Deadlift and Squat Training for Bodyweight Artists/Gymnasts

I have a question for the brain trust regarding deadlifting and squatting for Gymnasts and bodyweight artists (acrobats, breakdancers, capoeiristas, circus artists, etc): why not have some part of these athletes physical preparation include, at least at some point in the year, some bilateral squat and/or deadlift training?

I understand there is a concern that these folks don’t want to increase too much hypertrophy their lower bodies, however, it seems that with all of the jumping and landing activities that these athletes participate in, wouldn’t it make sense to strengthen the legs and posterior chain beyond just pistols, GHDs, and weighted lunges (as listed in the foundations program)?

I’m not saying they need to squat or deadlift 3x bodyweight, but I see it as totally reasonable for most people to achieve 1.5-2x bodyweight on these lifts without too much increase in size (and eventually maintaining these numbers would not require much volume to detract from other specific training objectives). 

Really nothing to do with the weights per se, as much as it has to do with my preference for mastering bodyweight and single leg variations first.

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer

Thanks, Coach. And Happy new year to you! Regarding your rationale, which i could understand, could you envision a situation where these qualities could be trained concurrently? I say this because there is a difference between the consumers of GST that have an affinity or selection bias for being good at gymnastics and those that are attempting to acquire gymnastics-based strength elements and skills as adults (or those that don't have ideal genetics for this kind of training). Because strength and flexibility/mobility are intertwined to some degree, i could see value in pursuing both in certain cases. 

Hi Charlie,

Not really.

To my mind you either have the requisite mobility and a balanced structure or you don’t.  Attempting to develop both of these simultaneously and while adding additional external load is to my mind akin to trying to put out a fire by pouring gasoline on it.

Entertaining to watch, but not very effective.

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer