Do squats really translate to upper body?

garbagecan1234 · 2016-01-30T02:10:35+00:00

Squatting a lot will increase your core strength and improve your performance on compound upper body lifts like OHP and bench. It also slightly works your back isometrically. However, there is no substitute for consistent upper body training unless you want to look like a T-Rex.

whodat6922 · 2016-01-28T18:55:25+00:00

I can tell you this much: For two years, I had a routine that had a few compound exercises mixed in with a bunch of isolated exercises. Squats/bench/deadlift were in my routine, but usually once a week each, whereas I would hit isolated exercises generally twice a week. This gave me great results, hence doing it for two years.

However, I kind of plateaued on all my exercises for a few months, so I thought I'd switch it up. 5x5 SL was something I'd heard a lot about but never tried. So I tried it. (If you don't know anything about 5x5 SL, you are squatting three times a week). The thing was, when I would get done with a typical 5x5 day where you only do three compound lifts and no isolated lifts, I would feel like "Ok that was a good workout but my biceps and triceps don't feel pumped up. I'm going to lose some strength on those isolated exercises." But I stuck with it and didn't do any isolated exercises. I wanted to give the program a chance. Fast forward to 6 weeks later, and I figured I would spend a day at the gym doing my old routine, just to see where I was at those exercises. Sure enough, my strength had improved in every single one of them. I was able to add 10lbs to each and easily complete all the reps.

That's when I became sold on squatting every single time I go to the gym.

Andorli · 2016-01-28T12:23:03+00:00

Yes it does, as mentioned here lower part of your torso ( core ) will become considerably stronger since it has to support the weight of barbell without collapsing or tilting to the side. But more important intensive training of legs increases testosterone in the body which is responsible for muscle building in entire body. With the increase in testosterone you will gain faster in all of your body.

wordjedi · 2016-01-28T14:54:02+00:00

I was doing a bunch of crunch variation abdominal exercises and isolation split routines in 2014, then switched to compound barbell lifts, including squats in 2015. Made a lot more progress on my abdominals without directly working them.

Scribs1 · 2016-01-28T13:46:26+00:00

It definitely helps with core, if you do it properly. You have to push out your gut in a flex and squeeze your ass as much as possible. Really takes some concentration and serious practice to get right. Once you learn to tighten your core, you'll notice improvement in every lift. Every one of my compound lifts begins with me pushing my feet into the floor, squeezing my butt, and pushing out my stomach, in that order.

GayLubeOil · 2016-01-28T14:52:28+00:00

Your body grows proportionally. So yes

throw_em_all · 2016-01-28T14:53:35+00:00

Anything that works stabilizer muscles heavily will translate into better overall performance.

Now that doesn't mean that squatting will get you direct upper body hypertrophy, but a lot of core strength (also a little hypertrophy) which in turn will help your OHP, Bent over row, etc.

Rasalom72 · 2016-01-28T15:12:26+00:00

Plus, there is some data to suggest that simply supporting heavy weight on top of your frame will trigger certain systems in your body.. I don't recall the exact systems, but I remember it as being beneficial to your body as a whole.

topdog82 · 2016-01-28T16:47:25+00:00

thanks for the responses guys! it is not just broscience

Sdom1 · 2016-01-28T20:04:38+00:00

Squatting works a lot of muscles at once and seems to increase your testosterone production. Nobody ever said that you can squat and your upper body will grow, they said that it will grow more with upper body lifts + squats than it will with upper body lifts by themselves.

Title	Do squats really translate to upper body?
Author	topdog82
Upvotes	6
Comments	17
Date	January 28, 2016 7:07 AM UTC (10 years ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/askTRP
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/asktrp/comments/4328e5/do_squats_really_translate_to_upper_body/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/askTRP/do-squats-really-translate-to-upper-body.159963 https://theredarchive.com/post/159963

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