"I hit a plateau"
"I'm not getting the gains I want"
"My dick is small"
"Why can't I gain"
If you're serious about lifting and getting good gains... Deads AND Squats should be a staple in your routine.
Read... And if you think this study is bull****, go find some more... Because the sources are unlimited.
Enjoy:
Testosterone and GH levels after squats & deadlifts:
Resistance training in general, increases testosterone and growth hormone, during and immediately after post excercise. It has been shown in many studies, including a published study Int J Sports Med. 1991 Apr;12(2):228-35 done on both men and women during resistance excercise. Squats and deadlifts increase GH and Testosterone, more than other compound excercises during excercise.
There is however, no significant studies that show that resistance excercise, directly leads to higher hormone levels long term. In fact, for a day or 2 post-excercise, many studies show LH and testosterone decline, while cortisol increases. In other words, building yourself up to a 200 lb ripped bodybuilder doesn?t directly increase your testosterone levels, from when you were smaller. But you might though have higher testosterone levels, due to better eating, supplementation, and working out, as a result of the bodybuilding lifestyle. The increased cortisol levels and lower testosterone, is also why overtraining is such an easy state to enter. We have to allow our body to recuperate itself, before doing more weight lifting.
Long term effects from squatting and deadlifting:
The benefit for doing leg excercises, appears from research not to be from increasing long term natural levels of testosterone and GH. I believe however the large burst of testosterone and other hormones during leg excercises, are the major reasons why squats and deadlifts are very important for overall muscle building. It?s the same reason why a bench press is more effective mass builder than a chest flye workout. Why? because the compound bench press is going to release more testosterone and GH in a workout than a chest flye.
The large burst of anabolic hormones resulting from squats and deadlifts, allows most of your muscles to benefit from this release simultaneously. Squats and deadlifts work many muscles simultaneously in the body and will allow most of your body to get some stimulation from the release of the hormones during the workout. The testosterone and GH released, is very crucial for being a catalyst for your muscle growth. It won?t be released as much in the smaller compound excercises, such as bench press. Therefore doing smaller compound excercises, would not be able to makeup for the benefit of having leg workouts in your routine.
Most experienced bodybuilders know all too well, how important leg excercises are for overall mass. You?ve probably seen the guys walking in the gym who look like lightbulbs (big upper body, but chicken legs). That has made many bodybuilders question the idea that leg excercises always equals bigger upper body. One must keep in mind we don?t know if they are using steroids, which would make it a little easier to gain upper body mass without leg excercises. On the flipside, it would also be harder post cycle for a steroid user just to keep his gains. These people probably also have excellent upper body genetics and years of training experience. If they worked harder on leg excercises, they would be even bigger.
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06-01-2008, 10:25 AM #1
This is why heavy SQUATS and DEADLIFTS are essential.
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06-01-2008, 10:29 AM #2
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06-01-2008, 10:29 AM #3
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06-01-2008, 10:30 AM #4
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06-01-2008, 10:30 AM #5
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06-01-2008, 10:31 AM #6
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06-01-2008, 10:34 AM #7
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06-01-2008, 10:34 AM #8
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06-01-2008, 10:37 AM #9
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06-01-2008, 10:39 AM #10
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06-01-2008, 10:41 AM #11
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06-01-2008, 10:41 AM #12
I'm not saying that squats and deads aren't good exercises...
but all the "hormone release" studies I've seen show that exercise routine protocol (higher volume; ex http://sportsmedicine.adisonline.com...195628!8091!-1) is the most important for hormone release....Including the one referred to above:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1860749
basically says a 10 rep protocol causes more GH release than a 5. I don't see the link between Squats and Deadlifts.
I have yet to see one that says SPECIFICALLY squats and deadlifts are better than other compound exercises.
I would like to see one since it is stated so much.Last edited by Defiant1; 06-01-2008 at 10:44 AM.
CSCS, ACSM cPT.
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06-01-2008, 10:44 AM #13
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06-01-2008, 10:45 AM #14
"Testosterone release is optimized when you use basic exercises
(squat, deadlift, bench), heavy sets (85% of maximum and above), and
long rest periods (3-5 minutes). I think the core of an off-season
workout should be based on this type of training regardless of the
actual details of the training plan. Perhaps a combination of low
rep, heavy sets to stimulate testosterone followed by higher rep sets
to stimulate GH, followed by very high rep sets to stimulate
capillary growth (i.e. holistic training) is a nice compromise." - Lyle McDonald
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06-01-2008, 10:49 AM #15
So you're saying that if you don't do squats and deads that you're not going to see an increase in any other compound exercises? lol, and no I don't think it releases natural steroids... Maybe I went a little bit over board with the whole thing in the first place.
My appologies to the chicken legged queens that have taken offense to this thread...
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06-01-2008, 10:50 AM #16
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06-01-2008, 10:55 AM #17
First, that is a statement, not a study. And "basic exercises" is far cry from SPECIFICALLY squats and deadlifts being better than others.
Second, the first study I quoted SPECIFICALLY goes against that statement about heavy sets and long rest periods.
Protocols high in volume, moderate to high in intensity, using short rest intervals and stressing a large muscle mass , tend to produce the greatest acute hormonal elevations (e.g. testosterone, GH and the catabolic hormone cortisol) compared with low-volume, high-intensity protocols using long rest intervals.CSCS, ACSM cPT.
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06-01-2008, 11:01 AM #18
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06-01-2008, 11:04 AM #19"This game, this iron warfare... S**t, it's all about progress and conquest. Bettering yourself, besting the weights, evolving at a constant, regular pace toward your ideal physique." - Animalpak.com
Fail to Plan...then Plan to Fail.
Dialene 4 review: http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?p=95389043#post95389043
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06-01-2008, 11:08 AM #20
- Join Date: Oct 2007
- Location: Tampa, Florida, United States
- Age: 34
- Posts: 1,063
- Rep Power: 0
I agree. Squats are an amazing exercise though, lets not get that wrong. However, the testosterone increase is negligible, because some individuals keep on pressing everyone to squat heavy and deadlift enough to do permanent damage. The above poster who said about the person quaking with rage - that made me laugh. Deadlifts are a great exercise i agree, but i don't think they are necessary for a good upper and lower body - only if you want to look massive, and lift massive.
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06-01-2008, 11:12 AM #21
- Join Date: Jan 2004
- Location: Connecticut, United States
- Age: 73
- Posts: 12,657
- Rep Power: 50533
don't apologize so soon: most of us are very aware of the benefits of doing these exercises.
why the people who choose not to are so angry about it, eludes me.
there are a lot of people who are very heavy handed about people who don't do this or that on this forum, true, but it is equally amusing to see the resistance of the ones who take it as an affront.
Squatting, heavy, or otherwise, is just a great all around exercise. Is it essential? who cares? if something is good for you, then many people will do it, as they have and continue to do.
Will you make gains without squats? of course....will you make better gains? more likely because if you are doing them, you are also doing other beneficial exercises and probably paying attention to diet also.
Squats and deads are part and parcel of an overall choice: a choice of lifestyle. How much, how many, etc, that you do them, is always up to the individual.
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06-01-2008, 11:17 AM #22
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06-01-2008, 11:36 AM #23
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06-01-2008, 11:43 AM #24
i love squats and deadlifts. in fact i dont think it would feel right to me anymore if i exluded them from my routine. i also feel that a lot(not all) of people that dont like these movements give up on them prematurely. they did it wrong so it gave them a problem, etc.
however i also believe the hormone increase is well overrated. and if someone doesnt want to do them, then who cares. its nobody's business. some people try to turn this stuff in to some kind of religous war.
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06-01-2008, 11:52 AM #25
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06-01-2008, 12:06 PM #26
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06-01-2008, 12:12 PM #27
I do agree they should be staples in your workout routine. I do believe it is where lots of people fall short. There is much more capcity for muscle growth in your lower body then upper body, so excluding them for this reason is pretty neglectful for your body. There has been evidence shown in several places that when more muscle is worked their is a greater release of the anabolic hormones in your body. There is no other exercises that work as many muscles as these two exercises, but for every study their is another study that contradicts it so I guess you have to consider the sources. But I have never seen or heard of a bodybuilder that was truly huge that did not do some form of these, so there has to be a method to the madness or I guess millions of pros and amateur bodybuilders with great muscular development have it wrong.
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06-01-2008, 01:11 PM #28
Ive read an article like that before but on the forums.
It was a long read but basically said with squatting and deadlifting it will trigger growth throughout the whole body being beneficial. Basically saying leg and training and essential to growing past a certain extent.
Reps if anyone can find it.
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06-01-2008, 01:20 PM #29
Sounds hardcore, but in the real world it's not like that. There are plenty of "bench specialists" out there who press ridiculous amounts of weight but don't squat or deadlift. And by the same token plenty of strong pullers and squatters who have a relatively weak bench.
If you want to get stronger at squats and deadlifts... train them. If all you care about is a big bench then training squats and deads won't make a difference.
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06-01-2008, 04:24 PM #30
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