Squat numbers linked to sport explosiveness
A PubMed‑cited study circulated on X linking max squat strength to elite soccer sprint speed and vertical jump — underscoring squat strength’s transfer to explosiveness. (x.com) Coaches are reposting it as proof that heavy squats belong in athletic programs, not just gyms chasing aesthetics. (x.com)
The paper driving the posts is by Wisløff, Castagna, Helgerud, Jones and Hoff, published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine in 2004 and tested 17 international male soccer players (mean age 25.8 ± 2.9 years). (bjsm.bmj.com) Those 17 players were tested for maximal half‑squat strength (1RM half squat), 0–30 m sprint times, a 10 m shuttle sprint and vertical jump height, and the authors reported a “strong correlation” between half‑squat strength and both sprint and jump results. (bjsm.bmj.com) The article was accepted on 11 March 2003 and appears under DOI 10.1136/bjsm.2002.002071 in Br J Sports Med, volume 38, issue 3 (pages 285–288). (researchgate.net) A much larger 2022 analysis of n=492 elite youth soccer players found relative back‑squat strength (REL SQ) explained 45–53% of the variance in squat jump, countermovement jump and 30 m sprint, with correlations reported at |r| = 0.67–0.73. (mdpi.com) A separate study of 45 elite youth players reported significant negative correlations between back‑squat 1RM and sprint times (r = −0.60 to −0.61), corroborating the strength–speed link in younger cohorts. (mdpi.com) Strength coaches and performance accounts have been sharing the PubMed/BJSM link as evidence for including heavy squats in athletic programs; one circulating post is X status 2034820447741911275 (x.com). Recent reviews of testing in elite soccer list back‑squat and countermovement/squat jumps among the most frequently used strength and power tests across studies, with countermovement jump appearing in 99 studies and squat jump in 48 studies in one systematic inventory. (link.springer.com)
