Squat Progressions for Athletes

After looking at a lot of the questions that come into the Q&A at EliteFTS, as well as answering them, one of the most common questions that comes in, as far as training athletes goes, is “What happens when they’re too weak to squat?” It is also something i deal with every day. First thing is first, when it comes to these athletes. They are NOT weak. They may not be able to barbell squat yet, but you absolutely CANNOT look at them as weak, especially with high school or younger aged athletes.. Not only will you sell them short, chances are good you will be perceived as an asshole. Not something you want, especially if you are working as a physical preparation coach, and they are paying you. NOT good for business! Remember this too. If you don’t squat, you don’t win. I don’t care WHAT Mike Boyle says!

One of the things I have done from day 1, even before I was a coach and we just had powerlifters coming into the gym, was use a progression based approach, starting small, and working them up to the point they could start using a barbell on their back full time. I will say that this does take some time, and some will take longer than others. The fastest we have had it happen is about two weeks, and some have been at it 6 weeks or so. you will just have to find some indicators with your athletes that says “I’m ready.”

Speaking of the progressions the one I use is actually a 4 step process. It starts with the initial assessment of the athlete. As part of the assessment, after figuring out any structural issues, range of motion tests, etc., we do a bodyweight squat test. It is simply a 10 rep bodyweight squat, and is simply pass/fail. I like it a lot, as it lets me see where they really are, versus them telling me, and gives an idea of how they control their bodies in space. All squats are done to the appropriate depth, and I will call them up at each rep. A pass is 10 reps, to depth, without a large amount of effort. A fail is less than 10 reps, inability to get to depth, or extraordinary difficulty getting all of the reps. I realize this is completely subjective, but if you cant tell when someone is putting in a ton of effort, you dont need to be coaching or training anyone. Passes start with the second step of the process, failures start at the first.

Before I get into the progressions, I want to include this addendum, if you will. Once they start with me in the gym, they have SOMETHING on their back, and we do technique work all of the time. For some, it may only be a 1″ piece of PVC pipe. Others may start with an empty bar. For some, it is simply working setup under the bar, And for others it may be unloaded or lightly loaded sets with an Olympic bar. Regardless, work the technique immediately. It doesn’t have to be involved time-wise, and really shouldn’t take more that 5 minutes or so. The best part of this is knowing you don’t have bad technique to try to teach over, as they’ve probably never done it! just make sure you are doing it first in the workout. I do it as part of an extended warmup. Remember, its SHORT, but effective.

After the technique work has been done, we have to remember there is still work to be done. You have to get them to the barbell eventually, right? Exactly. That leads to the first step in the progression. Bodyweight squats to a high box. This will take a bit of trial and effort on your part, as some will be able to squat deeper than others. Some may need a VERY high box, others will be closer to depth. Once they can get 10 solid reps to a parallel box, get rid of it. I firmly believe that while box squatting is good for powerlifters, it cheats athletes out of a lot of quad and glute development they will need on the field or court. This is especially true for younger athletes. Once they can hit two sets of 10 to the same standard, its time to move them to the second step.

The second step I use is front squats with kettlebells and dumbbells. I like the kettlebells moreso than the dumbbells, as they seem to be easier for the athletes to control, however, the progression between sizes is our gym is big, about 5 kilos per set. Sometimes you will have to use both. I like the kettlebells too, as it gets the weight out in front of them some, and will help improve their upper and lower back strength. The progressions here are close to the same as they were for the bodyweight squats, except that you DO NOT move the box height up! These are progressions, not regressions, remember? The loading is a bit different here as well. Although they still may not be ready to squat with a bar, they need to get strong! Depending on what phase of their training they are in, reps could be anywhere from 4-12. Get them strong, get them off of the box!

Once they become proficient at the front squats, move along to the dumbbells. You can really start to load these up, if you’re getting indications that the kids are ready. When they get to this point, coaching becomes paramount, as they will do whatever they can to get the reps. I actually coach these the exact same way as I do the back squat. Head and chest high, back arched, upper back tight, and shoulders back. the one exeption here versus the other two is that I will NOT use a box. When the athletes start to fatigue, it seems that they also tend to let their hamstrings go in the bottom, and make a sort of dive bomb out of the last 1″-6″. the box isn’t real conducive to safety with that regard. something else I try to make mind of is that the set needs to stop when the form breaks, regardless of if they have met the rep range or not. Remember that this will have direct carryover to their barbell squat, and you don’t want to reinforce bad technique here that could/would transfer to their squat.

Here are a couple of other things to remember. You don’t have to adhere hard and fast to the progressions. You can work between them, and i would actually recommend it. That being said, where you have them at is where the bulk of their squat work should happen. It takes some time to get all of the intermuscular and intramuscular coordination down, and you dont want to injure a kid doing something he isnt ready for. Remember that the end goal is to get them squatting, but the first goal is to keep them healthy. Something else you should make mind of is that you need to be coaching these kids ALL THE TIME. Not only on technique, but remind them what the end goal is, and why they’re doing these “stupid exercises.” ( I’ve actually heard that one from a kid!) make sure that you are offering the mental support that they will get to the point that they will be squatting with their buddies and team mates. If you have earned the trust of the athlete, you will find that these arguments fall off quick, and the kids will work like dogs to get better. Thats all that we really want anyway isn’t it?

What do you guys think? How do you progress your kids who aren’t ready to barbell squat yet? Let me know below in your comments!