Why Every Man Needs to Squat and Deadlift

Can confirm on all counts. I'm 54 so 2x a week of squats and deadlifts is more than my body can take, but I make sure to get at least 5 sets of each in one time a week (on separate days) and it has really made a difference. I've always been an ectomorph and a hard gainer who at 6 feet tall would swing between skinny fat (at anything over 185 lbs) and just plain skinny (when I keto dieted my way down to 165). I had a sort of OK upper body on top of long skinny legs with hips wider than a man's should be and any fat carried around the middle. I also had a very hard time keeping good posture with a pretty pronounced slump and "head forward". I saw myself turning into what my dad became physically at my age and swore it wouldn't happen to me.

Enter squats and deadlifts at heavy (for me) weights and low reps, combined with a radical rework of my diet and I'm now maintaining 180 pounds at ~13% bodyfat with a goal to get down to 10-11. My posture is better, my clothes hang better and my whole body is better proportioned overall. My wife even said a few weeks ago, "You're starting to look like an athlete."

Guys, these changes aren't gonna happen checking Facebook on a treadmill with a few bicep curls and calf raises thrown in every now and then. You have to lift challenging amounts of free weight through as full a range of motion as your body allows, and do it consistently. If you have to start by just squatting the weight of the bar, so what? Start there and go up as often as you can. Your only competition is yourself.

And yes, these lifts WILL increase your appetite and not just for food.

 

In again to add one more benefit. These lifts and especially deadlift are about functional strength and they do make a difference. A few months ago we were moving things out of my in law's house and we had to get their piano up onto a pickup. There was no ramp so this involved a team lift from the ground up to about 2 and a half feet. In other times I would have begged off being the old man of the group but we didn't have enough hands otherwise. And I had just logged a personal best on deadlift so I stepped up and said let's do this. I lifted my share with ease and no after effects and the others with me, who have always known me to not be a very physical guy, were like, where did that come from?

 

Thanks for the insight. I've read too that having a muscular upper body with a weak lower body increases stress on the legs and can lead to vascular illnesses and leg fracture in extreme cases. And let be honest lads, when you make love you're thrusting with your hips, glutes and hamstrings not with your lats or chest lol so those muscles are very important.

 

Yes it's weird but building stronger legs will also carry over to your upper body development whereas the opposite isn't true. If I could go back to my 20s and start weight training again I would have definitely spent a lot more time doing squats and deadlifts. I can only squat a pathetically low amount of weight relative to my bodyweight... some of it is a lack of flexibility but a lot is just a lack of strength from years of neglect.

As for the wimmen... I've heard that's why they check out a guy's ass. If he's got something back there they figure he does a lot of pumping (in both senses) and that turns them on whereas they see a flat-ass guy and assume him to not have much experience and/or stamina in the sack. Hell, guys are even getting butt implants now so there must be something to that theory.

 

Perhaps I'm too retarded but everytime I tried to incorporate those two in my routine I either got injured or they took so much energy out of me that I wasn't able to do any other exercises after. So I train exclusively upper body now with some lower body isolations added in from time to time.

wtf did I just read

 

That's my case as well. Another reason why I'm not a fan of those exercises - I don't want to make my already large ass and thighs grow.

 

Squats and deadlifts do take a lot out of you. That's why no sensible workout program will prescribe doing both exercises in the same session, and in my case I only do one session of each a week, but hard, with at least 2 days between the squats and the deadlifts. Also you should always lead with the squats or deadlifts as the first thing in your session cuz they're so damn hard. Then after that go with iso's with whatever energy you still have left in the tank. If what you're doing is working for you though, that's great.

 

Does anybody have coregasms when doing deadlifts and squats because those 2 are part of weightlifting? A coregasm is when a person have orgasms while exercising aka exercise - induced orgasm. LOL!!!

 

I watched an Arnie documentary, and he said he felt like he was cummin' the whole time he was at the gym.

 

Arnold, like Tiger Woods, is a known sex addict so that doesn't surprise me. On the other hand it would explain his high motivation to work out!

 

Yeah both those movements are great. You just have to have technique down really well, especially with the DL. Also as mentioned if you go heavy they take a lot out of you as they really stress the CNS. Personally I don’t think heavy DL’s are worth it, too much risk of injury and too much recovery needed,
I’m a fan of heavy squats though.

 

Try front squats. They are easier on the lower back and build up the core strength better than backsquats

 

I'm finally back at the gym and I think this is a key piece to my nofap success that I was missing as I just could not get a good structured fitness routine going without it. Hope it helps me be the best I can be.

 

Okay alpha male tough guy, will do