Since I am thinking about squats:
I was just talking to a coworker about squatting, and how much my knees ache (feels like my joints are dry and creaky or something) whenever I bump the weight up significantly. He suggested that I still do my regular back squats when the goal is hypertrophy, but since I do periodize my training, that I use front squats for my volume training. He said since it changes the way I load the muscle and since I will, out of necessity, have to drop the weight a bit for front squats anyway, that it should help to spare my knees somewhat Any thoughts on this? Bodybuilding is cool, but being able to walk is cooler.