When do squats start becoming effecive?

Loftearmen

Decrease your reps to 6-12 and increase your weight... Try doing squats on a bosu to improve your balance.

Why on earth would you recommend that someone who can't squat on a stable surface try squatting on an unstable surface?

exactly. Maybe try some bodyweight squats on one of those to improve balance but definitely not with weight.

I'm glad to see some "regular" people agreeing with this. For some reason people shun weight lifting advice from powerlifters, olympic lifters and strongmen (which doesn't make any sense, we are collectively better at lifting weights than literally EVERYONE else)

Loftearmen

Decrease your reps to 6-12 and increase your weight... Try doing squats on a bosu to improve your balance.

Why on earth would you recommend that someone who can't squat on a stable surface try squatting on an unstable surface?

Because when we put ourselves in unstable environments we learn balance. I'm not saying put 100 lbs on ur shoulders, step on an unstable surface and drop your butt to the ground.

Stand on the bosu, find your balance. Lower your butt until you can squat with full balance.. Your body will adapt to the environment that it is put in. Add a little weight and do it again, and watch your balance improve.

Squatting on an unstable surface will enable you to squat better on an unstable surface... seems redundant but this is the law of specificity. If you want to get better at squatting with a barbell the only way to do it is to squat with a barbell. Squatting on some wobbly toy will do absolutely nothing for your barbell back squat; especially if you are just learning.

bubbanene

there is no need to barbell squat you can get great workout with goblet squats plus easier to keep good form

__RANDY__

Really, butt to the floor? I was taught to never let your butt drop below your knees in a squat.

I know if I tried butt to floor, I'd probably fall over too..

your butt should be with in 4-6 inches of the floor

jimmie65

there is no need to barbell squat you can get great workout with goblet squats plus easier to keep good form

Good to know this. Can you tell, though, where I can get a 330 lb dumbbell?

newcs

Is there a way I can heavily weight my squats without a barbel?

There are lots of different types of squats. Try goblet squats with 30lbs and see how it goes. If you can do more than 8 reps, move up in weight.

CorvusCorax77

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denezy

They become effective when you stop being scared of the weights and start lifting heavy.

x2

CorvusCorax77

I don't understand the question.
Maybe that's because when I squat, I do it with more weight than my BW.

You are squatting 22 lbs. right? That's why they feel like they aren't working.

I'm no doctor or personal trainer but that would be my guess. You are in too good of shape to benefit from doing 20 reps at 22 lbs. Add more weight.

Jacwhite22

I do squats 4 times a week. I do them wide legged and butt to floor, and hold a 10kg plate as my balance is bad with a barbell. I do 3 x 20. Do you think this is enough to have an effect on glutes? I also do dead lifts and leg presses for lower body strength training. I don't feel an ache because I take a pre workout supplement which disables the burn. Should I push myself to do more?

If you have to ask the question I think you already know the answer. If you ever ask "Should I push myself to do more?" then IMHO you should push more. Every time I workout there is never a doubt that I can not do more.





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michaelalouise3915

Is this why they dont work for me? A gym instructor got me in the correct position and i could only feel it in my shins? But in the 30day shred today i added a little bit of weight and seriously, i couldnt finish it. My thighs became that wobbly I almost fell. Still felt no burn in my bum though?

newcs

If you want to go heavier, but have a hard time with balance, you should try doing your squats on a smith machine. Thatr's how I do mine. I start off with a warm up set - no weight, then add weight 25's each side, and I increase my weight by 20 lbs each set. The more weight I do, the less reps. I typically max out around 150lbs. and do 5 or 6 reps. I would never be able to go this heavy simply using a barbell. The smith makes it possible. Try it and see

Strong first post!
The smith machine makes me sad, fortunately my gym does not have one.

More seriously, the smith machine makes you move in an unnatural way, and stabilises the bar. It is better to learn how to move without falling over and keeping the bar stable yourself.

I agree with the poster who said to avoid the smith machine. Unless you want to do inverted rows...then the smith machine is great.

If you're having balance problems, you can work on that without the bar at first too. Start from square one (bodyweight balance) before adding any weight or objects.

I also 2nd (or 3rd, 4th, etc) the advice of video taping yourself so you can really know what may be off on your form

CorvusCorax77

If you want to go heavier, but have a hard time with balance, you should try doing your squats on a smith machine. Thatr's how I do mine. I start off with a warm up set - no weight, then add weight 25's each side, and I increase my weight by 20 lbs each set. The more weight I do, the less reps. I typically max out around 150lbs. and do 5 or 6 reps. I would never be able to go this heavy simply using a barbell. The smith makes it possible. Try it and see

Strong first post!
The smith machine makes me sad, fortunately my gym does not have one.

More seriously, the smith machine makes you move in an unnatural way, and stabilises the bar. It is better to learn how to move without falling over and keeping the bar stable yourself.

I agree with the poster who said to avoid the smith machine. Unless you want to do inverted rows...then the smith machine is great.

If you're having balance problems, you can work on that without the bar at first too. Start from square one (bodyweight balance) before adding any weight or objects.

I also 2nd (or 3rd, 4th, etc) the advice of video taping yourself so you can really know what may be off on your form

I'm going to go on a tangent here and say that the Jones Machine would be a good place for someone with balance issues. It prevents the bar from teetering down on either side, but allows a full range of motion up and down and forward and back. We have one of these at my gym and switching from that to full on free weights and back as needed has been no problem for me.

supermodelchic

I use to powerlift and I would go heavy on my squats, yes they will eventually help you achieve some muscle, gotta go heavy though

misskerouac

I'm not going to touch any of the other points however I read that you have to do squats wide stance because you are knock kneed, if you would like to have a narrower stance (not saying you have to, but if you want to) my trainer had me put a resistance band around my legs, just under my knees and push outward while i squat. This helped me TONS. Then eventually you lose the resistance band and you are able to keep your knees where you should.

DopeItUp

Really, butt to the floor? I was taught to never let your butt drop below your knees in a squat.

I know if I tried butt to floor, I'd probably fall over too..

I didn't mean literally butt to floor lol... Just a deep goblet squat! I was doing "normal" squats with a barbell and yet still toppled over, the weight just doesn't feel right when not central to my body.

When you're doing barbell squats, the barbell will be central to your body. It should be directly over your midfoot. Go buy Starting Strength on amazon and read it, IMO. I have severe balance problems, I just use a power rack for safety and slooowllly increase the weights. It has been working so far.

danimalkeys

I'm not going to touch any of the other points however I read that you have to do squats wide stance because you are knock kneed, if you would like to have a narrower stance (not saying you have to, but if you want to) my trainer had me put a resistance band around my legs, just under my knees and push outward while i squat. This helped me TONS. Then eventually you lose the resistance band and you are able to keep your knees where you should.

I did this with my son when he was letting his knees travel inward.

Another thing is to try to "spread the floor", meaning that as you squat, try and push your feet apart. This will help get the weight towards the outside of your foot and keep your knees from collapsing in.

lcuconley

Omg...you need to stop taking creatine. You are not using a solid lifting program and creatine is, at best, a waste of money.

Look into new rules of lifting for women, strong lifts, etc

I agree with the previous poster that you need to work on using a barbell.

In general, if you are looking for better results, you need to "push yourself to do more"

Why should she stop taking creatine? Do you understand how beneficial creatine is for lifters?
http://www.dangerouslyhardcore.com/3562/the-ultimate-guide-to-creatine-supplementation-part-1/

Moreover, c4 has a very low amount of creatine in it... something like 1 or 2 grams, maybe? I take 20G daily, divided.

OP: start looking at why you feel unbalanced. Wide-legged squats are fine (I do extra-wide stance box squats as an aux lift) but you need to figure out why you feel so off-balance and try to correct that. Maybe you need to strengthen the muscles around your knees? I tore the meniscus in my right knee last year and started doing a lot more hamstring work and my squat has improved greatly. That's one of the wonderful things about lifting... if something is wrong with your body, you can fix it!

Are you falling to one side, or forward? or backward? Are you wearing very flat shoes? Cross-trainer type shoes that elevate your heel can kind of push you forward. Trying going barefoot and see if that helps. If so, you can try getting a pair of Chuck Taylors or wrestling shoes. Or you might have the barbell too high, which would push you forward, too.

Hope this helps!

^ reposting more to back him up about the creatine - there is hardly any in cellucor c4, why do people think its so dangerous - I don't get it.

I know creatine is good for lifters...and baseball player, etc. There is 1g of creatine in c4 extreme. I do not know anything about how much is recommended and how much is too much. My point was that the OP does not have a good lifting routine at 3x20 and "not feeling anything", so it does not matter what supplements you take...

the advice about sourcing the problem and wearing the right shoes is very good advice.

RepsnSets

Im squatting 50 kilos (not including the weight of the bar) Im actually beginning to squat lower and feeling more comfortable with that than when I did squatting full stop with higher reps. I feel I have bettr control when the weight is heavier on the barbell

ninerbuff

I do squats 4 times a week. I do them wide legged and butt to floor, and hold a 10kg plate as my balance is bad with a barbell. I do 3 x 20. Do you think this is enough to have an effect on glutes? I also do dead lifts and leg presses for lower body strength training. I don't feel an ache because I take a pre workout supplement which disables the burn. Should I push myself to do more?

Using a buffer could mean less carbohydrate usage which means you're not burning as much stored energy.
While high reps have their place, stick more to a 6-12 rep range with as much weight as you can safely handle.


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