Front squat is king and style is important

(Above is Kazakh phenom Ilya Ilin front squatting. In an Ironmind published article Kazakh national team coach says Ilya doesn't go to maximum on squats, at the time had clean and jerked 235 in training and had done a 240 front squat for a single. It was also written that front squats were primarily performed.)

I've never written about the squat before, maybe because it's such a popular subject I've left it to others to write about, but in this case I feel I have something to bring to the table. I've been squatting for a long time, about 12-13 years and I've come to some conclusions. First off, I believe that the front squat is the best way to squat for a weightlifter because it's more specific. Not that you couldn't get away with doing back squats, I just think front squatting is ideal. Not only do I think front squats are the way to go but I've come to find that for them to really carry over into your clean and jerk you have to do them a certain way. What I mean by that is you want every squat to be fast, upright, and rhythmic. There is actually a tempo, a style, that once deviated from, I believe starts to produce diminishing returns.In this way you aren't practicing front squats, you are practicing clean recoveries.Smooth power carries over a lot more than slow grinding squats. This is where a keen coaches eye comes in as well as a self aware lifter. It's easy to get in the habit of going after big squat numbers for the sake of ego even when it means you increase static strength at the cost of dynamic strength. It's actually not uncommon for a lifters squat to go down and his/her platform lifts to go up especially if the lifter possesses lots of static strength in the beginning. Basically when it comes to squatting you have to ask yourself one question. Did I squat that weight in a way that would allow for a jerk to follow? Also, are you the type of lifter that can grind out your clean recovery and come up with a jerk? If that's the case then maybe you can allow for a slower tempo for your squats, but for me my clean recovery has to be smooth as silk to ensure a successful jerk. As the saying goes, the key to a perfect jerk is a perfect clean. In the case of squatting, it's not only what you do, it's how you do it.