On Pecs and Glutes

[Short_Guy]

I was wondering if someone might point out for me the best mass-building leg excercises that offer minimal impact on the glutes.

I ask because my buttocks, unfortunately, grow like mad when I do a lot of squats, but my chest is not one of my better body parts and I'm loathe to keep contributing to that obvious imbalance--at least till I can bring my chest up to where I'm comfortable.

Any input is appreciated.

[willpharmd]

Believe it or not, squats actually help your chest grow as well as your whole body. Due to the size of the quads and intensity of leg workouts, large amounts of GH are released from training with heavy squats.

I would suggest increasing the intensity of your chest workout instead of decreasing the intensity of your quad workout.

Nothing builds more mass than squats. That's just my opinion though.
Good luck

[BigGreen]

A number of individuals (I want to say frank zane was among them) swore that front squats were critical in keeping their asses from growing too big.

[saboudian]

I agree with BigGreen. Front squats feel a lil weird at first, but i think i can go even lower on them and its easier on my back too. Its also pretty impossible to use your glutes at all, so its just your quads, but hits your quads differently then regular squats so i think u still need to do both, not necessarily in the same workout though.

As far as regular squats go, when i first started out, i didn't meant to, but i did use my glutes and they would be sore the next day. After a couple months of squatting, i think u just learn to better isolate your quads and now i don't use my glutes at all. I think your flexibility increases too, at first i couldn't even get close to being parallel, but now i'm below the parallel position which hits my quads even harder.

I think there is no way out of squats, its just too good of an exercise. Its like a chest workout without a benchpress, u just need it. For a long time i was afraid of doing squats, but once i started, i gained an inch on my quad every month for about 5-6months, and like wil said its gonna make everything grow as well which i will definitely agree with.

[willpharmd]

These guys r right, I didn't think about front squats. They are great for hitting your quads just above your knee. Arnold used to include a lot of front squats in his leg routines.

[Short_Guy]

I realize squats are a fantastic excercise and they're integral to a workout. But I also noted that I need to cut them out till my chest comes 'round. This is a genetics issue and one I've had to deal with for years no matter how heavy or how hard I went on chest, my glutes always outpaced my pecs.

However, I'll ramp up the front squats and see how that goes (I do these anyway, I'll just make them the primary excercise).

Thanks for the input.