THE OSTEOGENIC POTENTIAL OF SUPERMAXIMAL SQUAT LOADS

This study evaluated the ground reaction force (GRF) and rate of force development (RFD) of the back squat at 3 different loads. Twelve subjects performed the back squat with 80%, 100%, and 120% of their 1 repetition maximum (RM) on a force platform. A two way repeated measures ANOVA revealed significant main effects for GRF for both the eccentric (p ≤ 0.001) and concentric (p ≤ 0.001) phases but no interaction between phase and GRF or RFD (p < 0.05). No significant main effects were found for RFD for the eccentric (p = 0.09) and concentric phases (p = 0.38). Post hoc analyses demonstrated that back squats at 120% produced the highest GRF in the eccentric and concentric conditions. Mean RFD was highest, and trending toward significance, during the eccentric phase at 100% of 1 RM condition.