Lifter problems
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If you've got access to some decent dumbbells, you could always try the goblet squat.
Goblet squat is absolutely an option!
If it were me I'd replace all the machines with squats 3x5 and/or leg mobility work.
Leg press is the only machine I use. But this is certainly a good chance to get shot of it forever.
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^completely agree with @TrickHell you shouldn't be afraid of squatting to the limits of your mobility/skeletal mechanics. There's much higher risk to your knees from not doing so and only going to parallel since this doesn't make use of the stretch reflex action. It's been mentioned by others in this thread, but I'd highly recommend reading Starting Strength by Mark Rippetoe, and/or watching his YouTube vids.
Leg press machines are useful for bodybuilders but not so useful if you want to build functional strength and not compromise joint mobility. If you're squatting with proper form (and full depth) and on a good program for your specific goals then you shouldn't need to be doing leg presses, so I'm curious as to what you felt they were providing?
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Just to be clear, I have nothing against going ATG or breaking parallel and I'm not a stranger to Rippetoe. But without boring you all with specifics about my body shape and injury history, my knees definitely don't like the concentric movement of a below parallel squat done with normal foot stance. They tackle breaking parallel in a front squat and they tackle ATG with an exaggerated wide stance/borderline sumo squat, as long as my feet are properly flared and my knees track over them.
I'm going to keep on doing my regular Friday squat regardless. I've made great progress with it and it has done wonders for power, muscle growth and, in fact, my knees. The point was I guess, is a squat variation a useful substitute for the leg press. The consensus here seems to be it's actually an improvement. So I'm going to do straight sets (3x10) of wide stance deep squats on deadlift day, in addition to standard squats on squat day. My standard squat at the moment is 3x8 @ 140kg, so I guess 90-95kg (my bodyweight) would be a good place to start the wide stance, ATG variation?
Either way, thanks for all the input guys.
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Bit late on this, but I do front squats and rate them much more than leg press. I do them after low bar squats, 5 sets of 10 reps.
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@jvicente86:
@neph93 that should be a good starting point for the wider stance…
Thanks for the advice. First day with the wide stance was yesterday. Did 90kg for 3x10 with my ass way below parallel. Felt good, but different for sure. Could really feel the work my hip joints and core muscles were doing. Looking forward to perfecting form and throwing on weights.
I made the mistake of starting hill sprints at the same time as I tried moving into a calorific surplus. I was eating about 2000 cal more a week and still lost a kilo [emoji28]
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@jvicente86:
@neph93 that should be a good starting point for the wider stance…
Thanks for the advice. First day with the wide stance was yesterday. Did 90kg for 3x10 with my ass way below parallel. Felt good, but different for sure. Could really feel the work my hip joints and core muscles were doing. Looking forward to perfecting form and throwing on weights.
I made the mistake of starting hill sprints at the same time as I tried moving into a calorific surplus. I was eating about 2000 cal more a week and still lost a kilo [emoji28]
I'm late to the party but +1 for ditching the leg press. Consider switching every other week between front squats and overhead squats
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@jvicente86 I'm feeling like a seven stone weakling in comparison!
Just done my first proper arms session in weeks. I had a bursitis on my left elbow, and it's been really slow to heal up.
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I know that feeling too @jvicente86! I used to train with some powerlifters in Newcastle. One of them, Andy Thompson, was a UK heavyweight champion. He could bench 250 kg! :o
I've got a really bad shape for lifting heavy. I'm 6'3" with long arms and legs, and a short torso. My bench and squat suffer as a result.
Thanks for the compression cuffs recommendation. I'll look into them.
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Solid! Nice work.
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9/9. Nice work.
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Nice work man. They are really decent lifts.
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Indeed. I refuse to size up in the waist.
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@TrickHell:
Count me among the bro scientists who thinks "ass to grass is bad for your knees" is a vicious communist lie. Go ass to grass, you'll be fine, your body will get used to it. Start light and build up.
Once your knees are shot, depth can become a problem, as I'm finding. My sister-in-law is a surgeon who also lifts, and is convinced that below parallel isn't for everyone. I studied biomechanics back in the day at university, and it's easy to see how some percentage of people would have difficulty.
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@TrickHell:
Count me among the bro scientists who thinks "ass to grass is bad for your knees" is a vicious communist lie. Go ass to grass, you'll be fine, your body will get used to it. Start light and build up.
Once your knees are shot, depth can become a problem, as I'm finding. My sister-in-law is a surgeon who also lifts, and is convinced that below parallel isn't for everyone. I studied biomechanics back in the day at university, and it's easy to see how some percentage of people would have difficulty.
I think the first sentence here is key. A2G squats will not mess up healthy knees, but there are circumstances where they're not a good idea. Of course if the person had been doing proper squats in the past they might not be in the state they're in, but you have to work with what you've got.
