Do Squats and Deadlifts Work for You?

Training Bodybuilding
61

[quote]Cephalic_Carnage wrote:

[quote]BruceLeeFan wrote:
you were doing 240lb back squat for sets of 8-10 reps [/quote]

Yeah, 240lbs don’t really do anything for me. Weird. Can’t imagine why.

[/quote]

.> I didn’t mean it as in 240lbs will do something for everyone. It was hypothetical.

Or in the world of the already-big guys on this forum. Does 240lbs never build anyone up? Regardless of training experience?

Forget I said anything maybe I’d of been safer putting in any other arbitrary number as long as it was higher huh.

62

I think you just got the wrong idea somehow tbh.

63

[quote]BruceLeeFan wrote:

[quote]Cephalic_Carnage wrote:

[quote]BruceLeeFan wrote:
you were doing 240lb back squat for sets of 8-10 reps [/quote]

Yeah, 240lbs don’t really do anything for me. Weird. Can’t imagine why.

[/quote]

.> I didn’t mean it as in 240lbs will do something for everyone. It was hypothetical.

Or in the world of the already-big guys on this forum. Does 240lbs never build anyone up? Regardless of training experience?

Forget I said anything maybe I’d of been safer putting in any other arbitrary number as long as it was higher huh.[/quote]

You’re taking me too seriously. I don’t think I can keep up being serious in this forum anymore… Sorry.

64

[quote]Cephalic_Carnage wrote:

[quote]BruceLeeFan wrote:

[quote]Cephalic_Carnage wrote:

[quote]BruceLeeFan wrote:
you were doing 240lb back squat for sets of 8-10 reps [/quote]

Yeah, 240lbs don’t really do anything for me. Weird. Can’t imagine why.

[/quote]

.> I didn’t mean it as in 240lbs will do something for everyone. It was hypothetical.

Or in the world of the already-big guys on this forum. Does 240lbs never build anyone up? Regardless of training experience?

Forget I said anything maybe I’d of been safer putting in any other arbitrary number as long as it was higher huh.[/quote]

You’re taking me too seriously. I don’t think I can keep up being serious in this forum anymore… Sorry.

[/quote]

I know, it’s like you need to add smiley faces everywhere…

L.O.L smiley face

65

[quote]BruceLeeFan wrote:

[quote]Professor X wrote:

[quote]BruceLeeFan wrote:
I don’t mean to alienate anyone here by saying what I’m about to. I realize different things work for different people…

But come on…

From the way some of you guys are talking, you come across as though you are saying squats/deadlifts do nothing for you.

At the end of the day most of you dudes are probably able to squat respectable numbers and are you really trying to tell me that if for instance you were doing 240lb back squat for sets of 8-10 reps that it does NOTHING for your body?

Because it has to be doing something.

Otherwise it just doesn’t make sense.

If you find it really doesn’t work in the way you’d expect it to then fair play but don’t go out there and try to make out as if it’s an exercise that does nothing. Because we all know that’s not true.[/quote]

???

Who has written ANYTHING like this? There is a whole 50+ page thread above about how I train and I know I have gone into detail about this way too many times to count.

Some of you see what you want to see and nothing more.[/quote]

I wasn’t aiming anything at you. I’ve read some of that thread and I totally accept that you train how you do and I respect it.

I was just saying I was picking up some sort of vibe on the first page of this thread, before you posted I believe, that seemed to come across like a lot of those guys weren’t just saying hey they don’t work for me but that they were generally trying to get across some moot point that squats or deadlifts don’t work. Maybe I was wrong. Maybe that’s not what they were trying to get across.
But whatever… I don’t care. I don’t particularly feel like getting in some sort of relative argument. We all know what the benefits are that’s all I’m saying.[/quote]

Very few posters mentioned that Squats and/or Deadlifts did nothing for them, and that’s usually because of their height, long arms or whatever. Even so they changed their exercises to get the mass and strength development they needed.

66

[quote]Professor X wrote:

[quote]Cephalic_Carnage wrote:
I’m sure that recent t-vixen picture will convince even a callous and cold-hearted villain such as Professor X that you are not fat.

He probably had not yet seen it when he made his horrible, horrible post.

[/quote]

Look, I think I will need quite a few more pictures of her hind quarters before making any further decisions.

[/quote]

I wholeheartedly agree with this last statement. In fact I think we’d all benefit from more of said pictures.

:slight_smile:

67

Weekly Back Squats and Deadlifts gave me legs I could be proud of, but I had a hard time gaining any mass north of my waist. As soon as I hurt my back and dropped them I was able to fill out and actually look like I lifted weights.
Too much toll on my body, especially doing a program like Madcow’s 5x5 with 3 squat workouts a week.

68

[quote]hungry4more wrote:

It’s pretty silly to expect a big upper back from just deadlifting, no matter what your leverages are.

That’s what fuckin heavy row variations, rack chins, pullups, and pulldowns are for. I thought that was common knowledge…[/quote]

Where did I say all I do for back is deadlifts?

69

[quote]punkguitarist wrote:

[quote]hungry4more wrote:

It’s pretty silly to expect a big upper back from just deadlifting, no matter what your leverages are.

That’s what fuckin heavy row variations, rack chins, pullups, and pulldowns are for. I thought that was common knowledge…[/quote]

Where did I say all I do for back is deadlifts?[/quote]

Wasn’t referring to you in particular, it’s a general theme that’s been going on for a while now…people assume JUST getting their deadlift up will somehow get them a back like Yates.

240 lbs for 8-10 reps? That seems strong to some people…but umm…I wouldn’t feel any burn/pain/difficulty at all…so no…that wouldn’t “do” anything for me…355x20…different story.

70

[quote]Professor X wrote:

Front squats are extremely uncomfortable for me and awkward. My biceps limit me from grabbing the bar without using the method where the arms are crossed…and when doing that I have very little control of the weight.

I would have more sweep if I could train my legs without severe knee pain for weeks afterwards. My legs are damned strong but my knees are shot.

Thank two mile runs in combat boots for that.[/quote]

Don’t surprise me about the oly grip being awkward…but there’s still hands free grip and, as you said, mixed grip. Knee problems aside, I would have to imagine the discomfort is mainly due to setup issues…I can’t even tell you how many PMs I’ve gotten regarding front squat form/setup, and usually with a few little pointers they get a lot more outta them.

I hear ya on the fucking combat boot runs…once we had to run 7 miles in full cammies, shit you not. My knees and feet were fucked for about 2 weeks afterwards. Most retarded idea I have EVER heard is running in boots like that. Hell, I’m only 22, and just running up and down the flightline every day at work aggravates my knees sometimes.

/rant

71

Front squat grip: I used to attach straps to the bar and simply grab them. That way you don’t have to overstretch your forearms… Works really well imo.

On lighter sets just raising your arms should do the trick once you’re big enough… Particularly with X’s shoulders.

Still somewhat uncomfortable on the throat of course, I don’t do high reps on these…

72

[quote]hungry4more wrote:

[quote]Professor X wrote:

Front squats are extremely uncomfortable for me and awkward. My biceps limit me from grabbing the bar without using the method where the arms are crossed…and when doing that I have very little control of the weight.

I would have more sweep if I could train my legs without severe knee pain for weeks afterwards. My legs are damned strong but my knees are shot.

Thank two mile runs in combat boots for that.[/quote]

Don’t surprise me about the oly grip being awkward…but there’s still hands free grip and, as you said, mixed grip. Knee problems aside, I would have to imagine the discomfort is mainly due to setup issues…I can’t even tell you how many PMs I’ve gotten regarding front squat form/setup, and usually with a few little pointers they get a lot more outta them.

I hear ya on the fucking combat boot runs…once we had to run 7 miles in full cammies, shit you not. My knees and feet were fucked for about 2 weeks afterwards. Most retarded idea I have EVER heard is running in boots like that. Hell, I’m only 22, and just running up and down the flightline every day at work aggravates my knees sometimes.

/rant[/quote]

Yeah well, they probably don’t care if you can still walk straight at 40… Careful man, fucked knees are no fun… My dad can barely get down the stairs in the morning and he’s never even had any heavy weight on his back.

73

[quote]Cephalic_Carnage wrote:

[quote]hungry4more wrote:

[quote]Professor X wrote:

Front squats are extremely uncomfortable for me and awkward. My biceps limit me from grabbing the bar without using the method where the arms are crossed…and when doing that I have very little control of the weight.

I would have more sweep if I could train my legs without severe knee pain for weeks afterwards. My legs are damned strong but my knees are shot.

Thank two mile runs in combat boots for that.[/quote]

Don’t surprise me about the oly grip being awkward…but there’s still hands free grip and, as you said, mixed grip. Knee problems aside, I would have to imagine the discomfort is mainly due to setup issues…I can’t even tell you how many PMs I’ve gotten regarding front squat form/setup, and usually with a few little pointers they get a lot more outta them.

I hear ya on the fucking combat boot runs…once we had to run 7 miles in full cammies, shit you not. My knees and feet were fucked for about 2 weeks afterwards. Most retarded idea I have EVER heard is running in boots like that. Hell, I’m only 22, and just running up and down the flightline every day at work aggravates my knees sometimes.

/rant[/quote]

Yeah well, they probably don’t care if you can still walk straight at 40… Careful man, fucked knees are no fun… My dad can barely get down the stairs in the morning and he’s never even had any heavy weight on his back.

[/quote]

That is how I am now and it sucks. I’ll probably be using a cane by the time I hit 45. I always had minor knee problems but the military shot my shit to hell. What pisses me off is I wonder what my legs would look like if I was able to train them like everyone else. During the winter, if I train them twice a month that’s a good thing.

I can’t train them weekly until it warms up.

74

[quote]Professor X wrote:

[quote]Cephalic_Carnage wrote:

[quote]hungry4more wrote:

[quote]Professor X wrote:

Front squats are extremely uncomfortable for me and awkward. My biceps limit me from grabbing the bar without using the method where the arms are crossed…and when doing that I have very little control of the weight.

I would have more sweep if I could train my legs without severe knee pain for weeks afterwards. My legs are damned strong but my knees are shot.

Thank two mile runs in combat boots for that.[/quote]

Don’t surprise me about the oly grip being awkward…but there’s still hands free grip and, as you said, mixed grip. Knee problems aside, I would have to imagine the discomfort is mainly due to setup issues…I can’t even tell you how many PMs I’ve gotten regarding front squat form/setup, and usually with a few little pointers they get a lot more outta them.

I hear ya on the fucking combat boot runs…once we had to run 7 miles in full cammies, shit you not. My knees and feet were fucked for about 2 weeks afterwards. Most retarded idea I have EVER heard is running in boots like that. Hell, I’m only 22, and just running up and down the flightline every day at work aggravates my knees sometimes.

/rant[/quote]

Yeah well, they probably don’t care if you can still walk straight at 40… Careful man, fucked knees are no fun… My dad can barely get down the stairs in the morning and he’s never even had any heavy weight on his back.

[/quote]

That is how I am now and it sucks. I’ll probably be using a cane by the time I hit 45. I always had minor knee problems but the military shot my shit to hell. What pisses me off is I wonder what my legs would look like if I was able to train them like everyone else. During the winter, if I train them twice a month that’s a good thing.

I can’t train them weekly until it warms up.[/quote]

It probably doesn’t help your situation that you do weigh a lot as it is… Do you find you need to sit a lot? Your a dentist right? I guess that means your on your feet a lot during the day…

I don’t weigh a damn thing next to you… I personally find deadlifts aggravate my knees if I’m doing them for sets and I’m only talking about 220lbs for reps of 8 and a max of 5 sets.

75

[quote]Cephalic_Carnage wrote:
Front squat grip: I used to attach straps to the bar and simply grab them. That way you don’t have to overstretch your forearms… Works really well imo.

On lighter sets just raising your arms should do the trick once you’re big enough… Particularly with X’s shoulders.

Still somewhat uncomfortable on the throat of course, I don’t do high reps on these…
[/quote]

When using just the bar for warm-up I used a no hands grip, then tried with straps for a few months and that worked well but maybe my technique wasn’t sound because I was gripping those straps for dear life in the last two sets. I adopted the cross grip/BB grip for the last 6 weeks or so, keep my eyes straight and go for all money. I attempt to push the bar into my throat and “cradle” it. I certainly don’t have the upper body development like you, H4M or X but have “felt” a stronger upper body would make the front squat more stable (and therefore push for higher weights). I certainly am enjoying Front Squats more than Back Squats despite some discomfort.

76

[quote]Shontayne wrote:
They work for me! - I think if you’re saying they work for you…a picture should be posted as evidence. You can’t say something works for you if you weigh next to nothing.[/quote]

Tell me Shontayne, is this actually your picture?

77

I do squats and deads. I’m not sure they work for me in the bodybuilding sense since I don’t take measurements. Personally I do FEEL squats work. Deads not so sure. I felt like I got better upper back development out of dumbbell rows and high frequency/high volume chinups.

BUT, I do think they’re great strength builders. From that perspective, I think they’re essential in a good bodybuilding program as strength builders since that strength lets you move bigger weights on whatever movements DO make your legs/back grow.

78

I used to only do deads but started squatting about 6 months ago and got up to 190 x 5 fairly quickly. Never really felt them quad wise until last Monday. I had’nt trained in a week due to the poor weather here so went in to get a bit of a sweat on. did the following and had the most severe DOMs i’ve ever had and it was all quads.

5 min x-trainer warm-up
foam roll quads and ITB
OH squat with bar x 5
keep adding 10kg and do a set of 5
got up to 50kg for 5
then front squats starting at 60 and going up to 100kg
then back squats going up to 120kg - only managed 4 lol

I was wrecked, was really surprised how difficult it was, i can get 25 reps with 140 after doing my heavy sets. got a good stretch and called it a day.

Horrific pain the next 4 days lol.

79

For the guys with knee pain - have any of you tried an aggressive approach to foam rolling, dynamic stretching and activation work before legs and static stretching (for 30 sec minimum) for quads,hip flexors and ITB after training.

I found this really helped especially in the cold weather here - made a major difference to pain reduction,mobility and improved the quality of the weights session.

This was after a meniscus tear in one knee and ITB syndrome in the other. I started doing this every day and now have reduced it to twice per week. Hope it may be of some benefit to some of you guys and gals.

80

YES to squat and deadlifts

squats are for everyone who doesn’t have some sort of injury inhibiting them! i am very much “built to deadlift,” which just means that i had to do more form work for my squats before i could squat comfortably. if you squat and squat DEEP, heavy, and high volume, every muscle in your legs will grow. and i don’t mean 70% for 4 sets of 10 or something. try sets of 5 for about 8 sets, starting with 80% of your max minimum, and 85%+ if you can. take every rep deep. rest 10 minutes between sets if you have to. i had to STOP squatting like this because my legs got too big and i couldn’t set up properly for deadlifts anymore. and by too big i mean 32 inch thighs at 5’9." the size stays with you too. i recently started college and had to take 4 months off because classes were killing me. they’re still 28 inches.

deadlifts in their traditional sense didn’t do much for my physique, but if you want a big back, try some high rep rack pulls. put the pins at or slightly above your knees, and pull the most weight you can for 3-4 sets of 15-20, making sure to lock the weight out completely and pulling your shoulders all the way back on each rep.

no, i don’t have pics to prove anything because i’m broke with no camera, so judge me and discount my advice if you’d like. however, i’d recommend you try it and see.