Adding Context to Exercise Part 1
As we were talking at lunch one day, we stumbled into a new slogan, “there are no bad exercises, just bad context.” Basically no exercise is inherently good or bad, an exercise is just a tool to achieve a goal. The problem is often the context surrounding the exercise. People often use it for the wrong thing, or at the wrong time, or in the wrong loading structure. This assumes good technique, because of course doing heavy things with bad technique is a great way to get injured. So we decided to start going over common exercises and just explain what they are often best used for.
The Back Squat:
The back squat has been called the king of exercises, but it is not ideal for everyone or everything. The squat gained popularity as people started incorporating powerlifting exercises into athlete training programs. This has sprouted programs like German Volume Training or the Squat Everyday programs that have people squating 4, 5, or 6 times per week. Now the question is what is the squat good for? The squat, primarily, is used to build lower body strength. Having a very strong lower body is good for just about every aspect of life. But now we come to the concept of transference in athletes. The squat has your feet in a symmetrical position. This is a position that is very rarely seen on the sporting field. So in the context of building lower body strength in an athlete, the squat might not be an optimal lift. I would often prescribe something like a split squat in that situation. This will produce incredible strength in the legs while being a more athletic position and having better transference to activity. I also like the split squat compared to the traditional back squat because the loads are lighter and have lower axial compression on the spine. If you are more concerned with building muscle mass in your legs, a back squat can be a great exercise.
The Deadlift:
The deadlift can be a very controversial exercise. Many people have recommended not doing it. I, on the other hand, think it is a fantastic exercise. It is a great antifragility exercise. If you can lift 250 lbs off the floor, there are not a lot of daily activities that can hurt you. The deadlift is a very good building strength in a hinge pattern, and I think that is the only context that it should be used. I think it is a very poor exercise for hypertrophy (growth) of the muscles it uses. That is because for optimal muscle growth you need to train near failure. Being near failure on a deadlift is a great way to get injured. This is why I think it is best done with perfect technique in a strength program. This means you are doing very few total repetitions but you are doing them heavy and then resting as long as necessary and you are doing this once, maybe twice per week. In a well designed strength program, you will never fail or miss a repetition. If you want to build muscle mass of the same groups, using something like a hip thrust is a much better exercise. Now with the concept of athlete transference, like the squat the feet are symmetrical. For athletes, I typically like to see programming in split stances or single leg moves. This is where I prefer exercises like single leg deadlifts. This will still confer a great deal of strength to the athlete but helps the development of single leg stability a little bit better and is better for sporting.
