Squat Exercise Day 8 75lb 5×5
Squat Exercise is Simply the Best to Stimulate Muscle Growth and Get Strong
I am just about to head out to the gym to do my squat exercise for the day. Perhaps I should write this after I get back, but that might be a bit too late, so I thought I would give you all some food for thought now. I am the first to admit that I am somewhat terrified of the squat exercise. Why? Mainly because I tore my medial meniscus doing the squat exercise about 10 years ago. If I remember right, I was lowering or coming back up slowly, and I am almost pretty sure that I never did the squat below parallel as I have seen suggested and have been doing off and on for a year. Having said that, on the other hand, the squat exercise is hands down my favorite. How can it be my favorite? I know that every time I push myself to go to the gym and do the squat exercise, even when I do not want to, even when I do not feel as flexible as I want, I know that nevertheless, I will soon see and feel the benefits of squats. To me it seems somewhat miraculous, because I know that if I get in a good workout tonight, even though it is fairly light I am sure by most workout standards, I will see an improvement in my definition and body composition. I will feel stronger, I will look stronger, I will see a reduction in bodyfat percentage, I will even feel more confident in handling other challenges outside of the weight room. This has happened every time that I have been consistent in doing the squat exercise.
The reason that I am talking up squats so much is that I want to make the point that other than the squat and pushups and deadlifts, I am not doing much of anything else, but I am seeing very good improvements in my muscle tone. What is the point of spending 2 hours in the gym doing machine exercises and not seeing much improvement, as I have done in the past, doing machines and then treadmill and elliptical, when I can spend 30 minutes in the gym, do the squat exercise only, and reap more benefits than I have with any other exercise in my experience (outside of the deadlift). Granted, I am not a bodybuilder by any stretch of the imagination, I am just a regular guy doing his best to get into shape, the best shape that I can.
Having said that, I stand by the squat exercise as the King of exercises, hopefully you will do them right and below are different articles recommending how to do squats. Most important is that the tension is not on your knees, but rather on your glutes, and you accomplish that by making sure that your glutes go a bit below parallel from your knees. Here is a new study which demonstrates the superiority of the barbell squat exercise versus the leg press machine. We all know how comfortable the leg press machine is. Apparently comfort does not give you as much results as struggling through your squat sets. And of course, do not take it from me, the following experts say the same:
New Study Pits Barbell Squats Against Leg Press Machine
Jeff Barnett
Contributor – Health and Fitness News
“There is simply no other exercise, and certainly no machine, that produces the level of…muscular stimulation and growth…than the correctly performed full squat exercise.” – Mark Rippetoe
Mark Rippetoe’s quotation from Starting Strength is a timeless reminder of how to prioritize strength training. If you want to be strong, ditch the machines and pick up a barbell. Rippetoe based this statement on his experience with countless athletes. The evidence of experience is powerful, but until now it’s all we had to support the idea that free weight squat exercises provide better results than machines.
An upcoming study in theJournal of Strength and Conditioning Research tackled this question. Researchers asked, “What type of exercise will elicit the most hormonal response – machines or free weights?” They chose the leg press exercise and back squat exercise to duel in an epic test of which could produce the most testosterone and growth hormone.
Ten healthy men volunteered for the study, each with experience in strength training. On one day they performed six sets of ten reps of leg press, starting with 80% of 1Repetition Max. On another day, after plenty of rest, they returned to the lab to perform the free weight squat exercise workout, which was also six sets of ten reps, starting with 80% of 1RM. During each of these workouts, the participants were sporting a catheter inserted into their arms so blood could be sampled quickly.
In a result that surprised no one, the barbell squat exercise produced significantly higher levels of testosterone and growth hormone. At the greatest difference, which occurred during the workout, testosterone was about 25% higher when performing full squats versus leg press. But the difference in growth hormone was incredible. The Squats Exercise produced a full 200% more growth hormone during the workout. Even thirty minutes after the workout, participants who did squats exercise still had 100% more growth hormone as when they performed the leg press. Double your growth hormone, double your fun? Cortisol levels also rose more after the squat exercise workout, further confirming that the squat workout was a fundamentally different physiological experience from the leg press machine workout.
So is the leg press a bad exercise? No. Any exercise that results in a positive adaptation isn’t bad. The question is one of efficiency. We all want to get the best results possible, but we have limited time and energy to devote to training. So it makes sense to use your time and energy on exercises that provide the best bang for your buck. And is the leg press as effective as a full squat exercise? Not a chance.
So, now I know why I feel so great during and after doing free weight full squat exercise. Squat exercise produced a full 200% more growth hormone during the workout and even 100% more growth hormone thirty minutes after, you can see who the King is. Therefore, if you want to maximize your workout and the potential body transformation available to you, it is clear that you should attempt and learn how to do the squat exercise. Just to make sure that you are doing it right, I am going to provide you with a link that I used to start doing the squat exercise. It is of Mehdi of stronglifts, he has a great site and pdf book which will definitely inspire you to do the squat exercise as well as several other core body movements, and his writing and site https://stronglifts.com was definitely motivational to myself, so you might like it as well. Update: I got to the gym, warmed up with 45lbs, 5reps twice, then did 5 sets of 5 reps with 75lbs with between 2 and 5 minutes of rest.
How to do the Squat Exercise
How To Get Fit Fast - Fat Loss and Strength Gain Chart
| Date | Body Weight | Body Fat Percentage | Pushups or Pullups | Squats (below Parallel) | Deadlift |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monday December 23, 2013, Day 8 | 195lbs | 22.7% | 5 sets of 17 + 8 + 7 = 100 in under 10 minutes | 5 sets of 75lbs, warm up with 45lbs, rest between 2 and 5 minutes between sets | |
| Sunday December 22, Day 7 | 196lb | 22.9% | 5 sets of 16 | none | none |
| Saturday, December 21, Day 6 | 197.5lbs | 23% | 5 sets of 16 | none | none |
| Friday December 20, Day 5 | 199lb | 23.3% | 5 sets of 14 | 70lb | none |
| Thursday December 19, Day 4 | 200lb | 23.5% | 5 sets of 13 | 65lbs | none |
| Wednesday December 18, Day 3 | 202lb | 23.8% | 5 sets of 12 | 60lbs | none |
| Tuesday December 17, Day 2 | 204.5 | 23.9% | 5 sets of 11 | 55lbs | none |
| Monday December 16, 2013 Day 1 | 205lb | 24% | 5 sets of 10 | 45lb bar | none |
| October 31, 2013 Day 5 of the 30 Day Adventure | Pullups - today shoot for using 85lbs on the stack assist. Did 4 sets with 85lbs, will shoot for 5 sets on sunday or monday.. | Rest | Shoot for 5 sets of 120lbs, going up 5 lbs from Wednesday did 4 sets of 120lbs...will shoot for 5 sets again on monday..or next time ...it was tiring...grr | ||
| October 30, 2013, Day 4 of Hashi Mashi 2 | Today did maximum number of pushups possible. I have not tried that for many months and glad that I have gotten back to it. I did 40 which is not awful in the scheme of things, so that actually motivated me. I also did sets of pushups in between squats, 21 pushups between each set of squats. | 5 sets of 5 reps using 70lbs | Rest | ||
| October 29, third day of this 30 day Hashi Mashi Adventure, results so far have been promising, 5lbs down and 1% bodyfat down. Keep going | Today did pullups using 90lbs on the stack and will shoot for going down to 85lbs | Rest | 5 sets of 115lbs, did one set of 135lbs, so not too far back but have to make progress slowly | ||
| October 28, 2013 Wow it has been way too long since I was keeping track, but better late than never! | 5 sets of 20 pushups, will take some time till I can build back up to the max pushups that I was doing which was 56 back in April | 5 sets of 5 only using 55lbs, it will take time to build up again to 130lbs...it is a good thing I still had this table so I can see how fast I have lost strength over the last 6 months. | Rest | ||
| April 3, 2013 Day 286 | Shoot for sets today, not max.. | warm up with 45lbs2x5, 65lbx1, 95lbsx2, then 115lbs x1 then 120lbs 5setsx5reps - did them..should stay at 120 till it feels easy enough to move up to 125 | shoot for 150lbs...good form.....decided to stay at 135lbs...1set of 5 reps...that was enough for today, did not want to push it! max 155 or 160..see how we feel.. | ||
| April 2, 2013 Day 285 | Rest Pushups - Take a Break! | Rest | Rest | ||
| April 1, 2013 Day 284 | 56 full pushups - the last 10 were purty difficult... | warm up with 45lbs2x5, 65lbx1, 95lbsx2, then 115lbs x1 then 120lbs 5setsx5reps - did them..should stay at 120 till it feels easy enough to move up to 125 | Rest | ||
| March 29, 2013 Day 281 | Will shoot for 52/53 | Have to see if I can do any! And I did..whew...warm up with 45lbs2x5, 65lbx1, 95lbsx2, then 115lbs 5setsx5reps...did not feel too bad...happy I could do them..kept strict form...now rest for 2 days.. | shoot for 150lbs...good form.....decided to stay at 135lbs...1set of 5 reps...that was enough for today, did not want to push it! | ||
| March 27, 2013 Day 279 | 52 - went up 1 | 135lbs 4 sets of 5, felt pull in right thigh...so stopped at 4 sets, will go down in weight | Rest | ||
| March 25, 2013 Mon Day 277 | 51 - went up 1, the last 5 were pretty difficult, consecutive full pushups | 135lbs 5 sets of 5 reps, these were so @#$ hard, went up 5lbs but think I might have to stay here for a week or so till I am moving the weight easier | 165lbs is the goal for today, did warmups of 95, 135 and 155 and then 1 set of 5 reps of 165lbs. I think the form can be better, so stay at this weight in the meantime. | ||
| March 23, 2013 Sat Day 275 | 50 - Yeeha! Did many shoulder dislocations for warmup | 130lbs is my new High, 5 sets of 5 repetitions, up 5lbs from last workout. | Rest Deadlift | ||
| March 22, 2013 Fri Day 274 | Rest - Wedding Celebration | ||||
| March 21, 2013 Thur Day 273 | Rest | ||||
| March 20, 2013 Wed Day 272 | Rest | 125lbs 5 sets of 5 reps, went up | 155lbs 1 set of 5 reps, up 5lbs using mixed grip, left overhand, right underhand | ||
| March 19, 2013 Tue Day 271 | 45 pushups first set max | Rest | Rest | ||
| March 18, 2013 | Chest so sore, could not even do 1! | 120lbs 5 sets of 5 reps, went up | Off Today | ||
| March 15, 2013 | 41 repetitions nose to floor, yea, i have a long nose | 115lbs 5 sets of 5 reps, went up 5lbs from the previous workout | 150lbs 1set of 5 reps, up 10lbs | ||
| March 13, 2013 | 40rep max | 110lbs 5 sets of 5 reps | 140lbs 1 x 5 | ||
| June 21, 2012 | 1 | 2 repetitions using 45lb bar | 2 reps 45lb bar |
Rich is a