"Although it didn't end up in the article, Todd told me that Eastern European Olympic weightlifters had abandoned heavy squats in favor of an exercise called the Bulgarian step-up. It's a step-up with a barbell on your shoulders, using a higher step than most of us would use for the conventional version of the exercise." Todd committed a logical fallacy- Hasty Generalization, saying that Eastern European Olympic Weightlifters had abandoned squats, maybe a few did, but the majority did not. Jim Wendler, of Elite Fitness Systems says, " EVERYONE knows that the Bulgarians did not abandon the squat in favor of step ups. THAT WAS A JOKE and taken seriously by American writers/coaches."
David Pursley, Olympic Weightlifting Coach & Member of the Olympic Weightlifting Hall of Fame, says, " There is no reason to have an Olympic lifter doing split squats (even during injury rehab) unless your goal is to prevent the athlete from reaching their pinnacle of performance."
"That's why, when the name-calling ends, I think Boyle's anti-squat position will end up in the mainstream of training philosophy and practice. Few people in gyms today need or want to load up for max efforts on back or front squats. I think most people will benefit from focusing more on split-stance lower-body exercises and less on bilateral exercises like back squats." Are you serious? I have spoken with many people who read the article and their response was not favorable regarding Boyle's suggestions. Maybe with time that will change? I don't think so, but I could be wrong.
Rippetoe commenting on Boyles suggestions, "The likelihood of Mike Boyle's article causing the wholesale abandonment of the squat is exactly the same as my disapproval of the consumption of soy causing chaos in the commodities markets tomorrow morning. It is irrelevant to the fact that squats, deadlifts, cleans, presses, and bench presses make weak people strong and Coach Boyle's program does not.
Be calm. Train as if this never happened and everything will be fine."
What about the tendency to round the back while performing split-stance lower body exercises? It is very common.
You don't have to load up on squats to receive benefits. I personally, use split style lower body exercises, and my athletes use them. But that does not mean they are superior to or should be substituted for squats. Of course if you hate squatting you don't have to perform the exercise.
There are no magic exercises, period!
Posted by EdM at 06:15PM on December 16, 2009
It seems that switching to split squats is substituting one limiting body part (lower back) for another (knees). Going to that extreme of an angle on a squat makes my knees and tendons hurt just thinking about it.
Posted by kolorowanki at 05:16PM on December 18, 2009
Interesting article Lou, Your blog is one of the most wonderful places to visit.
Posted by Lou Schuler at 04:45AM on December 23, 2009
Ed, that's an interesting observation. One thing I've discovered is that I can't do Bulgarian split squats with a barbell on my shoulders. It absolutely crushes my knees. But I can do them with a weight plate held against my chest, or even overhead, and not feel it in my knee joints at all.
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