Benefits of Squats for Men

The squat is the king of all exercises.

Why?

It works the largest muscles in the body, relying on the center joint, the hip, and it releases HGH and testosterone into the body. That is the single most important benefit to men!

All in all, the squat is arguably the best exercise that you can do for performance and general fitness.

As great as the squat is it comes with risky biomechanics. What do I mean? Well. if you do it wrong you can tweak your back, hips, or knees.

The easiest way to ensure you do it right and maximize the benefit is to apply basic biomechanics -

1. Check your joint alignment. Line to line. Hip to knee. Knee to ankle. Straight lines? All joints facing inward? No knee collapse? You're good.

2. Next, while doing a squat, is your hip mobile, going through its full range? If not, that's a problem. Back off your weight. Practice partial range of motion exercises.

3. Is your ankle tight? If yes, it will most likely limit your hip mobility which triggers a cascade of negative events. Stretch the muscles around your ankle and make sure it is healthy before squats.

Watch the video for a clear and easy demonstration of a back squat.

And to learn more about how the squat relates to athletic performance and your knowledge of it can help you perform qualitative analysis to predict sports outcomes, click here.

Author Biography

Amy Ashmore, Ph.D. holds a doctorate in Kinesiology from the University of Texas at Austin. She is located in Las Vegas, NV.

To learn more about the squat, check out these journal articles -

1.Arlettaz ME, Dorsch LN, Sganga M, Booth ND, Farabello JS. Kinematic variations in the barbell back squat under different footwear conditions in female college athletes. J Sports Med Phys Fitness. 2024 Mar;64(3):287-292. doi: 10.23736/S0022-4707.23.15378-3. Epub 2023 Nov 28. PMID: 38015479.

2.Enes A, DE Souza EO, Souza-Junior TP. Effects of Different Weekly Set Progressions on Muscular Adaptations in Trained Males: Is There a Dose-Response Effect? Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2024 Mar 1;56(3):553-563. doi: 10.1249/MSS.0000000000003317. Epub 2023 Oct 5. PMID: 37796222.

3.Goodman W, Flores V, Cotter JA, Graham D, Becker J. Support moment distribution during the back squat at different depths and loads in recreationally trained females. J Sci Med Sport. 2024 Feb;27(2):119-124. doi: 10.1016/j.jsams.2023.11.001. Epub 2023 Nov 10. PMID: 38036316.

4.Martinez SC, Coons JM, Mehls KD. Effect of external load on muscle activation during the barbell back squat. Eur J Sport Sci. 2023 Jun;23(6):975-982. doi: 10.1080/17461391.2022.2081093. Epub 2022 Jun 13. PMID: 35603722.

5.Plotkin DL, Rodas MA, Vigotsky AD, McIntosh MC, Breeze E, Ubrik R, Robitzsch C, Agyin-Birikorang A, Mattingly ML, Michel JM, Kontos NJ, Frugé AD, Wilburn CM, Weimar WH, Bashir A, Beyers RJ, Henselmans M, Contreras BM, Roberts MD. Hip thrust and back squat training elicit similar gluteus muscle hypertrophy and transfer similarly to the deadlift. bioRxiv [Preprint]. 2023 Jul 5:2023.06.21.545949. doi: 10.1101/2023.06.21.545949. Update in: Front Physiol. 2023 Oct 09;14:1279170. PMID: 37461495; PMCID: PMC10349977.