I wasn't watching just vaguely listening and when he started talking about how many inches he had, I just assumed this was one of those weird conversations that sometimes pops up in the intros of some normies videos.
Great points on heel elevation, you've inspired me to start using my squat shoes again after squatting exclusively barefoot/in socks over the last year to build foot strength and increase ankle mobility. Right now ATG Hack Squats, ATG Leg Press and the 1/2 Hatfield SSB Split Squat have been growing my quads nicely.
SS bar is my go to for squats. Couple of reasons for me: 1. So much easier on the wrists/elbows/shoulders. Low bar is strongest for me but if I train it hard, heavy and often I tend to develop golfer's elbow. 2. It's a superior tool for building strength, whereas the straight bar is great for displaying it. 3. The t spine strengthening component cannot be overstated. It transfers well to the deadlift and makes regular low bar squats feel like you're cheating.
I used to have similar elbow issues with the low bar squat. Starting Strength's channel addresses this issue - I had to learn to retract my scapula so I could hold the bar on the "shelf" formed by my trapezius.
Buy a rubber car ramp from home depot and even put on some weightlifting shoes. With a controlled descend, it will almost feel like a hack squat. love it.
Love the SSB, dude. Got one recently and it's way more comfortable on my shoulders. Will always love the low bar back squat, though. Such a great exercise. 💪💯
@Jerome O'Neill Yeah I definitely find it easier to move more weight with the low bar. I'm running a 20 rep squat program though, and yeah it was killing my arms hahah. 💀💀💀💀
I’ve been exclusively front squatting because my shoulders won’t let me hold a bar on my back. Honestly once you get used to it they feel great. I notice I get insane quad soreness (and glutes too). I’m rebuilding my squat strength with front squats and right now I’m basically doing 3x5 around 200lbs. So far linear progression is working, I think once I get closer to 315 for reps my quads will be noticeably bigger- they’re only average now
Do you have long arms? I used to have that problem myself. I was eventually able to do high bar, but I’ll never be able to comfortably get into low bar position. I still squat like a low bar squatter because I have long femurs as well. Anyway, I was available to get a bar on my back by doing some shoulder mobility and upper back work. Try it out if you plateau on front squats.
@@roebuckmckinney I’ve previously tried mobility work and even with tons of bands, foam rolling, stretching etc- my shoulder still hurts. Maybe I just need to do more though. Honestly I’m really enjoying front squats and I want to build a three plate front squat. At that point, I’ll reevaluate and experiment on grips with low bar- then I can really squat big weight again
I switched from primarily low bar to exclusively high bar a year ago to work on my general squat mechanics and it definitely brought my quads up proportionally to my glutes while only focusing on 1-6 rep strength. I used a narrow stance and 1 inch heel the whole time. I also really like strict paused leg extensions for 3×10-12 pushed HARD
SSB master race for me personally. The handles up variation blasts the quads man. It puts the camber farther in front of you and feels like an actual squat instead of a deadlift like the handles down variation
Belt squats for quads. Everything else is turning your core into a weak link (to different degrees depending on leverages) just because of the limitations of equipment. You can hit quads hard and buy some carryover squats gains cheaper than if you had to do the work with a bar on your shoulders.
Those elevated heel quad dominant squats will 100% f*ck you up! The burn and pump are insane. I've been doing them once a week in ladder sets of ~20 reps, since I don't have a leg extension in my home gym. Mass and definition gains are insane. Killer exercise!
Really awesome to see Alex embracing Coach Kassem’s style of training. The most optimal way to train for hypertrophy imo. Old school influencer🤝New science based training
I've been doing only Front squats and it's variations as my gym doesn't have a squat rack but I've found a way to do front squats. Loving the gains, legs are blowing up!
No, actually i empty the fixed barbell rack and place a regular barbell on it and do front squats there. Back squats are also doable but it's difficult to re-rack the weight.
For the home gymers and leg development with limited weight: Unilateral work Front squats or Narrow squats Lunges (I've done reverse lunges from 6-8's down to 3/2rms for great results Landmine belt squats Landmine reverse hack sq. (heels elevated) Occlusion training (did these for high rep band leg extensions)
Currently able to squat 160kg for reps and i can say I’m happy with my legs. They reached a good size. As he said, at that point it’s impossible to have small legs
@@iangraham-white5717 from where you’re at right now, 160kg for reps so let’s say 180kg single or 400 pounds, i don’t hear of too many guys getting to that level in less than 2 years, which would be really really good progress. It’ll likely take longer. Depends on a lot of factors like genetics and consistency. You’ll get there if you stay consistent, that’s what’s important.
Alex it's cool to see you rocking the shaved head + beard duo, it always suited you the most IMO + making you look even more yoked (I remember your old videos when you said shaving the head gives you the illusion of looking bigger which is true imo).Also, it's really cool that you have been referencing Kas from N1 has he def has been a positive influence on quite a few youtubers lately in regards to biomechanics and muscle biasing. I also follow him and have def learned some stuff too. Hope you're doing well Alex but god damn it's the return of the curfew in mtl f*k !
Especially for people with long femurs like myself then front squats are an outstanding exercise. (SSB as well). I found using oly shoes and attempting to improve ankle mobility by foam rolling worked wonders.
I would like to add one thing that is VERY beneficial when trying to target a specific muscle on a compound exercise. Naturally your point of failure is going to be the weakest link, and combined with a wide variety of skeletal structures it's rarely going to be the muscle you're actually trying to work, the solution is PRE-EXHAUSTING the target muscle and going immediately to a compound. So for quads, you would do a quad isolation like leg extensions or quad raises to failure and go straight to squats. I learned this from Mike Mentzer.
This goes against the basics of starting from a compound movement. If you pre-exhaust your quads than your load bearing and perfomance will decrease and everyone knows that the stronger you get, the bigger you get. That's basic.
@@Bane1Mirin I'm pretty well versed in my research. My method is not wrong and neither is yours. After more than 2 years, I still stand on to what I said. Maybe I was wrong about pre exhaust but I'm not wrong about strength and size and doing heavy compounds. Ofcourse i know more reps hypertrophy training is a thing.
@@6pac.you answered your own question like you said high reps increases muscle size sarcoplasmic hypertrophy and low reps heavy weight increases strength myofribrilar hypertrophy explains how theirs 150lbs guys lifting 500lbs + on squat and deadlift etc but are not big in size but strong as hell
Brian Aslure always said with the SSB to drive the handles up out of the hole. Definitely helped me stay upright and also have me a pretty good trap pump.
I'm doing paused ATG squats atm for 3-4 sets of 12 with 6 minutes rest in between. Insane pump and I expect my TNG squat to improve as well. Never been a fan of low reps squatting, the lowest I would go is 8.
@@wally139 And that's the issue I see. People be squaring all kinds of weight, but for 2 and they wonder why the muscle ain't there. Higher reps are generally better for muscle
Ive just started high bar squatting again and the quad tension is great. I think front squats are also an amazing movement, but i think you ca get a lot of the benefits of front suqats from doing heavy front rack holds
I like feet elevated zercher squat for these purposes. Don't have an ssb bar and can't front squat due to long forearms. The pump is insane, and i like that they improved my ankle and knee mobility. Getting to 26 inch legs as an early intermediate
I made a similar mistake, I though low bar squats was all I needed to train quads and focused mostly on good mornings, deadlifts, and leg curls. Come to find out you need to focus on training quads to get strong, I know SHOCKING
For me i noticed the best quad and leg growth in general from treating the hack squat as my main leg lift anywhere from 6-10 rep range using the entire range that the machine allows as well as a low bar paused squat and deadlift and then bringing up the volume with leg extension and hamstring curl for reps of 15-20 hitting legs 4x per week since my split has come to a full body alternating push/pull routine due to my schedule growing more busy over the years
i stopped squats because of lower back pain. But yesterday I tried deadlift behind the back , masive pump in the quads and no back pain ! Though i felt my technique was not very on point , I had to do a weird movement for the lock out as the bar get stuck into my harmstrings , a technique video would be nice ;) Love from France
I've been using weightlifting shoes for the last couple of years. I got so bad leverages, long limbed, short torso and skinny, but it helped my squats. Had to relearn the squat (due to impropper form) and now I can ATG highbar. When I hit intermediate stage I will get a loading pin and squat belt and start with belt squats.
I might start to need this soon enough. I've done a ton of belt squats, and yeah they're wide and yeah my quads are pretty big, but I still think I am posteriour-dominant. I never fret having load on my hams or glutes. It's how I naturally do it. I squat upright. I prefer high bar, and can't even really DO low bar.
I reached 25.5 inch legs (which is about 70/30 ratio of muscle/ fat) by just doing 3-5 second eccentric heavy leg presses and going balls to the wall with adequate recovery (active and passive). Did hamstring curls to try and balance it out since I can't RDL due to an elbow injury atm. But ye, leg press also superior in my opinion. Optimal for hypertrophy, not optimal for mobility.
@Rubi I feel the exact same. Every time I do leg press my knee pain comes back. But Bulgarian split squats, front squats, and deadlifts are completely fine
@@Jakob-nu2hc Yeah man that's fine. Some exercises just weren't meant for everyone. For me, leg press was always good as long as I had strict and intentional form, however, the bulgarian split squat obliterates my knees. So we all just got to play to what we can do for longevity. Still going to try to master the squat and bulgarian split squat though because these movements I feel are more translatable to our every day life, so congrats to you honestly haha.
@@matthewstein5424 Yeah we all gotta work with the arsenal we got. And i firmly agree that the leg press is one of the best mass builders for the legs. As they are isolated but still needing a lot of power to get through the movement. But the aspect of unilateral training for example the Bulgarian split squats will probably have more carryover to things like skating and even just walking. Though it requires a lot of focus and a decent amount of balance to perform the movement
Hack squats with a 1.5 to 2 inch block underneath. It's easy for me to overload without a spotter. Do high reps 15 to 25 reps till either your legs collapse or you're out of breath. Dont like the whole big glute thing.
I love front squats and they helped my leg size to a degree, but I'm front squatting 365 and my legs are only 25-26' at 22% bodyfat, 6'2 tall so while I'm very happy with the strength gains, the size wasn't amazing (I gained maybe an inch or 1.5 inches during this year of front squats
SSB fanatic here. Forced to switch to ssb because of shoulder pain. I'll never go back. It's the ultimate legs/core/back buster. I'm 43, train in my garage exclusively with ssb and my legs are bigger than ever. Bigger than when i used to do regular squat, press, leg extensions.
Ssb squats was absolutely liberating for me i have long femurs and short torso so when i do back squats i feel it more in my lower back more then legs but with the ssb i feel it all in my legs the quads glutes hamstrings.
Agreed with everything you said. The only thing I would add is Hatfield Squats. As a 6ft3 long leg/shorter torso lifter, I find any type of back squat places too much emphasis on my lower back. Hatfield squats allow me to sit as deep into the squat as possible with a upright torso. I can also add an extra 40kg to the bar as it's purely legs.
This dude opened up my eyes on leg development, ive been stuck on my leg growth but my strength is semi decent for my weight... I've been doing a lot of 135lb squats for 20 reps each leg day come out fatigued as shit legs are sore but they don't grow, they just look lean/muscular but the growth doesn't happen. I will be changing the outlook on how i do Squats now and go for heavier loads.
What is your 1 rep squat max? How many squats were you able to do in a row with 135lbs? Do you think being able to do 135lbs squats 100x in a row without rest would help?
i feel like my sfr in general is a lot better on elevated heel Squats. I feel it better in my quads, my spinal erectors arent overly beaten up, i get mor ROM and using the same Weight and Sets. Do you think altering the Squat can actually change the sfr for some people?
I do Barbell squat for strength purposes, and at the end of workout session I always do Sissy squat to hit my legs more for hypertrophy purposes without tiring out my whole posterior chain. It works like wonders for me
I finally got 505 on the high handle trap bar deadlift yesterday using the bulgarian light method you suggested a few years back. My trap bar deadlift went from 450 to 505 in less than a week. I didn't really think it was possible until it happened. Thanks for all the lifting advice, Alex. You have helped me on my journey more than anyone else, and I wouldn't have done it without you. Thanks for the work that you do.
Damn that's way to weak bruh....squat atleast 315 for 5 reps or 370s as one rep max.....maybe you are just fat that's why your quads are 24,i can squat 315 for 7-8 reps and my quad is only 26.5
Yo Alex, you’ve spoken very highly about the front squat in the past as well as the Zercher squat in naturally enhanced. Are they not adequate for quad plus yoke gains?
Hi Alex! I used to squat 3 times x week, with 2 low bars and 1 high bar with bands in recovery day, ended up fkin up my low back when I got to do a 4sx4 at 160 kgs, even if I managed to do a 7sx5 at 150, and still today, after 2 and a half years after injury, I have to be extremely careful with my squats. I remember that my legs were nice, but my ass became a hot air balloon, because I am tall with long legs and short torso. Recovery was long as fk, and when I closed, finally, a 5sx5 at 150 kgs, my low back started to feel awkard again, so with a new coach we switched to do more lunges, more bulgarian split squats, ONLY high bar twice a week, and some safety bar front squats. My low back now is fine, my quads now are balanced with my posterior chain, and I am getting close to a 150x5 in high bar that I couldn't even approach when I was so strong in low bar only. This gave me also a new motivation to see things to another prospective, more bb-oriented in order to build my "lost" strength, and I also hope to apply this in my bench press too, that is really close to 150 kgs paused on chest. Thank you for all the good information, keep it up!
I just started the SSB last week because my quads are seriously lacking and sometimes doing regular squats feels awkward. The SSB is awesome! I feel it in my quads way more, and I can honestly already see some great quad growth. I honestly don’t know if I’ll ever go back to back squats. I love the em.
Alex im an old man by now 31yo to be exact. I just want to know what kind of dimensions you have on the room that is equipped with the lifting gear. The older one gets the more efficient in time and its value one will know. Maybe you should do a video were you film ALL your equipment and details about them. Also the minimum m^2 that is requierd for what you have. Its just easier to copy whats already working for you. Also I think this video ide is good for us subscribers and for your channel algorithmically wise.
Goblet squats are it for me, man. High volume, slow tempos, pause reps, down sets, etc. Been getting good results along with kettlebell swings for the posterior chain.
@Dean I currently do 70 lbs. I just do high volume reps like I mentioned up above. I don’t do 1RM with them or anything less than 10 reps. Just want big quads. That’s just what works for me right now. It just got easier loading up as I went up in weight.
Gave up low bar for the SSB. My quads BLEW UP. Blew way past my LB maxes. Could be body mechanics or whatever, but it was a completely different ball game...
I’m doing front squats with the titan fitness front squat harness. With that you can balance the weight on the harness,and use your hands to help you do forded reps,almost like frank zanes squat machine.
7/8 squat with a pause in the hole, dont lock out at the top, keep constant tension on quads with heels elevated. Prime fitness makes great squat blocks. If you are not getting ready for a powerlifting comp, who cares how much is on the bar? You can grow with lighter loads if tension and leverages are applied correctly
The Overhead Squat is great and is also used as functional movement screen too and if you can load it up it is pretty much the same as the part of the snatch. The Front Squat similarly is the rack position in the Clean (and Jerk) and if you can load it up is a great exercise. I really like the Box Squat though great for developing explosive power and ideal for most sports particularly track and field. Alex what's your opinion on complex pairs? Hope your well and have a Happy New Year.
One thing recently that pushed me to lactic acid threshold was stair lunging. There's a spot near me which has around 250 stairs bottom to top. So taking every other stair and focusing on ctrl and pace was quite brutal after doing repeats on that for 45-60 min. Both on my legs and work capacity. I've found that doing unconventional stuff like this or steep hill sprints for example often kick my ass and stimulate hypertrophy in my legs better than squats. Alex also makes a good point about being posterior chain dominant. I did recreational powerlifting for a lot of years. So that style of squatting always hits the hamstrings/glutes harder.
Alex, for squats would you recommend going for low or high reps? I understand there is a need for both but in this case for hypertrophy I’d assume it’d be for 8 reps and above. But I’d like to hear your opinion, thanks man!
What about low-handle heel elevated trapbar deadlifts? SSB is not always accessible in gyms and a SSB takes up a lot of space in a homegym for limited usage.
I actually like smith machine squats. During lockdown i did a lot of free weight barbell squats in my basement but noticed more of my glutes and hams getting more sore. Smith machine i feel i target the quads a lot more. I know some people like it some dont but regardless free weight or machine, x amount of weight you lift is still the same x amount of weight free bar or machine.
Just some backstory I have always had pretty weak legs. I started squatting like 2 years ago and my max was 185 and tbh it probably wasn't even fully to depth. Anyway, after about a year I was finally getting up 275lbs at 155bw, which for me was huge progress but I was still no where near "strong" on squat. Somewhere around 6 months ago I fell off and lost a ton of progress, and after having been so obsessed with trying to gain strength in my squat I decided to just put some more size on my legs and get some better endurance and functional strength, so I started doing 20 rep sets. I did that for around 3 or 4 weeks and a lot of my strength came back, but it was so cardio focused I couldn't figure out why I couldn't do more than 155lbs for 2 sets of 20 reps. Today I wanted to see where my max was and ended up getting 265, again still 155lbs bw, which is okayish. But when I put 185 on the bar I was able to do 15, and honestly still had some in the tank. So now I've realized those super high rep squats are too cardio focused, and probably the best way to see an increase in strength and size is to sit somewhere between that 8 - 15 rep range where you're grinding out those last couple of reps.
Hey Alex could I add some weighted calisthenic movements to your novice program and replace preacher curls for barbell curls I wanna get stronger with these exercises love the videos brother learnt so much from you ❤️
It's a great starting point and solid for your weight but moving forward try to refrain from doing 1RMs early on and just build your strength with volume or low reps of say.. 5. Anyway you're young and have a lot of gains to make. By 20 years old and possibly even earlier, I wouldn't be surprised if you're a +500lb deadlifter.
I have noticed over time squatting high bar mostly that if i focus on pushing the ground away more through the balls of the feet, it feels way more in my quads, without it feeling that I am tipping forward or doing something otherwise unhealthy
I have long femurs, so for me it is really dificult to do proper squats, but I LOVE them. Throughout the years, I have developed a great amount of mobility to be able to do squats with my long legs!