Squatting on a piece of wood

[Gluesniffer]

At my new gym the instructor tells me it is better to squat with your heels placed on a piece of wood (about 1cm high) and your toes on the ground. The gym is sort of a "welness center" where kinesitherapists work so everything they say is related to injury prevention and very strict form.
What is your opinion on this regarding injury prevention and muscle stimulation?

[redback]

Sounds like a load of shit...

[FitnessBrat]

I think squatting heavy weight with something that moves under your feet, is a bad idea....

[smackerthebull]

Sounds like a load of shit...

It is a load of shit IMO. I don't see how the hell it's possible to get into a deep squat like this without your weight shifting forward and your knees traveling over your toes. Just Curious, did your Kinesitherapist explain why he/she thought this was a good idea?

[Gluesniffer]

Originally Posted by smackerthebull

It is a load of shit IMO. I don't see how the hell it's possible to get into a deep squat like this without your weight shifting forward and your knees traveling over your toes. Just Curious, did your Kinesitherapist explain why he/she thought this was a good idea?

He says to squat parrallel, I wanted to go deep but he told me that it's bad for the knees since the muscles are pulling the kneecaps too much. About the piece of wood thing he just told me that it forces you to squat with proper form.

Originally Posted by FitnessBratl

I think squatting heavy weight with something that moves under your feet, is a bad idea....

It doesn't move under my feet.

[redback]

Originally Posted by Gluesniffer

He says to squat parrallel, I wanted to go deep but he told me that it's bad for the knees since the muscles are pulling the kneecaps too much. About the piece of wood thing he just told me that it forces you to squat with proper form.




It doesn't move under my feet.

What happens when you unrack the bar and step back and trip on the stupid thing.

[rado]

Originally Posted by redback

What happens when you unrack the bar and step back and trip on the stupid thing.

Then that makes you a fucking idiot!

[redback]

Originally Posted by rado

Then that makes you a fucking idiot!

lol

[Gluesniffer]

That answers your question. It never even occured to me because it doesn't feel all that risky. The question is: what good (or bad) could it be? Can anyone provide an answer to this?

[redback]

Originally Posted by Gluesniffer

That answers your question. It never even occured to me because it doesn't feel all that risky. The question is: what good (or bad) could it be? Can anyone provide an answer to this?

That doesnt answer shit, thats just Rado being Knobjockey!

[rado]

Originally Posted by Gluesniffer

That answers your question. It never even occured to me because it doesn't feel all that risky. The question is: what good (or bad) could it be? Can anyone provide an answer to this?

The practice of putting blocks or weights under your heels is widespread among bodybuilders in order to gain better isolation of the quads while squatting. The problem is that your knees go way out over your feet, placing great shear and compression on both the cartilage and ligaments of the knee, which over time can cause serious damage to the knee joint.

[THE BOUNCER]

Most of the time, when you stray away from basics be it diet or training, you are going in the wrong direction. Train hard, fill the muscle with blood, feed the muscle with food. That is the core of what you want to do.

[smackerthebull]

He says to squat parrallel, I wanted to go deep but he told me that it's bad for the knees since the muscles are pulling the kneecaps too much. About the piece of wood thing he just told me that it forces you to squat with proper form.

I don't think using a board as a crutch for form is a good idea. I don't think any lift should be overcomplicated. It takes away from it's intended function.

I could go on a rant about why I hate parallel squats, but I'll just say this.

IMO your kinesitherapists should be teaching you to squat deep with good form without any weight before putting weight on your back and telling you to do parallel squat with a board underneath. You'll get more benefit ie.(Strength, flexibility, coordination) if you learn to do it right first. instead of adding things that aren't needed.

[Curls4dGirls]

Originally Posted by Gluesniffer

He says to squat parrallel, I wanted to go deep but he told me that it's bad for the knees since the muscles are pulling the kneecaps too much.

That's interesting. I had all kinds of knee problems until I started going past parallel ... way past parallel. Now, no pain whatsoever in my knees.

Hams to calves, my friend ... hams to calves.

[NYCmitch25]

Originally Posted by Gluesniffer

At my new gym the instructor tells me it is better to squat with your heels placed on a piece of wood (about 1cm high) and your toes on the ground. The gym is sort of a "welness center" where kinesitherapists work so everything they say is related to injury prevention and very strict form.
What is your opinion on this regarding injury prevention and muscle stimulation?

i want to kick your ass after read wellness center.

seriously though i cant get past it. id jam the piece of wood in his eye ...

[Gluesniffer]

Originally Posted by NYCmitch25

i want to kick your ass after read wellness center.

seriously though i cant get past it. id jam the piece of wood in his eye ...

Yeah normally welness centers are gay but this one has evrything I need (squatbox, bars and lots of weight)à and is cheap so wha-evah?

[Shibby]

Originally Posted by Curls4dGirls

That's interesting. I had all kinds of knee problems until I started going past parallel ... way past parallel. Now, no pain whatsoever in my knees.

Hams to calves, my friend ... hams to calves.

I'm the same and so is my wife.

[nda246]

the squat is naturally quad dominant and most people have naturaly week hanstrings so there is no need to further overload the quads. In addition if he has you squat with the board every time (I bet he does) you claf, hamstring and lower back flexibility is going to go to shit and will eventualy lead to postural problems with the spine and pelvis.

Also tell him to do some research of his own on the benefits of the deep squat instead of hearing something and taking it as true. There is no evidence that proper deep squatting increases torque on the knee and plenty of evidence that shows that the load is transfered to the hips reducing torque at the knee seen in parallel or slightly above parallel squats.

[Gluesniffer]

You're right, I got knee injury. After my first week of switching to full squats that is, but I think it's the remains of doing those squats on a piece of wood, it didn't really feel right.