How To Squat For Pure Quad Growth
Summary
TLDRIn this RP Strength video, Dr. Mike offers a detailed guide on how to perform squats for optimal muscle growth. He emphasizes the importance of proper technique, such as pushing hips back, maintaining an upright posture at the bottom, and ensuring knees travel forward for maximum quad activation. Dr. Mike's advice diverges from traditional strength-focused squatting, aiming instead to maximize muscle hypertrophy and provide a more challenging workout for the quads.
Takeaways
- 🏋️ Squatting for muscle growth requires a different technique than squatting for strength or health, as emphasized by Dr. Mike from RP Strength.
- 📋 The script outlines 10 basic principles for setting up and executing squats to optimize muscle growth in the quads.
- 👣 Maintaining proper foot positioning with toes pointed out for comfort and knees out for comfort is crucial for an effective squat.
- 🔙 Pushing hips back while bending the knees is essential to avoid ending up on the toes, which can compromise the squat's effectiveness.
- 💨 Breathing technique plays a role in squatting for muscle growth, with the recommendation to keep the chest up and ribs out while bracing for the descent.
- 🔽 During the downward movement, allowing the knees to travel forward as much as possible, while keeping heels grounded, is advised for maximum quad engagement.
- 🚫 The script refutes the common belief that knees should never go over toes, stating that doing so can actually enhance quad hypertrophy when done correctly.
- 👃 Breath control during the eccentric phase of the squat is important for maintaining oxygen flow and preventing fainting, especially during longer eccentrics.
- 📉 Staying as upright as possible at the bottom of the squat helps to keep tension in the quads, promoting safety and reducing back fatigue.
- ⏸ A brief pause at the bottom of the squat can enhance stretch-mediated hypertrophy and improve safety by reducing reaction forces during the ascent.
- 🔝 Popping back up quickly but not with max force is recommended for the concentric phase, to maintain control and prepare for the next rep.
- 💨 Finding a breathing strategy that works best for the individual is important, whether it involves breathing out on the way up or using pulse breaths during the eccentric phase.
Q & A
What is the main focus of the video by Dr. Mike from RP Strength?
-The main focus of the video is to teach viewers how to squat for optimal muscle growth, particularly targeting the quadriceps.
Why might the squat techniques discussed in the video differ from those used for powerlifting or weightlifting?
-The squat techniques discussed are optimized for muscle growth, which may differ from powerlifting or weightlifting techniques that are focused on strength and performance in those specific sports.
What are some reasons people might squat differently according to the video?
-People might squat differently to build leg strength for weightlifting, to squat more in powerlifting competitions, for general gym workouts, or specifically for muscle growth in the legs.
What is the significance of keeping the chest up and ribs out when squatting for muscle growth?
-Keeping the chest up and ribs out is significant for muscle growth because it exposes the quadriceps muscle more, allowing for greater tension and stretch, which are beneficial for hypertrophy.
How does the video suggest managing breath control during a slow eccentric squat?
-The video suggests taking multiple breaths during a slow eccentric squat to maintain oxygen flow and prevent passing out, which is important when using hypertrophy loads with higher rep counts.
What is the recommended knee position when descending during a squat for muscle growth?
-The video recommends allowing the knees to travel as far forward as possible during the descent, as long as the heels remain in contact with the ground and are producing force.
Why is it important to stay as upright as possible at the bottom of a squat for muscle growth?
-Staying upright at the bottom of a squat helps to keep more tension in the quadriceps, ensures safer back mechanics, and reduces axial fatigue, all of which contribute to better muscle growth.
What is the suggested pause duration at the bottom of a squat for muscle growth?
-The video suggests a highly considered, but not mandatory, pause of one to two seconds at the bottom of a squat to enhance stretch-mediated hypertrophy and reduce injury risk.
How should one return to the starting position after reaching the bottom of a squat for muscle growth?
-After reaching the bottom of a squat, one should pop back up quickly but not with maximum force, to prepare for the next controlled eccentric phase of the squat.
What is the expected outcome of squatting in the manner described in the video?
-The expected outcome is that the quadriceps will be significantly more fatigued, pumped, sore, and tired compared to other squatting styles, which is indicative of optimized muscle growth.
How does the video address the concern of not being able to squat as much weight using the muscle growth technique?
-The video acknowledges that one might not be able to squat as much weight with the muscle growth technique, as it is optimized for muscle development rather than maximal strength, and this is to be expected.
Outlines
🏋️♂️ Optimal Squatting for Muscle Growth
In this paragraph, Dr. Mike from RP Strength discusses the nuances of squatting specifically for muscle growth, rather than for strength or health as commonly taught. He emphasizes that different goals require different techniques and provides 10 basic cues for maximizing muscle growth through squats. Key points include setting up with chest up, shoulders back, and toes pointed out for comfort, ensuring knees are out for comfort without overextending, and maintaining heel contact during the descent. The paragraph also highlights the importance of breathing and bracing techniques that differ from those used in strength-focused squats.
🦵 Advanced Squat Techniques for Quad Hypertrophy
This paragraph delves deeper into the technical aspects of squatting for quad hypertrophy. Dr. Mike explains that allowing the knees to travel forward over the toes, contrary to common advice, can actually enhance quad development. He stresses the importance of a controlled descent, maintaining an upright posture at the bottom of the squat, and pausing briefly to enhance stretch-mediated hypertrophy. Additionally, he advises against using maximum force on the ascent and suggests finding a breathing strategy that works for the individual, especially when performing hypertrophy-focused sets with higher repetitions.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Quads
💡Muscle Growth
💡Squat Variations
💡Technique
💡Ecentric
💡Concentric
💡Breathing Technique
💡Heels
💡Knees
💡Stance
💡Toes
Highlights
Squats can be optimized for muscle growth by focusing on specific techniques that may differ from those used for strength or health.
Different squatting techniques are suitable for various goals such as leg strength for weightlifting, powerlifting competition, and muscle hypertrophy.
The video provides 10 basic cues for setting up and executing squats to maximize muscle growth.
Maintain chest up and shoulders back, with heels on the ground and toes pointed out for comfort throughout the squat.
Knees should travel forward for comfort without causing knock-knees or excessive strain.
Initiate the squat by pushing hips back while bending the knees to avoid standing on toes.
Breathing technique involves inhaling, bracing with chest and ribs out, and holding breath for optimal quad exposure.
During the descent, allow knees to travel forward as much as possible while maintaining heel contact for quad engagement.
Controlled descent is crucial for safety, muscle connection, and maximizing growth.
Breathing strategy during the eccentric phase should accommodate oxygen intake to prevent passing out.
Staying as upright as possible at the bottom of the squat is counterintuitive but beneficial for quad tension and back safety.
A brief pause at the bottom of the squat can enhance stretch-mediated hypertrophy and reduce injury risk.
Ascending from the squat should be quick and athletic, but not with maximum force to avoid compromising the set.
Breathing out at the top of each rep and finding a personalized breathing strategy can enhance squat performance.
Implementing these squat techniques may reduce the amount one can squat but will increase quad fatigue and growth.
The video humorously suggests that following these techniques may not make one a hero but will result in bigger quads.
Transcripts
for every given set of these squats your
quads are going to get substantially
noticeably more Fed Up pumped sore tired
you name it than they would for the
other kinds of squats and that's what
makes these squats optimized for muscle
growth and if you do them it's going to
make you a hero that the world sings
about and writes poetry about for the
rest of time or worst case you just have
bigger quads which is almost the same
thing if you think about
it hey folks Dr Mike here for RP
strength and today's video is about how
to squat for muscle growth seems like a
strange video I thought we've been doing
videos like this on the channel for a
long time ah but we have not here's the
thing you can get a lot of great tips
from various sources online about how to
squat Juggernaut an amazing platform on
YouTube and everywhere else you can find
them Chad Wesley Smith and his fellows
over there have tons of amazing
technique guides on how to squat Chris
Duffin with Kabuki amazing guides on how
to squat and how not to squat there's
squat University which puts out really
really good information in in in many
cases
and so on and so on and so on all these
sources are awesome to teach you how to
squat but here's a problem many people
think that squatting is a thing that has
one maybe not correct way but Universal
checklist way of being good whereas in
reality depending on what you're
squatting for the technique can be
considerably different for optimization
purposes here are some reasons you could
squat and each one has slightly or
significantly different ways of
squatting different techniques first you
you can squat to build leg strength for
weightlifting which is why weightlifters
competitive Olympic weightlifters quote
unquote that's why they squat you can
squat on such a way as lets you squat
more in powerlifting competition low bar
wider stance the whole deal you can
squat on such a way that is just for the
gym and just highbar squatting but you
just want to squat as much as possible
so you're going to be doing a lot of
tips from Christen keeping the ribs down
so on and so forth bracing really hard
Etc and lastly you may be squatting for
the purpose of building as much muscle
in your legs as possible and the C I'm
going to give you are cues you don't see
in a lot of other places because most
other places talk about squatting in
such a way that it keeps you healthier
that keeps you safe and makes you
stronger either for weightlifting
powerlifting or just the gym but they
don't address squatting for muscle
growth some of these cues that I'll give
you are going to contradict some stuff
you've heard elsewhere or done before
and that's almost always not because
these sources are wrong and I'm correct
because I'm Dr my God damn it's because
I'm teaching how to squat for growth and
most of those folks are like oh yeah hm
we're doing this for strength and health
and Mobility for growth it could very
well be different and that's okay there
are different ways to squat and this is
how you squat for growth now there's
Nuance here you can always change these
because you don't feel them in a certain
way and everything has to be adaptable
the end to you the individual but I'm
going to give you 10 basics of how to
set up and execute your squat technique
so that you get the best growth possible
on average and it's up to you to go from
there and make the thing more
individualized to your needs number one
we have a checklist of things we pretty
much want to do all the time which means
as soon as the bar hits your back you
walk it out you set up all the way until
that last rep you want all these things
to be true at all times first you want
your chest up shoulders back you want
your heels on the ground and just round
shoulder width sometimes just inside
some at shoulder width some just outside
very very wide or very very narrow
squats usually are not as conducive to
muscle group you want your toes to be
pointed out for Comfort usually in line
with your knees you're going to be able
to find out what works better for you if
you kind of relax your toes squat up and
down and sit in depth and kind of move
your toes out and in until it feels
really awesome and that your feet aren't
getting curved in it might surprise you
that your toes can be pretty far out and
that's the best feeling situation what I
don't want you to do is arbitrarily put
your toes really far out and then it
feels weird or really far forward then
it feels weird find what works best for
you and that's not that hard to do and
your knees should be coming out for
comfort you don't want knock knees knees
touching together at the inside you also
don't want to be spending all of your
cognitive bandwidth trying to push your
knees out to Kingdom Come whereas knees
just out a little bit feel great and hit
your quads like it's really really
awesome so chest up shoulders back heels
always in contact with the ground no
going up on your toes toes out for
Comfort knees out for comfort and then
every rep is going to have that as an
ingredient Point number two as you bend
your knees you want to push your hips
back if you just bend your knees you're
going to end up on your toes and that's
bad news so your hips back a little bit
as you bend your
knees before you start The Descent as
you break you want to breathe in and
Brace but with your chest and ribs up
not down Christan and those folks will
tell your ribs down that's for maximum
strength in the squat but for exposing
the quadriceps muscle the most we want
our chest up ribs out but with a brace
so chest up ribs out breathe in and hold
your breath a little bit number four as
you travel downwards remember you're
going to tilt your hips back and then
you're going to start the downward
descent as your hips travel down so long
as your heels are still on the ground or
producing Force you want your knees to
travel as far forward as possible this
may be an insane tip that you've never
heard before like what the fuck I
thought we're supposed to be pushing our
knees back I thought that if your knees
got over your toes the world got cancer
or unicorns were all slaughtered
something terrible I remember clearly
happens it turns out that the more your
knees go over your toes as long as
you're still producing a lot of force
with your heels you get more quad
hypertrophy your quads are exposed
they're asked to produce the vast
majority of the tension for the squad
and they're put into maximum stretch at
the bottom all good things so as soon as
you tilt your hips back break at your
knees and start descending down with
your hips make sure your knees come
forward and out as much as humanly
possible so long as your heels are still
on the ground a controlled descent is
critical you don't have to go super slow
two seconds is totally fine and as many
of 5 Seconds is totally okay but don't
just ploop down and out you want to milk
the entric face for the most growth and
the most safety and the most mind muscle
connection so that as you're descending
you're making sure your knees are going
forward and you're feeling your quads
because if you went really really fast
you'd be like I don't know what I felt
where that was too quick Point number
six if you're doing a real slow Ecentric
take many breaths on the way down chest
is up core still tight but if you're
doing a 5-second
Ecentric up just like that if you hold
your breath the entire time holy fucking
shit you're just gonna pass out and
that'll be bad news for everyone now if
you're doing a two-c Ecentric you can
hold your breath breathe out on the way
up no problem it's dealer's choice
because you're going to be doing
hypertrophy loads which doesn't mean
sets of three it means sets of 5 to 10
or more you're going to be able to do
little pulse breaths keep the oxygen
coming keep the car carbon dioxide
flowing out of your body so that you're
not just turning this into a breath
holding exercise if you're squatting for
strength you hold your breath the entire
time through every rep for hypertrophy
there are times where you can take many
breaths and it actually lets you get
more reps on the back end without your
passing out being a limiting
factor what do you get when PhD sport
scientists collaborate with Pro
bodybuilders the most effective muscle
growth training app ever
made get yours
now when you get down to the bottom you
want to stay as upright as possible this
is insanely counterintuitive very
difficult to do and it'll take lots of
training for it to be more intuitive for
you at the very bottom your chest stays
completely up and your upper body is as
upright as possible your knees really
far forward what does your body want to
do when you get down it wants to Creek
over you get down you kind of just bend
in don't do that stay as uppr right as
possible more of the tension will stay
in your quads it'll be safer for your
back less axial fatigue the whole thing
it's just benefits Point number eight
highly consider though it's not
mandatory a one to two second pause at
the bottom letting you really get that
stretch mediated hypertrophy that's so
magical and awesome and because you're
taking a pause at the bottom it reduces
the reaction forces in the a
moralization phase when you go down and
up and that means it slightly enhances
your safety and reduces your injury risk
which is fucking awesome now number nine
pop back up quick and athletically but
not with Max Force some people jump off
the fucking ground when they squat for
hypertrophy you just got to get back up
there to start the slow ride again so
definitely pop back up you don't want to
go intentionally slow on the way up some
people see that RP slow bullshit and
they think oh it's slow everything and
they do slow Ecentric we're like yeah
that's great and they'll do slow
concentric you you can just push the bar
right so squat up quick back down much
more under control squat up quick back
down much more control at the top of
every single rep at the very least
you're going to want to breathe out and
breathe in and then you go back down
does that mean you can do some In-N-Out
breasts on the way down yes do you have
to no that's all up to you find the
breathing strategy that works best for
you this 10-step guide is how you're
supposed to be squatting for muscle
growth if you implement it two things
will happen one you won't be able to
squat as much using this style as you
would the other styles because the other
styles are optimized for squatting a lot
so expect that don't be surprised like
oh fuck this this sucks I could only use
two plates and not two and a half uhuh
but the other thing you can expect is
that for every given set of these squats
your quads are going to get
substantially noticeably more fucked up
pumped sore tired crampy you name it
than they would for the other kinds of
squats and that's what makes these
squats optimized for muscle growth and
if you do them it's going to make you a
hero that the world sings about and
writes poetry about for the rest of time
or or worst case you just have bigger
quads which is almost the same thing if
you think about it folks I know you have
questions shoot them in the comments
below and if you have people in your uh
Friendship Circle that think they know
how to squat you send them this video
and say see I told you you were dumb
comma Ken why you friends with people
named Ken who are you Barbie anyway see
you guys next time
[Music]
go
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