Don't nobody wanna squat!

[Guest]

If you have lean legs its not all that easy to get legs that big. I only had trouble finding khakis that fit when I was over 290-300lbs. My legs were pretty much all muscle and I could still where khakis when I was smaller than that. As for women...a lot of women have thick legs but not a lot of women have legs that are really thick and free of excess fat. Most of the time thick legs on women are a mix or mostly fat...same with men.

[pelicanAndrew]

The only "tight" fitting things legwise are my Dickies. I love my big legs and I also really liked that article. I'm getting motivated to start lifting again and doing it right!

 

I also highly advise against going balls-to-the-wall (or ovaries-to-the-wall for the ladies) every session. You will hurt yourself, guaranteed.

 

 

p.s. Deadlifts still piss me off but they make me feel great when I accomplish them.

[Zack]

 

I also highly advise against going balls-to-the-wall (or ovaries-to-the-wall for the ladies) every session. You will hurt yourself, guaranteed.

 

I disagree. Balls to the wall doesn't mean being stupid, but if you halfass things nothing gets done.

[Mehrad]

Leg workouts are the easiest for me, Im pretty much bottom heavy, due to martial arts so I can lift more than my weight (considering i only weigh 113 pounds) which is an acheivement for me! However upper body workouts tend to be done on a lighter scale!

[Zack]

If a leg workouts easy, you aren't doin it right.

[Mehrad]

If a leg workouts easy, you aren't doin it right.

 

Ok maybe there not EASY! But they are my stronger points

And I know how you feel about people not training them enough, I see way too many people doing too many bicep curls and bench presses! I saw this one guy who looked way out of preportion, not a pretty site, you could guess he hadnt payed attention to his legs!

[dontxhide]

My old martial arts trainer called people who work out their upper body too much "bar bodies." Because "they only lift to get girls, and to scare people at bars."

 

My much more afraid of those guys who are strong all over, than someone with ripped arms ~shrugs~

 

I love squats! Im almost done with my 6 week squat program and its really starting to kill.

[Guest]

A say the suffer from CBPS...Chronic Bench Press Syndrome

[VeJoe]

The T-Nation article is interesting. I have no problem going into and holding the "third world squat" for some time.

 

Is this article suggesting doing squats with weights all the way down like this? I am going to do squats today, I don't want to hurt myself.

 

http://www.t-nation.com/img/photos/07-210-training/image006.jpg

[buzz]

That's pretty deep tbh, and it looks a bit like the weight has shifted onto his toes rather than being on his heels as it should be. Knees have come pretty far out over his feet. Go 3-4 inches higher than that and you should be good tho.

[Ravi]

Ever since reading this article, I've been holding this third world squat pose several times a day (it is a great stretch for the back/legs) and also going super deep (almost as deep as this) when I squat in the gym. My knees doing protrude out over my toes though.

 

When squatting, I've lowered the weight/reps I do, but going lower engages much more of my leg (more stress on the hams/glutes/quads) vs more effort working on just the quads.

[bronco]

I believe knees traveling beoynd your toes shouldnt really be a problem unless you are aiming for a sitback PL-style squat. If you want to squat deep you wont be able to do it without knees going out a bit in front of the toes.

[Ravi]

OK, I'll be a little more specific about my knee position. I had someone watch me today and tell me what my legs were doing

 

My knees do extend a bit in front of my toes, but this occurs during the 130 degree to 90 degree portion of the movement (e.g. middle of the movement). At this point, my knees are about 1 inch in front of my toes. Though, when I am ass to ankles, my knees are not protruding in front of my toes.

 

My feet are pointing to 10 o clock and 2 o click and about a foot's width wide than shoulder width for each leg.

 

The other big difference for my squatting form, has been to drop my traps down and squeeze then together. This gives me a nice "shelf" to place the bar on with less discomfort, and also puts my torso in a much more stable position (to protect my spine).

 

Lastly, I've moved my hands closer together. I used to keep my hands pretty wide on the bar, now, I move them so they are just wider than shoulder width. Again, this helps my upper body/shoulders to provide a more solid foundation.

 

Happy squatting!

[Zack]

Just make sure you push at the heels and not the toes.

[bronco]

Both my feet are at 12 o'clock until I'm all the way down, when my right big toe points at 1o'clock & my left at 11o'clock.

Are you saying that you change your feet positioning during the squat?

 

 

Here's a video that's still weak compared to how far down I was taught to go

Both of those are pretty shallow, none of them would be legal in an IPF comp I think.

[bronco]

YeahI do rotate my feet slightly for balance, especially going as far down as possible, on the up lift my feet tend to be more paralell. I don't think everyone's balance is like that but mine is.

Oh, Ive never heard of anyone doing that before. Sounds risky to me.

[xveganjoshx]

YeahI do rotate my feet slightly for balance, especially going as far down as possible, on the up lift my feet tend to be more paralell. I don't think everyone's balance is like that but mine is.

Oh, Ive never heard of anyone doing that before. Sounds risky to me.

 

Yeah, be careful of those knee joints. They could buckle and pop if your rotating your knee and that's scary.

[Guest]

Its more of a power lifters squat. It feels awkward at first but most pro lifters have a very wide squat stance these days with toes out. Actually since your leg angle is out and not in it actually makes it harder for your knees to buckle out than with a shoulder width squat.

 

Personally I never got the hang of doing them this way buy my strength coach in college could squat 700lbs doing that without a belt/squat suit and he was under 200lbs so it obviously works.

[oselifer]

How many heart beats do you have during squat?

And how much time do you leave between sets?

[Guest]

Do you mean HR or squat timing. I like to go down in about 2 seconds and up in 1 if possible. For rest 1.5-2 minutes is good for heavy low rep sets.

[oselifer]

I mean HR...

If your breath rate hasn't come to normal after the 2 minutes rest do you start the next set or wait more?

[Guest]

A lot of people need to get pumped up before doing a heavy set and I can see their HR being maybe 120bpm. I myself had maybe a 90bpm HR during training sets and right around 120 when I was maxing out. But honestly if your HR isn't down to a reasonable pace after 2 minutes of resting I suggest dropping the weights until you get in better shape. It shouldn't take more than 1minute for your HR to normalize.

[oselifer]

A lot of people need to get pumped up before doing a heavy set and I can see their HR being maybe 120bpm. I myself had maybe a 90bpm HR during training sets and right around 120 when I was maxing out. But honestly if your HR isn't down to a reasonable pace after 2 minutes of resting I suggest dropping the weights until you get in better shape. It shouldn't take more than 1minute for your HR to normalize.

 

My problem is that even now that i use heavy enough weights and i have about 140-150hr after 4X10 reps, my muscles are not being that trained.. It seems that my heart limits me..

I have the sense that my legs can tolerate 30% more weight...

[Guest]

You either need to drop weights and do cardio for a while to get that down...or maybe your just too hyped up and you need to relax a little more when you lift. Your heart shouldn't be what goes out on you unless your only doing burnout sets.

[VeJoe]

I tried this "third world squat" Wednesday at the gym and my legs have finally recovered ...and that was with only squatting 100lbs. It didn't really feel ackward at all - but I normally squat a minimum of 135lbs when I bring my quads parellel to the ground. So it's obvious that my muscles aren't yet trained to go heavy with this kind of squat... but you have to start somewhere, right?