Do squats make your waist bigger?

[GoneAway]

Here are a few quotes from kyomu:

if you want to add more sweep to your quads,you need to do good power movement like heavy squat. Then you know...those exercises make your waist line and gut bigger.

My gut grow since I did heavy squat and had big legs.

if you do heavy squat like them,you need a lot of muscle in your mid section.

Any and all opinions and facts are welcome.

[Royalty]

They will make your lower back bigger....and add some muscle to your obliques. But the added thigh sweep and overall thigh mass is more than worth a little added muscle to the waist.

I think that the overall strength gains from squats are beter than deadlifts too. Both are good but I'd rather squat.

I feel my abs come strongly into play when I do barbell front squats.

[GoneAway]

They will make your lower back bigger....and add some muscle to your obliques. But the added thigh sweep and overall thigh mass is more than worth a little added muscle to the waist.

I think that the overall strength gains from squats are beter than deadlifts too. Both are good but I'd rather squat.

I feel my abs come strongly into play when I do barbell front squats.

So once you stop squatting, do the obliques shrink back to their original size?

[smaul]

Here are a few quotes from kyomu:

Any and all opinions and facts are welcome.

Controversial topic.  I dont think squats make your waist bigger if you're breathing properly.  If you're juicing this is probably more of a problem.  If you're really worried about it I guess a weight belt is supposed to help. 

[Alex23]

Just do front Squat.

[TheAnimal]

Yes. They do but don't forget muscles can atrophy!
Hope this helps.

[dontknowit]

It's true that it adds muscle to the midsection but is has got a positive side,
you don't have to do sit-ups anymore. Once a week some vacuumtraining and some (hanging)legraises.

[GoneAway]

Is it just the obliques that grow, or the abs aswell?

Yes. They do but don't forget muscles can atrophy!
Hope this helps.

I hope so, otherwise I might have to stop squatting. I really do not want my waist to grow any bigger than it is.

[pumpster]

If there's an increase in waist/back, it's because the body in general is growing. The waist isn't increasing disproportionately in regards to the rest. Whether Kyomu meant this or not, the fact is your waist will increase as your body gets bigger. It's such a good exercise overall, both in terms of development and conditioning. You can keep the reps moderate to higher which will cut down on the chance of injury and increase the conditioning and health aspects.

Front squats are just a variation, the effects will be similar.

[smaul]

If there's an increase in waist/back, it's because the body in general is growing.

Agreed, there will be changes but the ratio will not change, it will most likely improve further increasing a taper.

[JackCheze]

the basic answer is yes, but:

Are you training like a BB or a Strongman?
What's your diet like?
Are you training for a contest for beach muscle?


Remember every famous strength athlete has done at least some squats, Arnold was a huge squat guy in his day and he had an awesome midsection for back in the day

[GoneAway]

the basic answer is yes, but:

Are you training like a BB or a Strongman?
What's your diet like?
Are you training for a contest for beach muscle?


Remember every famous strength athlete has done at least some squats, Arnold was a huge squat guy in his day and he had an awesome midsection for back in the day

Can you please expand on your answer?

Are you training like a BB or a Strongman? BB.
What's your diet like? 5-6 clean meals a day, about 40g protein/carb each meal.
Are you training for a contest for beach muscle? Bulking right now, but eventually I would like to diet down and compete.

Yes, you're right about Arnold. Also, Ronnie Coleman seemed to be big on the squats and until maybe 2005, he had a very small waist for a big guy.

If there's an increase in waist/back, it's because the body in general is growing. The waist isn't increasing disproportionately in regards to the rest. Whether Kyomu meant this or not, the fact is your waist will increase as your body gets bigger.

How do you explain Brian Buchanon, Sergio Oliva and Ronnie Coleman who all had small waists but very large bodies?

You can keep the reps moderate to higher which will cut down on the chance of injury and increase the conditioning and health aspects.

Can you please explain what you mean by conditioning? I am sticking to higher reps (14+), but still worried about the waist. Do you think higher reps will lessen the chance of waist widening?

[pumpster]

Can you please expand on your answer?

Are you training like a BB or a Strongman? BB.
What's your diet like? 5-6 clean meals a day, about 40g protein/carb each meal.
Are you training for a contest for beach muscle? Bulking right now, but eventually I would like to diet down and compete.

Yes, you're right about Arnold. Also, Ronnie Coleman seemed to be big on the squats and until maybe 2005, he had a very small waist for a big guy.

How do you explain Brian Buchanon, Sergio Oliva and Ronnie Coleman who all had small waists but very large bodies?

Can you please explain what you mean by conditioning? I am sticking to higher reps (14+), but still worried about the waist. Do you think higher reps will lessen the chance of waist widening?

Higher reps will help conditioning and overall health quite a bit. By keeping the reps higher you're more likely to build lean muscle and look more athletic, given a reasonable diet.

As far as Sergio and Coleman having small waists and great size, that's genetics, training, diet and later, drugs. As was mentioned, there will be muscle growth everywhere to support the increasing weight loads, but any increase in waist size is likely to be small relative to development of upper and lower body musculature, thereby increasing the taper.

[littlechris]

hey guys,

we need to first clarify "waist" and "abs".  Now when the original poster inquired about "waist" size in a negative way, i assumed he was talking about increased ABDOMINAL size from doing squats. Yes, squats will make your "waist" bigger by way of a thicker lower back and from your obliques becoming bigger. But this is size that we want, as opposed to a big abdominal section. And no, squats will never make your abs big, thats all bullshit. bye

-LC

[GoneAway]

hey guys,

we need to first clarify "waist" and "abs".  Now when the original poster inquired about "waist" size in a negative way, i assumed he was talking about increased ABDOMINAL size from doing squats. Yes, squats will make your "waist" bigger by way of a thicker lower back and from your obliques becoming bigger. But this is size that we want, as opposed to a big abdominal section. And no, squats will never make your abs big, thats all bullshit. bye

-LC

What I mean by "Waist" is side-to-side when looking at the body from the front, and by "abs" I mean the abdominal muscles, so therefore side-to-side when looking at the body from the side (e.g. a pregnant look)

I'm mainly concerned about the waist growing, as a gut can be held in but it's not so easy to hide a wide waist, let alone ever reverse its growth.

[kyomu]

What I mean by "Waist" is side-to-side when looking at the body from the front, and by "abs" I mean the abdominal muscles, so therefore side-to-side when looking at the body from the side (e.g. a pregnant look)

I'm mainly concerned about the waist growing, as a gut can be held in but it's not so easy to hide a wide waist, let alone ever reverse its growth.

I am really sorry for it. Genetic decide everything about it.Shawn ray or Flex has geneticaly small waist. Thats why their waist look small even if their waist grow.Your mid section get thick. Front ,side,back all over!
I have never seen the case of the massive legs without big midsection.
Maybe Dennis wolf can achive it. But remember, his waist is relatively smaller than his legs.His waist do grow with his legs. Body is a universe. Always try to have a good balance.

[pumpster]

I have never seen the case of the massive legs without big midsection.

There are enough examples of guys from the 70s and 80s with big legs and small waists. Drugs are likely a bigger factor than anything else.

[kyomu]

There are enough examples of guys from the 70s and 80s with big legs and small waists. Drugs are likely a bigger factor than anything else.

Hell no!! Those BBer from 70S nand 80s have never ever had huge legs like Ronnie,Paco,Jay,Branch and Mustafa.
NO way!!They all have big waist. A part from heavy cycle,my waist grew with my legs in spite of my being natural. Those 80s and 70s bber surely had same experience like me. Now imagine,instead of having big legs,having MONSTRUOS legs. Your mid section would be monstruos too.

[pumpster]

Hell no!! Those BBer from 70S nand 80s have never ever had huge legs like Ronnie,Paco,Jay,Branch and Mustafa.
NO way!!They all have big waist. A part from heavy cycle,my waist grew with my legs in spite of my being natural. Those 80s and 70s bber surely had same experience like me. Now imagine,instead of having big legs,having MONSTRUOS legs. Your mid section would be monstruos too.

Guys like Platz & Oliva had big legs with small waists. Maybe to get monsterous legs it's necessary to use the drugs but otherwise it won't adversely effect the waistline.

[kyomu]

Guys like Platz & Oliva had big legs with small waists. Maybe to get monsterous legs it's necessary to use the drugs but otherwise it won't adversely effect the waistline.

Dead wrong. Plats still had monstruos legs but Sergio? Sergio had big legs but NOT monstruos.
In addition,Plats had relatively big waist.

[pumpster]

Dead wrong. Plats still had monstruos legs but Sergio? Sergio had big legs but NOT monstruos.
In addition,Plats had relatively big waist.

Nope. Whatever the arbitrary definition of "monsterous", anyone here would be quite happy with Sergio's legs & waist. Even bigger legs and waist due to drugs is the problem, not squats.

[GoneAway]

Guys like Platz & Oliva had big legs with small waists. Maybe to get monsterous legs it's necessary to use the drugs but otherwise it won't adversely effect the waistline.

Good point. Guys like Mustafa, Branch, Ronnie, all have massive legs. Ronnie did have a small waist until a couple of years ago, so I'm not sure why that changed, since his legs have stayed the same size.

I'm going to give up squatting for a while, so my next question is: which other leg exercises could put the same waist-size on as per squats? - and which WOULDN'T put any size on your waist? Thanks for all the help so far everyone.

[pumpster]

Good point. Guys like Mustafa, Branch, Ronnie, all have massive legs. Ronnie did have a small waist until a couple of years ago, so I'm not sure why that changed, since his legs have stayed the same size.

I'm going to give up squatting for a while, so my next question is: which other leg exercises could put the same waist-size on as per squats? - and which WOULDN'T put any size on your waist? Thanks for all the help so far everyone.

Actually i think i've made the point that squatting isn't going to adversely hurt waist size-no leg exercise I know of will hurt waist size. The difference in Coleman's waist size came later, due to drugs and weight gain.

The best alternate leg developer IMO is machine hack squats, followed by leg press.

[kyomu]

Good point. Guys like Mustafa, Branch, Ronnie, all have massive legs. Ronnie did have a small waist until a couple of years ago, so I'm not sure why that changed, since his legs have stayed the same size.

I'm going to give up squatting for a while, so my next question is: which other leg exercises could put the same waist-size on as per squats? - and which WOULDN'T put any size on your waist? Thanks for all the help so far everyone.

Dont worry about it. First of all.How big are you?If you are smaller than the Olympians of 80s,
You still can do a lot of heavy squat and i recomend you to do. Because i still believe the squat is the king of mass builder.
Its a matter of relativity. If you are like Dorian or so, be careful not to thicken your waist.
But,I dont think you are that much big.

[GoneAway]

Dont worry about it. First of all.How big are you?If you are smaller than the Olympians of 80s,
You still can do a lot of heavy squat and i recomend you to do. Because i still believe the squat is the king of mass builder.
Its a matter of relativity. If you are like Dorian or so, be careful not to thicken your waist.
But,I dont think you are that much big.

I'm about 5'8" and 70kgs.

I don't want to get a big waist from squatting and not be able to make it small again.