Old School Training – Goblet Squat

The Goblet Squat “done right” - Maximum Leg Stimulation, Minimum Poundage

A picture is worth a thousand words: excellent depth, positioning, and uprightness - note how he has not “pinched” stance width. Over time, I would attempt to pull his forward knee travel back a few inches; elbows can be tucked between knees. Knees are “pinned” outward on both descent and ascent, assuring “structural integrity” maximizing leg isolation. The descent is controlled, precise, consistent, and “coiled.” The ascent uses one of three preselected rep speeds: grind, regular, explosive. 

After 60 years of squatting I have come to the conclusion that, done right, 80% of the civilian world, those that practice progressive resistance training, those that train their legs and train hard, never need to back squat with a barbell, never need to sit on a leg press or hack machine. There is no need to perform any leg exercise other than deep goblet squats done holding a kettlebell(s,) a dumbbell held vertically, or clutching a barbell plate to the chest. My conclusions about the wonders of Goblet squatting are dependent on my two-word caveat, “done right.”

Most normal people would find that a 50 pound payload in the “done right” Goblet squat, be it K-bell, dumbbell, or barbell plate clutched to the chest, is more than enough to bring them to positive failure in ten reps or less – if the squats are deep and upright. Because of the demanding technique, legs are isolated, maximally worked, all four quadriceps, abductors, adductors, all bought to utter and complete failure in less than ten reps using a small payload. There a no better example of our philosophy of “making light weights heavy.”

If a 50 pound payload handled in a certain fashion can maximally tax the legs, why resort to barbells behind the neck? The safety of the Goblet squat makes it perfect for normal folks – struggle and miss a rep – no problem, simply set the payload down. A proper Goblet squat, deep and upright, is no lame substitute for barbells or machines, to the contrary, a perfect Goblet squat, done deep and taken to the limit, is from a muscle-building, strength-increasing perspective, superior to partial squats done with much heavier payloads.

Shortening the range-of-motion on any exercise inflates the ego while deflating results. The 800 pound gorilla in the room is squat depth: deep squats with lighter payloads are indisputably superior to sky-high squats with heavy payloads. Many a man that partial squats 400 pounds for reps cannot perform 5 reps with 225, ass-on-heels. 

Leg power is the key to human power. Build strong legs with hardcore leg training. The greatest leg exercise is deep squatting. The greatest of all progressive resistance exercises are deep squats done for low reps taken to the limit. How you squat is critical. Bend-forward squatting (self-explanatory) dilutes the muscular targeting. Upright torso isolates the legs; the legs (and legs alone) to do all the work. Partials squatting yields partial results; maximum squat depth invokes the maximum number of muscle fiber.

Back squatting is an invitation to bend forward. When you have a barbell behind your neck, nothing is more natural (while squatting down) than to bend forward. When the barbell gets in front of the knees, bad things happen; the spinal column becomes a crane, a long lever with a heavy payload stuck atop, vertebra stretched and strained at the spinal column bend point. Bend-forward squatting pulls the hip higher: the more forward the barbell the higher the hips are pulled. Once the bar is in front of the knees, squatting to parallel is problematic and below parallel impossible. 

Upright squatting keeps the vertebra stacked atop one another throughout the squat. Upright squatting isolates and stresses thighs and glutes maximally. Deep squatting purposefully puts the lifter in a maximally disadvantaged leverage position. Forward knee travel should be minimized: this is done by sitting back and down on the descent.  Push the knees outward while descending and keep them pinned out while ascending. Do not let the knees collapse inward to slip through the sticking point.

While it is relatively difficult to learn how to properly barbell back squat ultra-deep and upright, it is far less difficult to learn how to front squat deep and upright and less difficult still to learn how to Goblet squat or Dumbbell or Plate squat, deep and upright. The reasons are logical: when the payload is moved from behind the neck to in front of the neck, the lifter finds it far easier to stay upright as the barbell, kettlebell(s) or plate act as a counterbalance on the descent.

Now, instead of the first instinct upon breaking the knees to descend is not to bend forward, rather the first instinct of the front squatter or the Goblet squatter is to stay bolt upright. A barbell front squatter risks having the bar pop off the shoulders and fall to the floor if they insist on forward lean.

The prerequisite to proper barbell front squatting is to become adept in the Goblet squat. Our trainees are taught to Goblet or plate squat until they are capable of handling 50+ pounds of resistance. Once the trainee is capable excellent technique using 50+ pounds, they can shift to the barbell front squat done with the empty 45 pound bar. The classical double-fist grip for grabbing the barbell is highly preferred over the “cross-hand” bodybuilding-style grip. The goal is replicating Goblet squat technique on the front squat.