Barbell Squats, I shall miss thee =/

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 got help with my form from one of my buddys at the gym. Stick your butt out a little before you drop down - goes much smoother and then you can focus on the up movement. Love squats! Don't give up :-) Maybe someone could help you with your form? A friend or a PT??

Drop the weight until you get the form right, then work back up gradually. I have kind of a love-hate relationship with the book "Starting Strength"... it has some real gems to help you get your form right (mental cues, visualization exercises that get your motor skills working properly), but you wind up having to read through a few hundred pages of medical textbook to find them. Here are a couple of great helpful hints I got from that book:

* Visualize the bar moving in a completely vertical path over your mid-foot, and your body will make it happen. You don't have to focus on each individual part of the movement; your motor skills will take over and do all of that.

* Your heels should be about shoulder width, and your toes pointed out. Start with an angle of around 30 degrees, but adjust it to what's most comfortable for you in the bottom position.

* Focus hard on shoving your knees out through the entire movement, so they track parallel with the direction your toes are pointing. It's easy to do this on the way down, then let them collapse inward as you start to push back up.

* Practice the bottom position first! Get your feet in the right place, and while keeping your weight over your mid-foot and heels on the floor, just sit right down as far as you can go. Straighten your back and push your knees out with your elbows so they're parallel with your feet. Once your body is familiar with the bottom position, it's much easier to get back there after adding the bar. I do this every single workout as part of my warmups.

The problem has nothing to do with not knowing how. I have very poor motor control as a result of neurological dysfunctions and cannot safely do many things. Balancing with heavy loads is one of them.

Machine hack squats might be good then. It's safer (safety catches involved) and you can still work your quads nicely.

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?

Have you tried lowering weight to work on your form?

That was the first thing that came to my mind as well.

I dislike Smith Machines because of how I cannot move along a natural arc.

Well, a properly executed squat moves the bar in a vertical path, so the Smith machine shouldn't be too bad for that exercise. It's still a better option than the silly leg press machines.

Read "Starting Strength", do squats, be manly.

Read "Starting Strength", do squats, be manly.

Did you not read he has balance issues due to something beyond his control. Sometimes things just aren't an option.