The Importance of Squatting to Gain Weight
Although many guys don’t realize it, squats are the best exercise out there for building muscle. Despite this there are several reasons not to like squats. They are after all difficult, they primarily work your legs, not your upper body, there’s quite a bit of misinformation out there about them being bad for your back and or knees and I’m sure you could come up with some other reasons why you would rather pick a different exercise.
The truth is though that as long as squats are done correctly they are great! No other single exercise will give you the same results that squats will. Squatting actually causes your body to produce more testosterone which in turn helps you build more muscle. You also use your upper body when you squat much more than most people realize. Not only does is work your core muscles to support the weight but you also work your arms and back. As you increase the weight on your squats your upper body will adapt to help support the extra weight.
Bottom line if you’re not doing squats you need to start. You must use proper form or you can injure yourself. I recommend starting off very light to work on technique then start adding weight very very slowly, but steadily. Start out by doing five sets of five to six repetitions. (after you have done two warm up sets) Don’t over do it to start with. Remember this is about consistency so you don’t want to can an injury or make yourself so sore that you can’t work out for several weeks.
Watch this video to see a demonstration of proper technique: