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Building a Strong Foundation: How to Balance Your Deadlift and Squat Variations

Introduction

When it comes to strength training, choosing the right exercises is crucial for targeting specific muscle groups and achieving your goals. As an online strength coach of 50+ collegiate athletes, I understand the importance of making informed decisions when it comes to exercise selection. It's not just a matter of what exercise to choose based on if a muscle group is working or not, but more so how much each muscle group is working relative to the other.

To help me make these decisions, I've done some research and created a framework that shows the ratio of how much the muscles on the front of the leg are working compared to the muscles on the back of the leg for some of the most common exercises. These exercises include the straight bar deadlift, hex bar deadlift, back squat, front squat, lunge/split squat, and RFESS (rear foot elevated split squat).

The Framework

It's important to note that these ratios are not perfect and can vary from athlete to athlete depending on individual muscle activation and technique. However, they provide a good general framework for exercise selection and can give us a better understanding of which exercises will target which muscle groups.


Our research shows that the lunge/split squat has the highest ratio of 1.8, indicating that the anterior chain (muscles on the front of the leg) is working at a greater percentage compared to the posterior chain. This is followed by the front squat at 1.54, hex bar deadlift at 1.44, back squat at 1.35, RFESS at 1.3 and the straight bar deadlift having the lowest ratio of .94, indicating the posterior chain is working the most in comparison to the anterior chain.

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It's worth noting that the muscle activation on exercises like the split squat and RFESS can also be adjusted by changing the position of the load. For example, performing the split squat or RFESS with the load in a front rack position will result in a greater emphasis on the front of the legs, while performing the exercise with the load in a back rack position will result in a greater emphasis on the posterior chain. Simply put, a back racked barbell puts the torso into more forward lean than a front racked barbell, which is synonymous with more recruitment from the low back, glutes, and hamstrings.

Putting The Framework To Use

Using this information, we can make informed decisions about which exercises to include in our programming. For example, if we want to target the front of the body, we might choose exercises like the lunge/split squat and front squat as primary exercises. On the other hand, if we want to heavily target the posterior chain, we might choose exercises like the straight bar deadlift and RFESS. Or, if we want to balance out the week and not isolate certain muscle groups day to day, we might choose a combination of exercises like the hex bar deadlift and back squat.


For us personally, we've found that over the course of the year it's beneficial to incorporate exercises that are high recruitment from the posterior chain, so for a good chunk of the year during our work capacity and absolute strength cycles we lean towards the straight bar deadlift and back squat, or back rack unilateral variations. I believe lack of hamstring and glute recruitment are very common in the average collegiate athlete, so safely building up exercises that are high involvement for the posterior chain helps athletes learn how to utilize it and combat the imbalance.


In power phases, our goals change, which means so does our exercise selection. We like to use the trap bar deadlift, front squats and variations of the split squat/RFESS. These variations put the body in more ideal positions to generate power, so we utilize these exercises when we begin nearing competition season and our focus shifts to strength-speed, speed-strength, and eventually power.


Conclusion

By using this framework and adjusting the load positioning, we can ensure that our exercise selection is tailored to each individual's goals and needs. We can also take into account the athletes' past injuries, muscle imbalances, and individual preferences. We understand that exercise selection can be a complex process, and this framework is just one aspect of it. But by using this information, we can make more informed decisions, and ultimately, help our athletes achieve their goals.


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