need help, squat having most trouble at bottom

[110%]

ok i have the most trouble at the bottom of my squat, what bodypart is worked the most here and what exercises can i do for this, im guessing it is the glutes and hams most at the bottom and u all r goin to tell me to do glute ham raise, well i dont have access to one of those machines and lift more for bodybuilder purposes so do not want to build one, ne other suggestions plz though?

 

[p03t1c]

hips/glutes/hams/abs/lowerback

pretty much no matter where you fail, it's going to be them. but the weakness in the squat is usually the HAMSTRINGS which need to be worked by the GLUTE HAM RAISE. actually you can do pull throughs, romanian deadlifts, stiffleg deadlifts, sled dragging, or band leg extensions.

if you train for bodybuilding what the hell do you care about your squat? shouldn't you be more concerned about your quad sweep?

 

[jeremys]

its possible to do a glute ham raise off the floor, right? is there a way to do this with a band or something? and maybe use bands for standing abs instead of a rope on the pushdown machine? sounds appealing...gonna try to get together a home gym here..

 

[ballast]

I've had a lot of trouble with the bottom of my squat and two exercises that have helped me overcome this have been bottom-position back squats and bottom-position good mornings(wide-stance).Glute-ham raises were also very beneficial.I do mine by placing a heavy barbell against the wall.Place a 5ib plate under the plates on each end so it can't roll away from the wall.Then I place a thin pad in front of the barbell to kneel on and do gh raises by anchoring my feet under the barbell.Works pretty good for me.

 

[Imnotdutch]

I've had a lot of trouble with the bottom of my squat and two exercises that have helped me overcome this have been bottom-position back squats and bottom-position good mornings(wide-stance).Glute-ham raises were also very beneficial.I do mine by placing a heavy barbell against the wall.Place a 5ib plate under the plates on each end so it can't roll away from the wall.Then I place a thin pad in front of the barbell to kneel on and do gh raises by anchoring my feet under the barbell.Works pretty good for me.

I have been trying to figure out how to replace manual hamstring curls for a long time.......that exercise helped my deadlift no end. I guess now I know the answer . Presumably you pivot on your knees (every pic of a GH raise on a machine that I have come across has the pad across the thighs)?? I can see me struggling with just bodyweight on these......

 

[ballast]

Imnotdutch-Yes, I pivot on my knees.This is obviously a modified version of the exercise, so a more correct description would probably be floor gh raises.Since they are done off the floor, I put the pad under my knees to reduce the pain caused by kneeling on concrete.I have yet to add weight to this exercise, as they are very tough.But, I do feel them through the entire hamstring muscle.

 

[Imnotdutch]

Imnotdutch-Yes, I pivot on my knees.This is obviously a modified version of the exercise, so a more correct description would probably be floor gh raises.Since they are done off the floor, I put the pad under my knees to reduce the pain caused by kneeling on concrete.I have yet to add weight to this exercise, as they are very tough.But, I do feel them through the entire hamstring muscle.

I just did a quick search on google.....what you describe could be a 'manual glute ham raise'. In that exercise you only go to the point at which your body is at 45 degrees to the floor (prob because of difficulty). There is a press-up version where you go all of the way down and use some drive from your arms.

Here's one of the links I looked at:

http://138.9.1.58/athleticperformance/exercise videos/Leg Lift videos/leg_lift_descriptions.htm

I figure I'll work on going all of the way down on manuals......could be fun.

 

[ballast]

Ype.I should have mentioned that I lower myself until my chest touches the ground then use a quick push with my arms to reverse directions.These are incredibly difficult(for me anyway), but I'm sure they hit the hams effectively.Good luck with them.

 

[erickthegreat11]

I had luck with adding quad extensions after ATF squats. Must be my method. I tend to tighten my quads off the floor to get things moving, and pivot at the hips going up.