Squat depth

[HST_Rihad]

So don't move your head when your spine's position is being moderated by the most powerful muscles in your upper body ... ?

Rocket science, it is not.

I've thrown my lower back "out" twice by stepping off a train the wrong way, go figure.

A very smart comment. You don't know that until it has just occurred for the first time. I moved my head subconsciously. Of course now I'll make sure to never do that with 1-3RM loads. Luckily it's nothing serious this time.

 

[Jester]

Throwing it out for doing next to nothing, such as, I kid you not, stepping off a train to a platform is the worst feeling in the world. Pure, unadulterated annoyance is the best way I can describe it. I'd rather throwing it out attempting something massive in the weights room than for next to moving, ala moving my head the wrong way and the wrong time.

It's akin the shoulder injury I've been rehabbing. I slept on it to often, unintentionally. Such a pain in the a$$.

 

[HST_Rihad]

Here's the second set of me doing 292kg/644lbs x 5 leg presses today. The guy I asked started filming a little late and the screen jerking is a bit annoying, but you get the idea. I think such depth almost to parallel is enough to hit the thighs. Going any lower makes it increasingly slow & difficult to start lifting it for no obvious purpose.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nlsjur0zW6g&feature=youtu.be

 

[Sci]

Those are partials, your knees never even bend close to 90 degrees.

 

[HST_Rihad]

Which is exactly my point, I'm fine with it. The question is if such depth is good for growth. I feel that it is.

 

[Totentanz]

It's good for growth of your vagina. How do you make sure that you are always lowering it to the same depth? If the lift is not consistently performed the same then it is not possible to properly progressively load the exercise.

 

[HST_Rihad]

I simply look at my knees while lowering to decide when it's enough.

 

[Jester]

Which is exactly my point, I'm fine with it. The question is if such depth is good for growth. I feel that it is.

Your analysis is entirely subjective, and biased. It suits you (in many ways) to arrive at that conclusion.

Don't get me wrong, it doesn't bother me either way. But you should probably be more objective in regards to your analysis and methodology (i.e. what you were discussing earlier in this thread).

 

[Jester]

You definitely can't call that a 'Leg Press', so to speak.

Not loving the physics on your knees either, kneecaps specifically.

 

[Totentanz]

I simply look at my knees while lowering to decide when it's enough.

You must be aware of the fact that going by sight is not a very reliable method of measurement.

 

[nativetroutbum]

Rihad, do you perform partials for all exercises? If not, why not?

 

[HST_Rihad]

What's wrong with my kneecaps? It may be hard to see at that resolution, but they're quite stable, meaning they don't move left/right.
As for the depth, I can do it at a greater depth with a lower load, i.e. I used a bit more depth building up to those levels from the start of the cycle, making sure to never detach my pelvis from the platform. Doing full ROM leg presses just for the sake of doing them isn't for me. Will such lessened ROM grow mass? That's all I care about. As usual, there's no hard and fast answer. At the very least the increased strength such somewhat decreased ROM gives me will allow me to use greater loads for the next cycle's percentages.

 

[HST_Rihad]

Rihad, do you perform partials for all exercises? If not, why not?

A bit lower than normal ROM when working past my full ROM 5RM - yup, in quite a few of them. In triceps extensions, shrugs, leg curls. But not for bench presses.
It's a matter of progressive load. As Bryan said, even if the load is barely moving, the muscle gets the loading. And I sure as hell feel it does.

 

[nativetroutbum]

You need to use lighter loads to do proper leg presses... why not just progress the load from your "lighter loads" and do proper leg presses all the way. This way you grow all of the muscles in the upper leg across the whole range of motion.

 

[nativetroutbum]

A bit lower than normal ROM when working past my full ROM 5RM - yup, in quite a few of them. In triceps extensions, shrugs, leg curls. But not for bench presses.
It's a matter of progressive load. As Bryan said, even if the load is barely moving, the muscle gets the loading. And I sure as hell feel it does.

And do you have any objective measure to determine if this partial ROM strategy is working?

 

[Old and Grey]

Rihad

The good news is that you are getting close to a 90 degree angle between the leg and knee. The bad news is that is looks like the angle of the leg press machine is between 30 and 45 degrees. Therefore, in reality, you are performing a motion similar to what I would call 1/4 squats or, at best, 1/2 parallel squats. The best news is that I doubt you have to worry about getting a hernia that way.

How about a video of your shrugs which is the other exercise you mentioned in another thread? Something tells me you may actually be performing half shrugs and not correctly squeezing at the top. Correct form at lower weights is better than incorrect form at higher weights for hypertrophy. Maybe that has something to do with your not being satisfied with your HST results. I can get a heck of a burn by doing one set of 10-15 shrugs correctly with no weight. That is how you know when your form is correct. Try it with your current form and no weight and then try it nice and slow with a two second squeeze at the top. In fact, to me to get the best form, I have do the shrugs with two steps; the first step I call a half shrug and is almost as high as I can go and the second step is to pull my shoulders in and up further and gain another 1/2 inch in shrug altitude. That second step is where 3/4 of the gains come from. 90% of lifters still have not figured that out yet and are still shrugging like they are pantomining "I don't know."

I noticed awkward form in your squat video also where you almost tipped over onto your nose. I think it might be wise to go back to light weights and practice your form and forget about PR's, hurting tendons, etc. Post some videos and let us help you out. That should be a much bigger help to you than arguing with us all the time when your form sucks. That may be part of the reason that you feel that certain exercises hit different muscles than they actually do when performed correctly and safely.

Don't take this as sarcastic criticism and blow a gasket. It is intended merely to help. Just plain ignoring it would be better than a defensive response, IMO.

O&G

 

[HST_Rihad]

That's exactly what I said I do. As for the growth stimulus, this can't be solely attributed to full ROM or whatever, my leg ROM is similar or more than that done in DL movements, a great leg exercise.

 

[Old and Grey]

Achiwawa!

Old and Grey: "Just plain ignoring it would be better than a defensive response, IMO."

Rihad: "That's exactly what I said I do."

(Putting gun to head!)

At least he makes me laugh, sometimes!

 

[HST_Rihad]

Rihad

The good news is that you are getting close to a 90 degree angle between the leg and knee. The bad news is that is looks like the angle of the leg press machine is between 30 and 45 degrees. Therefore, in reality, you are performing a motion similar to what I would call 1/4 squats or, at best, 1/2 parallel squats.

I'm having a hard time understanding the math you're using. Isn't it enough to look at the knee angle? This isn't a squatting exercise after all.
Something has GOT to be moving that load, it isn't Einstein moving it, so it must be me

How about a video of your shrugs which is the other exercise you mentioned in another thread? Something tells me you may actually be performing half shrugs and not correctly squeezing at the top.

Yup. In shrugs btw traps start at their extended position from the bottom so even mere pulsing with a load is great for them. Even doing rack pulls with greater loads or whatever is good for them. Progressive loading is what's important. I don't expect people to judge my shrugging form, as if this were a competition of some sort. I only care if the muscle grows.

But still, I do work closer to normal ROM everyone would expect while building up to those maxes (i.e. when doing the usual HST load progression).

Correct form at lower weights is better than incorrect form at higher weights for hypertrophy. Maybe that has something to do with your not being satisfied with your HST results. I can get a heck of a burn by doing one set of 10-15 shrugs correctly with no weight.

I can do that too, but what growth are we talking about here?

Do you really think you need to squeeze your traps all the way to make them grow?

I noticed awkward form in your squat video also where you almost tipped over onto your nose.

That was two years ago and the load was simply above my full ROM squat, as per progressive overload. Once again, I don't really care if my form is perfect or not, I don't plan on taking part in PL events any time soon, I just need the damn muscles to grow naturally

 

[HST_Rihad]

O&G, I was replying to nativetroutbum and then you popped in out of nowhere See my reply to you above.