Exercises to replace regular squats?

Jimmy Bennett

I've following a simple weightlifting program for a couple of months. I've been using compound exercises and it's going really well so far. However I work out at home and don't have a a squat rack.

Instead of normal squats i do hack squats (holding the bb behind the legs). It's good for my quads but I know that other muscles are missing out on the benefits of a regular squat.

Could anyone please recommend one or more exercises to add to my routine to help compensate? I guess they'd mainly be exercises for the core and/or lower back.

note: So far i do hack squats, bench press, deadlifts, dips, pull-ups, bb rows, overhead presses and crunches

any advice is much appreciated

gnolan

Good mornings for the lower back. And personally i've found that single-leg split-squats absolutely destroy my hams and glutes, so i'd give them a go. Just hold onto a couple of DB's if you have 'em.

edit: Planks for core, hold for 30secs on front and sides and do 3 times. Knee raises or leg raises on your chin-up bar

EileenG

Front squats, dumbbell squats, goblet squats, jump squats, deadlift, stiffleg deadlift, step-ups, lunges, walking lunges, Zelcher squats.

cardio,shoot me

EileenG wrote: »

Front squats,

how can u do front squats without a rack?

An Citeog

cardio,shoot me wrote: »

how can u do front squats without a rack?

Obviously, you're limited to what you can clean and it's probably not very efficient compared to the other alternatives but it can be done.

rubadub

An Citeog wrote: »

Obviously, you're limited to what you can clean and it's probably not very efficient compared to the other alternatives but it can be done.

Yes, I do it, I can clean 60kg. Also I can then get that 60kg onto my back by raising one side and slipping my head under (be careful!). But with front squats it is harder to work with 60kg than on your back.

I am crap at the holding of the bar on front squats, I usually just hold it rather than rest it on my collar bone.

You can also do belt squats



I am going to make a loading pin for belt squats with lots of plates.

cardio,shoot me

i forgot i use the cross over grip for front squats, wasnt thinking of the normal one

Money Shot

rubadub wrote: »

You can also do belt squats



I am going to make a loading pin for belt squats with lots of plates.

I haven't done them, and they look like they could be good for keeping form as you can put your hands out in front, but I can see the swing of the weights potentially causing balance problems. Have you tried them ?

EileenG

A variation of that is to hold a heavy dumbbell in your hands dropping down between your legs as you squat sumo style.

Purple Funk

Pistols. Unbelievable for the development of leg power and strength, balance and core stability. That said, most have to train to get to the stage where they can do pistols properly. Look them up and work towards/do them. Phenomenal exercise, and you need no equipment.

rubadub

Money Shot wrote: »

I haven't done them, and they look like they could be good for keeping form as you can put your hands out in front, but I can see the swing of the weights potentially causing balance problems. Have you tried them ?

They are quite good for keeping form, goblet squats are great for form. Also I think your form is not as critical since there is no real back issues. I have done them standing on strong boxes, I had 2 ropes from a chinup bar so if I get in trouble I can pull myself back up. This could also be a way to train heavy negatives on your own.

My main problem was the size of the plates, when you have a decent weight on they are far to wide between your legs. So I want the loading pin like the buy in the photo has, it also means the plates are nice and flat on the ground when starting/finishing. Swinging plates was no real problem, I was going slow enough.

There are cable devices for belt squats so the weight is nowhere near you.

Purple Funk wrote: »

Pistols. Unbelievable for the development of leg power and strength, balance and core stability. That said, most have to train to get to the stage where they can do pistols properly.

I want to have a go at these again, there are some tutorials to show how to build up to them. They are very difficult sort of tlike chinups, once you get one out I expect it becomes far easier.

Jimmy Bennett

Thanks for all the replies lads. some good advice in there.

rubadub

I just did some squats like this guy.


But I did not need a loading pin. I have a strong wooden box, so I put 2x20kg & 2x10kg plates on the open top resting on 3 sides. Now I have an adjustable webbing strap like this

I fed the webbing into the buckle and fed a webbing loop through the 4 plate holes. The box is big enough so I could reach in and pull the loop out the bottom. Now I put an empty dumbbell handle on the bottom and fed it through the loop. The webbing loop at the top went through my dip belt. Now when you lift the belt the webbing is taut and pulls the handle against the base plate, since the handle has bits to stop the normal plates the webbing could not slip off. I then placed a pillow on the ground to cushion the plates and the handle, as it would touch the floor.

I put the belt on and squatted down to just below parallel and adjusted the strap to be taut. I had a bed and window ledge in front to help me get back up and start squatting. Otherwise I could just take the belt off and lift it onto the box again, since it is hard to start in the lowest position.

It worked well and was surprisingly stable, I did 20 at 60kg, I have not squatted in a good while, resting between reps was very easy with no stress on your back, and there was no fear of going to failure as the lowest position was the ground. Also I did not have to worry if I was going low enough, when the plate touched the ground I knew I was low enough.

There are other ways to do it instead of the handle, I found a way to use a little 0.5kg plate feeding it through and having 4 strands of webbing passing through the plates. You could get a square or round bit of wood then jigsaw out 2 rectangles to feed the webbing through. The wood itself could be padded.

I had to do a wider than usual squat for leg clearance, I reckon I could only get another 2x10kg plates on it before it hits my legs. In that case I would have to stand on boxes like the guy in the photo and lengthen my loops. I have squatted on boxes and I much prefer being on the floor.

But I could easily get a bar with 40kg up onto my back for additional weight, or I can fit 25kg of plates on my other handle for goblet squats.

80kg on the belt and 40kg on my back would be good enough for me. I can get 60kg on my back but it is hard to get back over again, 40 is fine, or I can front squat it.

If you had a lot of plates you might want to slot in a bar or bit of wood down the holes to act like a pin, incase they did become unstable, but I had no problem.