Squats question...

I just started the 30 day squat challenge and I feel the strain all over lol but I have to modify them to suit me due to hip and flexibility issues.

Push up with your heels, not your toes. Keep your back straight Squats are so beneficial. Good luck.

as long as your weight is in your heels the whole time and you keep your chest as upright as possible, you're probably not doing anything wrong. I primarily feel it in my quads as well. don't give up on the squats...squating is like breathing! so good for you

bump! just started doing these, & I have the same problem--- feel it all in my knees, & the tops of my thighs. Maybe it's the toe-standing thing...

Look look, seriously, search "So you think you can squat?" on YouTube. It's a video on squatting from a pro who lifted 1,000 lbs... so he knows his ****.

After that, come back for suggestions, so you don't just get confused without knowing the basics.

Squats will hit your entire leg and hip area, not to mention a host of other body parts, in some fashion. Doing them in one way can have an impact on which area of the leg feels it the most. However, the way you squat should have more to do with safety than with which muscles you're hitting.

I've heard a lot of people say, "I don't squat because it hurts my knees". To that I would respond, "How YOU squat hurts YOUR knees". My knees feel best when I squat; they actually start to feel stiff and achy when I leave squats out of my routine.

As for how to squat, you'll need to look around and experiment a bit to see which form of squatting works best for you. Here is a good place to start:

http://www.stumptuous.com/dork-diva-squat

Squatting in extreme positions is not recommended; your knees or other joints will likely suffer. It is important to remember that the squat is not just a leg exercise; it is a total body exercise. Engage as many muscles as possible.

I recommend not trying to squat using only your legs, a particular part of your legs or to feel it in certain areas.. Stick your hips (butt) back as if you're sitting in a chair, keep your back in a straight line (not to be confused with a vertical orientation; just a straight spine), keep your shoulders at a higher level than your hips at all times. Do not let your knees bow inwards or outwards; keep them in line with your feet, which should be about shoulder width apart and your toes pointed outward ( \ / ) with about a 30 degree arc between both feet.

Do not just allow yourself to "drop" into the squat position and do not bounce at the bottom to get back up. Practice pulling yourself into the bottom position, going as low as comfortable while maintaining muscle tension, then come back up through the combined effort of all the muscles of your body-quads, hamstrings, calves, back, arms, etc. Stay tight through the entire movement.

Again, don't worry about where you are feeling it. Make sure you are squatting safely - your muscles will feel it where they should.

Be cautious from whom you seek squatting advice. This pretty much goes for most any heavy exercise. Some people do some really dumb things because that's what the read was being done by someone else.

Use a chair and go down as if you are about to sit in it but just the edge of the char and then come back up and repeat. When you come up squeeze your glutes for maximum burn. You can also look at youtube videos and images on yahoo reagrding squatting form. :flowerforyou:

Feet shoulder-width or wider apart, toes pointed straight forward, keep outward pressure on your knees as you go down, hip crease below knee crease at the bottom of the squat, lift your toes as you come back up (keeps your weight in your heels), rinse, repeat.

How deep are you squatting? You are supposed to feel them in your quads, as well as your hammies and glutes. A wider or more narrow stance will change the feeling, too. (I prefer a wider stance, personally.)

if you are not going all the way down- or even just parallel- it's very quad driven.

full *kitten* to grass hits deeper in the glutes and hammys- same with low bar vs high bar- changes the orientation

But squats are so good because they are compound- and they attack your posterior chain not just your butt.

They also pretty much remove the need for major ab work due to having to keep your core rigid and balanced with the bar.

I may have missed it but did anyone directly address bar placement on the back.

High bar squats (sitting on top your trapezius muscles) tends to result in a more upright torso and that in turn focuses more tension onto the quads (simlar to a front squat).

A low bar squat (with the bar resting across your back with the bar just under the bone you feel at the top of your shoulder blade). The low bar squat results in a more angled (forward lean) when squatting and this results in increased lengthening of the posterior chain on the downward movement of the squat and results in greater contraction on the way back up.

I'm sure google or youtube resources are much better at describing the difference but I low bar squat to train hams & glutes and front squat to focus on quads.

They also pretty much remove the need for major ab work due to having to keep your core rigid and balanced with the bar.

Honestly, I think this is a myth, maybe wishful thinking. Even at 1RM weight, your abs are not really getting "worked". They are only stabilizing the core. It's like saying your legs get hit on the overhead press... sorta, but not really.