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Barbell to squat or not to squat

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My co worker pretty much swears by squatting. He says legs are the biggest strongest muscles of the body and by training them there's a huge hormonal response. Also, i read having strong legs is a bio marker of living a longer better life. Personally, i like the idea of push and pull (deadlift and bench press) and some type of carry. It's simple and direct. But if doing squats would be a game changer then I'll start incorporating them.
 
Maybe yes, maybe no. Everyone should own good movement patterns, including a squat, but you do not have to choose to load every pattern heavily. I prefer to keep my squat good but moderate in weight while I load my deadlift heavy.

The only observation I'll offer is that you should be prepared to gain weight if you start squatting seriously. The couple of times I've done it, even scrawny ol' me added muscle and pretty quickly. I don't want that, so I stopped squatting heavy.

-S-
 
bringing up your squat will probably improve your carry and it improves some people's deadlift, others not so much.
Ultimately it's personal preference but improving at things is always fun!
 
bringing up your squat will probably improve your carry and it improves some people's deadlift, others not so much.
My experience and that of a lot of other folks suggest that a powerlifting style squat will help your deadlift. A PL style squat is, after all and to quote Rif, a deadlift with the bar on your back. A high bar or front squat, probably not a lot of carryover to the DL.

I follow Gray Cook's advice: "Maintain the squat - train the deadlift [swing, any type of pull]". Pavel said on similar note at our SFB: "Not everybody needs to squat heavy, but everybody needs to squat."
This is, for what it's worth, what I've always done. I tried training as a 3-lift powerlifter but found squatting was adding muscle and I didn't want to do that, so I went back to DL only at meets. I squat bw-only as a mobility exercise, basically a goblet squat but I'm able to do it without needing the counterbalance so I don't bother with the bell.

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Steve. Gaining muscle isn't a concern to me. I don't compete where i may need to watch my weight. Although, gaining muscle would be a nice sie effect.
Pavel. By maintaining the squat, would the goblet squats from the s&s warm up be enough? Or would someone need to do more?
 
Ps. I am looking to make sure I don't have the typical bar body though. All upper body and skinny little chicken legs.
 
@HUNTER1313, you have to sort out the aesthetics for yourself. I've always looked like a distance runner, with skinny, little chicken legs and skinny, little chicken arms, and I'm not interested in changing. If you want to add some muscle to your frame, you can't do better than bench press and barbell squat.

There are a lot of good powerlifting templates out there you could try, e.g., you alternate workouts of BP/DL and BP/SQ, e.g.

Mon = BP/SQ
Wed = BP/DL
Fri = BP/SQ

Mon = BP/DL
Wed = BP/SQ
Fri = BP/DL

Pavel has written up one of these on a Tim Ferris blog, if memory serves. If

... gaining muscle would be a nice side effect.

then, by all means, squat. It can make you a lot stronger, and if you're on the skinny side, adding muscle can make your numbers go way up. I don't have a link handy, but I remember reading Rickey Dale Crain's records - he started as a 148, and when he went to 165, his number were much higher. He also moved to 181 and his numbers went up again but not by a ton, the point being that he was probably sporting a good amount more muscle at 165 and you could argue that this was an "optimum" weight for him as a strength athlete.

-S-
 
Ps. I am looking to make sure I don't have the typical bar body though. All upper body and skinny little chicken legs.

Squatting will fix this. Nothing builds lower body muscles like squatting. Beginning barbell lifters sometimes have the opposite problem - on a squat-heavy barbell program (like Starting Strength), people complain about getting a T-Rex body: big legs and an underdeveloped upper body.

The good news is that it isn't that hard to find the right balance.
 
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Squats really build muscle, and not just in the upper body. Proper heavy squatting will build your upper body as well, even muscles you'd think you'd never use in the squat. For overall muscle gains, I think the squat is the movement to beat. It's also one of the best movements in it's own right as well.
 
One caution: I've avoided the squat for 20+ years because even when squatting "only" 300 lbs my inner thighs were beginning
to touch (at 5'10" 170 lbs) and the tighter suit and shirt fittings that are in fashion make a wardrobe change a financial atomic event
for some of us.
 
Squat. Build some muscle - it is good. Squatting is hard thats why people avoid it.
 
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