Stephen Francis - interview/training

[AthleticsCoach]

@kitkat1

Without wishing to be overly provocative, what is sprinting other than a series of alternative single-leg impulses, so you can see why some coaches think derivative squats such as single-leg movements are appropriate.

Personally I think single-leg unloaded squats are probably related more to core-strength and stability than actual leg strength.

I coached a young woman who could do 10x single-leg deep squats off each leg (with the other leg triple extended in front but not touching the ground) but she was hopeless doing double-foot squat with a barbell.

On the other hand, I had the chance to work briefly with a footballer who squatted 246kg but could not do one rep unloaded single-leg squat. He could go down, but could not stand back up.

Not provocative at all. I like split squats, lunges and step ups. Mennea did tons of split squats, albeit with relatively light weights.

I agree to an extent regarding the core strength relationship of single leg squats. All squatting movements require an element of core strength though and this needs to be accounted for in the planning of training. How should the ab work change as the squat max increases? An athlete squatting big weights should have incredible core strength, at least in theory. I’m sure that for that football player it was an issue of joint mobility or an inability to activate the appropriate muscle groups either individually or in sequence.