Legs and Whatnot
 

Hi guys,

I've been doing 100lb deadlifts and I'm ready to increase my weight, but I'm still facing the problem of how to lug the barbell across the gym (ok, about 10 feet to the mirrors) to do the deadlifts. 100lb is about as heavy as I can manage with my upper body. Is it possible to do deadlifts on the Smith machine??

Also, what do you guys think about ballet squats? I've traded in lunges (which I hate) for the ballet squats (I also do hack squats--soon I'll graduate to the Smith machine!), but I'm wondering if I like the ballet squats better than lunges because they're not as effective. What do you think?

Hi! I hope I'm following your question correctly -- can't you just carry the plates over to your position in front of the mirrors and then attach them to the barbell?

My gym doesn't have that kind of barbell, to my knowledge. There aren't any bars without plates. I have to carry the entire 100lb bb to where I want it.

Baffled, if it's a fixed 100 pound bar, I think I'd do the deadlifts right at the BB rack. Unrack it, set it on the floor, and do 'em. If you already have the form down, the lack of a mirror shouldn't be a problem.

Either that, or roll the bar to the mirror. :D

As to the ballet squats, I think you're talking about what I'd call a plie squat (with an accent mark over the "e"). They work your inner thighs, quads and glutes but in a different way than lunges. I could do those all day but lunges kill me, so I think you're on to something with the "easier" idea.

Lunges are one of the basic compound exercises and I'd include them in your exercise program along with the ballet squats. You hate lunges because they're good for you -- kinda the spinach of exercises. You'll get fantastic results from them, though!

Do yourself a favor and skip the Smith machine for legs. It's hard on your knees, moves in a fixed track, and eliminates many of the full-body benefits of leg exercises. Many people think that Smith machines are the devil incarnate. :devil: Do squats and lunges with BB's and DB's instead; you'll get much better results. ;)

Thanks Meg. I'll ask the trainer about a bar with plates, but otherwise I'll just roll the bb around :)

Lunges are hard. I hate them. I do them last, after running, squatting and deadlifting, and my legs get really angry at me. I should probably stop being so lazy though :)

Hmmmm. You're going to have to give me more advice here. I run into the upper body problem because I can't lift heavy enough weights over my shoulders to squat. The trainer-who-always-helps-me moved me to the hack squat machine when I complained that I couldn't manage the barbell anymore and he said that once I got to 45lb plates on each side, I could go to the Smith machine. (I'm up to 35lb plates now, and ready to up if my knee holds out.) The thing is, I want to be able to squat my body weight, and there is NO WAY I can hoist a 140lb barbell up to squat with. What alternative is there to the cage?

I can understand your hate of lunges - but you know, with time, I'm starting to kind of like them - well, more than other things.

Baff, re lunges -- what if you changed the order of your exercises? It's generally recommended to do cardio after lifting or at a separate time because your muscles will be exhausted from cardio before you even start in on the weights if you do it before. Could you run after your work legs, or better, at a different time if not day? Lunges might not be so hideous that way.

Just to clarify about the BB squats, do you work out in a gym that has a hack squat machine, a Smith machine, and NO squat racks or power cages?

Blech. Absolutely can't run after lifting, not even after upper body lifting. I have to run first or not at all. (If I could bring myself to run outside I could do it later in the day, I suppose, but I detest doing cardio with food in my belly, even after a couple of hours.) I'll figure something out. I need to re-evaluate my whole fitness schedule when the semester starts in a couple of weeks. I'll be teaching and my time will no longer be my own to organize.

Alrighty, now you're asking me questions to which I don't know the answer. It's a pretty good gym, so it's most likely that I don't know what I'm talking about. I'm just trying to look at pictures on the web to figure out which I aspire to do squats on, and I can't quite tell if its a power cage or a smith machine; they look kinda similar. At any rate, it's a cage with a bar that you add weights to, and I've seen people squat and bench press in it. I sometimes use it for modified body weight pull ups. What does that sound like to you?

This is a power cage:

http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/...AL._AA280_.gif


This is a squat rack (which is what I always use):

http://www.ironcompany.com/ProductIm...d/l3138-lg.jpg


and this is a Smith machine:

http://www.innofitinc.com/sitebuilde...ck-212x250.jpg

You can tell them apart because the bar on a Smith machine moves on a fixed track. You can't budge it from the track; it slides up and down.

The barbell in a power cage or squat rack is free -- not attached to anything. It rests on pegs. You set the bar at shoulder height, load on plates, duck under it, settle it across your shoulders, back up a few steps, and squat.

Does that help? Do either of the first two look familiar? Could you ask the trainer who helps you out what's available? :)

OMG! Are there whips and chains nearby? :lol: I think I'll stay home with my Kathy Smith dvd and girly weights :lol:

Suzanne! :frypan: This stuff is FUN! One of these days I'm going to get you in a gym .... :D

LOL Suzanne.

Now I'm totally confused, Meg. :) It looks like the first picture, but I'm pretty sure that the weight only goes up and down. It's a hybrid! I haven't seen one of those squat machines, but there's a corner of the gym where I never go--it might be there. I'll sort it all out when I go in tomorrow. I'll definitely want to use something when I'm ready to go up, and I do want it to be the 'best' one. No crappy machines for me! (Well, except the hack squat machine, but the trainer insisted.)

Thanks Meg. You're a champ!

You're welcome and be sure to come back and report what's in the corners of the gym (probably the best stuff). :lol:

BTW, there will always be a place in the world for the hack squat machine. I call it the Butt Blaster since that's what it does best and use it all the time myself. You're kicking butt with the 35's! I put my sister on it a few years ago with NO weight -- and she crashed to the bottom and stayed there. Sigh. The highest I've ever had a client go is 15 on a side so you can see how well you're doing. :D

<Beams proudly>

Thank you :)

The trouble with the hack squat machine, imho, is that it does seem to primarily target glutes rather than quads; when I was still using the barbell, I felt it much more definitely in the quads. But I want to hurry up and get to 45s (maybe tomorrow!) so that I can do the real grown-up squats with the real grown-up weight. Squatting my body weight is right around the corner. I can feel it!

Maybe by the end of the year. That would be fab :)

Yep...that's probably where the squat racks are. In which case, that's where you can do deadlifts too. I don't think I've ever seen a squat rack without a mirror in front of it. Most racks or cages have adjustable safety bars that the barbell lies across. To do deadlift, just lower the bars close to the ground.

Have fun!

Mel