Yet Another Exercise You Should Already Be Doing: Back Squat to Press

There appears to be a massive amount of confusion surrounding my recommendations for lifts like the Reverse-Grip Clean and Press, or the exercise I'm highlighting today- the Back Squat to Press. These exercises, as I thought I'd made clear, are hardly intended to be the cornerstone of your program. Unless, of course, you've some keen interest in the lift and happen to want to do it fanatically, you're awesome at it and want to get awesomer, or you simply like scaring the shit out of random passers-by by doing a lift not seen within the confines of a gym since men wore unitards and roman sandals as part of their regular gym attire.

With that caveat in place, allow me to introduce the lift that eventually gave rise to the BTN Push Press in my workout- the Back Squat to Press. This lift is essentially a complex that combines a push press with a back squat, though I prefer to do this as a strength movement rather than the ultra-light cardio sentiment with which it's generally regarded. The full squat will generally limit the amount of weight you use, as it's difficult to get the hip pop at the top of the movement that one can generate in the BTNPP. You can, however, cut down your rest periods and go reasonably heavy on this lift as a nice departure from your normal routine that isn't akin to ambling about the gym with some pink neoprene dumbbells and then hitting the elliptical for a rousing 20 minutes of bullshit steady-state cardio.

As to form, you can see that it's fairly simple- do a deep full squat, power out of the hole and drive up onto your toes, and press the weight to lockout. I'll generally do these for 5-10 sets of 3-5 reps, and it's a nice way to get in a fast full-esque body workout when you're pressed for time. Additionally, I find these help my hip flexibility, improve my lockouts on BTNPPs, and are like I stated above, a nice departure from the same old, same old.