Unweighted squats on recovery days?

[jacksonblakeman]

Pretty new to the program and training in general. I was wondering if a couple sets of unweighted squats on recovery days might be a good idea. On my gym days, I have to put a lot of effort into getting good depth and I feel like after a recovery day or two I'm back at square one with my flexibility. I was thinking it could be a nice way to get some bloodflow and do some stretching without actually having to "stretch", but I don't want to disrupt my recovery, if that would be an issue.

Any thoughts?

[Adam Skillin]

Pretty new to the program and training in general. I was wondering if a couple sets of unweighted squats on recovery days might be a good idea. On my gym days, I have to put a lot of effort into getting good depth and I feel like after a recovery day or two I'm back at square one with my flexibility. I was thinking it could be a nice way to get some bloodflow and do some stretching without actually having to "stretch", but I don't want to disrupt my recovery, if that would be an issue.

Any thoughts?

Won't disrupt recovery, but might mess with the motor pattern, since an unweighted squat resembles a front squat more closely than it resembles our squat.

[jacksonblakeman]

That makes sense. Thanks. Any suggestions for staying limber other than stretching? Or should I just stop worrying about it and work it out with a lot of warm ups when I get to the gym?

[Adam Skillin]

That makes sense. Thanks. Any suggestions for staying limber other than stretching? Or should I just stop worrying about it and work it out with a lot of warm ups when I get to the gym?

I don't have any kind of specific stretching protocol to recommend, but a little light stretching on your off days shouldn't hurt anything if you want to do some. The majority of your increased mobility will still likely be gained under the barbell.

[brkriete]

What else are you doing on recovery days? Anything? Nothing? I generally walk 2-6 miles around my neighborhood pushing a stroller and this seems to help in recovery just by getting the blood moving through my legs. If for whatever reason I don't do this for a few days, I find I'm a little stiffer when I get to the gym and I get winded between sets more easily.

[jacksonblakeman]

I'm not very consistent as far as what I do on recovery days. On days I work, I walk a lot. I'm a server so I'm always walking around to check on people or fetch something. Sometimes I take walks on my days off work. I hike occasionally. Sometimes I veg out completely and don't do anything physical.

[Chuck Tringo]

Im a fan of sitting in the bottom of your squat for a good minute or so daily....not doing reps so as to not interfere with the movement pattern as discussed above, but just getting to the bottom of a bodyweight squat and sit there. It will slowly stretch out what you need to stretch out without doing a static stretching protocol. Im amazed when I have 19 year old patients come in with knee pain or low back pain and they cant get even close to parallel in a bodyweight squat without significant instruction.