Sissy squats for the quadriceps: the legacy of the greats

The name says nothing to you Gironda wins?

Do not?

Go study, for God's sake. I pretend I haven't heard.

Vince Gironda, the great

Vince was one of the classic bodybuilders, from the statuesque physicist. He approaches physical activity because he wants a career in cinema (that "cinema" in which the actor had to be muscular), but ends up creating a career as a Hollywood coach successful (Arnold will train, among others).

Gironde was a fixed amount of work intensity (compared to big loads), so much so that the training routine he proposed was… exhausting. His 8 × 8 - this is the name - required you to choose 4 exercises per muscle district, and perform 8 series of 8, with very short pauses (30 seconds).

To try.

Here it is: Gironda has perfected the sissy squat, using it (and having it used) as the main exercise for the quadriceps.

Muscles trained by the sissy squat

Quadriceps, quadriceps everywhere.

The value of this movement lies in the fact that it completely cuts off both the glutes and the hamstrings (to train the infamous hamstrings, read one of our dedicated articles).

The fact that the whole body is in motion during the sissy squat is responsible instead for a slight misconception: the sissy squat is a completely monoarticular movement.

The only warnings are:

• do not jump direct to heavy loads
• perform a slow and gradual load progression

How to perform the sissy squat

Gironda had a specific name for the sissy squat: parody of an equilibrist. It makes you smile, but hides a pitfall: learning the sissy squat is difficult.

Doing it free body can be really complicated, that's why we recommend using a support (a wooden board) 12-15 centimeters high, to be placed under the heels.

The sissy squat sequence:

• heels on the board, rather narrow (20 cm between them), toes slightly apart
• put your hips in front of you, flex your knees, literally "sliding" forward
• KEEP BALANCE!
• the shoulders remain perpendicular to the heels
• when your buttocks touch your heels, reverse your pelvis and touch them
• use your quadriceps to smoothly return to the starting position

If you just can't keep your balance, try using a light barbell: should help you keep it.

Other ways to keep balance and at the same time overload exercise, if you don't use the tablet:

• grab a vertical support (rack) with one hand and a dumbbell with your free hand
• keep a disc tight to your chest

When to use it?

Via the logic of the ceiling, which could be catastrophic. Do medium to long sets (12-15 repetitions). If you manage to do them with the barbell unloaded, you ensure a great workout.

The sissy squat does not replace the barbell squat nor the front squat - which, as we have seen several times, have an important carryover, respectively, on strength in general, and on Olympic movements - but it can help to put mass on those little legs, and to better define the shapes of the quadriceps.

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Photos: @unsplash.com