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Squats! Squats! Squats!
Everything I read seems to emphatically make the same point: Squats are one of the most productive exercises you can do. After having this drilled into my brain so many times I can't help but agree with it. Here are some of the points that I have seen made repeatedly:
1- Because of the dynamic of squats it hits many of your muscle groups. Of course it puts a ton of stress on the quads (more on that later) but it also engages your abs and lower back for stability, it even engages some of your shoulder muscles to hold the bar, and it also works your glutes.
2- Squats cause your bones to actually rebuild and become denser. Lots of strenuous exercises do this, but big things like squats and deadlifts are especially useful. Your bones become denser in response to the stress of the exercise. This bone density is fantastic for overall health and helps you out when you get older. Also, research has shown that this effect happens no matter how old you are when you get started.
3- Because squats are so huge compared to things like your biceps, which are roughly the size of a baseball, working them with something like heavy squats has a couple effects. It burns a ton of calories (Think about running a V6 engine vs. a V3) which is why I always do them sandwiched between two half-hours of cardio. Also, the size of your quads causes your body to "stimulate protein assimilation, nitrogen retention, and the release of human growth hormone throughout your body. So your upper body may benefit too" (Men's Health Hard-Body Plan p. 194). We probably all know that, since muscle requires more calories to power on a day to day basis, it increases the number of calories burned every day.
Well, I hope this has been fairly informative for all of you. If you do decide to work squats into your workout routines, BE SURE to look up proper form somewhere on the internet. There are about 15,000 pages out there that detail form so you should take a look. One important tip is: Do not let yourself roll forward onto your toes when you lift because this does a lot of damage to your knees.
Take home message: Add squats to your workout routine, because they're great for your strength, bone density, and calorie expenditure. However, before you start, make sure you look at proper form online. Also, when you get under the bar in the gym for the first time, take whatever weight you wanted to start with and subtract 15 or 20 pounds so you can perfect your form and strengthen supporting muscles.
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