3/26/2015

HotTopic:UsingBackSquatTestingtoPredictLowerBodyResistanceExerciseLoads

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EDUCATION
HOTTOPICUSINGBACKSQUATTESTINGTOPREDICTLOWERBODYRESISTANCEEXERCISELOADS

Introduction
Progressiveoverloadiscommonlyunderstoodtobeone
ofthehallmarkrequirementsforresistancetraining
programdesign(11).Thisoverloadisnecessaryfor
muscleandotherbiomaterialadaptation(11).When
selfselectingtrainingloadsbasedonpersonalchoice,
someexercisershavebeenshowntotrainatonly42
57%ofthemaximalloadtheycanusefortheexercises,
thismaximalloadhasbeendefinedasthe1repetition
maximum(1RM)(12).

However,trainingwithaminimumof6065%ofthe1RMisrequiredforstrengthadaptations
(11),andstrengthistypicallytrainedatloadsgreaterthan85%ofthe1RM(1).Thus,many
exercisersmaybeselectingandtrainingwithinsufficientloads.Exerciseloadisoneofthe
mostimportantprogramdesignvariablesandgoodresistancetrainingprogramdesign
requiresamethodforloadprescription.

HowareTrainingLoadsPrescribed?

Strengthandconditioningcoachesshouldprescribethetrainingloads.Trainingloadsareoften
prescribedbasedonavarietyofstrategiessuchastrialanderror,subjectiveassessment,
percentageofbodyweight,and1RMormultipleRMtesting(4,5,6,7,13).Whiletrainingloads

aresometimesdeterminedfromtestingdata,itisimpracticalanduncommonforthestrength
andconditioningspecialisttotestnumerousauxiliaryexercises(4,5,6,7,13).

Thisraisesthequestionaboutwhetherloadscanbeprescribedusingthestatisticalprocedure
calledregressionanalysisandpredictionequations,withouthavingtotestnumerousauxiliary
exercisesorrelyontrialanderror.

In other words, can some multijoint exercises be

tested and used to predict the training loads for a
variety of other exercises?
Predictionequationshavebeenrecommendedasamethodforloadprescription(1)and
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HotTopic:UsingBackSquatTestingtoPredictLowerBodyResistanceExerciseLoads

previousstudieshaveusedpredictionequationstopredictvariablessuchassprintingtimes
frombacksquatperformance(2)andfreeweightexerciseloadsfrommachinebased
resistancetrainingexerciseloads(3,14,15).Tworecentstudiessoughttodetermineifthe
backsquatcouldbeusedtopredictavarietyofotherlowerbodyresistanceexerciseloads
(8,10).

UsingPredictionEquationstoPrescribeTrainingLoads
StudiesincorporatingNCAADivisionIandIIIathletesrevealedthatbacksquattestdatacan
beusedtoaccuratelypredicttheexerciseloadsformanydifferentlowerbodyresistance
trainingexercises(8,10).Onestudyshowedthatthebacksquatcouldbeusedtopredict
trainingloadsforhamstringbasedresistancetrainingexercisessuchasthelegcurl,stiffleg

deadlift,singlelegstifflegdeadlift,andgoodmorning(10)whileanotherstudydemonstrated
thatthebacksquatcouldbeusedtopredicttrainingloadsforresistancetrainingexercises
characterizedbykneeextension,suchasthedeadlift,lunge,stepup,andlegextension
exercise(8).

Itshouldbenotedthatthedeadliftcanalsobethoughtofasahamstringbasedexercisesince
ithasbeenfoundtorecruithamstringmusclesaswellasanyclosedkineticchainexercise
previouslystudied(9).Basedontheresultsofthesestudies(8,10),thecurrentarticle
providesthepredictionequationswhichcanbeusedviamanualcalculationorputintoa
spreadsheetprogramforconvenientdeterminationoflowerbodyresistancetrainingexercise
loadsfrombacksquattestdata.Thesestudiesused6RMloadswithalloftheexercises.Since
someexercisesweresinglejoint,assistanceexercises,thatprecludedtheuseof1RMtesting
foralloftheexercises.

Recorded1RMvaluesfromthesquatcanbeusedtopredict1RMvaluesfortheother
exercises.Theconversionchartscanthenbeusedtoconvertthe1RMvaluestomultipleRM
valuesforeachexercisebasedonthedesiredrepetitionschemeusedintheprogram.For
example,onceestimated1RMloadvaluesareobtained,theseloadvaluescanbedetermined
forsetsotherthan1repetitionsuchassetsof10repetitions,usingtheconversioncharts.

Table1showsallofthepredictionequationsdevelopedfromthetwoaforementionedstudies
(8,10).Table2showsanexampleofa200lbs(90.90kg)backsquat6RMloadandthe
resultant6RMtrainingloadsforavarietyoflowerbodyexercisesbasedontheprediction
equations.

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HotTopic:UsingBackSquatTestingtoPredictLowerBodyResistanceExerciseLoads

Table1.PredictionEquationsusedtoPredictaVarietyofExerciseLoadsfrom6RM
SquatTestingData

Table2.SampleResultsforPredicting6RMTrainingLoadsfrom200lbs(6RM)Squat
TestingLoads

OtherConsiderations
Resultsofthesestudiesarethemostapplicabletoexerciserswhohaveasimilartrainingage
andtrainingstatustotheNCAADivisionIandIIIathleteswhoparticipateinstrengthand
powersports.Previousstudieshaverecommendedevaluatingdifferencesbetweengenders
withrespecttostrengthprediction,suggestingthatanatomicaldifferencesmayaffect
performance(15).

Theequationsprovidedaboveserveasaguidelinebutmayneedtobemodifiedslightlyfor
menandwomenifpractitionersnotetheexistenceofgenderbaseddifferencesinthe
applicationoftheseequations.

Conclusion
Multijointexercisetestingresultsfromexercises,suchasthebacksquat,canbeusedto
createpredictionequationsforsinglejointassistanceexerciseloadprescription.Thestatistical

analysisfromthesestudiesdemonstratesthatthebacksquatisagoodpredictorofhamstring
andkneeextensionstrengthbasedexerciseloads.

Sinceoptimalexerciseloadiscriticalforadaptation,strengthandconditioningprofessionals
needtoprescribethisimportantvariable.Predictionequationsprovideapracticalmethodfor
doingso.
About the Author:
NSCA

The National Strength and Conditioning Association is the worldwide authority on

strength and conditioning. We support and disseminate research-based knowledge
and its practical application to improve athletic performance and fitness.
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