Is it crucial to workout lowerbody when you're lifting?

[moneyisking]

I heard that if you want ripped upper body, you must do your lower body.

Which brings me to a story that a famous bodybuilder testified. He said while he was in the army, all the equipments the place offered was barbell and few stuff, so all he mainly did was squats. He said then after coming back and going to real gym, he quit lower body and just did upper body. As a result he actually became smaller. So he stated that in order to have awesome muscular upper body, one must do lower body also.

Is that true?

 

[Pie in the Sky]

The more muscles you stimulate in your body, the more testosterone your body will produce. The higher your testosterone levels, the more muscle growth you will have in your body. Muscle growth is a holistic effort, not some localized event in your body. By working out your legs, you are benefiting your entire body.

 

[Colossus]

No, if you train legs your chest and biceps will actually shrink. We dont want that.

 

[Throttle]

Yes. I never had any long-term results until I accepted this. Since then, I keep results from the gym even when I lay off for a while.

 

[Flyer]

Legs (glutes) are your biggest muscle in the body. Why would you negate them in favour for a tiny muscle such as the biceps?

But to answer your question. You can have a ripped upper and a **** lower - look at all the atheletes in wheelchairs. For them, there's nothing they can do about it. For us, it'll just look plain wierd...

 

[Don Israel]

Yes, it's a proven fact that when you cover most muscle groups within a week, your growth acceleration will increase in timing, at a higher level.

So if you don't wanna waste time, work those legs up... it might be a little boring but who cares - we all want results.

Makes sense....it's like martial arts...if fighters only focus on strikes, anyone with a basic yet solid grasp of jui-jitsu will humiliate most strikers...it's all about completeness like everything in life and dj'in

 

[Fengshui]

The only muscles NOT used in the squat is arms and chest. I have a few friends who spent years not training lower body. Six months of squats and deadlift and they all got "big". Noticably bigger, talking in the ranges of 40 lbs of muscle evenly distributed on their frame. I just had to nag them into do it for three years first.

 

[Fengshui]

Also, the body is built for muscular balance. It´s also why you never see 150 lbs guys with 20 inch arms. No muscle can get really big without the whole body getting really big. Mr. NoNeck-Huge-Bodybuilder also have a dozen ripped boxer caused by the friction of his huge thighs competing for space while walking.

 

[CaptainJ]

My arms get tired when I squat.

I can attest to this

 

[lukester19]

I have been having amazing results doing squats. Even once every two weeks I do 30 rep squats of 4 sets to replace cardio. Man can I tell you that it is hell. The sweat streaiming down you. Body giving in but mind pushing. Legs trembling with despair, but when over you feel great of your self and the fat starts pealing off.

 

[Fengshui]

Lol, lurker19 . I can understand why you only do them every other week. You´re probobly too sore to get out of bed for two weeks. Geesh, I´ve done a lot of "crazy shlt" in the gym, but 30x4?? Damn, I´d be lucky to pull that off with only 80 lbs on the bar!

 

[dbot]

Yes, working your lower body is critical to building your upper body. In fact, I've had amazing results working all muscle groups on the same day. The full-body workout will shock your muscles into growth. Try doing the following exercises in this order:

bench press
squats
bent rows
deadlifts
shoulder press

1 set each. Aim for 10 reps per set. Perform repetitions slowly (3 seconds up, 3 seconds down). Rest for at least 3 minutes between sets. Make sure your diet is solid. This will build your upper body much quicker than if you simply ignore your legs.