squat alternatives ?

E

ericp

0
I train at home. I need a squat alternative since I do not have room for a cage/rack. What I have available is barbell / dumbells and a bench with leg extension/curl attachment and supports for bench press etc. These go pretty high (I can use them for calf lifts).

Any advice will be greatly appreciated. THANKS!
 
Depending on the bench you can sometimes use it as a rack, you'll start the squat at the bottom instead of the top. There are exercises that will work the same muscles but not at that intensity.
 
mreik,
supports on bench can easily hold bar and enough weight and can go low or high enough. Issue is that without a cage/rack, there is no 'safety catch' if I drop the bar. One option I was thinking of was to squat straddling the bench so that if I lost the bar, the bench would catch it.
 
I doubt the classing wood bench with a metal backbone would do much to stop a squat weight that caused you to fail that bad. Is a spotter an option?
 
mreik,

I only bring up the bench option because it was suggested to me by a long-time and often-on-a-budget bodybuilder. He guesses a good Olympic bench would survive a dump of 500+ lbs (probably more than I will ever squat, and certainly more than I will squat for reps). And no, a spotter is out. No local buds, and my wife is a 130lb semi-invalid. One of the reasons I am training so hard is so that I can carry her up and down the stairs after she has knee surgery. I even have a lift for that: put a loaded barbell in my hands/over my shoulder and walk up/down the stairs. When I can do this 20 reps with her bodyweight I will be confident. Reason I chose 20 reps is because when the surgery happens, endurance/recovery is crucial. What I will need to do is move her up/down stairs once, but many times a day. This will go on for many weeks. If I can do this 20 times, then doing it 1 time several times per day should not be an issue. So far, I can make it up and down the stairs with her bodyweight only 3x. Needless to say, this is a GREAT exercise for the quads. BTW: 13 ft of stairs. Wife BW approx 135#.
 
Lunges and Bulgarian squat will be good for you.
As an aside on squat alternatives: bb hack squat, zercher squat, overhead squat (this would be a good worker-clean it to teh shoulders, press it up, and squat...depending on ceiling height and/or if you can snatch it).
 
Why wouldn't you? He's looking for intense sets to failuer, and without a spotter, you need a rack. I doubt he's using rubbers and has a drop box..
 
Dude if your weights break when they hit the floor get new ones, seriously. And I'm assuming hes not planning on doing these heavy ass squats on a marble floor.
 
If you use non-rubbered weights then put a plywood/whatever on the floor, advanced **** eh?
ps. Since you see it as important mreik; how much do you squat?
 
And you think regular iron weight would survive repeated drops workout after workout??

If you're dropping the bar, the weight on the bar is important. If you want to know how much I squat you can search the forums, this thread isn't about me.
 
mreik said:
And you think regular iron weight would survive repeated drops workout after workout??
Click to expand...

Yup. After repeated drops, the plates will start to crack, causing a weakness in the structure and then one good drop one day=breakage. Luckily this has never happened to me in my backyard as it's dirt and grass, but I've seen it plenty of times in the high school gyms even with pads to absorb some of the shocks. Unless you've got plenty of money to invest in those rubber plates or bumper plates, it'll eventually happen.
 
mreik said:
And you think regular iron weight would survive repeated drops workout after workout??

If you're dropping the bar, the weight on the bar is important. If you want to know how much I squat you can search the forums, this thread isn't about me.
Click to expand...


yes it does hold, its not hardened steel you know. its soft steel.
Think of it this way: what's the difference between putting the dampening on the weight or on the ground?
answer: none.

But c'mon mreik, you aparantly wanted to brag about it since you brought it up. So how much do you squat?
 
Okay we're getting no where with this. His question was answered and I've spoken my peace but your mind is closed. Me putting a number in my post means I was looking to brag about how much I squat? If you think that's what I'm about, then here; I can squat 45lbs, happy?
 
Comon Mreik, I've seen you squat at least 47lbs!

Markus - Chill out a bit man. If you dont thnk that dropping 200lbs on your floor will break something then do it and take a picture.

Soft steel? no way. Soft steel would splat on the floor under that pressure. Remember, If you drop say 500lbs from 6foot in the air. By the time it raches the ground its got a huge velocity and at impact will weigh more like 1000lbs
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top