Training & Nutrition Insider Secrets for a Lean-Body TruthAboutAbs . com
2.5 The Ultimate Hard-Body Exercise
As you may have already discovered , the squat is at the top of the heap ( along with deadlifts ) as one of the most effective overall exercises for stimulating body composition changes ( muscle gain and fat loss ). This is because exercises like squats and deadlifts use more muscle groups under a heavy load than almost any other weight bearing exercises known to man . Hence , these exercises stimulate the greatest hormonal responses ( growth hormone , testosterone , etc .) of all exercises . In fact , university research studies have even proven that inclusion of squats into a training program increases upper body development , in addition to lower body development , even though upper body specific joint movements are not performed during the squat . Whether your goal is gaining muscle mass , losing body fat , building a strong and functional body , or improving athletic performance , the basic squat and deadlift ( and their variations ) are the ultimate solution . If you don ’ t believe me that squats and deadlifts are THE basis for a lean and powerful body , then go ahead and join all of the other overweight people pumping away mindlessly for hours on boring cardio equipment . You won ’ t find long boring cardio in any of my programs !
Squats can be done simply with your bodyweight or with any free weighted objects for extra resistance such as barbells , dumbbells , kettlebells , sandbags , etc . Squats should only be done with free weights – NEVER with a Smith machine or any other squat machines ! Machines do not allow your body to follow natural , biomechanically-correct movement paths . You also perform less work because the machine stabilizes the weight for you . Therefore , you get weaker results !
The type of squat that people are most familiar with is the barbell back squat where the bar is resting on the trapezius muscles of the upper back . Many professional strength coaches believe that front squats ( where the bar rests on the shoulders in front of the head ) and overhead squats ( where the bar is locked out in a snatch grip overhead throughout the squat ) are more functional to athletic performance than back squats with less risk of lower back injury . I feel that a combination of all
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