Anyone else sub out BB squats for V Squat?

[lepomis]

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Couldn’t get out of a nagging lower back pain cycle from high bar squatting past depth, most likely due to long femurs and/or poor ankle mobility so I swapped them for V bar squats.

I thought these were a different kind of hack squat until I looked up the proper term for the machine. The absolutely obliterate quads if you keep feet in the middle of the platform. Just wondering if anyone else has seen good gains from this?

I was able to go past depth for 315 with reps and probably can continue to push past that.

 

[dawn16]

@lepomis I find the V squat awkward. I prefer leg press and split squats as a sub for BB squats. But if they work for you, rock on. Barbell squats are not mandatory for bodybuilding.

 

[lepomis]

@dawn16 Thanks, I find with leg press I always get the hamstring/glutes involved too much no matter the foot placement

 

[justyna]

@lepomis Try wearing shoes with a heel, like powerlifting shoes, and bring your feet lower to bias the quads.

 

[lepomis]

@justyna Definitely will try, and didn’t like the way the adidas power lifts felt when I had them so maybe I’ll try a different shoe

 

[crimsonking1]

@lepomis Never got along with a V Squat machine for some reason. I retired attempting traditional barbell squats for the same reason as you and just went hard at leg press, hack squat, swing squat, and pendulum squat (not all in the same leg day of course) and have found that my back and knees are thanking me every day lol.

There’s a huge amount of ‘traditionalists’ who act like everyone MUST do barbell squats, or don’t understand that people do not possess the exact same mobility, proportions, and joint strength as they do.

I no longer resent leg day now that I’ve likely permanently cut traditional back squats from my routine. Never enjoyed them in the first place and I’ll always advocate that people do the movements that they enjoy, will stick to, and get better at rather than forcing themselves to do something they hate or has too much risk for injury.

 

[lepomis]

@crimsonking1 Thank you, I will give leg press a shot of V Squats give me any progress within the next few months. Right now I get a killer quad pump and DOMS from them, and am still increasing weight so I guess time will tell

I agree, my back pain wasn’t worth it, and low bar squats were doing my quads any good. Plus I’ve always been posterior chain dominant so I needed to switch things up fast

 

[akwai]

@lepomis I personally find these super awkward due to how much hip flexion they put you into and I’m not able to get nearly as much knee flexion. All that matters is how it works and feels for you though.

 

[lepomis]

@akwai Interesting, is your face facing the vertical plane of the machine or is your back leaned up against it? I find the latter more knee flexion driven and the former much more hip flexion driven. Also keeping my feet center and close together helps focus on the quads

 

[dragonfruit10]

@lepomis There's many far superior options to a Barbell Squat, but V squat isn't one of them unless you're only worried about glute development.

 

[lepomis]

@dragonfruit10 Literally ever single video I’ve seen on this highlights quads as the primary muscle group hit

Plus I feel it most in the quads, I think you guys are spreading your feet too wide or keeping feet too far up.

 

[dragonfruit10]

@lepomis I think you may be confusing it with a pendulum Squat which is the best Quad machine. V squat has the opposite motion and is more hip flexion making it more glute bias. Quads are still active it's just not a great choice if they are the target.

 

[lepomis]

@dragonfruit10 Click the link, Jay Cutler is talking about V squat. All other squat tutorials highlight quads as primary muscle group

It’s the same motion man hahah physically impossible to place glutes ahead of quads for ANY squat movement

 

[dragonfruit10]

@lepomis It activates quads, a deadlift also activated quads. It's not a good exercise.

It's the angle, you go immediately into deep hip flexion (no quads) and get a little knee flexion (quads). Pendulum is the complete opposite due to the back pad angle, it's almost entirely knee flexion (quads) with little hop flexion.

V squat is a mostly glute exercise (hip flexion). I suggest you use resources that use the anatomy and exercise science instead of bodybuilders that did a bunch of stuff on a bunch of roids and pretend to be experts.

 

[lepomis]

@dragonfruit10 I think you’re doing them wrong man, pending your stance you can easily go into knee flexion. I’ll trust the YouTube tutorials from the experts over a random redditor who probably is doing the Exercise incorrectly

 

[dragonfruit10]

@lepomis You're so stupid, enjoy.

 

[lepomis]

@dragonfruit10 Resorting to insults? Yeah that speaks volumes to your knowledge base haha

 

[dragonfruit10]

@lepomis I've explained it simply in a way you can easily verify and you've chosen to ignore it because some YouTube video told you without explanation. You can even minic the motion and see the hip flexion dominance by putting your hand in your hip crease. That's stupid imo. Sorry.

 

[lepomis]

@dragonfruit10 Everything I’ve checked thus far verifies quad first

 

[fireblaze]

@lepomis I felt these much more in my posterior chain than my quads. I liked the ROM but disliked how little weight it took to tax the targeted muscles (not really)