Plate Press Squat: The One Movement You Are Not Doing to Improve Your Squat Technique
When it comes to “perfecting” the squat, there are a variety of exercises we can do and a multitude of cues you can receive from a coach. Along the lines of your own physique and body proportions, there is also the category of knowledge that one must know about how they individually squat (longer legs, shorter torso, etc.). I didn’t learn a lot about squatting until I was in college my sophomore year, playing baseball at the University of Portland. My eyes were opened after a weightlifting seminar that the athletic department put on for other coaches and a few select student-athletes. This forced me to open my eyes and question what I had learned up until that point from some great coaches and trainers I had had in the past.
Fast forward eight years…I’m a certified PT starting at my first gym working with clients that had never squatted before. This is quite a position to be in; after working on my squat for almost a decade up to that point, I had to strip my knowledge down to the studs and really brush up on how to coach the basics and create plans with the necessary exercises to improve each client in their own right. Fast forward four more years…my coaching in regards to this movement can go in multiple directions, from corrective exercise to sets and reps for highly literate squatters. With this being said, there is one movement I have come across that seems to be universally fit for every athlete I work with…
The Plate Press Squat
The main reason for this conclusion is that the Plate Press Squat can help every athlete; brand new to advanced; young to old; rehabbing to body priming. The Plate Press Squat is very easy to execute and requires a simple object; a water bottle, your shoe, dumbbell, kettlebell, plate, you name it. This movement can be used as a warm-up for a squatting session as well as a corrective exercise, as previously mentioned, to rewire this movement pattern.
Here are some movement tips to keep in mind:
- Start with your feet at shoulder width (instep in line with the inner part of your shoulder)
- The object starts touching your chest
- Fill your trunk with air (like a barrel) & draw your ribcage and hips towards one another
- As you descend to the bottom of your squat, slowly press your object straight out in front of your
chest
There are a few physical components you will feel throughout:
- Your torso will want to fall forward with the weight; fight to stay neutral & long through your trunk
- You will be able to remain flat on your feet; apply even pressure as you push the floor away on your return to standing.
I prefer to use a plate for personal comfort & I tend to barbell squat more than any other variation. Utilizing a plate also allows you to incrementally increase the weight as you progress through multiple sets. Be mindful that the limiting factor for the weight of the object will be your shoulders. I never go heavier than 25 lbs because again, we need to understand this is a technique-driven movement, not a movement worth trying to set a one rep max (1 RM) on. Try the below protocol before your next squat session:
Plate Press Squat Protocol
1×5-10 @ 5-10lbs
1×5-10 @ 10-15lbs
1×5-10 @ <25lbs
Improve your squat with this one movement & Happy Gains my friends!
– Coach Colin