Let’s be honest, nearly everyone does legs these days.
Shoot, I just got a text from the captain of my college’s Ultimate Frisbee club
saying that they were squatting. If I see one more guy post a picture quoting, “friends
don’t let friends skip leg days” I just might explode into my own internet
meme. Back in the glory days we would wait on walking biceps to finish their
squat rack curls before we could start our workouts. Now every rack
is full of people squatting.
I can’t say that I’m upset though. Sure, it used to be cool
knowing that I was part of an elite group of squatters. But the onslaught of
constant mockery has led many gym goers to re-adopt the great practice lost
long ago in high school athletics. And now, my many attempts to get people
under bars have resulted in, well, people getting under bars. Unfortunately, a
new disaster has emerged that I couldn't have imagined.
Like a civil war in the gym, the squat racks have been
divided between the “plate stackers” and “butt smackers.” Of course, like with
anything, there are third party groups but this story doesn’t concern them.
When people start squatting they are either advised by a trainer
or a coach, or they spent a couple of hours on youtube watching videos. Haphazardly, many of these baby squatters trust
that what they’re doing is perfect. Admit it. We’ve all seen
that guy in the gym that’s put on a couple more plates than he should, and now
he’s going to try and squat it. He’s the Plate
Stacker.
PLATE STACKER
Have you met this guy before? When he looks in the mirror he
sees the kind of person that planet fitness has nightmares about. When
he rolls into the gym the first place he visits is the belt bucket. With a
fresh piece of leather draped on his shoulder he boldly marches to the squat
rack, bragging about his status symbol to the world. To him, no matter the person, if
they’re in the squat rack they don’t belong. Once it’s his turn he will load
the bar with two to four more plates than he can handle, and then he will
proceed to yell and do a quarter squat. To him, he just let Adonis out and is
holding the world on his shoulders. To the rest of the gym, especially the old
lady on the elliptical, he just made a big scene for nothing. Meanwhile, in the
corner, stands a guy holding a kettle bell sneering at the Plate Stacker. He’s the Butt
Smacker.
BUTT SMACKER
There is a 90 percent chance that this individual does
paleo, and says the word FMS a lot. On the back of his car is a Crossfit
[insert your city] sticker. His shoes are minimal, and his shorts are board.
His entire crossfit career has revolved around the idea that only him and his select
group of friends actually squat. He’s seen the Plate Stacker put on a show in the gym, and he’s vowed never to
mimic those actions. So now, at his local box he squats so deep that he could
use the floor as toilet paper. With every rep he takes his butt to the ground and then his knees act like rubber bands propelling him back up. A lot of
people find nothing wrong with this; I’m not a lot of people.
There are flaws in both of these types of squatting. On the
one hand, Plate Stacker is neglecting
the physiological benefits to squatting to depth and is in no way impressing
anyone. On the other hand Butt Smacker is
wrecking his knees and neglecting strength as an extreme approach to squat
reformation.
In the book, “Managing the Training of Weightlifters” the
authors examine the profit of doing squats for power and strength. They cite a
study that says a squat to the depth of 70 degrees, no more no less, is the
most ideal depth for increasing power. And let’s face it; if we’re squatting we
want to be powerful.
You don’t want to be a Plate
Stacker, and you don’t want to be a Butt
Smacker (no matter what they say). When you squat you want to squat to 70
degrees. That should be your category. Now that so many people are squatting we
have the opportunity to start a new trend; a trend of GOOD squatters. Start the
trend tribe Endu, I’m counting on you.
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