I was browsing the videos and ran across the bottom of front/back squat. What’s the benefit here? Is this an alternative or supplement to the traditoinal squatting?
If you’re talking about what I think you are (squatting off pins) it’s almost like a rack pull in that you can do heavy partials. You can theoretically do more weight this way because there’s no eccentric portion of the lift.
[quote]thehooliganmel wrote:
If you’re talking about what I think you are (squatting off pins) it’s almost like a rack pull in that you can do heavy partials. You can theoretically do more weight this way because there’s no eccentric portion of the lift.[/quote]
If you start where you’re hip crease is below the top of your knees, then you’ll be using significantly less weight because you don’t get the stretch reflex.
If you did partials with the eccentric and without the pins you could do more weight than from a dead start off the pins.
[quote]thehooliganmel wrote:
If you’re talking about what I think you are (squatting off pins) it’s almost like a rack pull in that you can do heavy partials. You can theoretically do more weight this way because there’s no eccentric portion of the lift.[/quote]
I think you have rack pulls and Anderson squats ( bottoms only like you said) mixed up dude. Assuming one is squatting from the hole, one should do LESS weight than a full squat because they do not have the stored up energy from the eccentric portion. Same is generally true of a “dead bench”.
Now, if you are doing a 1/4 squat from pins, yeah one probably will do more weight than a full squat.
Good mornings can be done in this fashion also. I do GM’s, benches, Squats and deads on occasion but with the bar suspended in chains so that the bar returns to the exact same spot each rep as opposed to on pins where for me, the bar usually comes to rest in a different position. I found myself constantly readjusting to prevent myself from starting in a messed up position.
This version of the squat makes you better at coming up from the bottom position of a squat. (serious)
I ran 8 weeks of bottom up squats as I was weak coming out of the hole. After 8 weeks of steady weight progression, I switched back to regular squats. It made a world of difference.
for me , bottom-up squatting from pins felt really fucked up ; I couldnt get in the right position . so I un-racked like normal , brought the bar down , set it all the way down on the pins , and hefted it back up . feels like a normal squat minus the stretch . rotate it in as ME work now , but need to lower the pins soon I think .
I did these as an activation exercise and I have to tell you, I liked 'em. I only did 1/2 squats. I may just find a weight to learn it, build up reps, then drop the pins and drop the volume. Slow but sure.
I found it OK to raise hips with light contact with the bar. get under the bar, bad position even. Then brace the core hard, get into position, and get the rep. I am WEAK out of the hole so this may be exactly what I need.
At what height does one place the pins? Sounds like some of you are talking about starting at or below parallel. The videos on this site looked like a half or quarter squat.
[quote]pre04 wrote:
At what height does one place the pins? Sounds like some of you are talking about starting at or below parallel. The videos on this site looked like a half or quarter squat.[/quote]
Ideally, the pin / bar height should be just under where you stall out on a squat. So if you fail 4" out of the hole, you need to start low to learn to overcome this sticking point. 1/4 squatting 1000# does dick for a guy who can’t get 405 out of the hole,other than pump up the ego… see?
These are called Anderson Squats. Named after the late Paul Anderson. He did these by digging a hole in the dirt and had two gigantic steel garbage cans full of cement welded to a bar. He would squat heavy partials and as he got stronger hed fill in the dirt hole a little increasing the ROM. I have used these and I feel they are great. I have used them SPARINGLY in my squat training in the past and then would back off. I would see a huge carry over. But I feel you also need to be regular squatting or else you will lose strength on the squat due to the law of specificity. I have done 605x10 and 815x1 on them at about a 1/2 squat height. Deloaded for TWO WEEKS then my following squat training cycle I hit 700 on regular squat about a month and a half later-a 25lb PR at a bodyweight of ~206. When used correctly, I think feel they work.