WOD #166 "Squats"

I used to hate squats.

Honestly, I just thought these long femurs were not made to bend down to the ground that far. Yet, the ironic part about many things in life, is the more you do the things you dislike and are bad at, the more you begin to enjoy them.

I have seen this on countless occasions with people I train. Hate pull ups? Okay let's try doing one every workout until one becomes two, until two becomes four, and then one day when pull ups aren't in the workout the question becomes "Why aren't we doing these today?" 

Like pull ups, squatting is an essential life skill. Every time you sit down and stand up, you've performed a squat.

It's easy to mess up proper technique on a squat, even for experienced lifters. I would be remiss to not mention that for the past few months, in trying to improve my squat, I have received an abundance of great feedback from the amazing coaches at my gym. 

It is hard for you to see for yourself what needs to be improved. Many times it's the little things that make the biggest difference, and those need to be spotted by an outside eye.

Squats need to be done well, or our spine and other joints start to hate us, and then we start to hate the movement that caused us pain. 

Poor mobility or lack of proper understanding can cause an array of common faults, like your chest bending too far forward as you get lower, your knees caving in, not getting low enough, not using your booty, and the list goes on.

Below, I have put a mini mobility series, both borrowed and remixed from CrossFit's Squat Therapy, that should help you feel good positions in a squat. Remember, it's always helpful to have someone to eye you as well, just make sure they know what they're looking for.

Every time you squat, these mobility exercises should be incorporated beforehand. They must be done repeatedly overtime in order to become effective.

​I mean, it sure would be nice to do them once and have a perfect squat, but we would just be fooling ourselves to think that. 

In the end, whether it's a heavy squat or something heavy in life that's got you down, keep standing up. It makes you stronger.

Warm Up

3:00 Progressive Cardio
​Pick any type of cardio, start easy, and then increase pace or resistance every 0:30.

Simple Core Series

• 10 Hollow Rocks
• 10 Baby Cobras
• 10 Deadbugs

Glute Activation

• 10 Plank Raises, each side

Mobility

Squat Therapy

• 7 Assisted Depth Squats
• 7 Mobility Bar Squats
• 7 Goblet Squats
• 7 Wall Squats
• 5 Reverse Drop Lunges (each side)

Wrist Mobility

Dynamic Stretching

• Traveling Quad Stretch
• Figure Fours

Movement Prep

Take 10-15 minutes to build to a heavy Front Squat. It should be a weight that you feel you could do about 5-6 reps of. We will be starting relatively conservatively and then adding small increments of weight each round. 

Workout

5 Rounds
2 Front Squats
20 Wall Balls
Rest 1:00
Add 5# each round.

5 Rounds
2 Back Squats
20 Walking Lunges
​Rest 1:00
Add 5# each round.

Recommended Stretches

1:00 Wall Quad Stretch, each side
1:00 Butterfly Stretch
1:00 Seated Forward Fold

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