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Hi, I just added an email address to my about page.

Thanks for the feedback.

Hi, I'd say that's not bad for someone who's been training 6 months and not doing much grip specific work. You could walk into any commercial gym and find people who've been exercising for quite a bit longer who can't do this. That said, I wouldn't stop here. Keep trying to add time or, if you can, get some Fat Gripz or similar as mentioned in the video and keep progressing. Happy Training

@@ExerciseLab thanks for the feedback. Appreciate it!

Thanks for mentioning the Saxon grips again. The V2 of those fit on a bigger diameter bar, and are easier to get on as well.

​@@Eccles_basement_gym interesting. There's a V2 out now? I looked on the website and didn't see anything mentioned about this

Thanks.

Interesting idea. I might not be thinking of the same thing but the ones I'm familiar with are a little too squishy.

Too much*

Yes you can sit back a little more on the sissy squat (unless you're using a very strong band for Spanish squats) but they are pretty similar.

Yes while it hasn't exactly been widely adopted, I think the broader community is rethinking RICE. I generally shy away from anti-inflammatories unless I have a pretty strong reason to use them e.g. undue swelling after a knee replacement, but not for a typical ankle sprain, and yes, that may be a place the Marc Pro has something to offer. Not sure how much it would 'accelerate' recovery, but it may help some after the acute inflammatory phase.

yes as I explain in the video I do this intentionally to reduce excessive knee stress. I know 'true' sissy squats you sit back more but i'm trying to strike a balance between hitting the quads without hitting the knees too hard, so I sit back more than a regular squat, but not way back.

Thanks for the feedback. Someone else alerted me to this and I started using a microphone on my more recent uploads. At some point, I plan on updating and reshooting a few of the older vids with poor audio

I haven't tried to match a low bar position exactly as I'm often using it in safety or goblet squat lately. I would think you can achieve a pretty similar loading effect though. I'll have to give it a try one of these days and get back to you

😁

@@ExerciseLab I actually got the idea for them after using fat gripz for the first time, so it was cool you actually had them all there explaining it.

@@Eccles_basement_gym Thanks I'm glad you found it to be useful. I just figured I might as well since many people are more familiar with Fat Gripz.

​@@ExerciseLab i was watching an inteview with Jake Jawarski (garage gym experiment/home gym con) and Riccardo Magni (armlifting usa) when it struck for me to develop and design these. I hope many people come here and understand the benefits.

@@Eccles_basement_gym Abmat seems to be on the rise/producing some solid products (no pun intended :) Hopefully they'll be able to get the word out.

yes, big kudos to Kabuki on this one :)

Thanks for following up on this. I too like the feel with weightlifting shoes (if you happen to have some). I will give this a try

Glad to see you got one. If you look in some of my other recent videos you can see how I use a single barbell mount on the wall in the corner. I did have to widen it slightly (Dremel) for it to fit since it was a little tight

@@ExerciseLab I quickly looked at one. Do you leave the sleeves out to store on wall? Appreciate you sharing

@@the_grinch_life1187 I do leave the sleeves on since they aren't touching anything. I don't know that using a floor stand would be a great idea though, which is why I opted for a wall mount (just two bolts into a 2 x 4"). Seems to be holding it fine so far.

@@ExerciseLab gotcha. Thanks! 🙏

Yes that is actually my biggest knock on this product. I added extra padding to thicken them but it would've been nice if it was a bit closer to the shins

@@ExerciseLab I just bought it yesterday on the Black Friday sale. Someone in the customer reviews said that a thick foam gardening pad placed between the calves and the calf pad does a good job to tighten things up. I'm going to try that.

@@CaptJackAubreyOfTheRoyalNavy Ok thanks for the tip. I actually had a 1/2-1" sheet of foam laying around and similarly used that between my shins and the foam pads and that worked pretty well. If Titan would just make the foam pads bigger that would help a lot.

@@ExerciseLab Agreed. It's strange that Titan made an otherwise great sissy squat stand with such bafflingly wide spacing. Ah well, the foam hack seems to work ok. Still better than the other piece of crap sissy squat stands all over Amazon. I have the one from Leike Fitness, which seems to be the least crappy, but still has major problems and feels very cheap.

@@CaptJackAubreyOfTheRoyalNavy Good to know. Unfortunately I think a lot of exercise equipment goes straight from the drawing board to the production line without a lot of testing/user feedback.

I would say this could definitely replace a SSB bar (it basically is a SSB bar with more versatility) but not necessarily a cambered bar. I've also uploaded a cambered bar video: czcams.com/video/THBsD57OSx8/video.html you can checkout that discusses some of the pros/cons of cambered bars

@@ExerciseLab thanks but by camber bar I meant a squat bar with a big camber, I currently have the Rogue CB1, it def has camber longer than the kabuki at 16’’ drop, guessing the lvl4 position foe kabuki is probably 8-10

Ok got it. I've actually never used the Rogue CB1 but yes if it has a 16" drop that is definitely longer. I haven't measured the transformer but I would say 8-10" is about right. @@aba192

in this case, I'd say it probably boils down to personal preference somewhat as well. At a certain point I would imagine the drop/camber becomes a bit awkward and so any biomechanical advantages diminish. I don't know that to be the case with the CB1 however since I haven't used it. Looks like an interesting bar though. @@aba192

Ya it's just a fun way to give bands like Therabands, which are sort of the de facto PT clinic bands, a bit more juice :)

Ok thanks and good to know. I will have to check this out

I like it and have been using it mostly for tricep extensions and curls. It's a nice in between using a band vs rope attachment.

Ha, I didn't know that.

Yes as I continue using it I do like it more and more compared to traditional barbell squats. Kudos to Kabuki

Thanks

If you do it the way i describe in the video I think you can strike a balance between better quad recruitment and less knee torque

@@ExerciseLab Squats, hack squats… By the time you add the weight to get that effect, it’s not safe with zero benefit.

Again as mentioned in the video, there are strategies to overload the quads, not just with mechanical tension (adding weight as you suggest) which is only one way to induce muscle hypertrophy, but with metabolic stress.

@@Ont785 These Sissy Squats without a locked out hip (=Spanish Squats) are very close to hack squats as a movement.

Yes I know, but as I describe in the video I don't lean excessively back to try and get the best of both worlds (quad emphasis without getting too much strain on the knee). I know this is less than ideal for muscle development in the short run but probably better in the long run. Always depends on the goals

Yes this is actually intentional. Really the only reason to sissy squat is quad emphasis for hypertrophy (it isn't really a functional movement), so I shorten the range just a bit to keep the tension on the quads while putting less stress on the knees. As I discuss in the video, I'll often use this machine as a 'burnout' after other exercises (squats, lunges, etc.) where I train a full range, so I'm not really worried about leaning way back or going super deep on these.

@@ExerciseLab It is functional for stuff like Heels dance or ballet, in ballet they do them on tip toes with heels together and knees driving out.

Lean back from more of a stretch. It's more of a true sissy squat. Look and see the way you're doing it as a warm-up and just basically an air squat

Yes the press down into a pushup is somewhat intentional. I tend to do a hybrid pushup style press down when I'm using more resistance because I find that a bit easier on the elbows

Well I'm afraid no exercise is completely without risk but generally speaking I wouldn't say this is a 'dangerous' exercise. It will place more stress on the bicep when the arm is fully extended (at the bottom position) with EZ bar/dumbbell vs bands however. Yes many people do preacher curls with an EZ bar or dumbbells.

It's a standard foam roller (6 inch diameter and 3 feet long)

Lol. Yes I've been there. I remember walking down a steep hill after a tough session and almost needed to walk backwards 😁

I bought one of these for my home gym. Best $120 I ever spent! I'm 62 years old and have been working out since I was 15 years old. I've had my best quad gains ever! I don't even squat anymore, I simply use my stand for 5 sets, then grind out a couple of high rep sets on my leg extension until my legs feel like they are going to explode, then do ham strings on my legs extension machine. I've never felt any quad exercise like I feel these on that stand!

Yes you can. Two of the key ingredients for muscle building are mechanical tension and progressive overload. You can certainly achieve both with bands, possibly close to weights if the bands are strong enough. Now if you're looking to get into pro bodybuilding then you're definitely also going to want to use weights, but if all you want is a decent physique, bands can definitely get you there.

@@ExerciseLab Yea just looking to pack on muscle and decent physique, not professional bodybuilding or anything like that. Thank you for the quick reply.