This girl at the gym asked me to help her with a workout program. Well after three and a half weeks she’s lost only 5 pounds, but she says that she’s gone down a couple dress sizes and can see noticable results in the mirror. Now by no means am I taking all the credit for her little transformation. She is incredible dedicated to her diet and workout routine and deserves all of the credit. Well, here’s what pist me off. I have this girl doing squats (she as perfect form and goes all the way down)and the trainer at the gym pulled her aside and said that I didn’t know what I was talking about and if she keeps doing those deep squats her thighs are going to become to big for her size. I was so pist that I confronted this Horses ass, but when I went to confront him I froze and could only manage to think of one scientific fact. So I said “your a fucking idiot”. Help me get my facts together cause I know I’ll see this penis breath tomorrow.
For one thing, the deeper a squat is, the more the glutes and hamstrings are involved to help you get out of the bottom… further quad involvement becomes negligible once you hit a certain depth. So for him to say that deep squats will make her thighs big is stupid. Also, women just aren’t built to get big. I’m sure you’ve heard a woman say, “I don’t want to get big like a body builder, so I’ll stick to lighter weights”. It’s just not going to happen, unless they take up pharmacology as a hobby.
Just keep it to he’s a fucking idiot. As long as he didn’t screw up her head and she’s following your advice, then you’re cool. If she’s worried about what he said, let her know that on a lower calorie diet (I assume that’s what she’s following), how is she going to develop hugh legs? Muscle can not appear out of nowhere. Just don’t worry about making it a debate with the local ACE ASS. There’s no need.
Tell the jackass a few things-
- A full range of motion is not only necessary for full muscular development but essential for joint integrity and health. A squat is not a squat unless a sacrum/pelvis- nutates- tucks out- then counternutates- tucks under which only occurs with deep squats.
- How the hell does he know how her muscular response will be is he god to look in her DNA- it is so hard so for women to build “huge muscle per se” due to load , hormonal differences etc…
- The best thing she can due for her butt and toning and shaping it etc… is full squats due to the kinematics of the exercise the hams and glutes don’t start firing until a person goes below parallel.
Hope this helps
The best response is none at all. Hell, if she’s getting great results with you and wants to take advice from him instead then it’s her that needs the help…
I bet the “trainer” you are talking about has never done any squatting. He’s probably an avid reader of Men’s health magazine and those other publications that tell you how to become a man.
Take him to Moscow and let the Russian boys make him squat until he turns pukey green!
I think you already did a good job explaining it to him. Don’t waste your breath on a maggot like that-let the results speak for themselves.
Having a little roid rage are we? Anyway, squats can increase your hip size, which she may not want.
I have worked with a few females in the past and had the same thoughts as you. I have them doing full squats and working hard. Well about a quarter of the girls DID put on size on their hips. They weren’t too happy about that. This could be for a couple of reasons I won’t get into unless you’re interested. So he does have a point but he phrased it wrong. He should have said it could produce big hips on some people, but if it’s working for you thats fine. So in a sense you’re both right.
Hey man…As a trainer myself I can tell you the reason he is saying this is because he’s either jealous, bcause is training with you and not him, or he is just a fucking idiot. It’s most likely a combination of both. Just train the way you know how to train, the certifacation is just a piece of paper. The real trainers are the ones who know the information and can apply it, which doesn’t require a certifacation just a willingness to constantly learn.
2 possibilites:
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He is a fucking idiot, so no problem.
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He is right, in that case, get your girl to stop squatting once desired leg size is achieved.
No matter what, there is an easy solution
I agree that squats CAN put size on the hips. But, many women would be a lot more attractive, in my opinion, with bigger hips–toned of course.
Funny thing is, the way that most trainers train, they are setting up a girl for hypertrophy with their innumerous sets of high volume. You keep doing what you are doing. When and if she gets particularly TOO HUGE, just cut her volume down and crank up the weight and lower the TUT. Avoid extended eccentrics too.
I’ve been doing deep squats for several years and I’m now using 170 lbs. My pants are a size 2 so I don’t think heavy squats will make a females hips, glutes or thighs bigger.
That stuff about squats broadening one’s hips was started by Vince Gironda, and isn’t true. I like Vince’s stuff a lot (and trained at his gym for a while), but that wasn’t one of his better ideas. All you have to do is look at any number of, for example, black bodybuilders (most of whom have naturally slim hips) who squat with huge amounts of weight and/or volume but who don’t have particularly wide hips to see that squats don’t have this effect. However, they WILL increase glute mass, so if a woman is tape-measuring around her hips she may get a larger measurement because of that. Also, if her diet isn’t right she may very well start putting on weight all over…and simply because many women are predisposed to putting it on disporportionately on the hips & thighs it may seem as though the squats are the culprit.
Still, I’m with Hyok on this one. A lot of women, especially Asian women, would look a LOT better with a little more “toned” hip mass. Try selling that idea to them though…!
Please allow me to clarify some terminology here - when talking about women and hips, I got the initial impression that you were talking about the normal fat accumulation on the ‘side’ of a womans hips. Of course they won’t get that by squatting. What they will get it is (if anything) larger quads and hamstrings/glutes. Personally I like this on a chick. Just tell her bigger legs will make her ‘hips’ and waist look smaller…
Check out this link: http://www.rad.washington.edu/atlas2/gluteusmaximus.html Check out the side view and see how the glute tucks under the side flexor muscle and inserts into the side of the hips? Hypertrophy of the glutes will definitely increase hip width. But like I said, I like hips on a woman. It’s what makes a woman not a man.
looked at that link. What that representation does not indicate is what type of genetics the person has. What is the comp of the tendonous insertion, where, etc. For instance, looking at my upper arm, the belly of my bicep is at the elbow, looking at my older brothers, he has at least a fingers width gap and then some …
Q)How will a muscle develop?
A) a genetically predetermined way which is not alterable.
Trainers are as varied as anything. There are some gems and some waste.
This weight game is not that hard, there is absolutely nothing magical about it, and I scoff at any miracle routine and its abilities as snake oil.