not feeling SLDL & squat when heavy

[tbomb]

yesterday i did squats for the first time and SLDLs for the second time, and i didnt really feel it in the respective muscles like i thought i should have. (i also did leg extensions and leg curls and standing calf raises afterwards.)

squats
i know that i had good form when i did them. i did 5 sets: the first 2 were just the empty bar, then i did 95 lbs, then i did 115 lbs, then i did 145 lbs (though i felt like i could easily do 225) - i wanted to keep it light so i could concentrate on form, i really want to get into a groove of good form before i do heavy weight. it was hard for me to feel it in my quads, but i could feel it a little, i just thought i'd feel it more, but i could see in the mirror that my quads were definitely working. it almost seemed like the more weight i put on the bar, the harder it was for me to feel it in my quads - i felt like i could feel it more with less weight and it was easier for me to concentrate on it. i guess i should have just stuck with super light weight. it was almost like i was just focusing on the pressure on my traps from the weight of the bar - its hard to focus on quads when i have that weight on my traps; thats just something i suppose ill have to get used to.

SLDL
i think my form may have gotten a lil sloppy. i did these after squats. on my first set when i just did the empty bar, i felt it in my hams A LOT, but when i started to pile on more weight, it was almost like i was using my back more than my hams to lift the weight. i also think that i was letting my back bend over a lil, but i was also doing light weight (135 lbs.)

so whats my problem? do i just need to stick with super low weight for a while? on one hand, i feel it in my muscles a lot more when i do really light weight, but on the other hand, its really light weight - im not gonna get anywhere SLDL/squatting 95 lbs. im just frustrated right now because right now my legs feel slightly tender from my workout yesterday, but i didnt feel it in my muscles during the workout too much, my legs werent hurtin' after the workout, and they should be hurtin' A LOT more today. (i know everyone's going to say that soreness isnt a good measure of a good workout, but im sure that many of you can understand my frustration. last week when i did SLDLs for the first time and went ultra light, my hams killed me for 5 days.)

thanks for reading my whole long bitch session, and please tell me what you think my problem is.

[BigTraps]

That is definetly weird that you didn't feel it on squats if you had good form. But good form isn't as great as perfect form.

As for you SLDL you might want to lower the weight a little bit. A few keys to remember is that your back should be totally straight and never curved, and that they are called stiff legged dead lifts, NOT straight leg dead lifts. If you have your legs totally straight out, you put A LOT of stress on your knees and ligaments. Bend them slightly no more than 5 degrees and you will definetly feel it a lot more. Also make sure you are going as low as possible on SLDL as the greater the ROM, the more you will likely 'feel' it.

[tbomb]

Originally posted by BigTraps

As for you SLDL you might want to lower the weight a little bit. A few keys to remember is that your back should be totally straight and never curved, and that they are called stiff legged dead lifts, NOT straight leg dead lifts. If you have your legs totally straight out, you put A LOT of stress on your knees and ligaments. Bend them slightly no more than 5 degrees and you will definetly feel it a lot more. Also make sure you are going as low as possible on SLDL as the greater the ROM, the more you will likely 'feel' it.

sorry about the "straight/stiff" mix up, but i do the exercise just like you metioned, with a very slight bend in my knees. im still trying to get used to the movement, and on some reps i have too much bend in my kness and on other i dont have enough bend. i go down until my back is parallel to the floor. im still trying to learn the intracisies (sp?) of the motion, as far as consistent knee bend, and how to stick out my ass out, etc. i will drop my weight down and take it from there.

on my squats, its was the first time ive ever done them in my life, and ive been working out off and on to some degree for almost 10 years, heh. i had good form, but youre right, perfect form would be better. im considering going to the gym on one of my days off and just doing squats and SLDL's with no weight at all and just working on form for a while.

i've been doing more reading since i made this post, and im learning that these are 2 exercises that you dont want to sacrifice even the slightest bit of form on even 1 rep or youll be wasting your time and putting yourself at risk for injury. so i'm going to drop my weights on both exercises, even if if the weights pretty light for me, and increase them slowly and steadily. as much as it will suck for the short term (i used to A LOT of weight on hack squat & leg press), im hoping that it will be beneficial in the long run, when i get my form down pretty well.

thanks bigtraps.

if anyone else has any more comments, keep 'em coming.

[BigTraps]

Originally posted by tbomb
sorry about the "straight/stiff" mix up, but i do the exercise just like you metioned, with a very slight bend in my knees. im still trying to get used to the movement, and on some reps i have too much bend in my kness and on other i dont have enough bend. i go down until my back is parallel to the floor. im still trying to learn the intracisies (sp?) of the motion, as far as consistent knee bend, and how to stick out my ass out, etc. i will drop my weight down and take it from there.

on my squats, its was the first time ive ever done them in my life, and ive been working out off and on to some degree for almost 10 years, heh. i had good form, but youre right, perfect form would be better. im considering going to the gym on one of my days off and just doing squats and SLDL's with no weight at all and just working on form for a while.

i've been doing more reading since i made this post, and im learning that these are 2 exercises that you dont want to sacrifice even the slightest bit of form on even 1 rep or youll be wasting your time and putting yourself at risk for injury. so i'm going to drop my weights on both exercises, even if if the weights pretty light for me, and increase them slowly and steadily. as much as it will suck for the short term (i used to A LOT of weight on hack squat & leg press), im hoping that it will be beneficial in the long run, when i get my form down pretty well.

thanks bigtraps.

if anyone else has any more comments, keep 'em coming.

Sounds like your set my friend.

As for the straigh/stiff way of saying it, a LOT of people call it a straight leg dead lift, and that is fine as long as people new to the movement don't take the word 'straight' literally.

Good luck.

[JamesBarlow]

Originally posted by tbomb
as much as it will suck for the short term (i used to A LOT of weight on hack squat & leg press), im hoping that it will be beneficial in the long run, when i get my form down pretty well.

The fact that you are not feeling the movement in your quads is very common for someone who has trained legs but never squatted before.

When doing the leg press the only thing that limits the weight you can use is your leg strength.

When you switch to squats your weights will be limited by all the other muscles that are requried to perform the movement. The actual stress being placed on your quads will be less, since you won't be able to use as much weight as your quads are used to.

As you progress in the movement all the other muscles, that havent seen much work, will begin to develope allowing you to handle more weight thus putting more stress in the quads. This process will take some time but eventually everything will come together.

I would recomend durring this time that you continue to train with the leg press and hack squat. Your quads are used to this level of stress until you can handle equivalent weights in the squat you may lose some of you quad development. Just something to keep in mind.

[tbomb]

Originally posted by JamesBarlow
The fact that you are not feeling the movement in your quads is very common for someone who has trained legs but never squatted before.

When doing the leg press the only thing that limits the weight you can use is your leg strength.

When you switch to squats your weights will be limited by all the other muscles that are requried to perform the movement. The actual stress being placed on your quads will be less, since you won't be able to use as much weight as your quads are used to.

As you progress in the movement all the other muscles, that havent seen much work, will begin to develope allowing you to handle more weight thus putting more stress in the quads. This process will take some time but eventually everything will come together.

I would recomend durring this time that you continue to train with the leg press and hack squat. Your quads are used to this level of stress until you can handle equivalent weights in the squat you may lose some of you quad development. Just something to keep in mind.

interesting. i never thought of it like that. thanks.

[BoxSquat]

As long as the weights keep going up, don't worry if you "feel" it or not