Learn correct technique with our Barbell Hack Squat video, photos, tips and reviews. Im doing hrt but my gym doesnt have the hacksquat like the video. Its the one that is like a squat so how can I do a reverse hack squat that is close to the video. Reverse Hack Squats. This is a variation on the regular Hack Squat.
Ah, back squats. The King of All Exercises, according to some. In fact, I just posted on my Facebook page that I would be giving up back squats for good. The reaction was predictable: Now in fairness to Innis, he’s obviously being facetious and poking fun at the expected response. A lot of people seem to think that you need squats.
Well, need is a strong word. And you don’t need squats–but I’m not writing an anti-squat rant. I’m not even really going to make a compelling case for an alternative.
I’m just going to tell you why I personally am not going to back squat any more. But first, some history. How I First Started Squatting I squatted for the first time in my lift at age 14. It was my first year on the high school wrestling team, and my coach–Pete Kopecky, who, I believe is still the coach there–was all about squats.
The first time he put me under the bar, I did 135 for 8 reps. He gave me some tips, and by the end of our first team workout, I did 185 for 6 reps. I was good at squatting. With a low center of gravity, short ROM and generally high concentration of fast twitch muscle fibers, it was an exercise I excelled at. Resultantly, I liked it. (For an understanding of why,.) I continued squatting, and quickly became enthralled with adding more weight to the bar. In just three weeks, I got to two plates.
During my sophomore year, I hit three plates–more than anyone on the team. Some time around the end of my senior year, I weighed in at a chubby 185 and was squatting 405 for 6 reps, and 450 for 3 (both with a belt). Eventually I got lean and found bodybuilding; I learned how to squat ass-to-ankles instead of just going to parallel, as I had been previously.
I had to drop my numbers back a bit, but I worked on both full squats and parallel squats for a few years. By the time I was 24, I had built up a lot of strength and–between squats and various training programs–. At my strongest, I was able to squat 525×3 and full squat 335×8. The Injury, Layoff, and Re-Entry That year (2006), I suffered my first knee injury; I tore the medial meniscus in my left leg during, of all things, a game of paintball.
Obviously, I had to back off off the leg training for a while. Sadly, it wasn’t long enough; I came back in just 6 months, and somehow wound up tearing both the medial and lateral menisci in my right leg.
I’m not even sure how it happened–after about two weeks of pain and being unable to train (or, in fact, get in or out of my car without extreme effort) I went to the doc. Now two surgeries in, I spent a year taking it easy on the ol’ knees.
Although I worked back squats in after a long break, they always made me very nervous. Perhaps it was because I could actually feel the instability, perhaps it was because I was always using pretty heavy weight.
Whatever it was, I just felt nervous. Not wanting to re-injure my knees, I started trying to train around my injuries–for longer than I needed to. So, I mostly avoided back squats, using them primarily in complexes and the like, but never as part of a muscle building program.
After about 4-5 years of successfully building size and strength without squats, I added them back in. I found that I didn’t really care for them.
At first, I thought maybe I didn’t like them because I wasn’t good at them–my long lack of practice had taken it’s toll, and 315 was a challenge. I reasoned that things would change as I got better. However, it was the opposite: the more I did squats, the less I liked them. Although I was lifting heavier weight and making progress with my strength, I didn’t experience the surge of awesomeness that I had always fantasized would occur when I was finally able to squat heavy again. I began to dread my squat workouts. This has continued until now. Although I’ve been able to squat heavy for the more than a year, I really don’t care for it.
Recently, I did my experiment with back squats, which really sealed it. After 400 reps over a period of 8 weeks, I’d pretty much settled it: I hated squats. Eventually, that hatred led me to my decision: I’ll probably never do them again. For me, it’s not really “risk vs reward” – I don’t feel nervous about getting injured, at all. Rather, let’s say that the juice isn’t worth the squeeze–the benefit simply doesn’t measure up to the misery. All of which I’m removing squats from my programming, because I make it a policy not to do things I don’t like. Reasons to Back Squat (And Why They Don’t Apply to Me) Now, we’re just talking about me here, and my experience.
But, I do want to make this post useful to you. I want you to think critically about squats, and any other exercise you might be on the fence about; consider whether you actually enjoy it, and what you’re getting out of it. Try to be objective about why you feel you “need” to do certain exercises. To help, I’ve compiled a list of the Top 5 Reasons you should consider putting squats or any other exercise into your programming. Here ya go, slick:. You use it to help improve your performance in your sport.
You use it for physique enhancement–big quads and general muscularity. You need to be good at it for some specific reason, like competing in power lifting. You want to be good at it.
This encompasses the enjoyment derived by having a big squat number. You enjoy it. All of those are great reasons to squat. Actually, they’re great reasons to do anything, really. But, since none of them apply to me, I’m not going to do it any more. In the interest of giving you a complete picture, I’ll just go down the list. Athletics First and foremost, I just want to get the Mike Boyle bullshit out of the way. Without question the fact that I said I am not back squatting any more is going to cause a bunch of people to say shit like this: In the interest of context, for those who don’t know, Mike Boyle came out a few years ago and said ‘we don’t need to back squat.’ He happens to be right, but that has nothing to do with my decision.
This stirred up a big internet controversy, as you might imagine. I paid attention peripherally, but neither side had any arguments that changed my opinions drastically. Controversy notwithstanding, Boyle went so far as to say that with regard to squatting, because you can get the benefits from other exercises, you shouldn’t do back squats. Instead, he favored unilateral exercises like the Bulgarian split squat–which, for some reason beyond human comprehension, he labeled rear foot elevated split squats. I suspect it’s because he hates Bulgaria. EDIT: Mike was cool enough to reply, and has a good sense of humor.
Here’s what he said: Anyway, here’s a video, if you’d like to watch– Based on what he said in that clip, it seems he meant ALL bilateral squat movements; he mentioned front squats but may also have been including things like goblet squats, Zercher squats, etc. He may also have amended some of his statements or reached new conclusions in the past few years.
I’m not certain about either and can’t be bothered to do any further Googling it because as it turns out I don’t give a fuck. So, there’s that. Anyway, as mentioned above, my reason for abandoning has nothing to do with that Boyle or his arguments, for a few reasons.
Firstly, I don’t compete in sports, so I don’t really take high level performance into account when I design my programs. Secondly, I happen to disagree with the half of Boyle’s point. Athletes don’t “need” to back squat, but that doesn’t mean they “should” avoid it. Can they have comparable results with single leg exercises?
Very possibly. Will I abandon back squats for my athletes? Of course not. I think some can benefit from squatting, and others don’t need to. Thirdly, Boyle says “the squat isn’t a lower body exercise, it’s a low back exercise.” If that’s how you want to think of it, great. I still want my athletes to have strong low backs, so we squat; we also do heavy unilateral training.
I haven’t written them off for people who want to use them for performance. I don’t train for athletics, though, so I’m fine not back squatting. That actually brings me to my next point.
Aesthetics At this point in my life, I train for general health and all around secksinezz. I am interested only in looking and feeling good, and so my training is geared around that. This is a contrast to how I trained in my early 20’s — at that point, I wanted maximum size, maximum strength, maximum leanness, and all that other stuff that young guys want.
I wanted to be as strong as possible in the general sense, but I also wanted some specific numbers. Now, I just like having a balanced physique, which includes a decent set of legs. And as anyone who knows me can tell you, although I have naturally huge calves and my upper body grows just from looking at weights, my quads have always been the one area where I have to work my ass off to gain size. Naturally, as nice wheels are a priority for me, my selection of leg exercises is based on my observations of what works for me and has worked over the past decade and a half that I’ve been training seriously. Back squats have always added size to my booty, but weren’t amazing for leg growth. It seems my posterior chain fires aggressively on back squats, but they’re not great for my quad development. On the other hand, front squats, hack squats, trap bar deadlifts, and lunges have historically been great for sexy legz.
In fact–and I know I’m going to get lambasted for this by some fucking barbell purist–I’ve found that from a sheer aesthetic perspective, I get more out of the leg press machine than barbell back squats. For those interested in such things, the perfect set up for me seems to be one of two things:. Heavy Trap Bar Dead – 6×4. High Rep Front Squat – 4×15.
Leg Press – 8×8. Leg Extension – 3×10 (failure on last two sets) OR. Deficit Trap Bar Dead – 4×20.
Walking Lunges – 5×8 steps per leg. Leg Press – 5×8-10 (failure on all sets, drop set on last set) Obviously, these are high volume, but that’s what works for my quads. There are variations of course, but the best quad growth I ever had was when I was alternating these two workouts, with the occasional Century Set thrown in. Feel free to share. Fuck squats, I’m out. If YOU happen to be in my coaching program, or doing one of my various workout programsthen that’s because I decided they WERE necessary for YOU. You are not me, and we may have different needs.
The point of this is definitely not to convince you not to do back squats, and it’s definitely not to give you a reason to email me and ask me if you can/should stop doing them. The point is to give some very specific insight a very specific situation (mine) and to foster DISCUSSION. Jamsie I personally cannot stand how religious people get about certain exercises/equipment, etc. I cannot stand how I feel under the a barbell during a back squat.
I'm 40 years old and play no sports and I am not obliged to follow any specific training program, so I'm done with back squats. What I sub for them I'm not 100 percent sure. It might be front squats or it might be Zercher squats. I tried front squats on my last leg day and wasn't in love with them, but I also didn't feel like I was going to die either.
A lot of discussion of this issue involves phrases like, 'That's just your opinion.' My opinion is that Roman is 100% correct, but the.fact. of the matter is is that no one can make me do back squats! Thanks Roman.
AR You understand that you do not need to squat massive amounts of weight, right? Also, if you are talking about quads, probably you were squatting wrongly from the get go. Squatting is done primarily by engaging the posterior chain, which involves glutes and hams primarily.
The quad is mainly stabilizing. Knee problems emanating from squat most likely have to do with improper positioning of knees in regards of the feet. You should be able to break the parallel with no repercussion on the knees at any load.
Back pain (and I had a back surgery as well) comes from leaning on your toes while squatting (a beginner's mistake even experienced athletes commit in order to increase their loads.) I recommend squatting. But as anything done with weights, one must not skip the fundamentals and progressively increase weight and intensity.
Renato The real problem is in the more and more system. You come to a point that the body says enough is enough. Why not doing 50 or 60 kilos on the barbell squat and rep till exhaustion. Didn't Tom Platz do squats with 100 kilos for ten minutes? I wouldn't do the low reps.
The problem is in the non-stop overload principle. The body is not made to be lifting endlessly heavier and heavier.
A lot of lifters get injured in the process of getting stronger and stronger.Or their joints deteriorate in time. Even machines have a maximum lifting capacity. Be wise, use your brain. That is what seperate us the most from animals. If it is all about muscle strength then we would have been born gorillas or rhinos. Well to each their own.:-).
Kaminsky That's where I'm at. I'm no powerlifting/shake drinking meatball type but I've always dinked around in the weightroom. I read SS by Rippetoe and started more or less doing a typical SS workout. I loved it, bought into it and swore by barbell lifting for about 4 years now, maybe 5.
I never ate as much as I was supposed to but still woke up recently at age 45 5'8' and 190 pounds with a 400 pound deadlift. I was 170 about three years ago and was at 162 as a weightlifting 28 year old. Again, I never ate much. But I think my natural, God-intended weight is about 160-165. So what do I do? Keep lifting and eating? Should I creep up to 205 as my 50th birthday approaches?
I also feel often depleted and not nearly as spry as I used to in regards to women. Okay.age, but I wonder if constantly pushing your body to the max without eating tons of food is taken out of your system elsewhere; like your mood, you libido etc.
Unless you eat eat tons of food (which powerlifting demands) then you run into a wall and I wonder if it depletes you more than you realize. You got the cool bumps on your shoulders and back that didn't use to be there but I wonder if it's too taxing. //short version Ro-man. If I could buy you a bag of mint oreos, I would, except well, it'd be healthier drinking turpentine, sans that tastiness that mint oreos provide. You said this, 'one of the most important items I listed was pretty simple: say no to shit you don’t like.
It is one of the hardest things you can do, and one of the best things to learn.' Stoked to read the article when I should really be doing something else. //long version And I 1000% agree.
I'm a people pleaser and often find myself doing things I don't really want to be doing. What is the point?!
Of course, if it means helping someone in need or like, you know, being a kind person, I'm down. I don't want to lose.that. But sometimes I think I'm 'too kind' and spend more time doing what other people want. I have big dreams and goals. Speaking of, I'm trying to get in the best shape of my life and am doing StrongLifts 5x5.
I just started. I've never weight trained in my life. 5x5 swears by back squats.
I've heard such great things about front squats though, so I swapped those in instead. Then a friend challenged me with this article: And I thought, 'Crap but I like.front. squats.' But because I'm a 'rule follower' I thought, 'Time to try back squats.' Not now thanks to thine article.
I'm gonna do front squats. Because I like them. I'm not looking for numbers or sports.
All I want is for people to faint when I take my shirt off. Just my girlfriend. (Is that too much to ask?) I think front squats will help transform me from the noodle I am now, to the beast I will be in 12 weeks. And when I say beast, I really mean, a pretty good looking dude with his shirt off. That's what I want. And that's what I'm going for.
Thanks for the stellar writing. Out.:) PS: Here's a picture from my gym today in lieu of the oreos.
Try not to faint. While I'm biased and a competitive powerlifter, I respect your right to do what suits you best.
That's the great thing about training. Only you know what works best for your body, what you like/don't like, and the risk/reward you pay for doing so.
Will I probably be beat to hell by the time I'm 50 if I stay highly competitive for decades.you bet. But to me personally, I see it as worth it until I reach goals X, Y, and Z.
So props to you man, I respect you being honest and thinking about YOU! The only little thing I ask is, what is your thought on 'doing the things you hate'? Clearly this falls in that category. Good post though, Roman. Lately, the same thoughts are passing through my mind.
I love Bulgarian split squats, and I love Bulgaria ( unlike Mike Boyle;)), probably because I am a Bulgarian:D What I observe is that most people have a lot of mobility issues, which interfere with proper back squat form, and usually bring more harm, than good. Unlike the back squats, the Bulgarian split squat, allows for a better technique, and a pretty good loading of your legs. If I had to choose just one squat variation that I could do to the end of my life, I'd do this. And besides that I've been experimenting with Bulgarian split squats from deficit and it really brings for a great burn;) Have a great day and thanks for the great read! So many good things in this article.
Like the brussel sprouts. I hated them as a kid and now think they kick ass, especially braised. But with regards to back squats, I had gotten up to 315x12 for 3 sets back in '07. Then I went to a week long GYROTONIC training (I'm a personal trainer and GYROTONIC instructor) and I felt like my back had been decompressed, which is probably exactly what happened. I never put a barbell on my shoulders again. A big reason I stopped and also stopped using back squats with my clients is what you say about skills.
Only under a very limited set of circumstances are back squats a truly functional exercise. Exceedingly rarely in life will you carry anything on your shoulders, let alone pick something up shoulder bearing. That's why I do continue to use and enjoy deadlifts.
A totally functional movement. You pick stuff up from the ground all the damn time. And I'm totally down with you on not trying to impress internet bozos who I'm never going to meet anyway! Robert Bateman I am a Chiropractor 5' 8' and play basketball.
I have never done bar squats and never will. I have always used plyometrics, bodyweight squats including Bulgarian squats and jump training.
At 19 years of age I could dunk a volley ball. I never had the ups to dunk a basketball. My point is the loading on the knees is not beneficial long term due to the complex mechanics of the flexion-extension phase. There are plenty of other exercises to use.
I'm 42 now and still playing ball and giving the kids a run for their money. BTW I think Boyles theories are somewhat flawed and don't altogether make sense. Your Living Body I've had squatting issues for years due to my extremely flat feet. Playing soccer for years didn't help either as I had all sorts of alignment issues. I'm impartial to the squat but I think it's a great exercise.
I think you summed it up nicely though with your reasons to squat if you actually need to squat. Now that I'm in my 30's the only thing I really care about is staying healthy and looking like I'm in good shape - the last thing I want is to end up with an injury and/or chronic low back pain because I'm trying to push myself at squats. My main love in life is surfing - as long as I keep my strength and endurance up for that and the occasional 10K I'm happy. I agree with you Roman. There are many other ways to build muscularity if you have an imagination and can work a muscle through the way in contracts. I have had 3 low back surgeries (none related to lifting) and a compression fracture on my T-12. The risk of loading weight on my back isn't worth it.
As a Movement Specialist and Trainer, I believe in performing movements we use in life. I have never had to lift a weight sitting on my back in daily life, however I have to pick things up a lot so I train deadlifts and dumbbell squats. Movements that mimic much more what I am going to face in my daily life. As far as belief, I think your right on. There are no real rules to this game of fitness.
The only couple I think are, Enjoy it and Push yourself hard to do better! Roman, what an awesome post! I usually read your stuff.and this one was awesome, as I constantly toy with 'Do I need to squat anymore as a 30 year old strength coach, personal trainer who wants to stay strong (relatively) and stay lean at 185 lbs. I always dread the squat day bc only have 45 mins MAX to workout and without 5-10 mins of warm up, my knees feel like shit. Deadlifts, I can jump right in and go, and always do well.
I agree with you 100%.thanks for writing it.Steve, Philadelphia, PA. Mvalent23 I saw the title of this in my email, and almost unsubscribed from your mailing list. But then I read it and thought 'I'm not sure if he's an evil genius or not, but I get what he's saying'. I read through it and instead of finding reasons to not squat, I found a whole bunch of reasons to keep doing it. I find it so funny that some of the best lifters and even body builders out there started doing heavy squats at or below parallel. Now that they have great strength, they abandon the one exercise that helped them get there the most, while preaching against it.
Then I read later on that 'You don't have to squat, you can do these 5 things in it's place'. Really, let's think about that: 20 - 25 minutes in the squat rack, or 90 minutes doing a leg circuit and same result (2 of which are squat variations, by the way). Thanks, I'll take the squats. Scott Tousignant Solid article Roman. It's great to see that you shared your opinion and experiences while stating reasons why they may not apply to others.and the sample workouts you shared look wicked awesome!
I was totally in agreement with the 'enjoyment' factor. Until I realized that I didn't do any leg workouts in my late teens and 20's because I didn't enjoy leg day. Like many guys.and it's the reason why I had to bust my butt off in my 30's to make my stick legs a thing of the past. Ironically, leg day is now my favorite training day. Closely followed by back day. Thanks for the share Scott Tousignant. Alex This post is just an opinion and should be treated as such.
Same thing I said on Facebook. If people have a mobility squatting or got injured at some point doing it, they start bashing it. 2nd, the low bar squat is not a leg press, it's a hip movement and it involves what It involves not just quads and glutes (abs, lower back, hamstrings too) Just my 2 cents. If I can't squat correctly, I'd like to learn, not substitute for 5 machines worth of exercises and lose 1hour in the gym just for legs. Sorry Roman, i loved your book, but I can't agree on this one, ever. Nerast I really don't see what's the big fuss about. I think one should train a certain movement pattern (like the squat), or a muscle group (if that's your way of looking at it), but specific excercise selection is totally goal/equipment/individual/context dependent and, IMO, doesn't really make a difference as long as you are able to impose whatever training adaptation you were looking to get.
People tend to get religious about certain pieces of equipment or excercises. I personally (still) enjoy doing back squats, but there is absolutely nothing magical about them, at the end of the day it's just another tool in the toolbox. Sometimes they are just what is needed and sometimes there are better ways to get things done and it would be really stupid to keep doing them if you don't feel you're getting anything out of it. Barney Vincelette I used to be indifferent about Bulgaria until I discovered that they manufacture and sell glow-in-the-dark cloth that is very affordable on e-bay. I bought some and made a suit that is a riot to wear when walking out of the bright sun into a darkened movie theater while complaining about a nuclear waste disposal engineer having spiked my laundry detergent with plutonium salts because he thought I was trying to seduce his wife. Trust me, you haven't lived till you wear clothes that glow in the dark.
But I digress. I find full range of motion hack squats more salubrious because they are athletic but not jockocratic. I hate most sports especially the commercial ones and bodybuilding is less about whom you can beat and more about demonstrating to the world that nobody has to become a victim of the obesity epidemic and suffer all the physical disfigurement and disease that goes with it.
Several women and men have beaten anorexia by living the bodybuilding way of life. That to me is an inspiration. Jamie McCue I've recently come to this decision myself. I suffered from Osgood Schlatter disease for years growing up and it is good all round training that has helped me get over it, not just squats. I'll still do it from time to time but squats are treated the way everyone used to treat arm curls and I refuse to overdo it. I'm starting to notice young guys squatting at least 4 times per week (with their knees about to pop on each rep) because the 'big macho' guys online have convinced them that squats are all they need to do.
They won't last long with this advice and it's great that you have both given them an alternative and confirmed my thoughts to me. Andrew Maclennan Great article John. I agree with a lot of your comments. I have stopped doing conventional squats due to a bad knee injury and resulting weakness in one leg. If I squat then my strong leg does more of the work and I get far more rotational torque going through one hip and I'm not keen on getting one of those replaced anytime soon.
Also it very much depends on what you get out of squats as you said - stiff ankles that I have work my posterior chain well and I have big glutes but small quads. I could mobilise my ankles to change things but years of bad sprains in basketball when I was a young fella have stiffened them up. Stiff ankles are great for top end speed running fast but crap for acceleration (which is linked into poor squatting). Anyway, enough. Yannick Noah Awesome post Roman.
Such an epic way to end the article. I guess for non professional fitness enthusiasts like me i tend to be inclined to follow whatever some high level experts say. So when such coaches say 'you shall squat', it is like a command of a prophet that I cannot say no to haha. But thanks to people like you you have offered me another perspective of things. You didnt diss squats straight away but you provided reasons for doing so and you didnt make your personal choice everyone's choice. As for me, I used to love the squats (down to parallel) because i used to chase the big 3 as well.
But i became unhappy doing them after a while because there are just too many cues to pay attention to and like u, i felt nervous doing them. And for some reason which is unexplainable, I didnt feel good doing them and they were not quite enjoyable anymore.
Now i far prefer front squats.I find that it is easier to do and they feel better although some may say it is a more complicated lift. I still do back squats but i now squat deep so i feel on the legs more without worrying too much about the load. I use deep back squats now for volume work. P/s: i thought of comparing your ending to an epic scene in World War Z but i fear there are some that might not have watched the movie so i decided not to. Roman K Hi Roman on the other side of planet! I recently came across this page.your information is good in one sense to go in the direction of what you like as you will excel more however just because you are not competing or are not aiming to be an athlete does not mean you dont do exercises that you dont like.
These exercises make you stronger and improve limitations usually. My view is the back squat is essential for many reasons however i dont load a house on to it. Yes you dont have to do it as you are doing other variations however for me it is too fundamental.
I guess if you are getting the results elsewhere it isnt a 'need'. I am not a fan of extensions due to the shear stress on acl. Do we train to destroy our ligaments and increase instability or to have strength with stability? In regards to good quad development yes you will get that. Another problem with barbell squats that folk dont really thinkmabout is if your frame is not aligned properly, ie you have one hip higher thannthe other, the hip closest to the grounds leg will initiate the drive first basically meaning the entire load almost is on one leg and by the time the other leg gets involved it only does 20% of the work. People like that are actually setting themselves up for pain, not to mention you will progress far slower as like i say you are pretty much squatting with one leg for most of the rep.
'In fact–and I know I’m going to get lambasted for this by some f.ing barbell purist–I’ve found that from a sheer aesthetic perspective, I get more out of the leg press machine than barbell back squats.' - (quoted from the article) Yes. I've struggled with squatting issues for years and documented my journey over on Dave Draper's Iron Online site. In my personal case, I find the leg press gives me the ability to use heavier weight safely and I can focus the resistance where I choose. Leg Extensions, hip belt squats, leg presses and trap bar lifts get it done for me.
As to 'the squat is the king of exercises' crowd - opinions vary. (Remember' Roadhouse?' Christos Tsiftis Hey Roman, long time no speak! Nice article bro. I've always hated back squats and up until recently would do exercises like Vince Girondas Sissy Skwadz which worked well.until I read Keys To Progress by John McCallum who says Skwadz or bust. Since I started 6 weeks ago on back squats Ive put on 7 kilos and hit 90kg. My strength has increased in everything and i needed new shirts and slacks for work!
Only downside is my ass has widened somewhat, LOL. I now backsquat during winter during bulk up. Whatever works for you, right! Oh, BTW Congrats and nice work with Arnie.
So roman, what I am getting out of this is squats are utterly useless if you are not an athlete or looking for sheer strength. Which I am not.
I'm more like you. Want to look better and feel better. Numbers are nice but not really that important. I am using your Engineering the alpha book and I really enjoy using the workouts and tips.
I can't say if I remember a straight just back squat, I'll have to look thru it to see. But if there is, is it reasonable to substitute that one out for a variation if we are in the same boat as you? I personally hate doing back squats. I have bad knees myself and going anywhere near parallel scares the shit out of me. Any exercise that'll work as a good replacement for it, if it's in the book at all, besides the ones you've listed up there? Thanks a lot you've really motivated me to keep working out and I really appreciate all the help and posts you do!
Your Alpha buddy, Connor Ralph. As a student of Rip's, and movement in general, I'll agree to disagree. In my specific experience, 'correct squatting' fixed my chronic knee problems, and facilitated improvement in everything except distance running. I like Ido Protal's concept of 2-2.5 BW squat as 'good enough' and utilizing various styles of squatting (low bar, Oly, Box, wide stance, narrow, single leg etc.).
To me, a decision not to squat is like a decision not to be good at swimming, deadlifting, hand balancing, or any other fundamental human movement skill. Isolated knee flexion/extension is not a human movement skill. I guess I am one of the Squat lovers.
Mostly because of how much they suck and the physiological response inherent to the training.
“Squats are the king of all exercises!” If you have ready anything on fitness you have likely come across sayings such as this. Read enough and you could come to the conclusion that. For example you will often encounter: Want big legs? Want a nice butt? Want to build a bigger upper body? Want to melt fat off your body?
Want to look great in yoga pants? Want to run faster? Want to jump higher? Want to naturally increase your testosterone?
Want world peace? – Get more people squatting! (okay I’ll stop now) What about squatting with back problems?
While this can be great advice for some people, what happens if you have a bad back? Does that mean you are doomed to fitness failure? Absolutely not! The only people who have to do barbell back squats are powerlifters. There are many alternatives to the traditional barbell back squat and once you find the ones that, you are set to go!
Disclaimer: the following are ideas presented for educational purposes only. This is not medical advice or individualized exercise prescription. Always consult your health care provider before starting any exercise program or before trying any of these exercises. Bad Back Alternative #1: Anterior Loaded Squats With a barbell on your back, you will have more direct compression on your spine.