Discussion on weight lifting

[IronFist]

Knight Sabre, that's not bad. Do you Squat or Deadlift?

IronFist

[KnightSabre]

IronFist,

I don't squat but i do deadlift,allthough I haven't been paying it as much attention as I should.From tomorrow, me and my partner are going to start deadlifting more seriously.

For legs we train the leg press and leg extension,I know squatting is very important and at some stage we're definately gonna add it to our routine.

Do you weight train, and if you do, what are your favourite excercises?

[Cashier Graham]

Squats bad for knees? Funny I fixed my bad knees with squats(although without weights to begin with) and now there is no pain and my knees are very strong. Weightlifting doesn't just strengthen the muscles, it also strengthens the bones, tendons, ligaments etc. For my workout I do squats, benchpress, dead lift, dumbell press, dips, chin ups, sit ups, back extensions and occasionaly i'll do barbell/dumbell curls, preacher curls, hamstring curls, and whatever the excersise that targets your abductors is called. I do 12-15 reps sometimes more and usually 2 sets. I also incorperate supersets when I'm feeling strong with sit ups and backextensions, and chin ups and dips. If you havn't already guessed I train more for muscular endurance than maximal strength, but sometimes I'll train for strength.

[abobo]

The "squats are bad for the knees" argument isn't entirely wrong, but it is very incomplete.

Sure it puts stress on the body and places shear forces on the knee, but if you build up enough flexibility in the hips and ankles, and then progress patiently, your form will be fine, your connectors will be able to adapt, and the benefits will outweigh the risks immensely.

The biggest risk is the step back after putting the bar over your shoulders. If your put your foot down akwardly, it will hurt. Actually I take it back. Ego is the biggest risk. If you go too heavy and bounce on the way down due to lack of control, that will also hurt. But, believe it or not, it's possible to squat without letting your ego get in the way.

Anyway, check out what just might be the mother, daddy, and big sister of squat articles on the web.

[Ging Mo Fighter]

squats are one of the best exercises you can do

if your hurting your knees your probably doing them wrong

[Ford Prefect]

Abobo makes a good point about the step back. Most powerlifting gyms have a type of rack where after you unrack the weight, your parter hits a lever and the rack slides away, so you don't need to step back at all. Heh! To squat big, check the articles section at:

http://www.elitefitnesssystems.com/

Their gym has multiple 1,000 lbs sqatters and quite a few 900 lbs squatters.