Thread: can't heavy squat, so now what??

Have you tried hack squats or smith machine squats? Obvioulsy I don't know how exactly your injury affects you but either one I would have thought would reduce lumbar strain. Both can also produce good results.
It may also be an idea to pre-exhaust with leg extension so "heavy" isn't actually heavy?
leg presses allow decent tonnage but can place alot of strain on the lumbar region, the main reason why I go light with high reps on them.

Try barbell lunges and go as heavy as you can without scarifying your form...believe me, they will add mass to your legs. Also try heavy leg presses with wide stance.

Originally Posted by zok37

Try barbell lunges and go as heavy as you can without scarifying your form...believe me, they will add mass to your legs. Also try heavy leg presses with wide stance.

Now thats a shout, lunges are an incredible idea

Originally Posted by trapzilla

Now thats a shout, lunges are an incredible idea

thank you both gents, I appreciate the advice

My favorite way of doing lunges is towards the end of my exercises this is where you separate the mens from the boys do your usual routine of legs.. leg press now(because of your back i believe this is your best option), leg curls, leg extensions, etc. etc then do some heavy ass dumbbell lunges your legs will quiver from every rep you squeeze out i love it as much as i feel like i'm going to faint.

Originally Posted by BIGBLUECHEVELLE

My favorite way of doing lunges is towards the end of my exercises this is where you separate the mens from the boys do your usual routine of legs.. leg press now(because of your back i believe this is your best option), leg curls, leg extensions, etc. etc then do some heavy ass dumbbell lunges your legs will quiver from every rep you squeeze out i love it as much as i feel like i'm going to faint.

Duely noted BBC, will give it a shot

Is the pain chronic or just during exercise?

If the symptoms come only during exercise and are recreated when you load the spine using traditional barbell squats...

...you could try belt squats.



You can really avoid loading the spine. However, if you get pain from these, stop!

Originally Posted by fufu

Is the pain chronic or just during exercise?

If the symptoms come only during exercise and are recreated when you load the spine using traditional barbell squats...

...you could try belt squats.



You can really avoid loading the spine. However, if you get pain from these, stop!

depends...I know that is a funny answer, I find it most annoying after a good Muay Thai training session, ( I can't help it, I love the Thai kick, but the torque can't be good), kettlebell swings seem to aggravate it and I really, really try and stay true to form and use all hips, and then of course on leg day, the pain is eased some by stretching, but I don't want to over stretch and further the damage,ie spinal twist or knee across body.

And for some reason, I can never get the videos to play, may I have the http Please.

Originally Posted by jbt0214

It's been two years since I had surgery on my lumbar spine to try and fix pain caused from a an old motorcycle injury, in the beginning, I felt great, the pain on the right side was gone, now the pain is on the left side and I can not do heavy sets of squats and it's killing me. I am currently trying uni-lateral training, but my legs are the part of my body I dislike the most. What is the next best thing to squats??

Leg press with a full ROM (knees to your chest) would be the next best thing...

Going heavy is not always the best thing for people to do anyways. Focus on isolation movements and feel the muscle contracting is a large part of building good legs. Like the above posters have mentioned, the leg presses, hacks and lunges are great.

What abotu a Doctor?