plaunie

I'm new to the forum, and still fairly new to lifting. Actually, I used to lift before I went to college. Then i went to college...
as an example of the complete disregard for my own body in college, it took 6 years to get through a BS program (I figure 4 for classes, 2 for parties). Anyway, I got back into the gym after seeing some pictures of myself, and went from a "Fat" 240 lbs, I say fat because I was just slovenly looking and didn't have the courage to get my bodyfat measured, to now a much improved 212, 14% b.f. over the last 7 months (my lean body mass actually went up 6 lbs since February) Not on par with the most of the other people inthis forum, but good for me considering how many hours a day I spend keeping my chair warm at work.

Which brings me to my question:

I was afraid to start back with squats in my workout, as I was a little unsureof my stability and balance. So I've been using the smith machine at the prompting of the people who run my gym. Which looking back was probably not the best course, as I didn't have the opportunity to build up the stabalizing muscles that would assist my squats. Anyway, I've determined that I need to start squatting in my workouts if for no other reason than the smith machine is only rated for 400 lbs.

Does anyone have any advice or warnings about making the transition? What kind of drop in weight should I expect when I squat 20%, 50%? In my last two leg workouts the smith squats were 2x9x325 and 2x6x360

Triple Threat

If you are capable of 350ish on a smith, you should have no trouble starting off with 135. Use this weight to work on your balance, form, etc. and once you've got that under control, you can start adding weight.

Newbie

That sounds pretty good to me, considering that I am still a newbie. I hadn't done any free squats since high school, and just started adding them to my routine 2 weeks ago. I started out at 95 to get the feel and have worked my way up to 205.
You should also think about adding some other variations of squats, ie. hack or front squats. These have helped me develop my balance and posture better.
If you feel like you aren't geting the work out as with the smith, just add the free squats to your routine until you feel comfortable.

Hope this helps, even though I'm a newbie too.
Keep up the good work.

ROCK ON

Be nice to me; someday you may be laying on the street, look up and Ill be there loading you into an ambulance.