Squats vs Lunges

Nopedotjpeg

Squats 3x5. They do lots of things, but mostly make me either hate the world or feel very proud of myself depending on the day.

Jeff92se

Free weight squats are much more body inclusive than lunges. Takes many more core muscles to not only perform the squat that hit your hams, glutes and quads, but also everything else it takes to support the weight on your back.

Do both. Squats and deads on heavy day and then consider super setting luncges on an off leg day

FlyeredUp

I do both squats and lunges once a week on leg day, ( there is no reason to work your legs more than once a week) and both are very important. I do 4 sets of each and 8-10 reps per set. I also do dead lifts but it is better to split up your squats and dead lifts, so I do deads on a different day but also do 4 sets and 8-10 reps per set.

Jeff92se

I do squats, powercleans and deads all on the same day. I'm a gluten for punisment I guess. On top of that I superset squats with military dumbell shoulder presses, powercleans to an overhead press and deads with one arm shoulder presses

FlyeredUp

I do squats, powercleans and deads all on the same day. I'm a gluten for punisment I guess. On top of that I superset squats with military dumbell shoulder presses, powercleans to an overhead press and deads with one arm shoulder presses

Jeff I am a gluten for punishment aswell! But you will see better results if you split squats and deads up, ( a couple days apart) Below is my leg day work out. I do deads on shoulder & trap day, which is 4 days after leg day, I do 20 sets of shoulders, 8 sets of traps and then 4 sets of deads.

Squats - 4 sets
Lunges- 4 sets
Leg Press- 4 sets
Leg Curls- 4 sets
Lying Down Leg Curls- 4 sets ( Hamstrings)
Standing Calf Raises- 4 sets
Seated Calf Raises - 4 sets

Punktorian

Squats as the primary exercise for sure, assuming they are good freeweight barbell squats. Put aside the muscles worked for a second and consider the central nervous system and overall stability they add. If you only do one, do barbell squats. You can do lunges at a lighter weight as more of an accessory exercise.

Jeff92se

I do squats, powercleans and deads all on the same day. I'm a gluten for punisment I guess. On top of that I superset squats with military dumbell shoulder presses, powercleans to an overhead press and deads with one arm shoulder presses

Jeff I am a gluten for punishment aswell! But you will see better results if you split squats and deads up, ( a couple days apart) Below is my leg day work out. I do deads on shoulder & trap day, which is 3 days after leg day, I do 20 sets of shoulders, 8 sets of traps and then 4 sets of deads.

Squats - 4 sets
Lunges- 4 sets
Leg Press- 4 sets
Leg Curls- 4 sets
Lying Down Leg Curls- 4 sets ( Hamstrings)
Standing Calf Raises- 4 sets
Seated Calf Raises - 4 sets

If I get down to my goal weight, pant size, I might consider splitting them up. But I get sore after legs. 2 days after is my most sore days. I'm not really going for max lifts. Although my lifts are improving. I just want to burn max calories while lifting. I only get 2 days to lift. Maybe 3

FlyeredUp

I do squats, powercleans and deads all on the same day. I'm a gluten for punisment I guess. On top of that I superset squats with military dumbell shoulder presses, powercleans to an overhead press and deads with one arm shoulder presses

Jeff I am a gluten for punishment aswell! But you will see better results if you split squats and deads up, ( a couple days apart) Below is my leg day work out. I do deads on shoulder & trap day, which is 3 days after leg day, I do 20 sets of shoulders, 8 sets of traps and then 4 sets of deads.

Squats - 4 sets
Lunges- 4 sets
Leg Press- 4 sets
Leg Curls- 4 sets
Lying Down Leg Curls- 4 sets ( Hamstrings)
Standing Calf Raises- 4 sets
Seated Calf Raises - 4 sets

If I get down to my goal weight, pant size, I might consider splitting them up. But I get sore after legs. 2 days after is my most sore days. I'm not really going for max lifts. Although my lifts are improving. I just want to burn max calories while lifting. I only get 2 days to lift. Maybe 3

Hey no problem Jeff!! When you reach your goal let me know if you need any adivce! Also in case your not already doing so, limit your rest between sets to 1 minute to keep your heart rate up (burn more calories)

autumnk921

Bump...For reference later

FlyeredUp

Squats as the primary exercise for sure, assuming they are good freeweight barbell squats. Put aside the muscles worked for a second and consider the central nervous system and overall stability they add. If you only do one, do barbell squats. You can do lunges at a lighter weight as more of an accessory exercise.

The reason I do squats and deadlifts on different days. If I did them on the same day I would have to do deads at a lighter weight than doing them on a different day.

TheFunBun

Since.. we're all here discussing squats, I'm going to just ask.

Can I do bodyweight squats to practice form (I want to get my *kitten* closer to the grass) on days when I'm not lifting, or would it be a dumb idea?

My squats are only hamstring parallel at this point... I'm not sure if it's due to the back injury that's kept me down, since I used to have pretty fine looking squats.. or if it's just disuse of the glute.

FlyeredUp

Since.. we're all here discussing squats, I'm going to just ask.

Can I do bodyweight squats to practice form (I want to get my *kitten* closer to the grass) on days when I'm not lifting, or would it be a dumb idea?

My squats are only hamstring parallel at this point... I'm not sure if it's due to the back injury that's kept me down, since I used to have pretty fine looking squats.. or if it's just disuse of the glute.

No its not a dumb idea at all ( actually its a very good idea :happy: )

TheFunBun

Since.. we're all here discussing squats, I'm going to just ask.

Can I do bodyweight squats to practice form (I want to get my *kitten* closer to the grass) on days when I'm not lifting, or would it be a dumb idea?

My squats are only hamstring parallel at this point... I'm not sure if it's due to the back injury that's kept me down, since I used to have pretty fine looking squats.. or if it's just disuse of the glute.

No its not a dumb idea at all ( actually its a very good idea :happy: )

I really did not expect to be so pleased with the answer to this question. I totally expected a, "You already worked your legs, go sit down!" type thing. I feel like you've handed me the key to an unstoppable *kitten*.

Jeff92se

Since.. we're all here discussing squats, I'm going to just ask.

Can I do bodyweight squats to practice form (I want to get my *kitten* closer to the grass) on days when I'm not lifting, or would it be a dumb idea?

My squats are only hamstring parallel at this point... I'm not sure if it's due to the back injury that's kept me down, since I used to have pretty fine looking squats.. or if it's just disuse of the glute.

You've been stretching?

TheFunBun

Since.. we're all here discussing squats, I'm going to just ask.

Can I do bodyweight squats to practice form (I want to get my *kitten* closer to the grass) on days when I'm not lifting, or would it be a dumb idea?

My squats are only hamstring parallel at this point... I'm not sure if it's due to the back injury that's kept me down, since I used to have pretty fine looking squats.. or if it's just disuse of the glute.

You've been stretching?

Yeah, my lower body is fairly flexible- I have side splits, but no center.. so not sure if they're flexible enough, but they definitely feel -weak- past a certain point in the squat.

JNick77

I do both, but I'm wondering if the work the same muscles? I feel like my butt and the tops of my thighs hurt the same, but is it due to one or both?

Do you do squats and/or lunges? How many reps?

also, when doing lunges, should the weight be pressed onto your forward leg, or pulled from your back?

No, not really. Back Squats work your quads, glutes, and hamstrings to a point, as well as your back, ab's, and even shoulders to an extent. Lunges are a great exercise too but not a replacement for the back squat.

Recommend doing Back Squats with a heavier weight, sets of 3 to 5 and lunges for sets of 8-10 or 12.

Darkskinned88

it works the same muscles but the isolation of each leg that comes with lunges are an added plus

JNick77

Also to really hit your butt make sure you go all the way down in the squat, just past parallel.

like knee to the ground?

Go down until your upper leg is parallel to the floor, or just past that.

That's awesome! Do you have more of those? lol

That diagram is deceptive, you don't want to be bent over that far. Go to YouTube and watch, "So You Think You Can Squat" if you want a good idea about form. That diagram actually looks like a squat with a good morning combination.

sleepytexan

I find lunges to be aggravating to chondromalacia patella, however, heavy, full squats (lower than parallel) have actually diminished my knee pain.

I stick to the squats.

peacefulsong

My technique is...

keep my head looking straight forward, then move my buttocks down slowly as if i want to sit on a chair and take my quads to parallel (not below), push through the heels and come back up. That way my buttocks are worked anyway

Amber, when you are in the squat, think 'push through heel' that way you know your legs are being worked, rather than causing any problems to the knees

I just learned this a month or so ago. I wish someone had told me a long time ago to 'push through the heels.' I avoided squats for so long because they hurt my knees. Once I got that tiny bit of info, squats magically no longer hurt my knees at all. :laugh:

I'm still on the outs with lunges, though. Hate them.

footballmom12

Prefer squats...hurt my knees less. Lunges isolate the muscle and can be good for superseting with calf raises or dead lifts.