Nervous to lift heavy weights (like barbells)
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Also, always be nervous with a big weight.
Well, I guess not nervous, be aware. You need to be awake, focused, and completely present in the moment. Big weight deserves big respect.
As for your questions OP.
1. Always start with the bar, even if it's just a warm-up. You'll progress up.
2. EZ curls are great, but for other things, not for squatting. You don't want to muscle that thing on to your back, so use a rack.
3. No to videos. Look at a few beginner lifting programs, there are many. Look at form graphics on exrx.net0 -
Simple progression:
- Body weight squats until you get to full depth with good form (use your phone to take a video and then compare to the instructional videos on youtube).
- Dumbbell squats. Again, good form, work up in weight.
- Barbell squats. Some gyms have lighter (thinner or shorter) bars that weigh less than the 20KG/45LBS a standard olympic bar weighs. The EZ bar is likely to hurt your shoulders, so I’d skip that. And form, form, form.
- Start adding weight.
- Enjoy!0 -
Thanks everyone!0
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have you tried using dumbell lunges instead of barbell if the bar is too heavy? Builld up to it.0
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Read the thread on this site: Halp! Heavy lifting made me super bulky.
Also, go to nerd fitness and read their lifting 101. Also read about Staci on the nerd fitness site. Check out starting strength 5x5, and look into the new rules of lifting for women. EliteFTS had a great video series on "So you think you can..." Squat, bench, dead lift, etc. Watch, learn, practice. Start with the weight low. With a progressive weight program you'll be at heavy enough weights soon enough.
Good luck.0 -
Best thing to do, if you have access, is to talk to a trainer at your gym. My husband signed up for 3 sessions with a trainer at our gym. It was $100, but well worth it. The trainer instructed him on proper form with a bar. I was using machines and dumb bells, pretty much sounds like what you are doing. I couldn't lift a 45lb bar or 45lb plate to start. My husband worked with my on my form with a barbell. I went from squatting an empty bar (45lbs), which was heavy for me...to now squatting 145lbs.
As for a program, you can pick your own. You can look on the forums for recommendations like New Rules, 5x5, etc.
This^^^
When I first started squatting, I was REALLY worried about the weight of the bar (my gym uses the 45lb Olympic bars) being too much. I just made sure I set the safety bars on the cage, and had someone spot me if I needed it. That was 2 years ago. Last month I hit a new record-- 225lbs. A couple guys at the gym were in awe when I did one squat at the same weight they had just done a set of 5 with.
You CAN do it. Don't be afraid to ask a trainer to check your form or spot you.
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came to say broom...
someone already said it.
so yeah- practice with a broom- use DB's to get stronger if you REALLY honestly feel like the barbell is to heavy. And work into it.
Don't worry if you don't "feel" strong- just getting started is a big step.
I don't really think that a broomstick will do you any good, might just as well do plain bodyweight squats without the cleaning equipment. The biggest difference between BW squats and barbell squats isn't really the added weight or having your hands up on your shoulders, but the vastly different center of gravity. You can't really mimic that without actually putting a barbell on your back.
Now, if a standard olympic barbell is too heavy, you could use an EZ-bar, but honestly, I'd just do strict form bodyweight squats until the bar no longer feels overpowering. And that shouldn't take very long.0 -
came to say broom...
someone already said it.
so yeah- practice with a broom- use DB's to get stronger if you REALLY honestly feel like the barbell is to heavy. And work into it.
Don't worry if you don't "feel" strong- just getting started is a big step.
I don't really think that a broomstick will do you any good, might just as well do plain bodyweight squats without the cleaning equipment. The biggest difference between BW squats and barbell squats isn't really the added weight or having your hands up on your shoulders, but the vastly different center of gravity. You can't really mimic that without actually putting a barbell on your back.
Now, if a standard olympic barbell is too heavy, you could use an EZ-bar, but honestly, I'd just do strict form bodyweight squats until the bar no longer feels overpowering. And that shouldn't take very long.
There is a distinct difference in form (for me and many others) between broom/bar and body weight only. I am much more pitched forward without a bar since I grew up doing them with my arms in front of me (like catching a football).
Mechanics are just slightly different and to me it bears noting the difference and adding the changes things.
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So much advice in this thread, confused yet? It's hard to say and I'm curious if you played soccer or if you play soccer. If either is true, I wonder how your ankle and hip mobility are because it's not uncommon in soccer players, especially female soccer players, for them to have poor mobility. Also, how quad dominant are you. Some of that may dictate where and how you start, if you belong to a gym and have trainers with a CSCS or NASM PES / CPT I would start there and get a good KCA done.
Here's what I think you should takeaway from this thread.
1. IF (definitely "if") you can properly do compound movements then that's a good place to start. For instance, just because one can get into a squat position that resembles a correct squat doesn't mean they're doing it correctly. If you can't, then some isolation or unilateral work may need to be done first. Something like Step-Ups (using a box where thigh is parallel to floor), Walking Lunges, and Back Raises are really good exercises. I challenge many in this thread that only Squat & Deadlift to put a barbell on their back do a step-up onto a box with thigh to parallel and hold their alternate foot up in-front at the end of the movement for 6-10 reps per leg.
2. Know your goals and work towards them. There's a difference between training for athletics and training to be in-shape. If you play Soccer still, then you need to work on mobility, posterior-chain development (glutes, hamstrings, low-back) as well as other Core muscles (couple actually are part of the posterior-chain), power / rate of force development, balance.
3. More on Core training. Take the time to do a little Core work, squats (including front squats) and deadlifts do not activate the Core as much as some think it does. Not saying they don't because they obviously have some, but they're not the end-all to Core development. Improved Core strength helps every day function and can help prevent injuries. Not to mention it will help your strength in compound lifts. Where do most people fail in the squat and deadlift; it's not in their legs.0 -
If you hold a broomstick in the same manner you would hold a bar to squat, how does the BW squat resemble a barbell squat more than squatting with a broomstick?
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Sam_I_Am77 wrote: »If you hold a broomstick in the same manner you would hold a bar to squat, how does the BW squat resemble a barbell squat more than squatting with a broomstick?
Well, I've never had a 400 lbs broomstick to experiment with, but with a normal broomstick my back is pretty much perpendicular to the ground, whereas doing bodyweight squats (with my arms extended in front of me) I lean forward more.0 -
Sam_I_Am77 wrote: »If you hold a broomstick in the same manner you would hold a bar to squat, how does the BW squat resemble a barbell squat more than squatting with a broomstick?
Well, I've never had a 400 lbs broomstick to experiment with, but with a normal broomstick my back is pretty much perpendicular to the ground, whereas doing bodyweight squats (with my arms extended in front of me) I lean forward more.
The position of the stick will still force you into a similar enough of a posture.0 -
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soccerkon26 wrote: »- Should I try and use the barbell alone? (I've tried before and it was pretty heavy without any weighs on it!)
That's what I did. Depending on your gym, they might have women's Olympic barbells, which are slightly lighter (15 kg instead of 20 kg, I think) which might help too.
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mine doesn't...
but my bar only squat is very upright as well. Which is why I'm saying practice with A bar- of any weight- which means- broomstick if you have nothing else.
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Try goblet squats. Easy to do, hard to screw up. They'll teach you proper squat mechanics that transfer directly to barbell squats.0
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My two cents to add to the confusion.
I've opted for dumbbells instead of barbells. I feel safer when I'm home alone. They don't hurt my wrists as much. And I've found lots of great dumbell workouts to hit pretty much every muscle.
Stay safe!0 -
soccerkon26 wrote: »Thank you all for your advice
maybe I will practice my squat form with no weights first and build up to the bar
Only issue there is the form is different with the bar. I would suggest at a minimum you use a broom handle or somehting0 -
I swear by Mark Rippetoe's starting strength. His explanations of how to properly squat (and all the other exercises) are brilliant and after a year of it I increased my squats from 60kg to 135kg and toned my legs and butt up immensely 0
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