Tfw fell for the squat meme

Knee pain reporting in.
I don't deadlift anymore because my gym doesn't have platforms and enough bars, but would it help if I just went apeshit on hamstring curls?

>doesnt deadlift becos gym dont let him

Got an answer that can save my fuckin knees?

Mobility work, motherfucker. Always do It at the end of a workout.

In my opinion:

Squatting is progressive overload, your catiledge, tendons and even bones are not cardboard, they can and will strengthen over time

Buy tiger balm muscle cream, cream your knees the fuck up before training legs, and put on rehband (or other knee sleeves). Then do a warm-up stretching routine that targets your hips, lower back and knees, squat a lot of sets slowly in full ROM with just the bar. By the time you get to the rack your knees should be sweaty and warmed up as heck.

Decrease your max squat weights and switch to paused reps, avoid descending quickly on squats and try not to trigger your stretch reflex as that will also strain your knee tendons. Slow and controlled reps with a pause at the bottom with proper form should put very little stress on your knees

If you still have knee pain while being safe and conscious as such, then you may want to see a doctor for professional advice

As far as deadlifting goes, you'll have to replace it with barbell accessories if you want results imo. Do more heavy barbell rows and other exercises that target the lower back and hams. Ham curls are a traditional accessory exercise to many strength-oriented routines anyway, so you should keep doing them

Stretching isn't warming up, not a good idea to do before lifting.
Pause at the bottom increases load on the passive structures.
While bouncing can be bad, using the stretch reflex isn't.
BB rows only target the hamstrings isometrically.
SLDLs are way better for hamstring development.

my glutes burns as hell when I'm doing squats.

I categorise warm-up mobility work and stretching as 'stretching' but I would agree with you, stretching right before or after a workout is not a good idea.

Depending on how much weight is being squatted, putting stress on passive structures should not be a bad thing. Afaik most amateurs are not able to utilise stretch reflex without bouncing, so I would advise against it.

I was not advocating bb rows for ham work, more so for upper back. Considering he can't do normal DLs, I doubt he can do SLDLs, but I would agree that they're great for ham work.

OR you have a knee or feet problem REEEE

Front squats my nigga. Easier on the knees because less shearing forces. Also an overall better exercise than back squats imo

Help me out bro. When should I stretch then? Off days?

What makes you think you need a platform to do deadlifts?

Front squats hurt my knees, anyone knows why? I even tried a pretty wide stance, but it still hurts. Back squats, no matter high or low bar never hurt my knees

Had the same problem as OP. I switched to kettlebell front squats and have never been happier. Anyone else have success with this?

Well if you are fat like I was one day, your kness are weak and fucked and you will need to lower the weights in your squats and do some work until your muscles are strong enough.

My first month of lifting I'd get constant pain in my knees, shoulders and elbows because I was a fat fuck with a weak body. I also had hip flexor pains which slowed down my progression by a lot. I just kept going, lowered my weights, got medicine for the pain and rested enough.

Now I don't feel any pain and can progress through my weights pretty smoothly.

Off days or as a separate session from workouts with just a little warmup with bodyweight before