The Functional Training Bible (eBook)

10.4 Lower-body exercises

Starting position

A | Stand and hold a barbell firmly. The wrists are broken (i.e., the hands are back with the palms facing up), the hands resting on the clavicles, the elbows high and pointing forward.

Execution

B | Bend the legs and sit back into a full squat.

Keep the elbows high.

Aim for the deepest possible movement, maintaining the spine’s physiological curves.

Return to the starting position

Complete the required number of repetitions.

Discussion

I know, I talk about body-weight exercises, and I start with the frontal squat. This is meant as a reminder. This is the most neglected and undervalued exercise in gyms and in fitness training. Wrongly so! Many people begin with a classic squat without being ready for it, both technically and in terms of the coordination and fluidity of the kinematic and articular chains involved. The front squat not only teaches the correct squat technique—it is a natural preparation for it—but also, compared to its more famous cousin exercise, it features:

Personally, I believe this is one of the best preventive, and even treatment, exercises for chronic lumbago, based on empirical tests with athletes. I will also admit that I consider it a treatment for acute lumbago as well, when used with core exercises that use fitness balls. This is a personal opinion, of course, but if experience counts for anything, the effects of this exercise go well beyond its appearance. Besides, it activates the gluteus to a greater degree, and this is an element much sought after by women as an objective for every training program. So this exercise is a must for anyone.

Starting position

A | Stand with your legs at shoulder width. Extend the arms in front of you in a neutral position (i.e., thumbs upward); the scapulae must be adducted.

Execution

B | Bend the legs and sit back in a controlled fashion until you reach a full squat.

Extending the legs return to the starting position.

Complete the required number of repetitions.

Discussion

Discussing squats would require a whole book. In the history of athletics, there isn’t a training technique which has been analyzed more, instant by instant, moment by moment, with all its implications. Let’s examine the most important ones:

Look around gyms, and you will see that maybe, and I repeat, maybe, 1 person in 20 is performing a passable squat. The squat is a fundamental exercise for a total-body motor activation and for the physiological responses it generates. It is primarily important for generating the hormonal response. A training program without squats is like the opera Turandot: an incomplete work.

Starting position

A | Stand with the legs at shoulder width. Extend the arms in front of you in a neutral position (thumbs upward); the scapulae must be adducted.

Bring the right foot 4-6 in. (10-15 cm) forward of the left foot.

Execution

B | Bend the legs and sit back in a controlled fashion until you reach a full squat.

Rise up again and complete the number of repetitions required.

Invert the position of your limbs and execute this exercise again with the same number of repetitions.

Discussion

This specific exercise was taught to me by Michael Boyle[15] in Los Angeles, with the following explanation: Do we ever, in daily and in sporting life, find ourselves executing squats or other frontal plane flexion with limbs perfectly aligned? Let’s try to work asymmetrically and see the effect it has. It is interesting to feel how the perception of the exercise and of the muscles that are stimulated changes by varying one foot’s position just a little. Specifically, the adductor and the gluteus minimus and medius of the contralateral leg work harder. A fine exercise and excellent preparation.

Starting position

A | Stand with the legs at shoulder width. Extend the arms in front of you in a neutral position (thumbs upward); the scapulae must be adducted.

Execution

B | Bend the legs and sit back in a controlled fashion until you reach a full squat.

C | From here, jump explosively upward, using the arms to help with the movement.

D | Cushion the landing phase with your legs. Take a second to stabilize your position, and then complete your repetitions.

Discussion

The same argument given initially for the squat is valid for the squat jump, at least partly. According to many, the squat jump is equivalent to a direct route to back ache, especially with the addition of a load, such as a barbell. Much could be said on the use of this exercise. In fact, when the loaded barbell is positioned at the level of the trapezius, its downward acceleration (not excluding body weight) applies stress on the rachis and the joints of the lower limbs. Yet all coaches will use it at some stage in the season. There is a reason for this: It is a functional exercise, because the hip extensor chain works both in its action, flexion–extension, and its function, propulsion. This exercise is effective for any expression of explosive strength and speed strength. Now some advice:

Starting position

A | Stand with the legs at shoulder width. Raise your arms upward, close to the head.

Execution

B | Bend the legs and sit back to a full squat.

While you bend, extend the arms backward to keep them high and perpendicular above you.

Return to the starting position.

Discussion

I have always had a weakness for overhead squats; they are little-known but outstanding exercises. They require control and balance. Thanks to the long lever, overhead squats activate the parascapular and paravertebral musculatures and the humerus retractor muscles (trapezius, cuff extrarotators, rhomboid), leading to significant postural improvements. These exercises are essential to prepare the body for the heavier basic exercises. Of course this isn’t an easy exercise, at least for beginners. For this reason, the preparation and the difficulty progression are very important.

Now you can do the full exercise. During the first two executions, you will be surprised when feeling the activation of the oblique muscles. The next step will of course be working with a barbell, ...