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For a fun debrief on why I advocate for this type of squat check out my Podcast interview with Christian Thibedeau, hosted by Dean Guedo & Jeb Johnston on Barbell MeSearch (link below) where we discuss everything SQUAT related, including squat depth, 90 deg vs Ass to Grass, EMG, eccentric isometrics, athletic performance, & of course the lunatic haters who seem to have lost all semblance of intelligence, logical reasoning, & rational thinking .

Here’s a quick background on how & why this podcast occurred. Several weeks ago I posted a controversial video & article on squat depth discussing why I use 90 degrees on squats even though I used to use ATG in the past with myself & my clients. Needless to say the lunatic haters went a bit crazed because it challenged their beliefs & exposed their insecurity (more in the podcast) with many of them literally taking hours out of their day to create entire posts all about me which is actually quite flattering.

A few days later expert strength coach Christian Thibedeau posted a quick video on his thoughts about my post as well as where disagreed. The key is he was very respectful & intelligent in his approach.

After watching his video I was very pleased not only with his approach & counterpoint arguments but also with his professionalism & integrity.

So I decided to re-post his video on my page telling everyone to watch it as it’s a prime example of how to civilly agree to disagree with others in this field without mindlessly bashing & hating. The next day Christian reached out expressing his appreciation for my response & asking if I would be interested in discussing this further in the podcast. So here it is.

Just remember I have absolutely no issues with anyone disagreeing with me as long as they do so in a civil & intelligent fashion. In fact I’d rather someone intelligently disagree with me than mindlessly agree as this is how we advance the field. Make sure you give it a listen at https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/barbell-mesearch-ep-16-half-squats-joel-seedman-christian/id1294990985?i=1000472869241

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OPTION #1

Elevating the legs during any type of chest press is an excellent way to place greater stress on the chest shoulders and triceps as it isolates the upper body by eliminating assistance from the hips and legs. It also does wonders for cleaning up your form and technique. Here's one of my NFL Combine athletes performing a unique close grip bench press variation.

OPTION #2

Here's NFL athlete Chris Carson on Band Resisted Incline Chest Press. Notice he's going to 90 degrees which is optimal ROM and also has his head off to create greater cervical elongation which impacts posture and shoulder function.

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The renegade position is not only conducive for blasting the biceps due to the constant tension in the top contracted position but it also crushes the core as shown by 3 of my NFL football athletes including Marquell Beckwith, Mazi Ogbonna, and Julian Williams. That’s because the farther the weight/arm moves away from our center of mass towards the head, the greater the level of extension forces that are placed on the spine and torso.

Although the core gets pummeled, don’t be surprised if you feel your biceps getting thrashed as you’ll be forced to slow the movement down while using strict mechanics to dial in your positioning. Just be forewarned, the quadruped bird dog variation shown by Julian is quite advanced, as shown by his timely tuck and roll maneuver at the end of the video.

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OPTION #1

Here I’m showing a simple way to get more out of your lateral lunges. Try using the foam roller positioned latitudinally. As I describe in the video this variations provides 2 unique benefits. First it allows the foot to contour naturally to the cylindrical shape of the foam roller which allows more natural internal rotation of the hip joint. Secondly, the foam roller provides added resistance in both directions as you push and pull against the floor. The stretch in the hips as well as tension to the adductors and abductors as well as the quads, glutes, and hamstrings is quite high here. It also feels very therapeutic to the hips.

OPTION #2

Here I have NFL athlete Will Fuller on Hanging Band Hip Flexion Loaded Single Leg Stand with Partner Perturbations which is one of the most advanced single leg stabilization drills that also has tremendous transfer and carryover to sprinting mechanics and sports performance. Maintain full body tension & perfect alignment throughout as anything less will result in loss of balance.

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OPTION #1

The Reverse grip overhead press is one of my favorite variations for teaching lifters how to properly tuck their elbows and centrate their glenohumeral joint on the overhead barbell press. It’s also a great movement for teaching individuals how to maximally recruit their triceps during the overhead press which is critical for maximizing strength and size gains. Because it can be slightly tricky to grip I generally recommend taking a slightly wider hand placement as this can take pressure off the wrist and hands.

OPTION #2

The wall ball push press thruster shown here by my awesome client Leslie Petch, takes the basic standing push press but adds a slight incline position as you lean back against the ball press against the wall. These have many benefits, including:

1. On traditional dumbbell and barbell overhead presses and push press, the top lockout position can give some folks trouble. Similar to the landmine push press and barbell rolling push press, the slight incline position makes the top lockout much easier while also taking pressure off the shoulder joint as well as the low back and spine.

2. These eliminate excessive lumbar extension and low back arch so common with push press variations. That’s because the lifter is forced to press their entire back including their lumbar spine against the ball thereby keeping the spine in a neutral position.

3. These allow for very natural dumbbell and barbell squatting thruster variations. Because the lifter is leaning against the ball, they can easily move into the bottom 90 degree squat position without any torso inclination. On traditional thrusters the torso is angled slightly forward at the bottom of the squat as it should be, due to the necessary torso and tibial inclination required for free-standing squats. Not only does this produce a force vector mismatch for the press as the lifter will be more likely to drive the weight forward rather than straight up, it also places undue stress on the shoulders and wrists as the weight is pulling the arms and shoulders forward into internal rotation. The wall ball version resolves this common overhead thruster issue as the torso stays vertically stacked throughout.

4. One of the most common issues on traditional push press is keeping the heels down until the very last second when the lifter launches the weight up and reaches full extension with the hips and knees. The wall ball thruster variation is very conducive to ingraining heel drive on the push press as the lifter’s tibia are near perfectly vertical throughout.

5. Besides helping the lifter keep the heels down during the push press, the fact that the tibia are essentially perfectly vertical even in the bottom of the 90 degree squat, makes these much more knee friendly than traditional push press or thrusters where significant anterior knee drift is necessary.

6. Few push press variations, particularly those that involve dumbbells and barbells, rely on the hips to help drive the weight up. Instead, most push press and or thrusters are predominately quad and knee driven when it comes to the lower body’s contribution to the lift. From a biomechanical standpoint this makes sense as relying on the hips would disrupt the bar path and cause the bar to move forward rather than straight up and slightly back. The wall ball thruster on the other hand allows the larger muscles of the hips as well as the quadriceps to contribute to the movement as there is equal parts hip flexion and knee flexion in the bottom of the squat while still maintaining perfectly vertical force vectors against the load.

7. Sloppy form, weak core activation, and lack of full body tension are common problems on explosive overhead movements as many folks tend to struggle with motor control and body alignment. The wall ball variation helps reinforce strict and rigid technique with a tight core and full body tension as losing tension or alignment anywhere in the body will cause the lifter to bounce off the ball. To stay pressed against the ball without losing control or bouncing away from the ball literally requires the lifter to stay tight from head to toe while maintaining control of their body throughout. Additionally, any excessive arching or loss of spinal position will also result in the lifter being punished with a significant bouncing effect.

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Continuing the squat discussion from the recent podcast interview (link in Exercise #1), here’s a great exercise. Here’s why this is so effective for teaching proper squat form as well as for demonstrating why 90 degree angles are optimal for the squat.

Kinesiologists almost unanimously agree that co-contraction during the eccentric portion of the lift is essential not only for maximizing muscle activation but also for increasing motor control, stability, and joint health as well as for maximizing power and torque on the subsequent concentric phase of the movement (i.e. slingshot effect).

Now here’s where it gets interesting. The length tension relationship of muscles dealing with sarcomere overlap suggests that the optimal length for maximal activation & cross-bridging to occur is at the moderately stretched or midrange positi on which is approximately at 90 degrees for most movements in the sagittal plane (squats, lunges, hinges, presses, pulls etc).

Additionally anatomical levers and muscle spindle activation also appears to occur at 90 degrees. Furthermore research studies show maximal co-contraction occurs at the approximate 90 deg joint position likely due to the length tension relationship.

Biomechanists and muscle physiologists have also concluded that active insufficiency and passive insufficiency during movement occurs when the muscles are outside of their optimal length tension relationship and no longer can produce their highest force but instead have significant drop in force production and recruitment. This also appears to occurs at the semi-mid range position or roughly 90 degrees. So what does this have to do with a squat.

At 90 degrees you get maximal co-contraction. This video demonstrates that because if you go slow you literally cannot go past 90 degrees since the muscles can no longer pull you into the appropriate position as the hamstrings and glutes would be actively insufficient and the quads and glutes would be passively insufficient meaning all tension would be gone. Of course you can lose all tightness and simply collapse below 90 but again that’s defeating the purposes similar to most ATG squats as you’re actually allowing gravity to collapse you into position rather than intentionally co-contracting to pull you into position.

So if you can’t co-contract and pull past 90 during this squat or any squat for that matter as demonstrated in this video where we eliminate much of the gravitational factor, then why would you ever want to go deeper on a normal squat?? You probably wouldn’t unless you’re an Olympic weightlifter. Try it!! Trust me you’ll get stuck at 90 degrees every time if you do it right. Remember you control the weight, the weight doesn’t control you!!

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Here is a unique sprinter good morning exercise that emphasizes the turnover component of sprinting as it isolates both hip extension & hip flexion with maximal activation at different phases of the movement. This is a drill that Ben and I came up with together recently as we’d been discussing how to improve hip activation during various drills as well as sprinting performance. Since Ben has been working on his PhD in kinesiology he’s really begun to think deeper & more scientifically about various methods and ways to improve performance & muscle function. Definitely give him a follow!!!

For this drill, start off with the elevated leg in 90 degree hip flexion. As soon as you begin moving, that leg will extend into a straight leg position as this will immediately wake up the glutes to create maximal co-contraction at the onset of the eccentric phase of the movement as the harder the elevated leg’s hip extensor fires, the greater the hip flexors of the support leg (down leg) contract which in turn creates greater eccentric elongation and co-contraction of the hip extensors in the support leg (i.e. more glute & hamstring activation). Completing the last portion of the eccentric by snapping the elevated leg into 90 deg knee flexion further enhances posterior chain activation due to contralateral activation patterns in reciprocal muscle groups of opposing limbs described above.

With that said this is a very advanced movement & not something I would recommend until you’ve mastered the basic single leg hip hinge. The single leg hip hinge with a 90 deg bent leg is my go-to variation for performing RDL’s & good mornings in the past. However, periodically including a straight leg position in the back leg to isolate hip extension could be a beneficial drill to include to isolate the glutes and for transferring into this sprinter good morning. Read more in article at https://www.advancedhumanperformance.com/blog/master-the-single-leg-rdl-hip-hinge

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Overhead tricep extensions are an old-school tricep exercise that bodybuilders have been employing for years to add mass to their upper arms. Although the movement typically isolates the long head of the tricep, the kettlebell variation allows more complete targeting of all three heads including the lateral head and medial head. When compared to dumbbells or barbell variations of the overhead tricep extension, there’s also more constant tension when using kettlebells as the load is hanging beneath the hands creating a constant pulling force throughout. In addition holding kettlebells overhead involves a significant degree of instability forcing the lifter to use a more controlled lifting tempo and stricter mechanics both of which create incredible strain on the triceps.

To make the movement even more effective and biomechanically sound, performing these while kneeling on a bench requires even greater muscle activation and stability. Any cheating, shifting, or compensation patterns will cause the lifter to loose balance providing a type of immediate feedback and form enhancement.

The elbows can flare out slightly as keeping them too straight can place undue stress on the shoulder and elbow joint.

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Here's my brother Joshua Seedman (yes I have a brother and yes he's jacked) performing a very unique but effective bicep curl variation. My brother has recently been using the Mass Monster Program with great success after finishing the 6-Day Routine both found on my website. Throughout this process he's gained over an inch of size on his arms with signifiant increases on all of his lifts. At this particular workout I had him change up his training as I don't often have the chance to workout with him.

There's several components going on here that allow for even greater hypertrophy stimulation to the arms. First it's impossible to swing or use your hips on this variation. I'm typically not a fan of using a bench with a back support but in this variation it produces a similar response to performing curls with you back against a wall as it's impossible to lean back or swing your body particularly when doing them in a seated position. This forces the bicep muscles to do all of the work with no ability to swing or cheat from the hips or back. Second, the mid-pause technique (pausing midway through the concentric lifting portion) further helps to eliminate momentum thereby placing increased mechanical tension, greater occlusion and metabolic stress on the biceps (important factors for triggering hypertrophy). Finally, performing a slow eccentric with and added rotation in the bottom position provides greater eccentric damage in the stretched position which further enhances the growth-inducing stimulus.