Squatting and Weightlifting

Most of everyone enjoyed yesterday’s post, so we’ll continue the squatting discussion. Today will focus on how squatting mechanics relate to weightlifting and tomorrow will discuss powerlifting.

I’ll preface this post with the clarification that I’m neither a high level Olympic weightlifter nor a high level Olympic weightlifting coach. I’ve competed at nationals, taken people to meets, and enjoy thinking about programming, mechanics, and how they relate to the function of muscular anatomy. I originally learned the lifts from Rippetoe and have slightly modified some things. I consider Glenn Pendlay a friend and have chatted with him about all kinds of topics in weightlifting. I don’t mention these two guys to get people flipping out about who is right or wrong, but acknowledging that the dichotomy between their coaching is out there on the internet.

First, I want to tell you a story. My first meet was at Spoon Barbell, which is a big barn in North Texas. The inside is dusty and has bars and colored plates scattered around the floor. Furniture lines the center so spectators can sit comfortably during meets. One of the couches is quite possibly the ugliest orange couch in the universe. This is where I first saw two time Olympian Chad Vaughn lift.

Chad is a shorter guy with a young looking face, a bit of scruff on his chin, and…fucking huge quads. I weighed about 222 at the time and was mirin’ his quad size. In contrast, he didn’t have steel cable hamstrings. It’s not that they were non-existant; it’s just that his quads looked like someone slapped some dwarvish armor on his thighs. I can’t remember exactly, but Chad clean and jerked about 180 (as a 77kg lifter) in that October meet in 2009. I later saw him at the Texas State meet and Senior Nationals in 2010. He’s a really nice guy and I wish I had more time to chat with him.

Cool story, bro. What else ya got?
There are several points to pull from this story. The first is that Chad has impressive quads. The second is that those quads aren’t just for show, but move a considerable amount of weight. The third is that he’s an Olympian. There aren’t many American Olympians anymore and he’s done it twice. Judging from his muscular distribution, it’s a good bet that he primarily front or high bar squats in training. So here’s a question: If he started low bar squatting, would he improve his best total?
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