The Goblet Squat

Hey, Alan - nice work on reporting this one!  I love the look of it for a functional movement - very whole-body and very intense! 

My impressions are mixed.

As I said, I love the intensity and the fact that it forces a sumo-stance, explosive movement.

The reason CP probably derided it is as a direct comparison to a leg-building/strengthening exercise.  It can't replace a squat or heavy leg press for mass or pure strength due to the limitations of only being able to use as much as you can hold up with your shoulders.  Going heavy all the time isn't the only thing you need, but you do need it.  If I can leg press 1,000 lbs for 20 deep reps but can only hold 120-lb DB for 20 reps, I'm sure you can't argue that my legs will get just as strong and developed using the DB.  But, as I said, those movements (with the DB) do have great value as accessory movements and especially as athletic/functional movements.  Let me share a lower-weight workout I did this week that tore me up - I haven't been this sore in a long time.

We had two new Diet Doc licensees in for training this week, Super Star Sam Langston from Illinois and Master's Pro Freaky Shredded Larry Roberts.  Larry started us out on his warm up which was supersetting extensions into lunges.  I rarely do lunges and I don't do too many sets of extensions, so I knew right away this would be different enough to get my attention.  I worked up to just 30 or 35 lb DBs for lunges with a total of 5 sets there.  Then we superset between leg press and hacks - 5 or 6 sets there, increasing the weight on the leg press each set to just 5 plates on each side for 20 reps per set.  Hacks were 15 reps and up to only 2 plates on each side.  Then we went to box squats giant set with front squats and back to extensions.  Four total sets, ending with 225 on the squat for 20 reps, 135 on the front (Smith machine) squat, and to extensions - all to failure on the last round.  Three of us doing legs got the whole workout done in under an hour, nothing even close to heavy weight, but the sheer volume and depth made it nasty.  Very solid soreness and obviously a great workout....I could see the Goblet Squat being right in there as part of the giant set or mid-workout superset. 

I love how much you bring into training discussion, Alan - all discussion, really.  You're awesome!

Thanks for the kind words, Joe . . .  and . . . great workout, by the way!

I had a couple of reasons for posting this. The first, was to point out this exercise to the younger element on here as a useful addition to their leg routine. Joe's experienced reply confirms this.

The second, was that there may be others, with squatting / leg pressing issues or " ordinary " clients slightly older in years, that I think this exercise may benefit.

I have always had problems with both squatting and leg pressing. In the old days ( here we go again ) we did not have decline leg press machines, only the vertical option. Being crunched under a heavy weight on one these things has done me no favors in later years. Even now, the decline machine is really uncomfortable. This new exercise I have tried and found to be easy to perform. Is " easy " the correct word? Maybe " natural " would be better. After all, this is the way we " squat " when we are very young children. Anyway, this is one of the reasons that I absolutely love it and no one, not even Charles Poliquin will persuade me otherwise. 

My mini goal this year is to equal this young man's achievement in this video for my 67th birthday. Wish me luck!

If you hold a 120-lb DB at shoulder level for 20 reps on your 67th birthday, schedule tendon re-attachment surgery for the next day.  You'll need a long-head bicep tendon or supraspinatus tendon tacked back onto the bone.  I don't think there's enough titanium in the pins to trigger airport metal detectors, though - that's the good news.

Don't you believe it . . . adopted Vikings are made of sterner stuff . . . . I am almost halfway there . ..  11 to go!

Surprisingly enough, to me at least, it is the process of getting the damned thing in position that is the toughie. I tip the dumb bell on end on a bench and then struggle with it to my shoulders. The workout on your core ( using the latest trendy word ) is huge! Almost forgot, not that important, but breathing also becomes an issue. Did I actually say that I was enjoying these ?

I may give them a try this week - but not with the 120.  I could use the internal hip joint capsule flexibility....it'll be a challenge to get that low and that wide!

I like 'em, Alan.  I needed to get some dead lifts in (travel and condensed training schedule), so we did:

Lying Hamstring Curls

Sumo Dead Lifts

Leg Extensions

Goblet Squats

Started with a 10-lb DB on the first set of Goblets.  It was a warm-up set, Alan!!  Went up 10 lbs at a time up to 100-lb DB....a lot of sets!

The abs and mid-back work was what I thought it would be - it'll be interesting to see how sore I am there.  It wasn't hard to hold the DB - I recant. 

Glad you enjoyed these, Joe. Maybe we have gone some way to persuading others to try them !

Two or three workouts with the Goblet Squat, Alan - I kinda like 'em!  I used them in a giant set this week:

Box Squats

to

Goblet Squats

to

Weighted Lunges

I went up to 405 on squats and up to 100 lbs on Goblet squats and I think only 40's on lunges (DB).  A fun secondary movement - just feels good to hold the weight up there while squatting (much to the contrary of my original assessment) - makes is a whole-body effort.

I threw these in awhile ago after deciding to jump on the goblet train myself.

Definitely unique, though not nearly as hard as I thought they would be. I was short on time when I did these, so I was actually doing a combined leg/back day. I supersetted sets of 20 on the sumo deadlift into sets of 15-20 on the goblet. Definitely enough to make me miserable but I have to give more credit to the deadlift for that. By the time I got over the db rack I was gasping for air. My impressions though:

Great movement functionally.

Great way to get your lower back involved a bit more.

Made my abs sore...totally unexpected but not unlogical

Made the palms of my hands sore - again unexpected but it makes sense.

I only worked up to the 100's...more weight would like be more miserable. ;)

Overall though, a good motion that I will keep using. And now I will make other people use it too. Thanks Alan!

Glad you both like them, guys! I have to agree Sean, that when you go over 100 lbs ( I actually progress through to 116 lbs on my final set ) they suddenly seem to become hard or uncomfortable, or both. Great for teaching people to squat in good form, naturally and low, though.

I saw another variation of this movement on the web at the weekend, which I tried myself and enjoyed. Once again, something I have never witnessed before. The picture I saw of this move had the headline " Deep Deadlifts ". I am not so sure about that, as in practice they seemed to resemble the Goblet Squat without any of the discomfort, at least to me.

Grabbing a heavy dumb bell by one end and letting it hang naturally between your legs, stand on 2 raised boxes ( one under each foot! ) and perform a very deep squat with the weight dropping between the boxes. Try this one, too . . . . . and see what you think.

Parillo made a machine to do that and it is (was?) freaky.  Imagine a V-grip handle like you would use on a low-cable row, attached to a vertical bar/pole that slides virtually friction free.  Likely had rollers that acted like bearings.  You hold that so you don't lose your balance and you can lean back.  Then, you stood on two platforms with the middle cut out and with a belt, you were either holding a DB with a chain or it may have even attached to a barbell apparatus below where you could load weight....I can't remember - I used it only once about 20 years ago.  That is a pure squat. 

I knew that my newly found love affair with this exercise over the last few months, would come in useful one day.

At the weekend, I achieved my Level 1 Kettle Bell Instructor's Certificate. I have the dubious honor of being the oldest person qualified to instruct in Norway ! Three of us were successful out of the whole group, with the other 2 guy's being physical training instructor's in the army, which made me all the more pleased. The final physical test of 30 minutes was "eyeballs out" and as hard as anything that I have ever done. If it wasn't for practice of the Goblet Squat, I doubt if I would achieved some of the required moves.

Anyone for private lessons?

Nice work, Alan!  If I come to Norway, we're training together!