All About Trilogy Squats!

Not all exercises are equal and this is how we make sure that you are doing the right exercises for you, your goals and your body.

The Squat. The KING of the exercises.

I want to put a picture of King Kong here but like…legally can I????

We all squat, from sitting and standing to squatting in the gym but not everybody squats the same. There is an old meathead saying, “squats don’t hurt your knees, bad squats hurt your knees”. There is a lot of truth in this so we are going to break down exactly how we screen and progress the squat at Trilogy. Everybody from our high school athletes to an older client with a double knee replacement will squat and this is how you can do it safely.

When you start at Trilogy we always make sure there is a full assessment and meet & greet. This helps to make sure that we are a good fit for each other. I mean…you have to want to come in and have some fun! The assessment portion lets us know where to start with you and get us a sense of where you want to go. After this we know where to start you on the spectrum because everybody’s journey and starting point is going to be different. In this we will see how you move, find out about your history of exercise and any injuries and then we head into the gym to watch how you do a few basic exercises. This will let us get your plan started so we can safely start you on your journey.

Training will involve different progressions of exercises, form body weight squats to barbell squats. We standardize our progressions and we only move on when you are fully ready both mentally and physically.

When we look at the progressions we are focused on improving:

1) Stability – How well you control your body and how well you control an external load

2) Range of Motion – We want to improve how much we can move and control. This will look different for everybody, not everybody can sit with their butt on their heels and that is fine. Our body’s and our structures are different.

3) Skill – Training is a skill like everything else. First time we ride a bike, we are wobbly. First time we cook, it is slow and messy. Same as the first time we swing a bat or throw a ball…skill is developed over time.

Now as we all know training is YOUR journey. You will start in unique places and end in unique places and without further ado here we have our basic squat progression laid out for you!

Our Squat Progressions:

TRX Squat – Used when people need a counter weight and assistance to move into the squat pattern.

BW to Box – No extra weight added and we give you a target to hit. This is for controlling your body and the movement.

Goblet to Box – The weight at your chest, helps maintain good positioning and is a natural start for the load in a squat. It stays close to the body and easy to control.

Goblet to Low Box – As we get stronger, we can control more depth. Our goal is to get is low as we can for an individual.

Goblet – No box needed!!!

DBL KB – We add intensity by making the weight heavier and requires more stability to hold in these positions.

Front Squat – The bar goes into the front rack position across the front of your shoulders. This forces a lot of core control but reduces the stress of the weight directly onto your back by shifting it forward.

Back Squats and their varieties – BOOM!! The bar goes to the back! We use specialty bars like the Safety Squat Bars like pictured below and these tend to be a lot easier on the shoulders and backs for everybody!