Squat For Power, Squat For Size
Many weight trainers concentrate on building the "show muscles" like the chest and arms by doing in inordinate number of bench presses and barbell curls.
But working out this way is a bad idea.
Not only do you build a body that looks goofy, but you also set yourself up for injury, due to the imbalanced strength you build.
You also severely limit your size gains.
It may seem counter intuitive, but if you want to build the most overall mass, you MUST include Squats in your weight training routines.
In fact, Squats need to be the cornerstone of your bodybuilding efforts.
The reason? Squats have been proven time and time again to stimulate the most muscle growth.
They involve the biggest muscles of the body (the glutes, quadriceps, spinal erectors, hamstrings, abs, and calves) and the specific stresses that they place on the nervous and muscular systems causes a huge outpouring of growth hormone.
Coupled with high-quality protein sources, Squats can help you achieve greater muscle mass gains than any other exercise.
It is my firm belief that if you don't squat, you won't grow.
Period.
At the very least, you won't grow as much as you could.
On your leg day (you do have a leg day, right?), put Squats at the front of your workout while you have the most energy.
You don't need to do a lot of reps, but I would suggest that every workout you vary the weights and reps.
The rep range you choose is personal, of course, but I suggest that your rep range can be quite large.
As little as 4 reps and as high as 30 reps is a good range.
Change things up! One workout, do 3 sets of 10 reps.
Next workout, do one set of 4, 6, and 15 reps.
Next workout, try 2 sets of 25 followed by one set of 10.
In any event, no matter how you choose to incorporate Squats into your workout, make sure you DO them:
If you do, it is my firm belief that you will experience exceptional growth in strength, size, and power.
And these benefits will carry over to the rest of your exercises.
But working out this way is a bad idea.
Not only do you build a body that looks goofy, but you also set yourself up for injury, due to the imbalanced strength you build.
You also severely limit your size gains.
It may seem counter intuitive, but if you want to build the most overall mass, you MUST include Squats in your weight training routines.
In fact, Squats need to be the cornerstone of your bodybuilding efforts.
The reason? Squats have been proven time and time again to stimulate the most muscle growth.
They involve the biggest muscles of the body (the glutes, quadriceps, spinal erectors, hamstrings, abs, and calves) and the specific stresses that they place on the nervous and muscular systems causes a huge outpouring of growth hormone.
Coupled with high-quality protein sources, Squats can help you achieve greater muscle mass gains than any other exercise.
It is my firm belief that if you don't squat, you won't grow.
Period.
At the very least, you won't grow as much as you could.
On your leg day (you do have a leg day, right?), put Squats at the front of your workout while you have the most energy.
You don't need to do a lot of reps, but I would suggest that every workout you vary the weights and reps.
The rep range you choose is personal, of course, but I suggest that your rep range can be quite large.
As little as 4 reps and as high as 30 reps is a good range.
Change things up! One workout, do 3 sets of 10 reps.
Next workout, do one set of 4, 6, and 15 reps.
Next workout, try 2 sets of 25 followed by one set of 10.
In any event, no matter how you choose to incorporate Squats into your workout, make sure you DO them:
- First in your workout
- EVERY Leg day
- Vary your reps and weights
- Do them strictly.
Good form is of paramount importance when doing any exercise, Squats included
If you do, it is my firm belief that you will experience exceptional growth in strength, size, and power.
And these benefits will carry over to the rest of your exercises.
Source...