slowly coming to suspect that the cult of "you have to squat" was all a psyop by Big Barbell and leg press is fine actually - ThreadSky

olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social • 54 days ago

slowly coming to suspect that the cult of "you have to squat" was all a psyop by Big Barbell and leg press is fine actually

Reposted from Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò

finally caved and got a gym membership. my conversion from powerlifting hopeful to mere bro continues. at this rate i'm mere months away from having a "chest day"

Comments

skis-n-reads.bsky.social•54 days ago

What’s a good non-barbell replacement for Deadlift? It’s my favorite lift but I want to transition away from it as I start to get older.

olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social•54 days ago

what do you want out of deadlifting? If you just want something that train's a similar range of muscles, I'd say an RDL (especially if you have access to a trap bar)

skis-n-reads.bsky.social•54 days ago

I am just looking for strength/conditioning for skiing and soccer. I’ve been dealing with a lot of cascading injuries & PT after stepping in a hole in soccer so injury prevention is on the front of my mind.

I’ll try out RDLs, thanks!

olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social•54 days ago

Ahh if it's for sport you could also try Nordic hamstring curls or pretty much anything that trains knee flexion, alongside reverse Nordics/anything that trains knee extension (e.g. split squats with your knee tracking forward). Would *very much* ease into both but could lower injury risk

skis-n-reads.bsky.social•54 days ago

Ooh, thank you! I will (gingerly) add these in!

olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social•54 days ago

Barbell RDLs also great

redletter.bsky.social•54 days ago

Isn’t rdl doing to put more strain on the back?

olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social•54 days ago

your lower back will have more TUT but with lighter weight that is not moving from a dead stop. So more isometric volume but I would guess lower injury risk

redletter.bsky.social•54 days ago

I’m pro-rdl but I think you’d achieve the same thing with the lower weight on standard DL too?

victoriadecapua.bsky.social•54 days ago

I like lifting but I hate gyms.

olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social•54 days ago

yeah not all gyms have a great culture. fortunately for me i'm not especially social in the gym context so can get quality work in most places so long as they have a minimum amount of stuff

victoriadecapua.bsky.social•54 days ago

If I had the time and means I'd set up some kind of platform in my back yard for lifting. My shitty ex roommate did that, but that's also because he can't lift without screaming and slamming weights, so he gets banned from gyms.

olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social•54 days ago

wow I've heard of people getting spoken to for that but getting banned feels like a cry for help

victoriadecapua.bsky.social•54 days ago

He's just a stupid man baby so he doesn't go. He's an ex con, cheats on disability, gets money from his mom and still broke half of my possessions I let him use. He also wouldn't pay for anything we both used like garbage bags or toilet paper. He gets his pals to pay for all his lifting stuff.

victoriadecapua.bsky.social•54 days ago

he's one of those guys who's been coddled for being autistic his whole life so now he thinks it's okay to yell at people for using words like "instinct" which he doesn't like because of reasons he made up. But he also destroyed my weber kettle and for that alone I hate him forever.

timtriche.bsky.social•54 days ago

If you compete in powerlifting or Olympic lifting, you need to squat. Otherwise probably not

My priorities when lifting are Olympic lifts, assistance lifts, and bodyweight+ (pull-ups etc). Squat is an assistance for the Oly lifts — if I have to choose between snatching or squatting? Always snatch.

olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social•54 days ago

yeah this sounds about right. honestly I think front squat probably has a better case for being a staple general training movement than back squat, but even squat enjoyers find it annoying

rowyourbot.bsky.social•54 days ago

joeyneverjoe.bsky.social•54 days ago

The barbell squat can go wrong in many ways for most people. It requires a degree of flexibility and awareness of form that most people don’t have. Which is not a dig at all, it takes a lot to unfuck sitting and having limited mobility. Goblet squats and leg press, baby!

emilybreunig.bsky.social•54 days ago

It took a very good trainer watching me for a long time to figure out the adjustment to my form that makes squats work for me. Now it's great, but if I didn't have that person with that expertise there, I would have hurt myself

olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social•54 days ago

Yeah and like the Olympic lifts, even conceding how good they are for you when done well you have to ask if the work it takes to do it well is worth it

joeyneverjoe.bsky.social•54 days ago

It’s why I despised CrossFit because they turned snatches into a high volume for time exercise that 98% of the population needs to do.

I don’t know if you know who Dan John is, but his book Intervention is a great way to think about strength training.

https://www.amazon.com/Intervention-Course-Corrections-Athlete-Trainer/dp/1931046174?dplnkId=d5e95235-6df1-4a58-a77d-b0e3459eda91&nodl=1

olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social•54 days ago

Big fan of Dan John. I do like the carries when I can fit em in

jewelofhope.bsky.social•54 days ago

IMO, machines tend to isolate really well, whereas in doing gross movement with free weights, the whole body is involved requiring balance and skill, thus strengthening all muscle and connective tissues groups. Machines are great for beginners to build initial strength and control.

mock541.bsky.social•54 days ago

My son is a college athlete and the new thing is "BFRT"blood flow restriction training.He is battling an injury and loving the option for less load on the spine etc.

mock541.bsky.social•54 days ago

Yes the injury use makes sense not sure other wise I had not heard of it until recently

olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social•54 days ago

Yeah im not positive how well it works for strength short term but definitely a good way to avoid detraining if you've broken something

mock541.bsky.social•54 days ago

Admit I don't enjoy pure squats anymore but I love box squats just to get the feel but also safer feeling.Can't beat single leg work as well lunges,rdl and Bulgarian split squat bonus don't need much weight so easier for home gym.

corybernstein.bsky.social•54 days ago

I’ve slowly recognized that like 85% of himbo weightlifting culture/strategies are just roundabout ways of trying to justify non-machine work for the simple fact that it looks and feels less cool lol

thomas26july.bsky.social•54 days ago

Counterpoint: kettlebells look awesome if you have a mustache and a weird little tanktop

corybernstein.bsky.social•54 days ago

To be clear- machines look less cool! But the tradeoff is like avoiding lower back surgery

thomas26july.bsky.social•54 days ago

You don't gotta warn me. I stopped lifting after my third bout with tendonitis.

thomas26july.bsky.social•54 days ago

Also you gotta say "hup hup" instead of groaning

nabalkattu.bsky.social•54 days ago

meanwhile your physical therapist and or coach are like 'do the tiny bands, do the dead bugs, do the yoga before you get back to the snatches'

gregsasso.bsky.social•54 days ago

it’s infuriating how much better I feel when I warm up properly and stretch afterwards. I hate it

nabalkattu.bsky.social•54 days ago

I feel personally attacked every time I do it and it continues to work. Like fuck you PT

ithadtobewho.bsky.social•54 days ago

i’m reading this entire thread and going “FINE i guess i will do those clamshells after all” so thanks buddies

gregsasso.bsky.social•54 days ago

Clamshells and CARS will unfortunately do wonders

olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social•54 days ago

I've reluctantly added a tiny band exercise or two but they can't make me like it!

corybernstein.bsky.social•54 days ago

for the stretching and bodyweight type exercises, I’ve found this Youtube channel enormously valuable. He does a great job explaining the routines in follow along. I do not understand how one can enjoy stretching this much but I respect it https://youtube.com/@bodyweightwarrior?si=mw5aAyo0pos4-RaF

corybernstein.bsky.social•54 days ago

The hamstring follow alongs were torture the first few times but clearly helped me right away

nabalkattu.bsky.social•54 days ago

The Big 5 looks extremely badass. I'm still at more mud-floor straw-wall level of the Big 3 but willing to up my game https://squatuniversity.com/2018/06/21/the-mcgill-big-3-for-core-stability/

nabalkattu.bsky.social•54 days ago

in a way the tiny bands are the real deadlift PRS because as painful as a gigantic pull can be, staring at the wall for 15 minutes wishing it was over hurts worse

emilybreunig.bsky.social•54 days ago

My trainer makes me do both the squats and the dead bugs/tiny bands 🫠

nabalkattu.bsky.social•54 days ago

keep working with them!!!

emilybreunig.bsky.social•54 days ago

Oh, he's great, and we have seen enough to know

tubapeter.bsky.social•54 days ago

The heaviest thing most of us carry around is our own dumb bodies, so why not train for that.

Gigantic unused muscles that require constant maintenance are pickup trucks that never haul anything.

geoffbowden.bsky.social•54 days ago

I have a lifetime limit of 200lbs. I’ll never put more than that on my back. It’s fine and I get stronger that way.

sanjuanswan.bsky.social•54 days ago

I've been lifting for over 30 years, the last 10+ in a home gym, and only figured out a few years ago how to squat comfortably for my body type. Trying to mimic powerlifters in the 90s was a mistake.

andreapitzer.bsky.social•54 days ago

Yes! I will start this church with you.

olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social•54 days ago

see! fighters understand

wesinjapan.bsky.social•54 days ago

I've gone the other direction. Maybe because I'm not a fighter anymore.

madhominem.bsky.social•54 days ago

I'm hoping I can rejoin for services once my hip replacement happens

onekade.bsky.social•54 days ago

Leg press machine is so fun. Whenever I’m in a gym that has one I like to do 100 reps with no plates to see how fast I can do it. It’s not hard exactly but it feels good. It’s also fun to load it up and feel like an absolute beast

grizwald.bsky.social•54 days ago

Leg press is...initially fine. It's better than not working out your legs. What it's not doing, though, is working out any of the stabilizer muscles necessary to actually turn all that gigantic leg strength into functional strength in other exercises/sports/real life.

grizwald.bsky.social•54 days ago

Very cool, by the way, that you're hitting the gym. The perfect is the enemy of the good, especially at the beginning of that kind of thing, so ultimately IMHO just keep doing what feels enjoyable - it's an adventure and there's always something new to learn or refine.

olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social•54 days ago

people tell me this. I dunno whether or not it's true, or even what people mean. if the "stabilizer muscles" are just the other muscles in your leg (the adductors, glute max/min/medius, TFL, etc) then 1) the leg press actually does train most of those 2) you could also just do other exercises after

grizwald.bsky.social•54 days ago

Stabilizers refer to your smaller leg muscles, and also to a bunch of the muscles in your core.

There are a few reasons that "I'll just do each muscle individually" works better in theory, some of which I'm more confident explaining than others.

grizwald.bsky.social•54 days ago

I can tell you that pragmatically, no you probably won't work out each stabilizer individually after you're done your leg press, and I can tell you technically that functional strength isn't just about beefing up the muscle fiber, it's also teaching the muscles how to work together.

olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social•54 days ago

right but now we're just talking about sports. I don't think somebody who's gotten good at barbell squatting has improved their ability to run a post route or complete a double leg

grizwald.bsky.social•54 days ago

Man, if we're talking about sports, compound lifts that train the body such that maximum power can be applied in a complex physical scenario are exactly what the doctor ordered. The act of barbell squatting is a lot closer to hitting a double leg than doing a leg press.

olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social•54 days ago

I used to have this view but now I am coming around to the idea that bodybuilders rather than strength sports people (powerlifting, strongmen, weightlifting is a hard case tho) do the kind of training that is most like how it would make sense for athletes to train

grizwald.bsky.social•54 days ago

Ultimately I encourage you to do what works for you. I would just urge you to follow the advice of people who are training for the same purpose you're training.

Bodybuilders are training to slather themselves in bronzer, put on a tiny speedo, and flex in front of judges.

circlecityslicker.bsky.social•54 days ago

There are ways to do that on the leg press, but you have to know how to do them, what to do, etc. Most people don't know that, and squatting doesn't require that knowledge as a prerequisite. It's the normal distribution meme with squats in the middle

olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social•54 days ago

agree, only squatting has the downside of requiring knowledge (know-how, anyways) of squatting, which is a bit more involved than "put your feet higher up on the leg press pad"

circlecityslicker.bsky.social•54 days ago

When you put it that way, it makes a ton of sense. Most people either don't think of that or just stick to what feels comfortable. I think learning to squat has utility for a lot of exercises, and the ceiling is higher. I stopped doing leg press because I felt like an asshole taking so many 45s

olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social•54 days ago

yeah I don't bother with the plate loadeds unless it's a hack squat machine, which feels worth it to me. but I'll work up to a top set of some set up or other (e.g. Bulgarian split squat with a trap bar, Hatfield squat, anything where I can get heavy) and then get the rest of the volume however

resnikoff.bsky.social•54 days ago

Probably depends on goals, no? I lift a couple times a week for general fitness, so I figure a compound exercise like a squat probably is probably better than isolating the quads

dabenner.bsky.social•54 days ago

I tend to do single leg squats with a free weight or kettlebell and it's fine. Better suited to the movement of cycling or running anyway, plus you balance. Bulgarian split has low chance of injury in particular.

olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social•54 days ago

leg press is compound, just a bit less efficient than squatting. but if you're in a place that has a leg press it probably has a couple other machines so you could just do 2-3 exercises (none of which would load your spine) rather than 1 if you wanted

markya.bsky.social•54 days ago

First of all, wow that’s a good squat! but also, more than 1.5 times body weight isn’t really functional unless you work in 12th century agriculture as a labourer so you could just leave it there…

olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social•54 days ago

You're referring to Nuckols' squat? I think I posted that somewhere

markya.bsky.social•54 days ago

Big fan of his stuff! But those loads are beyond what my spine can take, so I’m 100% in agreement with your first post

pkpd-babe.bsky.social•54 days ago

leg press > squats with the barbell

I can’t believe how and how much I was I squatting 10 years ago without someone spotting. Just asking to be a gym fail compilation segment.

isaiahbishop.bsky.social•54 days ago

Something to be said for the balance, but there is just so many dudes ready to shred their spines for no reason

bvimarlins.bsky.social•54 days ago

Balance + literal time involved in one machine vs 3, tbh. I've had to do both sides of this argument for extended periods and I would pick how I felt after lighter weights on squats any day given the time.

(some dudes have a problem with the lighter weights obvs, which is their main problem)

theodramatist.com•54 days ago

What do you think of single leg bodyweight squats (shrimp or pistol), possibly with kettlebells, as a way of getting the big compound movement but not shredding your spine?

olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social•54 days ago

i do these with an SSB. works pretty well imo!

theodramatist.com•54 days ago

Nice.

edzitron.com•54 days ago

My leg day is pretty simple - 3 sets one leg RDLsx12 each side 12 goblet squat 15 calf raises 12 barbell glute bridge, then double reps lower weight the last. It's worth having a squat in there I think. People seem to be happy with my ass

olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social•54 days ago

lmao. I'm glad it's working for you! I've also had success with single leg RDLs (kind of a "kickstand"/B-stance version I guess) and feel like they're worth it if you can load em up enough

edzitron.com•54 days ago

Oh I don't care what people do and I am a big believer in "whatever people feel works for them and gets the results they want," and honestly if I could avoid doing goblet squats I would gladly

olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social•54 days ago

surprisingly even with this my lower back gets taxed a little bit, but maybe if I switch from barbell to trap bar things'll even out

redletter.bsky.social•54 days ago

I don’t think there’s anything wrong with like leg press or whatever, but I find that I have to get over myself and drop the weight back down to develop the supporting muscles sometimes

edzitron.com•54 days ago

Does that happen with dumbbells too?

olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social•54 days ago

A bit - the load being more maneuverable can actually work against you if the dumbbells travel too far forward (moment arm) but if I'm not too tired to keep form locked in it's good

shanavwhite.bsky.social•53 days ago

Squats are elite but leg press is fine. Especially single leg.

olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social•53 days ago

Single leg leg press you mean? And yeah both of those are how I feel

shanavwhite.bsky.social•53 days ago

Yes. Single leg press is vastly underrated

thealexknapp.bsky.social•54 days ago

I prefer to squat but I think the whole "you have to do this exercise" discourse is weird. As long as you're hitting the muscles and avoiding injury you're doing it right, imo.

olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social•54 days ago

yes! it's a great exercise, arguably the best one, but imo that just means that it would take a bunch of other exercises to replace it (not that it's a "must-do" and your legs will fall off if you don't)

thealexknapp.bsky.social•54 days ago

100%. I'm in my 40s so I say with confidence the first day it bothers my back is the same day I hang up the barbell and move to machines for leg day.

bellamyj.bsky.social•54 days ago

After having up to 400lbs on my back I truly wish my coaches would've been like, "You don't have to squat. You can leg press, and, and, instead."

My back would be so much happier today. All that weight where it was was unnecessary.

bellamyj.bsky.social•54 days ago

I figured it out later in life when I was forced to adapt away from squats and then I got mad about it.

yanquigohome.bsky.social•54 days ago

Hack squat and Bulgarian split squats in fact 👀

olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social•54 days ago

Yeah and Bulgarian split squats you can load with so many implements. it's God's gift to us

matt78.bsky.social•54 days ago

Terrified of noting that free weight generally recruit other stabilizing muscles in ways machines don’t

And the squat specifically brings in the core and hips in a way the press doesn’t. Press is great for blasting your quads and glutes.

I know I’m being a pedant

matt78.bsky.social•54 days ago

(But I also try to do lower weights at super slow tempos, and by no means powerlift so hey)

olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social•54 days ago

this is true I just don't feel like it matters that much. Bosu ball squats also bring in your "stabilizing muscles" but I'm not doing those! Barbell squats are good because they make you strong in a general way, but lots of exercises can help with that

redletter.bsky.social•54 days ago

Is the kind of thing where it sucks to have to accept that doing exercise is more important than the specifics lol

typocelchu.bsky.social•54 days ago

Add that to your pile of scams and weaselworks

olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social•54 days ago

they're everywhere!

typocelchu.bsky.social•54 days ago

Did you know you can find heavy things to lift outside for free?? Big Swole doesn’t want you to know these simple tricks!

mumko.bsky.social•54 days ago

You could even find someone to pay you lifting stuff for them

afroburrito.bsky.social•54 days ago

Yes, this is called Strongman.

typocelchu.bsky.social•54 days ago

Yes strong man flip car, weak man flip house

hueycallison.bsky.social•54 days ago

The last big DC snowstorm in 2010, a day later and half the roads in Annandale VA were impassable, but the Gold's Gym was packed. WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU PEOPLE DOING? GO SHOVEL SOMETHING

agr.bsky.social•54 days ago

Free weights are the ideal, but the leg press works well if you just want to stay in shape and are not entering bodybuilding contests. It has been great for rehabbing after my knee operation.

olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social•54 days ago

yeah and bodybuilders often find other ways to get where they're going too!

thelasttheorist.bsky.social•54 days ago

The balance of power shifts to Big Machine.

ithadtobewho.bsky.social•54 days ago

40 yo former powerlifting enthusiast here: will leg presses be kinder to my knees? i know i should just try it but hopefully someone can just tell me

bvimarlins.bsky.social•54 days ago

I'm 35 and had cranky knees since my 20s and I never found a huge diff between the two - the quality of yoga/stretches/accessory work involving keeping the knees ready to go always made the difference.

IMO nothing ever beat out sitting ATG with no barbell for 30-60 seconds, 1-3x, prior to lifts

bvimarlins.bsky.social•54 days ago

The leg press will certainly be easier to manage though, in terms of stopping at a certain range of motion.

ithadtobewho.bsky.social•54 days ago

i have the flexibility down! i just get a shooting pain in my right knee whenever i squat rn 🫥

olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social•54 days ago

I think so, in the sense that i've usually been able to find a combo of foot placement and rep range that felt both good on my knees and still challenging. but the variation between leg press machines is wild so I can't say that categorically

ithadtobewho.bsky.social•54 days ago

ok, this is promising! i’m lucky that i have a couple of options for gyms so i can test it out. or i just need to buy some new knee sleeves and squat

olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social•54 days ago

for the doubters

https://bsky.app/profile/olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social/post/3leuvwyjt722z

andrewrumbach.bsky.social•54 days ago

Belt squats have partly salvaged my fragile former powerlifting ego

olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social•54 days ago

i secretly want to sneak back into my old gym just for this machine

justingoesoutdoors.bsky.social•54 days ago

Totally worth it. My new facility doesn’t have one, but I think I can rig one up (trying that tomorrow night). It’s a game changer for managing spinal load, which is huge when you’re old like me.

olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social•54 days ago

I've tried out this setup once or twice, seems cheap and promising

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8LVALXoKc0E

andrewrumbach.bsky.social•54 days ago

Yeah my lower vertebrae finally went and barbell squats have to stay super low weight. Belt squats and hex bar deadlifts have been a miracle for my old creaking bones.

sprawlhater.bsky.social•54 days ago

You can take away the evil squat but please leave me my beloved deadlifts

olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social•54 days ago

lol deadlifts are worse if anything.

takegod.bsky.social•54 days ago

Best alternatives?

olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social•54 days ago

to deadlifts or squats? I think most people who want to be strong in the way deadlifts train you could do RDLs instead, unless there's a specific reason you need to be strong off the floor / from a dead stop, and just limit or extend the ROM as your mobility allows

redletter.bsky.social•54 days ago

You’re correct but I think you’re discounting the general health, functional strength aspect. For pure efficiency, long term injury prevention for normal people I think you’d have a hard time beating a DL/shoulder press/pull-up trifecta. Ego wrt the numbers more than the workout itself is what kills

sigill.bsky.social•54 days ago

I wish I had better access to a hack squat or leg press or smith machine. I barbell squat mostly because I feel I have no other options

olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social•54 days ago

yeah it's good in that it doesn't require a lot. I do like barbell split squats too though. have a trap bar?

sigill.bsky.social•54 days ago

I should give barbell split squats a try. I always go for the dumbbells when I want to split squat, just out of habit.

I do have a trap bar, why do you ask?

olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social•54 days ago

you can do many squat variations with them (especially if it's an open trap bar) and I find it was easier on my back especially when I was just coming back from injury

cathylisa.bsky.social•54 days ago

Which gym did you join? I get free gym as part of Medicare supplement. None of the gyms they cover are ideal but I think I will use Golds.

olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social•54 days ago

just a regional chain here, they have lots of space and machines so I can usually find something to get some work in on

nclud.bsky.social•54 days ago

I’m always trying to learn and tune my routines. Also been fervent about form for 25 years. I’m limited by my home equipment (adjustable dumbbells, various bands, and a few more). Have been really happy with RDL (and so has my back). Always interested in hearing different exercises that others like

olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social•54 days ago

I really like a few of the trap bar variations I've tried: Bulgarian split squats, limited ROM split squats with the high handles, single leg and/or split stance RDLs with the high handles, accomodating resistance pulls from the floor with a band around the ends.

olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social•54 days ago

with a barbell, kickstand RDLs (true single leg ones the balance is annoying when you go heavy), high pulls. I was considering learning Panda pulls at one point but I got lazy - I think they'd probably be fun though

dami3nbyrn3.bsky.social•54 days ago

Somehow I internalized that barbell exercises were the only ones that actually mattered when I was younger and my back is still paying for it to this day

nabalkattu.bsky.social•54 days ago

To be fair, it's hard to communicate the balance of things that make for both stability and strength without a good coach just there in person with you. I used to be taken with Hamilton Nolan's polemics against exercise machines; they did have a point--you want *something* connecting legs to core!

olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social•54 days ago

same. was really unnecessary

caseyjohnston.bsky.social•54 days ago

Olúfẹ́mi NO

olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social•54 days ago

search your feelings Casey you know it to be true

maxkennerly.bsky.social•54 days ago

People get really upset if you point out there's an inherent contradiction between "this exercise maximally works the muscle" and "this exercise challenges your balance." Can't do both at once.

My preference is easy-or-no-balance leg exercises and then add shiko (the thing sumo wrestlers do).

redletter.bsky.social•54 days ago

For me it’s more that I already struggle mentally at the gym so I need to get in and out, so I go for max grouping instead of isolation. I don’t really get people who have strong opinions about which is better tho, it all depends on your goals etc

olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social•54 days ago

I'm saying! This is also why I love the Hatfield variations. Also, wait what?! Let me look up Shiko

chadloder.bsky.social•54 days ago

Squat is much more of a core exercise than a leg exercise anyway!

olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social•54 days ago

I didn't realize this was an exercise, I thought it was like a flex of some kind. cool

hk47.bsky.social•54 days ago

I enjoy squats because they feel good but the damage mark rippetoe did to the nation's knees and spines cannot be measured lol

boleteful.bsky.social•54 days ago

Nothing but fahves and when you fail, you do the thing that stopped working again. Makes sense. Also strength is the only quality to develop.

blazesboylan.bsky.social•54 days ago

Rippetoe is nothing if not one-dimensional. I weigh his views on 5/5/5 the same as I look at his views that treating high cholesterol is a conspiracy and everybody needs to be fat to be strong.
And don't even get me going about his politics.

afroburrito.bsky.social•54 days ago

You can do both. I think one SHOULD. High Bar squats are gonna build hammocks if we go deep. People do crappy, shallow reps on leg press...and never make gains.

Leg press is fine, but it's not enough. Hack squats, pendulum squats, belt squats, split squats...don't shortchange yourself.

olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social•54 days ago

yeah I think both makes sense for most people unless they're built to squat and/or just uninterested in overall leg development for whatever reason

afroburrito.bsky.social•54 days ago

Also, if you are training in DC, hit up Fit360DC. Amazing local gym. Great Open Gym rate. Black-owned. I miss it.

bnr-keynes.bsky.social•54 days ago

you dont *have* to squat

but do you not *want* to squat?

olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social•54 days ago

i still do variations I can tolerate, but it's mainly just so I have a frame of reference to set goals for

juemos.bsky.social•54 days ago

I've always relied on heavy squats/deads to hit my core, which is probably the reason I look like a do (womp, womp). I've scaled back the weight on both a lot and actually do core work now. Maybe I can look a bit less like the dude with the big beard, and have healthy knees if I keep it up...

juemos.bsky.social•54 days ago

Oh, cool, cool, cool. I see the dude with the big beard is Doyle Kennedy. Did not mean to liken myself to him, though there is some likeness in the torso.

rincewind.run•54 days ago

squats are great but also exponentially easier to fuck up than leg press in a way that you will badly regret

bseahawk14.bsky.social•54 days ago

As my one powerlifter friend says it "if you are not confident in your form, do not squat or deadlift if you like having a working back"

mecm.bsky.social•54 days ago

I feel like they do such different things that it’s not a fair comparison! 😂 (I use the leg press to catch quads on deadlift day but not as a replacement for squats.)

stannywijnaldum87.bsky.social•54 days ago

Used to do leg press and cardio only back at PSU. I'd do that after running a 5-on-5 full court. I didn't smoke or drink back then so my arse couldn't deal now.

I just go for walks these days.

chuckmccullagh.bsky.social•54 days ago

chin up

jeanlucbacardi.bsky.social•54 days ago

Pendulum and hack squats clear barbell squats too, change my mind

nataliebrender.bsky.social•54 days ago

The whole thing really seems a caper by Big Protein Shake

norahwoodsey.com•54 days ago

Same. In college, when I learned how much variation there is in muscle structure and attachments, pft — whatever feels right works right

(Recent citation: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8117423/ )

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