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I once trained for a 5k race by doing just squats. I beat most of my "cardio" friends. When you start squatting above your BW then you'll be just as out of brea

I once trained for a 5k race by doing just squats. I beat most of my "cardio" friends. When you start squatting above your BW then you'll be just as out of breath after 8 reps as after a full-on 5k run. Your heart will beat just as fast, and youll be sweating about the same. Also squats will improve your bone density. Don't be fooled that suffers like Laird get their physique from surfing. All of them dead lift and squat. The best thing about squats would be that they "insure" your knees for old age. Do them right and they are easily the best exercise ever invented IMHO.

tjogin 16y ago
Squats, dead lifts, bench presses, those are the Big Three. That's what you absolutely need to do, and if you do them it is where 90% of your results will come from. It's also the only exercises you need to ever do. Having said that, if you "like" some other exercise, like cable chest presses, dumbbell flyes, standing barbell bicep curls, crunches, or whatever, then fine do them (I do), but do so knowing that the Big Three should be the core of your exercise, and whatever else is complimentary.
- yummyfajitas 16y ago
  What about pullups? The big three you mention don't seem to hit your upper back, biceps or shoulders much. (I'm a novice, genuinely curious.)
  - keeptrying 16y ago
    I would do chinups/pullups/pushups/dumbell-presses instead of bench press. If you have long arms then bench press can lead to shoulder injuries as you approach 1xBW if you dont do it right. Lots of great info at t-nation.com .
    - tjogin 16y ago
      Of those, only the dumbbell presses are even an alternative to the bench press. Dumbbell presses are fine. But bench presses are better, and if you do them, you don't need to do dumbbell presses (but do, if you like them, I do too, as a complimentary exercise). Injuries are nothing to scoff at of course, and you should always make sure to not put on more weight than you can safely manage. Regardless of exercise method.
      - keeptrying 16y ago
        I was trying to suggest other very useful exercises instead of bench presses. You need to do pullups if you do benchpresses else you'll have a big chest and weak back muscles. This will pull your shoulders in. And which will eventually lead to injuries. Yo In fact I've increased my bench by just working my back. Lots of people only work the "mirror muscles" (ie ones you can see when you check yourself out in the mirror) and this leads to shoulder injuries.
        tjogin 16y ago
        Dead lifts work your back.
  - zacharycohn 16y ago
    You should include (weighted) pullups too, as something supplemental. This will develop the antagonistic (opposite) muscles as the bench press, and help prevent the hunched-shoulders-overdeveloped-pecs problem a lot of people get.
  - tjogin 16y ago
    They're great, better than the complimentary ones I listed, but not strictly necessary if you do the Big Three. The areas you mention are covered by the dead lifts, especially shoulders and upper back. The bicep is a relatively tiny muscle that we tend to over train because of its "reputation" so to speak, but at a beginner to intermediate level, it really does get enough from just the dead lifts. You might want to re-evaluate that when you can dead lift at least 2x your body weight though.
    - sedachv 16y ago
      If you are using your biceps at all when deadlifting you are doing it wrong and will eventually tear one of them. The thing to do to build biceps without doing curls are pulling motions - rows and pullups.
      - tjogin 16y ago
        The bicep isn't the primary muscle being used, but it isn't relaxed during the exercise either, and at a beginner to intermediate level, it simply isn't necessary to target the bicep specifically. That's what makes these compound exercises better than others; they involve lots of different muscles other than the primary ones.
tlear 16y ago
Interestingly enough some former USSR long distance runners used squats as a form of substitute during winter training (if it was too cold to do long outdoor runs). Thing is that 5k is really really really short distance for a human. I honestly can not be bothered with gym anymore so I just run about 10k a day with longer weekend runs, 5 times a week.
rubashov 16y ago
I mostly exercise with a barbell, including snatch and clean & jerk. It's ridiculous to claim a barbell workout will give you much aerobic endurance. I also do cycling and I assure you barbell fitness does not much carry over. It's very different metabolic pathways. I've also found the carry-over from weights to sub 400m sprint speed to be pretty weak. Come on. Barbells are not magic.
- keeptrying 16y ago
  In the end its all about specialization. A body which has been doing squats is not going to be a great runner at a professional level. But at our "weekend warrior" levels it does very much translate. I infact did this exercise on purpose to prove to myself that squats would translate. And it very much did increase my sprint speed. Dont take my word for it... Email a few strength coaches - Eric Cressey, Mike Robertson. Ask their opinion.
  - rfergie 16y ago
    He should probably email a few sprint coaches as well to get a complete picture
xiaoma 16y ago
>I once trained for a 5k race by doing just squats. I beat most of my "cardio" friends. How fast were you?

tjogin 16y ago

Squats, dead lifts, bench presses, those are the Big Three. That's what you absolutely need to do, and if you do them it is where 90% of your results will come from. It's also the only exercises you need to ever do. Having said that, if you "like" some other exercise, like cable chest presses, dumbbell flyes, standing barbell bicep curls, crunches, or whatever, then fine do them (I do), but do so knowing that the Big Three should be the core of your exercise, and whatever else is complimentary.

yummyfajitas 16y ago
What about pullups? The big three you mention don't seem to hit your upper back, biceps or shoulders much. (I'm a novice, genuinely curious.)
- keeptrying 16y ago
  I would do chinups/pullups/pushups/dumbell-presses instead of bench press. If you have long arms then bench press can lead to shoulder injuries as you approach 1xBW if you dont do it right. Lots of great info at t-nation.com .
  - tjogin 16y ago
    Of those, only the dumbbell presses are even an alternative to the bench press. Dumbbell presses are fine. But bench presses are better, and if you do them, you don't need to do dumbbell presses (but do, if you like them, I do too, as a complimentary exercise). Injuries are nothing to scoff at of course, and you should always make sure to not put on more weight than you can safely manage. Regardless of exercise method.
    - keeptrying 16y ago
      I was trying to suggest other very useful exercises instead of bench presses. You need to do pullups if you do benchpresses else you'll have a big chest and weak back muscles. This will pull your shoulders in. And which will eventually lead to injuries. Yo In fact I've increased my bench by just working my back. Lots of people only work the "mirror muscles" (ie ones you can see when you check yourself out in the mirror) and this leads to shoulder injuries.
      - tjogin 16y ago
        Dead lifts work your back.
- zacharycohn 16y ago
  You should include (weighted) pullups too, as something supplemental. This will develop the antagonistic (opposite) muscles as the bench press, and help prevent the hunched-shoulders-overdeveloped-pecs problem a lot of people get.
- tjogin 16y ago
  They're great, better than the complimentary ones I listed, but not strictly necessary if you do the Big Three. The areas you mention are covered by the dead lifts, especially shoulders and upper back. The bicep is a relatively tiny muscle that we tend to over train because of its "reputation" so to speak, but at a beginner to intermediate level, it really does get enough from just the dead lifts. You might want to re-evaluate that when you can dead lift at least 2x your body weight though.
  - sedachv 16y ago
    If you are using your biceps at all when deadlifting you are doing it wrong and will eventually tear one of them. The thing to do to build biceps without doing curls are pulling motions - rows and pullups.
    - tjogin 16y ago
      The bicep isn't the primary muscle being used, but it isn't relaxed during the exercise either, and at a beginner to intermediate level, it simply isn't necessary to target the bicep specifically. That's what makes these compound exercises better than others; they involve lots of different muscles other than the primary ones.

tlear 16y ago

Interestingly enough some former USSR long distance runners used squats as a form of substitute during winter training (if it was too cold to do long outdoor runs). Thing is that 5k is really really really short distance for a human. I honestly can not be bothered with gym anymore so I just run about 10k a day with longer weekend runs, 5 times a week.

rubashov 16y ago

I mostly exercise with a barbell, including snatch and clean & jerk. It's ridiculous to claim a barbell workout will give you much aerobic endurance. I also do cycling and I assure you barbell fitness does not much carry over. It's very different metabolic pathways. I've also found the carry-over from weights to sub 400m sprint speed to be pretty weak. Come on. Barbells are not magic.

keeptrying 16y ago
In the end its all about specialization. A body which has been doing squats is not going to be a great runner at a professional level. But at our "weekend warrior" levels it does very much translate. I infact did this exercise on purpose to prove to myself that squats would translate. And it very much did increase my sprint speed. Dont take my word for it... Email a few strength coaches - Eric Cressey, Mike Robertson. Ask their opinion.
- rfergie 16y ago
  He should probably email a few sprint coaches as well to get a complete picture

xiaoma 16y ago

>I once trained for a 5k race by doing just squats. I beat most of my "cardio" friends. How fast were you?