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Fadi; you're a person who Front Squats at an elite level.
Front squatt
ed at an elite level yes Sir.
I'd be interested to hear your views on the safety of the Front Squat please. From the article:
"Inappropriate exercises; In his training DVD The Unbelievable, Ronnie carries out front squats with a staggering 585 pounds (265 kg) on the barbell11. Two issues that stem from the use of the barbell: firstly, the barbell is not placed in a position for maximum leverage and effort from the muscles. This subsequently affects the overall benefits that can be derived. Secondly, placement across the shoulder girdle (collar and scapula bones) makes it conducive for structural injury."
With all due respect to Mr. Darren Vartikian--(our own former IFBB Mr. Australia), and the author of the book entitled: The Biomechanically Correct Training System - The Thinking Person's Guide to Unilateral Resistance Training..., I politely disagree. I don't disagree for the sake of disagreeing, but I do so based on what I believe is a less than a genuine effort on Mr. Vartikian to be fully balanced in his findings, which are perhaps selective in nature.
I fully understand that the man wants us to change our way of thinking from bilateral focused training, and into more of a unilateral type of training—training one arm or leg at a time with a dumbbell, kettlebell, or machine—will see to it that we would achieve our ultimate sporting goal...safely! No wonder he's lavishing in the misfortunes of Ronnie's injuries, blaming the former champion's style of (wait for it!!)...that evil bilateral style of training. I can go on and on here, but my 2 and half year old daughter (from her bilateral squatting position) has just told me to disregard the man's BMC Training System..., she's not just cute, but she's the untainted expert in natural physical movements in our home...I listen!
I'm not saying there's no room for unilateral training here, we all do do it....
Big Ronnie did it! What exactly is it then? It's simply single-limb training! It's dumbbell curls; d/bell side laterals, d/bell shoulder press, d/bell bench press, d/bell step ups, d/bell......you get the picture. Reading that ultra biased article; biased towards his Biomechanically Correct (BMC) Training System I found to be disingenuous and therefore offensive.
So Mr. Vartikian wishes to rubbish my favourite exercise of all time yeh...the mighty front squat?! With a name that ends with ian, I take it Mr. Vartikian's background is from Armenia. The man you see on the left in my avatar is none other than one of the legends of the sport of Olympic weightlifting; Yuri Vardanian. Began training at the age of 14, and retired at the age of 29, with 41 world records to his name. My point? The man front squatted much more frequently than Ronnie could have ever dreamt of front squatting, and now at the age of 60, is as healthy as can be. Why didn't all these weightlifting bilateral exercises such as the front squat, the back squat, the clean and snatch pull, the jerks over head, the the the...., why isn't the man even remotely crippled as we see our own hero Ronnie is in a way? Surely we can't be so ignorant as to just blame these so called bilateral movements Ronnie did day in and day out right? After all, it was Ronnie and
not Yuri Vardanian who actually
did make full usage of unilateral exercises, the famous one being "nothing but a peanut". Referring to some huge d/bells....d/bells fall into the category of unilateral MR. Vartikian! So please stop rubbishing what our Ronnie did, and go find the real cause of his crippling injuries, because as things stand right now, I myself should be a crippled based on my front squatting...., which incidentally I'm still doing approaching 51.
"Inappropriate exercises; In his training DVD The Unbelievable, Ronnie carries out front squats with a staggering 585 pounds (265 kg) on the barbell11.
Again, not honest and out with a preconceived agenda. There is
nothing so "staggering" about a 265kg front squat when you weigh around 140kg. It might be staggering for me, weighing 75kg, but for Ronnie (!), please refrain from dramatising what is quite normal Mr. Vartikian.
Two issues that stem from the use of the barbell: firstly, the barbell is not placed in a position for maximum leverage and effort from the muscles.
Really! And since when did that cause injury? Here:
Strength wars puts 66kg calisthenics athlete matthias against 75kg powerbuilder koray, I responded to a post that was put up by our admin Graeme.
...the key to my strength increases came through the decrease of my bodyweight leverage. In other words, gymnasts decrease leverage to increase strength. Strength through lifting weights comes through increasing the weight and/or other factors such as reps and sets that relay to the intensity of the overall lift.
Above is one of my favourite gymnasts of all time, Yordan Yovchev of Bulgaria. The oldest gymnast ever to compete at the age of 39 at his 6th Olympic games in London 2012. Someone forgot to tell him about the leverage (or lack thereof), and that his shoulder joints would be utterly ruined due to all this ring work he had excelled at during his gymnastics career.
This subsequently affects the overall benefits that can be derived. Secondly, placement across the shoulder girdle (collar and scapula bones) makes it conducive for structural injury."
Not true at all, and please do
not mix two unrelated issues here. On the one hand the reader is thinking you are talking about Ronnie's way of performing a particular exercise, yet on the other hand, you go on to attack the exercise itself, failing miserably to indicate that the way Ronnie was performing the actual exercise (the front squat) and
not the front squat itself (as performed correctly by thousands of Olympic weightlifters world-wide) is the culprit in your presented scenario. I shall clarify my stance here...
The front squat, when performed correctly, with elbows kept as high as possible throughout the movement, would in fact serve to help prevent kyphosis in the thoracic spine. A thoracic extension of the spine is insured by the upper back muscles when the elbows are kept high during the front squat. That's called healthy. If bodybuilders have taken it upon themselves to use (or abuse rather) one of the Olympic weightlifters' top exercises, (the front squat), then it's really unfair to blame the front squat rather than its lifter. Weightlifters do
not crossover their arms in order to hold the bar high up on their clavicle bone and front deltoid muscles; bodybuilders (more often than not) do. Ronnie did; blame Ronnie and not the innocent front squat thank you!
I love the Front Squat as I always felt it had more 'carryover' for most athletic activities but ...............
There's no "but" for me here Sir. If you do not believe in a particular exercise or movement, then I'd suggest you drop it from your list of exercises. An example here (for me) would be the clean. It's one movement I'd never do again, because it's at the heart and soul of what makes the sport of Olympic weightlifting one of (if not) the most dangerous sports around. And since I am no longer a weightlifter, and hence I do not have to do it, I simply don't. But the front squat? Well, that's a different animal altogether, and a close pet of mine!