I'm getting old
barbell Squats are critical, but its getting harder. My knees, and especially my hips, are starting to not like it. I need more and more warmup time with every workout to get the flexibility going. I need some help here
any recommendations on anything lighter i can do regularly to maintain the flexibiltiy?
Warmup routines, beside just attempting squats until i can go down low enough?
Or other motions to improve and maintain core strength without requiring so much flexibility?
image is AI and this captcha is horrible
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>abuse your body with heavy squats
>bro im just getting old, it has nothing to do with the fact that I am actively destroying myself, it's just time
>how can I keep doing this moronic shit
some people will never fricking learn.
Gonna give you the only real advice you will get: drop the fricking barbell squats. Just stick to light exercise or you will only continue to frick yourself up
hate on squats? Thats the last thing i expected here
I do it for core strength, thats vital.
Please be more specific about what kind of light exercise i should replace it with
I would advise just doing calisthenics, hiking, and maybe something like yoga. Unironically. If you insist on lifting still, you should just do stuff like high rep leg presses, dumbell split squats, etc.
And if you MUST do squats, do high rep low weight squats. Your days of 5x5s are over unless you wanna be fricked for life
and for core just... do planks, leg raises, or literally anything else?
Anon...
Squats may involve core for stability, but they don't work your core adequately. You should have been doing core work all along. That's like saying you do push-ups for forearm growth.
32 year old boomer here
I can still squat but sometimes like to get leg volume in with front squats. They seem to be a lot easier on the joints even tho I end up squatting deeper
Do dynamic stretches followed by ass to grass split squats as part of your warmup. Also up your reps and lower the weight for squats. As you get older you should lift heavy less and less and instead do higher reps and volume. Also protein needs increase with age. That 0.7g/pound rule is for young guys. 1g is better for older dudes and when you're elderly going even higher isn't a bad idea for recovery needs
Bro, barbell squats aren't critical. They're just an exercise. In fact the older you get the more beneficial it will be to stop focusing on heavy lifts and focus more on building muscle. Your joints will thank you, you'll still look great, and through hypertrophy you'll still retain most of your strength. Squats are generally dog shit for Quad growth compared to other exercises anyway. Time to let go
The best advice I can give you is: Don't come here for advice.
If you really are old and good at squatting, you already know much more than anyone posting here in 2023. The board has been invaded by kids who use Tiktok and they've unfortunately brought their shitty culture and attitudes (negativity, hatred and fear of women, general anxieties and being permanently online instead of enjoying life, cutting down tall poppies, lots of doomer talk, not actually lifting, and objecting to actually lifting heavy.)
Most of the people posting here now have just started lifting and weigh 50kg soaking wet at most. They do nothing but accessory movements and no actual lifts.
The days of squats, oats and starting strength are unfortunately over. I feel bad for "Zoomers"
Anyway just keep staying active, brother. I wouldn't know anything that can help, but the fact you're staying active is great.
This is unironically the best post I've seen on IST all week. This should be pinned.
thank you for the advice, i had wondered how the new generation is doing
i'm surprised anyone can still post here with this damn captcha
lol i can recognize your writing, surferanon :*~~
What are you still doing here brother?
I guess it's true that we can never leave.
I was contemplating this topic yesterday, like I suddenly had a snapshot memory of a time when IST was funny and positive and very occasionally inspirational or even had some actual good advice. I was a daily lurker back in tinychimp/zyzz days, and there was that ginger fellow who was always mad about zyzz, what was his name?
>any recommendations on anything lighter i can do regularly to maintain the flexibiltiy?
Duckwalks. weighted or not. will hep you improve your knees and your hip ligaments and tendons and stretch them out well, as well as warm them up. it also helps strengthen tibialis anterior, front tibia muscle which will offload work off your knee joint.
>Warmup routines, beside just attempting squats until i can go down low enough?
in addition to duckwalks i also recommend deep stretches such as the cosack stretch (lateral squat) as well as lunges (frontal squat) in order for you to warm up.
Then you can do curstey lunges in order to retain extra-lateral mobility, flexibility which involes inner hip rotation in conjuction with lateral, moving your foot both back in the hip and back to the side. A lot of people work their external hip mobility but very few realize the importance of internal hip mobility. think about it.
>core strength without much flexibility
in the context of your request to better hip/knee strength, the best core advice i would give you is to practice a very low flexibility intensive exercise which builds core strength, without hindering hips/knees much.
The exercise is sissy squat or the modified limbo style of squat on horizontal floor. think of it as more of a balance exercise which involves very little movement, except bending the knees whilst maintaining proper core posture and hip straight hinge so you can bend your knees almost as if going into a limbo dance. this will help strengthen your core as it needs to adjust and counter-balance for the shifting of weights on the scale, which the center of gravity should be progressively at the hip hinge point, inside the hip cavity.
this will also improve both posture and balance overall. good luck with your maintenance old anon, the decay of time comes for all of us, best we can do is maintain decent standards for a long as we can.
All I do is making sure I hit ass to grass when the weight is light. I have no knee or hip pain. I squat 180kg on my heavy days and stop with ATG at around 130kg.
I did frick up my knee at one point by doing random stretch bullshit. Never again.
>t. 36yr old
I'm 44 years old.
I feel like I'm the oldest person in IST.
In my gym I'm definitely the oldest regular.
Occasionally there is someone older than me but they come sporadically.
I'm there everyday.
I feel in a good shape.
I don't feel that old even though I am.
How old is generally too old for squats?
try split squats, don't go as deep, do something else like air bike / resistance bike or stair climber. Try lighter weights and more reps. Try reverse nordics. Could try knee extensions instead. Could even try squats with dumbbells, perhaps the different loading can help.
You may want to do a hip flexibility routine every day like when you wake up or something as well. Some yoga type shit.
You should listen to your body instead of trying to push against it, that's how you injure yourself.
have you tried a squat plug for extra stability?