Squats, Heavy Squats And Squatters (Part 1)

Anyone who tells you they like squats is either genetically gifted, a masochist or a liar. Whilst the act of squatting is as natural as a form of resting or for defecating, to sink into a low squat and then rise with a rounded spine, lifting a heavy weight which crushes into your neck vertebrae is about as natural as most movie starlets mammary glands. Note I am not saying squats don't work or you should not do them I am just saying for most they are an exercise best gotten over with fast, like having teeth extracted.

One of the all time great squatters would have been the late Paul Anderson who was unofficially crowned the "Worlds Strongest Man". He once said that he must have done thousands of squats while training but that he had detested every single one of them and went on to say that he could no way understand anyone he said the contrary. It is a sad fact that squats hurt but that they are an essential part of any body-building routine.

Those genetically suited i.e. mesomorph/endomorph mixes may well like or even enjoy knee bends with a barbell across the back of the neck, aching chest and gasping for breath. To avoid pain you can use rolled up towels around the bar and maybe don't dip so low, say parallel. Do it this way and it's fairly comfortable, but ironically the majority who take up training for muscle or power building are those less physically suited ie. ectomorphs or the skinny guys.

Going back to genetics again, those who are naturally muscular will probably never enter a gym in their lives, but so what if you are naturally gifted. So back to the skinny guys again who really do have the desire to see both muscle and strength gains and who will really keep at it. I don't expect you knew that George Eiferman could carry out 150 consecutive squat reps? - and on one leg!

Now down to business and the first exercise on the strength gain list will be squats or some form of knee bends. You will find coaches who claim that this type of exercise can lead to hip/knee joint injuries as well as old timers who will be the first to blame their crippling bodies on previous heavy squats as did Grimik, who actually did squats in his 70's and went on to having hip replacements.

You can actually go over the top when it comes to protecting your joints with wraps as development results can be affected. Although the idea is for wraps to prevent injury, if you do over do it, well it can cause the joints and connective tissues to weaken. n the other hand a competing weightlifter would benefit through being able to lift more as well as protecting himself from serious injury.

Development is not the same as power lifting so it would not be advisable to use them. If you have short leg bones which gives better leverage, you could probably squat onto your haunches. As we have mentioned squatting is a natural way to sit, but lifting double our body weight will only put stress on our spinal column and knee joints.

Anyone who can really go so low on squats or squat snatches and then get back up uninjured are most definitely in the minority as it just is not natural. Don't forget that we are talking about heavy squats and we will remain with the same exercise in part 2.

Tags: Recreation & Sports