Squat/Quads Issue (Which Path to Pick?)

Bigger Stronger Leaner
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Some context first: I have Elhers-Danlos/ Genetic Joint Hypermobility and needed two hip surgeries a couple of years ago to repair torn hip labrums. Due to unevenness in my hips from my condition, I did Bulgarian Split Squats as my squat movement for the past two years. Went from needing a year to be able to do them with just my bodyweight to doing them with a pair of 105lbs DBs off a high couch.

And now I finally have the green light from my PT to do bilateral squats!! The issue is that my surgeon is very adamant that I do not go below 90 degrees in squats, and that I use a box. My goal with squats are:

  1. To grow my quads
  2. Get general lower body strength (vague I know haha)

I’d rather not go against my surgeon’s wishes, especially since I never want to go through a hip surgery again. So I have 3 options, it seems:

  1. Do Box Squats or Box Front Squats as the main squat movement + legpresses and other machines to focus more on quads

  2. Continue with Bulgarians as the main squat movement + do legpresses and other machines for more quad focus

  3. Ditch the free weight squat variations since they’re not 100% needed to have big quads

I’m leaning toward option 2 since I do like DB Bulgarians and how they don’t load the spine. I mean, if I get them over 10 years to like 400lbs or 440lbs x 10 x 10, I doubt my quads wouldn’t grow, especially if I’m also doing legpresses and other machines. With Box Squats/Box Front Squats, I could find a low box/bench + wear Olympic lifting shoes to emphasize quads.

Will this decision even matter 10 years from now? Or is one choice far better than the others?

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Not a huge amount, no

If your goal was purely size related, I would recommend option 2 also

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I’m curious, why would you pick option 2 over option 1 for quad size?

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Because including training patterns (e.g. “squat”, “hinge”, “carry”) are totally arbitrary, and I feel like you’d get better hypertrophy results from Bulgarians trained normally than squats through partial range

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5

agree

Also agree

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Box squats and Bulgarians for sure. The box squats will help strengthen and hypertrophy the hips, hams, and glutes, while the split squats will hammer the quads (or hams) depending on foot placement.

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@j4gga2 @simo74 @Euphemism2009

As an added question:

I’m having a tough time getting comfortable doing Bulgarians on a bench. I’ve been doing them on a high couch since it’s higher than most benches, but that makes transitioning to a normal gym bench a pain. With the bench I started using, I just can’t get my back leg’s knee to touch the floor, even though the bench is lower than the couch. So I don’t feel as good a stretch on the front leg I’m trying to work.

Is this normal? Or is it a hint that I’m doing something wrong?

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I agree wholeheartedly with what @j4gga2 posted.

For your back leg, try throwing a mat over a smith machine bar so you can set the height exactly where you want it.

For added awesome, do this with a bar in the only power rack in the gym at 5pm instead.

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hard to know without seeing it. I dont touch my back knee to the ground when I do Bulgarians. As long as you are getting the front thigh to parallel and loading the quad I wouldn’t worry.

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This is a good trick to identify your stance length

@TrainForPain suggested the smith machine and mat, which I support wholeheartedly - it’s much more comfortable

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11

Ok, squats are imperative to weight training for anything more than conditioning.
If you can’t or rather not, maybe adding a leg press machine to the Bulgarian squats is the way to go. I’d think as long as you do a progressive overload u should gain mass in your quads.
So it kids to me you’re headed the right way