No Squat No Lunges & Have Results?

Blackdawn_70631

Asking if anyone has done this and got the same results as you would squats.
I was squatting and doing my lunges and butt was awesome. But my knees gave out and had to stop. My butt didn't deflate because I still walk a full incline on my treadmill and consume plenty of protein. So I just lost some mass.
I see a lot of these "No Squat, No Lunges" butt exercises and was wondering if anyone here could vouche that they actually work.

jessef593

What caused your knees to blow out? Excessive reps or weight? Or did you do them everyday? Nothing is as good as squats or lunges in terms of glute development, mainly because they are major compound movements involving so many muscle groups at once. Of course you'll see results using only isolation exercises. But it's the same as building chest without doing any major pressing exercises.

Blackdawn_70631

Osteoarthritis. Any stairs, squats, lunges, weights or resistance band progresses it.

VegasFit

I have a girlfriend who just competed last year with bad knees. She wasn't able to do heavy squats at all and I know it was hard for her to build her but but her trainer got her where she needed to be regardless. It sounds like you are very limited though. Even band work aggravates it?

jacklifts

hip thrusts

cafeaulait7

I do weighted glute bridges because I can't do the ones you mention, either. And I do some ballet-like or cable-kickback-like moves as well, but my main lift is the glute bridge. I have extremely hypermobile patellas, so I don't know that my luck with the bridges fits all knee problems or anything.

They do work. I gained an inch from spring through fall trying to build my glutes a little. Now I'm eating too little again to expect growth, but things stay looking good doing them . I use a hypertrophy rep range, not one for strength.

jonoc87

Squats and lunges arent essential. A mr. Olympia named dorian yates was infamous for hating squats and thus never did them. Didnt stop him from having the best physique in the world at the time though.

Orphia

My glutes feel firm and I only do walking and a bit of running. No squats or lunges.

Genetics may have something to do with it.

LKArgh

Obviously not everybody does squats and lunges, so yes, there other lower body exercises. Just check with your dr what is safe to do (and I mean long run, not just comfortable right now).

Blackdawn_70631

cafeaulait7 wrote: »

I do weighted glute bridges because I can't do the ones you mention, either. And I do some ballet-like or cable-kickback-like moves as well, but my main lift is the glute bridge. I have extremely hypermobile patellas, so I don't know that my luck with the bridges fits all knee problems or anything.

They do work. I gained an inch from spring through fall trying to build my glutes a little. Now I'm eating too little again to expect growth, but things stay looking good doing them . I use a hypertrophy rep range, not one for strength.

I've been hearing bout weighted bridges.

The next I have to do is see a specialist so I know what to do and not, but I can't see one right now. Fast forward a few months after I was diagnosed with Osteoarthritis and me and my husband finally get our loans and we are rid of credit debt. One of which we got into when he got sick and was floating between jobs.
It happened right in the middle and he couldn't work and we couldn't get help cause the government was looking at my income saying there was no need for help when we had no money.
I have health insurance and short term disability. But I'm the one paying both loans because I make the most, then we have to save $5,000+ to fix our leaky roof and my health insurance copay is about $2,000 dollars. So when I go to do this I'm gonna have to tell them to give me a hefty bill (the best they have) so I exceed our copay and health insurance can pay the rest. This isn't including the loop holes that are not covered by my health insurance, meaning I'll have to pay them a couple thousand out of my own pocket.
The other problem is that my job involves me walking. On busy days, I can get 9,000 steps before lunch.
So, I can't afford to see a specialist right now and have to hold out on my deteriorating knees for another year before I can even start to think about seeing one.

Muscleflex79

I have advanced osteoarthritis and chondromalacia patella so i can relate! weighted glute bridges and stiff leg deadlifts have worked wonders for me and don't aggravate the knees at all!

bago08

Squats have been an issue for me too.. I get really bad pain in my right hip when I do them. Ive been doing wall sits in-between sets of weights and i do some squats without weight for a minute and a half in between sets as well. not having weight on seems to be helping a lot.

Blackdawn_70631

Muscleflex79 wrote: »

I have advanced osteoarthritis and chondromalacia patella so i can relate! weighted glute bridges and stiff leg deadlifts have worked wonders for me and don't aggravate the knees at all!

Glad to hear that!

amandadunwoody

Wow, this is great info. I just asked a similar question and looked down and saw this post! I hadn't thought of bridges and deadlifts that way. Not sure if I trust my deadlift form to not aggravate my lower back since I'm overcoming an injury there as well, but it's something to work on.

Blackdawn_70631

amandadunwoody wrote: »

Wow, this is great info. I just asked a similar question and looked down and saw this post! I hadn't thought of bridges and deadlifts that way. Not sure if I trust my deadlift form to not aggravate my lower back since I'm overcoming an injury there as well, but it's something to work on.

Could do baby steps with that. Back straight, leg out, bend, then pick up off a chair. Repeat until you feel more confident your back will hold out.

amandadunwoody

Did some weighted bridges and modified dead lifts today. Didn't hurt myself so that's good! Bridges were part of my physical therapy for my back too so I feel confident that it's a good move.

ElizabethOakes2

My knee was injured some years ago and randomly dislocates for fun, so no squats or lunges for me. Does your gym have a Barre class? It will kick your behind, literally! And you can cling to that bar to keep excess weight off your bad knee.

Blackdawn_70631

ElizabethOakes2 wrote: »

My knee was injured some years ago and randomly dislocates for fun, so no squats or lunges for me. Does your gym have a Barre class? It will kick your behind, literally! And you can cling to that bar to keep excess weight off your bad knee.

Home workout doer here.
My doctor was all interested in my weight loss. How I was doing it, what I was doing, where.
She was shocked when I said I just eat less and move more. Then even more surprised when my success was done all at home. Set foot in a gym only one time.

yallllah

going to echo everyone here advising weighted bridges + hip thrusts. done properly there is almost no load on the knee (it acts purely as a hinge) and instead the exercise relies completely on your back and glute muscles. those two exercises are the only things i've ever found that really activate my butt, and on top of that they are much easier to accomplish without injuring yourself.

jdhcm2006

Blackdawn_70631 wrote: »

ElizabethOakes2 wrote: »

My knee was injured some years ago and randomly dislocates for fun, so no squats or lunges for me. Does your gym have a Barre class? It will kick your behind, literally! And you can cling to that bar to keep excess weight off your bad knee.

Home workout doer here.
My doctor was all interested in my weight loss. How I was doing it, what I was doing, where.
She was shocked when I said I just eat less and move more. Then even more surprised when my success was done all at home. Set foot in a gym only one time.

Search "barre workouts at home" on youtube and a lot of vids pop up.

A good deal of them are 30-40 minutes and others 10-20 minutes. Idk how good any of the workouts are b/c I don't do barre. But it's something you can look into b/c it's a home workout and it's free.

arditarose

Can you hip thrust, glute bridge, cable pull through, straight leg dead lift?

jdhcm2006

https://www.hss.edu/conditions_exercises-for-knee-osteoarthritis.asp

Here are 2 exercises, ignore the last exercise b/c it's a squat:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DpvDgF0y2HU

Blackdawn_70631

arditarose wrote: »

Can you hip thrust, glute bridge, cable pull through, straight leg dead lift?

Yes to all the above. I have some weights on home. So since I have no cable pull I replace that with weights.

Blackdawn_70631

jdhcm2006 wrote: »

https://www.hss.edu/conditions_exercises-for-knee-osteoarthritis.asp

Here are 2 exercises, ignore the last exercise b/c it's a squat:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DpvDgF0y2HU

Awesome. Thanks.

Blackdawn_70631

jdhcm2006 wrote: »

Blackdawn_70631 wrote: »

ElizabethOakes2 wrote: »

My knee was injured some years ago and randomly dislocates for fun, so no squats or lunges for me. Does your gym have a Barre class? It will kick your behind, literally! And you can cling to that bar to keep excess weight off your bad knee.

Home workout doer here.
My doctor was all interested in my weight loss. How I was doing it, what I was doing, where.
She was shocked when I said I just eat less and move more. Then even more surprised when my success was done all at home. Set foot in a gym only one time.

Search "barre workouts at home" on youtube and a lot of vids pop up.

A good deal of them are 30-40 minutes and others 10-20 minutes. Idk how good any of the workouts are b/c I don't do barre. But it's something you can look into b/c it's a home workout and it's free.

I never thought about that. Need to look into that too.

Onhowtobelovely

I have pretty advanced arthritis in my knees from being overweight for about 16 years and being a lifter I was heartbroken when I started having knee pain and my entire exercise routine was destroyed. I had to stop running, squatting, deadlifts, everything. After going through a course of PT twice I have learned some things and also just going to share what I've learned from trying different things.

For glutes...glute bridges, feet elevated bridges (where you put your feet on a chair) and do the same bridge, one leg at a time bridges (where you lift one leg up and support the bridge using only one leg), donkey kicks (put a dumbbell in the crook of your knee and hold it there while you kick), barbell bridges/thrusts, leg press changing up your foot placement to go higher on the press tends to hit your glutes and hamstrings more), band walks, step ups.

My PT suggested I give up leg extensions and leg curls and I have noticed hardly any pain in my knees now when I work out after eliminating those. I'm allowed to do light weight barbell squats again and so far so good and deadlifts but only at light to moderate weights. No more PRs. Hope this helps!!!

Blackdawn_70631

Onhowtobelovely wrote: »

I have pretty advanced arthritis in my knees from being overweight for about 16 years and being a lifter I was heartbroken when I started having knee pain and my entire exercise routine was destroyed. I had to stop running, squatting, deadlifts, everything. After going through a course of PT twice I have learned some things and also just going to share what I've learned from trying different things.

For glutes...glute bridges, feet elevated bridges (where you put your feet on a chair) and do the same bridge, one leg at a time bridges (where you lift one leg up and support the bridge using only one leg), donkey kicks (put a dumbbell in the crook of your knee and hold it there while you kick), barbell bridges/thrusts, leg press changing up your foot placement to go higher on the press tends to hit your glutes and hamstrings more), band walks, step ups.

My PT suggested I give up leg extensions and leg curls and I have noticed hardly any pain in my knees now when I work out after eliminating those. I'm allowed to do light weight barbell squats again and so far so good and deadlifts but only at light to moderate weights. No more PRs. Hope this helps!!!

Thanks. I'm you and others have come about the same problem and have found ways to work around it while still being active\working out.
Many of the people I'm around, when they get injured, they don't do anything, at all.
I also have equines deformity in both my feet which cause my Plantar fasciitis and my podiatrist was surprised I was still able to walk doing what I do and walking any where from 5-7 miles daily, on cement. And I'm still exercising.
Meanwhile I knew another lady who said the only way it could heal really heal was to elevate it for about a year or two. Then another lady who has a desk job next door was in a boot.
Since I'm so active. I wasn't given no special treatments and was told he wanted to see how I would heal doing what I do.
Failure for me, because of my feet and knees, is not an option. I'm not going to just give up because of my bad joints. I like being active, I like moving.
I'm still scared for fear of multiple surgeries in the future. Of how it's going to affect me.
But seeing all these posts still gives me hope that it won't be that bad. I'll still be okay.
Thanks everyone.

amandadunwoody

Blackdawn_70631 wrote: »

.
I'm still scared for fear of multiple surgeries in the future. Of how it's going to affect me.
But seeing all these posts still gives me hope that it won't be that bad. I'll still be okay.
Thanks everyone.

Being fit as possible going into any future surgeries will make recovery that much less difficult.

I keep checking back and finding more helpful advice! I am still new to pursuing physical fitness and I believe that learning what really works for real people is very important. I'm not looking for fad diets or exercise trends. I want to be stronger and healthier for life.

Blackdawn_70631

amandadunwoody wrote: »

Blackdawn_70631 wrote: »

.
I'm still scared for fear of multiple surgeries in the future. Of how it's going to affect me.
But seeing all these posts still gives me hope that it won't be that bad. I'll still be okay.
Thanks everyone.

Being fit as possible going into any future surgeries will make recovery that much less difficult.

I keep checking back and finding more helpful advice! I am still new to pursuing physical fitness and I believe that learning what really works for real people is very important. I'm not looking for fad diets or exercise trends. I want to be stronger and healthier for life.

That's me exactly. No fad diets and no exercise trend. I do the basics: weights, core and cardio. My goal is to be fit, thick and healthy.
Another reason why I started weight lifting (aside from the fact you're supposed to for in general health.) Is that I was looking for a backup workout I can do sitting down come time for surgery. Whenever that may be.
And though I won't be burning as many calories, I'll still be burning some from the lifting, and my muscles will help in keeping the fat burn.
It's a win-win situation.
I know there are other exercises and PT exercises too.

hope516

I was also diagnosed with osteoarthritis.

I spent tons of bucks on my specialist co-pay for a few weeks to see a physical therapist.

I was instructed that I still can do squats and lunges, as long as I do them correctly. Proper form, no added weight yet.

It is important to strengthen the muscles surrounding the knees, and these are good workouts, however are not the only ones.

If you don't have the strength and ability to complete them correctly you can do a google search to find good exercises.

I did a lot of clam shells, walking side ways, leg lifts, and bike work during my sessions. We used a lot of resistance bands.

Another important thing I learned is that any weight on our knees is actually carried as 4x the weight. So if you lose 10 pounds, to your knees it will feel like 40 pounds less.

The important thing i learned is although this is a degenerative disease, you can slow it down and things aren't hopeless as far as exercising goes, as I originally had thought.

good luck. feel free to add me and ask about any of my treatment that has been working.

eta: i just remembered that they also said strong hips are very important for good knees.

Mystical64

Donkey kicks, leg lifts or fire hydrants with a figure 8 band will work the glutes real well.