No Barbell? No Problem - How to Diversify your Squat

By Neal Prokop, Sport Performance Specialist

No Barbell? No Problem – How to Diversify your Squat

The squat is an extremely versatile exercise that targets lower body muscles on the anterior (front) and posterior (back) sides of your body. It is useful in many ways, and for training particular abilities such as muscular endurance, strength, power, and even assist in developing your range of motion. The simplest of squats can be done with no weight, focusing on the form, motor control, and the tempo of your repetition.
Typically when an athlete wants to incorporate a squat into their workout, they immediately picture and think a barbell back squat. To progress the exercise and make it more difficult, athletes often focus on adding weight to the barbell, and getting the load up as quickly, and as high as possible. We certainly incorporate barbell squats into our programming, however there are many situations where we might not have access to barbells and racks to use. Furthermore, when athletes want to focus on mechanics, technique, and are just starting out, there are many squat modifications that train and challenge the same muscles, without the high loads on a barbell.

Here are two main types of barbell squats.
Barbell Back Squat

Barbell Front Squat

For novice lifters, body weight squats can still challenge the body. Changing the tempo is one of the easiest ways to challenge yourself when you have no access to weights. Two common ways to change your tempo: (1) Slow down the lowering phase – try a 5 second lowering phase versus the standard 2 to 3 seconds, (2) Pause at the bottom of the motion – lower down in 1-2 seconds and then hold at the bottom of the squat for 5 seconds before pressing back up to the top of the squat.
Body Weight Squat /strong>

Prisoner Squat

Dumbbells are a more portable and accessible way to add load to your squats, and usually are only limited by how heavy of dumbbells you can get your hands on. The easiest way to add dumbbells to your squats is by doing Goblet Squats as it only requires one dumbbell, or even a kettlebell. Another way to progress from the bilateral stance, is to switch to a front/back stance: Dumbbell Split Squats or Dumbbell Rear Foot Elevated Split Squat. Both of these variations are more demanding and require significantly more stability and balance, than a regular squat and can mimic the effectiveness or workload of a heavier regular squat with less weight.

Goblet Squat

DB Split Squat

DB Rear Foot Elevated Split Squat

When all else fails and you can’t get your hands on any weight, do not despair, there are different squats you can do to challenge yourself without adding that extra load. Single leg skater squats are great to focus on joint stability from the foot to the knee and the hip. Performing these at a controlled tempo can prove to be quite challenging. Jump squats are another squat derivation that can benefit to your training. Adding this plyometric squat to your list can help increase your explosive power.
Single Leg Skaters Squat

Squat Jump

To sum things up, incorporating some squat variations to your repertoire can help you make the most of the equipment on hand. Even with light weight or no weight, some of these more challenging squats can help you focus on quality over quantity and strengthen your lower body while increasing your joint stability and balance.
Thank you to Matt, our intern, for the great post! For more information, be sure to contact performance@sportmanitoba.ca