Can you develop huge quads without doing squats?

[rjx]

Well last night I fucked up my back squatting for a 2nd time this year. And it was at the same weight that I messed it up the first time with.

It had taken about 3 months to get back to get back to normal. It was not a muscle pain, it feels just like a nerve problem.

The weight that messed up my back is a wimpy 275

I swear my legs feel like I can handle it, but my lower back does weird shit.

After my first injury and not squatting for a while I worked on my form, and started squatting at a much lower weight trying to build back up over a period of time.
I also did more DL's and hypers.

So last night I did a normal set of 255. Then 265. But when I went back up to 275, my problem came back!

255 is what I can handle for about 10 reps, but last night I only did 5 reps cause I wanted to go 5 reps for each set until I was squatting as much as I could for 5. 265 felt good, but during the set my lower back felt like it gave out a bit, but it didn't hurt. I should have taken that as a warning and not do my next set, but as an idiot, I did the set anyway.

So when I squat again a month or two from now, I will just start back at 225 and increase NO MORE than 5 lbs a workout. I won't jump from 255 to 275 in a single workout again. No matter what, I will just increase slow on a weekly bases. Hell, maybe I will just squat bi weekly for a while.

I love pushing myself while squatting, but this pain does not mix with my line of work and daily life activities. I'm 26 and feel like i'm 76.

So hopefully the pain will disappear on its own again and I can start all over. But if not, what kind of leg development could a person get if he didn't squat? And just focused on leg press, hack squats, and a few other exercises.

thx

 

[Insane_Man]

Yes. Some people I know consider squats to be more of a posterior chain exercise than a quad exercise. Leg Press and leg extensions will do you fine.


Of course if you did squat, it would be better, but I've heard that a lot of bodybuilders don't rely on squats for legs for safety's sake, given the weights they lift.

Also, you could try front squats. They hit the quads harder anyways and you will be using less weight.

 

[b fold the truth]

What concerns me is what you are NOT doing to strengthen your lower back so that you CAN squat heavy without hurting yourself.

You can NOT just squat heavy and expect your weak links to continue to stay weak and eventually fall to injury.

I couldn't imagine a life without the squat.

B True

 

[pullinbig]

Well last night I fucked up my back squatting for a 2nd time this year. And it was at the same weight that I messed it up the first time with.

It had taken about 3 months to get back to get back to normal. It was not a muscle pain, it feels just like a nerve problem.

The weight that messed up my back is a wimpy 275

I swear my legs feel like I can handle it, but my lower back does weird shit.

After my first injury and not squatting for a while I worked on my form, and started squatting at a much lower weight trying to build back up over a period of time.
I also did more DL's and hypers.

So last night I did a normal set of 255. Then 265. But when I went back up to 275, my problem came back!

255 is what I can handle for about 10 reps, but last night I only did 5 reps cause I wanted to go 5 reps for each set until I was squatting as much as I could for 5. 265 felt good, but during the set my lower back felt like it gave out a bit, but it didn't hurt. I should have taken that as a warning and not do my next set, but as an idiot, I did the set anyway.

So when I squat again a month or two from now, I will just start back at 225 and increase NO MORE than 5 lbs a workout. I won't jump from 255 to 275 in a single workout again. No matter what, I will just increase slow on a weekly bases. Hell, maybe I will just squat bi weekly for a while.

I love pushing myself while squatting, but this pain does not mix with my line of work and daily life activities. I'm 26 and feel like i'm 76.

So hopefully the pain will disappear on its own again and I can start all over. But if not, what kind of leg development could a person get if he didn't squat? And just focused on leg press, hack squats, and a few other exercises.

thx

just do 1 work set when you start back. i dont inderstand moving up 10lbs in squats. If you can get a digital video clip and send it to me because it may be your form that is getting you. hard to say without seeing you squat. also send me a deadlift clip too if you can. we'll get you straightened out. PM me bro. if squats are hurting your back leg presses may too.

 

[quadkilla]

Do you do deadlifts? I think they help on squatting.

 

[Insane_Man]

In my experience, good mornings have been the best assistance exercise for both squats and dealift.

 

[pullinbig]

any posterior movement will help ther other core movements. sldl, good mornings, pull thrus, glute ham raises, rack pulls, reverse hypers, etc...... hacks are good sub for squats if the back is hurting.

 

[rjx]

Thx bros

My form must still be shitty cause I was doing hypers with a 45lb plate, reverse hypers, sldl, and dl's.

I never did good mornings, and I don't know what pull thrus, glute ham raises, or rack pulls are?

Pullinbig, I was going to record myself squatting and performing DL's before my injury, but I stoped working out with my friend that was going to record it. Once my back feels a bit better, I will get a bro at the desk to do it. It might be a while though.

Would I be safe to do good mornings and hypers/reverse hypers more than one day a week?

Thx

 

[pullinbig]

if you cant squat i wouldnt do GMs. reverse hypers may be ok, but i aint a doctor. go to a chiro and get xrayed. he/she may be able to help you in a couple of weeks. massage therapy works well too. deep tissue if you can stand it. hurts me to think about it.

 

[Mudge]

I used the hack machine and leg presses and never grew like I did with the deep squat, to me there is no substitute.

A couple things I noticed on squatting, I dont like the pad and I like a suicide grip on the bar. I will not squat with the pad.

 

[dude]

I HATE using the pad. I had a very scary occurance one time where the pad started to slip with 315lbs on my back. It was the first time I've ever done 315 and I won't ever use a pad again.

 

[pullinbig]

i use a pad for GMs. keeps the bar from rolling.

 

[b fold the truth]

When I trained near my home overseas (in Cyprus) the gym down the street had one small squat rack with the PAD taped to the bar. I saw one guy squat 133 x 10...and besides mysef doing reps with 500+ that was the biggest squat I saw the entire month I was there.

I just used a different bar...lol.

B True

 

[jcp2]

I like front squats they do not strain my back yet still destroy my legs. I have only found one leg press in about 10 gyms that ever did shit for me. Hacks have always treated me good.

 

[rjx]

UPDATE

Last night (Sunday) I went to the gym and did my delt/trap workout. I did 3 sets of slide lats, 2 sets of front mil press. I also did 3 sets of front bar shrugs -I was supposed to do 4!

While I was doing shrugs my back was killing me! I had to stop ASAP and just leave. I had made my back hurt more to where I can't bend over.

Today I went to the doctor, but the doc I saw was a sub since my doc is on vacation. I did not like this guy at all! He was a much older guy, but it was like he was clueless.

He moved me around and it didn't feel to bad. He tested my reflexes and they were good. So all he prescribed was 800mg IBUPROFEN. I asked if I could get an xray for my back since it doesn't feel like a muscle to me. It totally feels like a nerve is out of wack like I have something more serious going on. He said that I didn't want an xray since that would be the beginning steps of surgery.

During the examination I told him that when I lay down it takes me about 60 seconds to get up, that I have to move slow. And I can't sit in the same position for more than a few min without moving into another position since it hurts. AND when I try to bend, I feel this really strange feeling shooting down my right leg. The feeling isn't painful like my back, but its a weird uncomfortable feeling.

So he gave me the IBUPROFEN 800mg which so far hasn't done anything for the pain... But I have only taken one so far. I'm about to take another. He excused me from work for two days. At my work I load truck and that involve pushing, pulling, bending, squatting. I forgot to mention that I worked out last night before work. When I got to work I couldn't do anything! I don't think two days are going to do a damn thing. Not to be negative, but I feel I will be back at the doctors in two days.

Tomorrows I need to call my union and find out what insurance I have so that I can go see a chiropractor. I actually wanted to see one before a doc, but I couldn't find my paperwork and all the info I needed. I wanted to see if they could make an adjustment and if I didn't feel better, then I would see the doc.

I called one that is near my house and told them what was going on and they said to come down and that they would xray me first!

Maybe I will be surprised and the IBUPROFEN will cause the pain to go away and I will be making money and working out again real soon.

I hope so!

 

[pullinbig]

bro go to an ortho and a chiro. i would start with the chirop and massage therapy. if you do have a pinched nerve that needs to be freed up so it can heal if necessary.

doctors are the third leading cause of death in the US. My GP who i love to death is clueless when it comes to sports injuries. he wants to give everybody antibiotics. lololol

 

[rjx]

I saw another doc today.

He is convinced that I tore a ligament in my right lower back. He said it will take about 6 weeks to heal and every week I should feel a little better than before. He also said that he doesn't want me back in the gym for a month.

All he wants me to do for it is rest, take my IBUPROFEN, and more rest. He thinks the doc before said I would feel better in a few days cause he probably thought it was a muscle. But this doc is confident its a ligament. He even showed me with this little model anatomy thing he had in the office of what he thinks happened to me and it made sense. That would explain the tear/pull that I felt when I was doing squats before all the pain started.

I liked this doc unlike that last guy I saw. This one seemed to be with it! I will take his advice and see how I feel by next week. Its fucked up that I won't be working out for a while. Plus I need money for bills and food and I am out of work. As long as I get better I guess its ok.

 

[pullinbig]

he thinks?????/??? he is Fin guessin with your health. Id tell him to kiss my ass and go get some help bro. even if it is a ligament you can still train around it. believe me i have trained around a lot of injuries.

if your insurance will pay get you a MRI. that will take the guess work out of it.

 

[rjx]

Good point about the MRI.

About training around the injury, I thought I would just do my chest, delts, traps, upper back, calfs, and maybe crunches.

I will kiss off my lower back and legs for a while though.

I haven't given it much thought yet as to what I will do cause I think I will have a hard time bending over to pick up the 45lb plates.

My gym has a bunch of hammer machines which would be great for working around a lower back ligament tear since you sit down with no back bending involved.

I am willing to give it a try!

 

[pullinbig]

good luck