On a Serious Note

[Tough Old Man]

Am i to old to do squats?

I have my own home gym. It has a commercial leg press. I have never squatted in my lifetime. Up to 3 yrs ago i used my leg press for quads. the last 3 yrs no leg workout. Bad knees. Well really one bad one. right behind my house there is a mountain that has a height of about 1000'. 3 days a week i was climbing it for cardio reasons. Then one day i slipped and hit my knee on a rock. This really damaged one of my knees.

Well yesterday i decided I would try squats. Hell I put on only 20 lbs on the bar the first set. So that's only 60 lbs total. found i had a balance problem. So moved over to a smith machine..Well I only worked up to 125 lbs total. I found myself out of air after ea set. Even 125 lbs on my shoulder hurt. by the way i did go all the way down on ea rep. Hard to get back up...LOL

Hey these things called squats are for the young and they are hard to do. Crap i'm still thinking of trying them 2-3 days a week and working up in weight or reps if i can breathe. . Didn't really seem to bother my knees. Maybe cause of the light weight. How do you guys keep the bar from hurting your trap or shoulders?

 

[9muscle9]

Am i to old to do squats?

I have my own home gym. It has a commercial leg press. I have never squatted in my lifetime. Up to 3 yrs ago i used my leg press for quads. the last 3 yrs no leg workout. Bad knees. Well really one bad one. right behind my house there is a mountain that has a height of about 1000'. 3 days a week i was climbing it for cardio reasons. Then one day i slipped and hit my knee on a rock. This really damaged one of my knees.

Well yesterday i decided I would try squats. Hell I put on only 20 lbs on the bar the first set. So that's only 60 lbs total. found i had a balance problem. So moved over to a smith machine..Well I only worked up to 125 lbs total. I found myself out of air after ea set. Even 125 lbs on my shoulder hurt. by the way i did go all the way down on ea rep. Hard to get back up...LOL

Hey these things called squats are for the young and they are hard to do. Crap i'm still thinking of trying them 2-3 days a week and working up in weight or reps if i can breathe. . Didn't really seem to bother my knees. Maybe cause of the light weight. How do you guys keep the bar from hurting your trap or shoulders?

i think if you keep doing them eventually you get used to the bar on your shoulders+traps.

I try to squeeze my traps back as hard as I can before I rest the bar on my shoulders

squats are the dogs bollocks for lower body development.

 

[Tough Old Man]

i think if you keep doing them eventually you get used to the bar on your shoulders+traps.

I try to squeeze my traps back as hard as I can before I rest the bar on my shoulders

squats are the dogs bollocks for lower body development.

i posted about a week ago about me having huge quads when i was 17-18 yrs old from climbing ladders everyday at work.

Be honest and since i have the equipment and material here, I'm thinking of build a steel ladder 30' high and climb it everyday with some added weight.


Here's a pic of my power rack i built a few months back using 3" x 7mm thick square tubing. Man steel is cheap down here. it also has a high pulley and a T-Bar row built onto it

 

[Performance Based]

TOM - Stay away from squats. Bad knee here as well, full right knee replacement.

I can't even squat 225 for one anymore but can do a ton on a hack squat no issues. I however don't have as much discomfort with front squats. Perhaps give those a shot and go light.

 

[Tough Old Man]

TOM - Stay away from squats. Bad knee here as well, full right knee replacement.

I can't even squat 225 for one anymore but can do a ton on a hack squat no issues. I however don't have as much discomfort with front squats. Perhaps give those a shot and go light.

My leg press machine is also a Hack Squat Machine. Hey even 200 lbs on the leg press kills my knees.

As i said 125 lbs squat (baby weight) didn't give me any pain at all. i would have thought that i had perfect knees of a 18 yr old when i was done. only did 5 sets total. 60, 75, 90, 105, 125..........10 reps of ea. My problem was i had problems catching my breathe when i hit around 5-6 reps, even with 60 lbs

 

[Performance Based]

Stair stepper bud, same issue here. My cardio for leg training is directly related to how much times I worship at the stair stepper per week!

Careful even if there is no pain. Over time irritation etc. Also try playing with your stance if your getting pain on leg press/hack squat. I have found feet together placed up high - the least pain/irritation

 

[kingpeon]

i posted about a week ago about me having huge quads when i was 17-18 yrs old from climbing ladders everyday at work.

Be honest and since i have the equipment and material here, I'm thinking of build a steel ladder 30' high and climb it everyday with some added weight.


Here's a pic of my power rack i built a few months back using 3" x 7mm thick square tubing. Man steel is cheap down here. it also has a high pulley and a T-Bar row built onto it

Weighted step-ups, same thing as climbing a ladder but instead of a ladder all you need is an even footed block.

 

[Tough Old Man]

Weighted step-ups, same thing as climbing a ladder but instead of a ladder all you need is an even footed block.

LOL I've never fall off a ladder. I did try the step ups and lost my balance when stepping backwards off the box and fell on my ass. Are you talking about a box where yo can step up and keep going and step off the other side. Now that would work


Think the ladder would be safer as long as the heart don't decide to give out while up 25-30 feet..

 

[Elvia1023]

I don't ever like to put limits on people but sure your older and have a bad knee plus squatting is new to you. I will say don't push the weight on squats at all. They are great but I would be extra careful. 20kg (44 pounds) either side is plenty for you... I wouldn't go over that ever. Just concentrate on form and reps. 10kg a side for high reps could do alot to your legs over time. I have a lower back issue so 20kg either side is all I do. I could do alot more but no point for me. I can leg press 600kg full rom for 10 reps so my legs are fairly strong. Honestly even with 20kg either side on squats if I do very high and slow/controlled reps I am exhausted afterwards.

You could do a few movements for your quads/hams etc then finish with some high rep (15-30) squats to finish.

 

[Tough Old Man]

I don't ever like to put limits on people but sure your older and have a bad knee plus squatting is new to you. I will say don't push the weight on squats at all. They are great but I would be extra careful. 20kg (44 pounds) either side is plenty for you... I wouldn't go over that ever. Just concentrate on form and reps. 10kg a side for high reps could do alot to your legs over time. I have a lower back issue so 20kg either side is all I do. I could do alot more but no point for me. I can leg press 600kg full rom for 10 reps so my legs are fairly strong. Honestly even with 20kg either side on squats if I do very high and slow/controlled reps I am exhausted afterwards.

You could do a few movements for your quads/hams etc then finish with some high rep (15-30) squats to finish.

I like that..I went ahead and did them again today but added 2.5 lbs to ea side for a total of 130. seriously I feel like a little girl doing these. Glad i train at home or i would need a dress to look impressive at a public gym....

 

[Elvia1023]

I like that..I went ahead and did them again today but added 2.5 lbs to ea side for a total of 130. seriously I feel like a little girl doing these. Glad i train at home or i would need a dress to look impressive at a public gym....

I put that cos I can tell what your like. I am the same. You try and push it. You know deep down you probably shouldn't but you will add on those extra pounds each time. Before you know it your doing double from what you started with I just don't want you to injure yourself cos the heavy weights aren't worth it for you.

It's so funny I would be in the gym and the little 150 pound 18 year old is looking at me on my 20th rep thinking I can lift that what is wrong with him

 

[Tough Old Man]

I put that cos I can tell what your like. I am the same. You try and push it. You know deep down you probably shouldn't but you will add on those extra pounds each time. Before you know it your doing double from what you started with I just don't want you to injure yourself cos the heavy weights aren't worth it for you.

It's so funny I would be in the gym and the little 150 pound 18 year old is looking at me on my 20th rep thinking I can lift that what is wrong with him

LMAO. Damn you already know me.

 

[Problem]

work your way up IMO, doing heavy weight at once will kill your knee..


baby steps, just like psychical therapy... your knee and the muscle around it will get stronger ligaments and the joint will get better at supporting weight, then increase slowly.

 

[e90drivr]

The day I cn no longer squat is the day I quit BB

 

[Silencer]

TOM -- I built my legs on squats. Started back in 1992 with bar and the ol' 2 sets of twenty reps and a gallon of milk afterwards.

Too many times after that though I'd break form to get an extra rep out. Inevitably would lead to back pain, muscle pulls, etc. The heavier the weights got, the worse the injuries got. But all in pursuit of big iron, right? Finally after 15 years, had a heavy squat session that hurt my back and it never recovered. Found out two bulging disks. Switched to front squats (no belt, ass to ground with good weight), but after two years, THAT began to kill my back. Never thought to use lighter weight (even on front squats, would do work sets of 255-275)

Past three years have been doing only leg presses my legs look good. Everyone is different, but I know over these past two decades, not a single friend of mine who started squatting with me can do them without some issue (knee, back, adductor tear, etc). If you can incorporate squats into your workout, they are wonderful, but believe poor form, too much weight too soon, and stupidity of youth takes its toll over time. As a Tough Old Man, that last part doesn't apply to you of course...

Oh, BTW -- bar never hurt my shoulder because I had great traps. Before I had those, I would wrap a towel around bar a couple of times.

 

[Incognito1]

I think also from memory you have said that you are over 6ft tall??? So for us tall guys doing squats, its a pretty big ROM, so this will exert alot of energy too, maybe thats why you were also out of breath.
I too have bad knees and am not a fan of squats but I just do what I can. I can leg press and hack squat all day but squats kill my energy levels. Its like I have ran a marathon doing 10 reps hahaha

 

[bigman1]

The best thing you can do is dip belt squats while standing on two six inch platforms or higher so the plate does not touch ground. These take off all stress on lower back, if done correctly knees should be fine unless you go to heavy to quick and they burn the hell out of your quads.

 

[borderbound]

T.O.M my shoulders kill me when i squat .. and i lift at home 80% of the time and i have a welder and i built a copy of the zane leg blaster and i love it .. just not something i would buy for $700 when i built one for $65
beside you need a project while you sit in your timeout lol

 

[hardtimes]

If it hurts don't do it. Best bodybuilding advice I've ever gotten. Now I just wish I had listened.

 

[mikennrg]

Going slightly above parallel or to parallel places a lot of stress on the knees. If you don't have the ankle mobility to pull off a below parallel squat I'd suggest doing box squats. This takes the bounce out of the bottom of the squat that can cause knee pain. If you have low back pain or shoulder pain front squats area great alternative.

Don't leave out hamstring or glute training. When either is weak it's bad for the knees.