Isn’t it a little to simplistic to say if you can squat 400, you should be lunging 200?
Even with a step up the mechanics are all different.
To me, the use of single leg work would be used much more in the GPP, and used minimally if used at all later in the year. It would also serve as a supplemental lift, using higher reps.
why higher reps? if i had an athlete who squatted 400lb i would hope he could lunge 200, one of my jumpers only squat 385-405 and can lunge over 225 for reps and we havent done any single leg work yet.
Well like you said, you have someone who can lunge more than half of what they squat, so out of curiosity couldn’t the opposite be true as well?
Someone who can’t lunge/ step up, half of their squat?
And if they couldn’t does this mean there is an imbalace?
The reason I go higher (not necessarily high reps) is because i use single leg movements as a supplement to the bigger lifts.
of course u can have someone who can’t lunge half of what they squat, does mean it don’t necessarily mean that it is a muscle imbalance. single leg movements are tricky bc no matter how strong u r they take some time to get use to before loading major weight. do you train track athletes or team sports? how do u input the single moves into ur strength program, do you perform a sq and single leg move etc?
I would say yes and no. I think the point is to train single-leg strength with an approach you would apply to performance in general. It’s too simple to say train with high reps. Why not use low reps, mid reps? People approach arms training the same way also (in bodybuilding). True, the step-up is different (in the world of single-leg lifts, the step-up is more of a deadlift and a lunge is more of a squat), but to think of single-leg strength as somehow not worth the same attention as 2-legged strength is a training error, and vice-versa.
Very interesting thread. Many proponents of single leg work (say Mike Boyle) consider this modality more “sport specific” as most sports are played on “one leg at a time”. Additionally, single leg work will strengthen the muscles that stabilize the body in the frontal plane (including adductors, glute medius) to a much greater degree than traditional bilateral work. The abdominals are also strengthened more appropriately employing single leg work vs. bilateral training. Again this is all from the viewpoint of the strong single leg proponents. Personally I like single leg work to supplement but not replace exercises such as squats and RDLs. Single leg work simply will not allow enough CNS stimulation due to the lighter loads necessitated. I specifically like the so called Bulgarian Split Squat as it is a stable enough exercise to allow the use of relatively heavy weight.
For what its’ worth I believe Bondarchuk has completely done away with the back squat in favor of the “high box” step up.
Bob Tomlinson
I’m not sure the “adding single leg work to provide the necessary variation in training” is a cogent argument as Bondarchuk has made use of only six exercises (snatch, C&J, power clean, power snatch, front and back squats) since sometime during the 1980’s. Variety is provided by changing the loading parameters as necessary.
Bob Tomlinson
We must clear one thing first:
Are we discussing the usage of single leg lifts for (a) powerlifters, (b) Olympic lifters, © bodybuilders or the (d) the “other” (non-strenght) athletes!???
The answer may vary depending on the question, same as the answer regarding variety (changing the exercises) may vary…
When dealing with (d) group (other athletes), I like to have a stable exercises I don’t change over time (only loading parameters) — CORE lifts, and the ones I change on 2-4wk basis — ASSISTANCE lifts. As for training “other athletes” I am more leaned toward Michael Boyle’s approach. But I certainly wouldn’t replace the big players with single leg-single arm variation… Why are we allways discussing about yes or no situation… Why not both? Why “or” logic, why not “and” logic
thats soo silly why, replace the squat with stepups. i read that article i dont think its ture
why do both, if you do both you have to drop a core lift.
All I know is I read Charlie’s bit against step-ups on this forum and I told somebody on this forum about it. He believed in the Bondarchuk philosophy went with it, and he now has an ankle injury that has lasted years from ONE incident during step-ups. I wonder if he will chime in on the whole step-up replacing squats deal.
Why would you do that?
What is wrong with the following template
A1. Front Squat 3x3
A2. Pull Ups 3x3
B1. Standing Millitary Press 2x5
B2. Split Squat (or any SL variation) 2x5
Why should you drop the core lift (front squat)?
the following template you have is ok, but why would you want to < the core lift volume just to do 2x5 of single leg movement - is the benefit that great? just dont look like enough vol for strength gains. just want to make one thing clear im not saying single leg movements are not good for some people, just for myself and my current problems, dont fit well into my system of training.
Admittedly, I have never taken up a disagreement with Charlie because the man knows his stuff. But, it’s difficult for me to argue against single-leg exercise because a forum member had an injury (or because of others injuring themselves using single-leg work). Do you guys realize what the popular culture thinks about squats? That’s opening up a whole new can of worms.
lol, most of the things the popular culture says bout squats are MYTHS.
Please understand that I don’t fall into the “let’s replace squats with step ups” camp by any stretch. However I think single leg stuff certainly has its place for certain people. Regarding the guy who got hurt doing step-ups I think it would be important to know if there was any type of proper progression, etc. If the inception of the step up was too abrupt in terms of loading and box heigth that might explain something. One of the benefits to performing a single leg protocol would be to improve ankle stability. I believe one of Bondarchuk’s reasons for adopting the step up was to decrease spinal loads.
Bob Tomlinson
UTfootball4-
As an aside, I think that 2X5 of a single leg movement is probably adequate volume to enhance relative strength. FWIW.
Bob Tomlinson
so you would rather do 3x3 fsq and 2x5 single leg movement instead of 5x3 of fsq… which one gives u the biggest bang for ur buck.
Specifically I would prefer to do 3x3 back squat (with safety squat bar) and 2x5 of a loaded Bulgarian Split Squat. I don’t think you can simply say “which one gives you the most bang for your buck?” Meaning they both serve a specific purpose in my mind. The glute medius, external hip rotators and adductors are being worked in a way the back squat can’t approximate. If we assume the “sport is played on one leg at a time” argument is a good one then logically it would make sense to include SOME single leg work in the training regimen. Of course, if you don’t buy the argument and SAID principle then forget the single leg stuff.
Bob Tomlinson
lol. most bang for your buck, which one work more muscle i would think the back squat. remember we are talking bout sprinters and weights are only one piece of the puzzle so i need to hit big movments. all this crap about running is one legged etc, i think sprinters get enough one legged activites, think about how much sprinting they do and hopping cant get anymore specific then that.