On the Development of Technique
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I’ve changed my philosophy towards technique development several times during my career. As a beginner, I didn’t believe technique mattered. As I progressed, I began to pay more attention to metrics like bar path and speed, balance, and coordination. While this approach can work, I realized that it often leads to analysis paralysis. Watching and rewatching lifts encourages lifters to get hung up on details that are, ultimately, unimportant.
Ultimately, I drifted towards a middle ground. I now think most lifters should limit their technique development to a simple tenet: be comfortable in a wide range of positions within the context of a competition lift. That means, rather than constantly training a competition squat until it’s perfect, they should work to be able to squat pretty darn well with any type of barbell, any stance, and any tempo. Of course, some variations will be more useful than others, but in the course of working through both the comfortable and uncomfortable positions, the “optimal” one will (slowly) start to present itself.
The trick is being able to design a program that accommodates that type of experimentation while still allowing lifters to add weight to the bar. It’s easy to write a program that uses all sorts of bells and whistles. It’s hard to make that sort of a program productive. And it’s crucial that lifters train heavy while developing technique, because the positions that work under light loads are not always the positions that work under heavy loads.
While there’s no clear algorithm for writing this sort of a plan, here are a few general guidelines:
Layer your goals.
At the beginner level, it’s okay — sometimes even essential — for technique development to take priority over all other goals. But after a lifter has been training for a year or so, it’s time to focus on getting stronger.
Technique work will always be necessary, at any level of development, but an over-emphasis on technique is usually detrimental, for the reason I explained above. The technique that works best with a light weight doesn’t always work best at a heavier weight — and what works best at a heavier weight doesn’t always work best at a maximal weight. Therefore, productive technique work requires using maximal or near-maximal weights, at least some of the time.
Getting stronger should be the first-level goal, and technique might be a second-level goal, but it’s useful to include other goals as well. That’s because technique work gets frustrating. It requires a lot of patience and discipline, and it can make training feel like drudgery. In my experience, a happy, engaged athlete is always going to work harder and progress faster than a bored, frustrated one — so including some “just for fun” goals can actually help a lifter develop good technique faster.
Diversify your movement patterns.
If the goal is to improve a lifter’s competition squat, it’s tempting to program a lot of competition squats. The whole “practice makes perfect” statement is a bit shallow, though. Nothing is ever perfect — and in a powerlifting context, maximal lifts are almost never perfect. In fact, in my experience, lifters who only practice competition lifts tend to be the most susceptible to missed lifts or injuries at near-max weights. That’s because when they get even slightly out of their practiced groove, they’re unable to correct: they haven’t developed any resilience moving in other, less structured patterns.
For that reason, I believe a good technique-oriented program should include a lot of what’s traditionally considered “athletic development” work: jumps, sprints, and calisthenics. This type of training is fun, so it can help alleviate the drudgery of technique practice. But more importantly, it’s very different from squatting, benching, or deadlifting with a loaded barbell. That sort of diversity of movement contributes to the resiliency needed to avoid injury when the competition movement patterns break down under heavy load. (And I promise: they will break down under heavy load when a lifter is practicing them frequently in a technique block!)
Be patient.
When I began my competitive powerlifting career, my squat technique was beyond atrocious. (No, really, it was really bad — click here to see for yourself.)
I was able to skate by on brute strength with that sort of a dysfunctional movement pattern for quite some time, but eventually it caught up with me: I kept getting red lights for depth at meets with loads over 500 pounds. At that weight, and with my squatting pattern, I had to lean so far forward to balance that it was impossible to hit depth without falling on my face.
Correcting that pattern took a full two years. Two frustrating years of trial and error while I practiced my technique over and over again. And that was as an intermediate lifter — I certainly wasn’t breaking any records with a 500 pound squat.
Eventually, it paid off, and my squat skyrocketed. In November of 2013 I squatted 485 at a local meet as my third attempt, after missing it on my first two. In October of 2015 I squatted 574 and finished second at USAPL Raw Nationals, losing to only John Haack. I started using anabolics a few months later, early in 2016, and by April of that year I squatted 705 in sleeves at 198 and won best lifter at Boss of Bosses 3 in July.
My point is pretty simple: technique training can seem hopeless in the moment, but with enough patience and persistence, it can pay off in a big way.
Sample Programming for Technique Development
So, with all that in mind, here’s a sample program for improving squat technique. You’ll notice that it doesn’t include deadlifts or much pressing volume; that’s a conscious tradeoff to allow for increased squatting frequency. It also includes a lot of aerobic training to help develop the mobility and build a solid conditioning base for higher-volume squatting once technique is solidified.
Day 1
Assault Bike
10 seconds max effort/60 seconds rest
6 rounds
Super Slow GHR
8 sets x 1 rep (if you can do more than 1 rep with bodyweight you’re probably doing this movement wrong!)
Superset:
Single-Leg Bound — 3 jumps per leg
Standing Broad Jump — 2 reps
8 rounds
Squat w/ Chain
45-55% x 8 sets x 2-3 reps
Dead-Stop Dumbbell Row with Fat Gripz
4 sets x 6 reps @ 7 RPE
Landmine Obliques
4 sets x 8 reps each side
Day 2
Circuit:
Cossack Squat — 3 reps per side
Depth Jump — 1 rep
Inverted Row — 10 reps
4 rounds
Super Slow Front Foot Elevated Split Squat with Safety Bar
1 set x 6 reps @ 7 RPE
1 set x 6 reps @ 8 RPE
1 set x 6 reps @ 9 RPE
Competition Bench
Use the VESP max effort method
Sled Push — Your Choice
Day 3
Assault Bike
2 mile easy warmup
1 mile max effort
Circuit:
Walking Lunge — 10 reps per leg
Pushup — 10 reps
Reverse Lunge — 10 reps per leg
Inverted Row — 10 reps
10 rounds
Isometric Rollouts (can be done from the knees)
Day 4
Circuit:
Assault Bike — 20 seconds max effort
Pullup — 1 rep
Lateral Split Squat — 5 reps per side
4 rounds
Super Slow Squat
Use the VESP max effort method
Pause Bench
1 set x 5 reps @ 6 RPE
1 set x 5 reps @ 7 RPE
1 set x 5 reps @ 8 RPE
Repeat the last weight for 2 more sets of 5
Sled Push — Your Choice
I hope this post gives you some ideas for improving your own training! If so, I’d really appreciate you sharing it. Just hit the button below to send to a friend.