Should I Just Squat A Bunch?

I fucked up my wrist last Monday when I was floor pressing (couldn’t get the last two up so I dropped the weight forward and my wrist took the brute of the force) and I’m wondering if I should just squat a shit ton while it heals. I had big goals for the end of the year and I don’t want to stray too far from them, so I figured squats (front and back) would be the answer. Thoughts?

Your wrist will probably need 4 weeks to recover if it was that bad. Squats are awesome and if you have the mental toughness try doing 5×5,10×10, and 3×3 three times a week. Gains are waiting bruh…

Was it just 1 wrist?

Front squats hurt my wrists more than most other exercises. Hopefully you heal up quick man!

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I can’t answer that question without knowing how good your squat form is. I don’t mean your legs, but whether or not the bar is properly supported by your upper back and if your grip on the bar is angled as safely as with a bench press. If not, then your wrists could hurt as much as if you were doing bench presses and you’d be better off doing leg presses.

If my wrist was hurt, front squats would be the last thing I’d do, followed quite closely by squats. Safety bar would be ideal if you’ve got access to one.

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I’ve been following a chaos and pain/high frequency split, so my body is good for high volume and frequency at this point. @MarkKO and @littlesleeper I normally use a clean grip, but I worked up to a heavy single with a no hands front squat last week just keeping my elbows high and really sinking into the squat slowly. I did and 8x8 with back squats the other day as well and just really focused on squeezing my back versus bracing with my arms and hands. I’m asking about squatting a fuck ton because after I squatted I did leg presses and hack squats and was so bored after a few sets. I haven’t really done any machine work in months following the high freq style programming and when I went back to machines it was pretty easy and really boring tbh.

@T3hPwnisher yeah it was just the left one. I tried to do some one arm deads, javelin presses with just the right arm, single arm db presses, etc after reading a lot about single arm training for saving muscle on the opposite side. Only issue was that I work a labor job where I have been favoring solely my right arm after the injury so it feels like it is already getting a ton of work doing that.

When I was recovering from ACL surgery, I trained my good side a bunch because my thought process was that I’d rather have 1 strong leg versus 2 weak ones. You might see if you feel the same way.

If not though, you still have a TON of options with a single wrist injury. For deads, use chain suspended good mornings with your hip angle similar to your starting position on deads. It will have very similar carry over.

If your gym has machines, you have a TON of options for upperbody, both unilateral and bi-lateral. If you have a cable station, you can loop an ankle cuff around your wrist or elbow to bypass the wrist and still get in a lot of training.

Dragging a sled forward and backwards will hammer the crap out of your lower body as well.

Also, don’t discount the value of bands and high volume. And then, of course, there is always ab and neck work, which tends to be neglected.

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Yeah I have been doing all of that honestly. For my upper body I tried the ankle cuff, but really didn’t see much from it for my goals. I’ll keep trying it though to see if I can get it right. I like the idea of banded good mornings and may try those. How did doing just one side during your recovery help your strength maintenance? Thanks for the reply and the suggestions man. Much appreciated.

I agree with this one hundred for other people reading this. This year I took initiative to train my abs and neck at least 2-3 times a week and I have seen nothing but amazing gain in physique and strength.

Glad to hear this as a neck harness is on my xmas list and I intend to (for the first time in my recent training history) hit the neck with some consistency.

I mean, I figure ANY training is better than NO training for your goals, no? I did a bunch of squirrely stuff during my recovery simply because it was SOMETHING, haha.

And I was actually talking about real good mornings, not banded ones. Bands are cool too, but you should still be able to lift heavy with chain suspended good mornings. I did them seated during my recovery, like this

I would advise doing them standing, for the purposes of your recovery.

Hard to say how much training this way helped my strength recovery, as I’ve never torn an ACL beforehand to be able to compare it. I will say that I hit a lifetime PR of 586lbs on an axle deadlift less than 3 months after I was cleared to lift with the injured leg, so I think it worked out better than if I spent that time NOT training.

Exactly. Thanks man! I knew what you meant by the gm’s but I dont have access to the chains. I may bring them back in rotation though and hopefully see some gain from it. Thanks again man you’ve been a huge help.

N problem man. You can always bring in your own chains, or if that doesn’t work, there are a few strap options out there that work real well. Superlightweight but hold lots. Towing straps are helpful that way.

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@littlesleeper yeah man, neck work is fucking rad and you build up quick. I started with right around 16 inches and I’m now in between 17-17 1/2. Made a huge difference in yoke.

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