[quote]alexus wrote:
I know the Bulgarian’s back squatted too… What I don’t quite get is why (trying to figure if there is a reason I don’t get, or if it is more about tradition).
Have you tried replacing back squats with front squats? Was development slower with that than with back squatting? I wonder if anyone has experimented with that variable while holding others constant…
I’ve heard ‘back squats are better for strength development’ but the only strength development I care about is cleaning and jerking and snatching more. I’m sure back squatting gets you better at back squatting, but I’m not so sure about the carry over. I’ve heard back squats are important for posterior chain development, but I’m not sure what they get you that you can’t get from deadlifts.
I guess that I stopped back squatting because I read somewhere (Ripptoe, maybe) that it was best to pick just one kind of squat and learn it properly rather than trying to learn a few different kinds at once and having motor skill interference. I still think I’m learning the front squat, really. Still needing to work on keeping the tension and not collapsing in the hole, still needing to work on getting the hamstring tension stretch reflex at the bottom.
I have problems with poor ankle dorsiflexion (structural limitation due to joint fusion). I’m also genetically unsuitable for this in that I have long levers. The women who are built like me seem to maintain their balance in the front squat by bringing their knees well in front of their feet but my ankle dorsiflexion prohibits this. My fix is to have a greater heel raise than oly shoes provide and also to adopt a slightly wider than optimal stance. It has taken me a significant amount of time to learn the front squat - and I do realize that it is a significant problem that I can pull (and bloody well jerk) more than I can front squat.
I have been tossing up introducing back squatting to help build up my leg strength. My main concern is that back squatting will interfere with my front squatting since my form isn’t perfect, yet.
I’m not trying to be annoying… I probably think too much… Guess the only way for me to find out is to try it…[/quote]
alexus,
For several reasons, including that you will handle much greater load with the back squat than the front, it is vital to do much more back squatting for olympic lifters. Back squats do have a greater affect on the posterior chain and help you learn proper low squatting position (whether for squatting or cleaning). Front squats will invariably force lifters to be towards the front of the feet at the bottom of the squat while back squats allow you to be back into the feet more. Back squats will teach lifters to squeeze with the glutes to start up and that is key to getting out of good squat cleans. Front squats often teach lifters to get up with their quads (often making them shift forward to rise) and not think about their glutes. This will not lead to solid bottom positions or correct recovery from squat cleans with higher percentage weight. Glutes first, quads second is a better way to think of rising.
Also, those who front squat much more than back tend to go to their forefeet earlier when driving the Jerk. (Quads work best when the balance is on the forefeet.) Back squatters will have the musculature in the rear to sit down on the heels during the dip portion of the Jerk and drive up through the rearfeet longer on the drive phase, which is proper.
Compared to deadlifts for posterior chain development, back squats are better because of almost equal 1RM, if you have trained correctly, and the fact that you can work with good percentages of squatting weights many more times per month than you can with deadlifts. Heavy deadlifts, because of bar distance from the average human COM and the fact that it is places at the end of smaller, weaker musculature and cause the back position of the lifter to be more angled than squats, cause much more stress on the body. In my opinion, deads shouldn’t be done more than once every two weeks or so and only through part (~1/2 or a bit more) of the training year for olympic lifters. They are, however, critical for full development.
You will hear a thousand different opinions about squatting. Mine is that you back squat much more than front if you are squatting for olympic lifting.
Good questions.
CoachMc