Must we squat?

Squat the movement? Yes, we must. Essential for long-term independent life. We need to get up off the toilet, pick up boxes without over-much straining our backs, get down on the floor without toppling sideways like a falling tree . . . let alone get back up again.

Squat the exercise? Not essential, IMO. There are other ways to train and support the squat-the-movement muscular and flexibility requirements, and not all of them involve spending hundreds to thousands of dollars on a bike. (That's not a diss. Even low-end decent rowing shells cost more than low-end decent bikes. I only own one bike, but two shells. )

I suspect that for a lot of people, the most time efficient and convenient way to maintain squat-the-activity ability is to do squat-the-exercise, if only something like squats to chair level or below while watching TV or something. If they're not biking, rowing, or doing some other exercise that has benefits for maintaining daily life squatting capability, I'd encourage them to do squat-the-exercise.

Even when regularly doing a sport that involves oh, 800-1000 squat-like movements per hour against resistance (though horizontal rather than vertical), I still occasionally do some exercise-type-squats, with or without resistance beyond bodyweight.

Didn't realize you wanted discussion, thought you were simply asking a yes/no question, which was adequately answered earlier.

I love squats...didn't always, learned to love them based upon how much they impacted both my legs and everything else...believe it or not, my bench press improved when my squat improved, because there's a lot of synergy going on.

And if you think 20 squats is hard, you can imagine the day I did a 100-rep squat challenge. This was years ago, but I sure do remember it as if it were yesterday...

Yes you need to squat, for the reasons outlined by both Claireychn and Ann. It doesn't have to be a weighted gym-based squat but you need to preserve that mobility and function.

I'm a natural squatter, it's always been my position of choice for doing lower level things like getting something from a bottom shelf or gardening. Or kissing one of the dogs. So I add weight and do some variations to challenge my muscles because I want to live independently for as long as possible into old age.

I'd say no. If you do the leg press, I would consider that an alternative to the free weight squat.

No. You can do leg presses, box step ups, high knee steps, etc. Plenty of movements that mimic the same movement of a squat. Pick some you prefer and do them with some intensity in mind.

Yes you still have to do squats even if you're the guy or gal loading 900 pounds on the leg press machine. Remember, as mentioned above, squats are a basic human movement. One needs to train the movement (not necessarily with additional weight, although that is good). Reclining on a bench and extending your legs, isn't the same functional movement as a squat. Outside of the gym, how often do you recline on bench and extend your legs vs squatting down to pick up a child, get something from a low shelf or as mentioned getting off the toilet.

Just because something is convenient doesn't mean it's suitable for the task at hand.

Squat yes. Because there are so many instances where you need to use them naturally. Sitting in a chair and getting up, in and out of a car WITHOUT having to pull yourself out with your arms, up and down from the toilet etc.

One of the things that we've noticed in fitness is that many females squat much better than men because females have a tendency to balance and focus more on their lower body than men do. And with all the long commuting for many today and sitting at jobs all day, the lack of use of posterior chain, especially in males, later leads to things like back pain and weakness in glutes and legs.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer

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Been in fitness for 40+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

Another variant of this question: do you need to do free-weight squats if you use the leg press machine? I find the machine to be very convenient.

Squats work every muscle of the legs: quads, hamstrings, glutes, calves. Depending on foot placement, the leg press works every major muscle of the legs: quads, hamstrings, glutes, calves.

What's the difference? The leg press works the MAJOR muscles, but it does not hit the smaller stabilizing muscles. In a squat these stabilizer muscles are used to keep the legs and spine in proper alignment, helping shift your weight back in line if you start to lose balance, often unconsciously without you even being aware they are doing it. The leg press, however, cannot lose balance, the path of the weight movement is fixed and unchanging. Consequently, the stabilizer muscles have far less work to do, and do not get engaged often.

Now, the follow-up question: how important are these stabilizer muscles in the first place? For normal walking around and climbing stairs, maybe not. But ask anybody who's ever stepped on a toy in the dark, or misplaced their foot on the stair and it slipped off, or stepped on hidden ice and lost balance, or was carrying a small child who suddenly shifted their weight to reach for grandma and challenged your balance, or or or… These stabilizer muscles can be the difference between looking slightly clumsy but staying upright, vs falling and potentially getting injured.

Does this mean the leg press (and other machines) have no place in the fitness arsenal? Absolutely not! Sometimes a lifter is fatigued but wants to continue to work a muscle without risk of injury, so they use the machine to guide the movement path for them. Sometimes a person is recovering from injury, and the machine helps during rehab to strengthen muscles and joints. Some people new to lifting may feel intimidated by free weights, and feel safer working with machines while they gain experience until they feel ready to try the free weights.

I squat for the sake of the movement itself mostly. It is very important movement pattern imho. What I noticed is that once I added high rep weighted squats to my routine I feel way better and it makes everything else easier for me like moving around, getting up from the ground, play with the kids and it even made me stronger in other exercises. There are also a lot of variations of squats with free weights like back, front, goblet, jump or overhead squat and all of them come with their unique benefits.