circuit of any brand of modern exercise machine. Even if cost is not a factor, utility should be. In an institutional situation, the number of people training at a given time per dollar spent equipping them might be an important consideration in deciding which type of equipment to buy. The correct decision about this may directly affect the quality of your training experience.
The only problem with barbell training is the fact that the vast, overwhelming majority of people don’t know how to do it correctly. This is sufficiently serious and legitimate a concern as to justifiably discourage many people from training with barbells in the absence of a way to learn how. This book is my humble attempt to address this problem. This method of teaching the barbell exercises has been developed over 30 years in the commercial fitness industry, the tiny little part of it that remains in the hands of individuals committed to results, honesty about what works, and the time-honored principles of biological science. I hope it works as well for you as it has for me.
This York Barbell Model 38 Olympic Barbell set was obtained from the Wichita Falls Downtown YMCA. It was used for nearly 50 years by thousands of men and women. Among them was Bill Starr, famous strength coach, Olympic weightlifter, and one of the first competitors in the new sport of Powerlifting. Bill was the editor of Hoffman's "Strength and Health" magazine and Joe Weider's "Muscle" magazine. He was the coach of numerous national, international, and Olympic teams as well as one of the very first full-time strength coaches at the collegiate and professional level. He is one of the most prolific writers in the Iron Game, with books and articles published over 5 decades. His influence is still felt today from the accomplishments of his many athletes and training partners. His first weightlifting was done on this set. (From the Bill Starr Monument in Wichita Falls Athletic Club, Wichita Falls, Texas)
Chapter 2: The Squat
----
The squat has been the most important, yet most poorly understood, exercise in the training arsenal for a very long time. The full-range-of-motion exercise known as the squat is the single most useful exercise in the weight room, and our most valuable tool for building strength, power, and size.
The squat is literally the only exercise in the entire repertoire of weighted human movement that allows the direct training of the complex movement pattern known as hip drive – the active recruitment of the muscles of the posterior chain. The term posterior chain refers to the muscles that produce hip extension – the straightening out of the hip joint from its flexed (or bent) position in the bottom of the squat. These muscle groups – also referred to as the hip extensors – are the hamstrings, the glutes, and the adductors (groin muscles). Because these important muscles contribute to jumping, pulling, pushing, and anything else involving the lower body, we want them strong. The best way to get them strong is to squat, and if you are to squat correctly, you must use hip drive, which is best thought of as a shoving-up of the sacral area of the lower back, the area right above your butt. Every time you use this motion to propel yourself out of the bottom of the squat, you train the muscles in the posterior chain.
Figure 2-1. Three views of the squat. Profile view , Depth landmarks for the full squat. The top of the patella (A) and the hip joint, as identified by the apex in the crease of the shorts (B). The B side of the plane formed by these two points must drop below parallel with the ground.
All styles of squatting tend to make the quads sore, more so than any of the other muscles in the movement. This soreness occurs because the quads are the only knee extensor group, while the hip extensors consist of three muscle groups (hamstrings, glutes, adductors). They comprise more potential muscle mass to spread the work across – if they
The only problem with barbell training is the fact that the vast, overwhelming majority of people don’t know how to do it correctly. This is sufficiently serious and legitimate a concern as to justifiably discourage many people from training with barbells in the absence of a way to learn how. This book is my humble attempt to address this problem. This method of teaching the barbell exercises has been developed over 30 years in the commercial fitness industry, the tiny little part of it that remains in the hands of individuals committed to results, honesty about what works, and the time-honored principles of biological science. I hope it works as well for you as it has for me.
This York Barbell Model 38 Olympic Barbell set was obtained from the Wichita Falls Downtown YMCA. It was used for nearly 50 years by thousands of men and women. Among them was Bill Starr, famous strength coach, Olympic weightlifter, and one of the first competitors in the new sport of Powerlifting. Bill was the editor of Hoffman's "Strength and Health" magazine and Joe Weider's "Muscle" magazine. He was the coach of numerous national, international, and Olympic teams as well as one of the very first full-time strength coaches at the collegiate and professional level. He is one of the most prolific writers in the Iron Game, with books and articles published over 5 decades. His influence is still felt today from the accomplishments of his many athletes and training partners. His first weightlifting was done on this set. (From the Bill Starr Monument in Wichita Falls Athletic Club, Wichita Falls, Texas)
Chapter 2: The Squat
----
The squat has been the most important, yet most poorly understood, exercise in the training arsenal for a very long time. The full-range-of-motion exercise known as the squat is the single most useful exercise in the weight room, and our most valuable tool for building strength, power, and size.
The squat is literally the only exercise in the entire repertoire of weighted human movement that allows the direct training of the complex movement pattern known as hip drive – the active recruitment of the muscles of the posterior chain. The term posterior chain refers to the muscles that produce hip extension – the straightening out of the hip joint from its flexed (or bent) position in the bottom of the squat. These muscle groups – also referred to as the hip extensors – are the hamstrings, the glutes, and the adductors (groin muscles). Because these important muscles contribute to jumping, pulling, pushing, and anything else involving the lower body, we want them strong. The best way to get them strong is to squat, and if you are to squat correctly, you must use hip drive, which is best thought of as a shoving-up of the sacral area of the lower back, the area right above your butt. Every time you use this motion to propel yourself out of the bottom of the squat, you train the muscles in the posterior chain.
Figure 2-1. Three views of the squat. Profile view , Depth landmarks for the full squat. The top of the patella (A) and the hip joint, as identified by the apex in the crease of the shorts (B). The B side of the plane formed by these two points must drop below parallel with the ground.
All styles of squatting tend to make the quads sore, more so than any of the other muscles in the movement. This soreness occurs because the quads are the only knee extensor group, while the hip extensors consist of three muscle groups (hamstrings, glutes, adductors). They comprise more potential muscle mass to spread the work across – if they
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