Over the past few months there has been a lot of controversy around the back squat and it made me do a lot of thinking, this was shortly after I recorded a PR (personal record)  in the back squat, 405lb bare foot with no belt at 200lb, I felt like I was starting to get strong, based on the strength athlete standard of you’re only strong when you can squat 2x’s your bodyweight.

Then a respected strength coach named Michael Boyle put out a video suggesting that back squats should be removed from all strength training programming based on the fact that the primary weak link is the lower back. To make matters more interesting internationally respected strength coach and physical therapist Gray Cook also argues that the back squat is only useful for lifting as much external load (weight) as possible but for athletics the focus should be on function. Read More→