Testimony to Squats

[NerdFlexd]

Ok so i started weightlifting in June this year. I spent 4 months doing splits, protein shake, eating like a beast, everything a good little weightlifter should do. With one exception, my gym didn't have a squat rack. I thought to myself, psh its only one excersise it can't be that important, so i left them out.

I was DEAD WRONG!

After 4 months, i had gotten literally no where. I had made no gains what so ever. So i got fed up and decided to start all over, new workout, new gym, new schedule, even new protein.

So i switched to a different gym and put squats and more compound lifts into my workout. and HOLY SH*T!

I started on Stronglifts 5x5 and in one month I've gained 20lbs, my squat has gone up 60 lbs, my row has gone up 85lbs, and my bench has gone up 50lbs. IN ONE MONTH!

To anyone starting out or struggling, do more squats, do them with good form, and i guarantee you will see results.

June-
163lbs
Squat:120(guess)
Bench: 90lbs
Row: 100lbs

Begining of Sept.-
167lbs
Squat: 120lbs
Bench: 100lbs
Row:100lbs

Today(Oct 13th)
185lbs
Squat: 180lbs
Bench: 140lbs
Row: 185lbs( I can row my own weight F*** YEAH!)

Simply put DO SQUATS!

[planetfuzz]

Yup! Deadlifts too. I didn't squat or deadlift for several years because they kind of intimidated me and I didn't really think I needed them. Doing those exercises not only made me sore beyond belief but I packed on the pounds and started making gains in every aspect of my training. I just feel like squats and deadlifts work muscles I don't even know I have.

[suncloud]

damn. thats one heck of an improvement. great job brotha.

[NerdFlexd]

damn. thats one heck of an improvement. great job brotha.

lol thanks, if only i had listened to you more when is started

[KLaw666]

im not knocking the squat by any means. . . . . .but almost 20lbs in 1 1/2 months?. . . . seems like maybe you had some additional help

[suncloud]

if you've never done them before, its very similar to going to the gym for the first time. one month gains are unusually high, then taper off drastically. 20 pounds though is probably quite rare.

even if he did have help, 20 pounds in a month is phenomenal gain.

[nemo]

The squat kills me,.. that being said though, every time I squat my whole body gets pumped,... it's as if I can feel myself growing! Great job NF, keep up the good work.

[ABNRanger]

Cloud is that your shoulder? Man I just realized that, it looks like a side of a pig hanging at the slaughter house (no offense). Man you have some big arms and shoulders . Now to the tread.. I too have noticed that as I do more squats and leg presses, I have achieved more gains through out. On the issue of suat form, are you guys going all the way down till your butt touches or just to the 90 degree mark?

[suncloud]

Cloud is that your shoulder? Man I just realized that, it looks like a side of a pig hanging at the slaughter house (no offense). Man you have some big arms and shoulders . Now to the tread.. I too have noticed that as I do more squats and leg presses, I have achieved more gains through out. On the issue of suat form, are you guys going all the way down till your butt touches or just to the 90 degree mark?

thanks ABN - my avatar is my tricep.

squats are so weird in that we all know that the bigger muscles release the most testosterone form your testes. the biggest muscle is the glutes. the longest muscle is the quads. i would love to see a document - any document - that says which muscle is releasing the most testosterone.

because of this, i do squats till my hams hit my calves (moderate weight), then do squats to the 90 degree plane another day going heavy. its easier to just get two exercises in that does damage rather than not get the desired effect at all. i'll do some research on this to give you a more definitive answer.

[nemo]

I mix it up also, but primarily I do 90 degrees because I find I actually cheat myself with momentum on ATG squats. I am trying to work on this lately, I mean not bouncing at the bottom,... can't be good for my knees!!!

[Joshua86]

It's funny how so many people despise leg training, until they actually get into it and figure out how beneficial it really is.

[ABNRanger]

I am kind of the same with the all the way down with light weight, then maintaining a 90 degree with the heavier weight. On hack squats I go all the way down. I just started splitting my let routine, quads one day, and hams another day. So far I like that routine.

[Kristofer68SS]

I love squats and deads..........screw the rest

[NerdFlexd]

im not knocking the squat by any means. . . . . .but almost 20lbs in 1 1/2 months?. . . . seems like maybe you had some additional help

All i take as a supp is protein powder, and creatine(5g b4, 5 after). other then that just good clean squats and compound lifts.

are you guys going all the way down till your butt touches or just to the 90 degree mark?

I go past the 90 just a bit, if you havent been doing this it makes it a whole lot harder and im my opinion a whole lot more effective. You may have to drop the weight because comming up from that last little bit below the 90 is the single hardest part of a squat, so do it.

[MikeyBuddha]

lol thanks, if only i had listened to you more when is started

It's really nice to see a "non-squatter" come around and admit to being wrong! Good work man

[conwict]

I have a buddy who just gained 10 pounds in a month or so after he started training with me. He looks a lot bigger, too.

squats are so weird in that we all know that the bigger muscles release the most testosterone form your testes. the biggest muscle is the glutes. the longest muscle is the quads. i would love to see a document - any document - that says which muscle is releasing the most testosterone.

It isn't so much those muscles specifically, IMO, as it is just the massive systemic overload from having a heavy bar on your back and going through a massive range of motion. The deep squat has a longer range of motion than any other lift besides the snatch and clean and jerk.

Think about it, the leg press, etc would trigger just as much hormonal release if it didn't have something to do with heavy spinal loading and a long range of motion.

[suncloud]

It isn't so much those muscles specifically, IMO, as it is just the massive systemic overload from having a heavy bar on your back and going through a massive range of motion. The deep squat has a longer range of motion than any other lift besides the snatch and clean and jerk.

i like the way you think. by hormonal if you mean testosterone, you're probably right. if by hormonal you mean test and GH, i'd disagree. overhead squats release more growth hormone than any other exercise. why? because your stabilizer muscles are holding the weight up. by that theory and having the weight on your back during squats, you slightly move your back as you move up and down (no homo). also, your traps tense up immensely with the weights on there. you can't get that effect laying down, where your legs and glutes are isolated.

its like comparing deads to rack deads. you won't get the same muscles involved, but it will still put size on you.

all the major lifts - squats, deads, bench, release huge amounts of testosterone as well as growth hormone. leg extensions would release a huge amount of testosterone, probably the same amount as squats, but because of the isolation - glutes and quads only, you wouldn't have as much growth hormone release from leg extensions as you would from squats.

i'm not 100% sure of this, but the hypothesis sounds right. input please, as i'd love to discuss this more. growth hormone release is not understood to the degree testosterone release is

growth hormone is the 2nd best muscle builder, and given the right workout and diet, you can spike it almost as high as you can from your first REM cycle of sleep - see anabolic diet + total body workouts.

by having both testosterone as well as growth hormone working for you, you have a tremendous opportunity for growth.

those two exercises you listed - the snatch and clean and jerk, as well as any olympic lift are incredible growth hormone boosters.

reps for making me think about this.

[Jayburned]

I effnlove it, I lifted for years with only weak leg training and then I go to a new gym, start sqautting my ass off and boom, i went from squatting 225 like once to getting 300 for a double in maybe two and a half months, not amazing but I'll take it!

nothin but a peanut.

[Matt6969]

ya good work bro those are some good gains.

[conwict]

suncloud,

Thanks. To be honest I'm not sure I can discuss this much further without baseless speculation.

I have done overhead squats in the past, fairly extensively (got up to 155 or so, deep of course, in sets). Excellent exercise. Definite systemic effects.

I'm just not sure I can agree about the leg extensions and squats releasing the same amount of test...You aren't exposing the quads to the same amount of weight even if the quads aren't the sole mover in squats. Kind of like heavy bench or board press or floor press: although the triceps aren't the sole mover they are still exposed to a lot more weight than any single-joint exercise.