[quote]jskrabac wrote:
It’s because outside this little ego driven world of TNation brosefs, seasoned lifters know that it’s about finding what works and not appealing to some mentality that squatting and deadlifting is necessary just to maintain your mancard. [/quote]
^I think that above post is pure nonsense. Sure: if other things work then fine. But as a relative noobie (I’m defining “noobie” as any of us who are in our 20s and have been lifting for less than a decade), jskrabac, I seriously doubt you’ve given squatting its due to see whether it ‘works.’
As far as the mancard goes, I don’t see why there would be anything wrong with wanting to be a strong guy even if the main goal is aesthetics. And honestly, the thought of training for aesthetics but not even caring about the main implement to getting there (weightlifting) seems like a really dumb way to invest one’s time–at least if it’s something you’re thinking about doing for the next 20-30 years.
I derive a lot of satisfaction out of being able to pick 500 off the floor, even if that’s not very much. It doesn’t have to be an ego-it can just happen to be the case that some of us enjoy lifting weights, with the squat and deadlift being two of the most prominent and physically challenging lifts that people tend to concentrate on.
Regarding the OP, I think the thread is based on a false premise. Most BBers I’ve seen online who maintain logs (e.g., Shelby, Meadows, Norton, etc) squat and deadlift regularly. However, one should bear in mind that “regularly” for them is not that often:
Take someone like Shelby, who hits legs once a week. By his log, he usually uses one major leg movement and then more isolation-type exercises. That might leave him actually squatting once a month because on the other leg days he’s doing some other primary exercise. That doesn’t mean, however, that he’s ‘not squatting.’
The only poster I can think of on here with impressive wheels who does not squat is a poster from about a year ago named ‘Swolle’–but he also deadlifted really heavy (heavy enough to tear his biceps tendon, ruining a prep–in fact).
Those that would point to Stu should bear in mind that Stu is now 38 and spent a lot of his earlier years lifting heavy.
There is one very large 53 year old at my gym (6’, 240 though not as lean anymore) who was larger in his younger days but doesn’t squat anymore. I asked him his views on leg training a few months ago, and he told me basically that he recommends squatting your balls off until you hit your early 30s–around that point, his body started slowing down a bit and the risk of injury made it less worth the gain at that point. But in his younger days he squatted 650 at his peak–now he has very big legs but only does SLDL, ham curls, lunges, etc. As an older guy, he is adamant (take this with a grain of salt, I suppose) that he needed the heavy squats to build that initial mass, but they were not necessary for retaining that mass.
Just his experience, but take it for what it’s worth. And now, someone would look at him and say “Hey! He’s a huge dude, but he doesn’t squat or deadlift!” but be missing the couple of decades he spent under the bar to build that mass in the first place.