Athlete looking to perform at the highest level, need to advance their core training even further and should consider using the following exercise modifications in your training.

• Paused Deadlifts

• Zombie Front Squats

• Squats with Chains

Paused Deadlifts

The pause deadlift is a great variation to help reinforce proper pulling technique. To perform start with the exact same approach as you normally would. Take a huge breath and brace your core before then squeezing the bar from the ground. You can perform 2-5 second pauses in a variety of positions such as mid-shin, below the knee and above the knee.

During the pause, feel your legs pushing hard into the floor. If you are maintaining sufficient core stability by holding your breath and bracing your core, you should not feel any reoccurring symptoms in your low back. Perform up to 3 reps per set.

Zombie Front Squats

When performing a front squat or clean, we want to maintain as much of an upright trunk as possible. Athletes will commonly hit a decent looking bottom position with each but will fail to maintain an upright torso on the ascent, allowing their back to cave over. The no-hands “Zombie” front squat solves this problem.

Start with a barbell held on your chest as if performing a front squat. Take your hands and hold them straight out in front of you so that the barbell is resting solely on the tops of your shoulders and chest. Set your feet in a stable position by grabbing the ground with your toes. Take a big breath, brace your core and begin your squat.

In order to maintain the bar on your chest and keep it from rolling off and onto the ground, you must keep an upright torso! Start with sets of 1-3 reps with light weight and only progress in weight as you can maintain perfect technique.

Squatting with Chains

The use of chains when lifting has been a popular method in the powerlifting community for many decades since first introduced by Louie Simmons of the well-known Westside Barbell.4 The theory behind their use is to accommodate for how the body naturally responds to moving weights (called the force velocity curve).

For example, everyone can picture that one guy who does quarter squats with a lot of weight on the bar but has zero chance completing the same weight full depth. This is because the force your body is able to generate is much greater at the top portion of the lift compared to the bottom.

Let’s say for example an athlete’s 1-rep max squat is 300 lbs (137kg). They could load a barbell to 220 lbs (100 kg) and hang 2 chains per side at 20 lbs each. The total weight of the top of the lift would then be the lifters max). As he or she drops into the bottom of the squat, the chains hit the ground which decreases the overall weight pulling down. During the ascent the weight is then reapplied to the barbell.

Using chains unloads the overall weight being lifted in the weakest portion of the lift (the bottom) and adds to the strongest portion of the lift (near the top) effectively accommodating for the natural force velocity curve of the body during the lift. Using this method can help an athlete improve their bar speed and power through the sticking points of the ascent.

Another less recognised benefit of using chains during lifts like the squat (and the reason I like using them during for athletes with a history of back pain) is to work on core stability. The light swing of the chains as they hang from the barbell places uneven and irregular stimulus on the lifter (a similar concept to the use of rhythmic stabilisation drills to enhance neuromuscular control). If they fail to adjust and stabilise their body during the lift they will fall off balance and performance/technique will suffer.