The 5 Levels of VMO Squat

The 4 minutes, the 30-second video below shows it all! But here's the premise...

1. Your VMO is the teardrop-shaped muscle by your knee. It's the most fast-twitch of your 4 quad muscles, and it's the largest and closest muscle to your KNEE. All evidence points to: the better your VMO, the healthier and more protected your knee, plus the faster you can run, the higher you can jump, the quicker you can decelerate, and the better you can change direction!

2. Your VMO gets prioritized: 1) when your knee goes over your toes, and 2) when your knee bends all the way. And the VMO Squat hits BOTH!

This can be broken up into 5 distinct Levels:

1. Bodyweight, Arms in Front

2. Bodyweight, Arms Strict

3. Strict Dumbbell Loading up to 25%

4. Hack loading up to 25% (Dumbbell is easiest to start but gets harder to hold, so in the video I show dumbbell behind back, followed by barbell behind back.)

5. Bar on Front or Bar on Back... AS STRONG AS YOU DESIRE, but with distinct power of your knees to hold their position out of the bottom!

Zero: The VMO Squat is not typically used in Knee Ability Zero, since the Patrick Step works the knee over toe, and the ATG Split Squat works the full bend. Once these two qualities feel balanced between sides, you are ready to make amazing gains with the VMO Squat! So even on Zero, when those two exercises are feeling good, you could throw in a single set of 25 reps in Level 1 or 2 of the VMO Squat, right after your 5 x 5 ATG Split Squats! The video below shows how to do this even with no slant board, and why it's safe without a slant board when working without weight (but not as safe with weight, without slant board).

Dense Strength: The VMO Squat is used on Fridays for 10 sets of 10 reps in 10 minutes in Dense Strength! It is intended to progress you through Levels 1-4, and if you can achieve Level 4 with 25% of body weight, you could even go BEYOND with Level 5. But don't underestimate just how tough Level 4 is for 10 sets of 10 in 10 minutes! (All 5 Levels are shown within seconds of watching the video below.)

Standards: The VMO Squat is worked for 3 sets of 20 every Friday in Standards and is intended to progress you to Level 3 for 25% of body weight for 20 reps, at which point you can start working Level 4 for 10 reps per set, and once you can do 25% x 10 reps in Level 4, you have earned my green light to start Level 5 and get as strong as you desire!

Final Note: I try not to bore you with historical details, but this one is just too cool...

The original loading behind back in a full squat on the toes was brought to us by George Hackenshmidt, AND GEORGE WAS JUMPING HIGH UNTIL HIS DEATH IN HIS 80s! Here are two pictures of him: one of him doing the VMO Squat with weight behind his back ("his favorite exercise"), and the next of him jumping over a hurdle at age 75!!!

SUCCESS. LEAVES. CLUES.

Without further ado, here's the video...

Yours in Stronger Legs and Healthier Knees,

Ben

PS. To have the safest ride with VMO Squats, you need the right slant board: about a 30-degree angle with excellent grip works best! @slantboardguy on Instagram makes the best board I've found, which accomplishes this purpose perfectly. Nathan and his wife Kim sell them at slantboardguy.com, and I make $0 for saying that. In fact, I consistently pay full price for all the products you see me using, even when offered for free. This ensures I am always giving you my 100% honest opinion. I just purchased a few more boards while writing this, which I will be using as gifts in 2021 for ATG Fam that I meet up with using the ATG Fam feature which could be ready by the end of the month!