The squat can certainly be defined as one of the most useful exercises for physical preparation.
The first thing to decide is whether to use the back or the front version.
My belief is that, for physical preparation in sports where there are no specific affinities between the back squat and the technical gesture, the best exercise is the front squat.
My thinking is supported by a large number of studies which confirm that between the two executive modalities there are no great differences in terms of muscle response.
The real difference lies solely in accepting a more or less correct execution.
Having said that, another aspect to consider is how much to "sink" the squat.
We often hear about the importance of not going below parallel citing reasons for safeguarding the knee joint.
In reality, even here, resorting to scientific studies, it can be understood how the shear forces on the knee increase when stopping at the parallel instead of following the anatomy of the joint which involves an excursion that leads up to the closure of the thigh on the leg proper. .
To do a correct front squat, teaching and control of execution is important.
For an athlete, the front squat is more difficult because cheating is not possible. In fact, while in the back squat we can tilt the torso forward and believe to increase the range of movement, in reality the angle at the knee does not change as well as the muscular use.
In my experience I have always tried not to force an athlete into the deep squat, but I have always worked to perfect the technique and by constantly recording the progress of the movement.
This has led the athletes themselves to seek a greater descent because they realize how this affects, in a positive way, the force produced and the muscular stimulation, and how this generates an ever greater production of watts with a definitely superior movement control.
In the last month I have measured all the front squat series of the athletes that I have in the team and, both women and men, have had an increase of the movement run of about 10 cm on average. This happened both in strength training sessions with very high loads and a low number of repetitions, and in power sessions where the loads are 25% less and the reps at maximum acceleration are no greater than 6.
I invite everyone to use the front squat in physical preparation as in muscle fitness and to carefully take care of the executive technique, encouraging the people you train to seek an ever deeper squat.
If you want more information or advice, you can contact me through the site, I am at your disposal.
