can't squat

[sourpickle]

much thanks to you for un-pussifieng me i have been following SS for a year now, and enjoying all of it. I am 47 and my chronic back problems have almost all but disappeared, manly by religiously squating. But i have injured my foot and i am in a boot for 3-5 weeks can't squat, deadlift or power clean ,
i guess i can add a lot of chins and pull ups keep some sort of deadlift/powerclean strength, but what do i do for my back if i can't squat ??
thanks

[Mark Rippetoe]

You can do back extensions or reverse hypers. There are always ways around an injury. What happened to your foot?

[sourpickle]

i fell backwards while my foot stayed in place and heard a crack, crack, crack. no broken bones or torn ligaments, just one heck of a sprain at the instep end of those long bones that connect to the toes. the crack, crack, crack was my ankle dislocating and popping back into place, ouch, black and blue all over.

[Mark Rippetoe]

I'd try to squat on that. Just be careful about getting in and out of the rack.

[sourpickle]

i have been experimenting with this a bit, here are my results.
dead lifts are fine, just some slight pain in my heal, but that is most likely from the boot, it fades not long after i am finished.
squatting , no luck, couldn't even squat a broomstick, i keep falling backwards. the shape of the heel of the boot is rounded. i loosened up the top strap of the boot to get some flexibility in the ankle but the pain scared me off.
front squats were doable but i can only handle really light weights.

i am thinking of just substituting the dead lift for squats as my primary lift for the time being and having a serious reset when it all heals.
would you recomend the same 3*5 as the squat ?

i was also thinking of front squating dumbells, i can handle the same as i use on a bar (only 100 lbs), different enough not to confuse my head with back squats, but would it be add any benefits over the dead lift ? and at that light weight i would have to do quite a few.
thanks again for the help

[Mark Rippetoe]

You can squat the dumbbells or do deadlifts in various set/rep combinations until it heals. But plan on it healing faster than they told you.