Barbell Squats, I shall miss thee =/

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  • redcat17
    redcat17 Posts: 267 Member
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    Our gym has a squat machine (not a smith machine or hack squat machine) that allows the body to move in an arc. If all else fails leg presses work without needing balance.

    This is what I use. I have neck problems (disc related), so I can't squat with the bar behind my head. I use the squat machine instead.
  • wellbert
    wellbert Posts: 3,924 Member
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    ...but you could make use of Smith machines as an alternative.

    Smith Machines enforce bad form.



    OP - lunges? step ups? Though step ups might be difficult.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,709 Member
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    2 suggestions that might help.

    Get shoes that are "minimalist". I've had clients who have not been able to balance correctly because of training in the wrong shoes. Personally myself, I have VIBRAM five finger toe shoes that I use on leg and deadlift days. With my feet securely flat on the floor, my balance is at it's best.

    Try squatting with dumbells. Sometimes holding weights in you hands helps with actual balance. You may not be able to go as heavy anymore, but at least you don't have to give up squats.


    A.C.E. Certified Personal/Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
  • poledancing_ninja
    poledancing_ninja Posts: 271
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    My PT used to have me simply stand with the bar on my shoulders, sit down on a chair and stand up again. You could try this?
  • BerryH
    BerryH Posts: 4,698 Member
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    Try adding resistance to your cardio instead - fast walk on a treadmill at very high incline, or cycle at high resistance.
  • wellbert
    wellbert Posts: 3,924 Member
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    My PT used to have me simply stand with the bar on my shoulders, sit down on a chair and stand up again. You could try this?

    Sounds like box squats. They are good for helping force you to 'sit back' but proper form is still required.
  • contingencyplan
    contingencyplan Posts: 3,639 Member
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    2 suggestions that might help.

    Get shoes that are "minimalist". I've had clients who have not been able to balance correctly because of training in the wrong shoes. Personally myself, I have VIBRAM five finger toe shoes that I use on leg and deadlift days. With my feet securely flat on the floor, my balance is at it's best.

    Try squatting with dumbells. Sometimes holding weights in you hands helps with actual balance. You may not be able to go as heavy anymore, but at least you don't have to give up squats.


    A.C.E. Certified Personal/Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

    The shoes I have and use are minimalist. Nike Free TR2. They help but not much.
  • contingencyplan
    contingencyplan Posts: 3,639 Member
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    Try adding resistance to your cardio instead - fast walk on a treadmill at very high incline, or cycle at high resistance.

    I use cycle or elliptical, not treadmill. Can't do treadmill for the same reasons I can't do squat. I can't control my body movements enough to be able to stay on it without falling off.
  • myfitnessnmhoy
    myfitnessnmhoy Posts: 2,105 Member
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    I dislike Smith Machines because of how I cannot move along a natural arc.

    Well, there is that, but they could allow you to do squats (albeit not as good ones as you are used to) safely.

    You're lamenting giving up squats, so why not meet your condition halfway and see if you can learn to live with less-than-perfect ones as an alternative to giving them up entirely?

    Suppose you're right.

    Sometimes we have to make the best of a bad situation. Squats are good for you, so an imperfect one done safely on a machine that supports you and can at least remove the weight if you fall is better than no weighted squats at all.

    I also like Poledancing_n's suggestion of sitting down on a chair and standing up. That might be useful - if you start falling something can catch you. Just make sure it's a chair strong enough to handle you and the weight you'll be carrying, otherwise you're basically falling on broken pointy things with weights.
  • jofjltncb6
    jofjltncb6 Posts: 34,415 Member
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    The training program I've been following (and seeing great success on) for months is primarily calisthenics based and the only weighted resistance training was doing deads and squats at the gym. I am now being forced to abandon those exercise and supplement them for calisthenics as well because my form when doing them is very poor and I do not have the motor control needed to exercise proper form when doing them. I'm not sure how I'll manage getting in a proper lower body workout without them.

    Have you tried lowering weight to work on your form?

    I haven't read the rest of the replies, but ^this.

    My question is, why would ^this not have been a ridiculously obvious starting point to address your problem?

    (Granted, I'm a guy who is on week two of a squat hiatus due to a to-be-diagnosed-next-week-by-ortho knee problem, but absent an injury, shouldn't ^this always be the starting point?)

    Or maybe you read a recent online post by someone decrying the safety of the squat and you were swayed?
  • contingencyplan
    contingencyplan Posts: 3,639 Member
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    The training program I've been following (and seeing great success on) for months is primarily calisthenics based and the only weighted resistance training was doing deads and squats at the gym. I am now being forced to abandon those exercise and supplement them for calisthenics as well because my form when doing them is very poor and I do not have the motor control needed to exercise proper form when doing them. I'm not sure how I'll manage getting in a proper lower body workout without them.

    Have you tried lowering weight to work on your form?

    I haven't read the rest of the replies, but ^this.

    My question is, why would ^this not have been a ridiculously obvious starting point to address your problem?

    (Granted, I'm a guy who is on week two of a squat hiatus due to a to-be-diagnosed-next-week-by-ortho knee problem, but absent an injury, shouldn't ^this always be the starting point?)

    Or maybe you read a recent online post by someone decrying the safety of the squat and you were swayed?

    It's a motor control problem.
  • myfitnessnmhoy
    myfitnessnmhoy Posts: 2,105 Member
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    Try adding resistance to your cardio instead - fast walk on a treadmill at very high incline, or cycle at high resistance.

    I use cycle or elliptical, not treadmill. Can't do treadmill for the same reasons I can't do squat. I can't control my body movements enough to be able to stay on it without falling off.

    I use the elliptical a lot. At high resistance, you get a good resistance workout. Set it to "walking in concrete" and go like you're being chased by rabid weasels.

    Not a lot of core work like squats (though you might be able to adapt something if you have one of the ones where the arms move, too), but it's great for the legs.
  • jofjltncb6
    jofjltncb6 Posts: 34,415 Member
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    Try adding resistance to your cardio instead - fast walk on a treadmill at very high incline, or cycle at high resistance.

    I use cycle or elliptical, not treadmill. Can't do treadmill for the same reasons I can't do squat. I can't control my body movements enough to be able to stay on it without falling off.

    Time out.

    Do you have a condition or illness that affects your motor control? If so, then that changes everything.
  • BerryH
    BerryH Posts: 4,698 Member
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    I use cycle or elliptical, not treadmill. Can't do treadmill for the same reasons I can't do squat. I can't control my body movements enough to be able to stay on it without falling off.
    Might be worth trying with those then. How's your balance in the water? I find water running at chest height is an awesome hamstring workout.
  • contingencyplan
    contingencyplan Posts: 3,639 Member
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    Try adding resistance to your cardio instead - fast walk on a treadmill at very high incline, or cycle at high resistance.

    I use cycle or elliptical, not treadmill. Can't do treadmill for the same reasons I can't do squat. I can't control my body movements enough to be able to stay on it without falling off.

    Time out.

    Do you have a condition or illness that affects your motor control? If so, then that changes everything.

    Yes I do. Neurological in nature.
  • Sheppards
    Sheppards Posts: 1
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    If form is a problem, then perhaps you could try the following to increase motor control and techique.
    If the equipment is available, then try smith machine squats...this will help train your technique. If a smith machine isn't available, then perhaps you can try wall squats with or without a swiss ball...you hold kettle bells or dumbbells to add weight. I hope this helps!
  • myfitnessnmhoy
    myfitnessnmhoy Posts: 2,105 Member
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    I use cycle or elliptical, not treadmill. Can't do treadmill for the same reasons I can't do squat. I can't control my body movements enough to be able to stay on it without falling off.
    Might be worth trying with those then. How's your balance in the water? I find water running at chest height is an awesome hamstring workout.

    Excellent thought. Water is wonderful resistance training. It's very hard to hurt yourself in water (provided you wear a PFD if the motor control issues might become severe enough to run a risk of drowning, of course!)
  • jofjltncb6
    jofjltncb6 Posts: 34,415 Member
    Options
    Try adding resistance to your cardio instead - fast walk on a treadmill at very high incline, or cycle at high resistance.

    I use cycle or elliptical, not treadmill. Can't do treadmill for the same reasons I can't do squat. I can't control my body movements enough to be able to stay on it without falling off.

    Time out.

    Do you have a condition or illness that affects your motor control? If so, then that changes everything.

    Yes I do. Neurological in nature.

    Ah, then in that case, disregard my (and others') cookie-cutter general squat advice.

    As someone else said earlier, I would try leg press. While leg press < squat generally, leg press > nothing. And maybe some leg extension and leg curls too?
  • contingencyplan
    contingencyplan Posts: 3,639 Member
    Options
    I use cycle or elliptical, not treadmill. Can't do treadmill for the same reasons I can't do squat. I can't control my body movements enough to be able to stay on it without falling off.
    Might be worth trying with those then. How's your balance in the water? I find water running at chest height is an awesome hamstring workout.

    Excellent thought. Water is wonderful resistance training.

    As a kid I was addicted to the water. You couldn't keep me out of it. On land I had trouble simply walking without losing my footing, but in the water I was better than most. Learned to swim at an age when most kids are still mastering their land motor skills.

    I haven't been back in the water since I suffered a severe sunburn at the age of 13 that left my back and shoulders covered in scarring. I guess it's the Irish in me. I fry lol. But yeah, I was told by my Dr I would never be able to go back out in the sun without a shirt again due to the damage done to my back/shoulders, and I just never went back into the water at all. I would love to go back. I was big on snorkeling, and swimming laps in a pool, water games, everything!
  • Elizabeth_C34
    Elizabeth_C34 Posts: 6,376 Member
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    I use cycle or elliptical, not treadmill. Can't do treadmill for the same reasons I can't do squat. I can't control my body movements enough to be able to stay on it without falling off.
    Might be worth trying with those then. How's your balance in the water? I find water running at chest height is an awesome hamstring workout.

    Excellent thought. Water is wonderful resistance training.

    As a kid I was addicted to the water. You couldn't keep me out of it. On land I had trouble simply walking without losing my footing, but in the water I was better than most. Learned to swim at an age when most kids are still mastering their land motor skills.

    I haven't been back in the water since I suffered a severe sunburn at the age of 13 that left my back and shoulders covered in scarring. I guess it's the Irish in me. I fry lol. But yeah, I was told by my Dr I would never be able to go back out in the sun without a shirt again due to the damage done to my back/shoulders, and I just never went back into the water at all. I would love to go back. I was big on snorkeling, and swimming laps in a pool, water games, everything!

    Water workouts can be really difficult too, especially deep water. I have a difficult but good water aerobics routine I do. It's shallow water but hard and does a lot for working my stabilizer muscles.

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