5 Reasons Why Front Squats Are The OG

Here’s why the front squat is the best variation to learn first 🤓

It’s also arguably the best one for those that have stalled in their leg progress to focus on too. 

Before we get into the benefits and reasons why it’s great.

Let us address the common problem that people bring up.

“I can’t get my elbows that high.” 😢

This being in reference to holding the bar in the rack position.

I’m not going to lie, it sucks working on lacking mobility not only because of the time it takes up but also because it humbles people.

Now there is the option of holding the bar with crossed arms 🤗

Load wise you’ll find people can lift somewhat comparable loads, although in my experience using the full reck position offers more stability. 

Additionally you can use lifting straps to grip, that looks like this for those that are unsure – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fsMgDDMrnio&t=27s

Now that the barrier of not being able to hold the bar has been removed we shall address the last grip people have.

“It hurts my collar bone and feels like it’s choking me.” 🥵

Ironic as many of the people that complain about this rarely mind a bruise or two on their collar bone or being deprived of oxygen from some of their other pass times 😋🤣

All jokes aside, if it hurts your collar bone then the bar is in the wrong place.

It doesn’t want to sit there (where people tend to hold/place it).

It wants to sit on your front deltoids and will require the correct position (protraction) and also upper thoracic mobility to achieve.

As with most things in life it’s a ‘layer 8 error’ 👀

Now to delve into why the Front Squat is great.

1 – It teaches good squatting posture 👍

A solid brace, extension via the erectors and structural integrity is the reward gained from patience with this style. 

2 – You learn the correct squat pattern (eccentric/concentric)* 

Learning to descend between your hips with a full ROM – hip crease below the knee line – is great no only for strength, performance and hypertrophy but also health and longevity. 

3 – Ideal weight distribution is established

You learn how best to balance and ‘feel’ when somethings not right in the movement as you can’t just muscle up a front squat, unlike the back squat for example. 

4 – Bracing becomes second nature 

If you’re not solid in your TVA, abdominal musculature, lower back and by extension your erectors (postural muscles).

5 – There’s no cheating possible 

The moment you lose posture, position (in motion), balance or brace the weight tells you ‘not today’ and for this reason alone a lot of people stay away from the FS because they can’t muscle it. 

It’s the ultimate ego killer.

*You sit between your hips on the eccentric and are then able to use the quads, hamstrings and glutes correctly in the concentric.

Don’t get me wrong I love the back squat and many other squat variations 🤓

Yet you can muscle most of the other variations available.

The only exception is the Over Head Squat, and the reason that’s not what I’d have someone try and learn first or until they’d mastered the FS is because it requires first the correct squat pattern with a full ROM and then you also need the upper thoracic mobility/stability too. 

From a longevity standpoint the OHS is King 👑

It’s just that from a learning standpoint it’s a royal pain in the posterior to learn 🙄

The postural, movement and body awareness benefits of the FS are almost unmatched as they have a lot of crossover to all other styles of squat, improve athletic performance and also cool when you’re shifting 3+ plates per side for reps.

A good little set of standards for the Front Squat are as follows:

Silver – Your Own Bodyweight for 3 reps 

Gold – 1.5xBW for 3 reps

Platinum – 2xBW for 3 reps 

If you can work towards this level of relative strength you’ll find an endless amount of benefit to your health, longevity, performance and overall bragging rights in social media videos 😂

One of the most successful protocols for this is the ‘patient lifter method’. 

Here’s three variations to utilise.

• Train the FS twice per week 
• Add one rep each session until the rep target is hit
• Increase 1kg+ and drop the reps back to the starting number 

Option 1 – 8×2 building to 8×3 

Option 2- 5×3 building to 5×5 

Option 3 – 12×1 building to 12×2

How often do you practice this movement 🤔

Please do leave your thoughts and experiences below.

Also what do you teach your clients first? 

Do you have a process?

Mine is simple: 

Goblet Squat > Double Rack KB > Front Squat

^^ There is barbell FS practice/mobility factored in from day one, however people need to feel trained hence the KB options and also sandbag/bear hug options are used as well.

While as coaches we want to give people what they need, we must also cater to what they want.

That being an emotional box to be ticked through a physical method (feeling like they’ve done something in their words), more on that another time though.

Please do leave your thoughts and questions below. 

Enjoy, 
Ross 

The HLM Method Redefined

HLM stands for ‘heavy, light, medium’ and surrounds rotating the effort of training each day.

If this sounds familiar that’ll be because around 2010 DUP (daily undulating periodisation) had a minor take off and had people enamoured for a while.

One difference between the two is that DUP rotated between strength, power & hypertrophy days.

HLM will have you stick within a realm that has specific outcome that is the focus.

Alternating the levels of effort allows for a greater amount of progress. 

Keep in mind that there are plenty of variables that can be used by the HLM Method. 

It doesn’t just have to be reps, sets or loads. 

Any of these variables can also utilised:

• Tempo/Cadence 
• Velocity 
• Movements 
• % of RM efforts 
• Rest Periods 
• Total Workload 

There’s basically a lot of options, however it’s totally okay to choose one to two as your bread & butter.

For my own style of programming I will use % of RM Efforts and Total Workload.

Both also effect many other fitness variables, this is where constant progress can be gained. 

In the past the HLM style was very popular across full body sessions done 3 days per week.

This allowed for the management of fatigue through volume/intensity. 

One common set up was as follows:

Day 1 – Medium Day – SQ/B/RDL – 5×5 for all using 85% of 5RM 

Day 2 – Heavy Day – SQ/B/RDL – Ramp to heavy 5rep set, ideally a PB 

Day 3 – Light Day – SQ/B/RDL – 5×5 for all using 75% of 5RM 

The overall volume is largely the same – 5×5.

What changes is the level of intensity being a % of the total 5RM that was achieved on the H-day.

This allows for a slow accumulation of progression as the aim is to do a little more week to week, be that 1kg or perhaps less. 

Auto-regulation is what also helps in the success of the above.

You may find that you only hit the same numbers the week before, it’s okay when that happens. 

Spending an extra week using the weights as before will allow you to solidify the progress from a neurological & muscular standpoint.

It’s also not uncommon to find progress in the control of the reps (form), not finding the sets as hard, taking less rest or even being able to pause in the end ROM and drive powerfully out  of it with ease. 

A set up like this works well for those new to lifting due to the frequency of each lift (3x per week).

Most will get a decent amount of strength as the result too.

When you take a look back through history you’ll find a lot of training programs looked like this.

You’ll also find the worked very well and helped people create a solid foundation for which to build on. 

Here’s another example using the same set up from above.

Day 1 – Medium Day – SQ/B/RDL – 50 total reps per movement 

Day 2 – Heavy Day – SQ/B/RDL – 25 total reps per movement 

Day 3 – Light Day – SQ/B/RDL – 100 total reps per movement 

A largely volume based approach that will typically lend itself more towards hypertrophy.

That is provided the average intensity isn’t lower than about 60% of absolute 1RM for each lift. 

While is is true that hypertrophy can occur with as little as 30% of 1RM being used it’s worth remembering or rather asking the question of “60%, 30%, whatever % of how much in total?”

This is where strength matters. 

If you’re looking for bigger shoulders as an example, and you can only handle say 12kg as a top load for your desired movement then 30% will only be 3.6kg.

3.6kg isn’t really enough to generate a large amount of mechanical tension.

Yes there can be techniques such as BFR (blood flow restriction) for example, that can be sued to make a super light weight super effective however these want to be saved for when you need them.

A lot of people in the modern training world try to rush towards the more nuanced first.

It’s better to focus on the basics and building a solid foundation before looking for sprinkles for the cake. 

Here’s a third option using that same set up from above.

Day 1 – Medium Day – SQ/B/RDL – 5-3-2,5-3-2,5-3,2

Day 2 – Heavy Day – SQ/B/RDL – 3-2-1,3-2-1,3-2-1 

Day 3 – Light Day – SQ/B/RDL – 7-5-3,7-5-3,7-5-3

You’ll be able to see a combination of the two ideas from above.

Now here is a day for volume, one for intensity and one that is in the middle. 

Think about how you can combine this with decreasing rest periods or perhaps time blocks.

Day 1 – Medium Day – SQ/B/RDL – 50 total reps per movement – 15min time limit per movement 

Day 2 – Heavy Day – SQ/B/RDL – 25 total reps per movement – 15min time limit per movement

Day 3 – Light Day – SQ/B/RDL – 100 total reps per movement – 15min time limit per movement 

The time constraint will make some very different outcomes will be present, the biggest one being a fairly decent level of work capacity (they’ll be fit essentially).

With a constrain is in play the loading will be naturally regulated to compliment the rep goal.

Understanding this allows for interesting and progressive programming can be created.

Since the basic outlines have now been laid we shall look at a tweak in the set up.

Day 1 – H/SQ, M/B, L/DL 

Day 2 – H/B, M/DL, L/SQ

Day 3 – H/DL, M/SQ, L/B

H = 5RM ramp to set loads for L/M, M = 5×5 using 85% of 5RM, L = 5×5 using 75% of 5RM

While still a whole body approach the HLM split is now lift specific as opposed to day specific.

You’ll find that upper body movements can be done before lower body ones as they won’t has as much of a neurological draining effect, just FYI. 

This style of set up can be very appealing for people that like to lift something heavy each session.

Additionally it’s possible to combine this with time blocks, rep goals and so on.

What’s worth keeping in mind though is that multiple different type of stimulus that drive different outcomes may contradict each other. 

As such it can mean that training doesn’t produce a specific outcome.

Playing with the above variables is fun however you can also choose different movements as well.

We will look at potentials for the SQ/B/DL and how HLM works with it.

Squat

Day 1 – H – Front Squat 

Day 2 – L – Dead Start Front Squat 

Day 3 – M – Pause Front Squat 

Bench

Day 1 – H – Close Grip 

Day 2 – L – Close Grip Dead Start  

Day 3 – M – Close Grip w/Pause 

Deadlift

Day 1 – H – From Floor 

Day 2 – L – 2 Inch Deficit 

Day 3 – M – 1 Inch Deficit 

Just like the variation before where you can have a different H/L/M lift each day, you can do this here as well. 

Alternatively you can do all the H-movements on the same day, it’ll come down to the goal. 

There is also the option of having a rep goal, time blocks and so on. 

The next iteration is where you focus the HLM on one lift.

All of the above variable set ups (reps, time, intensity etc) can be applied, for this next option for you we shall be delving into what is a combination of the ‘patient lifter method’ & ‘RM % Efforts’.

We shall say we worked up to a 10RM on a lift, squat = 10x100kg (for the ease of the maths)

Day 1 – H – 6-7 reps per set 

Day 2 – L – 2-3 reps per set 

Day 3 – M – 4-5 reps per set 

Looking at the 10RM, that would be a 100% effort.

6-7reps is 60-70% effort and so on, based off of the RM that is. 

In regards to it the actual level of effort that’d need to be measured differently.

Perhaps with the bar/movement velocity for example. 

In the organisation of the days you’ll notice all the reps are sub maximal and this is because it allows you to accumulate a decent chunk of volume with the 10RM load.

You can choose to either set a rep goal for each day that is consistent, perhaps 50 reps.

Each time you repeat a session you can add 10% of total volume (5 reps) and accumulate this over time until say you hit 100 total reps.

At this point you’d retest your 10RM.

Over time it’ll typically lead to increases in hypertrophy and strength.

You can do this with multiple lifts, it just means a few more moving parts to your programming.

It’s also possible to use total session time as the variable.

Day 1 – H – 60min

Day 2 – L – 35min

Day 3 – M – 45min 

Such a set up would mean on the L days the focus would be on getting what is needed done and then on the longer days M/H there can be more potential for accessory work or the use of heavier loads as longer rest periods can be taken.

This option can be very useful for people that have time as a high priority/value. 

It’s also a great option for density and work capacity based training.

You might choose to also prescribe precise rest times to link with the training session or as an entirely separate programming system. 

Day 1 – H – 4min rest between every set

Day 2 – L – 1min rest between every set 

Day 3 – M – 2min rest between every set 

Such a set up can really make people aware of how to maximise training time as during rest periods mobility or restorative/corrective work can be performed.

Example: 

A1 Squat x 6-10 reps 

Rest 2min and perform – A2* – Upper thoracic bench openers x4-6

You’d simply select an element that didn’t interfere with the main session and lift.

It’s a great way of getting a lot of what is needed done without wasting time, and additionally it appeals to those with the bias that has them feel they always need to be doing something.

Further to the above, you may decide to have a specific rep prescription be used for each set.

Day 1 – H – 4 reps on all lifts 

Day 2 – L – 10 reps on all lifts 

Day 3 – M – 7 reps on all lifts 

There’s also nothing wrong with a 5/10/15 rep set up, the options are literally endless.

Over the course of a training career there will be more total L/M days performed.

While the above uses the example of a 3 day set up it’s more likely that as people progress they will gain more benefit out of keeping training easier rather than harder. 

Too many fall into the trap of having too many hard days.

Programming a Light Day after each Hard Day tends to be a good rule of thumb to follow.

Over time you’ll find that out of say 100 training sessions 20 want to be hard and the remaining 80 sessions will be a mixture of light & medium days.

What is key to remember for this style of training is as follows:

Keep light days light for recovery, heavy days heavy for testing a limit and the medium days is where all your progress will be made.

Enjoy, 

Ross 

Who Moved My Clients?

There’s a good book called ‘Who Moved My Cheese’ by Spencer Johnson.

It’s focused around four characters.

Sniff, Scurry, Hem & Haw.

The first pair are mice that constantly run around the maze looking for cheese turning every corner and even when a dead end is found they turn around and just keep looking.

Why do they keep looking (even if found)?

In my own mind I sum it up with one word – Instinct.

Someone more eloquent will surmise that it is because it’s their purpose and their nature.

While it may seem like a laborious and high effort endeavour (which it is), it keeps them moving forwards.

Hem & Haw on the other hand are two small people inside the same maze.

Instead of simply looking for the cheese like the mice because of instinct/nature the humans think more.

Their minds are filled with thoughts such as –

• How they can find the cheese quickly with little effort
• The options for making tracking cheese easy
• What they will feel like once they have their cheese
• How the cheese will benefit them
• When they’ll finally find it because the want it sooner rather than later

Additionally they ruminate on how frustrated they feel about each dead end and empty corner they’ve had to experience so far.

Unlike the mice that just keep moving forwards, the people overthink and complicate things.

As the book progresses the mice find their first huge cheese payload and enjoy a bit every day.

Yet they don’t lose their edge.

They stay mindful that the cheese is slowly declining and as the days go by and the supply dwindles, before it’s all gone they begin venturing out again.

Eventually they find an even bigger cheese hoard, and then enjoy another period of good fortune all while still keeping an eye on the how much was left.

Luckily the small people also find a nice chunk of cheese as well.

There’s one difference though, Hem & Haw decided to settle down.

Accepting this seemingly endless mound of cheese would be there forever.

They adopted a new status quo that they didn’t think was every going to end, which of course it did.

One day they wake up and proclaim – “Someone moved my cheese!”

In their complacency neither noticed the dwindling supply and eventually it ran out yet instead of accepting this and the impending need to get back to running around the maze to find more they did what all people do – blamed every and anything they could.

Accepting reality can be hard for people.

Change will happen regardless of if you want it to or not.

There’s no room in life for complacency and if you don’t actively seek to change (ideally for the better) then change will be forced upon you and it will rarely be a change you desire.

Of our two little people Haw finally became uncomfortable enough to change their situation.

Hem on the other hand didn’t and stayed in the same place complaining that someone had moved their cheese unwilling to do anything proactive about it.

What does this have do with PT and clients?

Your clients won’t stay with you forever.

While it is important to provide a great service to those loyal to you, they can’t be retired upon forever.

You’re going to need to put in some investment into your marketing, outreach and constantly grow/evolve what you offer.

This may even result in your business changing entirely over the span of 5 years.

Don’t see the change as something to be avoided.

It’s better to embrace change and be the arbiter of it, as opposed to the ignoramus that complains that they don’t like it.

A lot of PT’s get clients and then fear what will happen after their agreements/sessions are done.

Keep your finger on the pulse of your business and change with the times.

If what you’re offering isn’t appealing anymore then have it evolve into something that is.

Watch for the ebbs & flows of trends to see what’s coming and what is losing steam because while the core of your business may remain largely the same (say it’s weight loss as an example), how you deliver that experience/result to people will inevitably change in some way.

Maybe it’s going online or offering year long training agreements, regardless something will change.

It’s up to you if it’s on your terms or not.

Give some thought to the above.

Otherwise you might be asking yourself – who moved my clients?

Enjoy,
Ross

Fusion for fantastic results

While chains & whips may excite Rihanna 

Bands & Bells do it for me 

This may seem like an odd combination.

Yet in reality it’s a potent pairing.

Power, hypertrophy, anarobic/aerobic boosts, epic videos for the gram, the benefits are numerous 

Once you’ve mastered the glorious movement known as the Kettlebell Swing (hard style ideally) you’ll be ready for the next level. 

When I say master it’s under the premise of keeping from sharp.

As a guide I tend to find a crisp 30-35 reps with a top working weight is a good sign you’ve got that weight pretty nailed down. 

To give this some context for myself that would be a 48kg bell 

From this weight I’d take 1/3rd of it, so a 16kg bell and combine that with a light band. 

Here is a short video on how to set up the band – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvr21kgaxSQ

What happens when you start swinging requires you to be prepared because you’ll now experience and ‘overspeed eccentric’.

If you’re not prepared you may just fall forwards and face plant the floor, oh how we will laugh 

The posterior potentiation and pump you’ll achieve 

Working for sets of 5-10 reps totalling up to 100 reps within a session with a solid 60sec rest between each set is a good starting point.

Although if you find you’re losing your snap then you’ve got two choices:

• Rest more perhaps another 20,30+ seconds or more
• Terminate the swing training for today and go do some pull ups to sooth yourself 

You’ll find this is great for double or single arm swings 

Regarding the above you can also stagger them. 

So perhaps a set of swings, 1min rest, then a set of presses followed by another minute of rest and so on. 

Apart from the benefits to your backside.

There will be improvements in your power output.

Plus they will help with some new DL PB’s 

Oh yes these creep in as well, despite perhaps not performing the lift itself for any great volume or progression pathway. 

If you’ve not tried banded swings perhaps it’s time to.

Enjoy,
Ross

Programming for a novel and highly effective EMOM

I’m fully aware I’ve written about this subject before.

One reason it can continually be written about is because of the endless possibilities.

Endless?

Well maybe not endless however there is a decent amount of options.

Programming every minute on the minute doesn’t mean every 60 seconds.

For example it might be every 2min, 3min or ever 20 seconds.

Remember EMOM’s are just forms of intervals and are subject to their governing principles.

As a primer these are the key considerations for all EMOM’s when you program them.

• Avoid excessive fatigue due to too short a rest period (remainder of the time allotted)
• Choose movements with low skill requirements for beginners
• Opt for movements with low set up times
• Keep reps to roughly 1/3-2/3rd’s of the repetition max (RM) for the movement & loading
• Form doesn’t want to be compromised for the sake of hitting the reps

Now that is out of the way here’s an interesting little EMOM that combines ‘ladders’.

Say we’re doing Front Squats and our 10RM is 100kg this is where the load would stay.

At this load you might only need 1 or two warm up sets.

The ladder itself will serve to further potentiate the nervous system.

Basically the reps will feel easier as you get deeper into the working time believe it or not.

Next you’d set 25min on a timer at 1min intervals.

You’ll now perform a ladder of 1-2-3-4-5 reps, adding 1 rep per min and while the early sets will seem too easy that isn’t the case on the 4/5 rep sets so you’ll be thankful for the rest.

Here is how it will look on paper.

Min 1 – FS x100kg x1 rep
Min 2 – FS x100kg x2 rep
Min 3 – FS x100kg x3 rep
Min 4 – FS x100kg x4 rep
Min 5 – FS x100kg x5 rep

That’s the first 5min done.

Now to repeat this 5 more times which will result in 75 solid working reps which is in my experience far more than most would get done if left to their own devices, especially in 25min.

You may choose to do an additional 10min (or two 10min) blocks of ARAMP – ‘as many reps as possible.

In the AMRAP’s you can do an accessory movement for the main lift and something isolation based.

It’s also fair to use the 2x10min blocks to perform some training focused purely on aesthetics if you want.

Personally I’d opt for something along the lines of Pull/Chin Ups and Dips/Presses, that’s my bias though.

Say you’ve literally only got 30min to be in the gym as a bonus option you can use the first 5-10min as a warm up with a combination of the ladder system and also progressive loading.

Here is how that may look.

Min 1 – FS x60kg x1 rep
Min 2 – FS x60kg x2 rep
Min 3 – FS x60kg x3 rep
Min 4 – FS x60kg x4 rep
Min 5 – FS x60kg x5 rep
Min 6 – FS x80kg x1 rep
Min 7 – FS x80kg x2 rep
Min 8 – FS x80kg x3 rep
Min 9 – FS x80kg x4 rep
Min 10 – FS x80kg x5 rep
Min 11 – FS x100kg x1 rep – then you go on to 3x5min ladders of 100kg for 45 working reps

This still provides a solid amount of work and is ideal for people short on time or anyone that perhaps has to split their training into two micro-sessions across the day.

So you might have front squat in the morning and the pull ups using the same system in the evening.

One benefit of breaking a session up like that you can give more effort and focus to the one lift.

As you can hopefully see the benefit in this novel approach.

Try adding into a training cycle for 6-12 weeks across 3-5 total sessions a week and watch the progress accumulate.

Enjoy,
Ross