strength 2 first day, no quarter squats for me

[Irishman301]

Well I just started strength 2 yesterday. I liked it. It wasn't quite as painful as squat day from strength 1.

The only thing I didn't do was the quarter squats. Instead of doing them, I just did a 20 rep set at a lighter weight. I've been having knee problems ever since I started the strength sections of NROL (mainly because my form was bad), but now I won't do anything other then full squats because that takes the pressure off my knees. I fear squat day as it is, so doing heavy weight, quarter squats is pretty much out of the question for now. I figure that replacing it with a 20 rep set is a good substitute though.

I can't wait until day 2!!!

[OldGuy]

Aren't the quarter squats done with a higher weight than the regular squats? 20 rep sets good for building strength?

I think you're missing the point.

[Irishman301]

Originally Posted by OldGuy

Aren't the quarter squats done with a higher weight than the regular squats? 20 rep sets good for building strength?

I think you're missing the point.

Nah, I'm not missing the point. It's just that I have petellar tendenitous, and quarter squats put extra, unnecessary pressure on my knees, so I figured that instead of just not doing anything at all, I'd replace quarter squats with a high rep set.

[Lisa~]

Originally Posted by Irishman301

Nah, I'm not missing the point.

But it's an odd choice of substitution because it does not replace the intended purpose of the quarter squat. If your goal is strength, you've taken out the main strength builder of that day's workout and replaced it with a strength/endurance movement. It doesn't make sense if the overall goal is strength.

It's just that I have petellar tendenitous, and quarter squats put extra, unnecessary pressure on my knees, so I figured that instead of just not doing anything at all, I'd replace quarter squats with a high rep set.

That surprises me actually. Since there's a very limited ROM in quarter squats, I'd think you wouldn't get into the joint angle that causes pain. But, if you say so, then I'll take your word for it. I'd want you to try walk-outs (where you unrack a really heavy load into the start position but then just stand there for a few seconds, no knee bending at all). You don't even really have to "walk" out, just set the support low enough to stand up the weight. That'd be a substitute exercise that serves the same purpose (or at least similar) as the originally prescribed quarter squats.

[Irishman301]

Originally Posted by Lisa~

But it's an odd choice of substitution because it does not replace the intended purpose of the quarter squat. If your goal is strength, you've taken out the main strength builder of that day's workout and replaced it with a strength/endurance movement. It doesn't make sense if the overall goal is strength.


That surprises me actually. Since there's a very limited ROM in quarter squats, I'd think you wouldn't get into the joint angle that causes pain. But, if you say so, then I'll take your word for it. I'd want you to try walk-outs (where you unrack a really heavy load into the start position but then just stand there for a few seconds, no knee bending at all). You don't even really have to "walk" out, just set the support low enough to stand up the weight. That'd be a substitute exercise that serves the same purpose (or at least similar) as the originally prescribed quarter squats.

Walk outs do sound like a better idea. Full squats are much better on my knees because I go all the way down, which engages my glutes, hams, and hip adductors. Quarter squats put TONS of pressure on my knees (that's actually how I got the knee problem in the first place). Full squats are the only things

I just try to add weight to the bar each workout in order to gain strength. I do the rest of the Strength 2 as it was written. I do the rack pulls and all that stuff. The only reason I used a set of 20 rep squats is because that's what S-1 ended with. I figured that the intensity would be close to the same as that of S-1 since I'm doing 3 sets of 4, 1 set of 12, and 1 set of 20 (S-1 used the 6, 1, 6, 1, 12, 20), so I thought it would be a good substitution.