Weight Training Blog

Squatting is a great exercise when performed correctly, but can also be an unforgiving one if not done correctly. The latter is why I suspect many people don’t squat when they hit the gym. They either complain from “bad knees” or a “bad back” that prevents them from squatting. But what these people don’t know is that their knees and backs most likely hurt because of poor form when attempting to squat, and therefore miss out on all of the benefits that come with squatting.

If you’re one of those people with “bad knees” or a “bad back” and cannot squat as a result, here’s what you’re missing out on, in no particular order, of course.

Squatting is one of the best exercises
Simply put and to sum things up: A well executed squat is the best over all exercise out th ere. What other exercise can you think of that hits the same – if not more – muscles than the squat with each and every rep? There aren’t many, that’s for sure. Squatting is probably one of the most beneficial exercises that you can perform while in the gym because it hits such a wide variety of muscles that it’s almost is a full body work out within it self.

Body weight stuck? Squat!
So are you trying to add on another 20 pounds to your frame but can’t figure out how to do it? Squat! That’s how. If you’re trying to add on body weight and only do upper body exercises, you will not believe how quickly those 20 pounds will come by just doing something as simple as adding squats to your routine. Toss out those leg presses and replace them by squatting and I guarantee you will see your body weight jump up quickly. Your body will quickly over-compensate and grow to make sure it can handle those stresses in the future.

Bench stuck? Squat!
At first you may think that this is just silly – How can your legs help your bench? But when you think about what a good, powerful, and controlled squat can do for your body, it starts to make sense. Especially if you are into power lifting then squatting will help you in ways you can’t even imagine. By having a strong squat, you will increase your ability to use what’s called “leg drive” when going to press weight off your chest when executing a competition bench press. Additionally, your core muscles will thank you for conditioning them so well since you pretty much use them for every movement in the gym.

Deadlift stuck? Squat!
This should almost go without saying, but some people over look what a good squat can do for your body, especially when it comes to the deadlift. I know many of you experienced lifters reading this are thinking how obvious this is, but some people don’t see the relation between squatting and deadlifting because they think squatting just hits your quads and deadlifting just hits your lower back. What they fail to realize is that deadlifts start with strong hamstrings, and work their way up the body hitting just about every muscle on the way up. Good, deep squats rely mostly on strong hamstring and glute strength – both muscles are critical when trying to get your deadlift numbers up. It would be stupid to miss out on a way to train those muscles in a way in which they haven’t really been trained before if you don’t squat. So do your self a favor and squat.

You’ll feel better
There’s nothing else like stepping under a bar loaded with lots of weight and grinding out a few good reps. There’s just something about it that makes you feel good after doing it. Obviously your adrenaline is pumping, but you also feel a great sense of accomplishment knowing that you just lifted something that you know two people walking down the street probably couldn’t have lifted together. Go ahead, give it a try and watch how you feel. And don’t worry – initially you may hate squatting, but after a month or so it’ll really start growing on you.

You’ll have more bragging rights thank your frat boy friends
Sure everyone loves to ask the question “how much do you bench?” but when was the last time you heard “how much do you squat?” in the gym? Probably never. And the reason being is that not many people can squat big weight correctly. You might be able to get by with bad form and still get a decent amount of weight up on the bench, but if you have bad form on a squat, I can almost guarantee you that you’re not putting up big weight, and if you do, then you’ll more than likely pay the price. How would you like to say to your friends that you can squat over 400 pounds even after breaking parallel? Forget that half squat crap that you see everyone do!

So what are you waiting for? Shut up and squat!

Whey protein is probably one of the most well-known types of protein out there, but is it the best type of protein for you to be taking? Well that depends on when you’re taking it, of course. If you’ve ever been to GNC and asked them this, then chances are they have told you that you should be taking whey protein whenever you can. I wonder why that is…

There are different types of protein powders that are currently on the market right now, and many of them have different rates in which they break down when digested and should be used to your advantage when taking them to make sure your muscles always have a supply of proper nutrients to recover.

For instance, casein protein – which comes from milk just like whey does – is a slow-digesting form of protein that should be taken right before going to bed in order to supply your muscles with protein throughout the night. Obviously taking whey protein before you go to sleep will not benefit you all night since it is completely broken down in just over an hour after digesting.

So just when should you take whey protein? Generally speaking, whey protein should be taken soon after waking up along with a carbohydrate, and also soon after you work out – again with a carbohydrate – in order to maximize its fast-digesting properties. Carbohydrates act as a “protein delivery system” and help to aide amino acids work quicker.

Here’s a good one: By failing to prepare you are preparing to fail.

This quote fits perfectly when it comes to weight lifting because so many people go into the gym with no direction as to what they want to accomplish by the time they walk out the door.

By keeping a log of what you have done in the past, it will help you better prepare yourself for training sessions in the future. I know, you may be thinking that keeping a “diary” isn’t exactly very manly, especially in a gym setting, but by doing so you are keeping track of exactly what you are doing – not what you THINK you did.

Our muscles only grow due to over-compensation. We must give them a reason to grow, and also give them the nutrients that they need in order to grow. The only way that our muscles will over-compensate is if they are challenged with a stress that has never before been placed upon them. So by tracking what you have done in the past, you can analyze what your next move should be in order to invoke more stress on your muscles by either adding more weight, more reps, bands, forced reps, etc.

I recommend getting a smaller spiral bound notebook and a pen to record your data. Each page should represent one day in the gym, and at the top make sure you write the current date, as well as what body parts you are going to hit. Also, you may want to put down your current body weight when weighing in, and perhaps any pre-workout supplements you may have taken in order to gauge their effectiveness.

While working out, make sure to write what exercise you are performing, and each line under that how many reps times what weight you are using. If you are dead lifting did you notice your grip give out on the last rep in the set? Record just that: “grip gave out on last rep”. Are you doing pull ups and you notice you’re feeling good and you decided to do weighted pull ups with more weight? Record just that – “great back and bicep strength today”.

Recording descriptive notes to yourself like that can make a world of difference. If you see a pattern of yourself always losing your grip while dead lifting, then you need to focus on your grip strength!

You will only make improvements by recording what you are doing in the gym by forcing yourself to be honest with yourself, and then looking back and see what you did that worked, and see what you did that didn’t work, and try to improve on it. Do yourself a favor and start logging what you’re doing in the gym this way you can cut a lot of the bull shit and guess work out.