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Unilateral vs. Bilateral Squat Training for Strength, Sprints, and Agility:
http://journals.lww.com/nsca-jscr/Abstract/2016/02000/Unilateral_vs__Bilateral_Squat_Training_for.12.aspx

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Video Summary:
Are Squats Necessary For Building Big Legs?
http://www.SeanNal.com/articles/training/are-squats-necessary.php

Can you build big legs without squats, or are they a "must have" movement when it comes to lower body training?

Despite the "hardcore" bodybuilding mentality that tends to look at squats as an absolute mandatory lift for building leg size and strength, the plain fact is that a leg workout without squats can still be a highly effective way of building your lower body.

Don't get me wrong...

A basic barbell squat is obviously a hugely productive leg exercise (probably the single best quad exercise there is), and I do recommend that you include them in your quad workouts if you're trying to maximize your gains and are physically able to.

However, that doesn't mean that squats are a "magical" exercise and that you can't achieve great results using other squat alternatives.

Maybe you can't do squats because you have a lower back injury that prevents you from squatting safely, maybe you train from home and don't have access to a squat rack, or maybe you're just not interested in building "huge" quads and glutes and would prefer to use other exercises in your quad workout just out of personal preference.

Stimulating hypertrophy ultimately just comes down to placing a given muscle under tension using a particular movement, and then progressively overloading that exercise over time using sufficient volume/frequency.

There are plenty of quad exercises you can use to accomplish this in order to get an effective leg workout without squats...

- 45 Leg Presses
- Seated Leg Press
- One-Legged Leg Press
- Barbell Lunges
- Dumbbell Lunges
- Barbell Step-Ups
- Dumbbell Step-Ups

Or, if it's specifically traditional barbell squats that you can't do, there are a ton of squat alternatives you can use instead:

- Front Squats
- Split Squats
- Single Leg Squats
- Hack Squats
- Dumbbell Squats
- Goblet Squats
- Machine Squats

Bottom line?

If you want to maximize the size and strength of your lower body and are physically capable of squatting, then yes, I'd recommend including them in your leg workouts.

But are squats NECESSARY in order to get great results? No, they aren't.

If you can't squat for whatever reason, it's not the end of the world for your leg workouts by any means, and you can use a combination of the quad exercises listed above and still get in a highly effective training session without specifically performing a barbell back squat.