This
is a great way to get a HUGE range
of motion on a squat exercise
while keeping your torso in a
very upright and neutral position.
Most
squat exercises have you freestanding,
which means you have to compensate
for the position of the weight
by basically being less vertical,
which puts stress onto the back.
That's
not necessarily a bad thing, but
it can be an obstacle for some
people, especially if you want
to get very FULL range of motion.
This
version is a one dumbell squat
using the OTHER hand to grip on
a bar. You can use this grip to
spot yourself but primarily to
brace your body, which will allow
you to keep your torso more upright
while doing DEEP squats.
It's
a nice exercise that will let
you hit your quads and glutes
HARD.
I'm
using a 125 lb dumbell and I've
got the bar set on the rails of
a power rack about 4 feet off
the ground. You can see how even
at the bottom of the movement,
my torso is vertical and I'm sitting
back. THAT is what this exercise
does for you.
Now
just stand up.
Torso
stays vertical the whole time.
I
like to do half the reps on one
side then immediately switch to
the other for balanced effects
on the core and legs.
On
each rep, don't take tension off
the legs but touch one end of
the dumbell down on the ground
to make sure you're getting full
range of motion. Just keep that
tension on!
Being
able to sit back like this is
also going to help you keep your
knees from going beyond your toes
(if you're worried about stuff
like that - me, I'm not worried
because the knee is designed to
perform movements like that).
And
unless you have knee issues, deeps
squats are NOT bad for your knees,
as many people worry about. Smith
machine squats and leg extensions
are MUCH worse for your knees,
which ironically enough is what
most people knee injuries tend
to gravitate towards thinking
they're more "stable"
exercises when in reality, they
put tremendous shearing force
on the joint.
Anyway,
this is a nice variation to try
- it also allows you to really
push the reps until your legs
are trashed as you can just set
the dumbell down when you're done
and you can use your arm to spot
yourself.
I've
used this exercise 100 rep training
(straight through holding onto
a 45 lb dumbell and switching
hands every 10 reps or so) and
my quads were the sorest they've
been in 10 years (not that soreness
is the goal...doing something
you've never done before is the
goal).
