Question for BB'ers age 50+

[n3mo0101]

I see countless guys whose knees and lower backs are messed up due to years of heavy squatting.

For any of you in this situation, if you could go back and do it all over again, would you train legs differently? If so, how?

I am 26 and my legs are pretty strong and solid. I don't want to ruin my knees. To me, increasing my squat poundage is not worth the pain I see some guys go through. The guys I talk to at my gym who did/still do bodybuilding and are 50+ all say that if they could go back they would keep the weight down and just work on higher rep ranges with great form. Some say they wouldn't go as deep in their squat. Some say they would do box squats to reduce the bounce. I really don't know which advice to take, but I do know I want to preserve my knees as much as possible.

What type of advice can the veterans on here offer me??

 

[tenny]

in my opinion BOX SQUATS are the worst possible
thing you could do for your knees...

you are stopping tension.....BAD IDEA.

me personally....doing half squats, hurts worse then full range...


probably the less poundage thing....and more and controlled reps
would be what i would say...to save the knees.

 

[JETHRO TULL]

I would not go as heavy.

No one cares 5 years later how heavy you squatted, trust me. Probably really good reps with 315 would have been enough. The ass to the grass stuff...maybe if you are a shorter guy with wide hips. I am 6'1 and have long legs and a short torso. I didn't need to be squatting 500 for 7 deep reps. Or 600 pound singles at meets. That was stupid. I also used to smirk at guys who would talk about how much they squatted on smith machines...because we all know that is not even close to squatting real weight. Same with those guys who would load up the leg press so they could "look" strong. I would say come on over here to the rack and let's see what you've got.
Yeah, I could work very hard and I was strong, but my knees hurt now when I go hiking in the mountains like I did today.
And....no one gives a shit what a bad ass I was in the gym when I am out looking for Mule deer.

 

[aussiebulldog]

in my opinion BOX SQUATS are the worst possible
thing you could do for your knees...

you are stopping tension.....BAD IDEA.

me personally....doing half squats, hurts worse then full range...


probably the less poundage thing....and more and controlled reps
would be what i would say...to save the knees.

I am 52. and I agree completely.

 

[SRhealth-Rachel]

you can take kneelet to protect your knee
and when you squat remember Never squat 200 - 300 pounds without doing some warm-up sets first; do not use more weight then you can handle

 

[Selected]

in my opinion BOX SQUATS are the worst possible

thing you could do for your knees...



you are stopping tension.....BAD IDEA.



me personally....doing half squats, hurts worse then full range...





probably the less poundage thing....and more and controlled reps

would be what i would say...to save the knees.

tenny always can offer us meaningful advice


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[Gravel]

When your our age (I'm 52) you can always look back although telling me as young guy not to squat heavy would of gone on deaf ears. I learned if it hurt find another way to do it. Fortunately I don't have knee issues although I stay under 405 today.

 

[muscle96ss]

I am not quite in the 50+ group yet but my knees have been shot for a long time. I think that whether you do squats or not, the simple fact of walking around for years at a high bodyweight is going to put a ton of stress on the knees over the years. The body isn't designed to carry around that amount of mass and just wears out over time.

 

[pesty4077]

At 56, I don't have back or knee problems. Might get stiff once in awhile, but I learn a long time ago to listen to my body and stay away from certain exercises.

 

[drum]

Make sure your posterior chain is strong and operating properly.

Use barefoot shoes.

When I stopped squatting and deadlifting in trainers and started going barefoot, then barefoot shoes, everything fell into place... knee pain went, hip flexors and quads finally started loosening up and relaxing... I didn't have to spend half an hour on the roam roller every night anymore just to loosen off. Feet and toes start spreading out again. Your whole lower body and back start operating as they should do... then you should have a much more comfortable, productive, safe, effective and enjoyable time squatting.

And try to wear them as much as poss outside the gym too.

 

[robertfhub]

Walking around at 250+ is going to cause problems. Just turned 50 and just started having knee pain. I bet if I drop 30lbs it would be a great relief. I would have started supplementing with great lakes collagen sooner.

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[Ifbbpro2014]

Been training since 88-89. I would have not ego lifted in my 20s.

 

[Dens228]

I'm 52 and never had back or knee pain from squatting. I competed for years in powerlifting and the only thing squatting ended up causing issues with was my shoulders from the low bar placement.

Now, but only in the last 6 months or so, squatting has caused me some low back issues. Funny part is that it's with WAYYYY less weight than I used when competing. I think time just caught up with me.

I doubt I would have changed anything though because when you're young you feel invincible and that the bad stuff only happens to someone else.

 

[n3mo0101]

Thanks for all the good advice guys.

 

[ALLEX]

Dorian didn't squat.

 

[Dens228]

Dorian didn't squat.

Ummmmmm, he did until an injury caused him to stop.

 

[ALLEX]

Ummmmmm, he did until an injury caused him to stop.

Squats didn't develop his Mr. O legs.



Q: Do you always do squats first in your leg workouts?

A: No, I mean I used to do squats when I was younger. Of course I bought the magazines and everyone said that's the number one quad exercise, number one for legs, not gonna get good legs without it. So I dedicated myself to it for a few years when I started out. I got some injuries. I got some okay leg development, not great. They were lagging a little bit behind my upper body. It's the little injuries I got around my hips, cause I got quite narrow hips for somebody of my size. That kind of forced me to reassess it a little: maybe it's not the best. Let me try to do leg press and hack squat instead--my legs exploded. Much better. For me, squat was really overrated, wasn't a good quad exercise. Great overall exercise, great if you're doing sports, if you're playing football, or something like that, any kind of sport.

If you ask me what's the best overall single exercise, I would say squats. Great all-around exercise. As far as, if you do high reps, it's great for your cardiovascular system. It's great for overall strength. Is it great for building championship legs? For some people, yes. If their structure means that when they squat they're doing most of the lifting with their quads, it's great. For me it wasn't, 'cause I was doing most of the lifting with my back and my ass; it wasn't great. So I didn't do any freeweight squats as a professional bodybuilder. Not a one single squat. You know, you've got to find if it works for you.

...I got better quad development out of doing [leg press], out of doing hack squats. If I do a hack squat, I'm lifting everything with my quads. No lower back, no glutes. So I can go to failure. Can you go to failure, really failure, with a squat? No, because your lower back will give out before your quads do. So for me it's really an overrated exercise. For someone else it might work great.

 

[Dens228]

Squats didn't develop his Mr. O legs.



Q: Do you always do squats first in your leg workouts?

A: No, I mean I used to do squats when I was younger. Of course I bought the magazines and everyone said that's the number one quad exercise, number one for legs, not gonna get good legs without it. So I dedicated myself to it for a few years when I started out. I got some injuries. I got some okay leg development, not great. They were lagging a little bit behind my upper body. It's the little injuries I got around my hips, cause I got quite narrow hips for somebody of my size. That kind of forced me to reassess it a little: maybe it's not the best. Let me try to do leg press and hack squat instead--my legs exploded. Much better. For me, squat was really overrated, wasn't a good quad exercise. Great overall exercise, great if you're doing sports, if you're playing football, or something like that, any kind of sport.

If you ask me what's the best overall single exercise, I would say squats. Great all-around exercise. As far as, if you do high reps, it's great for your cardiovascular system. It's great for overall strength. Is it great for building championship legs? For some people, yes. If their structure means that when they squat they're doing most of the lifting with their quads, it's great. For me it wasn't, 'cause I was doing most of the lifting with my back and my ass; it wasn't great. So I didn't do any freeweight squats as a professional bodybuilder. Not a one single squat. You know, you've got to find if it works for you.

...I got better quad development out of doing [leg press], out of doing hack squats. If I do a hack squat, I'm lifting everything with my quads. No lower back, no glutes. So I can go to failure. Can you go to failure, really failure, with a squat? No, because your lower back will give out before your quads do. So for me it's really an overrated exercise. For someone else it might work great.

While I don't disagree with you I'd like to see what his legs looked like at the time he stopped squatting. I'm thinking they weren't small.

 

[buck]

Walking around at 250+ is going to cause problems. Just turned 50 and just started having knee pain. I bet if I drop 30lbs it would be a great relief. I would have started supplementing with great lakes collagen sooner.

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Ego lifting/ bad technique is one cause of joint pain. But I work with a lot of guys my age who are in their 50's just like me. That have bad knees/backs (one can cause another) and these men have not been physically active in decades. But they are all very over weight. Carrying a lot of body weight all day causes joint degeneration from the accumulated impact. One other thing that the younger people can do is start taking joint supplements decades before the symptoms start to appear.

 

[n3mo0101]

It's actually kind of cool that you posted that, Allex. Its very insightful.

I find myself lifting with my back and ass no matter how I position my legs when I do freeweight back squat. When I don't put the primary emphasis on my ass my back gets so worked that I get an insane lower back bump. Sometimes it ruins my workouts.

However, when I do hack squats I hid my quads so had that I literally can't stand up without shaking. Especially when I do a controlled 3-4 second negative, let my hammys touch my calves, and then explode up with a squeeze at the top. That really crushes my quads beyond belief. Kinda cool that some else has had a similar experience.

I by no means am comparing my legs to Dorian Yates' legs, but I am comparing my experience with each exercise.