Revolution Conditioning: Goalies Drop Back Squats Like Bad Habit

You know I hate to say any exercise is an evil exercise. So I am just going to say that I think you can do better, much better, and without further hesitation ask you to please abandon the Barbell Back Squat (typically thought of as a barbell squat).

You don’t need it. You are much better than that. Move on.

Your spine and your legs will thank you.

In all seriousness, there are better ways to give you the strong, explosive legs you need for goaltending.

The problem with back squatting is that you can back squat a lot of weight using really bad technique. Go to any commercial gym for seemingly endless ways people can barbell squat poorly. Performing an exercise with poor technique is always a problem, but the problem is compounded when your spine is loaded with a few hundred pounds.

If I were your Strength Coach, I would replace the Back Squat with the Single Leg Squat to Tap.

The single leg squat to tap is a great way to build not only strength in the leg, but also improve stability – and it does all this without compressing your spine.

Think about it: When you move across your crease or stride, you are pushing off one foot at a time, not both, so the single leg squat is more functional for what you need to do most of the time.

I first learned this concept from one of my mentors, Coach Michael Boyle, and was convinced when he broke it down like this: If a player Single Leg Squats 110 pounds, that is equivalent to a Back Squat of 220 pounds using two legs.

However, the Single Leg Squat only puts half the load on the spine and equal load on the legs. So the legs get the same training effect, while the spine is spared 50 per cent of the compression – SOLD!

To load up this exercise, you will hold a dumbbell in each hand. This can be a problem when you get to heavier weights since holding a 50-pound dumbbell in each hand for a set of eight reps on each leg can get fatiguing for your hands.

You definitely do not want grip strength to limit the amount of leg training you can do, so if you have access to a weight vest, try loading it up and then holding lighter dumbbells. For example, we have 45-pound vests in the Revolution gym, so if a player is single leg squatting with a 20-pound dumbbell in each hand, that is an 85-pound squat, or the equivalent of a 170-pound barbell squat.

Here is a video walking you through the Single Leg Squat To Tap: