Doing squats is one of the best ways to increase your overall lean body mass and power. Squats involve more muscle groups than almost any other exercise, and if you’re not already doing squats, adding them to your routine can help you to add strength quickly.
Learning the correct squatting stance will go a long ways in helping you to avoid injury. Lower back and knee injuries can happen if you’re not careful to use correct technique, and having the correct stance is necessary to help prevent these injuries. If it’s done correctly, the squat can be a very safe exercise.
Taking the correct stance
One mistake that you should avoid is (more…)
I’ve got two great exercises for you today. And these two are ideal to superset – do one, then the other, back and forth. And I bet one of these, you’ve never heard of before…
The videos tell the whole story so watch them here. Please rate them with 5 stars on youtube if you like them! Then you can post comments there too. Let me know if you have any questions.
Oh, and if you are looking for a lifting routine ideal for burning fat this summer, you need to get Fat Burn Furnace. I don’t have my typical “sales page” up where I hype it up and try to convince you to buy – this is just a link to the simple order page: http://worldfitnessnetwork.com/more/fatburnfurnace.html. So I’m counting on the trust I’ve built up with you by providing you all this free info – you know I’m putting my reputation behind this (as I do all my ebooks). Go ahead and buy it – if you don’t like it just send me a note and I’ll refund your money, ok?
This first video is for overhead squats: (more…)
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You might remember a while back an article by Tom Venuto on the front squats.
Today I’ve got a new take for you – from Mike Geary. I’ve been doing front squats for a while now, and I’ve gotta agree with Mike about how amazing front squats are as a full-body exercise. Here’s what he has to say:
by Mike Geary, Certified Nutrition Specialist, Certified Personal Trainer
The Front Squat is a surprising exercise not only for legs, but also rock hard abs!
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. Squats and deadlifts use hundreds of muscles throughout your entire body to move the load and also to stabilize your body while doing the drill.
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.
Squats can be done with (more…)
Fellas, lunges ain’t just for girls. In fact, I’m willing to bet that if you aren’t already doing lunges, then adding them to your next leg workout will leave you crying. You won’t feel so manly then.
But the good news is that after a few weeks, you’ll start to love lunges. And you will start to feel more manly – in the sense that you’ll feel muscles growing that you either thought you were already hitting hard, or else didn’t know existed.
But don’t cut out your squats! There are some advantages to lunges, as I’ll explain, but they don’t replace squats. They complement them.
In this article you’ll learn what lunges are, how to do them (and variations), why they are effective, and how they compare to squats.
Let’s start with what lunges are… (more…)
I started writing a post on box squats and had just finished it when I came across my buddy Caleb’s article on doubleyourgains – on the exact same subject! And his was much better than mine! Thankfully, he allowed me to reprint it in its entirety for you.
Why Box Squatting Sucks & Why You Should Do It Anyways!
by Caleb Lee from http://doubleyourgains.com/
- Dave Tate Coaching The Box Squat (from doubleyourgains.com)
I have discovered a new world of pain … agony … and ego-wrenching … and it’s name is the Box Squat.
Before I tell you of all the amazing benefits of box squatting and how you may have to end up buying clothes with a big “S” sewn on them after starting to squat on the box, let’s first discuss …
Why Box Squats SUCK!
Normally, when I say an exercise sucks … I’m talking about exercises that suck at actually doing something for your body. Throw bicep curls, tricep kick backs, any type of curling in the squat racks, leg extensions, etc in this list …
BUT … when I’m talking about box squatting — I simply mean it just plain SUCKS to do!
Why?
- Lower Weight – your ego is going to be bruised the first time you box squat and you realize you’re lifting almost 100 pounds less than your regular squat …
- No Cheating — you can’t cheat with a box squat. You go down the proper depth, and if you don’t (more…)
Continue reading about What Are Box Squats And Should You Do Them?
World Fitness Network reader A.J. asked left the following comment on a recent article about squats:
I find it very hard to do a “good” squat because I can’t go down too much. I find that I can’t go down even if I’m not using any weight. I don’t know (more…)
