A word of warning about squats.

3foldchord

I had to squat with very low weight for a couple weeks, by back muscle/form was bad due to mild scoliosis, so it took a while for my back muscles to align themselves, or whatever.

Good form is super important. My knees actually creak LESS now, from doing squats. It's been good for them, I think.

contingencyplan

If your core strength is preventing you from properly squatting with good form, I recommend doing goblet squats for the time being while up against a wall.

LordMarius

I thought this was going to be more like:

Caution, they will make your *kitten* look awesome.



(just kidding, good form is obviously important and core strength stabilizes your back to help prevent injury)

lol...One of the many awesome "side-effects" of squats!!

I found when beginning to learn how to properly execute a squat in my Crossfit class, placing a large medicine ball or anything that stands as high as the backs of your knees behind you, then keep the chest high, feet FLAT on the ground, looking forward...squat so that your behind just touches the ball and come back up...this really helped in learning how to do them!

jocruzn14

Thanks for the heads-up, I'm having the same problem, definitely weak in the core area so I put alot of pressure on my knees, I'll have to research form.

ryry_

As others have said, compound exercises are awesome, but the risk of injury if the excercises are not performed CORRECTLY is high. It's important to nail down form, and work on any flexibility issues as well.

While you learn squats, there are several other exercises you can incorporate that will give your butt a great workout

- Lunges
-Split Squats
-Bulgarian Split Squats (back leg anchored on a bench)
-Leg Press (feet high on the platform, focus on pressing through your heels)
-Smith Machine Squat (I might be stoned for this one. But I personally believe it is safe, form is important. Many pro athletes perform smith squats in addtion to traditional).

ETA: You said you were hoping to lose inches in your butt. You need to be in a calorie deficit and just lose weight and that will happen. The workout is going to give it that lift and firmness as you lose weight so like what you see when you get to your goal.

mikejholmes

Honestly, Starting Strength will give you WAY more information about correct form than StrongLifts will. I'd go find the book. I bought mine off amazon.ca.

Also, I read somewhere (can't remember where) Rippetoe talking about training a woman who couldn't do a bodyweight squat, so he had her started on 55lbs deadlifts to get her strength up before she could squat.

And yes, squatting below parallel is good for the knees. If it's just a flexibility issue, keep going!

And to the person addicted to bodyweight squats -- how do you make progress? Ok, pistol squats, but surely you get to a point where you can do 50 of those, and then, as someone said, it becomes cardio. The nice thing about a barbell is that it's practically infinitely scalable. You can start with a broom handle or a piece of PVC pipe, and keep adding just a little bit every workout until 2 years later, you can squat with a 315lb barbell on your back. Not trying to criticize, I'm genuinely curious -- where do you go after pistol squats?

cals83

Do you have anything that you can hold on to for balance? Squats hurt my knees too. At the gym, the instructor gave me a ball to lean against the wall and just roll down the ball but it seemed to put even more pressure on my knees. I took a TRX class and found that if you have something to hold on to, you can lean back more and it reduces the pressure on your knees.

Just so you can see what I mean here is a pic of a squat with TRX straps:



When I do squats with those, I feel it in my muscles before my joints.

dbmata

Thanks for your help.

Does it matter that I can't actually get past about 45degrees because my knees hurt?
When I did them again I did them with a broom handle instead of a weight as I thought I had overdone it.

oh and to make it clear I did it as part of a routine doing push ups off the wall, and back extensions as well as side leg lifts and bicep curls with 3kg weights.

Yeah it matters, it means you have horrid form.

Do look for some squatting videos from mark rippetoe, and possibly invest in the book starting strength... before you hurt something.

booherd

I thought this was going to be more like:

Caution, they will make your *kitten* look awesome.



(just kidding, good form is obviously important and core strength stabilizes your back to help prevent injury)

lol...One of the many awesome "side-effects" of squats!!

I found when beginning to learn how to properly execute a squat in my Crossfit class, placing a large medicine ball or anything that stands as high as the backs of your knees behind you, then keep the chest high, feet FLAT on the ground, looking forward...squat so that your behind just touches the ball and come back up...this really helped in learning how to do them!

Love this suggestion about achieving optimum form! Squats are definitely worth the effort it takes to learn to do them right. I went from having a flat no-butt to having some nice rounding of the ba-donk-a-donk after doing squats in Body Pump class.

doowop713

Does anyone just do the squats without weights?

Me! lol unless I feel extra tough. Then it is no weights + a few sets of goblet squats with a kettlebell!

bostonwolf

So I am new here and see all this stuff about squats, new to the whole idea about weights too. So I tried the squats well as far as my creaky knees would let me until it hurt and then found I had some back pain afterwards. So checked it out on the net and found that I have poor core strength. So now I have to work on core strength and flexibility before doing squats. Just thought I would share in case like me you carried away by the squats enthusiasm and end up hurting yourself.

Very good idea IMO. Creaky knees shouldn't matter much. I have a knee that has been operated on 3 times (ACL reconstruction and two menisectomies for loose cartilidge) and have no issues doing squats or deadlifts.

How much weight did you start with? I would look into the Stronglifts 5x5 program if I were you. They suggest starting all of the lifts with the bar only and adding 5 lbs each workout until you can't finish the reps.

The idea is that lifting the bar-only and very light weights forces you to focus on proper form (*kitten* to ground, push knees OUT when you go up, etc) and creates a muscle memory of it that will help you when the weight is heavier.

In the end, doing those movements is going to GIVE you tremendous core strength.

Good luck!

bostonwolf

Thanks for your help.

Does it matter that I can't actually get past about 45degrees because my knees hurt?
When I did them again I did them with a broom handle instead of a weight as I thought I had overdone it.

oh and to make it clear I did it as part of a routine doing push ups off the wall, and back extensions as well as side leg lifts and bicep curls with 3kg weights.

Yeah it matters, it means you have horrid form.

Do look for some squatting videos from mark rippetoe, and possibly invest in the book starting strength... before you hurt something.

Agreed.

Also, do you squat wearing sneakers? If so, kick them off and do it in your socks or barefoot. Any compound lift is easier when your feet are actually touching the floor instead of having to constantly balance on two inches of foam.

bostonwolf

As others have said, compound exercises are awesome, but the risk of injury if the excercises are not performed CORRECTLY is high. It's important to nail down form, and work on any flexibility issues as well.

While you learn squats, there are several other exercises you can incorporate that will give your butt a great workout

- Lunges
-Split Squats
-Bulgarian Split Squats (back leg anchored on a bench)
-Leg Press (feet high on the platform, focus on pressing through your heels)
-Smith Machine Squat (I might be stoned for this one. But I personally believe it is safe, form is important. Many pro athletes perform smith squats in addtion to traditional).

ETA: You said you were hoping to lose inches in your butt. You need to be in a calorie deficit and just lose weight and that will happen. The workout is going to give it that lift and firmness as you lose weight so like what you see when you get to your goal.

You should do what works for you, of course. I've always found that Smith Machine squats put tremendous stress on my lower back and hurt after a few reps.

I don't really see any reason that you'd do all those other movements with free weights then use a machine for squats, but again if it works for you keep doing it. You will get a lot more of a core/trunk workout doing them with barbells though.

pcastagner

Honestly, Starting Strength will give you WAY more information about correct form than StrongLifts will. I'd go find the book. I bought mine off amazon.ca.

Also, I read somewhere (can't remember where) Rippetoe talking about training a woman who couldn't do a bodyweight squat, so he had her started on 55lbs deadlifts to get her strength up before she could squat.

And yes, squatting below parallel is good for the knees. If it's just a flexibility issue, keep going!

And to the person addicted to bodyweight squats -- how do you make progress? Ok, pistol squats, but surely you get to a point where you can do 50 of those, and then, as someone said, it becomes cardio. The nice thing about a barbell is that it's practically infinitely scalable. You can start with a broom handle or a piece of PVC pipe, and keep adding just a little bit every workout until 2 years later, you can squat with a 315lb barbell on your back. Not trying to criticize, I'm genuinely curious -- where do you go after pistol squats?

Dude, when I have the problem of needing to go somewhere after pistol squats, I'm gonna worry about that. It's a long way off.

I'm on the road, no gym, and my leg day is mo than enough for me at the moment:

Jumping squats
Assisted pistol squats
Sumo squats with resistance band
TRX hip press or leg curl
TRX back extension
TRX pike
TRX one leg lunges

Sometimes I do one leg resistance band deadlifts

bostonwolf

^As I said above, we all do what we find works for us. For the bodyweight lifter, he knows weights are there if he ever feels he needs to ramp things up. Until then, keep doing what works and what you enjoy.

Katina3333

I was having a problem with squats hurting my knees (especially my left one, that one has given my trouble going down stairs as well) and when I talked to the owner of the gym he said my form was off. He had me lightly hold on to a bar (that didn't move) and push my butt out and sit back like I was going to sit in a chair. I felt it in my muscles, not my knee then.

pcastagner

^As I said above, we all do what we find works for us. For the bodyweight lifter, he knows weights are there if he ever feels he needs to ramp things up. Until then, keep doing what works and what you enjoy.

Unless it's the smith machine you enjoy lol.

dbmata

Thanks for your help.

Does it matter that I can't actually get past about 45degrees because my knees hurt?
When I did them again I did them with a broom handle instead of a weight as I thought I had overdone it.

oh and to make it clear I did it as part of a routine doing push ups off the wall, and back extensions as well as side leg lifts and bicep curls with 3kg weights.

Yeah it matters, it means you have horrid form.

Do look for some squatting videos from mark rippetoe, and possibly invest in the book starting strength... before you hurt something.

Agreed.

Also, do you squat wearing sneakers? If so, kick them off and do it in your socks or barefoot. Any compound lift is easier when your feet are actually touching the floor instead of having to constantly balance on two inches of foam.

Yeah, definitely. I do all my lifting in five fingers, gives good positive grip on the ground, without a bunch of crap in between. Chuck Taylors would give you some massive lifting cred too.

Nothing good (imo) comes from using thick foot coffins when lifting.

Yogi_Carl

.

mumx5

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