Strengthening Upper Legs and Backside

[Spoon]

Why I am not supposed to do squats: my feet are flat, my knees are crooked, my femurs don't sit in my pelvis at the correct angle, one hip is higher than the other, my spine is crooked in two places, and one shoulder is higher than the other garunteed to injure myself if I do squats. :shakehead

in that case do squats from a power-rack or you can do the seated leg presses.

 

[CameronMartz]

in that case do squats from a power-rack or you can do the seated leg presses.

I don't mean to be the workout safety police, but with all of the things she's listed here and in other posts, she's right- she should not load her spine with weight held above her waist, and even seated leg press might place too much stress on her knees and hips (seated leg press is not as benign an exercise as many think it is).

You're right in that more people can benefit from squats than think they can, and a power rack is the *only* place I would do barbell squats (with the safety bars set at waist height), but Gidds has many options that will put her at lower risk for injury.

Cameron

 

[fishoutawater]

I'd recommend that she doesn't use any weights at all. Just doing body weight exercises would do wonders for Gidds. My favorite is the burpee. It's an exercise popular in prisons because it's effective without the need for weights. There's a million and one variations to them too. Here's the simplest form of the burpee, (aka squat thrust, eight count muscle builder etc.): http://www.warriorforce.com/articles/burpeeclip.htm
They work every muscle in the body, including the heart.
(And no, I've never been to prison. )

 

[Spoon]

I don't mean to be the workout safety police, but with all of the things she's listed here and in other posts, she's right- she should not load her spine with weight held above her waist, and even seated leg press might place too much stress on her knees and hips (seated leg press is not as benign an exercise as many think it is).

You're right in that more people can benefit from squats than think they can, and a power rack is the *only* place I would do barbell squats (with the safety bars set at waist height), but Gidds has many options that will put her at lower risk for injury.

Cameron

no worries in that case im at a loss for sound advice

 

[DrSteve]

There is another alternative to lifting heavy weights. Lift light weights very slowly on the negative, also known as "German volume training."
10 sets of 10 reps, 8s up and 2 s down, 1 minute between sets. Then do 3 sets of 10 reps of a ham curl (machine or otherwise) and leg extension/calfs if you are feeling ultra massochistic.

As an example of how low to go I usually use 10-12 plates when I do seated leg press, but if I go the volume way I use 2 (that's 90lbs) and I am screaming by the end of the work out.

 

[ZenDiva]

Swimming is one of the best exercises you can do...burns a lot of calories, and you work a lot of different muscle groups...get yourself a kick board....and use that in the pool...to help strengthen your quads, hams and butt.....if you can't do things like lunges, squats etc...