Many people use the goblet squat as a strength exercise. It's better used as a tool for teaching bottom of the squat position and mobility.
Learning the proper position for the bottom of a squat can be tricky for many people. This can be for a number of reasons...
Enter the goblet squat.
Even though many people view it as a strength exercise when a barbell isn't available, the goblet squat was actually invented by legendary strength coach, Dan John, as way to teach his high school students how to squat with good form.
He told me he wished he'd given it a more outrageous name so that people would look inot why it was called that; he also invented the "Bulgarian Goat Bag Squat", which has nothing to do with Bulgaria, goats or bags, in the same attempt to teach effective squat form.
First, let's understand that the bottom position of the squat is a natural human resting position, which all of us should be able to attain. As demonstrated in the video, this is not a good position for loading, but is a good position to rest in when sitting isn't an option.
It's also a great position to spend time in to create a bit of space in the knee joint. I recommend that everyone try to accumulate 5 minutes or more per day in this position.
If you're going to externally load a position, in this case the bottom of the squat, you'd better make sure you are able to achieve a strong, stable, controlled position "in the hole" as this bottom position is called.
Key points...
The goblet squat allows you to learn and develop all of these.
Because it does so much to teach squat positioning, you'd think the goblet squat would be complicated to explain. In fact, it's not.
It's a bit of a longer video, so I've bookmarked the following...
0:00 - Intro and Resting Squat
1:50 - Goblet Squat
4:20 - Ankle Mobility Modifications
5:31 - Conclusion
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