[jamsk8r]

Ditto on the recommendation of the Steinborn lift for getting the barbell into the rack position for a back squat. That's what I do when I do them at home, since I don't have a squat rack. It's not that hard to learn, just takes a little practice. There's no barbell stand you can pull off the bench press, or otherwise use for getting the bar into a high/rack position? Another option would be to go lighter and do higher reps some days...that can be a good workout, too.

[nelie]

Here is a decent article on the evils of the smith machine
http://stronglifts.com/smith-machine...-free-weights/

[nelie]

Originally Posted by runningfromfat

Yeah, so the front squat didn't work... I couldn't get me elbows up at all at a comporable weight for what I'm doing with the dumbell. It does turn out that we have heavier strap on weights than I thought so last time I did it with 2x8kg strap on weights+2x14kg dumbells=97lbs. So that did help some. There's one 10kg strap on so I'm trying to find a second one, which would help too.

I checked out the Olympic lift and that does look tricky! Would I be working the same muscles as a squat?

My front squat isn't near my backsquat strength but that doesn't make the front squat an ineffective exercise. Also, for a real challenge, try overhead squats One thing I'd say is it isn't always about the weight on the bar, less weight + more difficult exercise is good too.