Hey fit, beginner her, never lifter seriously before. I've

>its a newfag who only wants to do upperbody episode
>its a newfag who doesn't want to increase his test through squats episode

Not
Going
To
Make
It

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heavy compounds like squats and deadlifts will trigger huge hormone release, which helps build muscles in all your body not only legs.
Want big upper body? Do squats

Because you'll look weird with undefined legs and a tiny butt alongside a nice upper body.

>many of the recommended routines here and elsewhere are mainly built around squats

No, they're focused around compounds including
>Squats
>Deadlifts
>Bench Press
>Press

>Why is that?
Because compounds work the most muscles and fastest which is fantastic for building strength, which is what most new lifters need.

If you don't want to do squats then you're basically saying you want to build muscle on only the top third of your body and make things several times harder for yourself.

>>40016951
This, but ignore the image because it's missing some important stuff

>>40016896
>I don't WANNA do squats MOOOOM

Never gonna make it.

>>40016977
well ofcourse cuz this is most basic pyramid but can you pinpoint what exactly in your oppinion?

>>40016896
God I wish I had hands and feet as big as the pic. Who handlet/footlet here?

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>>40016896
>I've noticed that many of the recommended routines here and elsewhere are mainly built around squats. Why is that? I haven't found any explanation as to why they are so important, just people saying they are.

Since you seem to be incapable of reading any material more than one paragraph, I copied the bit from the sticky that answers your dumbass question.

Pic related.

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>>40016896

Every workout with both Starting Strength and Stronglifts is:

Squat, Press, Pull

Each movement involves some upper body and some lower body. Thinking about Starting Strength, I would estimate:

Squat = 70% lower body / 30 % upper body
Press = 10% lower body / 90% upper body
Pull = 40% lower body / 60% upper body

Even without the chin-ups (which are part of the program), Starting Strength covers more upper body than lower and is mostly a balanced program.

>>40017100
I agree with this, but I think the reason people tend to look like a t-rex after SS is that they physically put more effort into their pulls and squats because they are able to see the progress a little quicker.

We as people don't use are chest muscles all that much in daily life, but we are always walking around carrying our own body weight or picking stuff up so to some extent our lower portions just respond/adapt better.

Look at why those programs are written. Squat centric programs are almost always designed for athletes. SS references American football countless times.

It's not for aesthetics, it's for practicality and sport strength.

>>40017100
The problem here is semantics. You are considering everything above the hip as upper body, in which case your numbers seem reasonable.

However most people only consider everything chest and up as upper body, with lats being a grey zone.

Think of it this way: you see a guy who obviously skips legs. Do you think he's concerned about his lower back either?

>>40016986
Traps, abs, obliques, core, hip extensors and plenty more, to name but a few

>>40017400
every muscle you named is worked by deadlifts and squats

>>40017417
If you're relying on deadlifts and squats for your traps, abs and obliques you're doing them completely wrong

>>40017445
and thus my core and traps are doing great and I almost never isolate them

>>40016985
but i like my height and my knees anon. why would i go out of my way to destroy both lol?

>>40017462
Good for you. I squat 160kg and I work all of those independently because I'm not on SS or oblivious to the fact I have other muscles.

OP do Phrak's GSLP.

Each workout is 2x upper 1x lower

Squat 2x a week DL 1x a week.

>>40016951
>>40016939
Bro science bullshit. Any amount of heavy lifting on your legs will increase test.

Squats are nothing but an efficient way of using your time to work your legs. If you don't like them do leg press and deadlifts you will get literally thr same results.

>>40017513
Because squats do neither of what you're implying.

If you're that much of a wuss about squats, what other compromises are you about to make with your lifting?

Feel free to get on the no-gains train though.

>>40017513
>this meme again

talking of compounds > isolations
is this why doing presses are better than upright row?
i assumed both were compound but i guess the press is better as it is more of a compound?
pls explain

>>40017596
>not nothing that squats are in every aspect superior to leg press
not
gonna
make
it

>>40017596
>Squats are nothing but an efficient way of using your time to work your legs. If you don't like them do leg press and deadlifts you will get literally thr same results.
You can get the same results for building legs without squats, but it certainly won't happen if all you do is leg press and deadlifts, lololololol. Feel free to try it though.

>untrained newfag thinks he has big legs edition

>>40017626
Those are two entirely different exercises for entirely different muscle groups.

Furthermore, both are compound exercises.

Compound exercises is any exercise that includes two or more joints.

>>40017653
i mean like in 5x5 programs the (military) press always gets used instead of the upright row for shoulders
just mean why is that

>>40017209

Agreed, also, T-Rex mode people who say they did Starting Strength probably didn't do chin-ups. Then, they wonder why their biceps lag.

>>40016896
ike I said...You have the lower body and you have no upper body, you got a problem building...wait a minute. You have the upper body, and you have no legs, you got a problem building your legs. You have the upper...you have the lower body and you don't have the upper body, the upper body, it is easier to build. So if you have the lower body and you don't have the upper body, it is easier to build the upper body. You have the upper body and you don't have the legs, you got a problem building the lower body... No, you don't understand. You have the upper body, but you don't have the lower body, you got a problem building downstairs. You got the up- legs on the bottom, it is easier to build on the top, so you don't have much as a problem. Yeah

>>40017664
Upright row targets more traps, rear delts.

Overhand press is more front/medial delts.

THey do have some overlap.

Also upright rows can cause impingement problems with some people.

Also you seem incredibly inclined towards the shitty bro split exercises every time you post, lol.

The OHP is a movement that engages way more muscles than an upright row. For beginner programs you will see that workouts revolve around moving the largest muscle groups.

As is my advice with most things in life, move the big rocks before worrying about the little rocks.

>>40017330

>However most people only consider everything chest and up as upper body, with lats being a grey zone.

Even using that metric, SS shows some balance:

Upper body muscles worked:

Squats = Traps, mid back, and delts (isometric squeeze)
Bench = Lower Pecks, Triceps, and delts (concentric and eccentric work)
Deadlifts = Traps, mid back, forearms and delts (isometric stretch)
Overhead Press = Upper Pecks, triceps, and delts (concentric and eccentric work)
Chin-ups = Biceps, forearms, and delts (concentric and eccentric work)

Done with proper form, SS is truly a full body program.

>>40017608
>>40017610
Well everyone knows a guy who lost half an inch or so to Squats/DLs. Why doesn't this bother anyone? Isn't this board mostly manlets?

>>40017769
ok thanks :)
was just looking for an explanation, not trying to defend 'shitty bro split exercise' at all

>>40017683
>Agreed, also, T-Rex mode people who say they did Starting Strength probably didn't do chin-ups. Then, they wonder why their biceps lag.
People also substitute power cleans with any number of shitty exercises and think it's "just as good for size and strength."

lol

Yeah, let's just make substitutions all of the place and wonder why the results aren't as expected.

I'm not a fan of SS, but I totally agree, if all these DYELs are going to try SS, they should do all of SS. It may not be super optimal, but it is proven quite effective.

>>40017821

Rippatoe once had a guy review the workout logs posted to the Starting Strength forums.

The goal was to see how many people were actually "doing the program." They were pretty liberal with that too. I think he said doing 80% of the program would count.

Result = <2%

You read that right.

Less than 2% of the people who took the time to post their workout logs onto STARTING STRENGTH forums were actually doing the program.

Funny thing is, I've never seen natties progress much on those "aesthetic focused" routines yet people who get on strength focused programs (SS, Wendler, 5x5 whatever the fuck) seem to get stronger, bigger and they look fucking better too.

This dude at my gym only does barbell work + dips and chinups and has 18" arms with a fucking six pack while dudes who do 18 sets of curls have no fucking biceps to show for it.

>>40017630
>>40017634


This
I fucking hate squats but I still do em

>>40017800
Just do spinal decompression and you'll be fine

If squats hurt your knees you're doing them wrong

>>40016896
Most of these routines follow "The Strongest Shall Survive" reasoning on why so many squats: First: Squats are great for athletes. Second: good carryover to deadlift, other great exercise. Third: Squat is good by itself.
>>40016951
That correlation has been debunked, lifting in general has this effect.
>>40016967
Is right
>>40017100
You are technically right, but great part of the effort goes into squatting.

Don't let ripparroting fuckheads meme you. Bench and chins isn't going to be enough for arms, squatting heavy 3 times a week will cause dire t-rex syndrome and your abs are going to be undeveloped from a lack of direct ab work not that starting slug preachers have visible abs anyway. It's good to do the lifts in SS but you don't need to do flat bench if you aren't going to compete, db and incline will do you good.

You can do SS but jump off that shit after a few months before muscular imbalance sets in. Do candito lp greyskull or even google old school aesthetics.

>>40018629
>meme
Sigh.

SS is for strength, not aesthetics. The only reason it has ever got a bad reputation is because people do it without knowing that. If you aren't interested in strength don't do a program named 'starting strength' lmao

>>40018629
>your abs are going to be undeveloped from a lack of direct ab work not that starting slug preachers have visible abs anyway.

Fucking kek'd. You do realize that squats and DLs work abs better than any other exercise, right?