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For all you guys out there with knee problems, or guys that just can't seem to peg how deep to squat, or keep shortening the range when you start to fatigue, rack squats my help a ton. As I um....age, my knees are truly not what they used to be, and lately full range ass to the floor squats are just counterproductive for me. What allows me, and many in my situation to squat relatively pain free is squatting in the rack with the bars set about 1 inch above parallel.
Yes, this would be a bad idea for a powerlifter to do on a long-term basis, but if you are bodybuilding really won't hurt a thing. One inch above parallel is still WAY deeper than most people squat, and with the pins you KNOW for a fact (same with a box squat) that every rep is the same depth.
This is makes the lift much kinder to the knees, and since each rep is taken to the bars, they are preformed SLOWLY and deliberatively, no bouncing, no ballistic reps. If any of the above conditions sound like your situation give them a try. All this applies equally to the use of a box also. And if your gym has boxes, or even a padded bench that is the right height, boxes or bench squats ala Louis Simmons are even easier on the knees if you learn to sit BACK when descending.
Iron Addict
Yes, this would be a bad idea for a powerlifter to do on a long-term basis, but if you are bodybuilding really won't hurt a thing. One inch above parallel is still WAY deeper than most people squat, and with the pins you KNOW for a fact (same with a box squat) that every rep is the same depth.
This is makes the lift much kinder to the knees, and since each rep is taken to the bars, they are preformed SLOWLY and deliberatively, no bouncing, no ballistic reps. If any of the above conditions sound like your situation give them a try. All this applies equally to the use of a box also. And if your gym has boxes, or even a padded bench that is the right height, boxes or bench squats ala Louis Simmons are even easier on the knees if you learn to sit BACK when descending.
Iron Addict
I partially tore my ACL and was squatting not long after with this method. It does help. I used the idea that as the range of motion lessened so did my rep speed. I still wanted to try to keep the TUT for the quad but that depends on the person rehabbing I suppose. Good tip for sure!
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