John Smith on Squats

This was copies from the Ring.  John Smith is a well-known U.S. throws coach who coaches Dan Taylor.

Squats

I think squats are the supportive structure that many other exercises are built upon. Just standing up with a heavy weight on your back may do more for your core then most fancy core work you can think of.

However, because they are so taxing on the body proper recovery should be closely monitored. This is the number #1 problem that causes over training in a thrower and many back and knee problems.

Over the years i have squatted many different ways and many times a week to find what works for my throwers today.

The key is to get strong in the squats to get strong in the pulls to be able to handle the heavy throws and volume of throws. When squatting becomes better even an upperbody lift like the bench becomes better. If you look at good training you will notice that big squatting and big benching go hand and hand.

Thier are many different ways to get strong in the squat, but for throwing i have found the following to work very well.

1. I like to Safety Sqaut (aka overload front squat). This lift done 1 foot from the rack and done to a below 90 degree angle is very productive because you can handle about 130-140% above back squat max but still maintain a front squat like weight distribution on the body. This in return will dramatically improve pulling power. Because thier is a huge eccentric component in this lift you can only do it once every two weeks with good results. I discovered the value of this bar when I put Connie on it to help drive up her squats and what i got was something i didn't expect. A 50lb increase in hang clean power, and a 100lb increase in deadlifting power. Her back squats maintained thier current levels 455x3 but her back was much stronger and much more recovered when she threw. At Ohio State i used the bar every two weeks except when we peaked. At one point the strenght coach threw my bar out of the weight room which taught me lesson number #2 about this piece of equipment.I then changed to front squats until i got my bar back (4 month fight)and discovered i had all these athletes that had good front squats without front squatting. In that group i had a 260lb guy do 500x3 and a girl that did 405x1 that weighed 185lbs. I did this for 2 months in place of the safety bar and then the numbers on the front squat starting going south. So from that time until now the safety squat bar is my conerstone to building power without crushing backs.

2.The in between weeks is a box squat with eithier Bands from the bottom or top (to make the sitting point of the lift lighter).This is how i avoid the big compression of the box squat.I use a lower box in the off-season then In-Season.I choose the height of the box depending on the athletes height usually 14'or 16'boxes.I like the box squats better then the back squats because you have to fire with your legs to get off the box. Also you have to fired verticle off the box. I feel that the body position is more closely related to throwing. The bands from the bottom is consent tension on the core of the body. The bands from the top force the athlete to fired quickly off the bottom so they have the speed to drive through the top when the weight becomes 100-150lbs more heavy. The bottom end of the lift is neglected in terms of stress at that position but the deep heavy safety squats do more then a back squat to delevop that bottom power. The combination of these two lifts i have found is a winning combination.

I squat only once a week in the heavy off-season for 5 sets followed by 3-5 sets of eithier Step-ups,Lunges,One leg squats of 1/2 rack squats after the heavy 5 sets of eithier safety or box squats. Reps depend on the time of year. Sets are done eithier up the ladder (going for a top set) or 3 top sets at the same weight. The 3 sets at the same weight is usually 10% less then the top set on the ladder workout. Every two weeks the preceding two weeks squat workout is attempted to be defeated. No percentages just taking what the body will give for the day.

This is a slow stair stepped upward climb but it keeps athletes healthy and makes them strong. The secret to this is simply the amount of recovery time given to the lift.

I also put this day on friday while saturday is an off day to help recovery further.This is what makes all the heavy throwing possible. Lots of heavy squatting and heavy throwing you are inviting an injury. The heavy throwing is more important then the heavy lifting but you have to be strong to handle the heavy throwing. Thier has to be harmony between these two worlds and this is how i achieve it.

John Smith

John Smith is a well-known U.S. throws coach who coaches Dan Taylor.

Don't forget WR holder Brittney Riley.  Being from the midwest, I've compete against John's throwers while he was at Ohio State, and was in the same confrence as him when he went to SIU. His throwers are always very strong, which makes up for some of the technique flaws. 

i watched a clip of Riley's WR throw, i was like "that doesn't look like a 80' throw" my friend goes "Oh? and how do you know what a 80' throw looks like?" haha, dang, she got me on that one.