Whether you are trying to lose weight or build muscle, squats are must-do exercise to achieve an impressive physique. Many consider the squat the king of all exercises. So let’s get into all about squats. They’re such an awesome exercise you should be doing whenever you train.
Why are squats good for you?
The glutes and posterior are the largest muscles in your body, so it’s important to keep them strong, e.g Don’t skip leg day! Squats are a fundamental movement humans do, almost from birth, and play a major role in developing our legs and lower back muscles.
The squat is a compound movement using multiple muscle groups and joints, meaning it burns far more calories than isolation exercises.
- Squats, as a compound movement, increase your testosterone levels, which helps you build more muscle and burn fat quicker.
- Engaging your lungs for deeper breaths, your body burns more calories overall than almost all other exercises.
- Squatting properly increases the strength of your bones, muscles and knees.
- Squats can be performed in a variety of ways, body squats, jump squats, deep squats, etc. a variety of squats can be found in the Barbarian Fit App.
How To Best Do Bodyweight Squats?
When performing squats, good form is important for you to get the best out of the exercise. Make sure to remember these steps when squatting:
- Place your feet a bit wider than your hips, shoulder-width apart.
- Ensure that your toes point slightly outward around 10 degrees. The wider you choose to position your feet, the more you would want to rotate your feet in an outward direction.
- Look ahead, don’t look toward the sky or ceiling. It is a common misconception to look upwards. Fix your eyes on a point on the horizon or an object on the wall.
- Place your arms in front of you, or on your hips.
- Keep your weight on your heels and balls of your feet and keep the entirety of your feet on the ground. Keep your heels on the ground throughout the squats motion.
- Keep your core tight to protect your lower back.
- When performing the squat, ensure that your knees do not move beyond your toes.
- Squat down until the moment when your hip joint is parallel to the floor.
- Try to keep your spine in a neutral position as you squat and don’t arch or hunch your back.
- Breathe in when squatting down, breathe out when standing up.
- Squeeze your posterior when you are fully standing.
The Most Common Mistakes To Avoid When Squatting
Mistake One
The most common mistake while squatting is putting too much weight on the front of your foot instead of pressing your heels into the floor. Pressing through your toes and the front of your feet puts more pressure on your knee and ankle during the squat. Make sure your foot is firmly on the ground and you press up through your heel. If you can lift your toes up during the squat you know your feet are planted correctly.
Mistake Two
The second most common mistake is knees moving forward instead of staying directly above the feet. Make sure you don’t let your knees move past the front of your foot throughout the entire squat movement.
Mistake Three
Another common mistake is not squatting deep enough. If you want to engage all muscles of your leg, you should squat at least parallel to the floor. Squatting higher than that will leave your hamstrings out of the exercise and put more pressure on your knees.
Ready to try squats for days? You can explore a variety of squats ranging from beginner to advanced in difficult in the Barbarian Fit App.
Image Credit
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