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Faced with the constant challenge of training fatigued young athletes whose competitive schedules are already jam-packed with sport practices and games, the daily training regimen at our facility is comprised of a combination of development, recovery, and rehabilitation exercises. Train the way you compete serves as the motto at Murray Athletic Development (MAD). And while this mindset is the driving force behind our culture, we also need to adapt to the demands placed on our athletes.

Our athletes compete hard, and we want them to bring that same fire to their training sessions. But our athletes also compete a ton, which is not always a quality we want to mirror in their training. Though we have worked extensively with professional athletes from all walks of life and still assist with the annual NBA and NCAA Basketball Combines, much of our current work is focused on youth athletes hoping to make and excel on their high school and club teams with an ultimate goal of playing in college.

Although the sources of their demands may differ from pro athletes, the challenges these youngsters face are very much the same: maximize ability, maintain health, and excel in performance, all while balancing an exceptionally busy and hectic lifestyle.

To battle the demands of the modern-day youth athlete, one tool we use is blood flow restriction training (BFR) in the form of B Strong Training Systems. Whether for rehabilitation, training, or recovery needs, B Strong has been easy, fast, and impactful.

How to Incorporate the B Strong Blood Flow Restriction System in Team and Group Training

In my opinion, the only way to truly make BFR training widely available to the public is to make it safe and effective, but most of all, simple and easy to set up and use. If it’s not quick and easy, it won’t work in a group setting, and group/team-based strengthening is where we see the big win for BFR with B Strong and why we spent months of development solving this problem.—Sean Whalen, CEO, Co-Founder, and Co-Developer B Strong

Blood flow restriction training helps our youth athletes attain adaptations without high-intensity resistance training. Share on X

Our youth athletes, like many others around the country, are typically overskilled and undertrained. Because these kids no longer have rest periods between club and school sports, we are getting athletes who are way overstressed. The B Strong Training System helps us address this issue by providing a method to achieve physiological adaptations without high-intensity resistance training.

Based on the growing body of scientific evidence, as well as our own anecdotal training evidence, we at MAD use B Strong extensively with consistent success. We use it for three key purposes:

1. For pre-workout preparation before a weight training session
2. As a post-rehabilitation modality as part of a therapy regimen
3. As an invaluable recovery tool conducting sessions between intense training days and competitions

For all of these applications, we follow a straightforward program:

• 6-8 minute duration
• High pressure, both upper and lower extremities
• Multi-joint compound movements to failure

Our B Strong BFR training approach is simple: it’s brief, it’s high pressure, and it’s multi-limb. We’ll do this before a weight training session as a warm-up or for recovery in between training days. For recovery, we use our BFR protocol with light trunk training, core stability and mobility exercises, and end with a yoga-based stretch.

Programming a Recovery Session with B Strong

In this post, we’ll touch on the basic points of programming a recovery session with B Strong and will follow up later with an entire article on the subject.

Key questions when addressing a recovery program are:

When. Off-season, pre-season, or in-season? We’ve found B Strong’s user-friendly components—easy to put on, set up, and clean—so convenient that we can incorporate a recovery session at any time during a full training macrocycle: at the end of an off-season training week, after a long tough pre-season practice, or on an off day during an intense in-season schedule. When we sense our athletes can benefit from a B Strong recovery session, we do it.

Who. Individuals or teams? Single-player sessions are simple to conduct, while larger athlete groups do pose some logistical challenges. Equipment is key—the more B Strong systems, the larger the group we can handle at one time. We also can circuit our recovery groups. For example, we’ll have one group of athletes conduct their session, which takes 15 minutes from beginning to end. The remaining athletes will do their light trunk routine. At the end of the first 15-minute session, the two groups will switch.

What. As described above, our recovery program is basic, focusing on a 6-8 minute duration, high pressure on upper and lower extremities, and multi-joint compound movements. We use 3 sets of 20 reps with a 20-second recovery between each set. Our athletes perform calf raises, grip squeezes, squat to an arm curl, push-ups (type depends on your athletes’ skill level), and an A March. Simple, fundamental movements.

Our athletes do all of these exercises using only their body weight. The key is the belt pressure. When put on safely and correctly, the intensity of the belt pressure will pose a tremendous challenge and have an amazing beneficial impact.

 

Monitoring B Strong Training: MAD Health Survey

We monitor the B Strong sessions with our subjective questionnaire, the MAD Health Survey. Sleep, hydration, nutrition, subjective RPE, and feeling of recovery are all monitored. Our athletes always report feeling much better following a B Strong session, regardless of when they use it.

Our MAD Health Survey serves a dual purpose. One, we get feedback directly from our athletes. Their answers provide insights into how they’re feeling, how they’re functioning, and how well they’re taking care of themselves.

Their answers also support the second purpose of our survey: dynamic program adjustments. Athlete communication is key to learning how they actually feel and is hugely important to guide the training process.

For example, if an athlete reports feeling tired and their answers on their sleep questions reveal that they’re getting less than 8-10 hours of sleep, we’ll cut back on their training volume for a day or two. Occasionally, when we learn that an athlete has been especially busy with school demands and had a few long nights of studying, we’ll give them a day off and send them home.

Over the past five years of using BFR (and the past three years using the B Strong Training System), we’ve kept thousands of athletes (from youth to professional) healthy and greatly improved their performances. Just like a standard training program, consistency is key. We aim for at least two B Strong sessions per week coupled with a full 2- to 4-day weight training split (depending on athlete training age and season).

Key Physiological Processes in BFR Training

The beauty of B Strong’s BFR Training System is that it’s simple to use while providing profound physiological benefits—benefits unattainable from a program that does not use BFR.

This section will address how BFR training actually works. First and foremost is the importance of properly fitting the belts to the upper arm and legs, making sure the belts are extremely snug on one’s skin. Once fitted correctly, the belts must be pumped up to an appropriate pressure. This is very subjective. Everyone is different. The key is the level of pressure an athlete can safely handle—safe intensity is imperative. The greater the pressure, the better the results. The beauty of B Strong: it’s virtually impossible to occlude wearing their belts.

Next is training. During low-intensity resistance exercises, type I fibers are immediately fatigued, and the recruitment of type IIx fibers begins, which follows with an immense increase of lactic acid. This increase of lactate then stimulates receptors in the muscle and leads to elevated levels of growth hormone, adrenaline, and anabolic hormones.

Metabolic Stress

• • Type IIx muscle fibers use The Cori Cycle for energy. Lactic acid is the key metabolite responsible for a host of anabolic signaling pathways, including the activation of mTORC1. It also inhibits the negative muscle anabolic pathways, such as myostatin.

 

• • Lactate raises systemic growth hormone, providing additional superstructure to tendons, ligaments, bone, and muscle.

 

• • Growth hormone increase: as a huge direct benefit from the increased lactate, the pituitary gland upregulates the formation of endogenous growth hormone. Growth hormone is associated with bone, muscle, and other tissue growth and repair; increased fat mobilization and metabolism; blood sugar control; muscle protein synthesis; and immune function.

 

• Myogenic stem cells: IGF-1 induces hyperplasia through the fusion of satellite cells to muscle fibers, which is thought to play a role in the donation of additional myonuclei to a muscle cell. This is accompanied by substantial muscle contractile protein synthesis, increasing muscle size and strength.

Mechanism

• Slow-twitch muscle fibers are activated soon after modified blood flow begins.
• When venous blood flow is modified, oxygen runs short in the early stages of restriction and instantly fatigues type 1 muscle fibers. This modified blood flow mimics an anaerobic environment in the limbs, which is comparable to the effects of exercise at maximal intensity.
• Due to the lack of oxygen within the limb, type IIx muscle fibers are activated.
• This leads to simultaneous stress on both type I and type IIx.
• When all the multiple working muscles are fatigued in the early stages, lactic acid is produced in a large volume.
• Lactic acid stimulates receptors in the muscles that result in signals sent to the pituitary gland, resulting in the secretion of a significant amount of growth hormone.

Benefits

• The buildup of waste products from energy production results in enhanced muscle growth and hormonal benefits, including elevated growth hormone levels.
• Growth hormone levels go up, which helps athletes recover faster between training sessions.
• The B Strong Training System is the safest and most effective BFR training method and has been shown not to occlude blood flow fully when used according to instructions.

Conclusion

From kids to pros, modern-day athletes are competing at extremely high levels while having to navigate the many challenges that confront them in today’s society. Sport participation has taken on a life of its own, making huge demands on its participants at younger and younger ages.

Long gone are the simple days of neighborhood pickup games with friends. Now, youth athletic activities are dominated by club teams and an obsession with optimizing college opportunities. Overstressed, overskilled kids are constantly pushed to handle extreme demands that today’s sports participation imposes.

As strength coaches and sports medicine providers, our task grows ever more daunting. Regardless, our goals will always remain the same: to maximize our athletes’ health and enhance their performance.

Fortunately, BFR Training and specifically the B Strong Training System provide invaluable tools to accomplish this. Whether for rehab, training, or recovery, B Strong brings amazing physiological benefits and should be part of every athlete’s arsenal.

Since you’re here…
…we have a small favor to ask. More people are reading SimpliFaster than ever, and each week we bring you compelling content from coaches, sport scientists, and physiotherapists who are devoted to building better athletes. Please take a moment to share the articles on social media, engage the authors with questions and comments below, and link to articles when appropriate if you have a blog or participate on forums of related topics. — SF

Originally from San Francisco, CA a graduate from San Jose State University with a B.S. in Kinesiology, Eric Bringas received his M.S. in Applied Exercise Physiology from Concordia University Chicago. While completing his Capstone, Bringas was involved in many academic projects that focused on Blood Flow Restriction training. In conjunction with his academic endeavors, while working at Arthur J. Ting, M.D. Orthopaedic Surgery & Sports Medicine Center, Bringas worked as an Head Exercise Physiology Specialists to the Directors of Rehabilitation John Murray and Dr. Ting. Dr. Ting’s Surgery & Sports Medicine Center was one of the first programs to incorporate Blood Flow Restriction Training.

Eric’s career in Strength & Conditioning began in 2010 at the Riekes Center, after completion of his internship, and still in college Eric transitioned to a Strength & Conditioning Coach. At the Riekes Center, (Menlo Atherton, CA) Eric coached a great variety of athletes at all levels of competition ranging from youth, high school, college, professional, and Paralympic ranks.

In 2013, Eric began his tenure as a Head Athletic Performance Coach and facility manager with Revolution Athletic Performance and Sports Health Science in Alameda, CA. At Revolution Sports Eric coached Collegiate, NBA, and NFL athletes, he also lead many team-training programs for numerous high school football and volleyball teams. As part of his leadership with the high school programs, Eric and his staff provided professional style combines with conjunction with BAM (Basic Athletic Measurement) that provided athletic performance assessments and health screenings.

Injuries are inevitable in sport. Athletes may lose weeks, months, or even years of playing based on the severity of an injury. In some drastic cases, injuries may even force early retirement. Both athletes and organizations potentially lose significant value over time due to injuries. Athletes may lose out on lucrative contract extensions or even on contracts altogether. Sport organizations are no different. In the short term, organizations get no return on their investment when the athlete is sidelined. In the long run, they may lose money on their investment due to reduced trade or sale value.

Lately, I’ve been seeing more and more cases of chronic tendinopathy keeping players away from their sport. This might be because this is actually becoming a more frequent issue and injury, possibly because of increased diagnosis from medical professionals due to more understanding of and research on the subject, or it may just be me now noticing how many cases of this type of injury there actually are. If tendinopathies are becoming a more frequent diagnosis among athletes, it begs the question of whether we’re still in the dark ages when it comes to various tendinopathies, a tendon’s role in performance, and the systems-based approach behind the rehabilitation of tendons.

If tendinopathies are a more frequent diagnosis, it begs the question of whether we’re still in the dark ages when it comes to the systems-based approach behind the rehabilitation of tendons. Share on X

Tendons connect muscle to bone and are responsible for storing and releasing energy. A tendon can be thought of as a steel spring, in that the faster and higher a degree of stretch the steel spring experiences, the more energy it will release. Like many other structures in the body, tendons also have a load capacity. The patellar tendon is not unlike other tendons in that it also has a capacity for load that is individual to the athlete.

After loading the tendon with activities such as jumping, sprinting, and changing direction, the tendon is at a reduced capacity. In a normal tendon, remodeling will occur, and the tendon will return back to full capacity (and potentially to greater capacity) as long as the stress does not greatly exceed the tendon’s current capacity. When we place stress on the tendon far beyond the tendon’s current capacity, either through a large single session stimulus or cumulative stress from multi-session stimuli without sufficient recovery, it creates a change in the tendon’s properties that prohibits it from returning to its normal state. This is generally known as the reactive state or the state of disrepair, as seen in figure 1.

In this reactive or disrepair state, tenocytes—cells located within the tendon that assist in collagen type I synthesis—no longer function normally.^2,3 This collagen is critical to the tendon, as it largely dictates the structure and strength of the tendon since it makes up nearly 80% of the dry mass of the tendon⁴. Without proper tenocyte function and collagen synthesis, the tendon’s capacity may be reduced. The further the tendon goes into the disrepair state and the longer it stays there, the harder it may be to bring the tendon back to a pain-free or normal state.

The further the tendon goes into the disrepair state and the longer it stays there, the harder it may be to bring the tendon back to a pain-free or normal state, says @john_r_grace. Share on X

There has been some notable time missed due to injuries related to tendinopathy and suspected tendinopathy. Patellar tendinopathy is not only present in jumpers, although this injury is sometimes referred to as “jumper’s knee.” It can also be present in any sport that consistently requires the athlete to load the tendon with high forces with insufficient time for the tendon to remodel. A few recent examples of this are:

• Earlier this year, U.S Men’s National Team goalkeeper Zack Steffen missed games due to patellar tendinopathy.
• Patriots receiver Julian Edelman’s current knee injury is speculated to be patellar tendinopathy or a patellar tendon tear that stemmed from tendinopathy.
• LA Clippers superstar Kawhi Leonard has been dealing with ongoing patellar tendinopathy, which has forced the Clippers to rest him significantly this season.

Tendinopathy can be a crushing blow to an athlete. Depending on the severity of the tendinopathy, athletes may lose considerable time because of pain and injury. Additionally, at times the tendon can continue to degrade, potentially causing a tear or rupture that may force retirement from the sport altogether.

Some injuries are arguably more controllable than others. Tendinopathies are one of those injuries that, if managed well, can almost become a non-issue. If managed poorly, they can turn into multimillion-dollar disasters. Many times, tears and ruptures occur because of degradation of the tendon over time. Malliaras et al. mentions that a tendon rupture in absence of systemic disease is rare.⁵ With this in mind, we could conclude that some, if not many, tendon tears and ruptures could be avoided if managed well early in the process.

We have a player who has had ongoing patellar tendinopathy for the previous few seasons. It got progressively worse over this past season—so much so that he had to change his kicking technique to be able to tolerate the pain. Since it wasn’t really an option to take the time needed during the season, we decided to work on it this off-season. The following is the general plan we used based on concepts from the current research on patellar tendinopathy and speaking with other coaches like John Evans, who has worked with many athletes with various tendinopathies.

Stage 1: Rest

Duration: 14 days

Rest sometimes gets criticized in the performance realm because the thought is that if you’re injured, you can and should always do something. While I agree with this sentiment most of the time, in this case he came off of a nine-month season with increasing pain in the patella tendon in the last two months of the season. Two weeks off would most likely do more good than harm, in this case.

If you find you don’t have the luxury of time, you could very well forego resting and move right into Stage 2, especially if you’re in-season, and a timeline for return is important. For us, resting was beneficial from a mental and physical standpoint.

Stage 2: Load the spring with no change in length

Duration: 14 days

Weight room: 6 sessions (isometrics were also performed every day)

Goalkeeper-specific: 6 sessions (paired on same day as weight room)

Focus: Reduction of pain, structural changes, low load tolerance

Restrictions: No energy storage and release activities in goalkeeper-specific training.

Isometric exercises are characterized by creating tension with no change in length to the musculotendon unit. Isometrics have been getting a lot of attention lately for their ability to reduce pain in patellar tendinopathy. Rio et al. showed that isometric exercise was more effective than isotonic exercise at reducing pain post respective exercise.⁶ Out of the six participants in the isometric group, all six athletes’ pain levels dropped to either 1 or 0 immediately after exercise and remained at low pain levels for 45 minutes after the exercise intervention. This was not the case for the isotonic exercise group.

Another benefit of isometrics is that they’ve been shown to increase strength by nearly 20% post-exercise.⁶ This could potentially be due to the reduced pain experienced and/or higher motor unit activation after the isometric exercise is completed.

The characteristics that make isometrics good for managing pain during competition periods (reduced pain and increased strength) also make the exercise a prime choice for the early stage rehab of patellar tendinopathy. Since the load on the tendon is quite low, we performed isometrics frequently. This was, in theory, to allow the tendon to be able to better accept load later on in the process and also to start to attack visible atrophy that had occurred over the course of the last couple of seasons.

The characteristics that make isometrics good for managing pain during competition periods also make them a prime choice for early stage rehab of patellar tendinopathy, says @john_r_grace. Share on X

After the first two weeks, we had 24-hour post-exercise ratings of 0–1 and the very occasional 2 (pain-free to relatively pain-free).

While we accomplished the goal for this phase of the tendon to remain relatively pain-free, this is only the initial goal. We had a long way to go for the tendon to be able to tolerate basic stretch-shortening cycle (SSC) type loading, which is the bulk of what this athlete will see when he returns to sport. The idea of being pain-free is great, but it’s not that useful when it comes at the expense of reduced performance. On top of potentially reduced performance, if the tendon returns to a pain-free state and the athlete returns to full training from this stage, the tendon will most likely return back to square one in the reactive stage because the underlying capacity of the tendon has most likely remained unchanged.

Stage 3: Load the spring with slow changes in length

Duration: 17 days

Weight room: 7 sessions (continue to perform isometrics on off days)

Goalkeeper-specific: 7 sessions (paired on same day as weight room)

Focus: Strength, hypertrophy, higher load tolerance

Restrictions: No energy storage and release activities in goalkeeper-specific training.

Due to previous research^7–9, various eccentric exercises have been long thought of as the answer to patellar tendinopathy, and practitioners sometimes view this as the place to begin with this injury. While eccentric exercises can be part of the answer, depending on the severity of the tendinopathy, even slow eccentrics may be too aggressive for some cases. This is the reason this was not our first stage of rehabilitation.

While eccentric exercises can be part of the answer, depending on the severity of the tendinopathy, even slow eccentrics may be too aggressive for some cases, says @john_r_grace. Share on X

In this stage, we want to not only perform the eccentric muscle action, but the concentric action of the exercise as well. When we performed traditional strength exercises, we wanted to implement them in a way that limits the involvement of the SSC as much as possible. Strength training in the traditional sense (squatting, lunging, etc.) does not rely on the SSC to a great degree, but in some exercises you may see an athlete use the SSC to lift more weight or move a weight faster (for example “bouncing” out of a squat).

We structured our weight room work in this stage largely around squatting. It’s important to understand that the stimulus in this stage could most likely come from many lower body strength activities (keeping in mind the degree of knee flexion that is tolerable for the athlete at this time). It’s more the concept of the progressive load we’re attempting to provide to the tendon than the exercise itself, though squatting lends itself well to goalkeepers in that it is a nice prerequisite for high levels of force production in bilateral jumping activities.

Another reason squatting was a good fit in this case is that, according to the athlete, he has not been able to squat pain-free in more than two years. Performing this exercise pain-free for the first time in a few seasons helped him see the light at the end of the tunnel and allowed him to have more confidence in the current progression.

Initially, we chose to squat to a box slightly above parallel so as to put the knee in squatting angles that were tolerable for the tendon, but also to take away any real chance of using the SSC as most proficient squatters do. After some comfort was reestablished with the movement a few sessions in, we dropped the box a few inches to a parallel squat with similar execution to the movement. We progressed in a relatively linear fashion to a 1.4–1.5x bodyweight squat.

Within this stage, pain was consistently nonexistent, and daily activities like longer car rides and walking downstairs—activities that were once bothersome—were no longer even a thought in his mind. This is a win because we now have more confidence that we’ve moved the needle on the tendon’s capacity.

Stage 4: Load the spring with fast changes in length

Duration: 31 days (and counting)

Weight room: 14 sessions

Goalkeeper-specific: 20 sessions

Focus: Energy storage and release tolerance

Restrictions: Minimal jumping/long kicking on field for first two weeks. After first two weeks, progress to unaltered jumping and long kicking.

To preface, we are currently working through this stage and will continue to work in this stage for some time, since this stage essentially morphs into a maintenance stage where our goal is to continue to develop and maintain capacity. Since the tendon’s role is to store and release energy, this is the most important stage to get right. As I said earlier, pain-free doesn’t matter unless we can achieve performance equal to or beyond what was previously established.

The early focus in this stage was on being able to tolerate relatively faster eccentric loading to the patellar tendon. We performed depth drops once a week, pairing this day with the most intense day on the field. Along with this, we performed stage 2 and stage 3 exercises within the week as well.

The athlete performed depth drops at a moderate height relative to his capabilities, and we progressed intensity over a few weeks. Once drop height roughly reached the athlete’s maximum jump height, we progressed to depth jumps and added a second day of jumping with loaded discrete CMJs. On those intense days we also continued to maintain stage 2 exercises. At this point in the process we had two relatively intense days and one relatively lighter day in the weight room, and we will continue this schedule assuming everything goes well.

In the goalkeeper training on field, we pulled off all major restrictions. We’ve progressed to kicking ~20 goal kicks in a session once a week. While he does still have a very slight amount of discomfort with this volume, that discomfort dissipates by the next morning, which is one of the hallmark characteristics of a “stable” tendon.⁵ In theory, stressing the tendon in such a way that it recovers normally should continually increase the tendon capacity over time as tendon remodeling is a continuous process that is more efficient in tendons exposed to high stress.¹⁰

In theory, stressing the tendon in such a way that it recovers normally should continually increase the tendon capacity over time, says @john_r_grace. Share on X

Ideally, if things go as planned with no major setbacks, our location on the rehab-performance continuum will continue toward a greater focus on improving global capacities and performance and continue to move slightly away from rehabilitation. With regard to progressing plyometric intensities and volumes, we’d like to move toward loaded continuous CMJs (~20–30% athlete back squat maximum) and hurdle hop types of activities while maintaining the lower body strength work. On the field, we expect the tendon tolerance to be high enough to sustain five training sessions per week, which may require 2–3 of those sessions to be very intense to closely match the type of training the athlete would see in a pre-season setting.

Further Considerations in Managing Tendinopathy

In addition to what I’ve already discussed, there are other influences on patellar tendinopathy pain and management.

Pharmaceutical and Over-the-Counter Drugs

The use of anti-inflammatories and pain meds may create an environment where the tendon pain decreases but the capacity and ability for the tendon to accept load remains unchanged. In this case, the tendon may continue to degrade over time with no symptoms, which may lead to tears and ruptures.

On top of this, opinion has moved away from inflammation being part of the tendinopathy process.¹¹ Other than for potential pain management, there might not actually be any need for NSAIDs or other medication to begin with.

With regard to this athlete, he only used anti-inflammatory and pain drugs on a few very rare occasions during the in-season to combat pain associated with the tendinopathy. Luckily, this athlete did not want to rely on these types of pharmaceuticals to get him through the season. He didn’t use prescription or over-the-counter drugs during this off-season training plan.

Supplementation

Collagen peptide supplementation has been proposed to assist in rehabilitation of tendon-related issues as participants responded positively to pain and performance-related markers.¹² Along with this, vitamin C has also shown promise in the ability to enhance collagen synthesis.¹³ Our registered dietician on staff recommends taking these two supplements together for optimal uptake.

The athlete took collagen and vitamin C either pre-field training or pre-weight-room training. While I did not control the dosage or administer the supplements, the athlete made his own supplement drink prior to training based on previous education with a registered dietician.

Rehabilitation Is Personal

This realm, as with many, has a long way to go for full understanding of the topic, but researchers such as Jill Cook, Ebony Rio, and their colleagues are putting out some tremendous work that is practical and actionable in many sport settings. While the setup outlined above has worked for us up to this point, the time of year, the athlete’s previous training history, and the severity of their tendinopathy may dictate how much time you will need to spend on exercise selections and volume/intensity progressions in each stage.

Since you’re here…
…we have a small favor to ask. More people are reading SimpliFaster than ever, and each week we bring you compelling content from coaches, sport scientists, and physiotherapists who are devoted to building better athletes. Please take a moment to share the articles on social media, engage the authors with questions and comments below, and link to articles when appropriate if you have a blog or participate on forums of related topics. — SF

References

1. Rudavsky, Aliza, and Jill Cook. “Physiotherapy Management of Patellar Tendinopathy (Jumper’s Knee).” Journal of Physiotherapy. 60, no. 3 (September 2014): 122–29.

2. Huisman, Elise, Alex Lu, Robert G McCormack, and Alex Scott. “Enhanced Collagen Type I Synthesis by Human Tenocytes Subjected to Periodic in Vitro Mechanical Stimulation.” BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders. 15, no. 1 (December 2014): 386. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2474-15-386.

3. Cook, J L, E Rio, C R Purdam, and S I Docking. “Revisiting the Continuum Model of Tendon Pathology: What Is Its Merit in Clinical Practice and Research?” British Journal of Sports Medicine. 50, no. 19 (October 2016): 1187–91. https://doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2015-095422.

4. Kannus, P. “Structure of the Tendon Connective Tissue.” Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports. 10, no. 9. (July 2000): 312.

5. Malliaras, Peter, Jill Cook, Craig Purdam, and Ebonie Rio. “Patellar Tendinopathy: Clinical Diagnosis, Load Management, and Advice for Challenging Case Presentations.” Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy 45, no. 11 (November 2015): 887–98.

6. Rio, Ebonie, Dawson Kidgell, Craig Purdam, Jamie Gaida, G Lorimer Moseley, Alan J Pearce, and Jill Cook. “Isometric Exercise Induces Analgesia and Reduces Inhibition in Patellar Tendinopathy.” British Journal of Sports Medicine. 49, no. 19 (October 2015): 1277–83.

7. Rutland, Marsha, Dennis O’Connell, Jean-Michel Brismée, Phil Sizer, Gail Apte, and Janelle O’Connell. “Evidence-Supported Rehabilitation of Patellar Tendinopathy,” n.d., 14.

8. Purdam, C R. “A Pilot Study of the Eccentric Decline Squat in the Management of Painful Chronic Patellar Tendinopathy.” British Journal of Sports Medicine. 38, no. 4 (August 1, 2004): 395–97.

9. Young, M A. “Eccentric Decline Squat Protocol Offers Superior Results at 12 Months Compared with Traditional Eccentric Protocol for Patellar Tendinopathy in Volleyball Players.” British Journal of Sports Medicine. 39, no. 2 (February 1, 2005): 102–5.

10. Zabrzyński, Jan, Agnieszka Zabrzyńska, and Dariusz Grzanka. “Tendinopathy – a Disease of Tendons.” n.d., 8.

11. Rees, J. D., A. M. Wilson, and R. L. Wolman. “Current Concepts in the Management of Tendon Disorders.” Rheumatology. 45, no. 5 (May 1, 2006): 508–21.

12. Praet, Stephan F.E., Craig R. Purdam, Marijke Welvaert, Nicole Vlahovich, Gregg Lovell, Louise M. Burke, Jamie E. Gaida, Silvia Manzanero, David Hughes, and Gordon Waddington. “Oral Supplementation of Specific Collagen Peptides Combined with Calf-Strengthening Exercises Enhances Function and Reduces Pain in Achilles Tendinopathy Patients.” Nutrients. 11, no. 1 (January 2, 2019): 76.

13.DePhillipo, Nicholas N., Zachary S. Aman, Mitchell I. Kennedy, J.P. Begley, Gilbert Moatshe, and Robert F. LaPrade. “Efficacy of Vitamin C Supplementation on Collagen Synthesis and Oxidative Stress After Musculoskeletal Injuries: A Systematic Review.” Orthopaedic Journal of Sports Medicine. 6, no. 10 (October 2018): 232596711880454.

“It becomes more important to understand the strategy of the game before the game takes place. That can only be done with film work, constant study, and attention to detail.”

–Kobe Bryant, in his new series, “Detail”

If you ask any high-performing professional athlete or sport coach to discuss the most consistent practices through each phase of their career, you will undoubtedly hear two words on repeat: film study. No matter the sport or era, most elite performers in history are on record giving praise to film study and the many benefits it brought them in their playing or coaching days.

No matter the sport or era, most elite performers in history are on record giving praise to film study and the many benefits it brought them in their playing or coaching days, says @JustinOchoa317. Share on X

Two of my favorite athletes growing up, Peyton Manning and Kobe Bryant, both have their own film breakdown shows on various networks now, which drives this point home even further.

Studying the game is a prerequisite if you want to truly master your craft. With the ever-growing popularity of technology in sports and the expanded resources available, this should be one of the most non-negotiable methods of improvement for every single coach and athlete at the high school level and above.

The Shrinking Gap

As you advance in levels of play, such as from high school to college, the gap between talent gets much smaller. As that gap gets smaller, athletes and coaches must find ways to separate themselves or their teams.

When taking it to the next level, from college to professional, that small gap between talent gets even tighter. There’s less room for error. There’s more need for separation from your competition.

Over the past few years, I’ve found unique ways to connect with many sport coaches to give them a strength and conditioning coach’s perspective on what I see. Team sports go beyond offensive and defensive play-calling. There is a lot of movement to study, and that is what a strength and conditioning coach specializes in.

Don’t get me wrong: Being big, fast, and strong is never a bad idea…but what if everyone else if big, fast, and strong too? Get smarter. Be more prepared. Fight the mental battle so you can pull away from the competition.

Weight Room to Film Room

Of course, team-wide and personal film study sessions are a phenomenal way to gain the edge, but what can the strength coach do to help the team in this realm?

Actually…a lot.

From a pure movement perspective, we are the experts in analysis. We have valuable intel from years in the trenches that can help our sport coaches and our athletes gain a competitive edge. We may not know every X and O of the sport, but we know great movement and how to achieve and improve it, as well as how to reduce injury likelihood. All of these things can help both the team and the individuals involved.

Following are some great ways you can get in on film sessions and offer some helpful insight. This includes looking at compensation drivers, center of mass, body language, and biomechanics.

Compensation Drivers

Through my experience with Reflexive Performance Reset (RPR), I’ve adopted a key term from Chris Korfist: “compensation driver.” Every human has compensation patterns in their movement, and something drives those compensation patterns. By finding out what that something is, you can then assess and correct the pattern.

For instance, if your hip flexors’ (psoas) function and strength is suboptimal, you may be compensating with your quad. Or your jaw (clenching). Or your fist (also clenching). Maybe it’s a combination of things, but something along the kinetic chain will assist your body in movement when the muscles being targeted cannot perform. This goes for weight room and competition as well. (See here for context of an “arm driver” when it comes to psoas strength.)

These compensation drivers work because they provide us with a sense of stability, strength, or general comfort. This is really important to know, because now you can identify compensatory movements and habits on film.

Most recently, someone caught onto the trend of Lamar Jackson wiping his hands on his towel before every designed pass play. When it was a designed run, he did not wipe his hands. Unfortunately, the mass media caught wind of this and blew it up, so it’s probably no longer of use for defenses. But, in general, subconsciously wiping his hands gave Jackson comfort when he knew he was going to have to throw the ball.

I recently watched basketball film with one of our athletes and noticed the star player on the other team constantly adjusted his arm sleeve. Not just once or twice, but at almost every single break in the action. Obviously, the player really likes that sleeve to fit and feel a certain way—it makes him feel comfortable.

As a defender, you can disrupt that. Throughout the game, our athlete subtly messed with the other player’s arm sleeve. Nothing crazy or malicious, of course. But the two constantly bumped, rubbed, and came into contact with each other, so a little tug on the sleeve here and there was free game.

On multiple occasions, that player adjusted his arm sleeve during play. Twice, he adjusted it as the ball was being passed to him, which threw off his rhythm for a potential catch-and-shoot situation. Once, he adjusted it as the ball was being passed to him and it caused him to bobble the catch, which created a turnover.

This valuable insight was ALL from watching film and taking a chance at thinking outside the box.

Some of things coaches can look for on film include:

• Arm action in sprints: Clenched fists? If you play a contact sport, beat up those hands throughout the game and see if you can break up the athlete’s comfort level.
• Shallow mouth breathing: If you notice on film or within the game that someone is a poor breather, expose that by making them do extra work. Never stop moving, extend plays, do anything you can to keep them heavily and poorly breathing. This will shatter their movement patterns.
• Low knees during sprints: Athletes lack knee drive? They may lack hip flexion. Expose them to high-velocity attacks to put them at a disadvantage. They are either tired or slow, or both.

These drivers of compensation can be movement-driven or comfort-driven. Athletes generally leave clues as to what they like and dislike during competition. If you can identify those factors, you may be able to take them away and make the game a little more difficult.

Athletes often leave clues as to what they like/dislike. If you can spot those factors in your opponents, you may be able to take them away and make the game a little more difficult. Share on X

Center of Mass

As a strength coach watching film, you’re more interested in weight distribution, angles, leverages, and management of forces than you are in the playbook.

There is a such thing as a unique-to-sport skill and execution of that skill. However, high-quality movement is universal and can be applied to every sport skill. Some principles of athletics can span across every sport and tactical skill.

One way to get a feel for an athlete’s movement capabilities is to look at how they manipulate their center of mass during competition. For example, in basketball there are two primary defensive close-out methods: both hands high or one hand high and one hand low (high-low). Neither is right or wrong, but as a movement expert, you can explain the non-sport benefits and drawbacks of each method.

In this example, the high hands closeout has some pros and cons. One of the pros is that your athletes don’t have to travel as much distance because the hands-up posture makes them appear closer to the offensive player than they really are. This can cause some hesitation by the ball handler due to the depth perception illusion it creates.

On the flip side, if the offensive player knows this, they can comfortably just shoot over the defender. They know the defense didn’t cover enough ground to contest the shot, and this is not a great position to change directions or jump from. So, if the offensive player doesn’t hesitate to shoot or drive, your defender could be late to recover due to the position they closed out in, as seen in video 1.

In terms of the high-low method, there are both pros and cons here too. The major pro is that defenders are in a much better position to change directions because of the improved control of the center of mass. In video 2 below, you see the defenders maintain great balance, contest the shot and drive simultaneously, and force a quick pass or hesitation from the ball handler.

The major drawback is the defender has to travel more distance on this closeout since the illusion of being close is no longer there. This increases output demands and total workload, which can increase fatigue as the game goes on. This high-low hand closeout could also expose the defender to disadvantageous angles that allow clear driving lines for the ball handler, as shown in video 3. The ball handler attacks the high arm, which causes the defender to make a false step (NOT a plyo step), and he gets blown by.

Of course, these are just a few of the examples we can recognize in the sport of basketball. You can spot these trends across every sport because these aren’t actually sport skills, but movement habits. Now you can serve as another set of eyes on film and communicate what you see to your team for consideration when creating not only opponent-specific game plans, but situational game plans as well.

Some other examples that come to mind are:

• Breaking on a ball as a defensive back.
• Lateral change of direction as a ball carrier.
• Acceleration mechanics in all sports.
• Top-speed mechanics in all sports.
• Hip internal rotation in tennis or baseball swings.

Note: Thank you to Coach Garrett Winegar from Warren Central High School in Indianapolis for allowing me to showcase real game film from his #5 ranked boy’s basketball team.

Body Language

Please take 2 minutes and 38 seconds to listen to this clip by Geno Auriemma. He mentions so many hidden gems relevant to this article, but most of all, at the end he says, “When I watch game film, I’m checking what’s going on on the bench. If somebody is asleep over there, somebody doesn’t care, somebody’s not engaged in the game, they will never get in the game. Ever. And they know that. They know I’m not kidding.”

I think this is one of the biggest bang-for-your-buck coaching methods you can follow. After you get finished breaking down the X’s and O’s of the game, take a look at your own bench. Take a look at what the athletes on the sideline are doing. Study how a player reacts when you get all over them and then walk away. What did they do or say behind your back that you didn’t catch in real time?

Studying the body language trends of your own team can tell you a lot about the culture of the team. As strength coaches, we are a key component of a healthy team environment (or culture, if you will). We judge weight room body language pretty accurately, so we may as well extend this into the real game. We may not be able to make assumptions based on one-time things we see, but if we notice repetitive behavior, it can be a major tip-off for the staff.

Studying your team’s body language trends can tell you a lot about the team’s culture; studying the opponent’s body language can help you identify dysfunction to exploit, says @JustinOchoa317. Share on X

You can also study the opponent’s body language and see if you can identify any dysfunction on their end to potentially expose them. If you’ve got hotheaded players on the opposing team, you can attack and exploit that to your advantage.

Some concerning things to look for within your own locker room or with your opponents include:

• Slumping.
• Blatant avoiding of teammates.
• Arms crossed.
• Fingernail biting.
• Attention away from the action.
• Anger outside of passion for the game.
• Back-talk.
• Non-participation in celebrations, high-fives, etc.
• Joking or talking during huddles, time out, etc.
• Trying to look “cool.”

The intensity of the game may not allow you to see these things in real time, but studying the bench or sideline on film can assist. The eye in the sky never lies.

Biomechanics

Last, but not least, strength coaches can use game film to evaluate simple biomechanics of their athletes. Training can never, ever mimic the chaotic environment of a game or the demands that athletes must meet, so what you see on film may tell a different story compared to how you see an athlete perform in the weight room.

Sports and strength training usually won’t look similar, so don’t overly concern yourself with strength training movement principles that don’t transfer to the game. However, the effects of that strength training should transfer. If you perform squats to develop strength and power in the lower body, but you see an athlete on film who clearly lacks those qualities, you can take it upon yourself to program them accordingly.

Getting the Most Value From Film Study

Watching the movements of your athletes on film can potentially tell you what they lack in terms of transfer of training. This gives you extremely valuable programming insight because you can make micro-adjustments to the program of an athlete who may need a little more of this and a little less of that, or you can simply prescribe some supplemental work tailored to their needs.

The possibilities are endless, and the results are real.

If you want to be a great coach or athlete, you have to be willing to put in the extra work. Actually, scratch that—if you want to be good at anything in life, you have to be willing to work for it. To me, film study is a no-brainer, but what you look for and how you watch the film can differentiate you even more.

Since you’re here…
…we have a small favor to ask. More people are reading SimpliFaster than ever, and each week we bring you compelling content from coaches, sport scientists, and physiotherapists who are devoted to building better athletes. Please take a moment to share the articles on social media, engage the authors with questions and comments below, and link to articles when appropriate if you have a blog or participate on forums of related topics. — SF

When it comes to the box squat, there is no gray area in the field of strength coaching. You either love it or you hate it. The athletic fitness training company Bigger Faster Stronger (BFS) loves it, and their coaches have taught the exercise for 44 years in over 10,000 clinics, covering every state of the country. Having worked for BFS, I can tell you why they believe this exercise has value for virtually all athletes, not just those involved in the Iron Game.

Let’s make it clear that BFS does not claim to have invented the box squat, although there is debate about who did. There is a good case that 1946 AAU Mr. America Alan Stephan created it, while others say that Polish athletes were taught it in the mid-1900s. The answer may be that several people came up with the exercise at the same time, not knowing about others who were also experimenting with it.

Many strength coaches believe that box squats have little value for athletes because they’re performed through a partial range of motion. If partial range exercises are so bad, why do these same coaches have their athletes do bench presses? The arms don’t come together at the top of the movement, so the pectoral muscles can’t fully contract, and the barbell stops at the chest, preventing a full stretch of these muscles.

The truth is, partial range exercises provide many benefits. We’ll get into a few of these in this post.

Background on Bigger Faster Stronger and Box Squats

The inspiration for the BFS workout that includes box squats began about 50 years ago when BFS coaches studied the training of several of the best throwers in the world. These men were impressive not just because they were big and strong but also due to their athleticism, speed, and jumping ability.

Many throwers weighing over 270 pounds could run the 40-yard dash in under 4.6 seconds and had a vertical jump of 35 inches or more. In fact, in the ’60s and ’70s, coaches from the former Soviet Union would visit the United States to study these physical phenoms. Need more convincing? Table 1 highlights some of the strength and jumping performances of several top shot putters.

Two US throwers who were especially impressive—and whose training methods inspired the development of the BFS training system—were Jon Cole and George Frenn. Cole and Frenn toured Europe as members of the USA Track and Field squad and often trained together. These powerful giants were multiple-sport athletes and the closest thing you could find to Marvel superheroes at the time.

Cole threw the discus 231 feet, put the shot 71 feet 4 inches, and threw the javelin 241 feet. Weighing 258 pounds, he ran the 100-yard dash in 9.9 seconds in a sanctioned AAU event, threw a baseball 435 feet, and kicked a football 68 yards.

In powerlifting, without the supportive gear used today, Cole became the first man to total over 2,300 pounds. His best official lifts, performed in 1972 with only elastic bandages for his knees and a weightlifting belt, include the following: squat, 905; deadlift, 885; bench press, 580; and total, 2,370. In weightlifting, Cole competed in the 1972 Olympic Trials and made the following bests: Olympic press, 430; snatch, 340; clean and jerk, 430; and total, 1,200.

Frenn was a hammer thrower who competed in the 1972 Olympics, just missing out on the 1968 team when he placed fourth in the trials. He had a personal best of 232.5 feet, established world bests in the heavier hammers, and was one of the few field athletes to appear on the cover of Sports Illustrated.

Equally impressive was Frenn’s strength, which enabled him to break world records in powerlifting. At a bodyweight of 242 pounds, Frenn officially squatted 853 pounds, deadlifted 815 pounds, and—although he didn’t emphasize the lift because he felt it didn’t help his throwing much—a 540 bench.

Cole’s athletic accomplishments convinced the BFS coaches that virtually all athletes could benefit from focusing on a combination of powerlifting and weightlifting exercises, but it was Frenn who sold BFS on the box squat.

Since these were the days before the Internet, BFS learned about Frenn’s training from first-hand accounts of a BFS coach who watched him train as well as articles Frenn wrote and those by other writers in the Iron Game. In one article, Frenn said he would squat on Tuesday and Saturday and perform two types of box squats: the high box squat and the low box squat.

Frenn performed his high box squat on a 20-inch tall box. This height enabled him to use considerably more weight than his competition best. He reportedly used over 1,000 pounds with this exercise. His low box was 14-inches tall, forcing him to use weights below his competition best squat. Of course, Frenn said that for anyone who wants to try these exercises, the exact height of the box depends upon the height of the athlete.

Box Squat Variations and Safety

George Frenn performed a variation of the box squat where he rocked back on the box, lifting his feet off the floor before slamming them down hard as he drove upward to the finish. For safety reasons, BFS doesn’t recommend this advanced variation, especially when working with large groups of young athletes. That said, if a coach can competently teach this method and can adequately supervise their athletes, there is little cause for concern. As is often said in the field of coaching young athletes, “There is optimal training, and there’s reality!”

As for the risk of injuring the spine with the box squat, consider that BFS once consulted with Dr. Greg Motley, an orthopedic surgeon who specializes in arthroscopic procedures at Southeastern Sports Medicine in Asheville, North Carolina. Motley’s athletic career caused him to have six surgeries and left him with two degenerated disks, “So I would know if there was increased pressure on the lumbar spine,” Motley said.

Not only did Motley perform the box squat with no pain, but he also ended up endorsing the exercise. “I went up pretty heavy that day, a lot heavier than I thought I could go—and I hadn’t squatted in 10 or 12 years. I think that it’s critical with the box squat—with all squats—that you have good technique and alert spotters. That being said, I think the box squat is a very, very good exercise.”

Before describing how BFS teaches the box squat, I must mention Westside Barbell’s Louie Simmons. Frenn was a member of the original Westside Barbell club run by Bill “Peanuts” West, and Simmons took on the name as a tribute to this Iron Game pioneer. Simmons advocates the box squat but promotes a wide stance variation designed to reduce the work of the quads while increasing the work the posterior chain muscles. If you want to learn the Westside box squat technique, you should go to the source and check out the material produced by Coach Simmons.

Powerlifters often perform wide stance squats (with the bar low on the back and a large forward lean), so the box squat with a wide stance has a better carryover to the sport of powerlifting. There is a case to be made for athletes to occasionally perform wide stance squats, as often in sports the legs are positioned outside the shoulders.

Why Box Squat?

From a BFS perspective, the most important reasons for doing box squats are to get stronger during the season and to stay fresh for competition. As a bonus, the squat helps motivate athletes to use heavier weights and set personal records. Let me expand on these benefits.

The reality of high school strength coaching is that many coaches fear the weight room. They’re afraid their athletes will get sore from lifting and not be able to practice hard or compete well. I’ve learned from working with high school coaches in my area that some coaches (not all) believe there’s little value in having sprinters lift at all. Here are some typical comments I’ve heard from sprint coaches, from the first meet to the last during the indoor season:

• Got the first meet of the season, and we want to show we mean business this season. Back off a bit with the weights.
• Got the first invitational meet of the season. There’s FAT timing, and college scouts will be checking us out. No legs on Thursday.
• Got an important dual meet coming up, and we need those team points. No lifting on Thursday.
• Got a dual meet against our school rival—we really need this. No lifting the entire week!
• Got the Class A Championships. Go light.
• Got the Division Championships. No lifting on Thursday.
• Got finals this week. Workouts are optional.
• Got the State Championships. No lifting.
• Got the New Balance Indoor Nationals. No lifting.
  

After their last meet, coaches want their athletes to take a few weeks off before starting back for the outdoor season. Translation: no lifting! And when the outdoor season starts, we’re back to the same recommendations (but focusing on the New England Championships). Again, they’re afraid of the weight room, and some coaches see no value in weight training. In fact, a local sprint coach bragged on social media about how one of his athletes broke a personal record in the 100m without touching a weight.

High school sprinters will spend two-thirds of their school year getting weaker or, at best, maintaining. Share on X

Even if you can convince a coach to allow their athletes in the weight room, the second workout of the week will nearly always have to be light, and it’s difficult to make strength gains with these restrictions. Putting it another way, sprinters will spend two-thirds of their school year getting weaker or, at best, maintaining. Knowing these problems, where does the box squat fit in?

The box squat doesn’t create the fatigue of a conventional squat because it stops the eccentric motion of the lift and is performed through a partial range of motion. Yes, this type of movement increases the concentric muscular work of the quads (because much of the energy stored from the descent dissipates and the stretch reflex is inhibited), but a concentric contraction doesn’t produce the amount of soreness of an eccentric contraction.

Box squats let athletes lift heavy before a competition without adverse effects on performance. Athletes get stronger & stay fresh for competition. Share on X

Thus, an athlete can lift heavy the day before a competition, or even immediately before a hard practice, without the workout adversely affecting performance. BFS has also found that the second workout helped athletes to get stronger during the season.

Another benefit of performing heavy squats through a partial range of motion is the mental preparation for achieving personal records. Let’s say an athlete’s best squat is 200 pounds, and they regularly perform box squats with 250-275 pounds. When they attempt a new personal best, such as 210 pounds, this weight will feel lighter when they place the bar on their shoulders, giving them the confidence to “go for it!” Using heavier weights also takes advantage of post-tetanic potentiation (PTP).

Box squats mentally prepare athletes to use heavier weights and set personal records. Share on X

PTP states that we can achieve a more powerful muscular response if a strong muscular contraction precedes it. For example, if you lift several heavy boxes and then immediately lift a lighter one, the lighter one will feel especially light (and may even fly out of your hands) because the same fast-twitch fibers needed to contract when you lifted the heavy boxes remains recruited.

To take advantage of PTP, you can have an athlete perform box squats and then immediately do box jumps. Coaches at BFS clinics have an athlete perform a vertical jump, do a box squat workout, and then perform another vertical jump. Without fail, the second jump is always higher.

There is also the concept of sport specificity as it relates to first step quickness. Some activities in sports start from a motionless position without involving the stretch reflex, such as when a sprinter starts or a football lineman jumps into action after the ball is snapped. A box squat teaches the athlete to initiate movement quickly.

Finally, there is the mental benefit. Having an athlete start a competition knowing that the day before they lifted a monster weight in the box squat reinforces their belief that they are strong—brutally strong. This gives the athletes confidence. At least, more confidence than they would have if the day before they reduced the amount of weight they used in half. Or, worse, didn’t train at all.

I should note that the box squat is not a mandatory exercise in the BFS program. If a coach wants their athletes to perform another squat variation, even the Bulgarian lunge, that’s fine.

BFS Box Squat Technique

What follows is the BFS method to teach the box squat. First, BFS recommends that athletes perform the box squat inside a power rack with the safety supports set high enough so the athlete can easily dump the weight forward without the bar moving more than a few inches. You can see this set-up in the first video below.

Next is the issue of what type of box to use. Although a sturdy wood or metal box is acceptable, it’s better to have some cushioning on the surface. BFS found that with wood and metal surfaces, athletes tend to plop down, causing the spine to flex and possibly cause injury. Having some cushion gives the athlete feedback so they can settle down on the bench. Also, adjustable boxes are a good investment when training large groups of athletes.

The height of the box is determined by how much weight the athlete will use. Set the box so that the top of the thighs are slightly above parallel. A good general guideline is to start with the thighs 1-2 inches above parallel. When an athlete can use 100 pounds over their best regular squat, lower the box slightly.

Video 1. The set-up for the BFS box squat.

Spotting is the next issue. BFS prefers using three spotters, one on each side and one in back. The spotters keep their hands on the bar at all times to ensure that the weight is secure on the shoulders and to help remove and replace the bar on the supports.

To perform a box squat without spotters, use a power rack with the safety supports set just below the lowest position, so the barbell reaches the bottom position. If the athlete fails, however, they would have to lean forward to allow the bar to rest on the supports. For some people, this action places adverse stress on the spine.

Video 2. How to spot the BFS box squat.

Many injuries in the squat occur when removing and replacing the bar on the supports and not during the lift. If you’re using bands, a back spotter is especially important because bands decrease the stability of the exercises. Squatting with bands is an advanced method that needs to be supervised by an experienced coach. Chains are better for large groups of athletes because they provide more stability, and athletes are less likely to be thrown off balance.

The start position of a box squat is the same as a regular squat; we want the strength developed with this exercise to transfer directly to the regular squat. The athlete positions their feet on either side of the box, bends from the knees and hips, and slowly sits down on the box, being careful not to plop down hard.

When the athlete touches the box, they shift back slightly to reduce the compressive stress on the spine. Keeping the back tight, they shift slightly forward from the hips and then drive up explosively. A useful cue is the BFS 3 S’s: down slow, sit, and settle. Check out the final video to see a demonstration.

Video 3. Performing the BFS Box Squat.

Finally, BFS does not recommend learning how to box squat from reading an article or watching a video—there is no substitute for hands-on teaching from an experienced coach.

It’s been said that all things being equal, the stronger athlete usually wins—so why train your body to be weak? Instead of hopefully using a lifting program to maintain an athlete’s strength, use the BFS box squat to get stronger—from the start of the season to the finish.

Lead photo from Waterloo High School courtesy BFS.

Since you’re here…
…we have a small favor to ask. More people are reading SimpliFaster than ever, and each week we bring you compelling content from coaches, sport scientists, and physiotherapists who are devoted to building better athletes. Please take a moment to share the articles on social media, engage the authors with questions and comments below, and link to articles when appropriate if you have a blog or participate on forums of related topics. — SF

References

Frenn, George. “Conditioned Legs Break Squat Records,” (1972), reprinted in The Tight Tan Slacks of Dezso Ban, July 13, 2016.

Shepard, G. and Goss, K. Bigger Faster Stronger, Human Kinetics, Inc.; Third Edition, July 31, 2017, pp. 66-67.

Siff, M. and Verkhoshansky, Y. Supertraining, 1999, 4th Edition, Supertraining International, Denver USA 1999, (1^st edition, 1993), pp. 271-275.

Swinton, P.A., et al. “A biomechanical comparison of the traditional squat, powerlifting squat, and box squat.” Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 2012 July; 26(7), pp. 1805-6.

Verkhoshansky, Y. and Verkhoshansky, N. Special Strength Training Manual for Coaches, Verkhoshanky SSTM, 2011, pp. 110-113.