Tips for Squats

So, this is something I am struggling with due to my back injury about 10 years ago

I only manage 70kg 2 reps at the moment and would like to do more.

I don't wear a belt to support my lower back and am looking to get one after payday this month.

Any tips for me?

I worry about hurting my lower back as it would put me out of gym for a week or 2

I was told by a Chiropractor that using a belt should only be when you are doing REALLY heavy weights.
He went on to explain that if you use the support of the belt all the time it has a negative effect on that 1 day that you leave your belt at home and do a medium to light weight. He suggested that ONLY when going heavy to wear a belt.
I have not done to much research on this but i would "presume" coming from a chiro that he would know what he is talking about.
If anyone knows or has heard otherwise the advice would be greatly appreciated.

AlexRon how long you been training for my man?

T - about 8 weeks now only

I don't plan to stop, what you saying makes sense to me, I think maybe I need to perfect 50kg and then work slowly up wards, adding 5 or 7kg max each week, till my body can handle the weight.

I do ok on 60kg, 3 sets of 10, no pain, but like yesterday, when I loaded 70, my lower back started to hurt

You can try changing to front squats. It puts alot less stress on my lower back than normal squats.

Hmmmm, worth a try, thanks, ill try it, never done those before

U have to strenghten your lower with the upper otherwise U will have worse back problems only use the belt when doing extreme lifts like one rep max ect...

AlexRon wrote: T - about 8 weeks now only

I don't plan to stop, what you saying makes sense to me, I think maybe I need to perfect 50kg and then work slowly up wards, adding 5 or 7kg max each week, till my body can handle the weight.

I do ok on 60kg, 3 sets of 10, no pain, but like yesterday, when I loaded 70, my lower back started to hurt

I think i might be wrong but didnt you ask for advice on gear a week or so back?

I also have an old lower back injury. What helps me is stretching hamstrings, and doing specific exercises to strengthen the erector spinae muscles. I do hyper-extensions for this. It has made such a difference that I look forward to deadlifting now. But you should probably get a diagnosis from a pro.

Try using a at or slightly wider than shoulder width stance. I find I have better balance when doing this

Also keep your upper body/back stiff and more upright (not totally upright...this is impossible)...the majority of people struggle with lower back pain during squats and deadlifts because they either lean forward when coming up (like a goodmorning) or they round their back.

Dont push yourslef to quickly...perfect your form first and then move up weights. Lifting too heavy weight with crap form is a sure fire way of hurting something

Also check out the "So You Think You Can Squat" series on youtube...brilliant and in detailed tutorial by Elitefts on how to squat properly. They also have a deadlift series which is worth a watch

Thanks for all the advice guys

I have found that doing straight leg deadlifts, does pull all my hamstrings and feels awesome afterwards, so I do those often.

One of my issues is breathing when pushing or pulling weights, I still don't have this right, eg:

As I dip into my squat I breath in and hold till I return to the starting position, I then exhale and repeat

Is this correct?

Ill checkout youtube for some advice on this as well

Exhale on the way down, sit in the box for 2 seconds and inhale whilst u are sitting. Exhale on the way up. Start doing squats this way. 2 seconds down. 2 seconds in the box sitting there holding your position and then explode up. Stay st the same weight and just add reps until u hit 20 reps. U are gonna have to work around this injury and do higher volume.

ok sounds good to me, im willing to try this and front squats

mack wrote: I also have an old lower back injury. What helps me is stretching hamstrings, and doing specific exercises to strengthen the erector spinae muscles. I do hyper-extensions for this. It has made such a difference that I look forward to deadlifting now. But you should probably get a diagnosis from a pro.

I must agree with mack,

a good starting point is also strengthening your hammi's, weak hamstrings cause a lot of unnecessary pressure on your lower back.

AlexRon wrote: I do ok on 60kg, 3 sets of 10, no pain, but like yesterday, when I loaded 70, my lower back started to hurt

Then train on 60 for a few more weeks to build your strength
In fact, go to 50 and perfect your form and mobility with volume training for a while.

No one in the gym cares about how much you squat so don't risk further injury by pushing too much weight too soon

If your gym is like mine, you already squatting more then 90% of the guys haha

Haha ok let me correct myself... PoisonedPulse is totally watching you and taking note of what weight you're moving
:silly:
But yeah, the fact that you are doing squats at all is a coup so don't go hurting your back further for no reason. Focus on form, intensity and muscle contraction. Then start adding plates.

Good advice all round, thanks guys

hahaha let me rephrase

90% of my gym doesn't squat... or do legs, so good one you, 50kgs or not, its still better then everyone else

Anybody else have bad knees? Not often, but on occasion when I squat my knees get so sore that I at times I have to stop my workout. I can't leg press at all cause that kills my knees. Leg extensions and lunges and so on are fine though. Any ideas?

Strange that leg extensions are fine.. They quite hard on your knees.

Try squatting at shoulder width or slightly wider apart.. Takes the pressure of the knees and onto the hips. Also try to below parallel... I read somewhere that at changing direction at parallel is also hard on your knees.

I've employed these tactics and have no problems with knee pain when squatting. And I had ligaments reconstructed as a kid (rugby injury) in late teens

Thanx for the reply bud you know your shit with training. I normally do feet exactly shoulder width (it's a golfer thing), and then focus that my knees don't go over my toes. When I wear a knee guard the pain is much better and when I take anti-inflammatories I don't get any pain. Does that help?

Pleasure Bro... I've learnt so much about AAS by reading this forum, only glad when I can give back!

The knee guard keeps the knee warm which definitely helps! Try slightly wider stance and make sure your feet is point in the same direction as where your knee goes when going down. Else your knee will twist when going down... Great for lifting heavy (builds tension), not great for your knees.

To be honest I don't check if my knees cross my toes anymore... The main things I focus on is a stiff upper body, that my back and legs straighten at the same time and I don't lean forward when coming up or down. Everything else looks after itself when those things are Ok.

Pyroclasm wrote: Anybody else have bad knees? Not often, but on occasion when I squat my knees get so sore that I at times I have to stop my workout. I can't leg press at all cause that kills my knees. Leg extensions and lunges and so on are fine though. Any ideas?

Knee pain can also be caused by an imbalance in strenght and size between the quads and hammies. I think its mostly that the quads are dominant due to people focusing more on them. If this is the case try working the hammies harder (or the the quads if they are stronger).

I am battling a bit with my squats and i have kind of figured out why. When i used to do squats years ago i used to use a plank which went under my heal. Everytime i did squats i pretty much used the plank as i find it targets nice and high up on the quads.
My recent training i am finding that i dont really feel as much pain high up the next day its normally mid quad if that makes sense.
I have been doing what DJ advised on and am standing just wider than shoulder width apart.
Is this because i could possibly be leaning a little to far forward hence not pushing up with my heel??
Should i just go back to using a plank under the heel or is there a negative effect with the plank?