4 Reasons Why Every Senior Should Squat & How to Do It (PLUS Bad Squat Advice & Myths to Ignore)

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Starting Strength Coach Phil Meggers covers 4 reasons older adults should be squatting as well as how to correctly do it. He also addresses 8 pieces of bad squat advice and myths to flat out ignore.

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How to Instantly Squat More Weight

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A while back, I had a conversation at the gym with one of our members - “Lou” (name changed to protect the poor soul who I dragged into a conversation). Lou was having a problem with his squat on this particular day, and specifically, he was struggling to effectively utilize the stretch reflex - AKA the “bounce” - out of the bottom of the movement.

Lou is certainly not the first person to struggle with this, nor will he be the last, so let’s briefly discuss how to get a useful bounce out of the bottom of the squat.

What is this bounce that you speak of?
As the squat starts, you descend under control, and then you want to get a tight bounce upward when you hit depth. We refer to the stretch reflex as a “bounce” because this is what it looks like if performed correctly, so don’t worry, you’re not actually bouncing off of anything (such as your calves or something else equally silly). The word “bounce” simply refers to the visual phenomenon that we witness - the rebound out of the bottom will somewhat resemble a ball bouncing off the floor (albeit slower).

The stretch reflex is very useful, and without going into the anatomical specifics of the situation, for now, it suffices to say that it makes for a more effective, forceful muscular contraction when used correctly. In other words, it makes your squat stronger.

With that said, there are two ways to mess this up, so let’s cover them both as well as how to fix each situation (watch the video below to see these solutions in action).

Mistake #1: Pausing at the bottom of the squat (or descending too slowly)
Quite simply, don’t pause at the bottom of your squat. This makes for a harder and less efficient squat as it ruins the effect of the stretch reflex - this is precisely why a pause squat always utilizes less weight than a regular squat.

To eliminate a pause at the bottom of your squat, cue yourself “think up all the way down.” In this way, you are preparing yourself for the upward aspect of the bounce throughout the entire descent, so you’ll be ready for a nice, sharp turnaround the moment you hit the bottom of the squat.

On a lesser note, don’t descend too slowly, either. If it takes you three seconds to reach the bottom of your squat, speed things up a bit. You want a controlled descent, but not a painfully slow descent.

Mistake #2: Descending too quickly
The problem of descending too fast shows up in two ways. First, a lifter might go down too fast throughout the entire movement. Second, he goes down too fast only near the bottom of the descent, i.e., he descends at a normal pace for most of the squat and then speeds up or “dive-bombs” the last few inches of the descent. The second version of this error was Lou’s problem - most of his descent was solid, and then he would drastically speed up the last few inches of the downward movement in an effort to get a better bounce.

The problem with either version of this error is that if you descend too quickly, you will either relax or “collapse” into the bottom of the squat - which is not useful for getting a good bounce - or you’ll descend quickly enough that you’ve created more downward momentum than necessary, thus making it that much harder to turn around and drive back up.

One way to handle this problem is to cue yourself “tight bounce.” If you remind yourself to get tighter and tighter all the way down, you’ll probably do a solid job of not allowing yourself to relax any muscle groups at the bottom of the lift.

Another solution - and this is the solution that helped Lou - is to cue yourself “smooth down, smooth up.” When a lifter speeds up his descent for the last few inches, it’s usually in an effort (however misguided it may be) to get a better bounce, so by thinking “smooth down, smooth up,” Lou stopped thinking about the bounce completely and instead focused on a smooth turnaround (i.e., transition) between the downward and upward portions of the squat. As a result, he controlled his pace effectively and achieved a tighter and more efficient bounce in his squat.

As always, we hope this helps you get stronger and live better,

-Phil

PS: Whenever you want even more Testify in your life, here are some free resources:

  • Book a free intro and strategy session with us HERE.

  • Pick up a free copy of Testify’s Squat Guide: 12 Tips to Improve Your Squat Now HERE.

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At Testify, we offer small group training, private coaching (in-person or remotely via Zoom), online coaching, and form checks. Interested in getting stronger, looking better, and having more energy?

Top 8 Squat Myths

/ Testify Strength & Conditioning/

More people than ever are learning that the squat is important for getting stronger. However, as popularity increases, so do the number of myths surrounding this movement. Starting Strength Coach Phil Meggers puts this nonsense to bed.

Whenever you want even more Testify in your life, here are some free resources:

  • Book a free intro and strategy session with us HERE.

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11 Mistakes that Make Your Squat Look Like GARBAGE

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Starting Strength Coach Phil Meggers covers 11 common squat errors and how to fix them so you can have a stronger and more efficient squat.

Whenever you want even more Testify in your life, here are some free resources:

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At Testify, we offer small group training, private coaching (in-person or remotely via Zoom), online coaching, and form checks. Interested in getting stronger, looking better, and having more energy?

The THREE Things Everyone Should Know About the Squat

/ Testify Strength & Conditioning/

Do these 3 things to get yourself into the strongest position when squatting. Starting Strength Coach Phil Meggers explains.

(A Blast from the Past video originally published on 09/12/22)

Whenever you want even more Testify in your life, here are some free resources:

  • Book a free intro and strategy session with us HERE.

  • Pick up a free copy of Testify’s Squat Guide: 12 Tips to Improve Your Squat Now HERE.

  • Get our free weekly email - containing useful videos, articles, and training tips - HERE.

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At Testify, we offer small group training, private coaching (in-person or remotely via Zoom), online coaching, and form checks. Interested in getting stronger, looking better, and having more energy?

The Pause Squat: What, How, and Why

/ Testify Strength & Conditioning/

In several of our previous articles, we’ve covered the pin squat, box squat, and tempo squat. Today, let’s briefly discuss the pause squat. 

What is a pause squat?
A pause squat is a squat wherein you descend, pause for a moment at the bottom of the movement, and then squat the weight back up again.

How do you perform a pause squat?
You descend as you would in a normal squat - hips go back, knees go forward and out (staying in line with your toes), and your chest points down. 

At the bottom of the squat, you’re simply going to pause in this position. A two-second pause at the bottom is very common, and make sure you’re not cheating the pause. If you’ve got a training partner to count aloud “one-thousand-one, one-thousand-two,” that’s ideal. If you don’t, be sure to remind yourself to count slowly in your head, or as some lifters do, you can simply count to three or four instead since most people count fast under a challenging load.

After the pause, drive the hips up out of the hole as you would in a normal squat and continue your ascent.

Why might you do pause squats or where might you see them in your programming? 
Let’s say your coach has programmed you within a Heavy-Light-Medium structure or something similar - in this case, you might see a pause squat show up as a medium day squat or a light day squat (the loading and volume need to be carefully managed - especially if it’s a light day squat). 

Due to the pause at the bottom, the pause squat - like the pin squat and box squat - eliminates the stretch reflex (the “bounce”) out of the bottom, so it’s a disadvantaged squat, and thus you’ll need to use a lighter weight than with your regular squat, so it fits the bill for a medium or light squat. However, as with the pin squat and box squat, remember that “lighter” does not necessarily mean easy.

The pause squat can also be useful for a number of other reasons - one of which is that it can help a lifter focus on a specific aspect of his technique. For example, if Billy is working on hitting the correct position at the bottom of the squat, this forces him to spend some quality time in that position and allows him to focus on being leaned over, having the hips back, keeping the knees out, etc.

If Billy has the highly specific medical condition known as grumpy knees, the pause squat can provide a valuable way to squat as it eliminates the stretch reflex out of the bottom. Make no mistake - the “bounce” that you normally use in the squat is very productive and makes for a more effective and efficient muscular contraction, but if you’ve got knees that are giving you some problems, you might find that the pause squat works quite well for you.

As always, we hope this helps you get stronger and live better.

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At Testify, we offer small group training, private coaching (in-person or remotely via Zoom), online coaching, and form checks. Interested in getting stronger, looking better, and having more energy?