High Bar vs. Low Bar squat....which is better?

I get this question asked occasionally and here's how we're going to tackle it.

High Bar
This squat is the preferred choice for Olympic lifters. Quads play a massive role in moving the weight. You see many high bar squatters with very well developed quads. Take a look at Weightlifters (Olympic). The back angle is practically vertical thus reducing any kind of shear forces on the back. However, in order to execute the high bar you must have flexible ankles to shift the knees forward in order to maintain an upright torso. If not, it will be very hard to execute this squat and will be very top heavy causing the barbell weight to shift forward causing you to lose stability and balance.

You should not do this squat if you have tight ankles, tight hips, limited range of motion in the hips, knees and ankles. Do this squat with lifting shoes. The lifting shoes have an elevated sole which allows for ease of travel of the knees to shift forward causing the back angle to be much more upright.

You should do this squat if you are an Olympic Weightlifter or are going to be one. You should do this squat if you can naturally do it. Form follows function.

Low Bar
This squat potentially allows for greater weight to be moved. Ideally, you can squat more weight using low bar for several reasons. One, the bar placed lower on the back places a large demand on the hips to produce the force needed to move the weight. Second, low bar squats allow you to open up hips reducing the moment arm of the length of the knees, femur, and hip socket in relation to the barbell. You can squat very, very wide with low bar. This places a large loading on the hips and glutes.

You should do this squat if you're not very flexible. You should do this squat if your goal is move large amounts of weight. You should do this squat if you're a Powerlifter or are going to be a Powerlifter.

Which one is better?
The one you can naturally do better is the one probably you were designed to do when you came into this world. Many would argue that you need genetics to do high bar. Maybe, but you see people from all over the world, black and white, male and female doing high bar. Once again, you should do the one you can naturally and effectively execute. When I first started as a Weightlifter I could not high bar squat because my flexibility wasn't there. It took years to develop over time. Now, I only do high bar squats. Get out there, take that guy off the bicep curling in the squat rack...and squat!!!!

Coach Cano

Why STRENGTH matters for sports performance

I say this again and again to all my lifters and that is no one gets a gold medal for having the prettiest looking clean and jerk or snatch. The fact is that Olympic lifting or Powerlifting is still a strength sport and strength is what matters to get on the podium. Technique is obviously important and no one is underestimating that fact. With that said, you take two lifters who are identical in skill execution, the one lifter with the greatest strength is the one who will lift more and win the gold medal.

Sports Performance
Strength is not limited to only the strength sports. Strength matters on the field. It matters in track and field, jumping sports, volleyball, throwing, and many more sports. Take for example a 300lb lineman who can bench 300lbs for a 1 repetition maximum. Let's just say that the average time for a football play lasts 4 to 6 seconds. That 300lbs lineman will have to defend his ground against another lineman who weighs just the same as he does for that amount of time. What's important here is to develop the strength endurance to able to support the time of play to defend against the other lineman. Being able to bench that 300lbs for for 6 to 8 reps and now his work capacity has increased. He can now handle the same load for a longer amount of time and we have increased his sports performance on the field.

Another example is taking a high jumper or volleyball player where jumping is essential for their sports. We'll assume their jumping technique skills are solid and efficient. A long term squat training program along with some snatches and clean and jerks that is progressive will help them in their sports. The squat strength from squatting will improve hip, quad and glute strength in addition to strengthening the connective tissue to minimize injury. The snatches, clean and jerks will give them necessary speed/strength to help them jump higher. Assuming that the squat training and Olympic lifts are executed with optimum and efficient skill execution.

Strength training and applying the correct strength approach is important in developing athletic strength in order for your athlete to excel to their highest potential. Olympic lifts will help an athlete develop the speed/strength needed to move fast with strength. The strength training such as squats, deadlifts will help the athlete develop the force production needed from the muscles to enable the action needed to execute a given play. In addition, increased strength to the connective tissues will be improved preventing injury. Learning to apply both strength methods to your athletes is a blend of science and art to get the most out of your athletes.

Coach Cano

Secret SUPER SUPPLEMENT!!!!

You are going to be surprised at this supplement that is so effective that certain people would like to see it banned from sports competition use. Click for video:

3 types of muscle contractions and their application

There are 3 types of muscular contractions. The muscle contractions are Concentric, Eccentric, and Isometric. This article will in brief discuss those contractions and their application to sports performance. Applying practical use of these contractions will help the athlete achieve optimum performance.

Eccentric Muscle Contraction
This type of muscle contraction is also known as the negative contraction. The forces go with the force of gravity in a downward momentum. By moving with the force of gravity potential energy is stored within the movement and then released in the final phase assuming a short amortization phase. Think of the downward movement of a depth jump or the downward movement of a bicep curl. Eccentric contractions are associated with a lengthening of the muscle fibers which causes them to stretch or become longer in length.

Concentric Muscle Contraction
This type of muscle contraction is also known as the positive contraction. The forces produced by the muscles for the most part move against the force of gravity usually in an upward movement. Think about a vertical jump or the upward movement of the bicep curl. Concentric muscle contractions usually cause a shortening of the muscles. The muscle cross bridging come together which causes the muscle to shorten in length.

Isometric Muscle Contraction
This type of muscle contraction is unique in that there is no movement associated with the contraction. There is no velocity associated with this movement thus in physics terms it's a scalar because it still has magnitude. There is still force production within the contraction. An example is a wall squat where you contract using your muscles and push against a wall.

Sports Performance and muscle contractions
Concentric and eccentric muscle contractions are usually employed during sports performance since most sports require movement. Take for example plyometric training. In order to fully utilize the stored elastic energy coming from the eccentric downward movement of the jump the amortization phase of the movement must be as short as possible. If not, dynamic energy will be lost as heat. Another example is the stretch reflex of a squat. The eccentric movement has potential energy that when coming off the bottom of the squat with an extremely short amortization phase will transfer to kinetic energy getting a dynamic boost from the bottom of the squat.

All the best and see you on the platform.

Coach Cap

Good coach...GREAT coaching!!!!

Great coaches do things differently than good coaches. For one, great coaches produce results!!! PERIOD!!! Success lies in the numbers. NUMBERS....DON'T LIE. Sales companies base their success on the number of sales targets the company is aiming for. Training, sports, competition is no different. In order for your team to win, they must score. Let's take a close look at how we can become great coaches.

Quantifying production (it's about numbers)

How do you really know how good your athletes are doing if you don't quantify their progress? As the saying says, if you can't quantify it you can't measure it. Great coaches track and log their athletes progression. For example, take Olympic Weightlifting. The Soviets have quantified the results of over 700 highly qualified lifters and gathered data that supports their progress. You have to track progress!!!! KEEP A TRAINING LOG!!!!

Are you tracking the following:

- reps?

- sets?

- number of lifts?

- total tons lifted?

- phase of training in the training plan? (GPP, SPP, etc)

- how fast are they running?

- how long are they jumping?

- how high are they jumping?

In our training we keep a log that after every training session we can tell you how many lifts we did, how many tons lifted, per session, per month, and what kind of phase we are in during the training cycle. The image is 3 days of our training to include exercises, reps, sets, number of lifts, total tons lifted:

Training Blindly

Simply training and getting your athletes doing general movements that seem appropriate for sports preparation isn't enough and it's training while wearing blinds over your eyes. As coaches, we should demand better performance by implementing quantifiable progress. That comes from us taking the time to truly measure progress. You can't measure progress without numbers!!!!

Again, NUMBERS...DON'T LIE. Can you quantify your progress? How do you really know how your athletes are doing? 

Coach Cap