NEED HELP

[steve2]

Hi Folks,

Need a little help! I have been lifting for a number of years and have made good gains. There are a couple of exercises that I can not do because I have balance problems due to having M.S. An example would be squats; I do heavy leg presses and hack slides in place. There are two exercises that I can not get the benefit from; deadlifts and the clean and
press for back and shoulders. What would be the best alternative to these?

 

[Maki Riddington]

Hi Steve.

Let me say this, nothing will replace a squat.
I would encourage you to experiment whether it is performing body weighted squats holding on to something and progressing from there or performing isometric wall squats at different ROM.

As for replacing the deadlift you could if your gym has this piece of equipment perform hyperextensions. This will traget your glutes,hams and errectors depending on where you place the pad.

If you want to learn power cleans and push presses consult a experienced strength coach.
Hope that helped

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Exercise, my drug of choice

<FONT COLOR="#000002" SIZE="1" FACE="Verdana, Arial">[Edited 1 time by Maki Riddington on 07-31-2001 at 07:06 PM]</font>

 

[TheSupremeBeing]

I don't think squats are essential.

Let's take a look at the benefits of squats over other exercises of the kind (hack's, leg press, etc)...

Larger hormonal response

More stabilizer activation

Trains lower body through full ROM (assuming you go ATF)

That's all I can think of off the top of my head...

Now, if we were to combine deadlifts and leg press to compensate for the lack of squats...

Deads and squats share statistically equal hormonal effects

Deads involve just about the same amount of stabilizer activation

Leg press trains the lower body in pretty much the same ROM as squats.

The only thing that I can see that makes squats superior here is efficeincy, which isn't a huge deal.

Thoughts, Maki?



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Complex problems have simple, easy to understand, wrong answers.

 

[steve2]

Thanks Maki and Supremebeing for your words of wisdom and advice. I'll put them to good use.

Steve