Bolster the Musculature of Your Lower Body and Core
Let's get something straight. To set the tone of your reading experience, let us say right now that this article isn't to discuss scientific jargon, or talk about foot placement, bar positioning or squatting depth.

This article was written to provide you with some new ideas and alternatives to spice up your training, because let's admit it, none of us is going to enter a squatting competition. We squat to improve athletic performance, and a great way to do that is to gain strength by challenging the body with new stimuli in order to allow it to specifically adapt to newly imposed demands (the S.A.I.D. principle).

If we were limited to one exercise that we could do for the rest of our lives, we can tell you right now what that exercise would be: the squat. The squat is the granddaddy of them all. We believe that it provides you with the most bang for your buck, and it also provides you with a great deal of benefits not only to the musculature of the lower body but also to the core musculature.

Get IntoCombat Rhadi Ferguson and JC Santana are the co-owners of IntoCombat, which is a full combative sports resource company. You can visit them on the Web at www.intocombat.com. For more medicine ball workouts, you can get "The Essence of Medicine Ball Training" from www.intocombat.com.

As we are writing this, we know some people are saying, "But aren't squats bad for your knees?" We can answer that question with a question: "Isn't candy bad for your teeth?"

Of course, the answer to both questions is yes. Should you squat? Yes, if you can. Should you eat candy? Yes, if you can. If you have some contraindications to eating candy, such as diabetes, or if it hurts your teeth because you have cavities, guess what? Don't eat any candy. But if you can eat candy, by all means, enjoy a peppermint or two. Our motto is, "If it hurts, stop!" There is no sense in performing an exercise that causes you problems when you do it. Remember, training is supposed to enhance the body, not tear it down.

In terms of candy and squatting, the key is to do things in moderation. The majority of our friends who are Olympic weightlifters have knee problems, but they are squatting heavy weight all the time. And the majority of swimmers that we know have shoulder problems, but swimming is not bad for your shoulders. Any one thing in excess is going to take a toll on you. We think we made our point.

When teaching the squat, we need to properly progress. That means use your body weight first. After perfecting the bodyweight squat, we can get a little funky and start doing some single-leg squats. As we get more proficient, we can begin to use some external resistance [bands, dumbbells, kettlebells, medicine balls, etc.] Here are some exercises to spice up your training.

 

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BARBELL OVERHEAD

The overhead squat is a great exercise for individuals with excellent shoulder and hip flexibility. Not only does it require lower body strength, but excellent range of motion and core strength.

 

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SINGLE-LEG SQUAT

The single-leg squat enhances inter- and intra-muscular coordination. For extra "spice," do it on an unstable surface.

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DUMBBELL FRONT SQUAT

This is a great way to load up the legs and the back muscles in a fashion that is similar to the traditional barbell front squat, but this allows those with tight forearm muscles who lack forearm flexibility to still get the benefits of the front squat.

 

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STABILITY BALL

This is a functional training variation of the hack squat. You can use your body weight or hold dumbbells. This really changes the angle of the squat and makes it an even more quadriceps-dominant exercise.

 

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DUMBBELL OVERHEAD

Inspired by the sport of Olympic weightlifting, this is a great exercise for the development of the shoulders, lower back, core, legs and total overall strength development.

 

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Vary the depth of the traditional barbell squat as you see fit. This is a 1/4-depth squat that IntoCombat uses with its boxers so the fighters can generate the knockout power that they need within the range of motion that they use in a fight.

 

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The kettle sumo targets the glutes and is great for providing a full range of squatting motion. It also places the load in the hands, similar to a deadlift, but this is called the sumo squat because the body is upright and the glutes are low, unlike a deadlift.

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The stability ball single-leg squat stresses the quads and the adductors. Vary the depth based upon your strength. The stability ball adds a balance and proprioceptive aspect to the exercise.