Brignole Muscle Mechanics - Analysis of Sissy Squats performed on a Sissy Squat Bench
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 22 ส.ค. 2024
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The biomechanical analysis of this exercise reveals that it's almost 100% quadriceps loading, and virtually 0% gluteus loading. This is due to the conversion of the direction of resistance from "straight down" (vertical) to a rotational force, which creates an opposing (perpendicular) "ground reaction force" against the front of the ankle - despite the lower leg remaining in the vertical position.
I love this exercise. Don’t use anything fancy to perform it. I place my heels on a short 2x4 and hold onto the sides of my squat rack and perform it exactly as Daryl Conant shows in his video. If you do 3 sets of 15, after your heavy squats you’ll be sore for 2-3 days guaranteed. I’m 58 years old and I have zero hip or knee problems. This exercise rocks!
why would u want to be sore for 3 days?
Thank you @John Wicks Dog for pointing me to Daryl Conant! I just discovered that he was a student of Vince Gironda and has written extensively on Vince's techniques. This is a fantastic discovery for me, as I am a huge fan of Vince Gironda!
How in the world do you perform 3X15 sets of sissy squats after doing heavy barbell squats? lol. I do not even do barbell squats anymore. Sissy squats and leg extension built more quadricep muscle on my legs than barbell squats.
I'm pretty sure the exercise in this video is a Roman Chair. The Monte Wolford squat is the Sissy Squat, as taught by Vince Gironda and now Daryl Conant. Edit: kept watching and I see the shoulders, hips and knees are kept in line here. I understand this now.
I've been training using your bio mechanics principles for two years now since discovering you on Ric Drasin's TH-cam channel. I've gotten better results at age 63 than at any other time in my life. Thank you Doug for sharing this info freely. You're my personal trainer. If I wasn't on the senior budget I'd get your book. Possibly soon. Keep posting and I'll be watching.
Rip Doug , you will be missed by many
RIP Doug! You were among mos knowlegible bodybuilders.t
I did reps of lunges &sissy squats with 25lb dumbbells, superset with the same exercises using body weight only. I could barely walk afterward. Never felt this kind of burn in the quads from squats. to further stress the point, I did some light squats afterwards fully expecting my quads to give out, but they didn't. the squat just gets a percentage of its required power from the quads, which Doug was the first on record to my knowledge to point out.
I've read your articles and watched your videos and have come to agree on many things you say, simply because it makes perfect sense. For example, i've never felt a better quad pump than with sissy squats and i include them ever since i first tried them. Normal squats don't even come close. I'm doing sissy squats without a bench, heels elevated, with the knees going forward and down, torso leaning back, and when i can't lean back further, i drop my butt down and basically do a hip thrust, before using my quads to come to a standing position. This is the Vince Gironda sissy squat. Anyway, i can attest to the efficiency of the sissy squat.
Your "weeding out" of the best exercises is very helpful and necessary. What i find even more interesting is the abandoning of the traditional rep ranges, combining very high-rep metabolic training and more strength-focused rep ranges of training in the same workout. I am not entirely sure if your findings on this are applicable to everybody though. I've read that you had great results by implementing high-rep sets with as many as 50 reps. But could it have been because you basically exhausted all "conventional" means of getting big, your muscles being "at capacity" for natural bodybuilding in some regards, from all the years of training your have done prior to the high-rep training? Therefore, for a more "average" person that is relatively advanced, but is far from having exhausted their muscular and strength capacity, maybe a training with more conventional rep ranges might be good?
I feel, as far as your high- to low-rep pyramid (50-40-30-20-10...) goes, you're definitely onto something, but maybe it is a bit too generalized. Your body responded well to it, but i don't know if this can be extrapolated that easily to the general public. Don't get me wrong, i've been implementing that kind of training style, but for some exercises, it really is torturous. So i've scaled down to about 30 reps during my first sets.
I'd love to see a more extensive video on that from you. What i would love to see most is for you to have a discussion with the likes of Jeff Cavaliere, another bodybuilder/athlete who has studied biomechanics, and argue your points. Because he for example, while also posessing comprehensive knowledge of biomechanics, is a strong proponent of closed-chain exercises (for athletic purposes). Or for example, uses some overhead pressing (with proper form!) as a staple in his training, while you are not exactly a fan of it. Both of you have quite clear views, and viewed on their own, they often make sense. But one person alone might get stuck a bit in their way of thinking. When these topics are debated by two educated parties with sometimes opposing views, that's where we could really draw something from, i believe.
Do what works for you.
@@rockon8174 okay Doug!
What a wonderful physics class APPLIED to the efficiency of a bodybuilding exercise... I'm a Mechanical Engineer and your video reminds me of physics classes... Momentum, reaction force, etc... BUT applied to the exercises that one does in his routine ..👏👏👏... I wish I had seen your work earlier, and had not wasted so much time on useless exercises. Or better yet, having seen it myself, as T Eng Mechanic 😉😁.... Intuitively. I knew there was something wrong with some exercises... that's why I didn't do them... Dumbell Triceps Kickbacks, Squats (early years only), etc. .. but in others, I let myself be convinced by magazine articles ... Very good job Doug
Honestly, this was just amazing. Gonna buy the book!
I have the book. Very detailed . Can't get enough of it.
Excellent, so simple and brilliantly explained. It's just physics💪🏼
Doug you are brilliant and have changed my workout life. I am anxiously waiting for the printed version of your book. I will completely devour the info !
Thank you for this video Doug, I now know that I made a good purchase for this machine for my home gym.
Skip the first 8 minutes. It's just a lot of showoff pseudoscience geometry blab that doesn't answer the question. For crissake, please give info, not just set up 10 minutes to sell your programs.
Thank you Doug. I truly appreciate all the work you've done on this. You are a bio-mechanics scientist. It also tells me Vince Gironda continues to be right about most bodybuilding exercises. He just didn't explain things nearly as well as you do. I think you take his work to another level entirely. I wish I had you as a training mentor 40 years ago. Famtastic work.
It's more about Joint Reaction Force, not so much about Ground Reaction Force.
The total body weight plus external weight is fine, but not what is impacted on the body.
The Joint Reaction Force is the steess the knee joint suffers during the rotational component.
Any weakness in the knee joint (muscular, ligamentous or meniscus compression) will have total body weight plus external weight plus the rotational component to deal with.
A good way to hurt yourself unless you are very, very careful and sound in your movement through the entire range of motion.
Not for a beginner at all.
Brignole cable squats are awesome!!
I love cable squats!! although i cant remember EVER seeing anyone do them. Loading the leg press with 8000 lbs & doing 1/4 inch reps? That i see every day 😂😂
Gironda's Sissy Squat is the combination of three movements: 1. the knee drops, 2. the burlesque bump, 3. standing. However, they can be performed individually, I do knee drops using body weight or with a barbell. Brignole's Sissy squat as demonstrated here refers to the second movement "the burlesque bumps". Hence, to refer to any of these three movements apart from the rest as sissy squat is a misnomer. Sissy squats is performed with these three movements--knee drop, then burlesque bump, then standing up as one smooth movement.
There are massive hip extension demands in the straight body version of this exercise. Isometric, yes, but still huge nonetheless. The hip joint acts as a fulcrum......gravity is trying to break you into hip flexion the more parallel to the ground you are, what opposes hip flexion? Hip extension and glutes. Also massive stabilizing isometric demands on the abdominals, neck flexors etc. To say that this exercise done this way is 100% quads is incorrect. Even by attempting to do one repetition you will quickly find the overall body demands are huge.
This video isn't entirely right.
The direction of force does not change, it remains the same: straight down as gravity dictates.
What changes is that the operative lever of the quad is the usually the lower leg, however because the lower leg is anchored by the apparatus, the operative lever of the Quad becomes the length of the body from the knee joint to the top of the cranium (if doing the hip extended version).
This makes the point about the Quad involvement in a regular squat a valid one, as it shows that the role of the Quad during the concentric phase of a squat is to open up the knee angle, which makes attempting to analyse quad involvement in a squat by only measuring the angle of the shin relative to gravity is not going to give one the full picture.
Also, this particular exercise is just an awkward way of doing Leg Extensions.
Awkward in that the resistance curve is too drastic to match the strength curve of the Quads & it involves many more muscle groups working as fixators, which are never going to receive any appreciable degree of development, but will certainly increase the arduousness of the exercise, making more of an imposition on one's recuperation, which decreases the amount of recoverable volume that can be performed (vs leg extensions).
Doug, would love a discussion on the bio mechanical differences between sumo and conventional deadlift...thank you!
As always great content for us workout nerds. You may already have this planned but can you do a cliff note style videos of the most efficient exercise for different muscles? Something you mentioned before in Rics Corner was that skullcrushers were more efficient at isolating the triceps versus the more common dip exercise. Also that as you go heavier with weights added on the dip, you can more easily get shoulder or elbow injuries. I would love to read your book but I'm more interested in summary not details at the moment. The physical models are great visually. Keep up the great work Doug. Thanks!
I like him but he takes way too long to get to the point
I agree 100%, takes wayyyyyy too long to make his point. I got bored and left!😁 I still like him tho, SMART DUDE.
Thanks Doug...I love your book very informative 👌🏻
Ivan Lubic yes!fuck you balcangipsy
Thank you so much Doug. Absolutely excellent videos.
Another amazing video from the master!
Great video as always Doug, thank you.
so ...great physics lesson...when are we going to talk about how the machine helps develop the quads...and compare to an oldschool "grab a chair" sissy squat?
My thoughts exactly! I wasted my time
Seriously
It doesn't. The machine is more like a leg extension, not a sissy squat.
Ciao Dottore Bringole!! Can you Please talk about the vertical leg press? Would be much appreciated .
Doug, Rofl! That was me criticizing your comment on the shin angle of the squat by using the sissy squat analogy! That was on Ric Draison's channel. I still stand by it as you didn't mention anything about ground reaction force then, but thanks for taking the time to make this video.
Can someone please tell me if he’s saying that the sissy squat machine is good or bad for leg. And if it’s safe to use?
It's safe to use. It's very similar to a standard Leg Extension (on machine), but technically not "better" than Leg Extensions. Leg Extensions (on machine), produce the same biomechanical motion, but allow more variation in the amount of resistance used (less than bodyweight, more than bodyweight, and everything in between), and also allow constant tension through the entire range of motion.
LOL, I had the same question.
Thanks!
@@dpbrig1 Woulda been great if you just said that in the video instead of all the silly models you built.
@@jdstarek some people like the "why" behind things, and are interested in the science
After all the analysis what is your conclusion ?? Is the machine good/bad or just Ok ?
Good to reduce spinal loading if you are already squatting alot
@@manuelalvarez817 and for knee good or not?
Great video as always. Maybe I missed it but do you recommend this apparatus for quad development? Is it essentially a sissy squat?
Thanks for the explanation and insight. Great information
Yup thanks for the video.
There was one thing I wanted to say about the position at of which the guy had his hip extended and he was on that sissy squat apparatus so that the knee was flexed. You talked about it how there cannot be any gluteus involvement during it unless there's the opposing force to that femur and at that instance the opposing force was created unto lower legs unto quads. But there's nevertheless an isometric effort being produced by hip extensors and for example spinal flexors, otherwise the guy's hip would be totally hyper extended and have bone on bone on there and also his spine would be hyper extended as well if there were no abdominal involvement to keep his torso stable.
So I just wanted to make that one statement because some people may jump into conclusions of thinking active muscle force is a dynamic one. Nevertheless awesome video, enjoyed it:D
The isometric load would not be on the hip extensors, nor on the erector spinae, but rather on the hip flexors and the rectus abdominis. They are the muscles that are preventing the torso from falling backward. And, interestingly, involvement of the hip flexors further negates any participation of the hip extensors, by way of "reciprocal innervation". There is no active hip extension happening in the straight-hip version, and there is only passive hip extension happening during the bent hip version. The hip is "unbending" because the pelvis is rising (thanks to the knee extension mechanism) - not because the gluteus is moving the femur toward the ground.
@@dpbrig1 Oh yeah, hah! you're right on point. I just noticed I should have said hip flexors instead of extensors. Thanks anyhow:)
Push ups use leverage, bench press does not. You are not pushing your entire body weight directly away from the earth, you are pivoting.
Thanks from NZ!
Just how does the movement shape the muscle? I mean chill an explain. Try some food an hydration before presenting. The question still remains,how does the muscle respond?
Athlean-x has a video dealing with why leg extensions can be very harmful to knee health in the long run, would this exercise be harmful in a similar way considering it isolates the quads aswell?
I’ve heard for decades that extensions are bad for the knee and….not once have I seen anyone hurt their knee doing them.
Great explanation, thanks.
My question is, do you recommend the sissy squat machine for home workouts?
You can use a band to loop around a squat rack or a stationary column and the back of your knees. Back up...to provide enough resistance and support to hold you up.
@@rocketeightyseven1823 it is so inexpensive to buy a sissy squat apparatus and you can even find good ones on Amazon for less than 200 dollars.
I love the exercise but if you have any knee issues you'll probably want to steer clear of it.
@@claudiamarianidamato9499 per le ginocchia è un buon esercizio o fa male?
Please make a video for incline bench press!!!awesome representation!
He isn''t a fan of incline bench press if chest development is your goal (too much front delt involvement), he actually prefers the DECLINE chest press for better results. Watch the video "Doug Brignole,Can You Change the Muscle Shape?" by ric drasin.
@@Mike500 I know but I want a visual explanation like these videos caise they rock!
Glut max, obliques, abs are utilized depending on how you perform this workout...
great breakdown.
CONCLUSION: So it's basically a leg extension mechine, and it won't replace doin squats, with a barbell.
Great video!
Wow. Amazing explanation! Thx!
U are missing one point: If u perform the exercise with the hips straight, u not only increase the resistance! The rectus femoris is then trained in a lengthened position which should increase his activation in comparison to the vasti.
Awesome explanation Doug!
GREAT video!!!
Very convoluted delivery.. We have to find an answer thru lots of info and authors own constructs.. It like doing own research but with extra hurdles of Dougs toys..
Doug you make ric look like a old tool good work!
If pecs are loaded equal amount in a 200 pound man doing push-up or lying down pressing 200 lbs up then why is pressing 200 lbs harder? Can do 50 push-ups but can’t do equal reps of press
You only load 40-60% weight on a push-up
Gonna order ur book!!
How does this affect the patellar tendon?
#genius i gotta buy all these man's books.
He should have his own TV show on ESPN.
Sorry, I don't understand your demo,the sissy squat demonstrate by Vince Gironda you have ROM 0 - 180 degrees. This machine allow only 0 -90 degrees so is like leg extension than sissy squat.
SO, WHAT'S YOUR POINT? TELL ME SOMETHING I DON'T KNOW
I've seen one of these once in 40 years
in former eastern block, people used to use them and called them roman benches.
Any brand recommendations for home use?
Wanted to know will it put too much tension through knee cap and wear away my knee.
So is this machine worth it or should I get a leg press machine or a leg extension machine??? I’m extremely new to fitness and want to get some home equipment… thank you in advance
Not a common apparatus in a gym.
Well, not in my area anyway
That is because most commercial gyms do not know the mechanics of the body nor what the best equipment is.
I got one of these for my home gym
@@SuperCDS1are you happy with it?
What about the hormonal effect of working more muscles, like squatting, vs isolatio exercises, like sissy squats?
Joe Tart Studies have shown that any hormonal rise is negligible, if it occurs at all. When you compare a possible 0.5% increase in testosterone production (at best), to the spinal compression of a heavy barbell squat, the “value” becomes more clear.
Can you send to UK please?
Great information Doug , when is your hard copy of your book coming out ?
Must say I love my sissy squats and I just do them over a low bar without any pad in front and unlike the dummy he used I never just fall over. Lol
Then again my quads are better then most and the constant tension is better then leg extensions for me.
So what's the eventual conclusion? You didn't say whether it's good for the knees or not!!! We already know the biomechanics of it, but if in the end you don't declare it as either safe on the knees, or not, watching this video is a thorough waste of time. Please give a conclusive answer....good or not, safe or not!
Voila la question! There seems to be different opinions on the knee issue. I suspect the further one leans backward from a vertical position during performance, one or both knees could scream out in pain.
If the exercise wasn't safe, that'd be the subject. Not mentioning it indicates no intrinsic problem with the exercise. Obviously, breaks in form are unsafe for all exercises
The sissy squat bench I purchased added stress to my shins. Am I doing something wrong?
there are sissy squat benches without that long thing in the back... Ours in the gym is a simple block, without any long braces. It's just simply made of a heavier bottom part.
So is the sissy squat bench better that doing them normal?
Think this movement can be done using a decline sit up bench & some heavy dumbbells on feet?
but is the machine going to hurt me I've never tried it and don't want to get hurt
Thanks Doug love the info!
Doug, I noticed that you turned off the comments on your video knees over the toes. I think you do educational work, but truly think you missed the point of knees over the toes. Let me explain.....it’s not about knees over your toes, it’s about going past a right angle on your ankle and making an acute angle between your sin and your toes. As you clearly illustrated in your sissy squat movement, yes your toes are way over your toes and your upper torso is leaning back. But notice the angle of your ankle, it is clearly not exceeding that 90 degrees at your ankle joint. This is a very important distinction and has no bearing on the knees over the toes. Once you allow that ankle joint to reduce below 90 degrees towards your toes, it places an exponentially increased force on the knee joint, in particular the patella. This is were the problem lies when doing a flat footed squat, then 100% it is so important to not let your knee extend over your toes as once again you now made a angle less than 90 degrees at your ankle. As an orthopaedic surgeon, majoring in biomechanics, I operate daily on knees due to poor biomechanics action.
Knees over toes is fine.
Unless I've misunderstood you, that's just rubbish. A fundamental requirement for doing a squat is that the CoG (of the squatter+ barbell) must remain vertically over your feet. Otherwise you fall forwards or backwards! By your argument the shins must remain vertical or (perish the thought) angled backwards! So, for that to be so, as you descend into a squat and your thighs and butt move back, you're advocating that the squatter should increasingly lean forward from the hips to keep the CoG over the feet. Indeed people who have long femurs relative to their torso would have to end up with their back almost horizontal to achieve balance just so they can keep their shins vertical. The geometry just doesn't work!
The hamstrings get to act as stabilizers for once
Hey Doug. How can I order the Physics of Fitness pdf. I was on your website but I did not see a order option. Just a description and email
List. I signed up for the email list about a hour ago.
Aldo Cipriotti Email me at “dbfitness@aol.com”, and I’ll give you instructions.
is the solution to do a lying leg extension? Some leg curl machines allow you to move the arm right down
It’s true, that the strength and activation potential of the quadriceps is optimized when the hip joint is less bent, rather than more bent. I don’t believe it has to be straight, necessarily. I think a 20 or 30 degree is fine, certainly much better than a 90 degree bend. This can be achieved by simply moving the seat back as far as possible, and then leaning back against it. It would be ideal if the seat back actually angled that way. But moving the seat back and then leaning back is a fairly good option.
With all due respect - too much of useless information.
Good content Doug, would you still rate cable squats higher than those sissy squats shown in the video?
I would not rate Cable Squats higher than either Sissy Squats or Leg Extensions. Cable Squats are certainly better for quad loading than standard barbell Squats, but simultaneously loading the glutes - while the quads are loaded - undermines (detracts) from the quad loading, due to "reciprocal innervation". This will be discussed soon in an upcoming episode.
💕🙏🏽💕
What about actually squatting instead of leaning back?
timmiet47321 Check our the video I taped which discusses barbell squats, at my channel.
Are sissy squats bad for your knees?
Joe Tart No, they are not bad for the knees. They are fine, assuming your knees are not injured, and assuming you have enough strength to perform them. Most people have only enough quad strength to perform them with a partial range of motion, which is “okay”, but not as good as full range of motion, using less resistance. One trick you can use is to attach a strong elastic band to a chin up bar, and hold it as you descend into a deep sissy squat. The lower you descend, the more “assistance” the elastic band will give you.
@@dpbrig1 Thanks for the replies, Doug 👍💪
Who's here after mark bells pod cast?
DOUG, how Frank Zane Leg Blaster works ? Can you explain? Please ? Thank you !
creative media Frank Zane’s Leg Blaster is actually similar to squatting against a Swiss ball, against the wall. The backward lean (either due to holding handles in front of you, or leaning back against the ball), alters the direction of resistance in such a way as to load the quads more, and the glutes (and erector spinae) less. It’s a better option than barbell squatting, but not as good as isolating the quads and glutes separately.
@@dpbrig1 Years ago I bought a Zane Leg Blaster from Frank himself for $275. It was an extra machine he did not need; however, I recently sold it, and will train the quads and glutes separately.
Hey Doug, how can I get in contact with you about your biomechanics excerpted book. Very interested
I was expecting Keanu Reeves to jump out and bust a matrix exercise with out the sissy squat or give this guy some dark shades to make him cool.
LOL.....now I can literally visualize Keanu sissy-squatting backwards to dodge the bullets.
6:55
king squat
Not a sissy squat ! More like a Roman Chair squat. Both can be hard on knees.
Is this easy on the knees?
parales03 It is not an exercise that is mechanically unnatural for the knees. There is no twisting of the knee joint, and essentially no “shearing”. However, the straight-body version (with the femurs and torso held straight / parallel to each other), there is a tremendous increase of load that occurs between the ascended position and the descended position - like starting a Leg Extension with zero and progressively increasing it to 100 pounds, through the range of motion, which may be excessive, for the quads and the knees. But if you have the quad strength to handle it, your knees will be fine. Personally, I prefer regular Sissy Squats. They’re more comfortable and offer more than enough resistance.
Nice video, models and explanations. But I'm pretty sure that's not a sissy squat bench. Interesting anyways.
A body weight push up is not equal to benching ones own body weight. Just sayin... perhaps if you’re doing planche push ups it’s close, but not a good analogy.
murray webb Yes, I know. That is obvious. During a push-up, you are disbursing your body weight on two ends, so each side (your hands and your feet) are sharing the load, about 55% / 45%. But, however much is loading through your hands (let’s say 100 pounds of one’s 185 pounds of total body weight), would have essentially the same effect on the pecs as would a 100 pound bench press.
Always include isolation exercise in every workout
Waste
Doug your information is so unique and amazing. Definitely a breath of fresh air. It would be awesome if you could do a video regarding the best exercises for glute development in your opinion.
He has already done so, watch his video "BRIGNOLE Muscle Mechanics The Best Way to Train Glutes". Answer: One-legged training on a Multi hip machine.
Great video!