Squats - Is there an alternative?

[NZnoob]

Alright so, I started in the gym aged 18 at 55kgs, am now 20 at 70kgs - Same body fat by the looks of it, so have made some reasonable gains. However, if I was to categorise my type, id be in your detested 'aesthetic category' and I don't really want to be, I want to get bigger.

So to get bigger, ive done what everyone has said to do 'Bro, do squats and deadlifts, and eat heaps' Well, I have been following that, however, my squats - and hence my legs, just refuse to improve.

To put it into perspective, my 1rm max on deadlift is 160kg, and my bench 80x5 is probably more than I could consistently squat.

So, I pose this question. Has anyone been in this situation and been able to a) make squats work for them, b) could recommend a good alternative for leg size.

I suppose people that have kept their form with lower back injuries etc would have something to say id hope.

Thanks

[hhhh1]

i used to think squats were sht and that i was too inflexible to do them. like when i tried with just the bar or 60kg my heels would lift off the ground (ie id be doing them on my toes)

chucked on more weight,n (120kg) and suddenly it was sweet as, wasnt lifting heels.

maybe do leg press as an alternative?

[Grover]

Have you thought that perhaps its not the weights you are doing but other factors

* Diet

*Rest

Post up what you are eating and your weekly workout

Then perhaps will get a more rounded answer

If you are only doing 1rm squats then be a while to grow!

[tomleegolf]

i used to think squats were sht and that i was too inflexible to do them. like when i tried with just the bar or 60kg my heels would lift off the ground (ie id be doing them on my toes)

chucked on more weight,n (120kg) and suddenly it was sweet as, wasnt lifting heels.

maybe do leg press as an alternative?

This has got to be the worst advice ever, unless you are trolling?

OP how often do you squat? Do you have adequate flexibility to reach at least parallel with no weight on your shoulders? Honestly I cant see why your squats wouldnt improve if you're training them at least once a week and have proper form so you must be doing something wrong. Chuck up a vid of you squatting if you can

Big squats = big quads

[Riccardo]

My guess is that you have horrific technique, but not to worry, post a video and we can tell you what you're doing wrong. For a beginner you need to squat consistently with correct form to ingrain the correct motor pattern and essentially you are still learning the movement. At this stage in your development there is no alternative, you need to squat. Sure you could switch to leg press or whatever and you might make some gains but in the long run you are doing yourself a disservice.

[BeastBuilder]

+1 on the technique side of things, chuck a video up and I'm sure we can help !

If you don't want to do that, ask at your gym, find the biggest meanest looking trainer who you usually see with his chains and chalk in the corner not socialising and ask him about Squats, you'll probably find he is more than willing to help if you're serious about wanting help and wanting to get bigger.

[trainlikeafreak]

have skipped other posts but..i dont care what anybody says there is absolutely no alternative to free bar squats in terms of leg development and overall growth. yeah there are other good exercises like leg press, hack squats, front squats etc but at the end of the day basic squats are the best overall leg developer. im sure anyone with decent leg development will agree.

[Dinahlady]

My squats didnt improve for ages because my form wasn't quite right. I was going atg etc but my body wasnt upright enough, wasnt keeping elbows under the bar etc enough. Starting to squat with shoes off aswell helped.

Also manning the f*ck up and pushing myself into lower rep ranges and forced reps/cheats with TP helped loads. if you squat on a rack you can go to 100% failure. If you put the guards in go to your absolute max you dont even want to be able to get up on your last rep. Go to failure and drop it behind you onto the guards because thats what they are there for. Crawl out and be like f*ck yeah I actually train harder than 99.9% of others in the gym cos im not too embarrassed to actually push myself.

[NZnoob]

As far as my diet goes, I believe is must be pretty reasonable as I'm making gains in every other aspect. But generally, from day to day I achieve 125-150g of protein, and 250g carb (bearing in mind I'm 70kgs). I know this isn't body builder material, or hulk mode nutrition, but I can't really consume more without moving above 2-3 protein shakes a day.

As far as form goes i'll try to get a video up this week.

Oh, @tomleegolf. I squat at least once a week, used to be twice, but I got demotivated from progress lacks

As far as flexibility goes, i'm flexible enough to squat till my ass is on the floor (if thats what you mean) - When squatting, I always try to go slightly below parallel.

[FellowshipOfTheRon]

probably a combination of a few things there man,

id say first issue is flexibility.... sort out some good stretches to do often

the next has got to be technique, which is linked in with flexibility as stated before to great extent. this also includes setting up the rack btw, thought i'll mention that too because unfortunately have seen many guys put the bar too high on the rack and get on their tip toes to push it up enough to unrack... and some guys put it too low.

you will get many tips on both flexibility and technique by checking out this site right here : http://stronglifts.com/how-to-squat-wit ... -problems/ . they also recommend a program called stronglifts 5x5 which seems to be quite popular and follows progressive overloading, may be useful. SL 5x5 also gets you squatting 3x a week, with the higher frequency and careful attention to technique (of course, starting back up with pretty low weights though!), you should be set to make some good progress with squats after not too long.

re; alternative to squats: no matter who you ask, there is simply no alternative, squat is number 1!

[crazyfacials]

My squats didnt improve for ages because my form wasn't quite right. I was going atg etc but my body wasnt upright enough, wasnt keeping elbows under the bar etc enough. Starting to squat with shoes off aswell helped.

Also manning the f*ck up and pushing myself into lower rep ranges and forced reps/cheats with TP helped loads. if you squat on a rack you can go to 100% failure. If you put the guards in go to your absolute max you dont even want to be able to get up on your last rep. Go to failure and drop it behind you onto the guards because thats what they are there for. Crawl out and be like f*ck yeah I actually train harder than 99.9% of others in the gym cos im not too embarrassed to actually push myself.

post a vid of you squatting please

[tomleegolf]

My squats didnt improve for ages because my form wasn't quite right. I was going atg etc but my body wasnt upright enough, wasnt keeping elbows under the bar etc enough. Starting to squat with shoes off aswell helped.

Also manning the f*ck up and pushing myself into lower rep ranges and forced reps/cheats with TP helped loads. if you squat on a rack you can go to 100% failure. If you put the guards in go to your absolute max you dont even want to be able to get up on your last rep. Go to failure and drop it behind you onto the guards because thats what they are there for. Crawl out and be like f*ck yeah I actually train harder than 99.9% of others in the gym cos im not too embarrassed to actually push myself.

post a vid of you squatting please

She has videos, you just cant access them for free :pfft:

[Dinahlady]

My squats didnt improve for ages because my form wasn't quite right. I was going atg etc but my body wasnt upright enough, wasnt keeping elbows under the bar etc enough. Starting to squat with shoes off aswell helped.

Also manning the f*ck up and pushing myself into lower rep ranges and forced reps/cheats with TP helped loads. if you squat on a rack you can go to 100% failure. If you put the guards in go to your absolute max you dont even want to be able to get up on your last rep. Go to failure and drop it behind you onto the guards because thats what they are there for. Crawl out and be like f*ck yeah I actually train harder than 99.9% of others in the gym cos im not too embarrassed to actually push myself.

post a vid of you squatting please

She has videos, you just cant access them for free :pfft:

True.

I will be posting vids when I reach my goal squat motherfuckas

[FellowshipOfTheRon]

My squats didnt improve for ages because my form wasn't quite right. I was going atg etc but my body wasnt upright enough, wasnt keeping elbows under the bar etc enough. Starting to squat with shoes off aswell helped.

Also manning the f*ck up and pushing myself into lower rep ranges and forced reps/cheats with TP helped loads. if you squat on a rack you can go to 100% failure. If you put the guards in go to your absolute max you dont even want to be able to get up on your last rep. Go to failure and drop it behind you onto the guards because thats what they are there for. Crawl out and be like f*ck yeah I actually train harder than 99.9% of others in the gym cos im not too embarrassed to actually push myself.

post a vid of you squatting please

She has videos, you just cant access them for free :pfft:

[whiterhyno]

Squats are king YES but

If for some reason you CANT do them not wont, there are plenty of other ways to build up decent quads

I built mine up ok using alot of Hack Squat, Leg Press, Lunges and using varied reps and volume etc

Can squat now so yes they are better but I had ankle problems so could not do in the past

Dont think just because you cant squat your legs will be sticks

[hhhh1]

i used to think squats were sht and that i was too inflexible to do them. like when i tried with just the bar or 60kg my heels would lift off the ground (ie id be doing them on my toes)

chucked on more weight,n (120kg) and suddenly it was sweet as, wasnt lifting heels.

maybe do leg press as an alternative?

This has got to be the worst advice ever, unless you are trolling?

i wouldnt consider any of what i said aside from the legpress thing 'advice'.

right now i cant do a bodyweight squat to parallel, with no weight, without my heels coming off the ground. had the same problem when i tried squats with not much weight. does this upset you?

[Dinahlady]

Everyone can squat unless you have some kind of hip or knee replacement you're just doing it wrong. Flexability does come into it but just put 2.5ers under your heel and practice like that for a couple weeks with weight then try it again without.

[karm015]

i used to think squats were sht and that i was too inflexible to do them. like when i tried with just the bar or 60kg my heels would lift off the ground (ie id be doing them on my toes)

chucked on more weight,n (120kg) and suddenly it was sweet as, wasnt lifting heels.

maybe do leg press as an alternative?

This has got to be the worst advice ever, unless you are trolling?

i wouldnt consider any of what i said aside from the legpress thing 'advice'.

right now i cant do a bodyweight squat to parallel, with no weight, without my heels coming off the ground. had the same problem when i tried squats with not much weight. does this upset you?

of course giving him your life story would upset him, that's a few seconds of his life he'll never get back :roll:

also if that abomination wasn't you attempting to give advice, or trying (poorly) to troll (as usual), then it must have been more of you sharing your life story... more precious seconds of life wasted

op should listen to riccardo/tom/beast/etc, they know whats up

[hhhh1]

great comprehension skills 'bro'...maybe he has the same problem as me. maybe not. it will take him about 1 minute to test this and see.

now f*ck off pls, i would actually fuk u up if i knew who u were and saw u IRL, fukn pussy

[karm015]

great comprehension skills 'bro'...maybe he has the same problem as me. maybe not. it will take him about 1 minute to test this and see.

now f*ck off pls, i would actually fuk u up if i knew who u were and saw u IRL, fukn pussy

u mad?

[Markie]

Hello, having have had a lower back injury ..prob from incorrect form and the type of work I used to do.iand prob genetics as well I ened up with a disc rupture at L3 had crutches the whole thing ..And I promise you you do not want to go there ..I can recommend using the smith machine and leg ext I still do squats but now I use the smith machine it's great for doing correct form squats and you can hook in the safety stops as well as having the backup of the bar hooks this gives me the confidence to go heavier without a spotter as well as getting the best possible form for the weight if there is a mirror off to the side you can can perfect your form ...the other thing is stance ,depending on the length of your legs you must make sure your stance is correct the longer your legs the wider the stance you need...ie your knees should remain parallel with your ankles they should never go forward past your ankles as you descend in you squat The other good leg building exercise is lunges with the smith machine,ultimately free squats will build the most strenght but iwhether the size and the additional strength gains are great enough to risk injury.Is open to debate..hope this helps this has been my experience and may be incorrect for your situation ps if you want to learn good form ..go to a les mills pump class

[tomleegolf]

Hello, having have had a lower back injury ..prob from incorrect form and the type of work I used to do.iand prob genetics as well I ened up with a disc rupture at L3 had crutches the whole thing ..And I promise you you do not want to go there ..I can recommend using the smith machine and leg ext I still do squats but now I use the smith machine it's great for doing correct form squats and you can hook in the safety stops as well as having the backup of the bar hooks this gives me the confidence to go heavier without a spotter as well as getting the best possible form for the weight if there is a mirror off to the side you can can perfect your form ...the other thing is stance ,depending on the length of your legs you must make sure your stance is correct the longer your legs the wider the stance you need...ie your knees should remain parallel with your ankles they should never go forward past your ankles as you descend in you squat The other good leg building exercise is lunges with the smith machine,ultimately free squats will build the most strenght but iwhether the size and the additional strength gains are great enough to risk injury.Is open to debate..hope this helps this has been my experience and may be incorrect for your situation ps if you want to learn good form ..go to a les mills pump class

GTFO troll

[hhhh1]

great comprehension skills 'bro'...maybe he has the same problem as me. maybe not. it will take him about 1 minute to test this and see.

now f*ck off pls, i would actually fuk u up if i knew who u were and saw u IRL, fukn pussy

u mad?

i was fukn furious. calmed down somewhat now lol

[startinfromscratch]

great comprehension skills 'bro'...maybe he has the same problem as me. maybe not. it will take him about 1 minute to test this and see.

now f*ck off pls, i would actually fuk u up if i knew who u were and saw u IRL, fukn pussy

u mad?

i was fukn furious. calmed down somewhat now lol

tribulus rage

not srs

[hhhh1]

nah its coz i drank a V yesterday