My knee is limiting my squats, ever since I broke my kneecap I have never been able to put a lot of weight on the bar with squats. This is kinda getting in the way of me wanting to attain massive quads… so I ask this knowledgeable community what are my best options?
I have no problems loading up heavy on things like leg press, deadlift etc. Haven’t noticed any limitations on any other exercises.
How do you expect to reach your potential if you have an injury like that? You deal with the cards you are given. You may not be able to build “massive quads” if you can’t lift heavy at all.
Your choices are hack squats, squats, leg presses and other variations of the squat. No one builds quads over 30" by just doing leg extensions.
[quote]Professor X wrote:
How do you expect to reach your potential if you have an injury like that? You deal with the cards you are given. You may not be able to build “massive quads” if you can’t lift heavy at all.
Your choices are hack squats, squats, leg presses and other variations of the squat. No one builds quads over 30" by just doing leg extensions.[/quote]
Of course you are correct but after 18 months of visiting doctors, therapists and what not the problem is still not solved and I’m beginning to think it’s something I will have to live with. Mind you my knee does not limit me in daily activities or anything else, it is just that squatting heavy becomes very uncomfortable. BTW nowhere did I mention leg extensions, I don’t use that exercise at all.
squat full depth with less weight if it’s possible. i understand that this may be even worse because the more flexion @ the knee the more pressure that is placed on the knee-cap. worth a try though
Have you Nick’s article
I agree of MODOK. Just try using higher reps for your quads, less impact on the joints than lower reps.
The only way to get big quads is by doing some squatting motion. So you better either sort out the problem or just use higher reps for your squats, eg 15-20 rep range instead of 5-10.
also, try wrapping the knees to add support. no real way around it, quads like squats. as mentioned perhaps high volume vs high weight. you’ve got to signal to those fuckers to adapt and Grow!
leg press and other methods are like regular communication to the quads.
SQUATS ARE LIKE TYPING WITH THE CAP LOCK ON, and the quads say, “Why are you yelling at me?”
Are you doing standing lunges?
I used to do a lot of heavy standing lunges and managed to achieve good quad development despite rarely squatting. They may not be an option depending on your knee problems though.
[quote]cyruseven75 wrote:
also, try wrapping the knees to add support. no real way around it, quads like squats. as mentioned perhaps high volume vs high weight. you’ve got to signal to those fuckers to adapt and Grow!
leg press and other methods are like regular communication to the quads.
SQUATS ARE LIKE TYPING WITH THE CAP LOCK ON, and the quads say, “Why are you yelling at me?”[/quote]
haha
I notice if I take the time to stretch my calves before squatting my knees feel much better. It’s worth a try. Have you thought of trying front squats?
[quote]MytchBucanan wrote:
I notice if I take the time to stretch my calves before squatting my knees feel much better. It’s worth a try. Have you thought of trying front squats?[/quote]
That’s likely to be even worse on the knee.
Anyways, PX has already said it all.
I would try GVT (or something like that) just for your quads. Not advocating the program as a whole, but think about it:
10 sets of 10 reps with a 20 rep max. Seems like it should do fine for a while.
Thanks for all the suggestions, I’m going to try and incorporate them.
This is probably your only way to big quads, but i doubt you can ever achieve MASSIVE quads.
Take a look at some of Scott Abel’s articles on here, he has written at least two with the focus on leg development using low weight & high volume. I don’t know if that will help but it is worth a try.
Don’t mess up your knee’s further!
I’d suggest spending $10-$20 on one of those neoprene knee braces and giving it a try whenever you do legs. It’ll help keep the kneecap tracking correctly and you might find it allows you to do some heavy squat again.