Couple things that will help you if you are not doing them.
Make sure you fuel yourself for leg days.
Warm up your legs plenty before getting into your working sets, but
DO NOT stretch right before.
I used to hate leg days, now they are my best days. All of my lifts have come way up since sticking with squats. My body weight has also been on a strong increase as well. Below is a link to my very first attempt at 315. I was nervous about it, but ever since that day I have never looked back. I now rep 315 like I used to rep 225. (and before all the bad form critics on my vid…that was the first time for me…I do better at breaking parallel now) Not bragging either, but I am one of the only people that do squats at my gym.
Marzouk, my squat is also my worst lift. I can leg press a ton, but since my shoulder surgery I can’t really hold onto the bar when it’s on my back. I can front squat more than back squat, but the weight on my delts really bothers my shoulder, it sits right on the scars and leaves me sore for days.
[quote]dnlcdstn wrote:
…but leg presses and hack squats will do more for size than squatting every will…
[/quote]
Um, no.
Squats are great for size. For some people they work great for overall leg size and lots of people grow great quads with them. Some people because of limb lengths or just plain mechanical issues, don’t get big quads from it. But it’s one of the best leg exercises.
now I do agree that it’s just an exercise and people get this stupid mystical “magic pill” sort of mentality about it. BUT it’s a great exercise and for most people it’s worth doing and worth learning how to do it.[/quote]
My legs have grown from only squatting. Back squats and front squats over three years got me the biggest legs on my wrestling and the biggest legs for a non O-lineman on my football team. And, I still wasn’t squatting the most weight.
Edit- I should also mention that I do more Olympic style squats than any other kind at the moment. Higher bar placement and feet closer in, but before, I did it with a much wider stance, and my legs still grew.
Heres a linkt o my squat from a 2 months or so back.
Anyway since i started this thread, i started to add walking lunges and goblet squats to my leg routine as well.
I squated this week with a guy in the gym, strapped on a belt and i’ve got my squat up to 360x3 with a belt.
Was really happy about this as my previous best was 275x3.
I have no idea how this happend, maybe it was because i had a spotter and wasn’t so scared about getting under a bar heavier than i’ve attempted before.
That was 2 days ago and my quads, glutes are still smoked, walking around like 12’’ of mandingo have been in me.
[quote]detazathoth wrote:
stretch out your hip flexors
[/quote]
Definitely this. My squat form was helped a lot by really focusing on doing some dynamic stretching movements for my hip flexors right before squatting. Try those stretches where you swing your leg up and then touch your toe with your opposite arm and/or some light plyo stuff like split squat jumps (not so much that you get tired out but just enough to really activate your hip flexors)
It may be a flexibility issue. Make sure that you use a good dynamic warmup like DeFranco’s Agile 8 before you squat. I know I generally have trouble consistently hitting depth and feeling comfortable in the hole unless I warm up properly.
Cheers guys, definitely warmuping up and stretching more.
Im restarting kick boxing this week after haveing nearly 2 years off so hopefully the stretching and and movements in that willl loosen up my hips and flexors.
Im a lot happier with my squat no but im still working on it, an 85lb gain is quite good for 8 months or so i think. Still got a long way to go.
[quote]Maiden3.16 wrote:
It’s one thing to do squats for a few years, get pretty strong on them, and realize they dont work for you for building size as well as hack squats etc do.
Its another thing to hear that someone has only been sqauting for ONE year, can only squat 225x5, and tell them to give up on them (unless injury problems ofcourse.) Especially when OP has not even been training legs properly based on what he has said about his leg workout in other threads.
Seriously, Even someone that concentrates on hack squats and leg presses all the time should still be able to get under the bar and squat 225x10. Atleast.
Even people who are tall and dont have the perfect body for squats should be able to get to atleast a 315 squat max in a short amount of time, and be able to rep the shit out of 225.
[/quote]
I can agree with most of this.
Those that dont ‘feel’ squats. I question how many reps you are doing. It should be a law of nature that quads respond unsusually well to very high reps. I havent done a set of of a squat variation under 15 reps in a real long time. Forget about the amount of raw weight.
Yes there is merit to getting under a very heavy bar and squatting it 3 times. But this should be a rare exception.
Seriously. Those of you who dont think squats work should do 2 things. ONE. Fix your form so your body moves the way it is designed to (squatting is the most natural movement one can do in a gym) and TWO: make your leg workout 5 sets of squats. make the first 3 sets at least 20 reps (ramp up the weight). Then keep ramping up the weight and make the last 2 sets at least 15 reps. Progress from there.
If you dont get a pump from almost 100 reps of squats then your form is horrible.
[quote]Maiden3.16 wrote:
It’s one thing to do squats for a few years, get pretty strong on them, and realize they dont work for you for building size as well as hack squats etc do.
Its another thing to hear that someone has only been sqauting for ONE year, can only squat 225x5, and tell them to give up on them (unless injury problems ofcourse.) Especially when OP has not even been training legs properly based on what he has said about his leg workout in other threads.
Seriously, Even someone that concentrates on hack squats and leg presses all the time should still be able to get under the bar and squat 225x10. Atleast.
Even people who are tall and dont have the perfect body for squats should be able to get to atleast a 315 squat max in a short amount of time, and be able to rep the shit out of 225.
[/quote]
I can agree with most of this.
Those that dont ‘feel’ squats. I question how many reps you are doing. It should be a law of nature that quads respond unsusually well to very high reps. I havent done a set of of a squat variation under 15 reps in a real long time. Forget about the amount of raw weight.
Yes there is merit to getting under a very heavy bar and squatting it 3 times. But this should be a rare exception.
Seriously. Those of you who dont think squats work should do 2 things. ONE. Fix your form so your body moves the way it is designed to (squatting is the most natural movement one can do in a gym) and TWO: make your leg workout 5 sets of squats. make the first 3 sets at least 20 reps (ramp up the weight). Then keep ramping up the weight and make the last 2 sets at least 15 reps. Progress from there.
If you dont get a pump from almost 100 reps of squats then your form is horrible. [/quote]
[quote]Maiden3.16 wrote:
It’s one thing to do squats for a few years, get pretty strong on them, and realize they dont work for you for building size as well as hack squats etc do.
Its another thing to hear that someone has only been sqauting for ONE year, can only squat 225x5, and tell them to give up on them (unless injury problems ofcourse.) Especially when OP has not even been training legs properly based on what he has said about his leg workout in other threads.
Seriously, Even someone that concentrates on hack squats and leg presses all the time should still be able to get under the bar and squat 225x10. Atleast.
Even people who are tall and dont have the perfect body for squats should be able to get to atleast a 315 squat max in a short amount of time, and be able to rep the shit out of 225.
[/quote]
I can agree with most of this.
Those that dont ‘feel’ squats. I question how many reps you are doing. It should be a law of nature that quads respond unsusually well to very high reps. I havent done a set of of a squat variation under 15 reps in a real long time. Forget about the amount of raw weight.
Yes there is merit to getting under a very heavy bar and squatting it 3 times. But this should be a rare exception.
Seriously. Those of you who dont think squats work should do 2 things. ONE. Fix your form so your body moves the way it is designed to (squatting is the most natural movement one can do in a gym) and TWO: make your leg workout 5 sets of squats. make the first 3 sets at least 20 reps (ramp up the weight). Then keep ramping up the weight and make the last 2 sets at least 15 reps. Progress from there.
If you dont get a pump from almost 100 reps of squats then your form is horrible. [/quote]
Damn good post, Bonez.
[/quote]
x2
Definitely starting to listen to the more experianced people on here, will take this on board Bonez.
Interesting comments on this thread. I’m thinking I should just give up the squat altogether as well. I, too, have the longest femurs you’ll ever see. I practically have to lay my chest on my thighs when doing a squat if I want to keep my knees from passing my toes. This causes a lot of back soreness in the long run.
[quote]SSC wrote:
[quote]DoubleDuce wrote:
[quote]dnlcdstn wrote:
…but leg presses and hack squats will do more for size than squatting every will…
[/quote]
Um, no.
Squats are great for size. For some people they work great for overall leg size and lots of people grow great quads with them. Some people because of limb lengths or just plain mechanical issues, don’t get big quads from it. But it’s one of the best leg exercises.
now I do agree that it’s just an exercise and people get this stupid mystical “magic pill” sort of mentality about it. BUT it’s a great exercise and for most people it’s worth doing and worth learning how to do it.[/quote]
Couldn’t agree more.
Squats are probably the best leg exercise out there… if they work for you.
My femurs are retardedly long, and my lower back has a lot of injury issues. Squatting is NOT for me.
I use to be so bent on squats squats squats (I call this T-Nation zombieism, runs rampant here,) until I realized it was causing more harm than good.
If they don’t work for you, and you don’t enjoy them (presumably because they don’t work for you,) I say stop trying to force something that just won’t work.
Hack squats, leg press, even front squats (although my back limits these.)[/quote]
That video did wonders for my squat. And getting weightlifting shoes with heels. My legs definitely grow from squats. I do them oly style, narrow stance, high bar, atg.
[quote]Maiden3.16 wrote:
It’s one thing to do squats for a few years, get pretty strong on them, and realize they dont work for you for building size as well as hack squats etc do.
Its another thing to hear that someone has only been sqauting for ONE year, can only squat 225x5, and tell them to give up on them (unless injury problems ofcourse.) Especially when OP has not even been training legs properly based on what he has said about his leg workout in other threads.
Seriously, Even someone that concentrates on hack squats and leg presses all the time should still be able to get under the bar and squat 225x10. Atleast.
Even people who are tall and dont have the perfect body for squats should be able to get to atleast a 315 squat max in a short amount of time, and be able to rep the shit out of 225.
[/quote]
I can agree with most of this.
Those that dont ‘feel’ squats. I question how many reps you are doing. It should be a law of nature that quads respond unsusually well to very high reps. I havent done a set of of a squat variation under 15 reps in a real long time. Forget about the amount of raw weight.
Yes there is merit to getting under a very heavy bar and squatting it 3 times. But this should be a rare exception.
Seriously. Those of you who dont think squats work should do 2 things. ONE. Fix your form so your body moves the way it is designed to (squatting is the most natural movement one can do in a gym) and TWO: make your leg workout 5 sets of squats. make the first 3 sets at least 20 reps (ramp up the weight). Then keep ramping up the weight and make the last 2 sets at least 15 reps. Progress from there.
If you dont get a pump from almost 100 reps of squats then your form is horrible. [/quote]
That sounds harder than GVT! Which does give a great pump.
[quote]EctoMorphosis wrote:
I have to say I feel a little bit the same way as OP. My Quads are a disappointment after almost a year of squatting (I know, not much time). As for my Hams and glutes, thats a different story. [/quote]
… Sounds like you’re doing squats correctly but don’t have a clue what the point of squatting is. You’re not supposed to get teardrops or quad development from back squats. You are supposed to get a well developed posterior chain.
