This article is about just one exercise.

And this “not-so-secret” secret exercise is the key to getting super-fast muscle gains in no time flat. This exercise is probably responsible for packing more muscle on more bodybuilders than all the other exercises combined.

This exercise is the barbell squat.

The barbell squat is the number one exercise for building muscle and strength. You can solve most of your muscle gaining problems with just this one exercise alone. No kidding.

I took me almost six years to grasp the importance of the barbell squat. When I first started training with weights, I wanted big arms, a big chest and ripped abdominal muscles - and I wanted them fast.

It never occurred to me in my wildest dreams that training my leg muscles was the key to unlocking my hidden potential. Most guys don’t want to talk about training their legs. They want the big showy muscles that turn heads at the beach.

But what they don’t realize is that training your legs with the barbell squat is the fastest way to build a strong muscular physique hands down. Without the squat - you won’t grow anywhere near as fast - and you might no even grow at all.

The squat is THE growing exercise. It stimulates growth throughout the entire body - not just the legs. This is known as what’s called the “indirect” effect whereby training one body-part can cause indirect growth in other body-parts.

No other exercise takes advantage of the “indirect effect” better than the barbell squat. Not the deadlift, the bench press, the barbell curl, or any other exercise for that matter.

You might find this hard to believe, but the squat is ninety-nine percent of any training program. It’s just that important. If you don’t believe me, try them for just four weeks the way your suppose to, and I guarantee you’ll be shocked by the results.

Here’s how I want you to do them:

I want you to do just one set. Load the bar with a weight that will allow you to perform between fifteen and twenty repetitions. You can use a Smith machine or squat rack, but make sure that you use some form of safety equipment so that you can get out from underneath the bar when you fail on your last repetition.

Now duck under the bar and rest it across the back of your shoulders. You can pad the bar with a towel or piece of cut foam if you want. Lift the bar from the rack and take a step back. Lower the weight in a controlled manner until the back of your thighs are parallel to the floor. Keep your head up and your back flat at all times during the movement.

Once you reach the bottom, push up until you come to the top exhaling as you do so. Continue performing slow controlled repetitions until you simply can’t perform another no matter how hard you try. Safely return the bar back to the rack and collapse on the floor if you need to until you catch your breath.

Keep adding weight to the bar each workout - five to ten pounds should do it - and make the full fifteen to twenty repetitions like your life depended on it. The rate of your muscle gains will depend almost entirely on how hard you work on that single set of squats.

One Hard Set Of Squats

By the way, if you can even think about doing a second set you haven’t worked hard enough. You need to squeeze every last repetition you can out of that one set. Don’t stop simply because you reach a specific number of repetitions, continue the exercise until no more repetitions are humanly possible.

This one set of barbell squat should be performed two to three times per week in a program that includes a couple more sets of additional exercises. But keep the extra exercises to a minimum. You want to focus on getting your training poundage up higher in the squat. Work towards the three hundred pound goal for twenty repetitions before you give another program a try.

Remember, the barbell squat will make your physique goals a reality. It will help you build bigger arms faster than any curling movement you will ever do - and without it you’ll probably never see the gains you want.

So squat hard - and get big.