squat alternative?

colorado · 10-28-2001, 08:05 PM

due to a back injury several years ago, it's been hard for me to do (full on) squats w/out pain in the lower back over the next few days.

What's the next best alternative for overall leg training?

Zulu · 10-28-2001, 08:11 PM

Leg presses?

-Zulu

Kutulus · 10-29-2001, 04:05 PM

can you do hack squats?

Tyler · 10-29-2001, 04:10 PM

Ive heard of people with lower back pain doing front squats.

colorado · 10-29-2001, 06:26 PM

front squats are an idea...I could see how they feel.

what's a hack squat?

Pierre · 10-30-2001, 07:48 AM

Leg press to 90 degrees knee bend. What kind of injury was it?
Good luck!

masswithclass · 10-30-2001, 08:27 PM

I suggest you strengthen your lower back by doing deadlifts, slowly increase the weight till you can feel your lower back flex, then its time to squat, its basically impossible to build bulky legs without squats, especially if you're a natural Bodybuilder, there is NO other exercise that will make your body produce more testosterone than squats, it makes you big all over......

Stabroz · 10-30-2001, 09:51 PM

Im not a proffesinal in anything related to back injuries but im pretyt sure that he shouldnt be doing deadlifts if his lowerback is injured , he did not mention the type of injury but it sounds serious if he is getting extreeme lowerback pain out of squats

if anything im thinking hyperextensions are in order , without weight too just high reps and sets

angle press should be fine , though it does also place stress on your lower back , well it least i find it does , i have not tried front sqats before they might be good?

masswithclass · 11-01-2001, 04:10 PM

Stabroz, I don't consider myself a pro either but, i am going by what worked FOR ME, i had the same problem of lower back pain when doing squats, then I read an article by Dorian Yates stating that deadlifts will strengthen the lower back like no other excercise, ofcourse i am not telling a guy who has lower back pain to go and lift 400 odd pounds and deadlift till his lower back ****s itself, BUUUUT, working on improving injuries is a long task, try deadlifting with just a bar for high reps, keep doing it until you can feel your back getting stronger then slowly add some weight and keep increasing it. Consequently you could just squat with real light weights for really really high reps..... juz my opinion...

bass generator · 11-01-2001, 04:17 PM

trap bar deadlifts may be easier on the lower back than sqauts and regular deadlifts,and they involve the legs more than reg deadlifts.

ravewings · 09-21-2007, 06:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by colorado

due to a back injury several years ago, it's been hard for me to do (full on) squats w/out pain in the lower back over the next few days.

What's the next best alternative for overall leg training?

Colorado, There's a simple solution to allow you to build mass in the legs without squats. it's called the Squat Strap.

http://www.squatstrap.com

peace,

Angelo Bonavera

mmd · 09-22-2007, 12:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ravewings

Colorado, There's a simple solution to allow you to build mass in the legs without squats. it's called the Squat Strap.

http://www.squatstrap.com

peace,

Angelo Bonavera

HAHAHAHAHAHA thats the worst thing I have ever seen.

If you are going to load the bar up with like 500lbs that strap is going to slip cause you gotta hold it with your hands.

Makes knees travel wayyyy to far over the knees for my liking.

Its also awkward with being bent over the whole time.

And crappy ROM

sorry dude but I would not recommend that at all.

Leg Press FTW.

VikingMan · 09-22-2007, 12:59 AM

lol at the 6 year bump...

That squat belt is indeed pretty flimsy....

Here's a better alternative. Iron mind's squat belt.

http://www6.mailordercentral.com/iro...sp?number=1220

Also, for someone with lower back pain, leg press is most likely not going to do you any favors. Leg press also places plenty of stress on the lower back.

Stanco · 09-22-2007, 02:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ravewings

Colorado, There's a simple solution to allow you to build mass in the legs without squats. it's called the Squat Strap.

http://www.squatstrap.com

peace,

Angelo Bonavera

i seriously laughed my ass off watching that! thx man made my day!

VikingMan · 09-22-2007, 02:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ravewings

Colorado, There's a simple solution to allow you to build mass in the legs without squats. it's called the Squat Strap.

http://www.squatstrap.com

peace,

Angelo Bonavera

I'm curious... who negged you?

Sammy5150 · 09-22-2007, 03:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ravewings

Colorado, There's a simple solution to allow you to build mass in the legs without squats. it's called the Squat Strap.

http://www.squatstrap.com

peace,

Angelo Bonavera

Hehehe... Looks like a really awkward way to do hack squats...

ravewings · 10-01-2007, 09:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sammy5150

Hehehe... Looks like a really awkward way to do hack squats...

hack squat required hands, You'll never be able to squat to your maximum potential using hack squats, your hand won't keep up & won't be able to hold up the weight. Also hack squats put all the stress on your spine just like squats.

Squat strap holds as much weight as one can squat, and doesn't stress the back during a leg workout.

ravewings · 10-01-2007, 09:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by VikingMan

lol at the 6 year bump...

That squat belt is indeed pretty flimsy....

Here's a better alternative. Iron mind's squat belt.

http://www6.mailordercentral.com/iro...sp?number=1220

Also, for someone with lower back pain, leg press is most likely not going to do you any favors. Leg press also places plenty of stress on the lower back.

The Squat Belt cost $99.95, the Squat strap cost $31.
The Squat Belt doesn't allow for narrow stance squatting, the Squat Strap does.
The Squat Belt becomes increasingly unstable (& painful) as you lift heavier weight because it's not resting on any firm part of your body only the friction fro the belt and your skin. This also tend to forces the user to not come up to a full leg extension as the belt starts to rest on the top of your thighs as belt starts to slip (bad design). The Squat Strap rests on the top of your butt. The stress on your body is similar to a machine loeg press only allows for a free weight movement unlike machine leg press.

ravewings · 10-01-2007, 09:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mmd

HAHAHAHAHAHA thats the worst thing I have ever seen.

If you are going to load the bar up with like 500lbs that strap is going to slip cause you gotta hold it with your hands.

Makes knees travel wayyyy to far over the knees for my liking.

Its also awkward with being bent over the whole time.

And crappy ROM

sorry dude but I would not recommend that at all.

Leg Press FTW.

Leg press isn't a free weight you're not going to be competitive using a machine for building mass and tone. It is awkward bending over, but many times when you workout you are bending over. it's worth it as usual. The most awkward workout of all is the Squat were you are resting 500 lbs balancing on your spine while stressing the back and arm muscles for what should be a purely leg workout.

The Squat Strap is just like a Leg Machine Press only better because it's a free weight movement. I will say this. Leg presses work your entire leg while Squat strap is a quad killer. The front of your legs are getting blasted, then again your quads are the biggest muscle in your legs.

Please don't knock the product if you haven't tried it. I've tried them all and my back was prone to injury so I had to develop a new better method.

<a href="http://www.squatstrap.com">www.squatstrap.com</a>

VikingMan · 10-02-2007, 01:41 AM

Hmmm. Never mind. I think you deserved whatever neg you got.....

VikingMan · 10-02-2007, 10:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ravewings

The Squat Belt cost $99.95, the Squat strap cost $31.

THAT is the best reason to buy your stuff of all. The Iron Mind squat belt is 70 bucks more expensive. I'll save so much money going with the flimsy strap that can hold, oh, I don't know, 100 pounds?

Quote:

Originally Posted by ravewings

Leg press isn't a free weight you're not going to be competitive using a machine for building mass and tone. It is awkward bending over, but many times when you workout you are bending over. it's worth it as usual. The most awkward workout of all is the Squat were you are resting 500 lbs balancing on your spine while stressing the back and arm muscles for what should be a purely leg workout.

LOL at condemning the leg press because it's not a free weight movement, and squats because they're "awkward".... And why should working my legs exclude working the rest of my body. That doesn't make a damn bit of sense at all.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ravewings

The Squat Strap is just like a Leg Machine Press only better because it's a free weight movement.

And worse, because the damn thing could slide off my ass and get me hurt.

negged

You're a joke.

TexAss · 10-02-2007, 10:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by VikingMan

Hmmm. Never mind. I think you deserved whatever neg you got.....

agree

negged, if for nothing else, for the 6 year old thread bump to peddle useless crap

GoJu · 10-02-2007, 11:06 AM

front squats
bulgarian squats
hip belt squats

VikingMan · 10-02-2007, 11:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JoeRockhead

Post more details about your injury ASAP.

Might be difficult considering colorado's last post was in October of 2002.

TexAss · 10-02-2007, 11:15 AM

People, this is a 6 year old thread! No need to comment on the original post!

crunchymilk · 10-02-2007, 11:16 AM

thanks guys great info in this thread.

I have a slipped disk in my lower back and regular squats kill me.

JiP · 10-02-2007, 11:59 AM

squat strap looks like the dumbest thing ever invented

bawar1987 · 10-06-2007, 12:26 PM

you can replace your squats with; legpresses and wide-stance stiff-back deadlifts.
this would be the same as squats in most ways. this way you target the quads more because of the legpresses and the stiffback deadlifts give you that extra glut workout while also working the erector spinae and traps.

overall squats might give a a little more hip flexor work and also a bit more upper-body work, however, the legpress/dead-lift combo avoids pressure on the spine and works the quads and gluts more.
both ways work the back just about the same.

ravewings · 10-12-2007, 07:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by VikingMan

THAT is the best reason to buy your stuff of all. The Iron Mind squat belt is 70 bucks more expensive. I'll save so much money going with the flimsy strap that can hold, oh, I don't know, 100 pounds?

LOL at condemning the leg press because it's not a free weight movement, and squats because they're "awkward".... And why should working my legs exclude working the rest of my body. That doesn't make a damn bit of sense at all.

And worse, because the damn thing could slide off my ass and get me hurt.

negged

You're a joke.

If it slides off your ass it will fall to the ground and nothing will happen. If lose control of a squat you're going to seriously injure something. Lets face it people that workout aren't this clumsy.

The Squat strap can hold 1500lbs keep in mind it's doubled over. Do the math and keep it real please. I'm not condemning anything but free weights are better then machines you know this. And the Squat is a great workout for the legs, but needlessly involves the huge stress on the spine.

The squat doesn't stress the spine, and it's a free weight better working the muscle. It is true though the Squat strap is a quad kill because of the forward position. The Squat on the other hand divides the weight between the front and back of the legs.

www.squatstrap.com

eisk7777 · 06-08-2008, 07:55 PM

haha - it's killing me that the "squatstrap" site seems to have been taken down. I've also been diagnosed with a slipped disk about 2 weeks ago, so I've been scouring the web for alternatives - check out the below link.

http://stronglifts.com/front-squats-vs-back-squats/

I'm plannning to try this out - I'll let you all know how it is.