I hate squats!

[NorwichGrad]

I hate squats, too.


But I don't want the broz to make fun of me..


So I do 'em.

[dreamopolis]

^Haha!

[Sweetums6000]

One more question. I would love to try this Fierce5 routine. It looks good, and I'm pretty sure I would benefit from it. The question is, should I start now mid-cut? Or should I wait until I've dropped a few more pounds and start to bulk before the change? I'm at 98kg (216lbs) now, and want to get to around 92kg (202lbs). Just worried about changing up my routine mid-cut.

What I've decided to try this time around (I'm currently cutting also) is instead of just cutting for a while until I reach a certain point and then jumping back into a bulk, I'm going to keep my calorie consumption where it is until my lifts stall, then increase my calories a little to get my lifts going again, and continue like that, increasing my calories only in response to my lifts stalling, and my deficit will gradually decrease and then at some point turn into a surplus, so my calorie consumption will be sort of auto-regulated by my progress in my program.

[PIMking13]

I feel you, I had my c4/5 fused together and it always gives me neck pain even if I put the bar lower on my back. I use to be able to squat 315 for rep but two knee surgeries in my teens and compartment syndrome surgery on both calves two years ago put a hurt on it. So now I'm only going to rep 225 as a max because of it.

Now deadlifts are even hard because I cant grip the bar very well, just had another MRI today on my neck to see if I need another surgery.

[itsagoodday]

Yeah, I know that's sucky. But I've chosen to cut back on the weight in an effort to get better form and I'm building it up slowly. I have managed 220lbs at 5x5 about 6 months ago when I was doing the 5x5 strong lifts routine. A few weeks ago, before I decided to cut back I was doing about 198lbs for 3x8. Absolutely killed me though, so that's when I decided to cut back.

I'll see if I can get a video up like you suggested. It may take a week or so though. Tried to take a video today but I couldn't get my phone to stand, and sad as it may seem, I ain't got no gym buddies, so I'll have to buy one of those tripod thingies.

Dropping back on weight to work on form sounds like it was the right decision! Definitely try to get a video, there are some folks here who are great with form feedback. To get video of myself at at the gym, I'll either rest my phone against nearby equipment where it's unlikely to be accidentally kicked by someone, or I've also put it on a bench and rested the phone up against my water bottle so it can stand. The best angle to take video from will be straight on from the side, or a little farther towards the back. Good luck!

[ironwill2008]

Thanks again Ironwill. You've given me so much advice on various threads the last week. I really appreciate it.

One more question. I would love to try this Fierce5 routine. It looks good, and I'm pretty sure I would benefit from it. The question is, should I start now mid-cut? Or should I wait until I've dropped a few more pounds and start to bulk before the change? I'm at 98kg (216lbs) now, and want to get to around 92kg (202lbs). Just worried about changing up my routine mid-cut.

I don't recommend changing horses in the middle of the stream; stick with what you're doing until such time as you determine your cut has reached a conclusion.

[PiperBill]

I hated squats when I first started too. Had all sorts of pain in my knees and groin. I was doing Stronglifts 5x5 which had me squatting 3 times a week with a progression that I could not keep up with. I bailed out eventually. It took a long time to get the form to a decent level but I knew that squats were so important that I just kept at them (though not in SL5x5).

Exhausting.. yes.. Scary with all that weight on your back.. yes at times, but I doubt there is any lift that has such an impact on strength and mass gains.

I squat at every workout now. If I don’t have time or energy to do other lifts I still squat. It’s still a bit of a love-hate relationship but I’m not in the gym to be entertained.

I can't even compare them to leg press. The squat requires that you give every gram of effort in your whole body.

I see leg press only as an accessory.

[Cantplankwell]

Have the same love/hate complex relationship with squats. But they are completely necessary, they work too much muscle.

At some point at 50 I realized the risk/reward was not there for squatting 3 times per week on SS. Not to mention the amount of food your supposed to eat on that system. I also massively dialed back my "training" max to a realistic level.

I squat once heavy per week (well, heavy for me), and on most of my dead lift days I do front squats as an assistance lift, at obviously a much lower weight, but sets of 10. SO its kind of like 1.6 times per week. This is helping my quads.

Worked with a weight training coach back in the winter, and I learned that a lot of action of squatting is a balancing act, keeping the bar path straight and staying core-tight, this has helped me start progressing again, and the heavy weight does not rent so much space in my head since I have begun fixing my technique.

[blue9steel]

Anyone who likes squats is a masochist. Anyone who skips squats just because they're hard is a pansy and leaving a ton of gains on the table. Get your form checked/fixed, then just suck it up.

[Luclin999]

I absolutely abhor squats. It's awful to have so much weight on my back and they're exhausting. At one point I tried to do them every workout in the hopes that I would start to like them. Nope, hated them more than ever. Now I'm doing them with lighter weight. I recognise that they are and important excercise but are there any others that are equally as effective? I love deads BTW. Trying to improve my form on them, but I can't for the life of me get squats into a good light. They are Satan's excercises!

Anything else I can do?

1. Generally speaking, it is the exercise that you dread doing that you really need to do the most.

2. Make sure that you are doing the lift ~correctly~. A lot of time the problem isn't the lift, it is that the person is doing it with poor form. Watch videos, video yourself, find someone experienced to observe what you are doing, Etc. and make sure that you are doing it the right way.

3. Doing them "every workout" is fine if you are only working out basically 3 times a week. Not so much though if you are there 5-6 time/week. Squats demand a lot from your body and in turn your body needs an appropriate amount of recovery time between doing them. 48 hours is basically the bare minimum amount of time you should take between doing the lift esp. if they are taxing to you.

4. If you just can't get used to the standard back squat, then consider trying another variation such as box squats, front squats, Etc.

[BillPhoto]

I was in the exact same boat OP - hated them, especially after going too heavy one day and almost having the bar crash down on my head. From that day, I deloaded and ensured my form was spot on. I still have a long way to go but with just a few small changes to my technique, I've gone from loathing them to accepting that they are a critical part of my program.

As a side not, I do a 3 day full body routine but only squat twice a week and deadlift on the other day. I was finding that deads and squats on the same day would see me struggling big time and I could squat heavy at all after dead lifting. But that's just me. I usually leave 48 hours between dead lifts and squats.

[dreamopolis]

Right, so a while back I said I would post a video of my squats and deadlifts. I finally managed to do it today. Sorry it took a while. How is my form?

Squats
https://youtu.be/IYr8aWYod0M

Squats are 3x8@72,5kg (160lbs)

Deads
https://youtu.be/qqdiu6aRKBk

Deads are 5x5@122,5kg (270lbs)

Squats are straight forward with one or two warm up reps before three work in sets.

Deads are 3 warm up sets 60kg,80kg,100kg and then two work sets of 122,5kg.

Almost lost it on the last deads set as I wasn't using wraps ������

Ps. Sorry for the wrong orientation on the videos. I don't know how to fix it.

[blue9steel]

I'm no expert but it looks like you're not breaking parallel on squats.

[dreamopolis]

Yeah I notices that too. Just to be sure, you mean that my legs should be parallel to the floor?

[blue9steel]

Yeah I notices that too. Just to be sure, you mean that my legs should be parallel to the floor?

Squat depth is a complicated issue, but the one rule everyone pretty much agrees on is that the line of your femur should pass 90 degrees "break parallel" at the bottom of your squat. Go check out some form videos and they'll talk about it extensively.

[dreamopolis]

Okay. Thanks for clearing that up. It'll be adjusting accordingly.

After legs today I felt totally finished. Like actually feeling off. Guess the cut isn't helping with that either though. Legs is pretty much the only day where I feel like I've had enough on the last set 😂

[DuracellBunny]

Squat depth is a complicated issue, but the one rule everyone pretty much agrees on is that the line of your femur should pass 90 degrees "break parallel" at the bottom of your squat. Go check out some form videos and they'll talk about it extensively.

It's not complicated at all. "Depth" is when the crease at the hip is below the top of the knee.

[MrNismo]

To go along with what ^^he said:



To me your overall form looks good. Spend some time with a little bit lighter weight and work on getting deeper.

[KyleAaron]

I absolutely abhor squats.

Me too. But I also abhor being a weak useless wuss. So there it is.

I also don't like eating vegies, getting up when the alarm goes off, washing dishes and paying bills.

Do your squats, son.

[Gabbar99]

leg press is essentially the same move

I wish.

I did ~700 lbs (7+ plates) full range on the standard leg press thing the first time I ever tried it. I struggle to squat one plate.

I have bad mechanics for it. Long legs and weird hips: I got scolded in kindergarten because I couldn't sit cross-legged.

I'm also old, fat, and didn't squat for 50 years, but it's totally because of the hips thing. Also weak core.

I do okay in deadlift and can pull 4 plates, but squats are a real struggle with very slow progress. And I also hate them.

[itsagoodday]

Ps. Sorry for the wrong orientation on the videos. I don't know how to fix it.

In youtube, if you go to Edit > Enhancements, there's an option to rotate the video left or right.

Looks like you're on the right track with both lifts, you just need to work on a few things (don't we all?). Kind of having a hard time telling with the video sideways, but I'm getting the feeling that you may be breaking at the knees before the hips when you squat? You want that first motion to start from the hips, as though you were about to sit down in a chair.

For deads, work on maintaining upper back tightness. If you were losing your grip, that's definitely not going to help though. Looks like you're using double overhand, so options that would help would include mixed grip, hook grip, straps or chalk.

[TnTNZ]

Yeah I notices that too. Just to be sure, you mean that my legs should be parallel to the floor?

Yep not close to parallel. The crease of your hip should be below the top of your knee. Back looked good. You'll find you'll probably need to drop 10-15kg off the bar to be able to get comfortable with your depth. You'll find going lower you will gain both size and strength.

And as for 'I don't like squats'... we have a saying down here in Aus.... 'HTFU'... Harden The F*&k Up.

[PiperBill]

Horizontal squats... You must have a really strong core :-) Seriously though besides what the others have said I would add:

Don't be in such a rush. Get set up and tight at the top. You look all floppy (not tight) through the whole squat. Try pulling on the bar like you were trying to bend it across your back. That will help you stay tight. Get your elbows tucked under so you don't dip so far forward on the assent. Bar path should be as vertical as possible... straight down and up. You only need to take one step back when you unrack the bar. Practice it... right foot back.. left foot back and small adjustments to get your feet in line.