Gym Lingo: Goblet

You ever wonder why it’s called a goblet squat when you hold a kettlebell in front of your chest and perform squats?

For a while we had a large number of clients referring to kettlebells as goblets. Along the lines of, “I dropped my marker and it landed over there near the goblets.” I always got a kick out of that, and it is a little confusing.

The goblet designation doesn’t have to be with a kettlebell though, you can goblet hold a dumbbell or kettlebell.

Its origin comes from legendary strength coach, Dan John. As he writes in his own article on the subject, he was trying to teach 400 student athletes to properly squat. He dabbling with the Zercher squat (another GAIN favorite) but it wasn’t simple enough.

It came to me when I was resting between swings with the weight held in front of me like I was holding the Holy Grail. I squatted down from there, pushed my knees out with my elbows and, behold, the goblet squat!

- Dan John, 2002

Just like that, this simple, highly effective loading strategy for both beginners and advanced athletes was created.

Justin Miner

@justinminergain