your body tells us what exercises you should and shouldn’t do. Strength: behind the block
For the Allegiate Strength Program this month, we got a doozy on our hands: 4x10 with a 3/0/1/0 tempo. Coming off 5x5 with a 4/0/4/0 tempo, anything will feel easier. But that will be short-lived with the pure volume of a block like this.
Exercise-wise we got back to our base rotation of movements:
P1 Front Foot Elevated Split Squat
P2 DB Neutral Grip Bench
P3 KB Deadlift
This is our base because it is foundational to what we see with the Functional Movement Screen. For the most part people are able to hinge without issues. We see this in the Active Straight Leg Raise Screen. This allows us to deadlift with fairly heavy loading (hence why we have 48kg kettlebells now) without problems. Where we see a lot of issues are the standing screens like deep squat, hurdle step, and inline lunge (with Ankle Screen). This means we should focus more so on split squats/single-leg squats instead of bilateral squatting.
If you saw our post discussing slant boards you got a good peek into what we see with squatting mechanics. A common misconception is that ankle mobility is the limiting factor of squatting. Although ankle mobility is necessary, it is probably not the reason for an uncomfortable squat. The reason you might have an uncomfortable squat is because it is hard to control the pelvis relative to the thorax (ribs/sternum/thoracic spine) when descending down into a squat. The further your heels are up on the slant board, the more open the angle of the ankle, which allows for the pelvis to organize more efficiently relative to the thorax. The more your ankle can move the more the pelvis can react to the position of the torso.
Because of that, we choose exercises for safe loading. We repeatedly see screens (FMS) that show asymmetry or simply lack of function during certain movement patterns. It forces us to select exercises we can be successful with immediately and over a longer period of time. We can load split squats heavier and over a longer period of time than we can bilateral squats. This equates to faster results and less harm.
Squatting is a fantastic exercise. However, there is a point of diminishing returns when you cannot squat without compensation or without pain. If we want to improve our strength we are better served to focus on movements that create more from less – with as little downside as possible.
It’s time to address the elephant in the room.
You were probably told that squats are the king of all exercises. If we say split squats are better, that could feel contradictory. Our defense is that we have the burden of knowledge of doing contraindicated exercises. That means not everyone should do squats because of their athletic profile and limitations because it will always lead to injury.
The people saying squats are the panacea of exercise are the ones that either do not work with enough people to truly know or have not been doing this long enough to understand. If someone were to say something is good or bad without any direct knowledge of how you move, it means they are grossly naive to what may happen. Squats are good only if people can do them without pain.
The biggest value Allegiate provides is we first assess your movement ability and then provide you with a plan that gets great results. That order matters because getting information on previous injuries and surgeries makes huge differences in what movements are best for you. That’s why it’s the first question we ask everyone. Unfortunately, this approach isn’t status quo in the fitness industry and it’s usually overlooked. But assessing force plate asymmetry and getting functional movement screens is a fact-finding mission to determine what is best, not what is easiest. The ability to get incredible results in spite of whatever has happened to you over the years is what a professional with a high level of skill and experience offers.
What this means is that we did the leg work, so you can put in the ‘leg work!’
There is no reason why you can’t push as hard as possible. The program is designed off that premise. Each week you should push yourselves to be better and better. And now you know you can do that without fear of getting hurt.
4x10 with a 3/0/1/0 tempo will not be easy But that's ok because you’re ready for it.