Why don't you squat?

Sharkington

I like squatting. Squatting is my favorite - actually, it's not, but the results are my favorite.

RyanWilson1993

I found this in Medhi's 5x5 program he is talking about people who use the excuse of having bad knees

Then what's your plan? Struggling with bad knees for the rest of your life? You have right
here the chance to finally eliminate that nagging knee pain forever. Squats are the most
powerful exercise to strengthen your knees: the more you can Squat, the stronger the
muscles surrounding your knees become, and thus the higher the stability of your knee
joint. This actually means that if you have bad knees, you ought to be Squatting.
I've been Squatting parallel and at times even lower for almost 11 years now – from my
20s to now almost age 30 - and I never ever had any kind of knee pain. But since I didn't
start with bad knees, my experience may not be relevant to you. So I'll give you actual
success stories of StrongLifts Members who did start with some of the worst knees ever.
The worst case of knee pain I've ever seen is the one from Stronglifts Member Michael.
Before he discovered StrongLifts 5x5 he was struggling with arthritis... in his early 20s! It
was actually so bad, that his left leg was about 4cm smaller than his right one from always
leaning on one side. Fortunately, Michael did not accept his condition and gave StrongLifts
5x5 a honest try. Today, he's Squatting almost 300lbs, has gained 55lbs body-weight, and
is 100% free of knee pain. You can read him telling his own story on page 142.
Another example is that of StrongLifts Member Chas Maloney (page 183) who is 55y old,
almost twice the age of Michael. Chas torn his ACL while playing indoor soccer during the
1980s. In 1999 he had his ACL reconstructed and in 2008 he discovered StrongLifts 5x5.
Today, his knees no longer swell when playing racquetball and he never had any kind of
knee issues from Squats … even though he does them with 285lbs, again at age 55.
One more example is StrongLifts Member Harrison who injured his knee ligament during a
ski crash when he was 15 (he also has scoliosis). When he discovered StrongLifts 5x5 at
age 22, he still had occasional knee pain and so he was, understandably, concerned about
injuring it again. Yet he gave it a try and today he can't remember the last time his knees
hurt even though he's doing Squats with 310lbs. His story is at page 77.
Last example is StrongLifts Member Paul who used to train on machines like the Leg
Press for years. By age 39 his knees began bothering him so much that he had to stop
doing them all together. He then discovered StrongLifts 5x5, started to Squat, and today
he is completely free of knee pain. An important detail: Paul Squats 545lbs below parallel,

fearless_

I think for a lot of guys who don't squat it falls into 2 categories:

1) It's hard (harder than bench press anyway)
2) Legs aren't a glamour muscle. A lot of men seem to love to workout chest/abs/biceps as if that's all the ladies like looking at!

Squatting's awesome!

false,
bros don't let bros skip leg day.
Seriously I like me some tree stump legs.

Sarauk2sf

I want to know what kind of 'gym' you are going to where you are the only person doing squats in the squat rack!.

ninerbuff

I do, but most don't because it's damn hard work if you're doing it right.

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

Cait_Sidhe

The only thing that holds me back is if someone else is using the squat rack. But I just use it when they're done.

AnvilHead

2, for whatever reason, I feel dizzy and light headed after every set of squats. I've tried being extremely concious of my breathing, I've tried watering up to make sure I'm not dehydrated, I've tried taking it slow..... nothing seems to help, I still end my sets dizzy and light-headed and wanting to lean on something.

Yep, that sounds about right. I've come very close to puking a few times on leg days. It's a taxing exercise - that's why you see "curl bros" walking around with a huge upper body atop a pair of chicken legs. Benching and curling all day won't kick your azz nearly as bad as a few sets of heavy squats will.

IronSmasher

You all used to know how to squat



you just got lazy



or maybe it was social pressures?

Yogi_Carl

try 10 pistol squats then get back to me bro

Seconded!

edit: sorry, that was Trolling and there's been enough of that lately. Actually I can only do one Pistol Squat on each leg (not both at the same time!), but working on the other nine.

PetulantOne

2, for whatever reason, I feel dizzy and light headed after every set of squats. I've tried being extremely concious of my breathing, I've tried watering up to make sure I'm not dehydrated, I've tried taking it slow..... nothing seems to help, I still end my sets dizzy and light-headed and wanting to lean on something.

Yep, that sounds about right. I've come very close to puking a few times on leg days. It's a taxing exercise - that's why you see "curl bros" walking around with a huge upper body atop a pair of chicken legs. Benching and curling all day won't kick your azz nearly as bad as a few sets of heavy squats will.

I have the same issue. Sometimes I even get a short burst of blurry vision. It's a little scary, but for me it's gone in a few seconds.

ironanimal

I do squats the regular way. I grew up doing regular squats for a couple reasons....my high school didn't have a smith machine and I started powerlifting in 7th grade and squats is performed at lifting competitions. Been lifting that way ever since then! I think people use the smith machine b/c nowadays more people lift alone and don't have the spotter behind them to catch them when they can't get the weight up. I think people would benefit more from real squats with good form!

And learning how to safely bail from compound movements.

For those of you claiming bad necks - well. It's not meant to sit on your neck.

Matt_Wild

I squat sometimes but its not a given nor is it needed.

I generally do leg extensions for 25 reps x 3 sets at moderate weight to get the blood flowing, 4-6 sets of 20 reps up to 500kg, hack squats for 200kg for 4-6 reps, body weight lunges for 6 and finish off with heavy leg extensions which is normally the entire stack and my legs grow like buggery.

I avoid it because squatting causes me back jip and I don't like that. Even more so, I avoid *kitten* to the grass because it doesn't help quad muscle growth and hits the hams and glutes more, I have a seperate day for that!

EDIT
Before anyone says anything I normally have feathered quads when I compete or as near as damn it. These are my off season legs:



Such more gym bravado about squatting - it IS NOT needed.

Louisianababy93

Because,i dont know if im doing it right and i dont want to hurt myself and the guy in the youtube video's isnt there to make sure im doing it right..you know?

hughtwalker

The reason I don't even try to do squats, neither free nor on the machine, is tat I have artificial hips and if I bend them that far they will dislocate

Bakkasan

SQUAT TILL YOU PUKE BOYYYYY.....315 for 20... *kitten* to grass depth... but numbers are just numbers right?

3 sets of 5@315 good enough?? Crapping in the woods deep! Then hack squats, leg press sled. Hard to walk for two days after every leg day

iplayoutside19

I started doing all the things people told me were bad for my knees....and my knees have never felt better.

Graceious1

I love and value the squat.

OlyOtis

I don't squat when some *kitten* is doing military presses in the squat rack with 95 lbs. Are you kidding me? I think I joined the wrong gym.

contingencyplan

I do squat, but not conventional back squats. I prefer front squats. They feel more natural for my body and it's easier to keep my balance through the movement.

BackTatJIM

I noticed at my gym I am the only one that does a true barbell squat not with a smith machine but an actual squat rack, and regular 45lb barbell. so what holds you back from squatting?

Because Zercher Squats are way more bad *kitten*!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=tq1maZuQTgI