Squatting is one of those exercises that in my opinion is an either or.

You are either on the side of those who feel you absolutely must squat—because if you don’t your legs will never be as big as they could have been.

Or.

You are on the other side that feels that leg presses are just as effective as squatting and oh yea; squats are bad for your knees.

Personally, I think squats are a great exercise—if and only if you can do them correctly.

Too many people load up the bar with WAY more weight than they can handle, go down about half-an-inch and then come up.

No chance of getting any leg development with this approach.

Of course if you take the time to actually LEARN how to squat correctly—like beginning with an empty bar and learning how to use PERFECT form with it and move up slowly in weight from there—not only will your legs grow, but so will your whole body.

The trouble with the above approach of course is that you have to swallow your ego and use a lot less weight.

Sorry for the tangent—so what do I think, should you squat or not?

Yes and No.

Yes, if you feel them in your thighs and not a ton in your lower back

Yes, if you don’t have any pre-existing conditions that make squatting the wrong choice.

Yes, if you can do the above and swallow your ego and learn to squat the right way—from the beginning.

However, my answer would be no, if you really feel them more in your lower back and butt—or have other issues that prevent you from doing them.

For myself, after giving squats a go, I found that I really like front squats better—so this is what I go with.

Now I would like to tackle the other question—can you equal the development (and total body effect) you get from squats—if you do leg presses and the like.

I think it depends on the person, by this I mean, if you realize that squatting is out and you really bust a nut on leg presses, hack squats, and front squats—then yes I feel you can equal the development you would get from squats.

However, if you use this as an excuse to be lazy and just “toss in” some leg work every-now-and-then—then you have no chance of building great legs.

For me, more than anything it comes down to desire—if you truly want to improve your legs, back or whatever—you will find a way to do it—equipment or no equipment

That’s all for today.