Okay this may sound dumb but I don’t think I have seen any posts about it yet: I know that when I do exercises like dips or pullups I have passed the point of doing them only with my bodyweight. Now when we get into adding weight to these exercises one can use a belt that supports the weight so you can add additional weight to the lift. HOWEVER, I start to get lower back pain from letting the weight dangle between my legs when I do these exercises, so would it be effective to just load up my old backpack with some weights and put in on to make it harder? Also, does anyone think that putting on a backpack full of weight and doing single leg squats would be another effective exercise?? Any input would be apppreciated.
Not a bad idea, but be careful. Those straps could potentially cut off the circulation to your arms, not to mention limiting the ROM on dips and pull-ups (especially with an external frame number). FYI I use an external frame pack loaded with weights in the winter to trudge through the snow and blast my legs. It works great, especially in 2 feet of white stuff. Let us know if anything works.
Well last week I tried to do 1 leg squats with it on, seemed to work pretty well…what I did was put it on backwards with the weight in front of me (I was tryin to see if this was at all comprable to doing front squats/trying to emphasize the quads as mine suck due to 2 ACL surgeries and 1 scope in 3 years). Anyway tonight is back day so I will tell ya how it went. BTW where did you get the external frame pack? Maybe I’ll just get one of those instead…
Another problem with the backpack idea and dips/pullups is the change in center of gravity. Really messes up the form.
Dank, I did the backpack one legged squats for nearly a year, as lived nowhere near a gym, and could only train in my tiny little flat. All i had were 'bells, a pullup bar and an adjustable bench. If your balance is good, do it one legged of the side of a bench or chair(hold onto a stick or something if needs be), i too put the bag on my front as it nailed the quads hard. Got good growth like this, and improved my general stability. I also used the bag on my front for weighted pullups, and the only problem is getting it off afterwards, as i found i had to have it quite tight to avoid the the problem you are having.
My pack is army surplus. I got it from the Forest Service (I used to work there) for free. Not bad, eh? Anyway, any Army/Navy should be able to hook you up. Good luck.
If you have some extra money to blow you can buy a weighted vest to use. I have never used it on pullups but have used it on dips with favorable results. For whatever reason the gym I was at didn’t have a belt to hold weight but had weighted vests. Probably for the guys who did all their plyos, played basketball, and probably took a shit with it on.
Hello Dan,
I’ve never had your problem, however, I didn’t have the weight belt that you’ve described so when I wanted to add weight to my dip routine, I would just have someone place a dumbell of choice between my calves while crossing my legs (sort of like when you’re climbing a rope). This worked great and I’ve used it ever since.