Typically people that lift for aesthetics only will avoid serious heavy lifting.
Lifting like this takes a toll on your CNS, and days of doing 5x5@80% BS takes a lot of time away from bis/tris or whatever bro split people tend to be working on. Guys that lift to look good focus only on a few muscle groups, and heavy squats ain't one of them.
That said, a good, healthy lifting program will incorporate a number of compound lifts, as they're the ones that derive the greatest health boons, whether they be cardio strength/bone density/whatever.
Me personally: I'm hoping to make the crossfit games this year, and I've been on a heavy strength cycle for the last 3 months. My body has changed shaped. I don't really care, and in the next few months of heavy metconning I'll probably drop down to 175 and be "cut" or "ripped" or whatever.
At the end of the day, do what makes you happy. I understand the appeal of having the eight pack and whatever, and there was a time I cared about it, but lifting weights is just so much more fun. I think I still look pretty good, and maybe at some point I'll decide to just gym bro it out and start cruising anavar or whatever.
Or maybe I'll split the difference like Klokov: do oly with an hour a day of beach body workouts.
