I’m terrified of squats, i tried to do one yesterday, and with a janky chair-table setup, and it was not working out. when i finally semi-safely got the bar on my back, in a comfortable position, and just could not in any way get the squat on the way down without lifting my heels off of the ground. i looked at a lot of guides and maybe it’s my body type or something, it just wouldn’t work. especially not at my current strength and with the weight that i’d be using. so, at least for now, i’d like to find an exercise that is more approachable for a beginner and can bit similar muscles. do you have any recommendations, chapos? thanks in advance!

  • Assian_Candor [comrade/them]@hexbear.netEnglish
    13·
    10 months ago

    Flexibility issue. You can do body weight squats for reps, depth doesn’t matter too much just go as low as you can and stretch after every session.

    I definitely wouldn’t barbell squat without a proper rack, if you need to add load you can do resistance bands or something like a goblet squat

    • Assian_Candor [comrade/them]@hexbear.netEnglish
      4·
      10 months ago

      Piggybacking on this comment: my lower body is imbalanced, I am on a high volume hypertrophy program and my front squat is nearly 100 lbs behind my deadlift. I could add some accessory work on my cardio days to really target the quads but don’t want to cannibalize my already weak front squats. I could also stop doing front squats and go for the leg press plus an accessory lift, sacrificing the core benefit for being able to push more weight with my quads specifically. Any thoughts?

      Edit: graphs— note the volume difference as well as the slowing down of progression on the squats. Drops are when I get to 5x12 and up weight

  • aaro [they/them, she/her]@hexbear.netEnglish
    8·
    10 months ago

    bad news, it’s super important to have your heels on the ground for a good squat, and having a good squat is kind of hard to replace for lower body work. Good news, anyone can get to that point! Something that’s often recommended is to put plates under your heels to create a wedge, a 2x4 or another similar platform would also work great. You’re definitely going to want to use an empty barbell or less, or even body weight, until the movement is very natural. Working inflexible muscles is a recipe for injury, so make sure your range of movement is good before you start trying to lift heavy.

    As for alternatives, you can do goblet squats (probably particularly good while you get your flexibility up), leg press, Bulgarian split squats (these are somewhat advanced so give them a try but dont do them full weight until later), or a set of isolations that target the same muscle groups (donkey kicks + leg extensions + leg curls? it’s not the same but it’s something). This all depends on if you have a gym (it sounds like you don’t). Without a gym, some of the isolations probably won’t be possible and neither will leg press, but the other options are on the table.

  • Dbumba [none/use name]@hexbear.netEnglish
    5·
    10 months ago

    Leg press if you’re at a gym-- replicates the motion with less stress on stability.

    Lunges / Reverse lunges w dumbells and Deadlifts both hit similar muscle groups.

    Efficient Exercise is basically alternating between pushing and pulling exercises.

  • Maoo [none/use name]@hexbear.netEnglish
    2·
    10 months ago

    Did you try curling your toes on both feet? This can help with stability.

    Also I second the idea of doing body weight squats at whatever depth you prefer.