Well, I guess you really cannot have a discussion about getting big without looking the monster square between the eyes. Either you dominate the monster or you will never will get where you need to, or want to, go. And monster is the full squat.
Yes, the full squat. I am not talking about the half squat or the parallel squat or the bench squat or the kumquat. I am talking about a full on, butt to heel, deep in the hole, full squat (running out of adjectives).
Really, no other exercise stresses your entire body quite the way the squat does. When I stand there at my maximum weight of 315 lbs across my upper back, my entire body is on red alert. Every muscle, every fiber is flexed and contracted. I am staring so hard at the wall in front of me, my eyeballs are flexed. Even my adrenaline system is stressed and flexed. For me, 315 is a lot of weight and the thought of descending into that hole and not being able to get up, is on my mind.
As the descent begins, my entire body is flexed and fighting the movement. From the bottom, on the way up, every single muscle from the front of the calves to the Achilles heels to every fiber along the thighs up to the gluts and hips are on fire. Every muscle north of the gluts and hips are in death struggle to keep the body upright. Wow.
Is there any other exercise like this? Sure, the dead lift can be pretty titanic, but heck, worse comes to worse, just drop the bar. That would not be a really good idea with the squat.
By the way, just to give you an opposite point of view – you should visit Rusty Moore’s site, Fitness Black Book. It’s one of the most popular fitness sites around with 2 million visitors a year, or some crazy number like that. He’s not into squats, at least not past the first couple of months. I think squats are foundational. Rusty thinks squats give you big, round thighs that rub together and look terrible (he’s into the hollywood look). Head over, take a read, see if you agree, then come – PLEASE – back.
The squat is the monster king of all exercises. Done right and executed correctly, not only will the squat be your growth engine, it will also give you tremendous, explosive power. When I first started doing full squats at the age of 16, I dropped my 40 yard sprint (for football tryouts) time to 4.8 seconds. When I ran the 100 yard, absolutely no one beat me out of the blocks. Explosive power comes from squats.
Full Back Squat
- Set the bar low on your upper back. Imagine where the base of your traps would be across your upper back and set the bar right there. Position the bar where you are most comfortable.
- Reach your hands under and back around the bar and brace it against the inside of the weight plate.
- Head is looking at point directly in front.
- Your body is completely flexed and back is slightly arched.
- Feet are shoulder width apart, with feet pointing slightly outward in a natural position.
- To begin, simply and slowly drop your butt, moving the knees directly over the feet. Do not let your knees stray; keep them moving directly over the feet.
- Keeping your back tight and arched; drop until you are in a full squat position.
- Just as soon as you hit bottom, power right back up. You must not bounce up. The descent, the stop, the ascent must be smooth.
- The entire movement your back is tight and arched.
- Right as you reach the top, just be standing straight up; drop and start descending. There is no pause at the bottom or the top. Just a like piston, you smoothly go down and up.
Key Points
- Do this exercise in a power rack or squat rack. Set the safety pins or bars low enough for you to execute a full squat.
- Use a spotter.
- Practice movement with empty bar until you can execute correctly. Exercise form is an imperative.
- Wear good quality athletic shoes with support – or try wearing workman’s boots.
- Your knees are involved, I cannot stress enough that you must do the movement smoothly with no bounce. And your knees must travel directly over your feet.
- If flexibility or ankle strength is an issue, do the exercise with your heels elevated an inch or two. Just position a 2X4 or a 10 lb olympic plate under your heels. This will help keep you upright. As you get stronger, remove the lifts.
- At no point, can you or must you lean forward. Fight to keep upright throughout the entire movement.
Variations
- Front Squat – It is done same as back squat, except the bar is rested across your collar bond. It is an outstanding exercise for isolating the quadriceps; just keep the weights light until you master the movement.
- Smith Machine – Same as the back squat, except step forward about half a foot. So, in the start position, the bar is across your upper back, your back is absolute straight up and your feet are out front about a half foot. The foot positioning will allow you to descend absolutely rock bottom. The burn in your quadriceps will be hotter than the fires of Hades.
- Zercher Squats – This guy is a complete stud
So, there you have – the squat. Conquer it, tame it, own it – and you will get big!
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