Let's talk squats

[The Dude]

I had legs today and my left leg is officially healed. I can tell you that there is NOTHING like coming down slow, bottoming out and then exploding back up with 405+ lbs on your back. The bar bouncing and the weights clanking literally make my heart race. I've learned that as long as I get on the inversion table EVERY night, I can do squats and deads as long as I don't go too heavy. Do any of you not squat?
How far down do you go? Where do you place your feet? (don't say on the ground Presser Lol..)
Low bar or High bar? Reps, weights, etc...

 

[Presser]

Shit I wish I could still squat lol my knees will shatter lol but I can hack and keep feet at shoulder width and ass to grass deep

 

[The Dude]

Shit I wish I could still squat lol my knees will shatter lol but I can hack and keep feet at shoulder width and ass to grass deep

How did you actually hurt your knees? Was it acute or did they just start getting beat up? How heavy were you going?

 

[Buffalo]

I'm using the smith for squatting right now and like the way it feels isolating quads and being able to place my feet out in front just a tad more and really blast the quads. I spent a long time going almost squatting to my ankles but my ass got huge and my wife started making fun of me lol, I think "big booty hoe" was one of the pet names I received. If I front squat I go just to parallel and if I rear squat I go just above parallel but it isn't much and I feel a big difference still.

My squat is usually next to my last exercise so I'm fully exhausted and not too brave to go super heavy but I usually do 4 x 20 or 3 x 15 depending on the day.

 

[Presser]

How did you actually hurt your knees? Was it acute or did they just start getting beat up? How heavy were you going?

Wear and Tare brutha! I use to go super heavy well to me it was lol and I would do 460 for 10 or so on 4th set and always end on 5th set til failure with 550 and never got past 5 reps with it but would try each week lol but yeah it fucked me up good

 

[Buffalo]

Wear and Tare brutha! I use to go super heavy well to me it was lol and I would do 460 for 10 or so on 4th set and always end on 5th set til failure with 550 and never got past 5 reps with it but would try each week lol but yeah it fucked me up good

That's nuts.

 

[The Dude]

Wear and Tare brutha! I use to go super heavy well to me it was lol and I would do 460 for 10 or so on 4th set and always end on 5th set til failure with 550 and never got past 5 reps with it but would try each week lol but yeah it fucked me up good

Damn bro. I don't think I've gone over low 500's, but that will keep me from doing it again. I had stem cells shot into my knee well over a year ago when I tore my medial retinaculum and dislocated my knee cap and tore the vastus medialis. I don't think I'll ever go over 405lbs again... Lol

 

[DMCat]

Wear and Tare brutha! I use to go super heavy well to me it was lol and I would do 460 for 10 or so on 4th set and always end on 5th set til failure with 550 and never got past 5 reps with it but would try each week lol but yeah it fucked me up good

I feel ya bro. Knee joints do wear out. If I tried to bottom out on a squat, they would have to haul me out on a stretcher.
And to those of you that do...your time is coming...

 

[Presser]

Amen! Lol

 

[CH3NO2]

I squat 585 early last year for 2 reps. I was trying to work up to 600 and then I lost interest. LOL

There is something cool about the sound that 4 plus plates on each side makes. Plus I always seemed to draw a crowd when I squat cause my gym is full of a bunch of pussies.

 

[leo8013]

do those inversion tables actually work? I thought about getting one but never followed through. I tweaked my back again and the doc told me not to stop working out but stop going that heavy. I was up to 450 deads and 425 squats but today I was back to the gym after having a cold and back still tweeked and 315 deads hurt even for 1 rep

 

[csuperman]

i havent really squated like i want to in about a year, my back hurts now days when i try to squat. i was up to 555 for 8 and 405 for 20, now i do about 315 and it feels heavy,

o yea legs have shrunk as well

 

[Rep]

I dont go over 405lb but I think volume is the key. Thats my biggest problem!!! My legs have more in them but my lungs give out. I have horrible conditioning and its hurting the leg day. I agree that going to heavy will injure you over time. Look at Ronnie, dorian or any other guy that hammered heavy squats year in and out. I have been doing more squats than usual but plan on doing one week squaing first, then the next week, making sqauting last so Im pre-exhausted. We will see

 

[big in vegas]

I haven't squatted for a while. It always seems to be the one thing I always put off. I've been neglecting my legs all together since spring started. But when I do squat, I go parallel. It's something I've just done from being around powerlifters for a long time and actually powerlifting myself. The most I've ever squatted was 500 for 1 rep. I weighed 175 then so I was pretty happy with it. I'm still pretty light, but I normally use 315 when I do squat. I plan on getting back into them again soon now that the heat has subsided

 

[big in vegas]

The biggest thing to keep your knees healthy is to sit back when you first start to go down. I can't stress that enough, not only does it take the weight off of your knees, but it loads up your hips which will allow you to handle more weight easily. The way I teach people to squat is to pretend someone is right behind you and you're using your ass to bump them out of the way. You can't simply drop down with the weight or you will eventually kill your knees. Once the knee goes over your toes you're screwed

 

[DMCat]

The biggest thing to keep your knees healthy is to sit back when you first start to go down. I can't stress that enough, not only does it take the weight off of your knees, but it loads up your hips which will allow you to handle more weight easily. The way I teach people to squat is to pretend someone is right behind you and you're using your ass to bump them out of the way. You can't simply drop down with the weight or you will eventually kill your knees. Once the knee goes over your toes you're screwed

Is your goal to grow hip mass or thigh mass? Changing the movement to take the stress off the intended growth target makes no sense.
Unledd I am wrong and you are doing this as a powerlifting move. Then it does make sense.

 

[The Dude]

do those inversion tables actually work? I thought about getting one but never followed through. I tweaked my back again and the doc told me not to stop working out but stop going that heavy. I was up to 450 deads and 425 squats but today I was back to the gym after having a cold and back still tweeked and 315 deads hurt even for 1 rep

Inversion tables are the shit!! Sometimes my back will hurt do bad after work that I can barely walk. I hook into the inversion table and it feels like the wind is being knocked out of me for a couple minutes. Then the nerves and muscles relax and it feels like I lost 100lbs. They are priceless

 

[The Dude]

I dont go over 405lb but I think volume is the key. Thats my biggest problem!!! My legs have more in them but my lungs give out. I have horrible conditioning and its hurting the leg day. I agree that going to heavy will injure you over time. Look at Ronnie, dorian or any other guy that hammered heavy squats year in and out. I have been doing more squats than usual but plan on doing one week squaing first, then the next week, making sqauting last so Im pre-exhausted. We will see

I know how that goes!! There have been times where I get a wild hair up my ass and do as many as I can with 315 - 405 and after my set I'll find myself on the floor drooling like a mongoloid

 

[big in vegas]

Is your goal to grow hip mass or thigh mass? Changing the movement to take the stress off the intended growth target makes no sense.
Unledd I am wrong and you are doing this as a powerlifting move. Then it does make sense.

I get as much thigh mass as hip mass from doing this. The whole goal of training is doing it with the correct form and putting undue stress on your knees in any way is poor form.

I do powerlift, but my quads get a lot of growth from squats. I'm not changing the movement at all, I'm just being safe and doing the correct form. If you have ever paid attention to the way an infant learning to walk sits down, their knees do not go over their toes and they actually sit back. That is the correct way to do squats, somewhere between doing it as an infant and doing it as an adult we learn incorrect form.

I was a personal trainer for years and seeing someone squat with their knees well in front of their toes makes me cringe. I sumo squat so it's a lot easier to sit back, but even with a narrow stance you can prevent this simply by sitting back

 

[DMCat]

I get as much thigh mass as hip mass from doing this. The whole goal of training is doing it with the correct form and putting undue stress on your knees in any way is poor form.

I do powerlift, but my quads get a lot of growth from squats. I'm not changing the movement at all, I'm just being safe and doing the correct form. If you have ever paid attention to the way an infant learning to walk sits down, their knees do not go over their toes and they actually sit back. That is the correct way to do squats, somewhere between doing it as an infant and doing it as an adult we learn incorrect form.

I was a personal trainer for years and seeing someone squat with their knees well in front of their toes makes me cringe. I sumo squat so it's a lot easier to sit back, but even with a narrow stance you can prevent this simply by sitting back

Form and mechanics are critical, even moreso once your knees are bad. My concern with what you described is the amount of additional stress on the lumbar region of your spine. The cervical stress already happens just by placing the bar across your neck.
I spent a few months with a physical therapist working through my own adjustments. It sucks when you feel it in your knees and your back.
But even then, we can adjust. My therapist did not recommend sumo squats because of other stress points. What I got from it is that variation is the key. That makes sense since my sore knee came from repetitive use other than squats.
I guess I am at the point in my life where I don't even want to do olympic bar squats. But get me on a hack squat machine and watch me work!