Hack Squats?

[skully]

Hey Ya'll. NROL newbie here...

I'm currently doing the workouts at home on a small universal gym, so I have to be creative to get all of the lifts done as the routines suggest.

Are hack squats a good replacement for regular squats? I've read that hack squats are supposed to be harder on your knees, but if the lift is done with correct form, I don't see how it would be harder on your knees?

P.S. On my first week of FLI... Why do my legs HURT so much????

[Defiant1]

I'm not an expert, nor do I have anything to do with NROL other than I love the book. I've seen people do hack squats a few different ways so I guess it depends. If you are talking about the kind where you do a hack squat while sitting then I wouldn't use it as a replacement for the squats in FL1. The reason being that you will, in theory, expend more energy doing exercises while standing, and it will work your core and stabilizing muscles more. Now with that being said, if your only option is to do hack squats then do them.

But I would suggest doing regular Dumbbell squats or Goblet Squats if you have any DB's that you could use.

[skully]

Originally Posted by Defiant1

I've seen people do hack squats a few different ways so I guess it depends. If you are talking about the kind where you do a hack squat while sitting then I wouldn't use it as a replacement for the squats in FL1.

Don't know about the seated hack squats.

I do them like this:

http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/...HackSquat.html

Except with a low cable-pulley, and a bar, which is all I've got to do squats with at the moment...

[crashtech]

This question interests me. I didn't know what a "hack squat" was til now, but I have been trying to come up with a way over the fact that I don't have a squat rack, so I have been cleaning whatever weight I'm using for the squat over my head. This is becoming a limitation to the amount of weight I can use, since my lower body is developing faster than my upper body.

[Defiant1]

Originally Posted by skully

Don't know about the seated hack squats.

I do them like this:

http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/...HackSquat.html

Except with a low cable-pulley, and a bar, which is all I've got to do squats with at the moment...

If thats what you got, then go for it. I don't think you are going to get the full effects that you would from doing squats with free weights, but it shouldn't be a huge difference.

[Defiant1]

Originally Posted by crashtech

This question interests me. I didn't know what a "hack squat" was til now, but I have been trying to come up with a way over the fact that I don't have a squat rack, so I have been cleaning whatever weight I'm using for the squat over my head. This is becoming a limitation to the amount of weight I can use, since my lower body is developing faster than my upper body.

Do you have DB's or are you using a barbell? Once you get to the point that you can no longer clean/press the weight overhead and complete the required amount of reps, you could switch to doing one-legged exercises, such as bulgarian split squats, to work your lower body more.

Also you could try doing DB squats (without the clean) but then hold the squat in the down position for a set number of time before standing back up to work your lower body more.

Another exercise that people tend to not use often that is very basic and will work your lower body is wall sits. Let's say for example all the equipment you have is two 25 pound DB's and your workout is calling for 3 sets of 15 reps of Squats and you can do that pretty easily with the 2 DB's. So what I would suggest is to do a wall sit for like 30-60 seconds before each set of squats. This will make the 3 sets of squats much more challenging and will work your lower body better...you'll just have to play around with the timing to get things right for you.

[crashtech]

Originally Posted by Defiant1

Do you have DB's or are you using a barbell? Once you get to the point that you can no longer clean/press the weight overhead and complete the required amount of reps, you could switch to doing one-legged exercises, such as bulgarian split squats, to work your lower body more.

Also you could try doing DB squats (without the clean) but then hold the squat in the down position for a set number of time before standing back up to work your lower body more.

Another exercise that people tend to not use often that is very basic and will work your lower body is wall sits. Let's say for example all the equipment you have is two 25 pound DB's and your workout is calling for 3 sets of 15 reps of Squats and you can do that pretty easily with the 2 DB's. So what I would suggest is to do a wall sit for like 30-60 seconds before each set of squats. This will make the 3 sets of squats much more challenging and will work your lower body better...you'll just have to play around with the timing to get things right for you.

Oh, you would have to mention the eeevil Bulgarian Split Squat!
I'm so bad at those that I merely hold tiny 5lb DBs while doing them!

This puzzled me until I thought about the total load that each leg is asked to bear in each different exercise. With me, on a normal 15 rep squat, it's the weight of my torso (approx 90lbs) plus a 100lb barbell. Divided by two that is 95lbs per leg. On the BSS, holding the two 5lb barbells, plus torso weight equals 100lbs per leg! No wonder they are hard!

Sorry for the off topic diversion...

[Defiant1]

Originally Posted by crashtech

Oh, you would have to mention the eeevil Bulgarian Split Squat!
I'm so bad at those that I merely hold tiny 5lb DBs while doing them!

This puzzled me until I thought about the total load that each leg is asked to bear in each different exercise. With me, on a normal 15 rep squat, it's the weight of my torso (approx 90lbs) plus a 100lb barbell. Divided by two that is 95lbs per leg. On the BSS, holding the two 5lb barbells, plus torso weight equals 100lbs per leg! No wonder they are hard!

Sorry for the off topic diversion...

The BSS is one of the hardest exercises that I have ever done. It is amazing how simplistically brutal it really is. I thought it would be similar to a lunge, and used the same weight that I would for a DB lunge the first time I attempted one. This left me stuck in the down position begging for mercy.