Top 3 Common Myths About Squats

Squats are the most popular exercise. You’ll find a person who’s never heard of military press, but not the one who doesn’t know what is squats with the barbell. This move is very energy-intensive and involves many muscle groups. That’s why squats are coated with myths. What are the most common? See below!

During squats, the secretion of testosterone is very significant

All available sources indicate an extremely short-term increase in testosterone during the training process, no more than 25% of the values ​​available at the beginning of the training, and this is without taking into account blood concentration (blood thickening). It is nothing or practically nothing.

Thanks to it the mass grows better

Of course, it is. An increase in the volume of the hips by 1 cm will increase body weight by several kilograms, while the same increase in the volume of the shoulder will bring only a few hundred grams.

Arms, shoulders, etc. will not grow without squats

Tell this to skaters or cyclists, whose legs are often larger than bodybuilders, but for some reason, have no hands. They just know that in order to grow hands, you need to train your hands, not your legs.

Now about the main thing. Those whose training programs have this exercise usually have more muscle mass than those who do not practice squats. True, this is not due to testosterone, but to the ability to train harder in principle, and this, in turn, creates a more powerful mechanical fit, activation of the motor signal protein, and the development of local MPF and IGF-1.

For example, for someone who was able to master the program “8 weeks of hell” (you squat, starting from 2 minutes in the first and up to 8 minutes in the last workout of the program) or the program “twenty” (perform 20 squats with a weight that you can overcome only ten times) bending the arms with dumbbells will seem like nothing. When working until muscle failure, the central nervous system connects additional motor units and, accordingly, muscle fibers to overcome fatigue and pain caused by a lack of ATP and an increase in the concentration of hydrogen ions. And all this is subject to the will, your willpower.

Conclusion. Heavy squats to failure (not to confuse squats with a heavy barbell) teach you to train ALL muscles hard and tough, thereby improving the quality of training, and through quality, you get quantity.

In addition, you have a great chance to get to know first what is the best combination of muscle groups to train in one workout.

What is more, we’ve prepared an answer on whether the number of sets matters to build muscle.