Want to stand out from the crowd this year with some serious quad definition? I have the perfect leg exercise for you! Joe Weider’s Sissy Squats. If you’re like me, traditional squats put too much emphasis on upper thigh mass, giving you thick upper legs that rub together when you walk. Not exactly what a Fitness Model is looking for. We want shapely, sculpted, FEMININE legs. While talking over some squat variations with my coach, Jean-Jacques Barrett, he suggested that I try these guys. They really target the tear-drop muscles of the quads, as well as the quad sweep, while minimizing recruitment of the adductor muscle. My dream exercise!!!! If you’re a Bikram Yogi like me, these will remind you A LOT of the feeling of Craig Villani’s 2nd part of Awkward Pose…the longest leg shaking minute of your life. These are not for the faint of heart!
I tried these in my last leg training session, and immediately fell in love with them. I tried them first with a barbell behind my legs, but found it too awkward. I don’t have wrist straps, so DBs were also out, so I made do with the smith machine. The first set I went light, just to figure out the dynamics of the lift, and then I started stacking on the plates. I’ll be doing 4 reps of 8 for the next 4 weeks to get some strength going, and then in January I’ll burn my legs out with my secret rep variations to bring my legs in tight for my photoshoot…You will looooove these, I promise!
1) set your heels up on a block so that you are balancing on your toes, heels supported, and feet parallel, about shoulder distance apart. You will backload the bar so that when you standing up, your neck will be in line with your knees. Keep your knees slightly bent at this point.
2) simply lower yourself down, leaning backwards, and go down as far as you can without losing your balance. Yes, your knees will go past your feet.
*If you want to try this with dumbells, simply hold the dumbells by your sides and follow the above protocol….you should feel a deep burn in your quads after just a few reps, but no pain in your knees.
Enjoy!
