Barbell Squats - The holy grail of leg development?

[Rex]

There is an ongoing debate about free weight barbell squats and their necessity in building champonship legs. Some people swear by them, others, Dorian Yates for example, never incorporate them into their training routine.

What´s your take?

[knotahumanbeing]

Personally, I believe they are a staple in just overall strength, not just leg development. The fact that it builds core strength, lower back, and legs is vital to anyone no matter what their physical ability, goals are in life. Then not to mention to variety of exercises/stances etc, that can be done with the barbell squat speaks volumes about how it can be used to develop leg growth and strength. Even if you're not competing (bodybuilding or powerlifting) I believe that it is a major component to leg development, core strength, and physical fitness for any age group, fitness level, and gender. There are alternatives to building legs and achieving other desired results, but an all-in-one exercise that can be tailored to any number of people beats doing several exercises. Just my two cents

Rob

[rainman]

In terms of leg development, (and this is just a personal opinion), I feel deadlifts are the better exercise, mainly because the hamstrings can often get neglected. Not dismissing squats by any means, but there are a whole host of machines and freeweight exercises that can hit the legs just as effectively, as Dorian Yates proved.

[naturalguy]

I don't see how there is even a debate. Just about every dude with big legs has one thing in common...........they squat.

Dorian even said he squatted his first 5-6 years training, he abandoned them later because of injuries.

[Rex]

I don't see how there is even a debate. Just about every dude with big legs has one thing in common...........they squat.

Dorian even said he squatted his first 5-6 years training, he abandoned them later because of injuries.

I totally agree with you.

Btw: Levrone had better legs than Yates and he definitly squatted heavy.
Dave Palumbo told me that he had helped Levorne prepping for his 1996 Arnold Classic victory. As he came to visit him at 3 weeks out, they trained legs together and Levrone was still doing 6 plates per side for reps.
I think that says it all...

[Swolepez]

I think squats should be the foundation in which legs should be built on....perfect form, going low each rep... No exercise is better for legs. Plus it's a testosterone booster as well. I understand that some athletes like Dorian Yates and Jay Cutler ( I believe he still smith machine squats at least) stopped doing squats and their legs were/are still big. But they started off using squats in the beginning to build that foundation and only stopped due to injury or injury prevention as they age or the like.

[KettleBellFreak]

Just the whole idea of not squatting during a training week... not for me. I do it when I feel super hurt, but if I'm good to go, I'm squatting. I just feel like it gets everything in the leg shocked and ready to go for isolation. And uh, TOM PLATZ.

[Rex]

To be honest, I started this thread because I hurt my knee a week ago. I have to take some time off from squatting and this fucking sucks!

Luckly I can still perform every other exercise. Even walking lunges and hack squats don´t bother my knee at all. Just the squat...
Maybe it´s wear and tear from always doing the same thing over and over again.

Any ideas?

[weightsb4dates]

Barbell squats are an excellent lift for over all leg development, meaning that i feel they train your entire leg. However i believe a combination of isolation exercises coupled with a variation of squats like hack/front squats, or press like leg presses or inverted leg press, will stimulate as much or more growth than standard squats in your thighs particularly the quads.

i still squat nearly every week, and i squat as heavy as i can with solid form and rep range to target growth. but there are some major draw backs to squatting in my opinion. the first and in my opinion the greatest problem for bodybuilders, is i believe it thickens the waste, this is not a problem for power lifters tho.

the debate will continue one, one things for sure squats have their place in every split, and they are a tried and proven method of putting size on your wheels.

[brentwillisbgw]

For me they make a pretty big difference. I was unable to squat for a couple months earlier in the year, and even though I was doing a lot of leg pressing, hack squatting, and lunges, my legs definitely lost some size. Your body may respond differently than mine did to machine work, though, who knows. Good luck with your recovery.

[MikeHerman]

I wouldn't lay off squats forever. They're one of my favorite exercises, but aside from personal preference, they do wonders. Not only for your legs, but your entire physique. For now, baby the shit out of your knee. Take a few weeks off of squatting, maybe wear one of those drug store neoprene knee sleeves, or an Ace wrap while working legs, and then try some light squats. I had a strained groin for a couple of weeks and took time off to let it heal. My squat weight dropped about 20 lbs., but my form is now better and I feel no pain when coming out of the hole. Preventative maintenance is what will save you in this game.

[JHOORNSTRA]

I did 3500 lbs on the leg press for 10, 1/2 reps so really 5 full reps so my legs are huge.