Latest / Performance Explored Project / Exploring Squat Progressions with Bri Brown from the University of Miami

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Exploring Squat Progressions with Bri Brown from the University of Miami · Performance Explored Project

0:01
SPEAKER_01: Exploring people, exploring our body, the HF Center, inside edge of the foot, crossing you from here, different angles.
0:08
SPEAKER_01: Like these kids don't want to be here.
0:12
SPEAKER_01: Perception is the engine that drives our entire experience.
0:16
SPEAKER_01: On today's episode of the Performance Explorer Project, I have Brie Brown, the director of women's basketball sports performance for the University of Miami.
0:23
SPEAKER_01: She takes me through her squat progressions, how she takes athletes from this full range of motion and walks them down when they can't quite get there yet, and then getting into unilateral patterns, how she progresses that, how she loads the knee, and then she gets into the concepts of confidence, getting overhead, and how chin-ups are the king of strength training for upper body for her with her athletes.
0:41
SPEAKER_01: I think you guys are really gonna enjoy this episode, but let's get into it.
0:46
SPEAKER_01: So your fourth year at Miami.
0:48
SPEAKER_01: Um, I think obviously the athletes that are coming in are probably different um year to year, and now the training ages are different.
0:55
SPEAKER_01: When you have a new athlete that's coming in, where do you start with them?
0:58
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so it's interesting because obviously over the last couple years, everything's slightly changed with the transfer portal.
1:05
SPEAKER_00: So honestly, the last three out of the four, I've had almost 90% a completely different team.
1:11
SPEAKER_00: Wow.
1:11
SPEAKER_00: So it's actually made me one be a little bit more adaptable, but two, that's why I think having the standardization of what I'm looking for for what I would say like my big bang for my buck exercises is so important.
1:26
SPEAKER_00: So the first and foremost thing that I have them do is go through my squat progression.
1:30
SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, next thing that I would have them do is obviously from an upper body standpoint, we're going through my chin-up progression.
1:37
SPEAKER_00: And then for any type of unilateral or lower body exercise as well, I have a step-up progression that I go through.
1:42
SPEAKER_00: And from there, I have like the standards that I'm looking for across the board.
1:46
SPEAKER_00: And then after I've used that almost as an assessment, then I'm able to kind of delineate and change a little bit from individual to individual what they need.
1:56
SPEAKER_01: When you say using movements as assessments, I I love that because I think we get as coaches, we get like lost in this, like, well, I'm I do this sort of assessment, I do this, and they do it once, twice a year.
2:06
SPEAKER_01: And it's just like, hey, did you really think that athlete that you just met gave you an honest like demonstration of how they move?
2:14
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
2:15
SPEAKER_01: But if you're looking at it from a daily training standpoint, now that assessment is real.
2:19
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
2:19
SPEAKER_01: Because it's now it's adapting to them like maybe they weren't comfortable at first.
2:23
SPEAKER_01: Maybe it was just a confidence issue.
2:24
SPEAKER_01: And now you've kind of instilled confidence, whether that's through movement competency, a little bit of strength, and now they're performing these exercises better.
2:32
SPEAKER_01: So that progression happens faster.
2:33
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, well, and two, like this is again, like this is a learned skill.
2:38
SPEAKER_00: So I might be able to ask them once to do it, but they might not one, understand the way that I'm asking them to do it because we're also learning each other.
2:46
SPEAKER_00: Two, is you know, their awareness of what they're doing in a new environment is completely different.
2:52
SPEAKER_00: And then three, like, uh, you know, some of my kids are coming from training three years with somebody else in a different way, in a different tone, in a different cue, right?
3:00
SPEAKER_00: Where I might be using a specific word and they might be used to hearing something completely different and not understanding.
3:07
SPEAKER_00: So I think, like, again, working through the progressions that I use, they're gonna hear similar cueing.
3:12
SPEAKER_00: They're gonna start understanding exactly like the standard and what I'm asking for them.
3:16
SPEAKER_00: But sometimes that takes time as well.
3:19
SPEAKER_00: So that also helps in terms of when I'm looking at what they're doing from a movement standpoint in a progression.
3:26
SPEAKER_00: It's also them learning exactly what I'm looking for so that they can either show me that they're capable.
3:32
SPEAKER_00: And is it a movement or a stability issue?
3:35
SPEAKER_00: Um, that kind of helps me along those lines as well, if that makes sense.
3:39
SPEAKER_01: I don't know if it's the reason you do it, but when I watch like your videos online, I think our great stuff that you share that you're doing with the girls, it's everything looks it's like the same pattern, yeah, but it could be slightly different.
3:52
SPEAKER_01: It's almost like you're giving them a personalized, tailored program, but they're all kind of on a similar program.
3:59
SPEAKER_01: Is that something you've always started with, or is that now with this transfer portal?
4:04
SPEAKER_01: I'm not saying you're trying to keep athletes, but they should feel like it's special to them.
4:09
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and I and I've had to definitely adjust over the last couple of years because I am getting athletes, you know, only for one season, or I'm getting them two years into their college career, or sometimes still I'm getting freshmen, right?
4:22
SPEAKER_00: And the idea is that you want to think that they're gonna be here for all four years, but they might not be.
4:27
SPEAKER_00: Um, or I might be getting a sophomore that's coming in that's only trained for a year.
4:31
SPEAKER_00: So they're a little experienced, but not experienced enough.
4:35
SPEAKER_00: So again, I think having the training principles and standards that I have helps things keep somewhat uniform across the board because I know what I'm asking them to do, whether that's full range of motion training, deep knee flexion, full extension on chin-up, things like that.
4:50
SPEAKER_00: Um, those are training standards for me.
4:53
SPEAKER_00: And then from there, because I am gonna have athletes, whether they're coming in from the transfer portal, whether freshmen, whether they're grad transfers, they're all gonna be in a different spot.
5:03
SPEAKER_00: So I think it's really naive of me to think that I can start them all on the same, you know, day one.
5:09
SPEAKER_00: That's not realistic.
5:10
SPEAKER_00: And ultimately, that's really not helping the individual player because some players are gonna be further along in their training progression than maybe a new freshman.
5:19
SPEAKER_00: And so again, like it's principles that are starting the initial like standard and expectation, but then it's the methods that I might go about something slightly different, right?
5:29
SPEAKER_00: Whether some of my freshmen are doing a little bit more on the extended eccentrics on their chin-ups, whereas I might have sophomores or juniors that can already do full-range chins.
5:38
SPEAKER_00: Um, so now they might be doing something different in terms of a methodology, but the way we go about it and the standard of training is still similar.
5:46
SPEAKER_00: Um, that way I do know um whether I need to adjust things in season, out of season, depending on the player and where they're at, like if they're playing a lot of minutes, if they're not.
5:56
SPEAKER_00: Um, that really helps me start making a lot of different decisions, but it's easy for me because everything is pretty standardized in terms of what I'm asking for them to do.
6:05
SPEAKER_01: And I feel like it's similar across all movements.
6:07
SPEAKER_01: So the goal would be that it looks like you're going for is full range of motion, which I love.
6:11
SPEAKER_01: Mobility training is strength training, full range of motion, whatever.
6:14
SPEAKER_01: But it that same approach as in if you can't get there, you look at it the same exact way.
6:19
SPEAKER_01: It's a top-down approach.
6:20
SPEAKER_01: It's like, okay, the goal is down here in the basement, but if we can't get there, we're gonna start here and we're just gonna slowly start working our way down.
6:26
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and everyone, everyone or every player that's here, like that might change depending where they're gonna start.
6:32
SPEAKER_00: If they're gonna really start at the top, or maybe they're already halfway down, and then I'm just filling that gap into the bottom, right?
6:38
SPEAKER_00: Of like where I ideally like for them to be, just based off of KPIs and things that I'm looking at from being around the sport as well.
6:46
SPEAKER_00: Okay, so let's go ahead and get into what I would typically do for my squat progression.
6:51
SPEAKER_00: For any of my athletes that are coming in, this is typically where I start then in the summer, and then from there we just kind of come progress on.
6:59
SPEAKER_00: But what I would typically start with is a freehand cyclist front squat.
7:03
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
7:04
SPEAKER_00: Um, and that's where we're gonna initially start, and then it kind of goes from there.
7:08
SPEAKER_00: So just to demo this real quick, um, as you're taking it up out of the rack, what I typically coach is just the bar should sit right on top of that shoulder shelf.
7:17
SPEAKER_00: Um, and realistically, it's just so that as they're lifting up out of the rack, um, they don't need their hands or anything for this.
7:24
SPEAKER_00: So as they're coming out, thumbs up, arms locked out, okay, feet are gonna be about four to six inches apart.
7:32
SPEAKER_00: Um, and typically when I'm doing a free hand on the cyclist squat, we're using, we're looking to use about a 20-degree um slant board.
7:40
SPEAKER_00: Um so as they're getting their feet prepped, about four to six inches, okay.
7:45
SPEAKER_00: Heels are all the way up on the slant board, eyes and chest are up, right?
7:49
SPEAKER_00: First coaching cue that I'm using though is let's push that knee as far out over the toe as possible, okay?
7:56
SPEAKER_00: And then they're just sitting straight down from there.
7:59
SPEAKER_00: So as they're getting into the bottom, this is allowing the torso to be as erect and upright as possible.
8:04
SPEAKER_00: And then we're really stressing the quads in this deep knee flexion.
8:08
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
8:08
SPEAKER_00: So as they're coming up, now that's coming straight up.
8:12
SPEAKER_00: It's very quad dominant, and that's typically what I'm looking for to see.
8:16
SPEAKER_00: One, if they can even get into these positions, and then two, working with basketball players, sometimes that's a little bit more of the emphasis just because of the limb length.
8:23
SPEAKER_00: Yep.
8:24
SPEAKER_00: So let's go ahead and have you pop in.
8:27
SPEAKER_01: And you're keeping the the heel, the whole foot is on that block.
8:31
SPEAKER_00: Yes.
8:31
SPEAKER_00: For the cyclist squat, whole heel is on so that you're getting that 20-degree um slant, and that your feet are about like that four or six inches apart.
8:41
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
8:43
SPEAKER_00: Yep.
8:43
SPEAKER_00: So go ahead on top of the shoulder shelf.
8:46
SPEAKER_00: Yep.
8:48
SPEAKER_00: Good.
8:50
SPEAKER_00: And then obviously arms are about shoulder width apart.
8:53
SPEAKER_00: Good.
8:53
SPEAKER_00: Thumbs are up.
8:54
SPEAKER_00: Okay, bring the feet in just slight.
8:56
SPEAKER_00: Yep, a little bit closer.
8:58
SPEAKER_00: Perfect.
8:58
SPEAKER_00: All right.
8:59
SPEAKER_00: So let's just do uh like a four-second lower, and then that way it's just gonna help uh get you into that position a little bit more smooth.
9:06
SPEAKER_00: So first off, go ahead and start pushing your knee out over the toe.
9:09
SPEAKER_00: Good.
9:10
SPEAKER_00: That's about a three, a little bit slower, two, taller chest into the bottom, one, good.
9:15
SPEAKER_00: So now we're really looking for that hamstring to cover the calf.
9:18
SPEAKER_00: Knee is pushed out over the toe, and then you're coming straight up out of that.
9:21
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, just like that.
9:22
SPEAKER_00: Perfect.
9:23
SPEAKER_00: Yep.
9:23
SPEAKER_00: So let's hit one more rep on that one.
9:25
SPEAKER_00: So a four, keep pushing that knee forward, keep the chest, squeeze the shoulder blades together into the bottom.
9:30
SPEAKER_00: Good.
9:30
SPEAKER_00: Keep sitting, keep sitting, keep sitting, good.
9:33
SPEAKER_00: Hold that, squeeze the shoulder blades, yep, and then push up straight up out of the bottom.
9:37
SPEAKER_00: Good.
9:38
SPEAKER_01: It's the weight of the bar, sorry.
9:42
SPEAKER_00: Uh that's probably good for the for the reps.
9:45
SPEAKER_00: Is that okay?
9:46
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it feels good.
9:46
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
9:47
SPEAKER_00: Um, so then, yeah, go ahead and rack it.
9:50
SPEAKER_01: What is your thought process?
9:52
SPEAKER_01: So obviously, thumbs up.
9:54
SPEAKER_01: Um work a lot with women.
9:57
SPEAKER_01: Um do they have any sort of discomfort by holding that position, or do you feel like it just sits good on the shoulder?
10:02
SPEAKER_00: So I I prefer for their arms to be all the way out in front because for me, that's giving them visual and tactile feedback that as they're in the bottom, if they're not retracting their shoulder blades enough to keep that torso upright, right?
10:17
SPEAKER_00: Then like that's gonna cause, if your arms start falling, that's where the bar's gonna go, right?
10:22
SPEAKER_00: So it's giving a little bit more too of that upper back feedback.
10:26
SPEAKER_00: Although we're mostly focused on obviously that lower body work.
10:29
SPEAKER_00: If you're really gonna Olympic style front squat, which is kind of the end goal and everything, I want them to be able to feel some of that scapular retraction.
10:37
SPEAKER_00: I want some of that upper back uh engaged as they're squatting into deep flexion.
10:43
SPEAKER_00: Because ultimately, too, like I don't want the upper back to be the limiting factor in like what we're doing.
10:48
SPEAKER_00: So that's just giving them right off the bat just some initial feedback.
10:52
SPEAKER_00: Um, that's typically why I don't do like a crossover because they can hold on to the bar.
10:56
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
10:57
SPEAKER_01: Um what is the reason you go so close with the squat?
11:00
SPEAKER_00: Uh so that's just gonna make uh being a little bit more narrow on the stance, it's just gonna um not hammer the quads, but it's gonna make that a little bit more intense on the quads, right?
11:11
SPEAKER_00: Um, but the wider you go out, you're gonna add a little bit more of the hamstring, a little bit of the glute to um a little bit more of some of like the hip adductors, uh abductors and things like that.
11:22
SPEAKER_00: So if we're really just trying to focus on deep knee flexion and overloading the quads, the more narrow of a stance is a bigger bang for your buck than starting them out like wider than hip leg.
11:33
SPEAKER_01: Agreed, agreed.
11:34
SPEAKER_01: So if that's where you start, what would you look at going next?
11:37
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so that next progression is I would just go heels elevated on the free hand on the front side.
11:42
SPEAKER_01: So everything's the same, just the balls of my feet are now.
11:45
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
11:45
SPEAKER_00: So you can kind of do this, and this is where there's a little bit of nuance, right?
11:49
SPEAKER_00: Is you can keep the 20-degree slant board if you want, if that's easier and if that's all you got.
11:53
SPEAKER_00: Um, luckily for me, we're a little bit lucky where we have a 15-degree wedge, we have a 10-degree wedge.
11:59
SPEAKER_00: So from there, I'm using a little bit more of my coaching eye.
12:02
SPEAKER_00: I'm using a little bit more of athlete to athlete and what their capabilities are.
12:07
SPEAKER_00: But yes, if all you got is a 20, I'm just looking for those heels to be on that degree, and then we're looking at the same thing.
12:14
SPEAKER_00: Feet move just slightly now underneath the hips.
12:17
SPEAKER_01: Okay, so still coaching it the exact same way.
12:19
SPEAKER_00: Yes.
12:20
SPEAKER_00: So still retracting the scaps in the top, okay.
12:23
SPEAKER_00: Thumbs are straight, arms are locked out, still initially looking first and foremost at getting that knee pushed out over the toe.
12:30
SPEAKER_00: Yep, so we're pushing, we're sitting straight down, we're sitting, we're sitting, we're sitting, still pulling through the scap, still pushing the knees, and we're coming straight up out of the bottom.
12:39
SPEAKER_00: Good, just like that.
12:40
SPEAKER_00: So then again, push the knee forward as far as you can first, and now you're just sitting straight down, tall torso, and now we're pushing.
12:48
SPEAKER_00: Yep.
12:49
SPEAKER_00: Good, just like that.
12:51
SPEAKER_01: I like that.
12:53
SPEAKER_01: I like that.
12:53
SPEAKER_01: Do you notice?
12:54
SPEAKER_01: Do you feel it notice a difference between athletes that can perform one better or the other?
12:58
SPEAKER_01: Is it more of just like seeing where they're at based off of like their tibia length, femur length as well?
13:03
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
13:04
SPEAKER_00: So um a lot of of my longer limbed athletes, regardless, are going to have either they have the instability to be able to get into those positions or they don't have the mobility to get into some of those positions.
13:19
SPEAKER_00: So obviously that's a little bit of the reason why using the slant board helps.
13:24
SPEAKER_00: It creates obviously more like ankle dorsiflexion, right?
13:27
SPEAKER_00: But a lot of the time, too, is that because those longer limbed athletes are so posterior chain dominant, they don't have either like the accessibility or the stability to like overload their quads like that.
13:38
SPEAKER_00: So, like that's why I usually start them up a little bit higher on that 20 degree, and sometimes they stay there.
13:44
SPEAKER_00: I'm not saying that like this is like an easy, like three weeks they're on the 20 degree, three weeks, they're on the 15.
13:50
SPEAKER_00: Like, I have athletes that stay on the 20-degree slant board for three years, and like it's not a knock on them, it's not a knock on me.
13:59
SPEAKER_00: It's just the way that like the population I work with, they're so underdeveloped.
14:02
SPEAKER_00: And like, you're not gonna just change something that's been going the same like that for 18 years in like a three-month period.
14:10
SPEAKER_00: So that takes years of training, years of development.
14:14
SPEAKER_00: And sometimes my athletes don't even get to start on that.
14:17
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes we have to start in top range work first and overload the top range of knee flexion before we can even get to the mid-range and before we can even get to the bottom range.
14:28
SPEAKER_00: This is a very bottom range dominant progression, but there's other progressions that I use that target more of the top range, the mid-range, so that then we start gaining access to the bottom range, if that makes sense.
14:40
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
14:41
SPEAKER_00: So then the last progression, as long as they're kind of showing that they have the capabilities to continue to move their heels off the slant board.
14:51
SPEAKER_00: Um, the last one would just be an Olympic style front squat.
14:54
SPEAKER_00: Yep.
14:55
SPEAKER_00: Without the slant board, um, as long as they don't need it, that would be ideal.
15:00
SPEAKER_00: So now we can actually get into the front rack position.
15:04
SPEAKER_00: So I usually say about like thumbs length away.
15:06
SPEAKER_00: Yep.
15:07
SPEAKER_01: I don't think I'm getting there, Brie.
15:13
SPEAKER_00: You got it.
15:15
SPEAKER_00: So again, we've already kind of trained some of the scapular retraction here, but yep, about hip width apart, and then from here, right?
15:22
SPEAKER_00: It's the same idea.
15:23
SPEAKER_00: Push the knee out over the toe, yep, keep pushing the knee, good.
15:27
SPEAKER_00: And then we're sitting, elbows up, perfect, good.
15:30
SPEAKER_00: Knee out over the toe a little bit more, keep pushing, keep sitting, elbows, good, and then big push up out of the bottom.
15:37
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
15:38
SPEAKER_00: So just like that.
15:40
SPEAKER_01: How many athletes, and like I like what you said earlier because you said the goal isn't to get them to that, it's just if they can get to that, I have something for you.
15:48
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
15:49
SPEAKER_00: And for me, it's like um, I would say that I standardize and I I have a standardized approach or an idea of some of my big bang for my buck exercises.
15:59
SPEAKER_00: There's a basement level that I want every athlete to be able to do.
16:05
SPEAKER_00: So, and the reason why I say that is because, like for me, if I'm looking at a squat, right, I believe in terms of like my philosophy is like full range of motion training.
16:17
SPEAKER_00: So the knee should be able to fully flex.
16:20
SPEAKER_00: If there's a reason why it can't, that's something for me to try to look at and solve a little bit better, right?
16:26
SPEAKER_00: But if I know that, like, hey, my bottom, my bottom basement is that they should be able to deep squat and get their hamstring to cover their calf, then I know if they can't do that, why?
16:38
SPEAKER_00: And then how am I regressing or progressing them from there?
16:41
SPEAKER_00: Um, and then two, as we get into in season, if I know that they're capable of that, but as we get into season because of the demands of the game, because of fatigue, because of, I mean, maybe they're just honestly having a bad day, maybe because normally we would live before practice, but now we're after practice.
16:59
SPEAKER_00: Um, they're coming out of film.
17:01
SPEAKER_00: There's a lot of different variables that happen in season.
17:03
SPEAKER_00: So if I know from a standard across the board, hey, this is how I want my squat to look across it, they can't do it.
17:11
SPEAKER_00: Okay, there's a route there, there's B route there.
17:15
SPEAKER_00: So it's helping me delineate decisions based off of each individual player a lot easier.
17:21
SPEAKER_00: Um, if I don't really have like a standard, what I'm looking for in a squat, then it's really hard for me to delineate in season.
17:29
SPEAKER_00: Well, it's because they don't want to do it today, or is it because they aren't able to do it today?
17:33
SPEAKER_00: Um, I mean, this just literally happened yesterday.
17:36
SPEAKER_00: One of my, I'd say one of my best trainees on the team, um, deep squats without an issue.
17:43
SPEAKER_00: It has great mobility, has the capacity to do it.
17:46
SPEAKER_00: She came in after practice and was unable to get into the position.
17:50
SPEAKER_00: It's not because she wouldn't want to, it's her body was either creating inhibition, she's fatigued.
17:55
SPEAKER_00: So we had to make adjustments from it.
17:58
SPEAKER_00: And I know that that's one, not a pattern or an inability.
18:01
SPEAKER_00: It's just because of the situation and an environment.
18:04
SPEAKER_00: And for me, like that's what helps delineate and make decisions if you're looking at training sessions to sessions, and it's not just random and chaotic.
18:13
SPEAKER_00: Um, so like again, like if they can't get into those positions, why?
18:17
SPEAKER_00: Um, and like what do we need to do to help them?
18:20
SPEAKER_00: Because ultimately every human has like the same, I don't want to say the same capacities, but they should have the same abilities and the way that the human body like moves and works.
18:29
SPEAKER_00: But if they can't get into those positions, there should be a reason.
18:32
SPEAKER_00: Um, and can I help with training to be able to make them a little bit better into it?
18:36
SPEAKER_00: Yep.
18:37
SPEAKER_00: Um, so I think that's just the way that I look at it in terms of that's standardized, and then that helps me make decisions after that.
18:44
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
18:45
SPEAKER_01: As a purist of strength and conditioning.
18:47
SPEAKER_01: Like I hear words and I'm like, ah yeah, whatever.
18:50
SPEAKER_01: And unilateral training is kind of one of those buzzwords, unilateral, bilateral, whatever it is.
18:55
SPEAKER_01: But when you were talking about unilateral, it is a a single limb that's supporting up through.
19:01
SPEAKER_01: This is not a split stance, it's not a staggered stance, it is a one-legged stance.
19:06
SPEAKER_01: What is your reason with the priority of that?
19:08
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so I think just being around this um this training environment and these athletes and this environment in particular, is that basketball players, especially long-limbed individuals, right?
19:21
SPEAKER_00: And there's a ratio that you can look up and use that if you're looking at your tibia and fibula, um, that will kind of determine whether you're long-limbed.
19:29
SPEAKER_00: But I'd say 85% of the population, even in women's basketball, like they do, they would be categorized in that long-limb.
19:37
SPEAKER_00: So because of this, and again, like I kind of stole a lot of this from Tom Shepherd.
19:42
SPEAKER_00: Um, he really kind of made me look at it this way is that a lot of long-limbed athletes are going to be mostly posterior chain dominant.
19:50
SPEAKER_00: And I've seen that just firsthand.
19:52
SPEAKER_00: So when he was talking about this, this all made a lot of sense and it really clicked with me too.
19:56
SPEAKER_00: And this is where I've also kind of shifted a little bit of how I, you know, if I really want my girls to get after it in some regard, I know where some of their strengths are gonna be.
20:05
SPEAKER_00: And I also know that if I'm looking from a development standpoint, which is really important to me, it's also an area where I know, okay, if we're looking for development for lower body, that's gonna be a lot of the anterior chain work.
20:16
SPEAKER_00: So when we're looking at single leg, right, long-limbed individuals, they need a lot more unilateral work because you're gonna see more asymmetry, or you typically would, or you're gonna see bigger discrepancies in their asymmetry.
20:28
SPEAKER_00: Not saying you can't use any bilateral stuff, that's not true, right?
20:31
SPEAKER_00: You probably need a little bit of both of everything, depending on how you feel.
20:34
SPEAKER_00: But in particular, long leg, long-limbed athletes need single leg work.
20:39
SPEAKER_00: They need unilateral work because they are a little bit more at risk for some of that.
20:45
SPEAKER_00: So for me, if I'm looking at, hey, like what's gonna really help a freshman or a grad transfer because of their body type, well, a lot of unilateral work is gonna be helpful.
20:55
SPEAKER_00: Not saying that they can't front squat, that they can't do bilateral work, but that's just how I see as, hey, that's gonna be an area of attack that I need for really looking at getting them strong, if we're really looking at making them resilient.
21:08
SPEAKER_00: That's kind of how I see the necessity of using like single leg work.
21:12
SPEAKER_00: Okay, so my single leg squat is what I'm deeming as my king or queen exercise for unilateral progression for my athletes.
21:21
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
21:22
SPEAKER_00: And this is what I was talking about earlier, where this is where I can use a little bit more of the top and the mid-range to eventually get into a bottom range.
21:31
SPEAKER_00: And obviously, the single leg squat would be a bottom range exercise as well, but the step-up progression to it would mostly hit on that top and mid range.
21:41
SPEAKER_02: Makes sense.
21:42
SPEAKER_00: So, just to demo that real quick and what I'm looking for.
21:45
SPEAKER_00: So I work with a lot of tall basketball athletes, okay.
21:48
SPEAKER_00: So that's why I usually have them up on a box.
21:50
SPEAKER_00: But it would be the same idea tall chest, okay, knee out over the toe, getting into that bottom range, and then obviously pushing up out of that, okay.
21:58
SPEAKER_00: I think that shows a like a Lot of competency in your body weight to strength ratio, and obviously shows a lot of that unilateral strength that we're also typically looking for in taller athletes because they usually have a little bit more asymmetry if they're long-limbed.
22:13
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
22:14
SPEAKER_01: And it's and it that that's a pure unilateral exercise.
22:16
SPEAKER_01: A lot of people say like a lunge is unilateral.
22:18
SPEAKER_01: I mean it is, but both legs are involved.
22:21
SPEAKER_01: Correct.
22:21
SPEAKER_01: Where that is one leg going up into the pelvis, pelvis thing square.
22:24
SPEAKER_01: Correct.
22:25
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
22:25
SPEAKER_01: So when it comes to this box, how normally do you position the height of the box?
22:29
SPEAKER_01: Because this is just kind of above knee.
22:32
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, just slightly above.
22:34
SPEAKER_00: Um the quad angle is going to be slightly above like your pelvis line, right?
22:38
SPEAKER_00: But then too, like the biggest other thing is that as you're they're getting into the bottom, I don't want that opposite leg to be able to touch.
22:44
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
22:44
SPEAKER_00: Um, so it's completely closing off the working leg that's on top of the box for that uh knee angle, touching, hamstring touching the calf.
22:53
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
22:53
SPEAKER_00: Um and then I just need it high enough where that uh opposite non-working leg can't touch.
22:58
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
22:58
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
22:58
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
22:59
SPEAKER_01: Um you start from the top, low.
23:00
SPEAKER_00: You start from the top, and then same thing like you would on, you know, just a regular front squat, working down, pushing the knee forward.
23:08
SPEAKER_00: Yep.
23:08
SPEAKER_00: Right, tall chest.
23:12
SPEAKER_01: Yep.
23:13
SPEAKER_01: Okay, okay.
23:14
SPEAKER_01: You did say this is a test of strength of body weight.
23:18
SPEAKER_01: I feel like that was a little unfair to say.
23:21
SPEAKER_00: But um stability and mobility, I guess.
23:24
SPEAKER_00: Whoa, whoa, easy, easy.
23:26
SPEAKER_01: So, okay, so I obviously a little limited here.
23:29
SPEAKER_01: So now athletes they come in, they can't do something like this.
23:31
SPEAKER_01: How would you now because the goal would be to get them to something like this?
23:34
SPEAKER_00: Yes, and uh and to be quite honest, like I'm not throwing my athletes right onto the box and saying, go for it.
23:41
SPEAKER_00: Um, this would be something that they would need to be able to demonstrate from the top and mid-range work over time for me to eventually move them to that in the progression, right?
23:52
SPEAKER_00: But um yeah, if I saw my athlete do that on the box where they couldn't get out of the bottom, right?
23:58
SPEAKER_00: If they're uh kind of there's a little bit of instability as they're getting into that mid-range, that's just telling me that we need to regress you back in some of the progression, right?
24:07
SPEAKER_00: So that we can overload some of those weaker points so that as we get to the box on the single leg squat, we can actually get out of the bottom, uh, so we can actually get past that midpoint and that we're still overloading a little bit more of the quad too in that bottom for that deep knee flexion.
24:22
SPEAKER_01: Okay, can you take me through those then?
24:23
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
24:24
SPEAKER_00: Okay, so if I had an athlete that was having issues even getting into deep knee flexion right off the get-go, or if I'm looking at some of their single leg work and I'm noticing that they have uh tendinitis pain, any type of like knee pain as we're going through it, that's kind of showing me that we probably need to start start a little bit more in that top or mid range and working on strengthening some of that before we start moving into some of the deeper ranges.
24:50
SPEAKER_00: That makes complete sense.
24:50
SPEAKER_00: So as we're going through this, uh, one of the first kind of top end range um step-up progressions that I use is just a polyquin step up.
24:57
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
24:57
SPEAKER_00: Um, so let's go ahead and have you do that.
25:00
SPEAKER_00: So typically what I would do is it's gonna be about like four foot two, yes, whole foot on uh the slant board.
25:06
SPEAKER_00: Okay, and then typically for the height, I usually go about like two to four inches off the ground with a 20 degree on the slant board.
25:13
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
25:14
SPEAKER_00: Um so what we're looking for on this, right, is we're still looking for a very vertical chest.
25:18
SPEAKER_02: Yep.
25:19
SPEAKER_00: Okay, non-working leg.
25:21
SPEAKER_00: Okay, you're gonna pull this heel and put it in line with the toe.
25:24
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
25:25
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
25:26
SPEAKER_00: And then all I want you to focus on doing is just pushing that knee forward, tapping the heel, and then coming straight up out of that.
25:32
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
25:32
SPEAKER_00: So again, this is very isolated through the quad.
25:36
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
25:37
SPEAKER_00: And then I want that still staying in line with the toe.
25:40
SPEAKER_00: You'll see a lot of athletes start reaching a ton.
25:42
SPEAKER_00: You'll see them start pulling it back to take it off of the quad.
25:45
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
25:45
SPEAKER_00: And what I'm really looking for is just keeping that same line of motion.
25:49
SPEAKER_00: So we're keeping tension on that on the way up and the way down.
25:52
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
25:52
SPEAKER_01: Are you cueing the foot anyway specifically when they're in these positions?
25:56
SPEAKER_00: Like so, for that, for me, a lot of the athletes that I work with are typically externally rotated.
26:04
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
26:04
SPEAKER_00: Um, so I'm not super stringent on, oh my gosh, it has to be straight ahead.
26:10
SPEAKER_00: Yep.
26:11
SPEAKER_00: I want them to find a semi-comfortable position.
26:14
SPEAKER_00: And then obviously, as I'm coaching it from like a front, um, from a front view, right?
26:19
SPEAKER_00: I obviously just don't want to see some of that medial collapse, right?
26:23
SPEAKER_00: If anything, I'm trying to just coach them to keep the inside of their uh quad just on the out slightly on the outside of that big toe, just to give them a little bit of like a visual feedback, but then and also like a tactile feedback if they're not even very aware of it.
26:36
SPEAKER_00: And I think a lot of the times that I'm working with some of the women, the female athletes that I'm with, a lot of it is they don't even know what they're doing.
26:43
SPEAKER_00: Um, so that's typically the cue that I'll give them, even on the polyquin step up, is push that inside of the quad on the outside of that big toe, and then that's gonna kind of keep that from collapsing inside.
26:56
SPEAKER_01: I mean, I like the way you said that because it's like, you know, we go to school, we have all this formal education, and it's like, hey, here's the the black and white of what's supposed to do it, but then you get in reality and you're like, these athletes don't look and move like that.
27:06
SPEAKER_00: No.
27:07
SPEAKER_01: And you have a lot less time with them.
27:09
SPEAKER_00: Right.
27:09
SPEAKER_00: Well, and also too, like they don't play with their toes facing forward the entire basketball game.
27:15
SPEAKER_00: So again, like this is a non-chaotic environment.
27:19
SPEAKER_00: So there are things and there are certain nuances that I do want a little bit more controlled, but whether their foot or toe is, you know, five degrees slightly externally rotated, I personally don't think that that's gonna like make or break them.
27:33
SPEAKER_00: I agree.
27:33
SPEAKER_02: I agree.
27:34
SPEAKER_00: So there isn't like a specific, yes, it has to be this degree.
27:38
SPEAKER_00: I don't believe in that.
27:39
SPEAKER_00: Obviously, I don't want it, you know, to be 30 degrees externally rotated, but I think there's a little bit of give and tape too.
27:45
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
27:45
SPEAKER_01: So then after that polyquin step up, now what are we looking at?
27:48
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so the next progression or the next, I guess, top end range um step up that I would normally also use is a Peterson step up.
27:55
SPEAKER_00: Okay, let's do that.
27:56
SPEAKER_00: So let's get this pulled off.
27:58
SPEAKER_01: I like I like a stick, that means I have support.
28:02
SPEAKER_00: So my emotional support.
28:04
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so I'll be honest, most of the time that some of my athletes are starting this progression, because it's not just strictly isolated and um stable, is that I will start them out with a dowel or um having like a slight uh balance with the rack, just so that we're not losing like all stability and kind of control with what's going on.
28:26
SPEAKER_01: I I love that because you have to have stability sometimes, the load tissue.
28:31
SPEAKER_01: Especially if it's a nervous system, especially if you're dealing with the load of basketball, like they're already fatigued.
28:36
SPEAKER_01: It's like if the goal, it's like I I constantly reference with coaches like keep the main thing the main thing.
28:41
SPEAKER_01: If the main thing is you're looking at that quad, then any way that we can create an environment that helps us focus on that, that's the right answer.
28:47
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, a thousand percent.
28:48
SPEAKER_00: Plus, like I think people lose this aspect of everything is that this uh environment is a learned skill.
28:56
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
28:57
SPEAKER_00: So none of the athletes that I work with are coming in here, to be honest, with any type of experience that I have.
29:03
SPEAKER_00: And I'm not even like an advanced lifter still compared to like my training age.
29:09
SPEAKER_00: So I think it's I think it's funny when people think that like you can just like hop into something and not have to like you have to bring it the training to the age of the people that you're working with.
29:21
SPEAKER_00: So this isn't, I mean, yes, like would I ideally not like them to use a dowel?
29:25
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, but this is a learned skill, like it's hard for me to do this, and I've done it thousands of times.
29:32
SPEAKER_00: Yep.
29:32
SPEAKER_00: So it's no different than them learning how to shoot a free throw.
29:34
SPEAKER_00: Love it.
29:35
SPEAKER_00: Um, okay, so on the Peterson step up.
29:37
SPEAKER_00: So you're gonna start with your heel still in line with the toe in the bottom.
29:40
SPEAKER_00: You're gonna come up on the working leg on the toe as high as you can, okay?
29:45
SPEAKER_00: Still tall chest, okay.
29:46
SPEAKER_00: And you'll even with the polyquin step up too, you'll start seeing not only athletes reaching, but then you'll start seeing them start bending at the torso, right?
29:54
SPEAKER_00: Because they're a lot more posterior chain dominant.
29:56
SPEAKER_00: They want to take it off of the quad.
29:57
SPEAKER_00: Yep.
29:58
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
29:58
SPEAKER_00: So as you're stepping and pressing this working heel down onto the block, you're keeping this toe pulled up and coming up into the top.
30:07
SPEAKER_00: Okay, so yep.
30:08
SPEAKER_00: Then from there, you're gonna go calf raise and then lower till you touch that heel while still keeping that heel up.
30:14
SPEAKER_00: So still keep that heel up, good.
30:15
SPEAKER_00: And then we'll reverse it.
30:17
SPEAKER_00: So heel down, yep, step up, good.
30:19
SPEAKER_00: Heel, good, keep that heel high and then lower onto the box, okay, or onto the ground.
30:25
SPEAKER_00: So from there, still emphasizing that knee flexion in that top range.
30:30
SPEAKER_00: You should still feel a lot through that quad.
30:32
SPEAKER_00: Now we're just adding a little bit of that calf work too with it.
30:35
SPEAKER_00: Yep, so go ahead, good, come knee forward, knee forward, knee forward, knee forward, good, just like that.
30:40
SPEAKER_01: Heel goes down, yes.
30:42
SPEAKER_00: Heel, good, come up, step up, good.
30:45
SPEAKER_00: Keep that heel down as you're into the top.
30:47
SPEAKER_00: Yep, good.
30:48
SPEAKER_00: Yep, and then come down, yep, there you go, good.
30:51
SPEAKER_00: And so just like that, right?
30:52
SPEAKER_00: No, that was like a great example, too, because um that's where a lot of people as well, or the athletes that I'm working with, as they're coming down, even though there's a little instability, they don't have the eccentric control always to break, right?
31:05
SPEAKER_00: So some of that too is adding a little bit into that category as well, as having a floating, you know.
31:10
SPEAKER_00: Um, how often do some of the athletes that I work with are they ending like this in that position as they're coming down?
31:16
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
31:17
SPEAKER_00: Um, so again, like a little bit of sports specificity, but that is another way to add a little bit of a layer into a step up if you're looking into the top range.
31:26
SPEAKER_00: Okay, okay.
31:27
SPEAKER_01: And then from there, so we did that Polyquin, this Peterson, um, working that that that top range that you were talking about.
31:34
SPEAKER_01: Will you have anything like let's say obviously I didn't look the most organized there?
31:38
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
31:38
SPEAKER_01: But like let's say, okay, you can not say you can't do it, but maybe you're just that training age isn't there yet.
31:43
SPEAKER_01: Is there somewhere like that you would go even below that?
31:46
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so an even more remedial regression on that, especially if I'm having if depending on if they're even getting pain from the polyquin or Peterson, where you're still really working in that like top 20 degrees, is I would even regress it even more to just a backwards sled drag, a backwards cable walk, until they can handle some of that load or heavier loads in some of that top end range to extend.
32:10
SPEAKER_00: Then I would move them back to the polyquin and then the Peterson.
32:14
SPEAKER_00: And then after that, generally speaking, that's where I've seen that we can start moving to that mid-range.
32:19
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
32:20
SPEAKER_01: Is there anything specific you're looking for with that reverse sled?
32:23
SPEAKER_01: Like, is it the similar close legs, the similar toes forward?
32:27
SPEAKER_00: Um, for that one, it's just typically like shoulder width apart.
32:30
SPEAKER_00: But I think um with the backward slag, as they're coming back, I emphasize like a toe, like the toe being pulled up for like that anterior tip a little bit as well.
32:40
SPEAKER_00: Yep.
32:40
SPEAKER_00: Um, just because like with tendonitis, too, like getting a little bit of that anterior uh tibialis like either working or a little bit stronger.
32:49
SPEAKER_00: I found that it helps a lot too with some of that like tendonitis.
32:52
SPEAKER_01: Agreed, agreed.
32:53
SPEAKER_01: I'll even, and I know it's probably I don't think it has a word, but I'll even say I want like a posterior knee drive.
32:59
SPEAKER_01: Like I want the knee back, I want the toe up.
33:01
SPEAKER_01: And it's like, well, I you don't coach that in an exercise, but something like that where hey, you're already close to it.
33:06
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, might as well just let's get there, add in like a little addition to it.
33:10
SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
33:11
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
33:11
SPEAKER_00: Once we've gotten through the top end range progression, or if they've shown that they're strong through that, they you know can be progressed further, then I'm looking at some of that mid-range work.
33:22
SPEAKER_00: So typically that's gonna be like my bang for my buck is just my 90-degree step up.
33:27
SPEAKER_00: Okay, so simple setup, just make sure what I'm looking for with the height of the box is that basically their quad should be at the same like 90 degree angle of their pelvis.
33:36
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
33:37
SPEAKER_00: So whole foot on the box.
33:39
SPEAKER_00: I don't like the half heel on.
33:41
SPEAKER_00: And then obviously starting with an erect or upright torso, okay.
33:46
SPEAKER_00: For me, my hands are never gonna be on the working leg.
33:49
SPEAKER_00: They're either on the hips or like, yep, right in the middle, right?
33:53
SPEAKER_00: And this can all either be plate-loaded, dumbbell loaded.
33:56
SPEAKER_00: If you're really trying to increase some of the intensity, barbell loaded, it's the same, uh, well, it's another way to progress.
34:02
SPEAKER_00: But if we're just going body weight, just either hands on the hips, okay.
34:06
SPEAKER_00: A small nuance that I like to teach with any of my step-ups, especially when we get into the mid and then bottom range of it, is before they even step up, okay, they're got their working leg on the box at the 90 degree.
34:20
SPEAKER_00: I want them to come as high up onto their big toe as humanly possible.
34:25
SPEAKER_00: At this point, I'm okay with that knee coming over the toe as long as the setup to start without this is at 90.
34:31
SPEAKER_00: So from here, I'm not using this back leg, and that's why I like using this um basically extended calf raise.
34:38
SPEAKER_00: From here, this is putting all the work into the top leg on the box, and I'm pressing and extending from there.
34:46
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
34:47
SPEAKER_00: From here, I can just have that back leg or that back toe on the back of the box to kind of guide it down.
34:52
SPEAKER_00: But from here, I'm just coming back down.
34:54
SPEAKER_00: Just sliding the back and then resetting.
34:57
SPEAKER_00: So 90 back toe as high as I can, tall chest.
35:00
SPEAKER_00: I'm not sticking my butt out, but I'm driving and pressing that knee forward and then bringing it back down, calf, reset it.
35:08
SPEAKER_01: So they kind of have can have that back leg is almost like a cue to kind of lock that pelvis in to square forward, too.
35:13
SPEAKER_00: And it really helps like not allowing that pelvis to tilt back and use a little bit more of the low back, the hamstrings, the glutes.
35:20
SPEAKER_00: It's really keeping this very anterior chain dominant as much as possible.
35:25
SPEAKER_01: That makes a lot of sense.
35:26
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
35:27
SPEAKER_00: So let's go ahead and have you try this out.
35:29
SPEAKER_01: So the whole it very so it's it very much seems like you have a goal of getting them there.
35:33
SPEAKER_01: Yes.
35:33
SPEAKER_01: And then it's like, hey, if you can't get there, we have we walk it, start from the top, walk it to mid, then to get to the bottom.
35:39
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
35:40
SPEAKER_00: And you'll see it too, like, even like when we did your single leg squat, it would be bottom and mid-range that I'd be mostly kind of focusing with you, right?
35:48
SPEAKER_00: And then as those progress and get better, then we can obviously retest that, hey, like, how does that look comparatively to the first time that we did it?
35:56
SPEAKER_00: All right, the mid looks a lot better.
35:57
SPEAKER_00: We still need a little bit more bottom range work, right?
35:59
SPEAKER_00: And there's regressions and progressions from there.
36:02
SPEAKER_01: I I feel like in a coaching setting where you have multiple girls, not only does it make it easier for you, but it probably makes it more comfortable for them because they're doing this kind of like the same pattern, but it just might look different.
36:12
SPEAKER_01: So it doesn't look like, hey, you can't do this, go to the side.
36:14
SPEAKER_01: Yes.
36:15
SPEAKER_01: It's more of like, hey, you're not quite there yet.
36:17
SPEAKER_01: We're just gonna change the the height.
36:19
SPEAKER_00: Yes.
36:19
SPEAKER_00: And that's what a I mean, especially with there is a lot of discrepancy in height, especially on the women's side from your guards to your swings to your post.
36:28
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I noticed that.
36:29
SPEAKER_00: So I, you know, I might have a 5'5 guard who is a-okay doing a triple jumper step-up, single leg squat, but I might have a you know, a 3-4 guard that has the mobility but lacks some of the strength or stability to do it.
36:44
SPEAKER_00: And that doesn't mean that they can't eventually get to the single leg squat.
36:47
SPEAKER_00: I think they would, but they need a little bit more of the mid-range work.
36:50
SPEAKER_00: They need a little bit more of the top range work for us to be able to get to the bottom range, if that makes sense.
36:54
SPEAKER_02: 100%.
36:55
SPEAKER_00: So, yep, so 90 degree, tall chest, either hands on the hips or in the middle of your chest, come up on that back toe as high as possible, and then you're pressing and going from here.
37:05
SPEAKER_00: So go ahead, press up.
37:07
SPEAKER_00: Try not to use this back leg.
37:09
SPEAKER_00: Yep, good.
37:11
SPEAKER_00: And then as you're coming down, let it slide down, good.
37:14
SPEAKER_00: Come up into that calf raise and then just reset, heel down, good.
37:18
SPEAKER_00: 90 degree, perfect.
37:19
SPEAKER_00: So we rock back kind of, you're kind of like yep, reset it.
37:22
SPEAKER_00: Yep, as high as you can, good, and then press through this front leg.
37:26
SPEAKER_00: Yep, good.
37:28
SPEAKER_00: And then knee out over the toe, good, tall chest, let it come down, guide it, and then back down.
37:33
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
37:34
SPEAKER_01: Nice.
37:35
SPEAKER_01: And we're see like something like that.
37:37
SPEAKER_01: I'm probably gonna coach like big toe down.
37:39
SPEAKER_01: Yes, first metatarsal down, maintain the arch of the foot.
37:42
SPEAKER_01: Yep.
37:43
SPEAKER_01: Knee tracking in line with the second or third toe.
37:45
SPEAKER_01: I mean, I might say that, but that's kind of like what I'm watching for, watching the pelvis not drifting side to side.
37:50
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and yeah, so the mid-range, I think, is one of the easiest ways to see if there is any like pelvic instability or if they are starting to offload the quad or the anterior chain and really try to kind of make up for it on the posterior chain, which again, like those are training considerations for working specifically with basketball players.
38:11
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
38:11
SPEAKER_00: Um, your, I mean, it is it's like a ratio, it's like your tibia and fibula ratio that's gonna dictate if you're like long-legged, but for the most part, you can kind of eye it out a little bit, with especially when you're around this population as much, but they are a lot more posterior chain dominant.
38:26
SPEAKER_00: So any type of anterior chain exercise, that's something you have to be looking at and you have to be accounting for because those are things that you should be coaching as you're going through it.
38:37
SPEAKER_00: Okay, so the last progression that I would have for my single leg squat, as long as they've shown competency through the top range, mid-range.
38:46
SPEAKER_00: Um, the last one would be my triple jumper step up.
38:49
SPEAKER_00: I think this is kind of the last connector that I've used to get from being able to do a step up to a single leg squat, is at least in my population working with women.
38:58
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
38:59
SPEAKER_00: So how that's gonna work is we're gonna set up like we are doing a single leg squat.
39:04
SPEAKER_00: So the idea is that you're closing off the angle like you would in the bottom of a single leg squat.
39:08
SPEAKER_00: So hamstring covering the calf, okay.
39:10
SPEAKER_00: Common theme between my squat and my single leg progressions, okay?
39:14
SPEAKER_00: And from here, right?
39:16
SPEAKER_00: I'm still driving my knee out over the toe because that's in the bottom position.
39:20
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
39:20
SPEAKER_00: From here, my chest is still upright and vertical.
39:24
SPEAKER_00: I am still coming up on the back toe.
39:27
SPEAKER_00: So, what I like to almost break this down is like a four-part progression, okay?
39:32
SPEAKER_00: So it's push the knee out as far over the toe as possible.
39:35
SPEAKER_00: Upright chest, come up on your back toe paws, and from there, pushing and extending up.
39:42
SPEAKER_00: Okay, so I can still keep my uh bottom leg or my non-working leg on the back of the box to kind of guide me down.
39:48
SPEAKER_00: But the slight difference between this and my mid-range or like my 90-degree step up is on the way down, I still want to push my knee out over the toe.
39:56
SPEAKER_00: Okay, because that's just gonna set them up right for that next rep.
40:00
SPEAKER_00: They'll come down on the heel, knees already out over the toe.
40:04
SPEAKER_00: Okay, I let them kind of counterbalance a little bit with their arms.
40:08
SPEAKER_00: Um, typically I'll like plate load this, dumbbell load this.
40:11
SPEAKER_00: Very rarely, but it's happened.
40:13
SPEAKER_00: I've barbell loaded this.
40:15
SPEAKER_02: Okay.
40:15
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
40:15
SPEAKER_00: But again, you're already set, knee out of the toe, hamstring covering the calf, paws in the back toe, eyes and chest are straight, and I'm pushing and extending through there.
40:26
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
40:26
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
40:27
SPEAKER_00: And then just lowering nice little controlled on the way down.
40:32
SPEAKER_01: Full foot up, full foot up on the box.
40:34
SPEAKER_00: Yes.
40:35
SPEAKER_01: You said hamstring covering.
40:36
SPEAKER_00: Hamstring covering calf.
40:38
SPEAKER_00: Come up on that back toe and pause.
40:40
SPEAKER_00: Good.
40:41
SPEAKER_00: Tall chest, and now you're pushing that knee forward as you're driving up into the box.
40:46
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
40:47
SPEAKER_00: Yes.
40:48
SPEAKER_00: Good.
40:49
SPEAKER_00: And then back toe can just guide along the back side, knee out over the toe, tall chest, tall chest, tall chest, tall chest.
40:56
SPEAKER_00: Yes.
40:57
SPEAKER_00: Touch it, heel down, good.
40:59
SPEAKER_00: And now you're in that position for that next rep.
41:01
SPEAKER_00: So tall chest, good.
41:02
SPEAKER_00: Pause on that back toe as high as you can.
41:04
SPEAKER_00: Yep.
41:05
SPEAKER_00: Now push from there.
41:06
SPEAKER_00: Yes.
41:11
SPEAKER_00: Yep.
41:11
SPEAKER_00: Let it guide.
41:12
SPEAKER_00: Let that knee come out over the toe.
41:14
SPEAKER_00: Perfect.
41:16
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
41:17
SPEAKER_01: Are you doing that?
41:18
SPEAKER_01: Like a tempo count with something like that?
41:21
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
41:21
SPEAKER_00: So typically, I mean, a lot I would say like a big methodology that I use for my training is like time intertention.
41:28
SPEAKER_00: So a lot of this, especially when you get to the triple jumper step up, it's going to be like a 301-0 tempo.
41:34
SPEAKER_00: So we're using that three-second lower, okay?
41:37
SPEAKER_00: Or it'll be like a 401-0 tempo where we're emphasizing a little bit more on that eccentric on the way down.
41:42
SPEAKER_00: Um, because naturally they'll get a pause before the concentric on the push.
41:47
SPEAKER_00: But I mean, even still like with the 90-degree step up, it'll be the same thing.
41:50
SPEAKER_00: Just because they are going to be slightly um with a little bit more knee flexion in that 90-degree with the toe coming up.
41:58
SPEAKER_00: I'll still give them like a 301-0 tempo or a 2010 tempo so that it's controlled and the rep looks the same rep to rep.
42:06
SPEAKER_00: Got it.
42:06
SPEAKER_00: So I know that if they start fatiguing out, or if the intensity's too much and they can't elicit or show that control, then I know one, we gotta cut it, or two, I was probably too aggressive in some of the intensity that I used.
42:20
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
42:21
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
42:22
SPEAKER_01: You have a lot of structure with what you're doing.
42:24
SPEAKER_01: It's almost like uh I don't want to say this wrong, but like kind of like guardrails.
42:28
SPEAKER_01: Like you have your goal type, yeah, and you're willing to move within bandwidth of those guardrails.
42:33
SPEAKER_01: And you said something earlier.
42:34
SPEAKER_01: You said I have an idea of what I want them to get to, that that full range of motion squat, but I could have them for three years and maybe we never get there.
42:43
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
42:43
SPEAKER_01: Because the goal isn't to make them a better exerciser, it's to keep them on the basketball board.
42:48
SPEAKER_01: So, where does that confidence as a coach like of being like, you know, should I move them or hey, I'm good right here?
42:55
SPEAKER_01: Where does that come from?
42:56
SPEAKER_00: Um, I think that just comes through like repetition and also like actually coaching your athletes, right?
43:02
SPEAKER_00: Like you can have the world's perfect program and then try to make that happen on an athlete and like they're not capable, they can't do it, they're not understanding it.
43:11
SPEAKER_00: And it doesn't really matter what you had, you really have to adjust your program and you have to know you don't have to adjust your standards, but you have to know what the end goal is.
43:21
SPEAKER_00: If you don't have an end goal and if you don't have an idea or reason behind what you're doing, it's really hard to sit back and say, okay, I would like them to full range front squat.
43:32
SPEAKER_00: Okay, that yes, I know what that is, but they can't do that.
43:35
SPEAKER_00: So does that mean I just toss everything out the window?
43:38
SPEAKER_00: Like for me, it it doesn't.
43:40
SPEAKER_00: It means, all right, they can't do this.
43:43
SPEAKER_00: That's okay.
43:44
SPEAKER_00: But there's a lot of room between where they are and where I need them to be.
43:48
SPEAKER_00: And so, like, that's my job as a coach.
43:51
SPEAKER_00: My job as a coach is to one, have a standard and idea of what I want to do.
43:55
SPEAKER_00: But then two, I need to have a white rhyme and a reason for why I'm doing it.
43:59
SPEAKER_00: Okay, so.
44:00
SPEAKER_00: So they can't do a full range squat.
44:01
SPEAKER_00: Okay, that's okay.
44:03
SPEAKER_00: But I still need them to still load their anterior uh chain.
44:08
SPEAKER_00: I still need them to bend their knee because they have to do that in a game.
44:11
SPEAKER_00: Like, there's still things that they need to be able to do, even if they can't do the full end range thing or the long-term goal thing.
44:18
SPEAKER_00: Um, and I think a lot of coaches get stuck that, oh, they can't front squat, so they can't squat.
44:23
SPEAKER_00: Well, that's not true.
44:25
SPEAKER_00: And like, what's progressive overload?
44:27
SPEAKER_00: Like, that is kind of the point of what we're doing.
44:29
SPEAKER_00: So they might not be able to start at the end of the race, but at the beginning of the race, you can build them into it.
44:35
SPEAKER_00: So, and I think that's like the great part about our job, is that our job is to coat, it's to make them better and it's to help them like ultimately like understand their bodies too.
44:47
SPEAKER_00: Like, um, you know, I have a transfer that came in too that, you know, previously had a lot of knee pain, a lot of tendinitis, like, and that's fine, but it's it was asking questions of like, hey, so when does it bother you?
45:01
SPEAKER_00: How does this feel?
45:02
SPEAKER_00: Let's regress you back into this exercise.
45:04
SPEAKER_00: It really challenges you as a coach.
45:06
SPEAKER_00: So the more that you have to actually think about that, the more you have to like critically think of what really is the end goal and then work backwards, that's where a lot of the confidence comes from is hey, like this doesn't need to be a quick fix.
45:17
SPEAKER_00: Obviously, it's not, because if they can't do it in like two seconds, like there's probably a reason, um, whether either I didn't explain it or they're like not capable yet, but that doesn't mean they can't be capable like later on, and that's okay.
45:30
SPEAKER_00: And I think that's where a lot of people or a lot of young coaches get a little uh unsure is if they can't fix it right off the bat, then oh well, we can't do that ever.
45:39
SPEAKER_00: Well, that's not true.
45:40
SPEAKER_00: Um, you just have to one be a little creative and then two be a little patient, too, because like they're human beings, they're not like toys that you can just like wind up and they're like playing, right?
45:50
SPEAKER_00: So that's just the way that I look at it.
45:53
SPEAKER_01: When you say the word confidence, it it reminds me of something I always see you posting, and that's uh your ladies doing chin-ups.
46:00
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
46:01
SPEAKER_01: And it's like um, so my daughter's 19, and when I started working with for one, her team when they were like 14, 15-ish or softball team, and I used to work with a lot of volleyball players, like female volleyballs.
46:14
SPEAKER_01: For one, probably my favorite population I've ever worked with.
46:17
SPEAKER_00: Smart, yeah, train hard.
46:20
SPEAKER_01: They'll keep you on your toes, but super athletes, yeah, very explosive, yeah, good movers, interact with the ground well, practice way too hard.
46:29
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, like way too hard.
46:30
SPEAKER_01: But the the one exercise I always had them do was chin-ups, yeah.
46:35
SPEAKER_01: Whether it was eccentric, isometric, holds, but the goal was to get them to a chin-up.
46:40
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and that now my big reason with that is is I'll never forget I had one girl did it, and she did a chin-up and she dropped, and her eyes were like as big as pool balls.
46:48
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and she was like, Oh my god, I did a chin-up.
46:51
SPEAKER_01: And I was just like, Whoa, this is a lot bigger deal than I thought.
46:55
SPEAKER_01: And honestly, funny enough, I was just in Seattle a couple weeks ago with my daughter, and we were at a gym, and she's just like, You think I could do a pull-up again?
47:02
SPEAKER_01: And I was just like, Oh, let's jump see.
47:04
SPEAKER_01: And she jumped up and she did it, and she came back down, and she was like, Yeah, and there's just something like confidence.
47:11
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and it's just like it's it's one of my favorite things to see my female athletes do because it's a like scientifically, it's a really great indicator of just like total strength.
47:23
SPEAKER_00: For sure.
47:23
SPEAKER_00: Um, body composition.
47:25
SPEAKER_00: But then two, like it is something that like most of my female athletes cannot do when they first get here.
47:31
SPEAKER_00: I've had very few athletes walk in the door that could do a full-range weighted chin-up.
47:37
SPEAKER_00: And it is something that one, like you have to work really hard at.
47:40
SPEAKER_00: It's not something you can fake and kind of get away with.
47:43
SPEAKER_00: But then two, like, it's hard.
47:46
SPEAKER_00: Um, and then watching and seeing them, like, they know how hard those like e extended eccentrics are, especially when they're weighted.
47:54
SPEAKER_00: Like, it's not easy.
47:55
SPEAKER_00: And so that's probably one of the most like rewarding things, but it's also one of the most like transferable things in terms of like upper body strength, core stability strength.
48:05
SPEAKER_00: Um, and then like honestly, like that is what I consider like my like king of the upper body exercise for my basketball athletes.
48:12
SPEAKER_00: One of the biggest reasons why I like it for basketball players is it's for a lot of long-levered athletes, pulling is actually a strength.
48:20
SPEAKER_00: Um, whereas like pressing, especially vertical pressing, is actually like one of their weaker points.
48:26
SPEAKER_00: So the reason why I hammer home like chin-ups for especially for women and basketball players in general is because at the end of the day, once they can do it, that is actually a very strong training um strength.
48:37
SPEAKER_00: Um whereas like over time, like overhead pressing, horizontal pressing, that is actually some of their weaker points.
48:45
SPEAKER_00: Um, but it's also actually fun, especially on the women's side too, because again, like there's a lot more uh length discrepancy on the women's side, where I will have a little bit shorter armed athletes, or that is on the reverse.
48:59
SPEAKER_00: So it's actually pulling is actually harder for them, and pressing is easier.
49:03
SPEAKER_00: So a lot different than what you typically see on like men's basketball players.
49:07
SPEAKER_00: So sometimes some of my smaller guards, that is the hardest thing that they're gonna do here rather than the vertical pressing, right?
49:14
SPEAKER_00: So seeing them be able to accomplish that too, it is it's it's a very impressive thing for a female athlete to be able to do a chin-up and then add in weighted chin-ups and things like that for multiple reps, it's like a great display of like athleticism, strength, body comp, everything.
49:30
SPEAKER_00: So for chin-ups, this is kind of like my big bang for my buck upper body exercise that I typically use.
49:36
SPEAKER_00: Um, so the beginning of the progression is typically just gonna be like an isometric hold in the top.
49:40
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
49:40
SPEAKER_00: So top range work.
49:42
SPEAKER_00: I found that if you can hold your body weight, and normally I'll start anywhere between like 10 and work up to about 30 seconds.
49:48
SPEAKER_00: That if athletes can show that they can hold in a top range for that uh for that amount of time or that extended amount of time, then they're ready to start moving on to like that next progression or segment.
49:58
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
49:58
SPEAKER_00: So just to show that one.
49:59
SPEAKER_00: So we'll go chin up, so supinated grip.
50:02
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
50:02
SPEAKER_00: From here, I just have them jump up into the top, chest is covering, shoulder blades are touching the bar, eyes and chin are up, legs are straight.
50:10
SPEAKER_00: Okay, they're hanging.
50:11
SPEAKER_00: This is all through that upper back and the lats.
50:13
SPEAKER_00: Okay, so they're holding, let's say it's 10 seconds.
50:16
SPEAKER_00: Even if they're doing the isometric hold in the top, I always have them end into a full extension and dead hang.
50:23
SPEAKER_00: Okay, because that's eventually where they're gonna start the chin.
50:26
SPEAKER_00: Got it.
50:27
SPEAKER_00: So even when we're going from a top range progression just with the hold in the top, I still want to emphasize where they're gonna end up starting in the bottom.
50:35
SPEAKER_00: Got it.
50:36
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
50:36
SPEAKER_00: Next, once they've worked through that progression of the isometric hold in the top, then I'm going to start to work on some of the extended eccentrics and ideally eventually overloading the eccentric in that as well.
50:48
SPEAKER_00: So we'll put on dumbbells, chin-up belts, all that good stuff.
50:51
SPEAKER_00: Um, again, kind of same thing.
50:53
SPEAKER_00: I'm starting in the top and I'm working and keeping that time under tension, progressing.
50:58
SPEAKER_00: So depending on the athlete, who it is, maybe they'll only start with a 15-second um eccentric, okay, or sometimes they'll start at 20 and we'll progress at 25, 30 seconds.
51:09
SPEAKER_00: Generally speaking, whenever we've gotten to about 30 seconds with some weight on, then I feel comfortable kind of moving on to that next progression as well.
51:18
SPEAKER_00: So how I kind of do that one, okay.
51:21
SPEAKER_00: So again, supinated grip.
51:22
SPEAKER_00: If we're going the chin, okay, I'll have them start in the top.
51:26
SPEAKER_00: And at this point, they know what that means, they're able to hold the position.
51:29
SPEAKER_00: Okay, so they'll start in the top, and then it's a consistent constant lower.
51:34
SPEAKER_00: So if it's a 15, they're gonna slowly come down, eyes straight, legs are straight, okay, about halfway, they're at 90.
51:44
SPEAKER_00: I'll give them a count.
51:45
SPEAKER_00: So that's 12, 13, 3, 2, 1, under control, head through, extension, and then I let them step down from there.
51:57
SPEAKER_01: So they hate you.
51:58
SPEAKER_01: I mean, that is Yeah, yeah.
51:59
SPEAKER_00: It's it's very difficult.
52:03
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and then we'll always, generally speaking, um, I haven't really had to, but 30 seconds for a single rep in a set, especially if it's overloaded with weight, um, is really putting a lot of stress on some of that upper back, the lats, um, even some of the elbow extensors uh or flex flexors um in that regard.
52:26
SPEAKER_00: So if they can work up to 30 with added weight, then the next progression would just be my three-point yielding pauses.
52:35
SPEAKER_00: What is that?
52:35
SPEAKER_00: So from here, the three-point, and this is really great for me too, because even in the extended eccentrics, you can still hide a little bit of where some of your weak points are.
52:47
SPEAKER_00: Um, it's hard, but there are still, especially in that bottom position, while they're initiating the actual initial pull, um, that doesn't always get overloaded even in the eccentric.
52:59
SPEAKER_00: So I like using a three-point pause.
53:01
SPEAKER_00: So the first one, they'll always start with their chest touching the bar, the basically the shoulder blades touching the bar, and then they'll come down to about 20 degrees or 30, and then they'll hold that anywhere between two and eight seconds.
53:14
SPEAKER_00: Again, time under tension.
53:16
SPEAKER_00: I'll progress that as the kind of cycle goes.
53:20
SPEAKER_00: Uh, the next point is a midpoint, okay?
53:23
SPEAKER_00: So 90 degree, anywhere between again, two and eight seconds is what they'll hold it for.
53:28
SPEAKER_00: And then the last three-point pause or the end of the pause is about 120 degrees.
53:34
SPEAKER_00: So right before they get into the full extension.
53:37
SPEAKER_00: So again, like that's top range, mid-range, bottom range, okay.
53:42
SPEAKER_00: And you'll be able to physically see where every individual is almost where they're weakest at in that three-point, right?
53:50
SPEAKER_00: And strength is very joint specific.
53:52
SPEAKER_00: So again, if you notice that your athletes are really weak in that 120, well, then that probably tells me that maybe for that next training progression or cycle before I even move to the chin, we're gonna hit some overloaded 120-degree isometrics, and then we'll hit the chins.
54:08
SPEAKER_00: Got it.
54:08
SPEAKER_00: So it's just another way to check your work, check your athletes.
54:12
SPEAKER_00: Okay, so again, supinated.
54:14
SPEAKER_00: If we're going that one, they're gonna start up, chest the bar, hold it.
54:17
SPEAKER_00: I'll tell them come down to 30.
54:19
SPEAKER_00: They're squeezing and holding.
54:21
SPEAKER_00: So say I do a four-second hold.
54:23
SPEAKER_00: Okay, good, down to 90.
54:25
SPEAKER_00: Right here, I'm ripping, squeezing into the bar as hard as I can, legs still stay straight, good.
54:29
SPEAKER_00: 120, all the way down, almost into that end range, but I'm squeezing and ripping, okay, and then I'm still ending in that full extension, and then they'll come down.
54:40
SPEAKER_02: Love it.
54:40
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
54:41
SPEAKER_00: So then the last, obviously, part of that progression is if they're again competent in those three progressions leading up.
54:48
SPEAKER_00: Typically, I'll overload those three-point pauses as well.
54:51
SPEAKER_00: So they'll have chin-up belts on.
54:53
SPEAKER_00: Um, and we're overloading those specific positions, and then from there, usually if they can get through that, they're ready to hit the chin.
55:01
SPEAKER_01: You've had, you've talked about like your journey and how you've learned so much from so many people.
55:05
SPEAKER_01: And I mean, you're coaching in Miami.
55:07
SPEAKER_01: If a young coach, if you were to give advice to them of, you know, you have these systems now, you have these progressions, regressions, things to kind of like fall back on, go forward to.
55:17
SPEAKER_01: What advice would you give to a young coach that's now coming into this space, or maybe they've been in the space for a while?
55:22
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
55:23
SPEAKER_01: Like of like some direction or things that maybe like a lesson that you learned that you would that you would share.
55:28
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I think um, I think the biggest thing for me, and anyone that comes and works for me too, and any young strength coach that reaches out is that like you have to have a standard.
55:37
SPEAKER_00: Um, because if you don't, or if you don't really know like why or what you're trying to accomplish, then you really are gonna feel lost because like you have a million exercises that you're seeing on Instagram and Twitter and whatever, TikTok.
55:52
SPEAKER_00: And the how and the why behind it, you won't always know.
55:54
SPEAKER_00: But all you know is that they're just doing something.
55:57
SPEAKER_00: So just because athletes are doing an exercise doesn't mean that like there needs to be a rhyme and a reason.
56:03
SPEAKER_00: Because if you don't, then it really is hard to progress or regress if you don't have somebody that can do that exact same thing.
56:09
SPEAKER_00: So for me, it's know what your principles are.
56:12
SPEAKER_00: And your principles are gonna drive your methods.
56:15
SPEAKER_00: Like that's ultimately like the goal, right?
56:17
SPEAKER_00: Like, that's why some of my seniors are doing something in terms of the methodology, they're doing something completely different than my freshmen.
56:24
SPEAKER_00: But the principle of training is the same.
56:27
SPEAKER_00: Um, the goal and the uh principle that we're trying to accomplish stays the same.
56:32
SPEAKER_00: Now the method is different and it can change based off of the athlete that I have in front of me.
56:37
SPEAKER_00: That doesn't scare me because I know what I'm trying to accomplish from a principle standpoint.
56:41
SPEAKER_00: And I think that's where a lot of young coaches go wrong is that they don't have the principles and what they're trying to actually accomplish.
56:47
SPEAKER_00: They just see the different methods.
56:48
SPEAKER_00: Oh, I can use a 612-25.
56:50
SPEAKER_00: Oh, I can use step loading, or I want to use clusters.
56:53
SPEAKER_00: Well, why are you doing that?
56:54
SPEAKER_00: Like, what are you trying to actually accomplish?
56:56
SPEAKER_00: Oh, I want to use German volume, like body comp.
56:59
SPEAKER_00: Well, why?
57:00
SPEAKER_00: Like, what's the point behind it right now?
57:02
SPEAKER_00: Because now that's looking completely different than what your original goal was.
57:05
SPEAKER_00: So I think that's something that my mentors like Dave Scholes, Alan Bishop, um they've like really kind of like Christian Thibodeau, like they've really opened my eyes to like, you've got to have a principle of training because otherwise you have nowhere to go.
57:21
SPEAKER_00: You're just randomly trying to pick and plug.
57:23
SPEAKER_00: And like in an environment in the college setting where things are changing pretty quickly, where you're gonna have athletes that are coming in at completely different spots in their career, you have to have an idea of why you want to do something and how that's gonna eventually be accomplished, because then you're gonna be able to actually make decisions that help your athletes.
57:41
SPEAKER_00: Otherwise, you're just kind of like swimming with no, like you're just doggy paddling, I guess, like out in the ocean with no no way of getting anywhere.
57:49
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
57:49
SPEAKER_01: So well, Brie, I'm gonna be honest with you.
57:54
SPEAKER_01: The fact that you told me you were like, I'm not sure, I'm kind of nervous, like you were you were impressive.
58:00
SPEAKER_01: Oh like I I am thankful for today.
58:03
SPEAKER_01: Um, the stuff you shared, um the your your principles being so open, um, the coaching cues.
58:09
SPEAKER_01: I think people listening to this are gonna learn a ton from that.
58:12
SPEAKER_01: Um thank you.
58:13
SPEAKER_01: Thank you for your time.
58:14
SPEAKER_00: Thanks.
58:15
SPEAKER_00: This was fun.
58:16
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I I yeah, this they incredible.
58:20
SPEAKER_01: Great job.
58:21
SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
58:22
SPEAKER_01: Um hope you guys has enjoyed that episode.
58:24
SPEAKER_01: This is Bree Brown here at University of Miami, and uh it's a performance support project.
58:28
SPEAKER_01: Thank you guys, see you next time.
58:31
SPEAKER_00: Cool, yay!