Squat Your Way to Upper Body Strength Gains
Some time ago when I was living in Israel and graced by my parents and brother for a lovely visit, I wandered out of our rented apartment in Tel Aviv to find a spot to work out near the beach.
Fortunately, I lucked out by finding one of the best outdoor calisthenics parks I’d ever seen there. I wish I would’ve taken a picture to share with you, but in my childlike excitement I just forgot to snap a pic. Oh well.
This place really was incredible and drew a diverse crowd of people. I was even impressed to see people performing pushups with good form — a rarity anywhere you go! But predictably, one thing I did NOT see people perform with admirable technique was the squat. Like, not a single one.
And that’s a low-down, dirty shame, too, because if you want to make all of your lower AND upper body strength-and-muscle dreams come true, you can’t do much better than the squat.
Now, there are a lot of different ways to perform a squat — all of them perfectly respectable — but in my correct opinion, when it’s strength, muscle, conditioning, mental toughness, AND a good carryover to even your upper body strength that you’re after, you can’t do much better than a front squat.
Sound like a tall tale?
Maybe so. But consider this:
- A colleague of mine, Geoff Neupert, tells of separating his shoulder in college when he flew over the handles of his bike when someone opened their car door at the last second, rendering him unable to do any upper body work for ages. Instead, he did squats and good mornings with a barbell. When he was cleared by his doc to press again, he hadn’t lost an ounce of strength in his bench press and lost only 5 pounds on his already weighty military press. Again, with not a single rep of any upper body work — only squatting and good mornings.
- My friend Chris Davis found that after building his squat numbers, he was able to man-handle the Beast — a 106 lb (48 kg) kettlebell — with ease. That includes snatching it overhead for 3 easy reps. During this time he practiced no snatches, just plenty of squats.
These are just a few examples — there are many, many more.
So why are deep-knee bends (as the old schoolers liked to call them) the bee’s knees for unyielding strength in both your lower and upper halves? The reasons are many, so I’ll give you just a few:
#1: Builds the biggest muscles in your body fast.
When it comes to quality strength and muscle building in precious little time, you want to focus on as many big muscles as you can in compound movements (i.e. movements that involve a lot of joints).
Because the squat works the quads, hamstrings (front and back of your legs, respectively), your butt, abs, hips, spinal erectors, calves, your heart and lungs, and even your grip, it’s hard to find an exercise better suited to cover as much ground as the squat does.
The fact that the biggest muscles in your body are worked is no joke either, as when it comes to strength, bigger is better, as it gives you more muscle tissue to contract, meaning more strength to build. So even if your only goal is raw, unadulterated strength, every so often your focus should be on building some quality muscle to help you along.
#2: Isometrically works your shoulders, upper back, and chest for better upper body strength.
Isometric (i.e. non-moving) strength is often overlooked by strength enthusiasts, but is every bit as important in the grand scheme of things as is dynamic (i.e. moving) strength, because it increases your time under tension and your control of a weight — often in the most difficult position. In the military press, for example, that would be the starting position (“the rack”) for most people.
Think of your best military press — and now consider how many times in a row you can squat with that very same weight in the rack. More practice with the weight in the starting position (the rack) combined with dynamically building the biggest muscles in your body — those of your legs and glutes — will mean that you’ll have much more force to throw behind your pressing and pulling movements, meaning the weights you previously struggled with will start floating up with ease.
This is one of the reasons why guys and gals with chicken legs often hit an upper body strength wall — they simply don’t have enough lower-body strength to help them throw their weight behind their upper body efforts!
#3: Jacks up your testosterone.
Squats are one of the best ways to increase your testosterone levels — bar none. And testosterone is important for more than just building up your muscles and blasting fat; testosterone deficiency can lead to increased body fat, low libido, depression, fatigue, loss of stamina, and in cases where this deficiency is long-lasting, it can lead to things like osteoporosis. Like anything else, low testosterone can be remedied by some smart choices on your part — one of which is working the biggest muscles in your body hard.
The list goes on, but this should get you started. If you’ve only got 10 minutes and a bare minimum of equipment — like a kettlebell or two — a few front squats will keep you cruising toward your strength, muscle, and leanness goals without eating up all of your free time. And the more volume (i.e. total reps) you get in in that short amount of time, the better. So here’s one of my favorite beat downs — I mean workouts — that gets you just those things.
Grab two kettlebells that you can squat for around 10 reps or so. Do the following without setting the bells down:
1 clean, 1 front squat
2 cleans, 2 front squats
3 cleans, 3 front squats
Etc. Etc.
Repeat until you can’t continue with good form. Then set the weight down, catch your breath, sprint to the puke bucket if you need, and repeat.
When your 10 minutes are up, you will have gotten in a boatload of quality work, and your goose will be nicely cooked. When your schedule calms down (or when you’re feeling frisky, whichever comes first) test out your favorite upper body strength moves again and see where you stand. Odds are you’ll be pleasantly surprised by the strength that you’ve retained or gained.
Another great way to beef up your total-body strength, potentially increase your favorite lifts, AND improve your stamina and all-around movability to boot?
With my free 9-Minute Kettlebell & Bodyweight Challenge.
It consists of some simple, easy-to-learn movements that I can almost guarantee you’ve NEVER done (including crawling, loaded carries, etc) and as the name implies, it only takes 9 minutes to do.
Not only does it fit neatly at the end of whatever other routine you’re currently doing anyway (so no need to put your regular training on hold), but many people have found that it actually enhances their workouts.
Have a look-see at what a gent named Deo had to say when he added my 9-Minute Kettlebell & Bodyweight Challenge into his current kettlebell program:
“Simple on paper but surprisingly challenging in an unusually pleasant way. With a focus on the gait pattern, I can tell I’m working things in my body that aren’t being directly challenged otherwise, strengthening foundational elements. I finish feeling refreshed and not beat down, but still knowing I did quality work for my body.”
Check it out for yourself at www.9MinuteChallenge.com
Have fun and happy training!
Aleks “The Hebrew Hammer” Salkin
