No Ifs Ands or Butts About It...

          One of the keys to having an impressive physique is about muscle symmetry. This is why you cannot just train chest and arms. You need to work everything so that you look proportionate. I am a big believer of antagonistic sets, which means for every push, you do a pull. For every Bench Press, I am countering that with some sort of row (Seated Cable Row, Dumbbell Row, Bent-Over Barbell Row, etc.). This means my middle back is getting a workout as much as my chest, which actually improves my overall bench press. For every overhead press to develop my shoulders, I am countering that with some sort of a lat pulldown.

           And while people grumble all the time about it, leg day is extremely important. For all the ladies out there, if you want to have a nice booty, there is no two ways around it. You gotta squat. Squats and Deadlifts are the mother of all leg exercises for several reasons.

           They are a multi-joint exercise which means your hips, your knees, and your ankles are all involved in the exercise. This means it is engaging your lower back, your core, your quads, your calves, and everything in-between. It is strengthening tendons in your knees and your hips.

           Legs are also longer and stronger, which means this is where you can really load the bar up with weight and go to town or you can load the bar lighter and go for longer sets. That heavy weight is forcing you to strain more. Strain means an elevated heart rate which means more calories burned.

          You can do “sculpting” exercises like one-legged cable kickbacks or cable adductors and abductors but with these, you cannot generate the kind of strain that comes from a good Trap Bar Deadlift, a Romanian Deadlift, Straight-Legged Deadlift, or Barbell Squat.

          The problem with Squats and Deadlifts is that this is the exercise that can get you hurt if you don’t know what you are doing and that can be intimidating to novice lifters which is why you need to crawl before you can walk. Working with a trainer and going light until you can master the form is very important in your initial training phases. And as you begin to develop your Squat and Deadlift form, you are going to see certain changes that happen in your legs, especially in your quads. In particular, you are going to see the Vastus Medialis take shape.

          As much as you want it to, a well-developed vastus medialis is not going to come from cardio exercises alone. They come from squats. Now, there are some men out there that are “Leg Men” and will notice and appreciate well-toned legs. But everyone likes a good booty. And if you want that booty, you gotta squat. Case in point, the photographic evidence provided here.

          While it is natural for the eye to be drawn to her, ahem, assets, pay attention the front of her thighs. That is not surgical enhancement. That comes from hard fricking work. And I am willing to bet vital parts of my anatomy that whoever this girl is, she is in the weight room several times a week.

          So, if you want a booty, you gotta squat… no ifs, ands, or “butts” about it. Ha! See what I did there!?!