Exercise Education: The Pause Squat

How to improve your explosive power!

The Pause Squat. If you consider yourself and effective ‘squatter’ this the pause can be a great way to play around with a different variation of the Back Squat. And is absolutely brutal.

Why? For the the majority of the time in commercial gyms il see a set of back squats come and go and quicker than it takes me to drink a coffee, that means its quick. The Pause completely eliminates the Stretch Reflex at the bottom. For those who don’t know, the bounce you feel at the bottom that helps you back up is the Stretch Reflex. Its a muscle contraction in response to stretching, much like an elastic band. It’s a preprogrammed response our muscles have and its a great way to cheat when lifting especially when Back Squatting. The ‘Pause’ at the bottom of the lift, which is the hardest part dampens that stretch reflex. To a certain extent you cant eliminate it completely but you can reduce its effectiveness. By overloading the surrounding muscles you will see great improvements in power through your hips and legs. Pause Squat for more POWER!