Cool Socks Pops!

Cool Socks Pops
Written by Michele Vieux

Pops has socks.
Socks that pop.
Pops can squat.
Front squat a lot.
Lots of squats.
From the front.
Cuss and grunt.
Makes him strong.
In the legs.
In the core.
Not a bore.
He wants more.
More squat PRs.
PR front squat.
Squat clean more.
Out the door.
Back for more.
Forced self-correct.
Correct the bounce.
Lower back pressure?
Not an ounce.
An ounce of bore?
Nope just strong core.
Core and upper.
Upper back.
Who’s sixty-four?
In one year more.
Cool Socks Pops.
With socks that pop.
Pop, lock, drop.
Like front squat.
Strong legs and quads.
Mo-bil-i-ty.
Not scary but e-a-sy.
Easy to bail.
Bail, not fail.
Back on the bar.
Bar not far.
From PR.
Burg-e-ner.
Coach B agrees.
Squats are good.
For you and me.
Every day.
Just like play.
Play the role.
Pay the toll.
Toll the Pops.
Pops PRs.
PRs strong.
Strong lives long.
Long carries on.

Translation:

I’ve been using Coach B’s, front squat at the beginning and end of every workout, program for 6 of my personal clients and in the first week, 5 of them hit PR’s. Not just small ones either – all were over 20 pounds more than they had ever hit on a front squat. Pops is one of my subjects and is already up 20 pounds on his front squat at the age of 63.

When they get to their sessions, they know to start their warm-up then go immediately into 3-4 sets of 1-2 HEAVY (for that day) Front squats. Then they follow their normal strength and conditioning program. At the end of the workout, they come back for 3 more sets of HEAVY singles. I told them they don’t have to try for a PR every time, just pick a weight that is heavy for them that day. Some days it is more than others and that’s ok. I’m not going to lie. The test subjects didn’t like me very much on the first couple days of this program, especially at the end of the workout when they had to come back to their bar and lift while exhausted.

The reason I chose this program for him was because I noticed him struggling with leg endurance in workouts and with staying tight and catching the bounce out of the bottom of his clean. Actually, he was struggling to figure out how to stay tight on most of his lifts, even strict presses where he’d do this weird brace move that actually caused him to lose tightness in the lower back.

Front squats build leg, especially quad strength since the bar is sitting on the front of your body.

You are forced to self-correct movement errors since you will most definitely miss the lift if you pitch forward or drop your elbows. You also learn quickly how to catch the bounce out of the bottom.

Front squats work the core and midline stability. It takes a lot of ab clenching to stand up with weight on your chest. This can be transferred to all lifts and in Pops’ case, the clean and shoulder press is where I’ve seen the biggest difference.

Upper back strength is required for strong front squats. We spend a lot of time working the lower back and posterior chain so I like my clients getting in a little different stimulus. I’d say most come to me with “quad dominance” which we quickly correct with our movements of choice, but they were usually quad dominant from endurance and conditioning activities, not lifting. I like the quads to be strong, not just dominant, and there is a difference.

Have poor mobility? Then you probably have a crappy front squat as they demand both flexibility and mobility of the ankles, hips, shoulders and thoracic spine. Just putting them into Pops’ program has forced him to focus on those issues in his warm-up.

I’ve also noticed Pops, and others, willing to push the weight and make attempts closer to and above their current 1RM than they do on back squats because they are less scary. It is easy to dump the weight in a front squat, unlike the back squat where people can feel trapped under the bar.

So, if you want to see all your lifts, overall strength, mobility, and technique improve. Try this program for a couple weeks. Like Coach Burgener once told me, “If you ain’t gaining, you ain’t front squatting!”