At the moment, I workout primarily at home. This is mostly all good because most of the stuff I do just needs free weights.
However, i’m very hesistant to go heavier on my back squats because it’s really not ideal to have to press a heavy barbell over your head and back down the ground after some squats.
Basically I hit the gym when uni starts again (march) but in the meantime I want to make decent squat/leg progress?
Any suggestions on alternate stuff to do? I do a bit of front squats but atm its killing my clavicles.
At the moment, I workout primarily at home. This is mostly all good because most of the stuff I do just needs free weights.
However, i’m very hesistant to go heavier on my back squats because it’s really not ideal to have to press a heavy barbell over your head and back down the ground after some squats.
Basically I hit the gym when uni starts again (march) but in the meantime I want to make decent squat/leg progress?
Any suggestions on alternate stuff to do? I do a bit of front squats but atm its killing my clavicles.
Thanks![/quote]
Try Zercher squats. They hit the quads and glutes pretty effectively, are relatively safe to do without a rack, and if you use a towel around the bar, not too hard on your arms. They have also helped me get deeper when I do back squats, sort of helped my hip mobility. I’ve found about 50% of my back squat 1RM to be a good working weight. They are also easy to learn.
Front squats, hack squats, dumbbell squats(both at your side and on your shoulders), sumo deadlifts, step ups, lunges, jump squats, saxon squats, overhead squats, etc…
Really you can still back squat as long as you are somewhere that you can dump the bar off your back if needed. Of course, depending on what you’re squatting, you may have to go much lighter. There’s plenty of stuff you can do without a rack.
Or you could just use this break from squatting as a chance to prioritize deadlifting and unilateral leg work.
Does anyone know how the dumbbell squat changes the muscles recruited tho? I’m guessing it is much less effective than back squats but yeah…[/quote]
Asdie from not loading the postrerior chain, your low back, anbs, whole damn body?? well likely to be a lot further forward and more on the quads etc.
I say do what every one all ready stated. add in lunges, high step ups sinlge leg squats etc. Over load the muscles by putting them at disadvantage, then load the back etc from DLing GM’s RDL’s etc.
I found a pair of sturdy chairs at the dumpster by my apt, then weighted them down. They were my squat rack, I’d squat under and start from the bottom position. I was much, much weaker then – I remember being stoked the first day I did 185 for a set of 8, had the music blaring to pump myself up.
Also, and this is only a suggestion because I haven’t spent much time doing them, you could try barbell back jump squats. They will kill your legs with a much lighter load than you would need for standard back squats. Be careful with these though.
Good luck, I remember gaining a lot of strength lifting on my balcony.
Just do one legged squats (bulgarian) or weighted step ups during this break. Serious attention to some single leg training will increase your back squat once you start it up again.