Leg Dilema! Help.

[musclehealth]

My legs are strong as shit but they dont have the size I want. My problem is that squats, hacksquats hurt my lower back. I use proper form and all of the above. I have tried lifting belts etc...I have extreme lower back pains when I do anything that required weight to be held by my upper body (Ex. Squats). Have had scoliosis for most of my teenage life. What are other things I can do in place of squats? Machine wise? Leg presses are ok and dont hurt me. Please dont reply with unhelpfull suggestions like "learn the squats better". I used to be able to squat but as I got stronger my back just cant take it. I train my abs, to helpo my back get stronger.

 

[azul]

My legs are strong as shit but they dont have the size I want. My problem is that squats, hacksquats hurt my lower back. I use proper form and all of the above. I have tried lifting belts etc...I have extreme lower back pains when I do anything that required weight to be held by my upper body (Ex. Squats). Have had scoliosis for most of my teenage life. What are other things I can do in place of squats? Machine wise? Leg presses are ok and dont hurt me. Please dont reply with unhelpfull suggestions like "learn the squats better". I used to be able to squat but as I got stronger my back just cant take it. I train my abs, to helpo my back get stronger.

I can't do a lot of deadlifts, or my lower back gets too sore. But I find that if I keep the volume and reps low (ie: 2x5), I don't get any back pain, but still make progress.

Try the same for squats. Just go heavy 2x5, and then move on to other leg exercises.

 

[cornfish]

Well i have the worst lower back that i know of. I broke it in 2 spots and spent 3 years in a wheelchair and did not have a fusion.
When i got the all clear to work out what i did is put my hands straight up in the air and hold them there. Then get my legs in proper position and run through the squat motion. I had to do this with no weight for months on end. Now 2 years later i squat under weight twice a week and i do not use a belt. I just go very slow and I always keep my weight down. I usually squat with about 275 or somewhere around there, and I started with just body weight.

Although you may look kind of corny, do this motion and see if you notice pain. If you notice pain under no load then video tape your form and look at it closely, there may be something with your form and may not be, but until you really analyze it you won't know. One thing for sure is that if you are experiencing pain when you lift with your upper body under load, then there is something that needs to be looked at. Have you had any bulging disc issues or compression injuries in the past?

 

[shamrock11]

I know what you mean muscle. I have problems squatting myself, although it's not froma back problem, but rather my knee. I can't even get over 225 and my knee will hurt again. I can do everything else on legs, but I just can't do squats. I would just go with what you can do. My sports medicine doc. told my to just hit leg presses and my legs would grow fine. I have put on about an inch on my legs from doing them. I just hit them hard and heavy and do a lot of specific muscles excersies like stiff legged deadlifts and things like that. Leg presses should work fine for you.

 

[JKurz1]

I know what you mean muscle. I have problems squatting myself, although it's not froma back problem, but rather my knee. I can't even get over 225 and my knee will hurt again. I can do everything else on legs, but I just can't do squats. I would just go with what you can do. My sports medicine doc. told my to just hit leg presses and my legs would grow fine. I have put on about an inch on my legs from doing them. I just hit them hard and heavy and do a lot of specific muscles excersies like stiff legged deadlifts and things like that. Leg presses should work fine for you.

shit, I havent put an inch on my legs in 6 months and I squat heavy....will u post your routine?

 

[chiro]

A simple 30dollar trip to the chiropractor may solve your problems.

 

[shamrock11]

shit, I havent put an inch on my legs in 6 months and I squat heavy....will u post your routine?

I work once a week on saturdays. I warm up on the bike for five minutes then I stretch.

Leg presses: 4 set 6 to 8 rep as heavy as I can go increasing weight each set
Leg extensions: 3 sets 8 to 10 reo as heavy as I can go increasing each set
stiff leg dead lifts: 4 sets 6 to 8 reps same as above
leg curls: 3 sets of 8 to 10 reps same as above
Lunges: 3 sets of 8 to 10 reps same as above.

That's it. I'll add some different isolation workouts every once in a while to change things up, but this is my basic workout. Hope this helps you out.

 

[nutsnack]

does your gym have a squat press? i herniated a disc in my lower back and when i was in PT i did really light weight doing a squat press which is the same lift as in squat but you are at an incline and takes alot of pressure off ure back and you cant do it wrong!

 

[gjohnson5]

The most masss I've put on quads is from sprints , not squatting