My squatting problem...anyone else?

[tkav1980]

i feel like my squat is slowest to progress because it seems like i have trouble getting air when i squat. it feels like the muscles doing the work are still ready to take on more after the set is over and i can breathe right again. i had a couple of people critique my form and noone noticed anything wrong except that at the bottom of the rep i stop breathing. ive tried to make sure to keep breathing but i just cant force it to happen under weight. any suggestions fellas?

 

[JohnnyPro]

When I squat I take a big breath as I go down, and then I exhale as I come up. It sounds like you may need to work on endurance. Try doing more cardio.

 

[irish_sd]

I get winded doing squats also. I think it is a cardio thing. I also think it is steroids thing, because when your muscles get pumped, it takes oxygen away from your lungs. Same theory as a fighter with a lot of muscle gets winded quicker, the muscles take a lot of oxygen.

 

[Dad]

Think this depends on reps, too.

I don't get winded much at all on 5 reps with heavy weight, but on one of Dante's 20 rep Widow-Maker sets, I feel like I'm trying to breathe underwater!

 

[hellraiser27]

Are you wearing a weight belt?

 

[royal]

Squats

Im always winded after a work set of squats.I think thats just normal.

 

[tkav1980]

Are you wearing a weight belt?

yes. ill go into more detail that may help.

i only use the belt for my heaviest set at 315 lbs otherwise i feel it more in my lower back than my legs.
6 reps
form:
feet slightly wider than shoulders, shoes off, toes pointing slightly out
head looking up
down: like im trying to sit down on a milk crate without bending my back, ass goes down back stays at 90 degrees to the floor.
i stop about 10% short of bottoming out which is past paralell

lift: try to drive my heels through the floor, keeping back straight,
drive upward until 10% short of lockout.

gives me about 80% range of motion as i was told to do.

oh...big deep breath on the way down, and try to exhale on the way up but at the bottom i have trouble exhaling until im about half way up. by the 6th rep im usually seeing stars and lightheaded.
granted in the past 4 months i went from 225 to 315 keeping the reps the same.

had verry bad knee pain after college and didnt train legs at all for years, it was excrutiating to stand up from a squat with body weight. one day i decided screw it ill take some motrin and started doing legs again, that was roughly a year ago.as i lifted the pain eventually went away and thats where i am today.

 

[SacToSD]

in the past 4 months i went from 225 to 315 keeping the reps the same.

Nice progress. 6 rep range? I've been doing a warmup set, then 4 sets of usually 8, 7, 6, 6 on the squat. Thinking about toying w/ the reps and sets, and adding a widowmaker at the end. What is it that you're doing, exactly?

 

[tkav1980]

Nice progress. 6 rep range? I've been doing a warmup set, then 4 sets of usually 8, 7, 6, 6 on the squat. Thinking about toying w/ the reps and sets, and adding a widowmaker at the end. What is it that you're doing, exactly?

lol thats a secrete of the hernon trainees. my problem is i work as hard as i can on squats, and barely get anywhere, i actually bench ALOT more than i squat and for more reps. my bench, lateral raises, dips, pullups eveything is progressing faster than i though it could except squats and its pissing me off.

 

[bhumik]

do u still get those heart burns?? i have heard heart burns can cause internal asthma.

 

[SacToSD]

lol thats a secrete of the hernon trainees. my problem is i work as hard as i can on squats, and barely get anywhere, i actually bench ALOT more than i squat and for more reps. my bench, lateral raises, dips, pullups eveything is progressing faster than i though it could except squats and its pissing me off.

bahh. Maybe you could try building squat muscles w/ a couple other thrown in exercises like leg press, split squats, lunges, what have you. Shock the muscles. I saw some pull thru's that looked interesting, a bit funny looking to do in the gym, but who cares? I kind of stalled on my squats, too, I'm following this post closely. PS since my squats are kind of stalled, I've been doing what I recommended, above. Plus, I saw a trainer some months ago and he talked about isolating the ass muscles and getting better balance through an interesting routine... he'd have me get out a 6" box, stand on the edge of it so that the balls of my feet were hanging off the edge, then he had me invert a 100 lb dumbell and then do squats with it by squatting down and lifting the side of the dumb bell. In this way, he said that I would have no choice but to use my hamstrings/ass, and would in a sense "re learn" how to squat, correctly. My 2 cents

 

[tkav1980]

do u still get those heart burns?? i have heard heart burns can cause internal asthma.

actually no a combination of diet and nexium has it totally under control, the only thing that triggers it now is red wine. and i found that out thru a tasting with a new supplier.

 

[hellraiser27]

It sounds like your doing everything right. You should be able to do more than 6 reps without almost passing passing out.
I have an idea that might work. Before you do your set, take several really deep long breaths. Don't try to sike yourself out before the lift. Actually try to relax. You may be hyperventilating a little before the lift wich is causing you to see stars.

 

[tkav1980]

just got back from doing legs....
i didnt use the belt today and it was hell on my lower back but breathing was easier. without the belt i have a tendency to lean alittle forward but a good friend of mine was watching me and letting me know if i started to do that. didnt get lightheaded this time. im going to try some of the advice in a few days when leg day rolls back around and ill let you know how it goes.

 

[eroc613]

Never had problems breathing, until today. I started useing a weight belt today. Damn, I almost passed out...

 

[sadie]

about a year and a half ago i tore my quad squatting and now i actually do hold my damn breath lol think its kind of a panic thing though.. take a deep breath.. exhale down inhale up and force yourself to do it every time it helps alittle

 

[Nssca]

For years I hated to squat. I felt squats more every where except my thighs and i never felt really sore the next day as well As the breathing issue you talked about.

A powerlifting competitor in my state helped me figure out what to do, he told me to lower my weight and get more reps in. Instead of hitting 315 for 6 try 285 for 12 or 225 for 20 he told me to never drop below 12 reps unless we are training in the heavy week of his 8 week cycle(training cycle not roid cycle)quads grow bets on high volume then total weight.

I found by using a little less weight and higher reps my quads began to grow.
I also started using Afrin or something like Claritin antihistamines an hour before squatting to help me breath better...
just these simple things totally changed my quads...hope some of the helps.

 

[hellraiser27]

quads grow bets on high volume then total weight.QUOTE]

Very very true! I do 20 reps med weight, 3 or 4 sets.

 

[VanR__]

Squats wind me beyond believe. Anything after a warm up set leaves me gasping for air like I'm running sprints. I don't have high bp and I'm not on anything.

 

[RexHead]

You're body will adapt. You just need to keep fighting the mental barrier. I know it seems physical but I bet it's in your head.

When I started trying for higher reps (20+) I thought I was going to DIE! I never repped anything above 12 of substantial weight. My mind told my body it wasn't going to happen. Finally I got inside the rack and said to myself I'm either going to pass out, die, or do 20. I did it and I never felt so sick and satified from a workout.

The point is if you want to build up endurance for squatting then you got to start squatting more. The feeling you get from squatting is unlike any cardio exercise you'll do. You need to learn to fight through the shutdown signals your brain is giving you. You'll figure out your not really as winded as you thought.

Also, take a few seconds to catch your breath at the top. Just don't lock out.