Goals
It's really important that we discuss goals if we are talking about making progress in the gym. Otherwise how do we know what we are progressing towards? In the case of powerlifting specifically you really have to do the squat, bench and deadlift because that is what powerlifting involves. If you can't do one or more of those lifts then you aren't able to compete (unless it's in a one lift meet eg bench press only).
For those who are training for strength but aren't powerlifters then they probably should do the squat, bench press and deadlift because they are exercises that are well suited for developing maximal strength, however they aren't the only variations or exercise options that can be used to develop strength. For example a front squat could be used for strength development instead of a back squat. Machines like the hack squat could also be used as an alternative. Technically a seated chest press machine could be used instead of a bench press while strength is still the goal. And what really is strength anyway? The main measure of it is being able to shift heavier loads over time (typically speaking about low rep ranges and usually measured with a 1 RM). However there is no reason why we cannot think of higher reps like 8 or 10 as "strength training" as well. After all if you are training on the hack squat machine and you are able to perform 6 reps in January and by March you are able to perform 10 reps did you not become stronger? Strength training can include a variety of exercises and rep ranges.
Now if hypertrophy is the primary objective then again this is a similar situation to that just described for strength training. More exercises than just the squat, bench press and deadlift can obviously produce hypertrophy and so many different substitutes can be used if desired. That isn't to say that squats, bench press and deadlifts aren't good exercises if adding muscle is the goal - they are very good exercises. But they aren't the only way to get from (a) to (b) and I think the degree to which they are idolised as the holy grail is a little over zealous.
In this article I am going to focus primarily on squats, bench press and deadlifts and whether they are necessary for hypertrophy.
Where did this come from?
Bodybuilders have always squatted, bench pressed and deadlifted. It's been a staple part of resistance training programs for decades. When I think specifically about natural bodybuilders especially those who are scientifically minded there has been a shift towards powerlifting in recent years. We have drawn some valuable things from powerlifters because obviously they do some things right when it comes to lifting weights. I think that we have looked at the squat, bench and deadlift and seen the benefits of including them as a basis for a bodybuilding program. However I think that this has perhaps been over emphasised to the point where people think that these are exercises that must be included and if you aren't including them then you are unlikely to make the best possible progress.
As a side note I think there is also a stigma attached to these exercises that if you aren't doing them you are somehow a "pussy". In my opinion that is a silly notion and which is ego driven and has nothing to do with whether your training program is effective or not.
Good vs Necessary
Differentiating between the terms "good" and "necessary" when speaking about the effectiveness of these exercises is a really important thing to do. A good exercise is an exercise that in this context will produce hypertrophy. A necessary exercise is an exercise that MUST be included to produce hypertrophy. No exercise is "necessary" when we are considering hypertrophy as the goal because there are always other options and some of them will produce similar or equivalent results to the main three in question. Now I don't want this to become the age old "which is better - squat or leg press?" argument but when we are talking about compound exercises that are not the squat, bench press or deadlift some of them have the capacity to be applied and produce results within the realm of what is achievable with the big three.
Individual Activation
Something interesting that I took away from a seminar I attended a few weeks back was from a presentation by Bret Contreras. One of the studies he had performed looked at the EMG activity for the glutes across various exercises performed by various subjects. Some of them had higher glute activation when performing hip thrusts. One girl who was a powerlifter actually had the highest glute activation when performing the front squat. This is interesting as it suggests that different people will be able to activate certain muscle better with different exercises perhaps due to previous practice of specific motor patterns or due to their physical structure or maybe even due to the "mind muscle connection" if there is such a thing. So we do need to consider individual variation in this regard and not just recommend squats, bench and deadlifts as a blanket hypertrophy solution for all lifters.
Mechanics
Another aspect of individuality is how we are put together and our biomechanics. Essentially all humans are similar in terms of our anatomy and function ie for the most part we all have femurs, we all have tibias etc. But there is individual variation within that structure. Some people have very long limbs, different length torsos, different depth and orientation hip sockets, variations in muscle attachments, muscle tightness, stiff joints, genetic abnormalities etc and these things can all affect how we move and perform exercises. Some exercises just might not make a lot of sense for some people.
Injuries
While the squat, bench and deadlift are great exercises, sometimes people develop or have pre existing injuries which limits them or even prevents them from performing these movements safely. In such cases it would be silly to continue to attempt performing the aggravating exercise(s) because it may worsen the injury. Making injuries worse is not a great way to produce hypertrophy. If you can't train because you are injured, you can't make progress. So if you can't perform the squat, bench press or deadlift due to injury that is ok. Do something else that you can do safely and make progress with that instead.
Personal Preference
Personal preference is definitely something to consider when constructing a training program. Sometimes we do have to do stuff that we don't like in order to get the benefit from doing that thing. However, most of the time if you favor an exercise then you are probably not only going to adhere to it but you are probably going to put forth more effort to do it well. By the same token, if you really hate doing a certain exercise you might not be driven to make progress doing that exercise. If you hate bench pressing for example there is no reason that you have to keep bench pressing provided that you can find an alternative exercise.
Results
It's important to pay attention to the results you are getting when including a certain exercise in your program. This is difficult to do because as bodybuilders we aren't often doing just one exercise for a body part, we are doing multiple exercises. Also over time multiple variables are likely to change such as exercise choice, rep ranges, volume, intensity, frequency etc. So it can be hard to isolate just one variable. Having said this, if you have been training for a fairly long time and done things over and over and over again you should be able to get a pretty good feeling for which things are giving you the best results. When we are doing "research" on ourselves by noticing things, it's certainly not a controlled trial but that doesn't mean what we notice about ourselves isn't valuable.
Not All or Nothing
I think we need to get away from the all or nothing mentality when it comes to things like the effectiveness of the big three. When I say "all or nothing" I don't think that others think that if you do squats, bench and deadlifts that you will get amazing results and if you don't do them (and do different exercises) you will get literally no results. But some people do tend to think that squats, bench press and deadlifts will produce a high level of results and that doing other exercises will produce a sub par level of results. This is ultimately not the case, especially when you consider all the factors I have mentioned previously. If you are able to do an exercise with consistency and it suits your body then you will invariably make progress with it.
As a personal anecdote I actually won my pro card by winning my class at the world championships in 2011 without ever having squatted or deadlifted. I had done smith machine squats before, but no deadlifts of any kind. I also had a fairly recent back injury (2010) which made it a smart choice to not do those exercises at the time. Instead for my leg training I focused my efforts for compound exercises on leg press, hack squats and lunges. And I actually had fairly average legs prior to 2010 so "genetics" cannot be used as an excuse here. The point being of course that it is in fact possible to achieve a high standard of results (well above average) without performing the squat, bench press and deadlift. To be fair my legs are bigger now after having included squats in my training (and having changed gyms and used different equipment), but I've also been training for an extra five years.
INBF/WNBF World Championships 2011
What do I recommend?
I do recommend that most people do include some variation of a squat, bench and deadlift in their program if their goal is hypertrophy because they are great exercise options. I say do them if you can do them safely. But as you can see, there are many factors to be taken into account. If you can't or don't want to do any of these three exercises for whatever reason, it doesn't mean that you cannot achieve a very high standard without them. You don't HAVE to do them to be a bodybuilder.
Thanks for reading. If you have any questions about this topic you can contact me at the details below or by leaving a comment. I encourage you to follow me on social media, the details for which are below also.
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- Evan
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