I recently bought a set of weights to do some training at home. However Ive encountered a slight problem. It seems I can squat a decent weight, which was a supreise to me. However as I'm not that strong I'm finding it a bit difficult to get the weight onto my shoulders to push the squats. Last night I squated 50kg easily but had trouble lifting anything heavier without jerking my back. Has anyone any tips?
ideally you'd need a squat rack but you can get away with light weights using two sawhorses as a cheaper version until you can afford a better set up
Flaming: Haven't been taight how to do cleans. I might give the deadlifts a try, I just like the workout you get from good deap squats. Was thinking of investing in a bench, would I get to use the rack on the back of a bench for squating??
Try corner squats. Put one end of the bar right in the corner of a room, and put weight on the other. Facing the corner with the bar supported under your chin (or overhead for a better variation), squat. You won't be able to do it if you don't maintain correct form. Great way to teach the squat that I stole recently from a t-nation article.
With Ad, and Tom, try some variations on the squat: Front squat Overhead Squat Zuercher Squat (Hack and Corner have already been mentioned)
All of the above is good advice. In terms of the saw horses, that's my budget squat rack. Each saw horse has a safety limit of 120kg, so the 2 of them can hold up to 240kg which is hardly a light weight (and I'm an eternity from a 240kg squat). If you get the adjustable type (depending on your height) you will almost be standing up when you unrack the weight.