Just say NO to squats. Learn why you should avoid this "king" of all exercises, and how you can build more muscle using the Smith machine, quarter squats & leg extensions.

It has been said countless times that "squats are king." Quite frankly, I am tired of hearing this nonsense. Not only are barbell squats the most dangerous exercise on the planet, but they also don't hold a candle to leg presses for overall leg mass. We all know this.

With this reality in mind, let's take a look at 7 other reasons why you should never squat.

Reason #1 - The Smith machine is more efficient

The Smith machine allows you to squat in a straight line. Barbell squats do not follow a fixed path. Why is this important? Simple:

The shortest distance between two points is a straight line.

Nothing more needs to be said. It's geometry and science! Smith machines are scientifically proven to be more efficient.

When an exercise is more efficient, it's more effective and safer. Simple.

Reason #2 - No one cares about lower body size anyway

Really, no one cares about leg size. Hang your arms out the window of a car and everyone notices. Hang your legs out the window, and well...you just look like an idiot.

Have you ever seen a "welcome to the wheel show" t-shirt? Nope, and you never will. Welcome to the gun show, bro!

Tom Platz aside, leg size is simply not cool. Who wants their quads to balloon up while they maintain the same size waist? This makes it darn near impossible to find jeans and pants that fit. You know how it goes...you have to purchase pants to fit your legs, but they end up being 3 sizes too large for your waist.

The result? Pants on the ground. Pants on the ground. Looking like a fool with your pants on the ground.

Welcome to the Gun Show

Reason #3 - You can't text while squatting

You can't text while squatting, but on leg extensions you can. Bro, what good is a workout if you can't instantly post updates of your epic, 17 minute sets on Facebook?

Heck, I've seen dudes sit at the leg extension station for an entire hour texting...and texting...and texting, all the while performing 2,000 reps with "only" 10 pounds. Not only is this a great workout, but you can also multitask and chat on Facebook.

Even though this is an insanely low weight, the amount of volume you are performing is intense. Think about it: 2,000 reps multiplied by 10 pounds equals 20,000 total pounds of work. That's crazy, bro! Crazy!

You would have to perform nearly 150 reps of squats using 135 pounds each to reach that volume level. No one in their right mind would try this. It's way too much work.

Reason #4 - Quarter squats are more impressive

Forget deep squats. Quarter squats allow you to utilize more weight.

In addition, quarter squats are anterior chain dominant. For those of you keeping score at home, this means that they work the front side of your body more heavily. Duh! Isn't this what you want from a quads exercise anyway?

You aren't squatting to build a bigger posterior chain. Who wants massive hamstrings and a big old butt anyway? I sure don't.

A leg exercise should...well...work your quads. If you're going to squat at all, avoid deep squats and stress your quads with some anterior-heavy quarter squats. Gainz!

Reason #5 - Squats reduce libido

There is this notion that squats do everything from cure cancer to spike your testosterone levels. This is false. We all know what happens after a brutal squat session. All we want to do is eat and sleep.

This urge to rest is a sign of a bigger problem. If you have lost all desire to...well...do "other things," it's almost a given that your testosterone levels and libido have sunk like the Titanic.

Reason #6 - No spot, no squat

It's hard enough to find someone at the gym that actually knows how to deep squat. With that said, do you really want half-squatters and quarter-squatters spotting you when you are trying to go ass to grass?

No, and no.

Squats are dangerous enough without adding an inept spotter into the equation. You are already risking your knee, lower back and spine health. If this isn't bad enough, you are asking for more trouble by allowing a "newb" to spot you. Do you want to worry that a rookie spotter might potentially touch the bar as you try to lock out that 185 pound squat PR. No way.

Reason #7 - Squats make you slow

Lower body mass makes you bulky and slow. We all know that.

Being muscle bound is a good thing if you have no interest in being athletic. Do any of us really want to slow down with age? I certainly don't.

Add to this equation a withering lower back and knees, and you have become a human turtle.

Conclusion

April Fools! If you've read this far and thought these were legit reasons, sorry. We were messing with you.

Squat on!

62 Comments
Mark B
Posted on: Sat, 07/30/2022 - 10:46

The first reason I was like “ok, maybe I can see that” but when it said “you can’t text and squat at the same time” I knew this was BS. So, I Immediately sent this to my buddy that owns a gym lol.

Heather Bartholomew
Posted on: Fri, 09/04/2015 - 12:46

Omg I was going to say holy cow are they nuts or what lol! I called BS after the first sentence lol!

Joey Mc
Posted on: Tue, 12/09/2014 - 13:49

I was so sad for a long time, then I read the bullshit about quarter squats and I was like "Either M&S let the WORST gym kid ever make articles or.... yep it's a joke" lol, good one.

Chris
Posted on: Tue, 08/05/2014 - 15:33

It's not even april and I just got done by this article haha.

mk
Posted on: Tue, 07/01/2014 - 15:23

mmmmm lol

Sophia Kopasakis
Posted on: Tue, 04/22/2014 - 11:30

I actually can't do squats because the hurt the shit out of my knees. Same with leg presses. But I can do absolutely anything else with no knee pain what so ever. All my life my back and my knees have just hated squats.

Danny D
Posted on: Wed, 04/09/2014 - 23:12

There's 5 minutes I will never get back.

cam
Posted on: Mon, 04/07/2014 - 00:20

These reasons suck i squat 315 as a freshmen i get complimented on my legs all the time

Wajeeha
Posted on: Sun, 04/06/2014 - 13:56

This was a good one! ROTFLMAO!! Smith machine better!!

nick
Posted on: Thu, 04/03/2014 - 19:38

That scared me for a second! lmao

Enrique Alicea
Posted on: Wed, 04/02/2014 - 21:33

Man!!!! And I thought this would get me out of squatting, which my son is great at!!!!! He keeps cracking up at me at the squat rack :)

josh
Posted on: Wed, 04/02/2014 - 09:49

I was on the verge of protesting this site

Ivan
Posted on: Wed, 04/02/2014 - 09:36

I was gonna say, what an idiot!

Salvador
Posted on: Wed, 04/02/2014 - 09:29

I was about to post about how much I disagree with you until I seen reason #3. Then I was pretty sure this had to be a joke. LOL good article.

Reza
Posted on: Wed, 04/02/2014 - 06:55

already knew it ever since i read the titlle :)

Rini
Posted on: Wed, 04/02/2014 - 05:32

I was shattered there for a while

Jeff
Posted on: Wed, 04/02/2014 - 05:18

I'm so glad I got to the end! I almost didn't! All I could think was "What half-ass new guy did they let get ahold of their computers?" All credibility would have been lost lol. Congratulations, nobody else has managed to actually get me with an April Fool's joke this year. Good times!

Matt
Posted on: Wed, 04/02/2014 - 04:15

O god I thought the world was ending

Somy
Posted on: Wed, 04/02/2014 - 03:28

First time on this site and i thought you are serious... :)

Gabriel Uribe
Posted on: Tue, 04/01/2014 - 22:47

U had me going ! Lol

Kwaks Jr
Posted on: Tue, 04/01/2014 - 21:25

You cant squat with your phone. Cracked me up lmao!

ken
Posted on: Tue, 04/01/2014 - 21:04

oh shit,i got prank actually=.=

Samuel X
Posted on: Tue, 04/01/2014 - 19:52

LOL i'm almost believe om u :v Aaaaaarrrrggggghhhhhhh, Go on Squat :p

pow
Posted on: Tue, 04/01/2014 - 19:15

Yall got me I was hoping is true cuz I have back pain

eddie
Posted on: Tue, 04/01/2014 - 19:05

Ha! I was getting a lil ticked off reading this. Got me good.

David
Posted on: Tue, 04/01/2014 - 19:01

You got me good. I was like, "WTF is this guy talking about??? What a d bag." Lol. Thanks for the laugh.

Sam
Posted on: Tue, 04/01/2014 - 18:35

I was getting furious for a sec. This was the best joke of the day by far

Sue
Posted on: Tue, 04/01/2014 - 18:34

You fooled me! Glad it's a joke. :)

Sue
Posted on: Tue, 04/01/2014 - 18:34

You fooled me! Glad it's a joke. :)

Justin
Posted on: Tue, 04/01/2014 - 18:09

I read number 2 and was like yeaaa im gonna go to the bottom this has to be april fools joke haha

james b
Posted on: Tue, 04/01/2014 - 18:00

i waa getting ready to angrily troll and trash talk but then i loled when i saw it was a joke...got me

Mohamed Said
Posted on: Tue, 04/01/2014 - 17:57

For me I squat on smith cause I have some problems with my middle back and lower spine but I started to feel something is not correct in the FB part and the leg out of window but a nice try and by the way Steve I like your workouts very much

Neil
Posted on: Tue, 04/08/2014 - 07:19

You probably have a bad back because you squat in the smith machine. It certainly won't help.

trevor richard ...
Posted on: Tue, 04/01/2014 - 17:55

Its all the truth

trevor richard ...
Posted on: Tue, 04/01/2014 - 17:54

Its the truth

Carlos Leon
Posted on: Tue, 04/01/2014 - 17:52

Nice one got me good_scare :-)

fadi
Posted on: Tue, 04/01/2014 - 17:32

well f*** u... u guys got me n reason 5 really shakes me badly :D

Cody
Posted on: Tue, 04/01/2014 - 17:25

Ohhhh I ...just ....wow lol the whole thing I'm like ummmmmmmmmmmm

Victor
Posted on: Tue, 04/01/2014 - 17:08

Do squats really make you slower? LOL

dominique
Posted on: Tue, 04/01/2014 - 16:55

My face was priceless as I was reading

Shailesh Yankanchi
Posted on: Tue, 04/01/2014 - 16:53

Smith Machine was fine but rest made me believe I need to leave this website soon :P

Nice one though !!

Joseph "Thing" ...
Posted on: Tue, 04/01/2014 - 16:51

LMAO "Bro" you had me going there pretty good. I started to get kind of irritated reading it until you smacked with the "hey ya dummie, we gotcha!"

Brandon Jacobson
Posted on: Tue, 04/01/2014 - 16:43

LOL I was like who the hell wrote this bullshit hahahahhaha

Daniel
Posted on: Tue, 04/01/2014 - 16:42

I do sissy squats on smith machines

Elijah
Posted on: Tue, 04/01/2014 - 16:40

who wants leg size anyway?! much rather just text during my entire workout. selfies on the leg press , selfies selfies selfies

Jacquie
Posted on: Tue, 04/01/2014 - 16:32

I understood the smith machine- but everything else was kinda funny

George
Posted on: Tue, 04/01/2014 - 16:30

You guys suck..

George
Posted on: Tue, 04/01/2014 - 17:05

Ohhhhh just noticed the joke...Xaxaxaxaxaaaxa scared me for a while...LMFAO!!!!

Piotr Story
Posted on: Tue, 04/01/2014 - 15:35

hahahahaaa that's what I thought so after no.3 ...
good one

Pro
Posted on: Tue, 04/01/2014 - 14:29

This keeps getting better every year and as last year this made me laugh out. I keep wondering what peoples responses would have been if the conclusion had been skipped. Anyway keep up the good work