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Madd Hatter
New member
Since my new routine only takes me about a half frickin hour, I was walkin around kind of in a daze not knowing what to do w/ myself when I said "Self, stop being a pussy. Get your ass over to the rack and try free weight squats." "But self, I just did 25 reps in the smith mac-" "Shut up bitch! Move!" So I looked over there, but was intimidated by a 38 yr old 200lber doing a hybrid of shrugs and rows with 130lbs. Once he walked off, I unloaded the bar, because the last couple times I tried this, I couldn't even descend to parallel w/ an empty bar w/o losing my balance. I dunno what "clicked", but this time I did it! Feeling pretty studly, I decided I could put a couple 25's on the bar, making it a whole 1/3 of what I can squat on the smith machine. Amazingly, I didn't fall on my ass! I did come up off my heels sometimes though, almost fell forward a couple times.
To get low enough, my back was at a 45 degree angle, or worse at the bottom, but I tried to keep it straight. I was feeling fatigue in my back at least as much as my legs, whassupwitdat? Also, on a smith machine I can do ass to floor, and that's where my ass is closest to. Here it was ass to calves, everything was much more... crunched forward then usual (does that make sense?). If I try to move everything back, that's where my GNS sets in and I fall. I guess one of my questions is: if my legs are parallel at the bottom of the movement, and I stand them up straight, I can't be doing that bad can I? I wish I could get a video of myself, but I go alone. Yes, I have seen the video on exrx.
Should I continue doing free weight squats with pathetic weight and possibly worthless form, or should I go back to the smith and full weight? One reason I tried this today was because I don't like my new gym's smith machine, the bar glides under it's own power it seems, and for some reason my back feels it more than my legs. With my new routine (instead of old school), squats aren't a HUGE part of the day, so I was thinking of trying to improve my free weight squat.
To get low enough, my back was at a 45 degree angle, or worse at the bottom, but I tried to keep it straight. I was feeling fatigue in my back at least as much as my legs, whassupwitdat? Also, on a smith machine I can do ass to floor, and that's where my ass is closest to. Here it was ass to calves, everything was much more... crunched forward then usual (does that make sense?). If I try to move everything back, that's where my GNS sets in and I fall. I guess one of my questions is: if my legs are parallel at the bottom of the movement, and I stand them up straight, I can't be doing that bad can I? I wish I could get a video of myself, but I go alone. Yes, I have seen the video on exrx.
Should I continue doing free weight squats with pathetic weight and possibly worthless form, or should I go back to the smith and full weight? One reason I tried this today was because I don't like my new gym's smith machine, the bar glides under it's own power it seems, and for some reason my back feels it more than my legs. With my new routine (instead of old school), squats aren't a HUGE part of the day, so I was thinking of trying to improve my free weight squat.
