Squats are a funny thing because two very different groups of people tend to reply to questions about them. There are folks who do lots of reps of body weight squats and there are people who do barbell squats, and they mean totally different things when they say « squats. » I think PPs point —- although expressed badly maybe —- was that for most decent sized adult man, 120 pounds is too light to be useful for back squats. I’m not particularly strong, and my lowest weight, high rep squats (5 sets of 10 with one minute or less of rest) are 165 pounds. That comes after six sets that top out at between 265 and 290. Many guys at my gym start work sets at 315. One guy’s warmups start at 405. This is by no means unusual or unachievable for a healthy adult man with consistent training. One lady who’s frequently lifting at the same time I am starts her warmups at 225.

There’s nothing wrong with body weight squats, but there’s also nothing wrong with barbell squats, and it’s not out of line to point out that for a guy (don’t know OPs gender), 120 pounds isn’t useful for barbell squats.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Did anyone ask the 5'5 man with an inferiority complex and a cabinet full of whey protein to chime in? No we did not.

This has to be one of my top 10 favorite responses on DCUM ever!

Well, other than being stupid and wrong, I guess...

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Goblet squats is a good one to do with DBs, work on form and depth and by holding the DB near your chest as you go down it will prevent your knees from caving in which is common when doing regular barbell squats which results in torque of the knees.

After that, practice using smith machine doing barbell squats, high bar or low bar placement.

Some people suck at squats and better at deadlifts or vice versa due to body structure, if someone has long legs it's harder for them to squat heavy properly. I have short legs and can squat below parallel with ease, I can deadlift better in conventional stance, for the life of me I can't seem to sumo deadlift.

So you don't have to necessarily squat to see gains or meet your goals because there's so many other worthy leg exercises in the gym but I'm a traditionalist and think one should squat and deadlift as part of their training. They don't call the squats the king of all exercises for nothing.

OP here. Thanks for all the responses. I only have 60 pound DBs so the goblet squats were too easy. The 120 lb suitcase carry squats were too easy as well. So I guess it's down to leg press, smith machine squats, or single leg lunge/squat exercises.

Try single leg squats or bulgarian split squats as an alternate, those will do the job. Jumpsquats holding DBs, single leg jump squats for more advanced, lunges forward and reverse, smith squats and leg press. I'm not a fan of Smiths or press since there's limited core action. Leg press hurts my back for some reason, but they are better than nothing and would work for strength and muscle building if that's what's available to you.

Just sawa video on Instagram about this. it tends to be because people lift their lower back up off the pad as they do it, thus creating a curve in the lower back. (Instagram: realjaredhamilton)

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Goblet squats is a good one to do with DBs, work on form and depth and by holding the DB near your chest as you go down it will prevent your knees from caving in which is common when doing regular barbell squats which results in torque of the knees.

After that, practice using smith machine doing barbell squats, high bar or low bar placement.

Some people suck at squats and better at deadlifts or vice versa due to body structure, if someone has long legs it's harder for them to squat heavy properly. I have short legs and can squat below parallel with ease, I can deadlift better in conventional stance, for the life of me I can't seem to sumo deadlift.

So you don't have to necessarily squat to see gains or meet your goals because there's so many other worthy leg exercises in the gym but I'm a traditionalist and think one should squat and deadlift as part of their training. They don't call the squats the king of all exercises for nothing.

OP here. Thanks for all the responses. I only have 60 pound DBs so the goblet squats were too easy. The 120 lb suitcase carry squats were too easy as well. So I guess it's down to leg press, smith machine squats, or single leg lunge/squat exercises.

Try single leg squats or bulgarian split squats as an alternate, those will do the job. Jumpsquats holding DBs, single leg jump squats for more advanced, lunges forward and reverse, smith squats and leg press. I'm not a fan of Smiths or press since there's limited core action. Leg press hurts my back for some reason, but they are better than nothing and would work for strength and muscle building if that's what's available to you.

Anonymous wrote:Goblet squats is a good one to do with DBs, work on form and depth and by holding the DB near your chest as you go down it will prevent your knees from caving in which is common when doing regular barbell squats which results in torque of the knees.

After that, practice using smith machine doing barbell squats, high bar or low bar placement.

Some people suck at squats and better at deadlifts or vice versa due to body structure, if someone has long legs it's harder for them to squat heavy properly. I have short legs and can squat below parallel with ease, I can deadlift better in conventional stance, for the life of me I can't seem to sumo deadlift.

So you don't have to necessarily squat to see gains or meet your goals because there's so many other worthy leg exercises in the gym but I'm a traditionalist and think one should squat and deadlift as part of their training. They don't call the squats the king of all exercises for nothing.

OP here. Thanks for all the responses. I only have 60 pound DBs so the goblet squats were too easy. The 120 lb suitcase carry squats were too easy as well. So I guess it's down to leg press, smith machine squats, or single leg lunge/squat exercises.

Goblet squats is a good one to do with DBs, work on form and depth and by holding the DB near your chest as you go down it will prevent your knees from caving in which is common when doing regular barbell squats which results in torque of the knees.

After that, practice using smith machine doing barbell squats, high bar or low bar placement.

Some people suck at squats and better at deadlifts or vice versa due to body structure, if someone has long legs it's harder for them to squat heavy properly. I have short legs and can squat below parallel with ease, I can deadlift better in conventional stance, for the life of me I can't seem to sumo deadlift.

So you don't have to necessarily squat to see gains or meet your goals because there's so many other worthy leg exercises in the gym but I'm a traditionalist and think one should squat and deadlift as part of their training. They don't call the squats the king of all exercises for nothing.

while not totally ideal, you can absolutely use a smith machine for squats.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Did anyone ask the 5'5 man with an inferiority complex and a cabinet full of whey protein to chime in? No we did not.

This has to be one of my top 10 favorite responses on DCUM ever!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Start with goblet squats. These are great for building the core strength you need for barbell squats and 60 lb DB will work well. Hold the DB with 2 hands, elbows down and shoulders pressing tight. You can make them more challenging by doing constant tension ones (go down, no pause at the bottom and come back up, but don't lock-out or stop at top), 1.5 squats- down all the way, up half way, back down, all the way up.

I also agree that if you can dead lift you can squat. Before you go down breath in through your mouth to fill your belly and brace like someone is going to punch you in the stomach. This will protect your back.

You can also start with box squats- squat to sitting position on a bench, stop and come up without using momentum.

OP has said that he doesn't have a squat rack.

Goblet squats don’t require a rack; you use a dumbbell . All of the above can be done with dumbbells.

Anonymous wrote:Start with goblet squats. These are great for building the core strength you need for barbell squats and 60 lb DB will work well. Hold the DB with 2 hands, elbows down and shoulders pressing tight. You can make them more challenging by doing constant tension ones (go down, no pause at the bottom and come back up, but don't lock-out or stop at top), 1.5 squats- down all the way, up half way, back down, all the way up.

I also agree that if you can dead lift you can squat. Before you go down breath in through your mouth to fill your belly and brace like someone is going to punch you in the stomach. This will protect your back.

You can also start with box squats- squat to sitting position on a bench, stop and come up without using momentum.

OP has said that he doesn't have a squat rack.

Start with goblet squats. These are great for building the core strength you need for barbell squats and 60 lb DB will work well. Hold the DB with 2 hands, elbows down and shoulders pressing tight. You can make them more challenging by doing constant tension ones (go down, no pause at the bottom and come back up, but don't lock-out or stop at top), 1.5 squats- down all the way, up half way, back down, all the way up.

I also agree that if you can dead lift you can squat. Before you go down breath in through your mouth to fill your belly and brace like someone is going to punch you in the stomach. This will protect your back.

You can also start with box squats- squat to sitting position on a bench, stop and come up without using momentum.

Doing deadlifts with a hex bar is very similar to squats. That's your best best. You can get a hex bar for $100

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Did anyone ask the 5'5 man with an inferiority complex and a cabinet full of whey protein to chime in? No we did not.

Anonymous wrote:Who says you can’t do squats without a machine? There are so many varieties and just holding it or pulsing it works too. I also use bands around my thighs and will walk sideways in a squat. Also good old fashioned wall sits. Jump squats. There are so many options. If you want to use weights, use hand weights or I also just hold a 20lb ball.

You can do squats without a machine... but they'll be a total joke that won't build any muscle.

If you're a woman, I guess that 20lb ball might do something for you, but for a man that's a total waste of time.

Who says you can’t do squats without a machine? There are so many varieties and just holding it or pulsing it works too. I also use bands around my thighs and will walk sideways in a squat. Also good old fashioned wall sits. Jump squats. There are so many options. If you want to use weights, use hand weights or I also just hold a 20lb ball.