why squat and dead lift?

B

Berberman

0
Hi, I've been working out for 9 weeks now regularly: weight lifting x3 times a week, HIIT x1 time a week and cardio about x1 to 2 times a week. I've always been into sports thought so i consider myself pretty fit. My goal is to loose a few pounds and tone up.
I've never done squats or dead lifts before but i read so much about them on this forum that i decided to include it in my workout routine this week.

My question is why are squats and dead lifts so important? and how are they working all the muscles if the only stress i feel is on my legs and back? through what body mechanism do they increase your body muscle growth?
 
outside of bodybuilders, the rest of the world has long known that getting big numbers in the basic multi-joint movements along with caloric excess leads to gains in size and strength. the squat and the deadlift lead the way along with presses, rows, cleans, etc.

Hormonal Response: Numerous studies have indicated that weight training exercises that recruit a lot of total muscle mass - the compound exercises - result in the largest anabolic hormonal response by the body. The proportions of anabolic hormones (mainly growth hormone and testosterone) that are actually secreted are thought to be a function of factors such as rep count and rest between sets - with lower rep sets and longer breaks between them favoring testosterone release and higher rep sets and shorter breaks between them favoring growth hormone (hGH). The more total muscle mass involved, the higher the hormone levels rise.
 
If you are feeling the squats and deadlifts in your back there is a good chance you are doing them incorrectly. On squats you have to make sure your chest is staying up and that you are leaning all your weight in your heels while shifting your hips back. You also have to pull your abs in as tight as you can when you do squats to keep your upper body stable. Same thing goes for deadlifts which are very easily done wrong. On deadlists again you have to push your hips back and make sure your back stays flat. You should feel it all in your hamstrings as that is the muscle it is hitting. Each time you come up for a rep make sure your abs are super tight.
 
It wouldn't surprise me if you were sore in your traps, rhombs, and rear delts from squatting...'specially your first few sessions when you're getting used to retracting the shoulder blades, squeezing them tightly to create teh "shelf", and holding them (isometric contraction). If your lower back is sore from squatting, there is a chance that you're going into almost a good morning/squat movement which is not what you want unless it is deliberately set up this way but then again, there is no rounding of the back until your conditioning is way up there.

Back should stay arched both in the squat and deadlift. Check that your knees are not coming inward and that your toes are pointed slightly outward (away from midline).

The deadlift causes a lot of sore lower backs, glutes, hams, and middle portion through your lats and at times the traps from teh lockout portion. Remember, you're pulling back and not straight up. Typically, you'll see good deadlifters nearly dragging the bar up their shin or they do drag the bar up the shins. The deadlift is a posterior chain movement so it hits the lower back, glutes, and hamstrings but it also hits a slew of other muscle groups in the upper back, the forearms, and to some extent the brachioradialis.

These movements are important for over all strenght and size (injuries prohibiting, of course). So, for the best bang for your buck...skip the leg press and leg extension machine and squat and deadlift.
 
physiquedocteur said:
If you are feeling the squats and deadlifts in your back there is a good chance you are doing them incorrectly. On squats you have to make sure your chest is staying up and that you are leaning all your weight in your heels while shifting your hips back. You also have to pull your abs in as tight as you can when you do squats to keep your upper body stable. Same thing goes for deadlifts which are very easily done wrong. On deadlists again you have to push your hips back and make sure your back stays flat. You should feel it all in your hamstrings as that is the muscle it is hitting. Each time you come up for a rep make sure your abs are super tight.
Click to expand...
The only time you should feel it significantly in the hamstrings is when performing straight leg deads.

Otherwise you should feel it in your lower back amongst other areas.
 
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