When you think of squats, you think about that leg burn, the feeling of the weighted bar on your shoulders, and that high when you impress even yourself on the weight you’re putting up. 

Squats are one of the only exercises that make almost every part of our body feel like they’re getting a workout. They are also one of the most talked-about topics in the gym. 

The most popular questions I get asked in the gym is how much I bench, curl, and squat.

Even though the first two seem more fun to most people, out of those exercises the most beneficial one to 99% of us is definitely squatting.

And as a side thought… please do not be that guy that benches more than he squats.

Weighted squats help build leg muscles while also burning fat and increasing your flexibility. If that’s not enough, one extra benefit is that it helps to build a bubble butt. 

Now, it’s not a secret that growing these body parts takes a little more work and care than some other ones and that is why we are asking this question today.

In this post, we’re going to take a deep dive into if you should be doing squats every workout and everything you need to know to see if it’s right for you. We will also bring up some different scenarios to fit lots of different needs to see if squatting every workout is right for you.

So let’s get started…

Is Doing Squats Every Workout A Good Idea?

If you ask the question “Can I squat every workout?” the answer will always be yes you can. If you ask the question “Should I squat every workout?” the answer will be more along the lines of it depends. 

Here are a couple of things you need to ask yourself first – 

• Do you normally squat a couple of times a week already?
• Do your squat sessions now involve a lot of weight?
• Are your squat sessions intense?
• Are they so intense that you feel like you wouldn’t be able to squat by your next workout?

All of these things matter because if you’re doing this to try to get a new PR every workout, this isn’t going to work. If you want to squat every workout, you can’t kill your legs because you will never have time to repair. 

You will not grow. You will just over train.

But if you go into this with a goal of wanting to get stronger, build your legs, add some meat to your booty,  to perfect your form on a squat, break a plateau, or maybe get one or two PRs out of trying this, then squatting every workout could definitely be beneficial. 

But you have to go about it right. You have to train light, not heavy, and have a strategy to go along with it.

My advice if you’re looking into getting into this is to start with a weight that you know is just pushing you without going to make you unable to do anything else for the next couple of days. 

Then if you are struggling with the weight you picked after a few days, just drop it a little until you feel you can move back up to it. There’s no harm in this. 

The biggest factor is to experiment with the numbers until you find something that works for you. 

Will Squatting Every Workout Help Me Get Stronger And Squat More?

If you do an exercise correctly, every workout should help you get stronger. 

For example, every time you squat you gain a few percentage points of strength, then doing that five times a week instead of twice should make you a lot stronger, right?

But as we said, do not obliterate your legs. Train them just enough to get some muscle breakdown and make sure to be eating enough so that your legs are getting the pump and the nutrients that they need.

With this strength comes the ability to up your weight. In your first week of doing this, the weight should be fairly difficult, the next week it should become a little easier, and eventually, you should get to a point where you have to up the weight to challenge yourself. 

Just like lots of other things, there are a few “buts” involved here. You need to make sure that you’re letting the lactic acid out of your muscles.

Doing a little bit of stretching after your workout can help with this. I use a leg stretcher but you can use basic leg stretching exercises if you do not have one.

You also need to balance not pushing yourself too hard with upping your weight when you feel you’re ready to. You’re not going to get stronger unless you are progressing upwards on the bar. 

Squatting Every Workout: Good Idea If I Want to Build Thick Thighs & A Big Butt?

Besides the obvious reason to squat more which is to get stronger, the secondary reason people squat is to build their thighs and increase butt size. Everyone whether you’re a girl or even a guy wants a big bubble butt.

If that is your primary goal, then this mindset of squatting every workout could definitely help you.

Like we mentioned earlier, doing any lifting consistently can add strength and most importantly in the case, size and structure to the body parts associated. 

You might want to build up your legs because they’ve never grown to a size you wanted. Maybe you want to build your backside to look good in those jeans or in the mirror. Or maybe you’re training for some kind of competition.

Either way, as long as you’re doing your squats with proper form, increasing the weight when needed, getting good enough rest, and most importantly getting the calories you need, this method will definitely yield results. 

Is Squatting Every Workout Better Than A Separate Leg Day?

If you’re looking to replace your leg day with squatting every workout, you can do that. But is doing squats every workout better than having a separate leg day? 

Well although, squats are probably the best exercise to try to hit every aspect of your lower body, using other leg exercises to target your leg muscles is also a must. Only squatting every workout won’t allow you to get primary focus on some leg muscles that you could get from doing specific workouts for them.

If you’re sticking to only doing back squats, it might be beneficial to do a couple of different leg exercises for your quads and calves each week, this is especially so if you work out every day of the week like me.

Reverse hack squats, lunges, shrimp squats(if you are a little bit advanced) you could go do your squats with the smith machine bar, doing smith machine squats will be safer than doing regular squats and is recommended for beginners, or use what one of my favorites…the sissy squat machine. I freaking love this machine, it builds my quads like nobody’s business.

Whatever exercise you do, just throw in some variation so you are not just squatting.

Although if you’re just looking to grow your butt, legs, and improve your squat at the same time, and don’t care much about your hamstrings and calves, then squatting every workout can replace your leg day.

If you want to make sure you’re hitting every step along the way, you still need to throw in a leg day here and there.

If I Squat Every Workout, Should I Squat Before Or After My Workout?

Nine times out of ten, the answer is going to be to squat before your workout.

If you are just trying this and going through the motions to try to perfect your form and do some lightweight then you can do it after your workout. 

But if you’re reading this, I’m sure you want to build some strength, maybe increase your PR or maybe you’re after a jiggly butt.. By this I mean adding some size to your butt.

If any of these are your goals then squatting before your workout is the best way.

Think about it.

You’re the freshest right when you get in the gym, which means you’ll be able to do more weight.

You’ll also have more energy so you can pump out more reps.

Just remember if you are planning to do cardio after your squats or leg workout just remember how hard it is to run after leg day.

After your workout, you might have benched, or worked on your shoulders, or maybe you did some cardio and now you’re winded.

The last thing you’ll want to do is put that weight on the bar and do some squats. 

Is It Beneficial to Do Squats As A Warm-up Before Every Workout? 

Doing squats first actually provides one more benefit. It can help you increase all your other lifts as well.

Like we said earlier, squats are one of the few exercises that involve almost your entire body. Light squatting can be very beneficial if you are planning to do deadlifts and squats on the same day.

This allows your entire body to start getting the blood flowing throughout your veins. 

If you just walk into a gym, start loading weight on the benchpress bar, and start cranking out your reps, you might come to find you’ll be able to lift more if you throw some squats in before your workout to really get your juices pumping.

Once you get the blood pumping you become stronger because your muscles are now being fueled by nutrients.

You can also do jumping jacks or jump ropes if you aren’t feeling like doing squats as a warm, it’s up to you.

So Should You Squat Every Workout?

Depends on Your Goals

This question ultimately comes down to your situation and how you approach it.

If you walk up to that bar and you can’t help but throw your max on there and want to raise the intensity level to a 10 every day, then squatting every workout like this probably isn’t for you. 

Your body won’t have enough time to repair because the lactic acid build-up will be too strong in your legs and it won’t be gone by the next workout. 

You will be too sore, you will not recover, and you will burn out.

But if you’re able to control yourself and pace the amount of weight you put on the bar, then doing squats every workout could definitely be for you.

If you want to get stronger in the legs, build that bubble butt and form those thick legs, then it could be really beneficial. 

The most important thing about this concept is just to experiment and respond to what your body is telling you. Everyone’s body reacts differently. For some people, they might be able to go crazy every on squats every workout and still get results.

Although, unlikely.

You could also try this out for a couple of weeks and everything could be going great but you just burn out from the lack of rest and from your squats making your workouts too intense.

You never know. 

Some of the strongest people in the world squat every workout and still get crazy muscle growth, but yet on the other side of the spectrum, some of the strongest people in the world don’t.

It just depends on you.

Speaking of you, now it’s your turn. Are you going to squat every workout? Are you already?

Take these tips that we’ve provided in this post and give it a try.

If you have any questions, be sure to leave a comment down below and we’ll be sure to give you a quick answer!

Recommended Readings:

• Hack Squat Alternatives
• Mom Butt – How To Get Rid of It
• How Many Sit Ups Should I Do a Day?
• Renegade Row Alternatives
• Exercise To Reduce Belly Fat for Female At Home
• Zercher Deadlift

Sources

1. https://breakingmuscle.com/fitness/everyday-squatting-for-the-everyday-athlete
2. https://legionathletics.com/how-long-to-rest-between-sets/
3. https://greatist.com/fitness/do-my-muscles-need-two-days-recover