Squats For Fran ;) ...
 

You've been looking for squat alternatives, right? Here ya go ... body weight squats with absolutely no equipment necessary: Tabata Squats.

Eight sets of 20 seconds each. As many squats as fast possible. Ten second rest between sets. You're done in four minutes! :D :D :D

:lol3: ... That's hillarious and looks extremely difficult... I have very good knees but after those I wouldn't anymore...

That's a great site Meg!

I wouldn't last one set....but I can blame that on bad knees!

I feel pain in my quads just watching that. Yikes. What an awesome way to quickly get the heart rate up though. :chin: Thanks for sharing Meg!

Well that looks like a good warm up! How 'bout adding a resistance band under the feet? or 5 pound weights in your hands? :devil: Or jumping up onto a step for 5 then down for 5....

Mel

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

That was cute! Meg, I think you are trying to recruit more members into your bad knee club! Mine are ok, but I think that would be the end of them! Esp. looking at how fit these girls are (esp. red) and it was killing them! The clip of purple lady nursing her baby was nice to see - hard to believe she was doing all that so soon after childbirth and with heavy breasts too! I think they are all hip hop dancers, no? They had amazing quads even thru their pants.

Fran, it's really a great exercise and you don't have to go as low as they did (especially the girl in the middle :faint: ). I first ran into these at an Alwyn Cosgrove workshop ... he made us all do all eight rounds. :devil: Of course I wasn't nearly as fast or deep as the video! The workshop was called 'Your Body Is A Barbell' and it was all about lower body exercises using only bodyweight. So then he had us do the leg matrix that Mel posted about a while ago - 24 squats, 24 lunges, 24 jump squats, and 24 jump lunges - in 90 seconds. And a whole bunch of other bodyweight exercises. My legs were total Jello at the end of the hour!

Seriously, this really is an exercise that you could do now - I've used it with a number of clients. Just go to parallel on the squats - there's no need to go so deep - and do as many as you can in each 20 second round. I haven't had a client who can do more than four rounds though!

One other thing ... we were taught to do them using Prisoner Squats (hands laced together behind your head):

http://asp.elitefts.com/images/uploa...ner-Squats.jpg

and I can keep my balance better that way.

C'mon and give 'em a try! Ilene promises that she will too! :lol:

Yeah I'll try too! :devil:

:hyper: I think I'll either do them Sunday or Monday! :yes:

Meg is evil! Who can resist trying that at least once? It's like a double dog dare!



is this article good info? http://www.t-nation.com/findArticle....4-046-training

I actually have a lot of my clients do these and the leg cranks. My only advice is get a good bra :lol3:

Mel

Great article, Susan! I like a lot that I read in T-Mag, especially the exercise and training articles. Even though I'm hardly their target audience. :lol: I've gotten some good workouts and exercises from them. You can subscribe and get an email update every Friday night.

I jumped. I don't know why I jumped but I did. And it was hard. I'll try them plain.

SusanB -- You jumped ??? I do'nt get it ?? You did tabata jumps ??

Jump squats! Where on earth during that video did I get the idea that I was supposed to jump squat?

SusanB - WOW!!! Jump squats sound like enormously exhausting!

On another note...I finished assembling my elliptical & I put it behind the couch so I can use it & watch TV at the same time. The kids think this way cool, and I managed 12 minutes today!

I love jump squats... I had found a workout once that you jumped squat 10x and run to the leg extension do that 10x, do 3-4 sets... I was sore the next day needless to say... Which reminds me that I haven't done that workout in a long time, I may do it on Monday... Thanks for the reminder Susan!

Oh! Squats! I have a question. Every time they get to squats in one of my videos, the instructor always waxes poetic about how great they are for the butt and feel the burn bla bla. I never feel them in my butt! My legs always tire first, and sometimes my lower back will get a little noodly. Am I supposed to feel my butt?

Amy - I don't feel them in my butt when I do them (I feel them in the quads like you) but my butt sure can be sore the next day. :D

Keep doing 'em regarding of where you're feeling them ... they really are a great exercise!

Thanks Meg! I'll keep doing them…even though I loathe them. :lol:

There is a hack squat machine that I have been using at my gym. I started using it seveal months ago with NO weights on it at all. Now I'm up to 90 pounds, 45 on each side. Boy, I really feel it just like you said, Meg, in my quads, especially the inside ones, while I'm doing it but my butt is in a constant state of soreness. Love it! I do 3 sets of 12, by the way, except when I'm increasing the weight. Then I can only do 8 or 10 reps, but I still do 3 sets. Do you think I'm getting the same results with the machine or would I be better of doing these standing up, sans the machine?
Pam

Oh, I love our hack squat machine! :love: It's the machine that everyone hates the most, but it gives the best results! I always call it The Butt Blaster. :rofl:

Way to go on the weights ... 90 pounds is impressive! Most women at my gym don't seem to do more than 10#/side. I've even put a client on with no weight and had her get stuck at the bottom after one rep - it ain't easy! (My personal best is 180# but I fear those days are behind me ... sigh)

Anyway, a hack squat duplicates a BB hack squat, which is different from a regular squat using a BB or DBs. Here's what a hack squat looks like: Barbell Hack Squats - see how you'd hold the bar behind you instead of on your shoulders? You can see that the target muscle is the GLUTES. Which is why your butt is killing you the next day!

I've never mastered doing them with a BB so I just use the machine.

Because hack squats are a different exercise than traditional BB squats, I'd include both in your workout, though not necessarily both exercises every time. :) Not everyone has access to a hack squat machine, but if you do ... take advantage of it! :D

Wow, those BB hack squats look tough, and I can see how they really target the butt. Since it's my legs that hurt while using the hack squat machine and my butt doesn't hurt until afterwards, I wasn't sure if it was the hack squat machine causing the pain, or the tread climber that I've taken a liking too. My poor butt. Funny thing is that it actually feels bigger than before--is that possible? I have a pair or jeans that used to sag on me in the butt area and now I'm filling them out. It could also be that I'm now putting them in the dryer instead of line drying them. :) I've never used free weights before, but reading about everything you and the other LWL do has really got me taking an interest in that section of the gym. I definitely need to learn how to do BB squats. I've always just used the machines and conditioning area...
Pam

Oh yeah, time to move into the free weights. :D I'd say the big three exercises for a cute butt are squats, lunges, and hack squats. You'll build some muscle which will make your butt higher, tighter, and curvy. :carrot:

Do you have anyone at your gym who could help you learn BB squats? :)

Oh, lunges! I almost forgot. I've been doing those too. Walking lunges holding an 8 pound medicine ball, which I twist from side to side while I walk. It's very difficult and has me huffing and sweating by the time I'm done. I actually worked with a PT for five 25 minute sessions a few months ago. He was great and showed me a lot of new things, which I'm still doing and switching around to keep going. When I'm on the cardio machines, I watch him and the other trainers instruct other people, so I have discovered some new things to do that way too. He keeps encouraging me to sign up for more sessions and I have been resistent because, well, I'm trying not to spend much since I went crazy (but not TOO crazy) buying new clothes and recovering from X-mas and we're contemplating this franchise, etc., but I'm thinking that I might go ahead and sign up in the next month or so because I really do need some help learning about the free weights. He's big on core and stability and balance and wants me to do more in that area too. Plus, he's just cute and it would be fun to work with him again. ;)
Pam

Meg, that exercise is evil. I tried it yesterday morning, I wasn't going down to bottom but at least 90 degrees. I honestly couldn't finish it. I think I made it to the two minute mark before I keeled over and hoped that my heart would stay in my chest. I'll definitely try them again.

This is something to work towards: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ku-eOGXScOQ

I know I wouldn't have made it past one minute if I was staying in the low position!

Oh WOW! Everyone needs to check that video out too! That is a killer! :faint:

(so many fun exercises ... so little time ... :lol: )

That video was really cool...

I did some jump squats today and a few tabata ones then I would go on the leg extension... It was fun in a twisted sort of way :crazy: