Front Squats for power

Where did you read/hear this? I've never seen this stated by Defranco.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pbz-txpK7KA

Its so important he felt it was the first thing to address in his Ask DeFranco's gym series.

I was a young buck too once. I tried to stress ass to grass back squating before kids were ready. Now I'm older and wiser. I now realize that its a process and few kids off the street are ready to back squat.

 

Lifting weights is movement under load, any strength coach worth anything is a movement coach. And there is no such thing as a 'functional' exercise, the only thing that is actually 'functional' is the exact actual movement.
Training is to develop certain physical capabilities that have a transfer to performance to a certain extent, nothing has complete transfer to a sporting movement other than the sporting movement itself. 'Functional' is a fitness buzz word that doesn't mean ****.

 

Functional, with resistance https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6gKQrrrDIo. Theres loads of ways.

 

I think back squats are too dangerous personally. Look at Marquez. He did heavy back squats for 3 fights, and now he has knee problems and has to retire from the sport.

There are other knee dominant exercises that can be utilized other than the back squat and the front squat.

Functional or not.

 

Just when I thought I'd seen everything stupid there is to see.

 

That is ****ing idiotic, athletes all over the world back squat all year round for up to 15 years or so in their sporting careers. How can getting strong be dangerous? There are greater forces on your knees when you're jogging.
Ground based triple extension, there are no better leg exercises than squats when it comes to injury prevention and performance. If you don't know how to do an exercise properly then of course you're going to get injured, but that's a problem with your movement, not the exercise.
And again, the word functional doesn't mean anything.

 

On here: Stay in the main forum.

In the gym: Stick to extensions.

 

They can be dangerous 1. if you have ego problems 2. as DW already pointed out - you don't know how to squat.

So a boxer done some squats for a while, ****ed up his knees (which may have absolutely jack **** to do with squats) so you conclude back squats are too dangerous. Idiotic to say the least.

Maybe there are, but that is irrelevant.

 

Research rarely gives definitive yes or no answers, and that includes squats and knee health. There are too many variables. It just ain't a black and white world.

What suits your body is what you should do. And every body's different. Not everybody should do the exact same exercises.

Best thing you can do for your knees? Keep your weight down. Oh, and stay well away from all competitive sport.

 

But why risk it?

I understand that there are certain individuals that are less prone to injuring their soft tissue, but if there are substitutes, why wouldn't you take a route that will give you a long and injury free career?

Don't get me wrong, a young athlete can get away with a lot that an older guy can't, but why even go in that direction in the first place?

The Bigger Faster Stronger mentality works, and is great for straight lines, but in a sport as dynamic as boxing, I think exercises that improve your strength and movement are more preferable and better at protecting you against injury.

That isn't to say you shouldn't lift heavy, it's just that perhaps, you should change your approach.

 

I was all on board with bigger faster stronger for years, but I think it's better geared towards high school kids and kids in college.

There are ways to build strength without the traditional bi-lateral back squat.

I try to be progressive with my strength training and conditioning. I think it should have a dual purpose, longevity and performance.

 

Uh no. The research is conclusive on squats and knee health, they've calculated the compressive and shear forces required to damage the knee and the forces during a squat don't come anywhere near that. The only research that suggests there may be a problem is from the sixties, and that was from people jumping and landing out of a plane. The research for squats causing knee problems is as credible and extensive as vaccines causing autism. There is simply no link, and there are numerous epidemiological studies investigating injuries from resistance training. It is black and white, and strength is highly correlated to being injury resistant.

 

Getting stronger in the triple extension (squats) is applicable to all movements that are ground based. That does improve your movement, you can apply and absorb forces from the ground, it prevents injury. This isn't a matter of opinion, it's basic physics and something every strength coach should be aware of.
No matter what direction you're moving it's your ability to apply force directly into the ground that determines agility, acceleration etc.
Doing stupid ladder drills doesn't improve agility, improving strength (especially relative strength) through heavy weights is what makes you agile and fast, injury resistant and able to learn skills more efficiently.

 

Squat if it it suits you. Don't if it doesn't. It's just another exercise not the holy grail.

Some things in the world are black and white. The longer you live the more you realise how few.