The squat is considered the king of all exercises when it comes to building muscle. When done correctly with heavy weights and for the right amount of reps usually 8 to 12, it is the most effective growth producing exercise you can do, along with the dead lift and very heavy presses. If you are on a muscle-building routine that does not involve the squat then you are not really on a muscle-building routine. So is there anything else you can do if you just do not want to squat or you simply don’t like the exercise? Can you still build massive legs without the squat? Yes you can but you will still need to work as hard and sometimes even harder if you are not squatting. There is no getting around the hard work for massive legs.
If you want to avoid the squat and still build up those legs, here’s what you can do: Start doing giant sets as your leg routine using the leg press. Here’s a giant set leg routine:
Leg extensions 1 set 12 reps 1-minute rest
Leg Curl 1 set 12 reps 1-minute rest
Standing Calf raises 1 set 12 reps 1-minute rest
Leg Press 1 set 12 reps 5 minutes rest
Leg extensions 1 set 10 reps 1-minute rest
Leg Curl 1 set 10 reps 1 minute rest
Standing Calf raises 1 set 10 reps 1-minute rest
Leg Press 1 set 10 reps 5 minutes rest
Leg extensions 1 set 8 reps 1-minute rest
Leg Curl 1 set 8 reps 1 minute rest
Standing Calf raises 1 set 8 reps 1-minute rest
Leg Press 1 set 8 reps 5 minutes rest
Things to remember: Warm up sets for the above are not included. On your 12 rep sets you should be able to get 12 without much difficulty. On your 10 rep sets you should just about be able to get 10, maybe 11 if you wanted to. On your 8 rep sets you should only be able to get 8 reps. The Weight should be heavy enough to allow only 8 reps. These are the sets that will induce the most muscle growth if done correctly. You should not be able to get 9 and 10 reps, but on those 8 rep sets you should always be pushing to get as many reps as you can. If you find yourself able to get more than 8 reps then you need to increase the weight for next time and continue to push for more than 8 reps increasing the weight again until you absolutely cannot get more than 8 reps for those muscle building sets. You must keep in mind that it is the 8 rep sets that are the muscle builders and give an all out effort to get those 8 reps and to go beyond 8 to see if the weight is really heavy enough. If you do decide to attempt the above you should get the go ahead from your GP or Health Practitioner before doing so.
There are many reasons why some people avoid doing the squat when it comes to muscle building routines. Some people have lower back trouble, some people believe they are too tall for squats and some just don’t want to bother with the squat because it’s just too stressing for them. The Squat continues to reign as the king of all exercises for massive muscle building, but at least now you know that there is a way around it, and that is to pre-exhaust the thighs, hamstrings and calves before the mass building leg press. Just like the giant set routine above. Yes you can build Massive Legs without the Squat.
