HRM, Vests, and Squat Weight

[DawnaRose]

A few questions here----


Will your heart rate monitor read thru a heavy weight vest?


Is wearing a vest as effective for the legs as the weight atop your back as with barbell squats?


I'm doing 60 lbs independent of Cathe weight tape--I use a step in squat rack. I once tried lifing about 50 over my head to do squats and I almost dropped the thing. It was scary. My opinion is that you shouldn't attempt 50 or greater lbs without a squat rack. I don't know if this is correct?, but this is what I do---


I walk facing the rack of my weight bench. Lean over with barbell resting on top of back. Then hoist the weight backwards as I step back to start the squats. Is this correct? I have a strong back and so far this seems to work.

The other thing is that in talking to some people on a "real" strength board, I began to feel that I was really a weakling. The women there do 120 lbs and over for their squats. They told me that 90 lbs was a beginning weight for a squat weight. I thought I was really doing well with 60, and then I really questionned my ability. (I'm 49). The Firm girls do no more than 35 I think---so 60 is a vast improvement in my opinion. What do you guy thinks?

thanks!


dawna

 

[kathryn]

>Will your heart rate monitor read thru a heavy weight vest?

Not sure about that one. It might depend on what the weights are made from. If they are lead, then they may block the signal (or is it just Superman's x-ray vision that is impaired?).


>Is wearing a vest as effective for the legs as the weight atop
>your back as with barbell squats?
I would assume that whatever form of weight you use above your waist would be equally effective for lower body exercises like squats and lunges. Using a barbell would bring in your back muscles more, which hold an isometric contraction to keep the back in the correct position, but the lower body is moving the same amount of weight.

>I'm doing 60 lbs independent of Cathe weight tape--I use a
>step in squat rack...I walk facing the rack of my weight bench. Lean over with barbell resting on top of back. Then hoist the weight
>backwards as I step back to start the squats. Is this
>correct? I have a strong back and so far this seems to work.

If I'm reading this correctly, the rack is one that is usually used for bench presses ("the rack of my weight bench"), so it is at only about 4 feet from the ground? If this is the case, the "leaning over with barbell resting on back" followed by "hoisting the weight backward as you step back" would be very risky for the lower back. Bending over in an unsupported position with resistance on the shoulders is a no-no for the ligaments of the lower back. You may not have had any problems yet, but injury could happen either suddenly, or as the cumulative effect of stressing the ligaments in the lower back.

What is done in a regular squat rack is that the rack is set at about 5 feet or higher (depending on height of the exerciser--it's usually just a bit below shoulder height). Then you squat down a bit to get under it, and once you've taken up a supported position under it, you lift up (no hoisting backwards) then step backward out of the rack.

>The other thing is that in talking to some people on a "real"
>strength board, I began to feel that I was really a weakling.
>The women there do 120 lbs and over for their squats. They
>told me that 90 lbs was a beginning weight for a squat weight.
> I thought I was really doing well with 60, and then I really
>questionned my ability. (I'm 49). The Firm girls do no more
>than 35 I think---so 60 is a vast improvement in my opinion.
>What do you guy thinks?

It's hard to compare gym workouts and home workouts. When I worked out in a gym, I worked up to 140 pound squats (maybe an 8 rep squat). This was the "top" of the pyramid when I did several squat sets in a row. At home, when I workout to a video, I don't go beyond 45# on a bar because of the stress on shoulders from lifting heavy over the head, but when I combine a weight vest and a barbell, I have used up to 64# (my supposedly 20 pound weight vest has room for only 19 pounds of weights!). When I use my Rockit (a fancier version of a bun and thigh rocker), I can use 140#, and probably more (though the structure of the Rockit makes it probably a bit less than the whole 140#). I wouldn't try to lift 120 without some kind of support: either a weight rack in a gym (the kind that have graduated tiers, so if you can't push up from the bottom, there is a lower tier you can place the bar on) or a machine.

Don't worry about what other can lift (or say they can lift). What matters is if the workout is effective for you. The amount of weight you lift isn't important, it's the fact that you can get to a state of muscle fatigue at the end of the set, so you couldn't do one more rep with good form. Also, when liftiing in the gym, one often takes a much longer break between sets (3-5 minutes), which gives the muscle more time to recuperate.

Also, I don't know where the "90# is a beginning weight for squats" came from. It's hooey! It's definitely too heavy for someone just starting out. You need to use less in order to learn the correct technique. When I took a weight training class, the instructor had us start out with specific weights for each exercise, based on our gender and weight. I was about 130# at the time, and I started with something like a 35# barbell for squats. This info was based on some chart he had from a textbook. Maybe I was a wimp, but there is no way in ... that I could have lifted #90 doing a squat with correct form.

 

[DawnaRose]

Hi and thanks for such good information. Yep, the weight bench has a rack for use in the bench press, but I did assume it was for the squat also. Guess I was wrong there. My back is so healthy and strong, I didn't have any problems leaning over to hoist the weight up. But, I just don't have the space for another piece of equipment like a real rack!!!

The heart rate monitor reading thru the vest: I guess it doesn't really matter, as I probably wouldn't even be wearing it when I do weight work-outs. When I have worn the monitor during strength, my heart generally doesn't get over 110 bpm.

I have a bun and thigh rocker---but, I found the range-of-motion decreased with using all the bands. Just a tiny range of movement with the heaviest. I just don't like it. I do use the machine for calf raises however. Incidently, I have found the Bun and thigh rocker for cardio to be very questionable.

Ok, won't worry about what anyone else does. A large percentage of the world's women might not be able to squat with 60---so I am not gonna compare---i guess! Maybe I'll lower the squat to 50 lbs, so I won't have to do the funny thing with my weight bench.

Thanks for the information and encouragment. You're so knowledgable.

thank you again