Squats the only necessary exercise for lower body?

[Synnaria]

My boyfriend and I have been having this debate. The only exercise he does for his legs is squats. I have told him that I don't think he is doing enough for his legs, and he keeps telling me that all he needs to do is squats, because "they work everything," and that since I have never trained anyone, I must not know what I'm talking about. I know that squats are considered the king, but I also think that they are not the ONLY leg workout that needs to be done. My best friend has been body building for about 10 years, and he does several different leg exercises during his workout. I asked him this question, and he said that while of course squats are very important, they only really target the quads (and to some extent the glutes), and while they work other muscles secondarily (hamstrings, lower back stabilizers, etc.), they do not target them, and my boyfriend should be doing other exercises too that target those other muscles. The problem is that my boyfriend absolutely despises my best friend and refuses to listen to anything coming from him, so I figured I would turn here for help. I only want him realize his bodybuilding goals, and I'm only trying to help him, but he won't listen to me. Can anyone help me out here? What other leg exercises should he be doing, and more importantly to convince him, WHY should he be doing leg exercises other than just squats alone? Any articles that might help explain this, even? I've looked myself, but I'm not really sure what keywords exactly I should be using, and I haven't been able to find anything that really explains the why part of my question.

[NZninja101]

I think the more important question is whether you are doing squats for your boyfriend's sake.

[Synnaria]

I think the more important question is whether you are doing squats for your boyfriend's sake.

I appreciate the humor, but I really did come here looking for sincere answers to my question.

[jammyo40]

This video should give you all the answers you need

[IDrinkBloodLOL]

Your boyfriend is wrong. Squats miss or do not adequately and proportionately work the following:
-hip flexors
-hamstrings*
-quads*
-calves
-hip abductors
-hip adductors*
-any and all muscles pertaining to hip rotation
-most muscles related to foot plantarflexion/dorsiflexion/ankle rotation

* Depending on variation. There is a variation to work this, at least for some people, but it's not guaranteed.

My qualifications:
-common sense
-I'm an NSCA CSCS
-I have 28" thighs
-I probably squat more than your boyfriend unless he's an absolute beast

[TheFuzz1290]

I squat and deadlift (and calf raises), but then again I don't care about asthetics, just about being stronger. If your boyfriend cares about the bodybuilding aspect of training his legs, then he needs to do more than squat. If he just wants to train them to get stronger and doesn't care about getting the "teardrop" or whatever, then squatting is fine.

[Synnaria]

jammyo40: I'm not really sure how a video of some dudes doing a bunch of squats answers anything I asked... =P

IDrinkBloodLOL: Thank you! I knew that Best Friend and I were right. It is hell trying to get Boyfriend to admit that he's wrong about something, though, even when it is about something that will help him. I don't really know how much he squats. I never pay that much attention, because I'm usually doing my own squats, lol.

TheFuzz1290: Well, he's already pretty strong for his size, which I believe is about 6 foot 2 and 185 or so pounds, with a low body fat percentage (but he's not super cut by any means). He's only been working out for about 3 years now, and in my opinion, he is a lot more muscular than he was before he started, but he, for some reason, is always complaining that he is wasting his time because he isn't making any progress. He gets the strength, but he doesn't much care about that; he's more interested in the bodybuilding aspect. He wants the muscles to be big and be seen. He gets very easily frustrated though, and feels that nothing he does is working. He feels that he can't get any bigger no matter how hard he tries. It doesn't help that he works 12 hour shifts, which really cuts into the length of gym trips on days/nights when he works, as well as cutting into sleep time.

[WillGoesBoing]

Well there you go, you said it yourself that your boyfriend doesn't care about performance, merely aesthetics. When he's walking around at the club or at parties who the heck checks out his legs right?? (sarcasm)

On a serious note, at least he's working out his legs. All the "bros" at the gym tend to neglect back and legs. "Bros" are the choads that workout 4 months (during summer) out of the year, doing curls, bench press, and crunches and complains because they don't look like the fitness models in the magazines.

So be glad that your boyfriend is not a "bro".... or maybe he is. DUN DUN DUN!!!

[GeneralSerpant]

Well, how does he look for one thing? Bodybuilding is judged around each particular muscle's size and discernible mass. Squats will definitely build mass in the lower-half of the body, but the lower-body in particular won't gain size without discriminated attention to each major muscle.

For one thing, hamstrings, glutes, and calves need attention too, not to mention the hip abductors and hip adductors. For another, isolation work for even the quads such as leg-extension can fill in the cracks for size or mass that squats won't divulge.

It's hard to reasonably argue to someone that squats aren't deserved of undivided attention, but on the other side of the coin, to each their own.

[TheFuzz1290]

I'm on 12 hour shifts too and I feel his pain. Sometimes I have to choose, sleep or gym...and a lot of the time sleep wins. Now if he's not growing, he probably doesn't have his diet in check. To grow, he has to eat, and eat a lot. He'll gain some fat doing so, unless he is super strict with his diet, which is near impossible on 12 hour shifts. He also might just have to change up his workout, if he's not doing so already. I know plenty of guys who've been using the exact same workout for 5+ years and get frustrated when they stop progressing. Good luck to him.

[WillGoesBoing]

Working a long shift is not an excuse, there aren't a lot of jobs that are 12 hour shifts so I can probably guess what he does. All the 12 hour shift jobs that I know of, you have a lot of days off. When I use to work my 12 hour shift job I did a lot of OT where there would be days or nights where I worked 16-18 hours. I just go to the gym on my days off, it's as simple as that.

[PhagBucket]

Your bf sounds like a beta *******

Wanna send me noods then hookup n clap dem cheeks nomsayin? Miles, shattered glass, ballsack, doritos, dialup, the woks, nomsayin? Forced to bring m9 to school nonsayin?

[GeneralSerpant]

TheFuzz1290: Well, he's already pretty strong for his size, which I believe is about 6 foot 2 and 185 or so pounds, with a low body fat percentage (but he's not super cut by any means). He's only been working out for about 3 years now, and in my opinion, he is a lot more muscular than he was before he started, but he, for some reason, is always complaining that he is wasting his time because he isn't making any progress. He gets the strength, but he doesn't much care about that; he's more interested in the bodybuilding aspect. He wants the muscles to be big and be seen. He gets very easily frustrated though, and feels that nothing he does is working. He feels that he can't get any bigger no matter how hard he tries. It doesn't help that he works 12 hour shifts, which really cuts into the length of gym trips on days/nights when he works, as well as cutting into sleep time.

From all the things you have mentioned, and this, your BF doesn't seem to have his priorities straight. Do your own research on volume training as it pertains to bodybuilding, and you will see what he's doing wrong.

[CrazyAssasin]

Squats( ass to the ground ) and deadlifts work pretty much everything in the legs. Add in calf raises if the calfs lag behind.

But if he is more of a bodybuilder then leg extension and curls can be great accesory exerises. But squats still have to be main exercise.

[scottyent]

not to be lame....but maybe you should remind your boyfriend it's not about being 'right' ...its about doing the best thing for your body and doing what you can do to progress. If squats aren't working for him anymore, then it couldn't hurt for him to try other exercises. For a lot of people, squats are all you need and they are happy with that and they make progress. But for some people, either with imbalances or some other requirement their body has, squats aren't the end all be all. If you frame it to him in this way, and make it also less about YOU being right, then maybe you can find some common ground.

'I'm right you are wrong, you have to admit it' would send me off into defensive mode too, and sometimes I get real stubborn that way. But if my girlfriend says hey, your way is legitimate and I think you are right in one case, but there are other possibilities and maybe you can try some and see what is best for YOU. There is no right or wrong, there is progress, and what works for him. Same goes for everyone. then theres no right wrong talk, just a productive talk about what can possibly help you both get where you want!

[Synnaria]

WillGoesBoing: He has no problem gaining strength, but what he really wants to gain is the bodybuilder look, and that is what he's been having a hard time accomplishing. He used to do other leg workouts, but once he started doing squats a few months ago, he stopped doing all the other leg workouts. He doesn't look strange in the huge upper body with chicken legs kind of way, and he's definitely not a "bro," lol. He usually works a shift of 3 or 4 days/nights, a day or two or three of break, 4 days working, then 8 days off. The thing with his days off though... some of them are "call-out" days, which means he might (and it's usually about a 90% chance that he will) get called to come in to work anyway. Is missing that many days in a row really not that detrimental?

GeneralSerpant: Well... he looks proportionate to me, I guess. He has fairly big shoulders, and his upper arms aren't ridiculously huge, but they're much bigger than average. He's not fat by any means, but he's not super ripped either. You can definitely "pinch an inch" over his abs, but he has been trying to gain muscle so he's just been eating a lot for the past couple of years. Like I said, he's about 6 foot 2, and 185 pounds. He's 29 years old, been working out for the past 3 years trying to gain a lot of muscle (he used to be a very skinny kid, with a super fast metabolism). I know he uses the dumbbells ranging in weight from 45 pounds to 100 pounds, depending on what he's doing and if he is on a light day or a regular day, with an average around 75 pounds. I don't know if that helps with anything. He's trying to gain size over his whole body, but I was thinking that it would help if he did more leg exercises besides only doing squats. And I have tried to do my own research on this stuff, because I really hate having to ask for help and I like to do this kind of thing on my own, but I didn't even know where to start. I'm very new into this whole thing, though I've observed Best Friend's working out and nutrition for about 6 years now... he's my best source of everything about this topic, but unfortunately, Boyfriend hates him so much that he refuses to even hear about anything that Best Friend says or does.

TheFuzz1290: I don't know if he's still not eating enough, or if he's not eating at the right times, the right things, or some combination of those. He does the weight/mass gainer protein, casein protein before bed (though he slacks off on this a lot), the Opti-Men multi-vitamin, Animal M-Stak, Jack3d for pre-workout (though he often has to change pre-workout stuff because he is very resistant to stimulants), but I don't think he uses a creatine supplement. He eats a lot of brown rice, chicken breasts, scrambled egg burritos, turkey sandwiches... but I don't think he gets nearly enough fruits or vegetables. The eating thing is tough I guess when he only gets a few 20 minute breaks at work, and I've never observed his eating habits when he's there. I'm unsure of how often he changes up his workout routine, as I've only been to the gym with him a few times. I only recently got my own membership. I just know that he is often complaining and frustrated about his inability to gain any more size than he has already accomplished. He feels that he has hit some sort of plateau and he can't figure out how to get any bigger.

CrazyAssasin: Yes, I know that squats are considered to be THE most important leg exercise. I'm definitely not disputing that. And he only just started doing squats a few months ago (which I thought was crazy that he wasn't doing them since he's been trying to bodybuild for 3 years now), but when he started squatting, he stopped doing anything else for the legs. He is trying to get a form similar to Alistair Overeem, so I would think that the more he targets specific muscles, the better.

scottyent: Trust me... that sounds a lot easier than it is. He can be VERY stubborn when he thinks he knows what to do. It is difficult because if he is in a certain mood, no way of framing the statement will make any difference. If he disagrees with something, or something is different from the way he thinks or has been told is the "right way," he is very quick to scoff and brush it off. When it comes to trying to tailor things specifically to him, he gets very frustrated at how complicated it all is (he always wants it to be SIMPLE, and he doesn't like it when these things are not simple, like the whole anabolic nutrient timing thing), and then he just wants to give up entirely.

[Jasonk282]

OP...your bf is 6'2" and 185lbs...this is why he doesn't grow. He needs to eat more and do other leg work as well. squats, deads, calf raises, leg extensions even leg press.

[Xuaxace]

about 75% of my leg work is squats.

The only thing I would be wary is about the hamstring not getting enough attention.

It all comes down to whether he is improving, if he isn't, either form or more relevantly to this topic, muscle weaknesses might be playing a part. 3 years of training should have him close to a 400lb squat if he is taking things seriously.

[Floider]

Your boyfriend is wrong. Squats miss or do not adequately and proportionately work the following:
-hip flexors
-hamstrings*
-quads*
-calves
-hip abductors
-hip adductors*
-any and all muscles pertaining to hip rotation

So squats don't adequately work any leg muscle? Strange, very strange.

[Halehaler]

Tell him that if he's only doing Squats for lower body, he may as well only do bench for upper body. That's another compound exercise which does Chest, Delts, Tris. He can't use the "all-over" excuse for just legs and not arms.

[Floider]

Bench and pullups. But I hate to disagree with the lifting advice of someone 5'10'' and 133lbs.

[BombDonald]

So squats don't adequately work any leg muscle? Strange, very strange.

Please learn to read and understand an entire post before saying something stupid. He said depending on the variation, certain muscles will be emphasized.

[AlecAzam]

I recently started PHAT program and my power lower day only consists of squats, leg press, hamstring curls and calf raises if I'm feeling frisky. Except my hypertrophy lower has about 8-10 exercises so it really depends on the ultimate goal.

[Rasputin4]

Can you all grow up? Look, like 95% of what matters is that he is doing the best leg exercise in the first place as opposed to not working lets at all. Yeah, there is other stuff he could be doing, but the difference is small enough that it's not worth all this. The main thing is his hamstrings may be shortchanged by only squatting, but if he loves squatting that much, he could do some low bar ATG squats to hit hamstrings nicely. He could do something like 3 sets parallel squats, 3 sets front squats, and 3 sets ATG squats, and this will hit his upper legs nicely. I'd suggest adding 3 sets calf raises. I think your boyfriend may be more receptive if you agree that squats are the best leg exercise but ask him to consider squat variations to hit his legs better. There also sounds like there's more issues at play if he hates your best friend and you're going to these lengths to convince him of this. Ask yourself, why does this really matter to you so much?

[antoniod999]

my favourite part about this thread is that so many people became relationship experts lol

on a serious note though, lots of good advice.
personally i love leg curls and i feel luike theyve added definition and mass to the back of my legs (glutes & hams). if hes having issues adding size to his thighs then leg curls are my suggestion. just my 2 cents.

[TheFuzz1290]

my favourite part about this thread is that so many people became relationship experts lol

They're not relationship experts, they're just not sure how to react to a girl on the internet lol.

[tidnab]

They're not relationship experts, they're just not sure how to react to a girl on the internet lol.

****Bucket knew how, lol.

[LadyLore420]

-I'm an NSCA CSCS

Oh maaai, we got an experrrrt.

Srsly I work out at NSCA every day. Nobody has told me I'm not working my legs adequately while I rep at 225lb squats atg and paused. And frankly, the staff doesn't give a crap about bodybuilding or powerlifters, they focus on weight loss and conditioning athletes. NSCA is garbage for strength athletes, stfu.

Yes, this is a two year callout. Watcha gonna do lil vamp?

[NZninja101]

Oh maaai, we got an experrrrt.

Srsly I work out at NSCA every day. Nobody has told me I'm not working my legs adequately while I rep at 225lb squats atg and paused. And frankly, the staff doesn't give a crap about bodybuilding or powerlifters, they focus on weight loss and conditioning athletes. NSCA is garbage for strength athletes, stfu.

Yes, this is a two year callout. Watcha gonna do lil vamp?

Did you just look through IDBL's post history to find this?


It actually seems more impressive on his part assuming you had to go all the way back to over 2 years ago to find a post of his to pick apart.

[LadyLore420]

Did you just look through IDBL's post history to find this?


It actually seems more impressive on his part assuming you had to go all the way back to over 2 years ago to find a post of his to pick apart.

Purely by accident(googling squat threads). Bringing up old threads seems to be my newest hobby.