Squats Over Everything: The Ruthless Truth About Building Real Legs
Listen here, you lowly commoner. If you want to talk about leg training, you'd better be ready to show some respect to the movement that forged the thighs of titans: the back squat. This isn't some fancy, padded-machine movement where you sit back, sip on your protein shake, and wait for growth to magically happen. This is war. The barbell back squat is the battlefield where weak legs go to die and strong legs are born.
Every gym has a cult of people who would rather stay strapped to a leg press pretending they're chasing hypertrophy. But let me make something clear—machines have their place, but the back squat is the throne. And if you're serious about building size, strength, and a pair of legs that make jeans cry for mercy, then it's time to get under the bar.
PS: Did you know Harvesting Strength is an online platform for training clients to becoming stronger? Don’t believe me? Click HERE to hear more!
Why the Back Squat Is a Full-Leg Mass Monster
When people say they want "big legs," what do they mean? They want tree-trunk quads. They want glutes that could crack walnuts. They want hamstrings that look like steel cables. The back squat is the only exercise that calls upon every inch of your lower body to rise and conquer.
Quads: You want quad growth? The back squat places you in the perfect knee-flexion position to load your quads with serious weight.
Glutes: The ability to sit back and hinge makes the squat unmatched for glute recruitment. You can leg extend until your knees explode and still have a flat backside.
Hamstrings: While not the primary mover, the hamstrings stabilize and support. And when you go deep—I'm talking ATG (ass-to-grass)—they get plenty of stimulation.
The back squat isn't a quad exercise. It's not a glute exercise. It's a leg-building, total-body-destroying, strength-maximizing masterpiece.
The Myth of Machines and the Fixation Fallacy
Now let’s talk about the naysayers. The ones who scream, “The hack squat is better for hypertrophy!” These people want effort without mastery. Technique without progression. They want to chase burn. But that’s not the only way muscles grow. Think about it like this:
A person with a big squat has big legs, but someone with big legs might not have a big squat…
The hack squat fixes your movement pattern. You can’t hinge your hips properly. You’re locked into a track. Sure, you can push to failure without worrying about balance—but you sacrifice the freedom to express raw power through real biomechanics.
And the leg extension? Don’t even start. That’s not leg training. That’s quad isolation. You’re taking a single joint and pretending it can do the work of the hips, knees, and ankles. There’s no axial loading. There’s no systemic fatigue. There’s no carryover. It’s a garnish, not the steak.
Machines make it easier to train to failure, but they make it harder to develop real capacity. They can isolate, but they can't integrate. The squat makes your body work as a unit. You don't just grow—you evolve.
If You Can Squat, You Can Conquer
Barbell back squats require skill. They demand mobility. They expose weakness. That’s why most people avoid them. But that’s exactly why they should be the centerpiece of your leg training.
When you squat, you create a full-body stimulus that triggers not just growth, but adaptation. Your central nervous system adapts. Your posture improves. Your ability to brace and breathe under load turns you into a war machine.
You get more than just bigger legs. You get a stronger back, bulletproof knees, a tougher mind. The kind of athlete who walks into a room and owns it—because they squat.
You develop coordination and proprioception that no machine can match. You learn to manage load dynamically. You generate force and absorb it. These are transferable skills to every other athletic movement in or out of the gym.
Load > Burn — The Truth About Hypertrophy
Hypertrophy is about mechanical tension and progressive overload. Not just about getting a pump. The back squat lets you load more weight than nearly any other lower-body movement. That means more tension across more muscle fibers. More damage, more repair, more growth.
Machines make it easier to chase the burn. But the burn doesn’t mean growth if it isn’t accompanied by real resistance. The back squat forces you to earn your size. To build legs that aren’t just pretty—they’re powerful.
And because the squat loads the spine, it triggers a hormonal cascade that stimulates systemic growth. Squats raise testosterone. They raise growth hormone. They make your body adapt on every level, not just the muscle level.
You want to grow everywhere? Squat.
Programming the Squat and Leg-Based Machine Intervention
Generally, here is how to program back squats for maximum gains:
Frequency: 1-2 times per week
Intensity: Work between 70–80% of your 1RM depending on the day
Volume: 3-5 sets of 5–10 reps
Now, this is general guidance. There could be more detail-oriented protocol that would make sense for your anatomy, but that’s what a private coach is for. They can help you decide that factor.
Now between you and I? Let’s keep it simple. Let’s make sure you start each leg day with squats, then go into your ideas of the hack squat and leg extension.
Here is an example of what I would provide someone who wants bigger legs:
Squat - 3 sets of 5 reps at 75% 1RM (not too heavy)
Tempo Hack Squats - 2 sets of 10 reps with a tempo of 5-2-3 meaning 5 seconds down, 2 second pause, 3 seconds up
Barbell Glute Bridge - 3 sets of 10 reps with a pause and squeeze at the end of each rep
Lying Leg Curls - 3 sets of 20,30 and 50 reps
Leg Extensions - 3 sets of 20,30, and 50 reps
When to Use Machines (Without Losing Your Crown)
Look, I’m not saying machines are useless. But they’re side quests. Once you’ve done your main mission—the back squat—you can use leg presses, hack squats, or leg curls to fill in the gaps.
Machines are tools. The barbell is the forge. Use them wisely, but don’t let them replace the one movement that does it all.
Machines can help add volume without taxing the spine further. They can target specific weaknesses. But never let them become your foundation. That belongs to the squat.
The Athletic Advantage
Squats don’t just build size. They build athletes. Jump higher. Run faster. Hit harder. Every major sport relies on powerful hips, glutes, and legs. Squatting trains those muscles through a functional, explosive range of motion.
If you’re an athlete and you’re skipping squats, you’re sabotaging your own development. Don’t just train to look strong. Train to be strong.
…BECOME HARDER TO KILL!
What Real Lifters Know
Talk to any seasoned strength athlete—powerlifter, weightlifter, strongman, even bodybuilder—and ask what movement built their foundation. You’ll hear the same thing: squats.
Why? Because the squat isn’t just about legs. It’s about dominance. Discipline. Delivering pain to mediocrity and demanding greatness in return.
You don’t just train your muscles. You train your mindset. You face the bar, load it heavy, and make the decision to overcome.
Conclusion: Get Under the Bar or Get Out of the Way
At the end of the day, if you're skipping squats, you’re skipping greatness. You’re choosing comfort over conquest. Don’t be the person who hides in the machine corner chasing half-truths.
Back squats are the path. The map. The weapon. If you want legs that don’t just look good but mean something, then bow to the king—and get under the damn bar.