Building the Squat for Strongman and Powerlifting: An Overview
The squat is often heralded as the king of lower body lifts, and for good reason. For strongman competitors and powerlifters alike, building a strong squat is essential for performance in competition and training longevity. However, the approach to squatting in strongman varies significantly from powerlifting. Understanding how to tailor your squat training to meet the specific demands of strongman events can be the key to unlocking new levels of performance.
This article will break down the essential components of building a squat for both powerlifting and strongman, drawing on over a decade of experience working with strength athletes, and sharing insights that world-class coaches and athletes have attested to. The aim is to provide a comprehensive guide on building your squat, improving lower body mobility, and identifying and attacking weaknesses to achieve peak performance.
Why the Squat is Essential for Strongman and Powerlifting
A strong squat carries over to nearly every event in strongman. While the sport may not feature a back squat in competition as frequently as powerlifting, the leg strength, posterior chain development, and core stability built through squatting are crucial for success in nearly all events:
Moving Events: Yoke walks, farmer’s carries, and even frame carries rely heavily on leg strength to stabilise and move massive loads.
Loading Events: Stone loading, sandbag carries, and keg tosses all demand strong leg drive and posterior chain strength.
Pressing Events: A strong squat transfers to better leg drive in overhead pressing events like the log press and axle press.
Deadlift Events: Squat training improves hip and leg drive, which are essential for a strong deadlift lockout.
For powerlifters, the back squat is one of the three competition lifts, meaning maximising squat strength is non-negotiable. Beyond its direct impact on competition, the squat builds the foundational strength required for both the bench press and deadlift.
Squat Variations for Strongman and Powerlifting Success
The squat isn’t a single lift but rather a movement pattern that can be trained through a variety of variations to develop different aspects of strength. For strongman athletes, it’s important to utilise a variety of squatting styles to ensure all-around leg development and specificity to the demands of competition.
Box Squats
The box squat is a cornerstone of many successful strength programmes, and for good reason. Box squats:
Teach proper hip engagement and posterior chain activation.
Improve explosive power out of the hole.
Reduce stress on the knees while still building strength in the hips and glutes.
For strongman competitors, box squats can be performed with specialty bars like the safety squat bar (SSB) to further challenge core stability and mimic the demands of events like the yoke or log press.
As I have learned from working with strength athletes for more than a decade, box squats help athletes develop explosive strength and maintain proper mechanics under load. Squatting to a box also helps reduce the wear and tear on the knees, which is particularly important for longevity in the sport.
Front Squats
Front squats are invaluable for strongman competitors due to their direct carryover to events like the stone load and keg carry. Front squats prioritise quad strength, upper back stability, and core engagement.
For powerlifters, front squats are an excellent accessory lift to address weaknesses in the upper back and quads, which can improve overall squat performance.
Specialty Bars
Incorporating specialty bars like the safety squat bar (SSB), cambered bar, or buffalo bar can help address specific weaknesses and reduce joint stress:
SSB Squats: Mimic the yoke carry, challenge core stability, and reduce shoulder strain.
Cambered Bar Squats: Increase stability demands and improve posterior chain engagement.
Buffalo Bar Squats: Reduce shoulder strain while allowing for a more natural grip position.
Building Squat Volume and Intensity
Many experienced coaches advocate for varying intensity and volume to build a resilient squat. Effective programming often includes:
Max Effort Days: Heavy singles, doubles, or triples to build maximal strength.
Dynamic Effort Days: Speed work with bands or chains to improve bar speed and explosiveness.
Volume Work: Higher-rep sets to build muscle mass and work capacity.
For strongman athletes, integrating higher volume front squats or safety bar squats can help build the endurance needed for longer events like the yoke walk or stone series.
Identifying and Attacking Weaknesses
One of the most important aspects of improving your squat is identifying and addressing weaknesses. Whether it’s a technical flaw or a muscular imbalance, weaknesses can limit your squat potential and increase the risk of injury.
Common Squat Weaknesses and Solutions
Weak Posterior Chain:
Solution: Incorporate more box squats, good mornings, and Romanian deadlifts to strengthen the hamstrings, glutes, and lower back.
Poor Upper Back Stability:
Solution: Add front squats, SSB squats, and bent-over rows to improve upper back strength and stability under load.
Knee Valgus (Knees Caving In):
Solution: Strengthen the glutes and abductors with exercises like clamshells, banded squats, and Bulgarian split squats.
Lack of Mobility:
Solution: Implement a thorough mobility routine focusing on hip flexor stretches, ankle dorsiflexion work, and adductor mobilisation.
Understanding where your weaknesses lie is critical to making targeted improvements. As world-class coaches will tell you, addressing these weaknesses consistently will lead to long-term gains in your squat.
Lower Body Mobilisation for Squat Performance
One of the biggest barriers to a successful squat is poor mobility. Lower body mobilisation can dramatically improve squat mechanics and reduce the risk of injury.
Key Mobility Drills:
Hip Flexor Stretch: To improve hip mobility and reduce anterior pelvic tilt.
Ankle Dorsiflexion Work: To ensure proper squat depth and reduce knee stress.
Adductor Mobilisation: To improve squat stance width and hip engagement.
Incorporating these drills into your warm-up routine can improve range of motion and help prevent common injuries like hip impingement and knee pain.
Programming the Squat for Strongman
A successful squat programme for strongman should include:
A Main Squat Day: Focused on building absolute strength (e.g., back squat, box squat).
An Accessory Squat Day: Focused on addressing weaknesses (e.g., front squats, SSB squats).
Event-Specific Work: Incorporating yoke carries, stone loads, and sled drags to ensure carryover to competition.
Sample Weekly Squat Programme for Strongman:
Day | Main Lift | Accessory Work | Mobility Focus |
Squat Day 1 | Box Squat | Hamstring Curls, GHR, SSB | Hip Flexor Stretch |
Squat Day 2 | Front Squat | Bulgarian Split Squats | Ankle Dorsiflexion |
Event Day | Yoke Walk | Stone Loads | Adductor Mobilisation |
Programming the Squat Within a Conjugate Method Framework
The conjugate method, popularised by Westside Barbell, is a proven system for building strength across multiple lifts, including the squat. At its core, the conjugate method rotates exercises to continuously address weaknesses, prevent accommodation, and build all-around strength.
Main Components of Conjugate Squat Training:
Max Effort (ME) Days:
Once a week, perform a heavy squat variation to build absolute strength.
Rotate squat variations weekly to avoid accommodation (e.g., box squats, front squats, cambered bar squats).
Focus on hitting a true max for a single or double rep.
Dynamic Effort (DE) Days:
Focus on speed work using moderate loads (50-70% of max) with accommodating resistance (bands or chains).
Perform 8-12 sets of 2-3 reps, focusing on bar speed and technique.
Accessory Work:
Address weaknesses identified in the ME and DE sessions.
Include exercises like reverse hypers, glute-ham raises, good mornings, and Bulgarian split squats.
Event-Specific Work:
Incorporate strongman-specific movements like yoke walks, stone loads, and sled drags on your DE or accessory days to ensure carryover to competition.
Sample Conjugate Squat Week:
Day | Main Lift | Accessory Work | Notes |
ME Squat Day | Cambered Bar Box Squat | Reverse Hypers, GHR, SSB | Heavy, 1-2 rep max |
DE Squat Day | Speed Squats with Chains | Bulgarian Split Squats, GMs | 8-12 sets of 2 reps |
Powerlifter-Specific Squat Training and the Importance of Small Muscle Strength
While there is significant overlap between the squat requirements for powerlifters and strongman competitors, powerlifter-specific squat training has some unique considerations. Powerlifters must optimise their squat for maximal load in competition, meaning their programming often prioritises back squat variations that improve strength in the specific competition stance.
One of the key differences is that powerlifters are less concerned with endurance or stability during moving events and more focused on executing a technically perfect squat for a one-rep max. This often means a greater emphasis on refining technique through repetition and reducing variability in squat stance and bar position.
However, powerlifters can benefit greatly from improving the strength and stability of the smaller muscles and joints of the lower body. Strong hips, knees, ankles, and stabiliser muscles reduce the risk of injury and improve the transfer of force during a max-effort squat attempt.
Exercises like single-leg work, banded hip work, and ankle mobility drills are essential components of a powerlifter’s training. Strengthening these areas ensures that the lifter has a stable foundation to build on, allowing for better bar path control, reduced knee valgus, and improved squat depth. Powerlifters who neglect these aspects may find themselves plateauing due to weak links in the kinetic chain.
Small muscles may not be flashy, but they play a crucial role in longevity and performance. Addressing these areas within a powerlifting programme can mean the difference between an injury-prone athlete and one who continues to improve year after year.
Conclusion
Building a strong squat is essential for both powerlifters and strongman competitors. By incorporating variations like box squats, front squats, and specialty bars, along with proper volume and intensity management, athletes can maximise their squat performance.
Drawing on years of experience working with strength athletes, and insights that world-class coaches and athletes can attest to, it’s clear that a multifaceted approach to squat training is necessary. Focus on building absolute strength, addressing weaknesses, and incorporating mobility work to ensure long-term success in competition and training.
If you’re looking to take your squat—and your overall strength—to the next level, I offer personalised online coaching tailored to your goals. With over a decade of experience coaching strength athletes, from beginners to world champions, my coaching programmes are built to deliver results. Get in touch today, and let’s start building your path to strength success!
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