g-mens log

[g-men]

Long-Forgotten Exercises that Work: Roman-Chair Squats

As the gym world becomes increasingly complex, more and more free weights are giving way to machines that look like torture devices rather than things you train on, and a good number of old-school exercises are being forgotten. It’s unfortunate, because a lot of those old exercises are exceedingly valuable, despite the fact that exercise might seem primitive compared to working out on these new complex contraptions. This is the first in a series of articles that will detail extremely effective exercises that few people even know about.

The first one I’ll discuss is Roman-chair squats, one of the best thigh builders I’ve ever come across. Done right, it thoroughly isolates the thighs, and offers muscle stimulation that can result in impressive growth. Canadian national-level champion Chantal Dicaire has now incorporated the Roman-chair squat into her leg-training routine and after less than just two months the results are impressive.

The first thing to know is that this exercise is performed on a Roman-chair squatting device, not a Roman-chair sit-up/hyperextension device which is far more common in gyms today but not at all suitable for the exercise I’m about to describe. The squatting device is a small, simple little unit, usually made of metal, and it has bars and pads that touch the top of the feet and the back of the calves. Those bars and pads hold your legs and feet in place so that when you lean back you don’t fall over. There are no moving parts.

The exercise is usually performed with only your body’s weight. If that becomes too easy, I first suggest slowing down the movement and making sure your form is ultra-strict before adding any additional weight. When bodyweight-only becomes way too easy and you’re doing the movement properly with minimal rest between sets, then go ahead and add more weight by holding onto a plate on your chest, or by holding dumbbells to your sides.

While the late, legendary trainer Vince Gironda didn’t invent the exercise, he was the one who introduced me to it, and since Vince only recommended exercises that work, he knew as much about it as anyone else. His description of how to perform the exercise is detailed in his book, The Wild Physique. Vince describes the movement as follows:

Place feet 12 inches (30 cm) apart, toes and knees pointing outward. Keep your back straight, hands on hips, and lower right down to the maximum low position. Rise upwards without leaning forward, all the way to the extended position, but do not straighten the whole body. Stop at a slightly rearwards-leaning angle to maintain stress on the legs. Lower and repeat.

The key to the exercise is in the point that he makes about "without leaning forward." The mistake most people make is to rise to a vertical position so the upper body and legs are straight up and down and you’re resting flat on your feet -- doing so takes stress off the thighs. You never want to release the stress on your thighs -- you want constant tension. Once you are locked into the Roman-chair, it is most important that you are always leaning back, even in the highest position -- this keeps stress on the thighs between and through ever rep. That’s exactly why the device holds the top of your feet and the back of your calves, otherwise you’d fall over. The best way to tell if you are doing the exercise right is whether you feel it. If your thighs don’t ache even just a little bit after one set, you are doing the movement wrong.


Chantal Dicaire in the low position of the Roman-chair squat using additional weight (she's holding a plate securely on her chest).
Chantal returns to the top position of the movement, ensuring her back is straight but her body is leaning back to keep stress on the thighs.

A good starting point for this exercise is to do 3 sets of 8 reps with an average amount of rest between sets (about one minute) and only using your body’s weight -- remember to keep those hands on the hips. After you’re comfortable with this and you have gained some strength, a real killer workout is to do "8 of 8" with minimal rest between sets (15 seconds!) -- that’s what Chantal is doing now. Surprisingly, if you do Roman-chair squats correctly, those 8 sets of 8 reps will be all you will need for your thigh workout to induce growth. Remember: This exercise is not about lifting heavy weight, it’s about form and keeping constant tension on your thighs.

So, if you have the Roman-chair squat machine in your gym, try it -- I guarantee you’ll like it and you’ll wonder why you weren’t doing this exercise before.

Alleen probeer ik nog recht te blijven als ik zak, is nog meer spanning op de quads

[SanderM]

op naar de 300 deadlift !

[g-men]

hmm plaatje niet gepakt, hier is link

SeriousAboutFitness.com Archives

[KaLe]

we hebben helaas geen roman chair

[g-men]

Vandaag UB met broertje

Oef 1 Incline dumbell press
20x10
20x20
7x50 (met wat hulp) (20sec rust) 6x40 (20sec) 4x40

Oef 2 Pull ups
12xBW (20sec) 3xBW (20sec) 3xBW
10xBW (20sec) 3xBW (20sec) 2xBW
6xBW (20sec) 2xBW (20sec) 1xBW

Oef 3 Military press
5x5x70
hmm valt niet tegen

Oef 4 Hammerstrength incline chest press (gew per kant)
7x50 (20sec) 3x50 (20sec) 3x50

Oef 5 Cable rows
10x100 full bl
8x110
6x120 PR
20x80

Oef 6 Side raises
20x18 (20sec) 10x18 (20sec) 10x18

Oef 7 Parallel bar dips
12xBW+25 (20sec) 4xBW+25 (20sec) 3xBW+25

Oef 8 Bend over side raise
Shit load of reps met 16 kg aantal keer rust pauze en nog een drop met 10kg tot de rug en achterkant schouders verleden tijd waren

[Masallah]

Flinke benen sessie was dat gister weer. Hoe lang doe je gemiddeld over je workouts?

[g-men]

Was gister idd benen, denk 1,5 uur bezig geweest.

[Boeije]

En voel mijn benen nu nog!! haha vooral mijn kuiten!!
Waren weer 2 heerlijke trainingen!!

[Boeije]

Origineel gepost door g-men

Was gister idd benen, denk 1,5 uur bezig geweest.

En voel ze nog steeds!! haha vooral mijn kuiten!!
Waren weer twee heerlijke trainingen!!!

[AlexT]

Waar komen jullie trouwens vandaan? Familie van m'n moeders kant heet ook Boeije nml.

[Own Sculpturer]

Nette training gijs,nice incline presses.

[Boeije]

Origineel gepost door AlexT

Waar komen jullie trouwens vandaan? Familie van m'n moeders kant heet ook Boeije nml.

Heten eigenlijk geen Boeije maar Boeijen!!!!

[AlexT]

Foutje, wij ook.

[g-men]

Vandaag behoorlijk verkouden wakker geworden en wilde ik "Lazy saturday" training doen maar met Hans (TMOS) en maat meegetraind en werd toch een belachelijke training. Gelukkig vanavond en morgen om bij te komen van deze gruwelijke week.

10 min crosstrainer

Oef 1 Deadlift
10xstang
10x70
6x120
4x140
4x160
4x180
3x200
5x220 (Hans deed een onverwachte trippel dus moest ik ook reps maken)
1x240
0x260 (tot de knie)
1x240

Rackpulls
5x200
3x220
3x240
1x260
0x280 Failed
1x260
1x240
1x240
1x240

Oef 3 Barbell shrugs
15x120
10x170
15x120
15x120

Oef 4 Clean (eerste rep) + pushpress
paar x stang
5x50
4x60
3x70
3x80
2x90 3F Tering zwaar viel met de clean bijna achterover
3x80
10x70

Oef 5 Legraises
3x20xBW

Zit hier en daar qua volume wel een pr'etje tussen
Nu weer eten!!
ps respect naar Hans voor zijn PP met 110

[Loca]

Je bent weer lekker bezig zo te lezen

[Masallah]

Lazy Saturday like that would ever happen wat een gewichten man, nice!

[RubenSossa]

Flinke workout kerel! Time to eat, rest and grow..

Hoe hoog waren die rackpulls?

[g-men]

Kniehoogte.

[RubenSossa]

Origineel gepost door g-men

Kniehoogte.

heel netjes dan, na de regular deadlifts!


effe wat anders: Ga je nu ook vaker trainen op Strongman onderdelen? Wat heb je allemaal tot je beschikking?

[g-men]

We hebben nog steeds heel weinig tot onze beschikking, maar in ieder geval 1 stone, timbers en biervat. Mijn sled is in wording.
Zal ook eens met Alex gaan mee trainen bij Simon.