Recently my back has been a bit under the weather, and today I changed me leg routine to accomodate it..... wasn't really much of a change, but normally my main focus on leg days are squats (of course!), which I did not do today...
I warmed up on some light leg extensions, and followed them with heavier sets of leg presses..... my knees were slighly bugging me, as I know squats loosen them up before hitting un-natural movements such as the leg press...
Then I went to the hack squat, which I am now VERY fond of...... it felt great, and I could go so low without the worry of just topping over when failure comes about.....
But the pressure on my knees felt so strong.....
I've heard how the hack squat can be rather heavy on these joints, and to do the exercise later on in your routine, such as starting with squats, then leg press, then hack squat. But for the next week or two I think I will be staying away from squats. Can I replace it with the hack squat? Or is it one of those exercises that you should sort of cycle, so you don't blow the shit out of your joints.....
Either way, hack squats are AWESOME.... I'll definetly be doing them every leg day now probably...... I could go so low, like as if my butt was going to hit the floor during a normal squat, and it felt so good..... I'm really down in weight though on it... I've never gone down that far on a squat/leg press...
Anyone that hasn't tried them, check it out! My back has been bugging me lately, and the hacksquat didn't strain it at all(at least not noticebly)! Keep in mind there still is form with it, albeit its a machine...... I focused on keeping my back (especially lower back) completely on the pad thoughout the whole ROM..... awesome machine!
I warmed up on some light leg extensions, and followed them with heavier sets of leg presses..... my knees were slighly bugging me, as I know squats loosen them up before hitting un-natural movements such as the leg press...
Then I went to the hack squat, which I am now VERY fond of...... it felt great, and I could go so low without the worry of just topping over when failure comes about.....
But the pressure on my knees felt so strong.....
I've heard how the hack squat can be rather heavy on these joints, and to do the exercise later on in your routine, such as starting with squats, then leg press, then hack squat. But for the next week or two I think I will be staying away from squats. Can I replace it with the hack squat? Or is it one of those exercises that you should sort of cycle, so you don't blow the shit out of your joints.....
Either way, hack squats are AWESOME.... I'll definetly be doing them every leg day now probably...... I could go so low, like as if my butt was going to hit the floor during a normal squat, and it felt so good..... I'm really down in weight though on it... I've never gone down that far on a squat/leg press...
Anyone that hasn't tried them, check it out! My back has been bugging me lately, and the hacksquat didn't strain it at all(at least not noticebly)! Keep in mind there still is form with it, albeit its a machine...... I focused on keeping my back (especially lower back) completely on the pad thoughout the whole ROM..... awesome machine!