Have you ever watched YouTube videos of lifters squatting? If you have, you've seen a plethora of technique styles showcased by lifters that range from complete beginners to advanced world record holders. Stance width, bar position, grip width — the list goes on and on of differences between these lifters. While many of the core aspects of correct technique are the same (keeping tight, taking air and pushing against the belt), there are marked differences between technique in the top lifters. You’ll find some squat high bar and some low bar. Some squat close stance with a quick descent and others squat wide with a slow descent. In all these differences, you’ll find one common denominator between the best powerlifters in the world: they have found the technique that best maximizes their strengths, leverages, and abilities. They’ve figured out what works for them.
Should I Do Everything My Favorite Lifter Does?
I mention the above point in order to emphasize the differences in ideal technique between world class lifters and those that are beginners. For another sport example, we can look at Usain Bolt. Bolt is a Jamaican sprinter who has six Olympic gold medals, multiple world records and is regarded by many as the fastest man alive. Bolt’s running mechanics are not textbook by what is taught to beginning sprinters, but he has found a running style that maximizes his rare genetic potential and abilities with his body type and running history. Because he is at such a high level and has been training for years, dramatically changing his mechanics would be risky and likely wouldn’t benefit him. For young beginning sprinters, however, teaching them the standard mechanics which benefit the majority of athletes will be most optimal for their success. We wouldn’t teach a young athlete to necessarily run like Usain Bolt right off the bat because, to put it simply, they are not Usain Bolt. Just because a particular elite-level athlete can use a certain technique, does not necessarily mean that it will work for a beginner. The ability to mold technique and motor patterns is also much more feasible at the younger/novice level. After years of advanced and specific training, huge technique overhauls become more difficult (but still possible). The risk-to-benefit ratio for elite athletes making dramatic changes is much different than that of the beginner. The take home from this is that at the beginning and intermediate level, technique changes should be encouraged if incorrect technique is being performed. This seems like a simple concept, but I have met many beginning lifters with modest strength levels that refuse to work on their technique because “World Record holder x does it this way too!”
Factors that Influence Technique
Now that we’ve briefly discussed the differences between elite and beginning-level technique and what is ideal for each group, let’s discuss the factors that influence an individual’s technique (not necessarily correct technique, but what they are doing at the current point in time). For many lifters, their technique is a blend of the following:
- What they have been coached to do or learned from books/videos/articles.
- What “feels” best and is most comfortable for them.
- What allows them to lift the most weight with their current strengths and weaknesses.
- What they feel suits their leverages/body type.
All of these variables are important, but they can also be dependent on a lot of things that will evolve as you grow as a lifter. For instance, you may begin training under the supervision of a coach or friend without much experience (or no coach at all), but then as you spend more time training are able to get to additional seminars, expand your knowledge, and meet more coaches that help you learn more as a lifter. Your strengths and weaknesses will also evolve. A beginner may have extreme imbalances and certain weaknesses that force them to squat a certain way. But as time goes on and weaknesses are addressed, more optimal technique can be utilized. These things, along with experience and growth in knowledge and self-awareness when it comes to training, will contribute to evolution in training technique as time goes on.
Prepare for Change
The technique that feels most comfortable for you right now might not be ideal for you forever. In many cases, a style of movement that may allow a lifter to feel more comfortable/confident to hit a certain weight won’t work as the lifter starts working with heavier weights. For instance, a lot of beginning lifters that struggle with confidence under heavy weights or have weak glutes and hamstrings will dive bomb a squat as fast as humanly possible and get loose in the hole, turning the squat into a good morning. This is often to try and get depth quickly, get bounce out of the hole, and get the squat over with so they can get the weight off their back. This technique can work for certain lifters (like we talked about in the beginning of this article), if they can maintain tightness and are built for the style. But for beginners who are using it as a way to neglect addressing certain issues, it can be a band-aid that will only work to a certain point. They may be able to squat like this with 315, but will they be able to do it with 600? Some may be able to, but many will need to adjust their style as they handle heavier weights and grow in their strengths and address weaknesses.
The main concept I want readers to take from this article is that technique is always important, and will need to evolve as you grow as a lifter. If you are interested in improving technique, I recommend finding experienced coaches/training partners and utilizing the resources on this website (our articles, Q&A, videos, etc). The free Squat, Bench, and Deadlift articles by Dave Tate are an excellent starting point if you are interested in learning more about correct technique. I’m in this same process and work to daily improve and evolve my own technique as I learn from more experienced coaches and lifters.
Do we want to over-think technique and paralyze ourselves with over-analysis? Absolutely not. But learning to humble ourselves and make changes when needed will lead to long-term success in a sport which demands adaptability from those who wish to enjoy competing and getting stronger for a long time.
