Just Do Squat!!!

Well, not literally. Doing nothing will get you nowhere and doing only squats (the exercise) does not constitute a comprehensive weight lifting regimen. However, if you only do one exercise it should be the squat, and for many obvious reasons, and for many more you might not have thought about before. Aside from squats being a great leg builder because they’re a compound exercise (working the quads, hamstrings, glutes, calves, rhomboids, traps, hip flexors, groin, spinal erectors, and knee ligature) they work to bring out systemic changes within your body on so many levels. Yes! Doing squats can make you bigger and stronger, in more ways than one, in other parts of your body. As one example, they strengthen the heart muscle by forcing the quadriceps to forcefully contract, thereby constricting the leg arteries, acting as a muscular pump to push blood through your system. Obviously, in order to make maximal gains, however, you will use squats as only one component of your complete workout routine. There are three main points I'd like to touch upon.

First, leg training, in my humble opinion, provides the foundation upon which the rest of your weight training / bodybuilding system should be based. Without it, you'll look like those goofy stick legged guys you see every time at the gym who it seems only know how to bench press! I've seen enough of them and have noticed how they train. Ok, here comes another rant...lol. Whenever I see these guys (the ones with the huge upper bodies and no legs) I feel pity for them because they don't know what they're missing. They're in the gym pumping out set after set of bench presses (bench pressing by the way, is an inferior mode of chest development training...which I'll touch upon in a later post). What they get are fat pecs and nothing else. When you look at them their bodies are shaped to where your eye gradually is drawn downward towards their legs. So what you notice are their skinny legs and not their bulging upper body. They just look plain silly and they hide their legs with long sweats or long shorts because they know they look foolish. What I'm getting at here is, take a look at professional bodybuilders. Their bodies are built in such a way that your eye is drawn towards the middle (V-shaped upper body and big legs tapering together to meet in the middle at the slimmed waist). They have the complete physique.

Second, what's the proper way to squat? Well, there are variations from back squat (barbell resting on upper back), front squat (barbell resting on front deltoids), hack squats (hack squat machine), sissy squats (bodyweight assisted). My preference is for the back squat which I do on a Smith Machine. You may have a favorite already or may develop a liking for one over the other in the near future. I like doing them on a Smith Machine because I like the way the rack stabilizes the weight so I can do more of it and can concentrate on my form. I never liked doing free standing back squats because I don't have enough flexibility in my hip to allow me to get that deep bend while, at the same time, controlling and stabilizing the weight. Here's a great video tutorial that shows you the proper way to do squats. It's not on a Smith Machine but you'll get the general idea.

If you're new to squats you might want to try them out on a Smith Machine just to get the form right and to build some strength in your legs and back and to allow your knees and hips to get accustomed to the deep bend stretching. Before you get the form down you might not be able to do alot of weight. Like me, I'm 6'4" and have a far distance to push the weight up. According to my workout log in my journal I didn't really start training with squats until December 2007. At that time I started out with only 95 lbs. (the smith machine bar plus one 25 lb. plate on either side). As of May 18, 2008 my heavist workout weight was 185 lbs. for about 3 sets/8 reps each. That's a gain of 90 lbs., or 95%. Be patient, though. Allow your body to get used to the movement before really getting into heavier weights. Start off with light weights and get your form down and build strength in the joints. Then gradually build up. You'll notice that you'll go up quickly in weight.

Remember when I talked about how squats can help you acheive a level of fitness beyond just developing huge, ripped quads? Well, here's what I'm talking about....

Squats (especially done with heavy weight for 8-10 reps) releases huge amounts of testosterone and growth hormone. In doing so, the hormonal release, in combination with compound movements indicative of squatting, is such that the rest of your body will benefit from it. So, if you only did squats you'd see overall growth in the other muscles of your body, albeit to a smaller extent than if you had also trained those areas. However, it follows that squatting, by releasing muscle building compounds, will help in making your bench press stronger, your biceps curls more explosive, etc.

Third, squats help to give you more energy, boost cardio output, and boost your immune system. This is just my opinion, but one backed up from sound experience. Why did I pick squats and not any other exercise or the total workout regimen as the reasons for the aforementioned benefits. Because, and this is only my opinion, I never saw those benefits before integrating squats into my workout. It's true and it may work for you. Try this out and use your journal. Every time you do your leg workout make note of what you feel like after each set. I'll bet you'll notice that when you start out for the first few months you'll be huffing and puffing feeling like you might not be able to catch your breathe after a heavy squat set. However, as I've noticed over the past few months I still do breathe heavy, which is natural, but I "catch my breathe" after a shorter period of time after the set and my breathing begins to normalize in a faster.

One more thing, squats will help to boost your immune system. I keep a pretty hectic business schedule and only get about 6 hours of sleep every night (not the ideal 8-10 hours), even when lifting heavy. Before I incorporated squats into my routine I would get sick with colds and sore throats regularly 3 or 4 times a year. Been squating for almost 7 months and went the whole winter on 6 hours a sleep a night and not one sniffle. Try it out. Until we meet again, good lifting!