Weightlifting: Don't Be Afraid of the Bottom Squat Workout

 

I did an image search for "bottom" and this rump roast was the best pic that came up.

The bottom of the squat is just the worst. It's when you feel all that weight crushing you, and then the fear sets in, and you begin to doubt that your spindly little legs will be able to get you out of the hole. The good news is you can master that fear, and while courage alone won't help you squat 500 lbs or even 300, you'll stop viewing the squat with dread after trying out this workout.

First, work up to a top set in the unbelted box squat. Belts are great and all, but if you want to build the torso strength required to squat heavy weights, you should do almost all of your training without a belt. For the box, a common weight bench will do. I don't worry about squatting below parallel with box squats; that's not the purpose of the exercise. The box squat cuts out the stretch reflex you get at the bottom. Simply unrack the weight, straddle the weight bench, and squat down. Sit there for a second and then squat back up without leaning forward. If you lean forward too much, you change the mechanics of the squat, and you start to perform a good morning. This was my box squat workout today:

135 for 3, 225 for 3, 275 for 3, 315 for 3, 335 for 3, 350 for 3.

I really like triples for the squat. As for weight selection, start rather conservative and then work your way up linearly.

Next exercise is the unbelted high bar paused squat. I started very light on these and have added five pounds every week, and now I'm at 275 for 3 sets of 3. These aren't supposed to be difficult; rather, you're working on a brief pause, keeping tension in your quads, and then squatting upward without letting your knees cave in. This exercise is great for quadriceps hypertrophy.

After squats, I do calf raises to strengthen the ankle joint (and to add some mass to my chicken legs), followed by hanging leg raises for abdominal strength. This workout shouldn't take too much time, and it's easy to insert in an existing squat program. Or you could just say "fuck it" and dive into a 20 rep squat program, hurt yourself, burn out, and never lift again. It's your life, bro. Do what you want.