Are squats a good enough leg workout?

[TeenMisc]

Say I do 3 sets of squats 3x/week while upping the weight each workout, is that enough to build good leg muscle? I honestly can barely walk after my squats, I don't know how people can keep working their legs after that. Does it mean the squats are hitting my legs hard enough.
I can do a couple of sets of leg extensions but that's about it and even those seem useless as my legs are so worn out and I can barely push weight on the leg extension.

[SuffolkPunch]

Yes, I would say so.

But it would not hurt you to do something more like this:

alternate between:

- back squat
- hamstring work - e.g. glute ham raise, goodmorning or pullthrough

- deadlift
- front squat

[SuicideGripMe]

A lot of people train squats 3 times a week with no other leg work besides light cardio. If you are consistently adding weight to the bar, then youre doing something right.

[Ironwake]

A lot of people train squats 3 times a week with no other leg work besides light cardio. If you are consistently adding weight to the bar, then youre doing something right.

Yep, I did 3 sets of squats 3 days a week for 6 months :P My legs blew up

[TeenMisc]

Yep, I did 3 sets of squats 3 days a week for 6 months :P My legs blew up

this is what I wanted to hear, but is this including a warmup set?

[tenk_immortals]

make sure they are atg.

hits your hammies and moneymaker pretty good too. thus a more complete leg exercise.

[Ironwake]

this is what I wanted to hear, but is this including a warmup set?

I typically did 2 empty bar sets, 40% x 5, 60% x 3, 80% x 2, 100% x 5 x 3

Went from 115 x 5 to 315 x 5 in 6 months. Following SS, not just squats :P

[jdelarod]

parallel is fine unless you want to be a competitive olympic lifter, in which case you should go atg. But parallel will develop strength better.

[serval]

Say I do 3 sets of squats 3x/week while upping the weight each workout, is that enough to build good leg muscle? I honestly can barely walk after my squats, I don't know how people can keep working their legs after that. Does it mean the squats are hitting my legs hard enough.
I can do a couple of sets of leg extensions but that's about it and even those seem useless as my legs are so worn out and I can barely push weight on the leg extension.

If you can't add anything else after that then you're probably good. At least for now. Once you stop gaining on the squat then it's time to add some more assistance exercises

[henmaniac87]

Theyre not just good enough, theyre the best.

[ChampX]

Say I do 3 sets of squats 3x/week while upping the weight each workout, is that enough to build good leg muscle? I honestly can barely walk after my squats, I don't know how people can keep working their legs after that. Does it mean the squats are hitting my legs hard enough.
I can do a couple of sets of leg extensions but that's about it and even those seem useless as my legs are so worn out and I can barely push weight on the leg extension.

That is a good routine to build a base but eventually, I would imagine your stamina/endurance would increase. Squats with a good range of motion will engage your hams and glutes, but no where as much as stiff legged/Romanian deadlifts. Squats aren't going to do much of anything for your calves. Also, as you progress and can do more volume/greater intensity, you would probably end up working out legs less frequently. Working out legs 3x a week is nearly every other day. I know that 2 days after a leg workout, the last thing I want to do is legs again as they are usually still sore/fatigued. But I do also do a lot of volume (squats/SLDL/Leg Press/Leg curls/leg extensions/different leg curl). I do calves on on another day with chest since by the time I get to them I am so wiped.
Anyways, i think just squats seem sufficient if you've been lifting for less than 1 year but def need to give your calves some attention. And over time consider giving the hammies some direct attention as I find squats to be much more quad intensive than hamstring. Don't want to develop muscle imbalances.

[KARLMOTO]

Don't forget calves!

[force_]

Damn I dont know how you guys are hitting legs 3x/week, mine ache for 4-5 days after I hit them...then again I am doing more than just 3 sets of squats...but still!

F.

[braden101]

i do a full body 3 times a week and My leg work consists of 3x8 squats, weighted hyperextensions 2x10 and calf raises 2x12. I am consistently adding weight but the workouts get more and more exhausting the heavier they get(but they are getting heavier so im doing something right). Quads and hamys recover before my next workout but i find myself giving the calf raises a miss coz they will ache 4 daaaays. Noticing really good gains in a very short period of time!

[r_graz]

Damn I dont know how you guys are hitting legs 3x/week, mine ache for 4-5 days after I hit them...then again I am doing more than just 3 sets of squats...but still!

Because most of these guys are talking about a full body workout that includes squats, not "hitting legs" in the bodybuilding sense. Squats 3x per week with low to moderate volume each session, as opposed to the many sets of squats, heavy leg presses, hamstring curls, calf raises, lunges, etc. that people often do in a body part split where they set one day aside for legs.

[grumble1]

This has strong hints of a supercompensation versus dual factor training theory debate.

[boathead]

imo, squats are enough. but you must be careful. if you only go to parallel, it is quite the quad dominant exercise, and severe imbalances (read patella misalignments) can result.

if you only go to parallel, you should put some direct hamstring work in...like sldl's, glute ham raises, etc.

of course, if you go atg, there shouldn't be any problem whatsoever, as hamstrings and glutes are recruited nicely after the parallel point.

[noflyingcars]

I typically did 2 empty bar sets, 40% x 5, 60% x 3, 80% x 2, 100% x 5 x 3

Went from 115 x 5 to 315 x 5 in 6 months. Following SS, not just squats :P

Uhm, do you reckon the warming up sets are necessary for the growth (more muscle stimulation) or they are just a preparation for the working set?

Because I tend to neglet the warming up (I do only a couple of reps), I'm just making sure that my muscles are "warm". That is more because I don't have much endurance and I'm afraid of getting tired before the working set.


Could skipping the warm up hold down my progression?

[grumble1]

Skipping warmup sets is extremely foolish. It's asking for injury, and the neural activation a solid specific warmup routine can provide will let you lift heavier weights.

[Cheap5.0]

Uhm, do you reckon the warming up sets are necessary for the growth (more muscle stimulation) or they are just a preparation for the working set?

Because I tend to neglet the warming up (I do only a couple of reps), I'm just making sure that my muscles are "warm". That is more because I don't have much endurance and I'm afraid of getting tired before the working set.


Could skipping the warm up hold down my progression?

The warming up comes direct from Rip, out of his book (so ive been told lol). They not only benefit the process, they benefit you. If you wreck yourself doin squats, then your out for 4 months to heal up...that wont do you any good.



From the wiki:

How do I warm up properly for my training sessions?

Rippetoe recommends that you first warmup by doing a few minutes on the bike prior to starting your workout. The idea is to get a general increase in body heat and metabolism (no, not for fat burning). This will help prevent injury, as a warm group of muscles and tendons are less prone to injury. You should also do warmup sets for each exercise, although fewer warmups are generally necessary later in the workout, as the squat and press will get most of the body warmed up relatively well.

The warmup sets serve only to prepare the lifter for the work sets; they should never interfere with the work sets. As such they should be planned with this in mind. The last warmup set before the work set should never be so heavy that it interferes with the work set, but heavy enough that it allows the lifter to feel a heavier weight before he does the work sets. It might only consist of one or two reps even though the work sets are five or more reps.

– Mark Rippetoe

The warm-up is important not only to prepare the muscles for the impending maximal load, it's also to get some extra technique practice in. This becomes especially important with Squats, Deadlifts and Power Cleans, where technique deteriorates as weight increases.

[braden101]

I find i can lift alot more on my working sets if i warm up before hand.

[olympic]

Say I do 3 sets of squats 3x/week while upping the weight each workout, is that enough to build good leg muscle? I honestly can barely walk after my squats, I don't know how people can keep working their legs after that. Does it mean the squats are hitting my legs hard enough.
I can do a couple of sets of leg extensions but that's about it and even those seem useless as my legs are so worn out and I can barely push weight on the leg extension.

Yes squats are enough although I recommend you do deadlifts as well.

All I did was squats (3x per week) and this is what happened to my legs -



Of course you'll need to be eating like crazy as well.

As for calves - I didn't do any calf work but my calves went up to 18 inches anyway. It was a combination of all the squats and the extra bodyweight my calves had to work around with all day.