I hate squats.

[Kev07]

today's workout:

1 set warm up leg press, 45s on each side

5 sets of squats as so
7repsx135lbs
8x135
8x135
7x135 (failed to get up on 8th)
10x115



then 3 sets of lunges with 15 lbs dumbells, about 18 steps per set

 

[blinkwatt]

Dude don't trip cause you don't like doing 1 form of an exercise. There are tons of way to do squats,personally I don't like doing them with the barbell so I searched for other ways to do them. Try hack squats and squats on the smith machine.

 

[spesmilitis]

How come you hate them?

Cuz you don't PR? Make sure your getting good nutrition and rest?

Cuz you don't like the feeling? Make sure your form is good. I've been doing squats since june of last year, and even today I'm making small tweaks to my form. Look at squat articles at t-nation.com

 

[Kev07]

it's tiring, i sweat like hell and this is how my reps go

1 2 3 4, rest, 5, rest, 6, rest, 7,rest,8 rerack and go drink water, stretch and die

repeat
sometimes ill even have to rest at 2 or 3

 

[Zerix]

it's tiring, i sweat like hell and this is how my reps go

1 2 3 4, rest, 5, rest, 6, rest, 7,rest,8 rerack and go drink water, stretch and die

repeat
sometimes ill even have to rest at 2 or 3

Uh... too much weight maybe? You can't possibly hate the number one lower body exercise out there.

DO IT, or lose.

 

[Skilla_Staz]

I'm about to come off as a ****. Brace yourself



Ohhhh poor baby. It's tough. Ohhhh. My bicep curls are soo much easier.. OoOhhhhh. Suck it up. The more muscle groups you use, the more weight you can put on, and the harder it may seem. However, the bigger the reward. Personally, squat is one of my FAVORITE exercises, even tho deadlift is slowly taking it's place.

Suck it up and be a man. Get under that bar.

 

[Throttle]

squats hate you.

seriously, though, make sure you're warming up for them like this:

http://www.ironaddicts.com/Warm-ups.html

then only try to do 2 worksets of 5 reps. and if you haven't had enough after that, drop to 80% or so of your workset weight and do 20 more. screw lunges.

 

[Throttle]

Uh... too much weight maybe? You can't possibly hate the number one lower body exercise out there.

nothing wrong with hating 'em. you just have to make them your *****. i find that deadlifting on another day of the week helps prep me mentally for squats 3 or 4 days later. then the squats help my deadlift -- and i love deadlifting.

DO IT, or lose.

exactly.

 

[ryannath]

I think you are doing way to many squats man. I only do 15 squats total. 5 reps a set for 3 Sets. And, I am DEAD after that and sore for a few days in my legs.

 

[donjuanjovi]

Try doing leg extensions instead. Not only do you get to sit down, but you can read a magazine, or talk on your cell phone while you do them.

 

[mrRuckus]

I'm about to come off as a ****. Brace yourself



Ohhhh poor baby. It's tough. Ohhhh. My bicep curls are soo much easier..

I hate curls. I hate doing biceps. They're the exercises that hurt. Puny little biceps getting beat up for probably no good reason since I do rows and chins and all that too. I always end up with a pump in them in them too even though I only do sets of 6-10 on them. I don't want a pump.

Squats are easy. Big manly quads and hammies happy to do squatty move. Biceps angry. rawr

Try doing leg extensions instead. Not only do you get to sit down, but you can read a magazine, or talk on your cell phone while you do them.

I'm pretty sure those are terrible for your knees. I know mine hated them when I did them a few years ago. I don't even want to think about what my knees would have to endure now with all the weight i could add on top of what i used to do.

p.s. get the hell off your phone in the gym, you rude bastard

 

[A-Unit]

Re:

I hated squats, too.
Until I realized I wouldn't actually get to where I wanted to with lifting without them.

The unfortunate reality for people who dislike squats and deads, and a few other excersises is that you'll never hit your genetic threshhold WITHOUT them.

Pavel, a noted Russian Strength training professional, says they are number for full bodys strength, fitness and back health.

Dr. Hatfield and WestSide Barbell list Squats as number one. Doing both to perfection for heavy weight is the fastest way, short of steroids, for getting big.

Look no further than the World's Strongest men. Sure they're lifting oddly shaped objects, but since you don't have buses to pull or tires to lift, we'll settle for squats and deads.

I would get Mark Ripptoe's book on Starting Strength.
His advice on the squat grealy improved mine.
At the gym, I always see guys who only go to just above the knee, as if it's a quad squat, which is EXTREMELY dangerous for the knee joint, contrary to what these lifters believe. Moreover, using machines can be MORE detrimental to your health because you FIX joints and muscles into place, ala the leg extension. At low weights, big deal. At high weights, you're fixing the leg in place, yet the body is a SYSTEM, and it grows as a system, and lifts more as a system. Isolating it prevents strength and well-being from growing at a faster pace than would normally occur.

Where in life do you lift in a FIXED position? If you flow with how the body naturally lifts, you have better odds of maxmimizing your genetic potential.

Now, I love squats and deads. At lower weights, you don't exactly love them, but feel that each workout, you're getting stronger. And once you're lifting more than most WITH proper form, you'll feel even better. I had some fairly big guy, a guy bigger than me, notice I was doing deads, while he was doing machine weighted crossed-overs for his chest. He tried his hand at 350 deads, but he could only muster 1 rep, and claimed his traps hurt from doing it. I did 2 sets of 5 reps. Doesn't seem like much weight, but by and large, most people in the gyms can't do deads or squats, and are only looking the part of being fit, but aren't actually 'fit.'

The other aspect to making legs grow and enjoying squats is stretching all parts of the body. Take up a form of yoga, or stretch your body daily. Personally, nobody should go without some form of yoga. Once you've experienced it, you'll never stop doing it. And for anyone who contends it's "girly," just know that Ladainian Tomlinson and Tony Parrish are 2 noted football players amongst thousands who do yoga, on top of most every professional golfer out there, and they're in great shape, making millions, and at the pinnacle of sports. I think they know what they're doing.


Gl,


A-Unit

 

[spesmilitis]

Try 10-20 reppers. You should feel 'done' by the time your done half your sets. Its pretty intense and you'll feel things you can only feel after doing squats. Its hard to explain see for yourself.

Those kinda squats require for you to be at your best. Make sure you're recovery and nutrition is good, and that you warmed up correctly and using good technique.

 

[Kev07]

I do my squats, i haven't curled in a while (compound excercises ftw, i don't touch many isolates)

I'm just saying, why are squats such a bvtch T_T

sets of 5 reps kill me, but then i feels like a pvssy after the workout so i decided to bust out 8 reps per set :woo:


i do plenty of stretching, and i'll check out that warm up video

PS: my legs are dead today and I love my deads

 

[A-Unit]

Re:

1) You'd feel that much pain in your biceps, IF your biceps took up the same volume of muscle mass that your legs or back do. They don't, though. Nobody's does, as such your bicep/tricep pain isn't as much. The calves, biceps, triceps and even shoulders get more daily minor work than the quads, back and chest do. Examine daily activities. Pulling and pushing involve mostly the small muscles. Rarely do we lift heavy enough stuff to recruit the larger groups, so their stamina is quite low. By doing deads and squats you're doing the work they need.

2) Over time, you'll adaption will increase making your recovery a little quicker. Also, as your form improves, which is critical to progressing weight-wise, you'll enjoy them, see faster gains, and better recovery. When I began lifting, I only lifted once a week on my quads. Of course, I only used them once a week, so I was in pain for longer time period. I've gone to a Ripptoe workout and done them 2-3 times a week, so I recover better. And if I don't, I do something else. Moreover, if I'm not confident in the next weight, I bang out another day of my weight from the previous time, work on form, and get a few more sets in. Plateaus CAN be busted through, but it takes just a "little" more than what you've been doing, either in weight, better form, reps, or sets. Maybe even food or recovery time. Something different.

You'll see, more time dedicated to the lifts, stretching/yoga, proper nutrition, good rest after the gym, a full 8 hours or more of sleep, and you'll recover fast enough to lift again on them in 2 days or so. And put up weight you're confident in. Just takes time, esp. if you're new to them.


A-Unit

 

[PeterNorthisawesome]

Try doing leg extensions instead. Not only do you get to sit down, but you can read a magazine, or talk on your cell phone while you do them.

I'm pretty sure that was joke. If you were on your cell and if I didn't have my music... oh man I would put that cell phone down your throat. Why are ppl so socially retarded, you come to the gym to LIFT. If you want to socialize and do other sh*t get out of the gym, it's not like you own the gym so stop being a selfish pr*ck to others.

 

[BluEyes]

-Don't forget to train abs and lower back when doing squats... I almost injured myself because my core wasn't strong enough for the weights I was putting up with squats.

-Oh, and buy a lifting belt. Nothing quite as enjoyable as getting a chronic back injury at our age.

-Check your ego at the door. Forget about how many 45s you're putting on the bar, and only put weight on the bar that you can do with perfect form.

I've done a rebuild a couple times now where I hit a weight that didn't feel so hot. bad form and weird feelings in my knees, so I lowered the weight substantially and worked it back up with good form. Go slow, you're gonna be hitting the gym consistently for several years, so there's no rush.

 

[mrRuckus]

The other aspect to making legs grow and enjoying squats is stretching all parts of the body. Take up a form of yoga, or stretch your body daily. Personally, nobody should go without some form of yoga. Once you've experienced it, you'll never stop doing it. And for anyone who contends it's "girly," just know that Ladainian Tomlinson and Tony Parrish are 2 noted football players amongst thousands who do yoga, on top of most every professional golfer out there, and they're in great shape, making millions, and at the pinnacle of sports. I think they know what they're doing.

Yoga is just glorified stretching. All the rest of yoga is mumbo jumbo. Sure go to the class and spend money or whatever but remember that it's just stretching that you could do at home. I don't see why stretching would be considered girly anyway. As this is the sosuave board, who CARES what people think/say about what you do if you want to do it? Yoga is filled with chicks.

 

[mrRuckus]

I'm pretty sure that was joke. If you were on your cell and if I didn't have my music... oh man I would put that cell phone down your throat. Why are ppl so socially retarded, you come to the gym to LIFT. If you want to socialize and do other sh*t get out of the gym, it's not like you own the gym so stop being a selfish pr*ck to others.

Yeah dude because swearing left and right and threatening to shove a phone down someone's throat is the opposite of "socially retarded."

I'll socialize at the gym if I want to, ok? You don't know why I come to the gym. Maybe I don't have many other places or time to make any friends. I don't particularly want to hear your ****ty music blaring from your cheap headphones at hearing damaging levels (assumption that is usually true for most guys i see wearing headphones while they lift) but I just tune it out.

 

[LoneSilver]

When I squat I clean and press the weight to my back first then concentrate on doing my sets of 3 to 4 8 to 12 reps since I don't have a squat rack and I workout at home. I also do them barefoot and I don't listen to any music just my heartbeat and breathing is the only music I need total concentration I have in getting my form down for the bigger weights to come.

At 48 I feel pretty good about this as the clean and press first adds cardio to my workout and after 3 month's and this week I will be starting my 4th month I went from 205 body weight to now 218 220 at 6-2.

LoneSilver