LOWER BODY MOVEMENTS

In our Strength Training System, most exercises that are being considered for a specific program will be placed into one of three general movement categories. Lower Body Movements involve the following movements: knee extension, hip extension, and plantar flexion. Lower Body Movements are those that will help increase strength in the lower back, quadriceps, hamstrings, gluteus muscle group, hip extensors, flexors, adductors, abductors, and the muscles of the lower leg (calf and ankle). Bilateral Movements are prominent within the program, but we also utilize a lot of unilateral variations which are more sports specific and help reduce stress placed on the body during training.

Back Squats: Barbell – Off the Pins

Pin Squats differ from traditional Back Squats because the weight is completely unloaded from the body during the bottom portion of the lift, resting on the safety supports. This eliminates an eccentric load and forces the athlete to become completely tight and stable before completing the accent. This quickly turning your CNS system off and then back on is the same thing you should be learning to do before you get hit or give a hit on the ice. Other than that, your technique is the same.

• The movement begins from an athletic stance. Feet slightly wider than hip width. The width of stance can vary based on the ability of the athlete to maintain an upright posture into proper load position
• Feet should be pointed out slightly. It is important that your thigh, knee, shin and foot are all inline during the movement. Don’t let your knees come inward
• Next grab the bar with the same bench grip, thumbs one finger width from smooth
• When stepping under the bar, pull your shoulders down and back, while placing the bar on your lower traps just above your shoulder blades. This placement should be a tight and secure.
• Maintain your head in a neutral, double chin position.
• Under control, walk the weight out of the rack slowly, one step at a time
• Prior, make sure your bar clamps are secure
• Once you’re in your proper stance, slowly and under control, drive your hips back as you maintain a relatively upright posture. Take a deep breath and hold it during the decent.
• Don’t lean too far forward and don’t bounce at the bottom of the movement
• Allow the bar to come to a complete rest on the safety supports slightly above proper squat depth
• Pause and then forcefully push your feet through the floor as hard as possible and exhale when squatting back to the starting position
• Your chest should always come up first, before your hips. Not the other way around. This will always be your biggest challenge.
• Especially with this lift, don’t let your ego get in the way. Form is always more important than the weight utilized.
• The utilization of a Safety Squat Bar is also an excellent variation to this movement which we often rotate into our training protocol