Let's Squat!
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Dragonwolf wrote: »Sounds good. Bad knee might make it tough at first but count me in.
Check out Mark Rippetoe's videos on squat mechanics. If you can do a full squat (see how toddlers squat for reference), it should make the knees stronger and shouldn't put a lot of pressure on them (when you do a full, proper squat, the knees are just along for the ride).
I followed Mark's Starting Strength for about 7 months at one point and got much stronger. For example, sets of 5 reps went from 135lbs to 315lbs. My other lifts really skyrocketed too. Before I started, I was an injured Vegan ultrarunner. Weak and unbalanced. I started eating meat/dairy and after about 7 months I was a new man. My knees no longer bothered me. But then I plateaued. I knew to continue my progress I would need to change up programming (Madcow, Texas Method, or something else), but I grew bored with it. Plus, it takes a huge amount of motivation to get under that squat bar when the easy gains aren't coming and it's stinkin' heavy! I'm sure I'm much weaker now, but still stronger than when I began and bodyweight exercises help maintain what I have.
All this to say, much of what people say about squats being bad for your knees is bogus. Doing squats improperly may be. But the strength you get helps to stabilize and strengthen your knee.0 -
Eeee! I know I'm a bit late chiming in, but I want to try. I was just talking to my friend this weekend that my once bubble butt is turning into pancake secretary butt. Squats!0
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Okay done my 15 for the day!
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thanks to your message, I just did my 15 too! Am I doing them wrong if I'm feeling it more in my thighs than my rear?0
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Did my 150
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I think as long as you feel it must be ok to begin with. It's supposed to get you started on strengthening your core in general. So try to use your abs, rear and thighs at the same time. I was feeling it at the bottom of my thighs today.0
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Apparently, (my husband loves to pick on me mercilessly when I do squats) I don't squat low enough, I don't keep my back bolt upright and blahde blahde blah. But I did 50 straight off. My quads felt well used by the end of it, but I've had no muscle soreness since. I almost never get muscle soreness no matter what I do anyway.
I've always thought I had really strong legs anyway. Either that, or hubby's right and I'm doing them so badly that I can do 50 with no prior training. I used to do 100 regularly, but that stopped 2 years ago and you may as well say I've done zero in the past 2 years.0 -
Awesome that you can do 50 at a time!
Not sure if you are supposed to feel the soreness or the burn! @GrannyMayOz I'm just going by the instructions here. You are supposed to go as deeply as flexibility allows but best thing is not to cause injury.
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BTW done my 20 for the day!0
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I reckon I'm doing it like that. I can't get as low as her - her thighs are nearly parallel to the ground, but I'm more than half way to that. And I do lean further forward too, but hopefully flexibility will improve as I do them. Until now I'd been taught that my toes had to point straight forward, which reduced my flexibility even more. I now have hope that I will improve.0
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You gotta drop lower if you want the benefits. If you feel it in the butt, you're doing them right. If you just feel it in the quads, well, you'll get stronger quads.
For a better butt burn, somebody recommended this: as you stand, pressure your feet outwards as if you're trying to rip a paper towel with your feet (i.e., don't move your feet, but use your butt muscles to lift yourself upwards).0 -
Wish I could join this, but my physical therapist has said that with my female ... issues, squats are forever banned to me, because without the balancing exercises, they destroy your pelvic floor. I don't remember what she said the balancing exercise is, but I'll just share this warning - if you ever do the "leak a little pee when you cough, laugh, or whatever" incidents, then squats may be very BAD for you!!! Not wanting to discourage anyone, but if I had learned all this 20 years ago, I might not have compounded the damage done by childbirth and other difficulties...0
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The best way i learned to do squats is over the low toilet, lol
Hey, we had no toilets back home in the old days, it was a hole in the ground......
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Did 20 consecutively yesterday, though am using a barre for stability. Have not achieved thigh/floor parallel-ality yet. Think I'll manage 25 today, but once I get to 30 I may need to start breaking them into sets. ;-)0
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The key for me to drop lower was to RELAX into the squat.0
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Squatting is awesome. I do weighted squats and my man says I have the rear end of a 25 year old (I'm 52).0
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I'd say this thread needs pictures, but that'd be inappropriate. Right?
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Saw my trainer for the first time Monday, and I'm on broom stick squats until I can get my thighs parallel to the floor. Same with my deadlifts.
Bring on the broom! 0
