I received the following question from a baseball dad earlier today, so I thought I'd turn it into a quick Q&A, as I think my response will be valuable information for many players - as well as those in the general population who want to avoid shoulder problems.
Q: What's your opinion on bar dips for baseball players? My son's high school coach has a strength training program that includes bar dips and I was wondering about the safety and effectiveness of the exercises for baseball players.
A: I'll occasionally include dips in strength training programs for general fitness clients, but I'll never put them in programs for baseball players.
You see, when you do a dip, you start in a "neutral" position of the humerus with respect to the scapula; the arm is at the side (neither flexed nor extended):
The eccentric (lowering) portion of the exercise takes the lifter into humeral extension far past neutral.
This is an extremely vulnerable position for many shoulders, but particularly in overhead throwing athletes. You see, overhead athletes like swimmers and baseball, volleyball, cricket, and tennis players will acquire something we call anterior instability from going through full shoulder external rotation over and over again. Essentially, as one lays the arm back (external rotation = osteokinematics), there is a tendency of the humeral head to glide forward (arthrokinematics).
If the rotator cuff and scapular stabilizers aren't perfectly strong and completely on time, the only things available to prevent the humeral head from popping forward in this position are the long head of the biceps tendon and the glenohumeral ligaments at the front of the shoulder. Over time, these ligaments can get excessively stretched out, leading to a loose anterior capsule and a biceps tendon that moves all over the place or simply becomes degenerative from overuse. And, anyone who's ever had a cranky biceps tendon will tell you that you don't want to overuse that sucker.
As a quick digression, this is one reason why you're seeing more anterior capsule plication (capsular tightening) procedures being done, with Johan Santana probably being the most noteworthy one. The problem is that after a surgeon tightens up a capsule, it takes a considerably amount of time for it to stretch out so that a pitcher will regain his "feel" for the lay-back portion of throwing. Additionally, anecdotally, I've seen more biceps tenodesis surgeries in the past year on throwers and non-throwers alike, which tells me that surgeons are seeing uglier biceps tendons when they get in there to do labral repairs. These are tough rehabilitation projects without much long-term success/failure data in throwers, as they fundamentally change shoulder anatomy (whereas a traditional labral repair restores it) and call into question: "Does a pitcher need a biceps tendon?" Mike Reinold wrote an excellent blog on this subject, if you're interested in learning more.
Bringing this back to dips, we make sure that all of our pushing and pulling exercises take place in the neutral-to-flexed arc of motion, meaning we try to keep the humerus even with or in front of the body. This is because humeral extension past neutral (as we see with dips) has a similar effect on increasing anterior instability as throwing does. For those who are visual learners, check out the first few minutes of this rowing technique video tutorial:
I'd argue that the negative effects of bench dips are even more excessive, as they don't allow an individual to even work from a neutral position to start, as the bench must be positioned behind the body, whereas the parallel bars can be directly at one's side.
So, to recap...
1. No dip is a good idea for an overhead throwing population. Bench dips - which are probably used more because they are more convenient for coaches out on the field - are especially awful.
2. Regular dips probably aren't a great idea for the majority of the population, especially those with bad posture, weak scapular stabilizers, poor rotator cuff function, or current or previous shoulder pain.
3. In particular, anyone with a history of acromioclavicular joint injuries or chronic pain in this area (e.g. osteolysis of the distal clavicle) should stay away from dips (and another other exercise that puts the elbow behind the body).
4. Bench dips are really awful for everyone.
Looking for a program that trains the upper body safely and effectively - and without dips? Check out The High Performance Handbook, the most versatile strength and conditioning program on the market.
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It's been a while since I introduced a mobility exercise of the week, so I figured I'd introduce a new one that we use with a lot of our athletes nowadays.
The alternating lateral lunge with overhead reach gives you all the benefits - adductor length, hip hinge "education," and frontal plane stability - that you get with a regular lateral lunge variation. However, by adding in the overhead reach, you get a greater emphasis on optimal core stabilization and mobility and stability at the shoulder girdle.
In this position, we'll coach different athletes with different cues.
If it's an athlete who is stick in an exaggerated lordotic posture, we'll cue him to engage the anterior core and keep the ribs down as the arms go overhead.
If it's a "desk" jockey who is very kyphotic, we may have to actually cue him "chest up" because he's so rounded over; we have to bring him back to neutral before we even worry much about the anterior core involvement.
If it's a high school athlete who has really depressed shoulder blades, we will actually cue him to shrug as he raises the arms to complete scapular upward rotation in the top position.
Conversely, if it's a client is already very upper trap dominant, we may have to cue a bit more posterior tilt of the scapula during the overhead reach.
In other words, this is a great example of how you can take a good exercise and make it even more effective, especially if you individualize coaching cues as much as possible. Try it for a set of five reps per side as part of your warm-up and let me know how it goes!
Yesterday, a reporter for MLB.com came by Cressey Performance to interview a few of our major leaguers. While there, he asked me my take on whether or not I thought players' off-season preparation changes dramatically from year to year. My answer was something to the effect of:
The fitness and strength and conditioning industries as a whole change significantly each year, so that would certainly be the case in baseball, which features throwing - the single fastest motion in all of sports - and alarmingly high injury rates at all levels. Guys certainly have mainstays that they stick with regardless of the points in their career, but with innovation as prominent as it is in our field, I change quite a few things each year with how we prepare our guys.
With that in mind, I thought I'd highlight four things that have forced innovation in the way that we train athletes and general fitness folks alike.
1. New Research
There are more scholarly journals - and research review services summarizing these publications - than ever before. Even if you aren't trained in research methods, you can easily get access to interpretations of these research studies via those who are. And, just by looking around online and attending seminars, you can see how other coaches and trainers in the field are integrating this new research in their programs.
2. Better diagnostic procedures, physical therapy treatments, and surgical interventions.
Nobody had ever heard of a sports hernia or femoroacetabular impingement before the last 10-15 years, yet nowadays, they're incredibly common diagnoses in athletes involved in violent extension and rotation. And, taking it a step further, when you can diagnose something, you have to be able to treat it - whether it's conservatively or surgically. Diagnostics, surgeries, and PT all give rise to the need for more trainers to understand new conditions - both from prevention and post-rehabilitation standpoints.
3. More competition.
When you're King Crap on Turd Mountain, there really isn't much incentive to try to better yourself. Nowadays, though, while the fitness industry at times is perfectly described as "Turd Mountain," there is no definitive "King Crap." This is especially powerful when you consider that the industry is moving toward more and more specialization. People are focusing on specific athlete/client populations and still not differentiating themselves as the absolute best. As a result, everyone who wants to be near the top really has to bust their butts.
As an interesting parallel to this, try to name a major professional sport where one athlete is so far superior to all the rest. I'll give you Usain Bolt, but in every other major discipline, there is a far more even playing field. I think innovations in strength and conditioning have played a big part in that. Outstanding fitness can make up for a lot of what high level athletes may lack in raw talent/skill.
4. An aging clientele.
Anyone who has outstanding client retention can attest to this: people change over the course of the many years that you train them. I've trained 13 year-olds who have gone on to be taken in the MLB draft. I've written letters of recommendation for former high school athletes to get into medical school. I've watched how career and financial success can change exercise adherence both for the good and bad. And, I've learned that training single athletes is much different than training those athletes when they're married and have children. Heck, pretty soon, I'll be training their kids, too!
Aside from these social factors, people's bodies change. There may be fluctuations in life stresses that may impact what they can do in the gym. There may be aches and pains over the years around which you have to work. An offensive lineman might decide he wants to lose 100 pounds after his playing career is over. A client may even finally have a hip replacement they've been putting off for a decade.
The point is that you have to be educated in order to adjust to clients as they evolve as people. And, in order to do that, you have to be educated - and stay educated.
This is one reason why I'm so proud to be a part of the Elite Training Mentorship team. Twice each month, this site updates with in-services, exercise demonstrations, case studies, sample programs, and webinars to keep you up-to-date on what's going on with the fitness industry.
I'm excited to announce that through tonight at midnight, you can get 30 days of Elite Training Mentorship for just $1 - and to sweeten the deal, we're offering the entire Fitness Business Weekend seminar (twelve 45-60 minute presentations) as a bonus to those who sign up. This is an absurdly good value, so don't miss out. Click here for more information.
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Here's this week's list of recommended strength and conditioning reading:
Elite Training Mentorship - I normally post my updates here once a month, but this month, it's especially exciting, as we're running at "30 days for $1" trial at ETM, and as a bonus for signing up, you get all the presentations from the Fitness Business Weekend. So, effectively, you're receiving education on the training and business sides of the fitness industry, and you certainly can't beat the price! Head over to the Elite Training Mentorship site for details, but don't wait, as the deal ends this Friday at midnight.
By the way, for those interested, my in-service this month was "Understanding Common Shoulder Conditions and Surgeries," and I also had two articles and exercise demonstrations posted.
Everybody, Never, and Always - This blog from my friend and business partner, Tony Gentilcore, is a great post on why "absolutes" are never a good fit in our industry. He cites some specific examples, but just as importantly, encourages you to consider how these three words apply to your own training.
The squat is one of the most revered strength training exercises of all time, and the front squat is a popular variation on this compound lift. However, like many lifts, it's often performed incorrectly, and in many cases used by folks for whom it isn't a good fit. To that end, I thought I'd devote this article to outlining everything you need to know to be successful with the front squat.
What Makes the Front Squat Different?
A few primary factors differentiate a front squat from a traditional back squat.
First, the bar is positioned on the front of the shoulder girdle rather than on the upper back. In the process, an athlete is given a counterbalance to allow for a better posterior weight shift, which improves squat depth. If you need proof, check out your body weight squat, and then retest it while holding a ten-pound plate out at arm's length; most of you will improve substantially.
Second, because the arms are elevated (flexed humeri), the lats are lengthened. This is in contrast to the back squat, where the lats can be used to aggressively pull the bar down into the upper back and help create core stability. I firmly believe the lack of lat involvement is what accounts for the significant differences in loads one can handle in the front squat as compared to the back squat. However, "quieting down" the lats on the front squat is likely why athletes with such dramatic lordotic posture can often squat much deeper/cleaner with the front squat. Of course, if they have an excessive lordosis and anterior pelvic tilt, you may not want to squat them in the first place!
Third, the positioning of the bar in the front makes the front squat much more shoulder friendly than the back squat, assuming we aren't dealing with an acromioclavicular joint injury, which would be irritated by direct pressure of the bar. In the back squat, the externally rotated "rack" position poses problems for athletes with poor upper body mobility, and it actually reproduces injury mechanisms at the shoulder and elbow in overhead athletes like baseball players, tennis players, volleyball players, and swimmers.
Fourth, the upright torso angle of the front squat reduces shear stress on the spine. More forward lean equates to more shear stress, as the resistance is moved further away from the axis of rotation; just think of a see-saw where your lower back is the middle point and you'll catch my drift. Moving the load further out also increases risk of going into excessive lumbar flexion under compressive load. The front squat – even under heavier loads – keeps a lifter more upright, or else he’ll simply dump the bar; it's somewhat of a self-limiting strength exercise.
Fifth, because the load is positioned further forward than in a back squat, there isn't as much of a pre-stretch for the posterior chain, so the front squat will be more quad dominant than the back squat, which will engage more glutes and hamstrings. Of course, you can use front box squats to shuffle things up and get some variety, but we won't deviate from the point too much here.
Sixth, in the overwhelming majority of lifters, because of the upright torso angle and increased recruitment of quads relative to posterior chain, most lifters will use significantly less weight on the front squat than the back squat. All things considered, if you can achieve a comparable training effect with less external loading, you're dealing with what would generally be considered a safer exercise.
Contraindications
Some individuals simply aren't cut out for any kind of squatting, so before we even talk technique, it's important to start by separating these lifters out. Some common contraindications for squatting include poor tolerance to compressive loading (e.g., symptomatic lumbar spine disc injuries) and femoroacetabular impingement (this bony block at the hips makes it virtually impossible to squat without developing issues acutely and chronically).
Specific to front squatting, poor hip mobility, ankle mobility, core stability can be problematic, but perhaps nothing is as big of a buzzkill for front squatting as a kyphotic posture. As I demonstrate with my Quasimodo impression in this photo, it's impossible to get the elbows up when you're rounded over like a scared cat.
These are really just the tip of the iceberg in terms of potential contraindications, but they serve as examples of how we need to fit the exercise to the lifter and not vice versa. With that out of the way, let's talk...
Technique!
We'll start with the hand positioning, as it's the most hotly contested portion of the front squat technique debate. Only a video will do it justice:
When it comes time to unrack the bar, I cue the athlete to push the elbows up high and take air into the belly as they stand up the weight. This combination of "elbows up" (shoulder flexion) and "air in" prevents the bar from rolling - either because the arms are angled down or because the torso goes to mush as the rib cage comes down.
After the weight is walked out, the athlete should take a slightly outside hip width stance, with the toes angled slightly out. One of the biggest mistakes I see is that athletes go too wide with their stance, and the end result is that the knees have nowhere to go but in:
To piggyback on the "feet in, knees out" cue, I encourage athletes to think of "squatting between the knees, not over them." This seems to get folks to the right balance of "sit back" and "sit down," as an (Olympic) front squat will have more "sit down" than a back squat or box squat variation. Additionally, a regular back squat will be slightly wider in stance than a front squat for most folks, and a box squat will certainly be even wider.
"Elbows up" is a cue that resounds throughout the movement, and it's especially important in the bottom position, when the bar will want to roll the most. Regardless of the hand position you select, make sure the elbows are at or above the level of the bar at all times. One great drill for practicing is to simply unrack the bar hands-free and gradually build up loads. If you can get comfortable with this set-up, you'll always remember to think "elbows" and not "hands."
As you come out of the hole and accelerate toward lockout, make sure you don't get lazy as you enter the easy portion of the strength curve. This is where front squatting with chains can be very helpful; it educates you on how to accelerate right up to lockout, where the hips and knees extend fully simultaneously. If you don't have chains, try loading the last ten pounds of weight as 2.5-pound weights (two on each side). Position the clamp about an inch further out than it would normally be so that they can "clank" a bit. Your goal is to make the 2.5-pound plates rattle at the top of each rep. Finish with the glutes as you stand tall, and reset your breath before descending for subsequent reps.
Speaking of reps, stay away from doing high-rep front squats. Sets of six should be the maximum you do, as muscles involved in maintaining the "rack" position may fatigue early and compromise the safety of the exercise.
Equipment Considerations
There are three important equipment considers to take into account.
First, your shoes should have a subtle heel lift. It doesn't have to be an Olympic lifting shoe, but something that is totally flat to the ground won't work for the majority of folks. It'll take some tremendous ankle mobility to squat deep without a little lift - even if it's only a few millimeters. Front squatting (assuming an upright, Olympic stance) barefoot is probably not a great idea; I can count on one hand the number of people I've seen do it in good technique in the past 4-5 years since the barefoot craze took off. Minimalist shoes are fantastic, but not necessarily for deep, Olympic-style squatting. If you're rocking a Minimalist sneaker, you can always slide a five-pound plate under the heel.
Second, be careful with shirts made of "wicking" fabric. While they may be super comfortable, they do tend to allow the bar to slide a bit too much, especially if you're using a bar that doesn't have much knurling. A quick solution to this is to spread some lifting chalk around the collar and chest to help the bar grab the shirt a bit more - or you could just wear a different shirt.
Third, many front squat newbies will really struggle with the discomfort of the bar position as they're learning to the bar-in-front technique. While everyone ultimately adjusts to this discomfort (especially if they add some muscle mass to the area), one strategy to help athletes get by in the short-term is to just have them wear two shirts while they front squat. This extra layer of padding is subtle and won't change the technique of the exercise, but will make it more tolerable during the learning phase. You can taper an athlete off of it shortly thereafter.
Closing Thoughts
Squats aren't for everyone, but if you are going to squat, the front squat is one great option. Put these coaching cues and strategies into action, and you'll be front squatting safely and moving big weights in no time.
Looking for more detailed training tutorials like this, and a program in which front squatting is incorporated? Check out The High Performance Handbook, the most versatile strength and conditioning program on the market.
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