Here's Part 2 of our 2 Part series of What I learned at Sorinex Summer Strong.
Continuing with the exercises that are overrated pertaining to the development of athletes. Here are 2 exercises that I have found ways to work around to "make it happen."
[youtube width="640" height="360"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRlCx8JvjJg[/youtube]
1) The Bench Press is definitely overrated in terms of training athletes. The reason why is because too many coaches have skipped the development of the upper body through various bodyweight pushing and pulling exercises as well as understanding how to create torsion first & foremost through push ups and pull ups.
2) Back Squats - What I once thought was a curse became a blessing in disguise. With a Football crew of guys ranging in height from 5'4" all the way to 6' and taller along with only ONE squat rack (half rack), I could not organize workouts in a crowded 2 car garage for this at the time.
In hindsight, I could have had the shorter guys working on single leg training while the tall guys started with squats and then switched. But, my mind certainly wasn't as agile as it is today.
Regardless, we made due and these boys still dominated. We used heavy lunge variations, heavy deadlifts and zercher squats. We also performed the various Kettlebell squats.
Sled work was always a staple in our training and if we didn't attack the legs from so many angles then perhaps missing out on back squats would have been an issue.
Because I work with primarily high school athletes, I see the same issue with squats as I do with the bench press, the power clean and the deadlift.
I've witnessed kids getting tested on 1RM squats and to make a long story short, they damn near almost lost their teeth as the bar crashed their body down faster than gravity.
Before you throw a bar on your back you must again learn torsion through the feet and hips, how to engage the posterior by sitting back with knees out, torso stability and balance.
This begins with bodyweight, sled work, sandbag squats, various kettlebell squats and various unilateral leg exercises. In addition, back squats require a strong back, strong abs and body awareness.
Can I develop bad asses without benching and without back squatting? It sounds crazy but my answer is YES. If I had to remove ONE of these exercises it would absolutely be the bench press. Squats are a TOP exercise in my gym and we build our athletes up to them safely and effectively. With various squat racks I can arrange groups according to height.
Back Squats are an exercise to be respected and built up to. I've seen how weak these young kids are in high school, it is almost a crime. The BIGGEST crime is the Coach who has athletes performing these exercises when they are not physically or psychologically ready for them.
I will bring this back to what helped me succeed when Bert Sorin ask us all:
To Succeed, You Must Genuinely CARE
If a Coach TRULY cares, he will find a way to educate himself to better prepare his team. The Coach who doesn't care walks around too good and too cool to learn from others and in turn his team walks around with sub-par potential and a losing record.
Gotta Live The Code.
--Z--
14 Responses
Great stuff Z! Tonight I did a finisher during my workout and it was awesome!
600# tire with a 75# sled hooked up to a belt pull to failure. Next for two minutes. Go again. Repeat until you cant then do one more (1% better everytime). Made it a total of 150ft before legs said no more.
Sled pull with tire flip-Good Stuff!
NIIIICE work, DW! Bro, Sorinex Summer Strong is up your alley!!
Holy cow – look at those weights! Wow – this will go up on my wall. Love it.
thanks again Z! No reinventing. Digging in more and more w/ your tips.
Don, awesome bro, love your passion to learn, that will take U FAR!!!
Z–
I always appreciate your emphasis on the basics and the use of both body weight & odd object training.
Frank, you know all too well, that is what builds the BEAST!!!
Hey Zach
Great post. I agree totally with you. I love the safety bar for squatting! Eliminates all of the problems and is especislly good for tall guys! Really brings a focus to the lower body as all discomfort is eliminated to shoulders and the trainee can simply concentrate on moving some weight! What do you think?
Cheers
Colin
I LOVE that bar, also have learned that the straight bar teaches peeps to torque the bar and really engage the entire body where as the SS Bar can simply sit on your back
benefits to both in many ways!
This is definitely good info when i injured my knees using the sandbag and kettlebells for leg exercises is what got my legs strong enough to squat again im even putting up more
Yep, after my knee surgery back squats hurt my knee, NO fun.
I used various KB and Goblet squats and sled work and got my body back in gear for back squats!
It’s definitely important to get your foundation set before you get into heavy lifting. I think kids and younger adults often forget to prepare before they get into the more serious stuff.
Couldn’t agree more ZEE. We have adults that can’t even hold a decent pushup for time, without their core giving in, and they want to bench? Please. Get your basics right, and then we can work on getting your strength up. So many times I have seen people forgo squatting as they say they can’t squat. So I ask them how do they sit on a chair, or better still go to the toilet, as in its simplest form it is a basic bodyweight squat.
You nailed it, man!
The Bench Press and the squat is truly overated. Both lifts are rarelyyyyy done in the real world. I never catch myself lying down, to press anything unless I was just curious if I could budge the Pool table off the ground. 🙂 Actually, that is a true story….I blame my father. He bragged to his bar friends I was so strong I could press a pool table. That didn’t workout so well, LOL!
As for the squat—While I do belive it’s a superior strength builder—I do not believe it is all that applicable. I’ve held many labor jobs and never once have I put anything on my back to squat. It’s always been where I had to clean it to my shoulders and then carry it. The Barbell Carry is far more functional or its squat variations especially zercher squats or bottoms-up squats where you start at the bottom and power through until you’re standing (which then I commence to carry).
Personally, I have built incredible back strength. I’ve deadlifted 640 pounds without ever squatting past 225lbs. But regardless I still squat every Saturday, my Man-Maker day. Haha!