squats - Page 13

keep me out of this, my back is so broken i only squat 225 nowadays

yep, I finally got to a 24 kg, I use it for days when I can't get to something else, so a couple of times a week. I love it.

Manton, diet will decide how big you get. The reason so many people are obsessed w/ squats because it's the number 1 strength builder out there. One compound exercise that works over half your body's muscles. There are also claims that squatting releases growth hormone from the pituitary, but I think that's just broscience, since I read it off bodybuilding.com's forums. If you think I'm retarded, you check out those guys. I'm a regular Alfred Einstein in comparison.

Overhead squats FTW.

Do you guys regularly dump the bar on squats? how?

I am getting used to doing squats in the cage, everything is fine, I feel my form is fine, I have the safety bars a few inches below my ROM, etc.

But, I never go to failure because I'm not comfortable with dumping the bar.

q1: Do you dump it by falling forward, or backward?
q2: Do you do this regularly?

The few times I've had to abandon a squat, I keep my core contracted into the hole and just let the bar roll off my back onto the safety pins.

Also, video comparing high bar vs low bar squats.

http://vimeo.com/4772650

Just watched this the other day and I can see how I was messing up my form. As others have mentioned, low bar squatting doesn't go as deep as high bar. Probably the cause of my hip pain.

I've only dumped it once (once I misjudged the pins and got a bit lower than usual on my last warm up, hit the bar onto the pins, that doesn't count). I kept contracted, and just lowered myself until the bar was on the pins.

I squat with rubber plates, not a cage. So when I have to dump I just release the bar backwards and jump/hop forward. Never had a problem with it.

My car weighs less than that.

As I suggested before if you don't want to use a cage just do front squats, you can safely dump the weight, form is much easier in my opinion, keep your back as verticle as you can, keep your elbows and your chest up and squat until your ass touches your calves. Power cleaning the weight into position might be kind of hard, but its pretty easy.

the advice will apply to you because the goal of the advice isn't really for you to get big as possible, but to squat safely and effectively. are you afraid that if you're using a barbell you're going to have a hard time dumping the weight if something goes wrong? edit: to elaborate, you say you don't want to be as big as kunk, but that's really more of a function of diet (and in kunk's case, steroids). if your goal is to just improve your general health, stay lean and maybe build some muscle, squats are still a really good exercise. even if you aren't a member of a gym you should still try to invest in 1-2 training sessions with a good coach - it'll really help you out. or you can record your form and post it here.

Zercher squats also work for those without a squat cage.

I like the cage just fine, but how do you dump it if you are stuck at the bottom? wouldnt it fall in your lap? Am I just overthinking all this? Does the human body tend to have enough force to push the bar away before it falls on your foot, ankle, etc? The only failsafe I can think of is if you have dumbbells, there is no you you can dump those without pushing them away from you

If you want to do it at home on the cheap, get some sawhorses and set the height about at the bottom of your squat.

I had the same problem at one point, and just forced myself to dump the bar one time. It's really not that bad. I just kept lowering down until the bar hit the bars. Loud noise, weight suddenly gets lighter, no problem. It never bothered me after that, and having the confidence to actually push the weight more let me progress more quickly.

I've probably had to bail five or six times, always when pushing for that last rep (I don't do singles on squats very often).


It is a bit awkward, but consider that the plates are out to the side and the bar is suspended. You really can't squash your feet or ankles. Worst you can do is drop the bar on your legs and it's roll off. Generally you can push the bar out/push yourself back enough to avoid that. Helps to know how to do cleans, bailing on a front squat is sort of the reverse.

I've only had to bail on a front squat once, when I got a bicep cramp of all things and couldn't hold the bar anymore. I just stood up and let the bar fall onto the floor. I was using bumper plates on a rubberized floor, was no problem.


That would scare the shit out of me, can't imagine doing it with big weight.