squats

Originally Posted by Morgan

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My strength increased consistently and I put on maybe 5-10 pounds of muscle over 5 months. I was thrilled, but recently my knees began to ache. Sometimes the pain occurs while I am doing the deadlift or squat, but not usually. The pain will typically strike at random later in the day, while I am walking to lunch, or walking home from work. It's not a sharp pain, but deep and sometimes intense - like I have to sit down because I can't walk intense. It soon passes and I hobble on, then I'm walking normally five minutes later. I consult Beginning Strength regularly and try to be rigorous about my form, but I think I must be doing something wrong. What is the most likely cause here? Am I just getting old?

make sure your knees aren't buckling inwards. push your knees outwards during the concentric movement.

Originally Posted by db_ggmm

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What do you squat in?

I squat in soccer flats. Sambas. That's my workout shoe. Decent lateral support with no bulky heel or midfoot cushion. They're good for squatting, deadlifting, standing overhead pressing, and any lift where you want to feel firm ground under your feet.

Tried to squat in a pair of NB runners a few weeks ago when I forgot my usual gear. It seemed dangerously unstable. Couldn't feel my heels on the ground. Kicked them off to squat barefoot when some trainer-douche told me no sock-feet allowed.

I've been doing 5x5 for a bit now, been basing my workout after the stronglift routine etc. going up 5lbs every time I work out.

I'm pretty short at 5'7 @ ~155lbs and I didn't want to bulk up too much, but I've been enjoying the routine and the results thus far.

Squats I'm up to 190lbs 5x5
Bench I'm up to about 195 3x5
Push press I'm doing 185 3x8

Don't know what my body fat % is but I think I'm dropping, I have noticed and others have noticed that I look 'leaner', although I haven't lost any weight or muscle.

Originally Posted by Tooch4321

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Not when you are loading over 350+lbs! I also think depending on your range of motion going A2G isn't always appropriate or necessary. I wanna see you guys squat 400lbs A2G and not have any knee issues...

disagree here. the only reason not to go A2G (or at least, as low as your body flexibility allows) is in order to "cheat" and say you squatted a higher weight. i.e., if I can squat 250 A2G, I can probably do 300 by cheating and going halfway. it's not a better exercise, and I wasn't stronger when I did 300

Originally Posted by danilo

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I've been doing 5x5 for a bit now, been basing my workout after the stronglift routine etc. going up 5lbs every time I work out.

I'm pretty short at 5'7 @ ~155lbs and I didn't want to bulk up too much, but I've been enjoying the routine and the results thus far.

Squats I'm up to 190lbs 5x5
Bench I'm up to about 195 3x5
Push press I'm doing 185 3x8

Don't know what my body fat % is but I think I'm dropping, I have noticed and others have noticed that I look 'leaner', although I haven't lost any weight or muscle.

Good work, but you should be squating a lot more than you can push press (or bench press for that matter).

Originally Posted by pebblegrain

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disagree here. the only reason not to go A2G (or at least, as low as your body flexibility allows) is in order to "cheat" and say you squatted a higher weight. i.e., if I can squat 250 A2G, I can probably do 300 by cheating and going halfway. it's not a better exercise, and I wasn't stronger when I did 300

I agree.

Are there any problems with front-squats that I should know about? I recently began experimenting with them and realized that they seem to make my back feel better, and work my arms and stomach more. Although I can't load nearly as much weight as with a standard squat.

Front squats are easier on the lower back for most people. (I mostly do front squats due to my unfortunate biomechanics.) Taking a slightly wider stance than what feels normal might help to load more weight since it will get your ass into the action more.

Originally Posted by airportlobby

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Are there any problems with front-squats that I should know about? I recently began experimenting with them and realized that they seem to make my back feel better, and work my arms and stomach more. Although I can't load nearly as much weight as with a standard squat.

I think front squats focus on the quads more, and back the hamstrings. But I'm sure someone will chime in with more info.

Originally Posted by Grayland

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Good work, but you should be squating a lot more than you can push press (or bench press for that matter).

I know... I'm working my way up. I've sort of hit a wall on my upper body for now, while my squat I'm still going up. I hope to get to 225 sometime this summer. Although that is close to 1.5 my body weight. I think I could probably do 225lbs right now as a 1 rep max.

I'm really not trying to get much bigger, just keep my strength and get my diet cleaner so I can lose a bit more body fat.

You'll be moving less weight using fronts as well (and agreed that they are a more quad-loaded exercise).

They really take some time to get the hang of... and I've effed up an arm not paying close enough attention.

Originally Posted by pebblegrain

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disagree here. the only reason not to go A2G (or at least, as low as your body flexibility allows) is in order to "cheat" and say you squatted a higher weight. i.e., if I can squat 250 A2G, I can probably do 300 by cheating and going halfway. it's not a better exercise, and I wasn't stronger when I did 300

Some people, for example taller individuals with longer femurs, are not able to squat A2G effectively. Some people lack the hip and ankle mobility to squat A2G. Sometimes it is possible to remedy, sometimes it is not... either way, it is hardly "cheating."

One should at least go slightly below parallel if not A2G.

If I look around the gym, 99% of the folks load up some crazy weights on the bar and go about 3/4th of the way to parallel. It might give an ego boost, but IMO, there is a world of difference between above parallel and slightly below parallel. That last few inches are the hardest.

I think people will be much better off swallowing their ego, starting with just the bar and doing box squats down to below parallel and then work their way up the weights. Yeah, one will be lifting girly weights for a while but they will be better off in the long run.

Originally Posted by asdf

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Some people, for example taller individuals with longer femurs, are not able to squat A2G effectively. Some people lack the hip and ankle mobility to squat A2G. Sometimes it is possible to remedy, sometimes it is not... either way, it is hardly "cheating."

I said, at least as low as your body flexibility allows.

I just switched from high-bar squats to low-bar squats. One thing that I noticed right away was how much lighter the weight felt, but my shoulders felt like they were going to tear out of my sockets and my wrists were hurting from being bent back too far, which ended in my form suffering in other areas (back rounding, knees buckling). I'm thinking it might just be a flexibility issue at the moment.

Anyone care to help me trouble shoot?