No other lower body exercise in existence delivers more bang for the buck than a basic barbell squat. It's one of the most primitive movement patterns known and is without question the most productive leg exercise available for increasing overall muscle size, strength, and performance. Squats allow you to handle a large amount of weight and are an incredibly effective means of stimulating size and strength gains throughout your entire lower body. In fact, performing this one lift alone would allow you to develop a very impressive lower body even if you never included any other exercises at all.