What to do instead of Squats

[Anonymous]

So I just spent the past year focusing on losing belly fat. I HIIT 4 days a week and lifted weights twice a week. I lost 32 pounds (mostly around my gut) and I'm now looking to add muscle mass. I have been lifting weight s for a very long time but never really did squats because, to be honest, I fear that I'm going to screw them up and hurt myself. As an example, I just added dead lifts about 6 months ago. So my question, I'd like to finally start doing squats because I believe they are the key to building strength, but I do not have a squat rack and the dumbbells only go up to 60 pounds. I have a leg press machine but I read, it's just not the same. I also thought about lunges but I read that they really aren't as good either. I have a Smith Machine but I read that they suck for squats. Anyone have thoughts on what the best exercise is to replace squats in the StrongLift routine? Thank you.

[Anonymous]

If you can do deadlifts safely you can do squats safely. Start with low weight, sets of 10 reps, and work on the movement and only go up in weight slowly.

You have a Smith machine at home?

Don't use machines for the big leg lifts - they don't work any of the smaller or stabilizing muscles because they force you into a single movement path. Better to do weighted lunges with dumbbells. You could also do dumbbell cleans but they're not the same as squats.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you can do deadlifts safely you can do squats safely. Start with low weight, sets of 10 reps, and work on the movement and only go up in weight slowly.

You have a Smith machine at home?

Don't use machines for the big leg lifts - they don't work any of the smaller or stabilizing muscles because they force you into a single movement path. Better to do weighted lunges with dumbbells. You could also do dumbbell cleans but they're not the same as squats.

I don't have anything at home. I have a decent fitness center where I work that has a leg press and Smith Machine. No squat rack and actually I get to the gym so early that I'm always the only one there, so I have no one to spot me. As a matter of fact, I don't even bench press. They have a machine where you sit and push out. As to your other comments...yes, I totally understand that machine exercises don't work the stabilizing muscles, but I didn't know if weighted lunges were still better than the machine exercises. Thanks

[Anonymous]

Does your gym offer personal training sessions? If so, it probably would hurt to pay for a one hour consult on how best to do squats and other leg strengthening with what is available at your gym.

[Anonymous]

Don't do squats in the Smith machine. In fact, don't do anything in the Smith machine.

"I fear that I'm going to screw them up and hurt myself." <-- the solution to this is to get a personal trainer to teach you how to do them properly. (True Fitness in McLean are good.) Then you do them with relatively light weights until the muscle memory is ingrained. If you have mastered deadlifts you should be able to master squats!

Have you tried front squatting? I find them less scary than back squats, because if you fail on a front squat you just lean forward and dump it.

If you want to work quads without squatting, yes, lunges and leg press machine, and you could also do hex bar deadlifts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you can do deadlifts safely you can do squats safely. Start with low weight, sets of 10 reps, and work on the movement and only go up in weight slowly.

You have a Smith machine at home?

Don't use machines for the big leg lifts - they don't work any of the smaller or stabilizing muscles because they force you into a single movement path. Better to do weighted lunges with dumbbells. You could also do dumbbell cleans but they're not the same as squats.

I don't have anything at home. I have a decent fitness center where I work that has a leg press and Smith Machine. No squat rack and actually I get to the gym so early that I'm always the only one there, so I have no one to spot me. As a matter of fact, I don't even bench press. They have a machine where you sit and push out. As to your other comments...yes, I totally understand that machine exercises don't work the stabilizing muscles, but I didn't know if weighted lunges were still better than the machine exercises. Thanks

You're not benching, and you're not squatting. And I'm guessing you're "deadlifting" on that wretched Smith machine too.

You do understand you're not doing the StrongLifts routine, right? Get thee to a gym with barbells, and use the barbells.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does your gym offer personal training sessions? If so, it probably would hurt to pay for a one hour consult on how best to do squats and other leg strengthening with what is available at your gym.

One hour is good, but you're not going to learn to squat properly without a number of sessions in which the trainer gives you constant, live feedback until you get the movement down. There are people at my gym who I see using a trainer for months on end.

[Anonymous]

OP here. The main reason I don't do squats is because I do NOT have a squat rack. Therefore, I can't do front squats either. I do not use the Smith Machine for anything, but it's there as an option. I use a bar to do my deadlifts, rows, shoulder presses. My "gym" is just a little weight room in the basement of my office building. No personal trainers. So I'm just looking for the BEST replacement out of what I have available...leg press machine, dumbbells up to 60lbs, and a Smith machine. Sorry if I was confusing.

[Anonymous]

Try landmine squats. The weight isn't on your back so it won't feel as scary.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. The main reason I don't do squats is because I do NOT have a squat rack. Therefore, I can't do front squats either. I do not use the Smith Machine for anything, but it's there as an option. I use a bar to do my deadlifts, rows, shoulder presses. My "gym" is just a little weight room in the basement of my office building. No personal trainers. So I'm just looking for the BEST replacement out of what I have available...leg press machine, dumbbells up to 60lbs, and a Smith machine. Sorry if I was confusing.

If you have the grip strength, you can also do suitcase squats holding the dumbbells. That's 120 lbs so it's a pretty good squat weight.

[Anonymous]

I used to powerlift and worked with multiple coaches for long periods of time. Honestly.....I think squats are way, way overrated. Especially barbell squats. They make you feel like a beast, but I've found other exercises are a million times better at developing strength, flexibility, and nice-looking legs.

My top exercises are:

-glute bridges/hip thrusts. Throw on a stretch band around your knees for added hip muscle development. Start with bodyweight and work your way up to weighted.

-One-leg exercises- lunges, split squats, side lunges, lunges with either the back or front leg elevated, step-ups, pistols, skater squats, single leg deadlifts, etc. I've found these are so much better at developing hip control than regular squats. Work on getting external rotation of the femur and engaging your glutes rather than quads (this takes awhile to figure out, but once you do, your butt muscles will GROW).

-If you have access to a GHD, glute-ham raises are great. You can also use a chair with weights set on top.

-Walking with a bunch of weight. Throw some weights in a backpack. Hills are better than flat terrain. The best my legs ever looked was when I did this regularly.

-Animal/primal movements. Works your muscles and joints in a wide variety of ways, and you can set up a circuit and get a nice burn.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. The main reason I don't do squats is because I do NOT have a squat rack. Therefore, I can't do front squats either. I do not use the Smith Machine for anything, but it's there as an option. I use a bar to do my deadlifts, rows, shoulder presses. My "gym" is just a little weight room in the basement of my office building. No personal trainers. So I'm just looking for the BEST replacement out of what I have available...leg press machine, dumbbells up to 60lbs, and a Smith machine. Sorry if I was confusing.

No problem. "Join a real gym" is some obvious advice though.

We have a similar gym in the basement of my building. Smith machine, dumbbells up to maybe 70lbs, and some other machines. I quickly outgrew it and joined a real gym.

[Anonymous]

Don’t squat with weights at first.

Stand with a your feet hip width apart and near a wall. You want to be far enough away from the wall to bend like you’re going to sit in a chair. Keeping the weight in your heels and activating your glutes, sit back until your behind touches the wall. The wall just serves as a checkpoint for how deep you can go in the squat and prevents your knees from going in front of your toes. If you can go deeper, take a step forward.

Once you have trained your muscles on the proper form, hold dumbbells in your hands or do jump
Squats to the point of muscle failure.

[Anonymous]

Oh jeez whoever said single leg exercises was right. I forgot those because I HATE THEM. Nothing will annihikate you like a Bulgarian split squat- add a light dumbbell and a jump and it's the most rigorous thing that looks so deceptively easy.

Try lunge variations too. I think they're better for leg definition than squats - curtsy lunge, reverse lunge, static pulse lunge, walking lunge, side lunge, etc. Good stuff. Also painful

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
If you have the grip strength, you can also do suitcase squats holding the dumbbells. That's 120 lbs so it's a pretty good squat weight.

LOL anything less than 225 is just a warmup.