I love the simple squat, and I dont try to hide it.
It is a natural exercise that so many
people have become unable to perform correctly. The squat is an exercise everyone, no matter what age or gender, should be able to perform. That is why the squat is my most effective and highly used exercise both in my own personal tness regime and also as a personal trainer I am a big advocate of the squat to all my clients. As an example of how anyone can perform the squat, the following picture shows the perfect squat technique from a babyyes a baby. Why do we lose the ability to perform the most natural born movements throughout life when logically we should be getting stronger muscles, tendons and ligaments. The sit down culture that we have adopted has meant that a use it or lose it affect has occurred, meaning that we have the ability to squat but the muscles needed to execute the movements arent strong enough. Lets take our pictured athlete to analyse the muscles needed to perform a squat, Strong lumbar/ neutral spine means strong erector spinae, latissimus dorsi, trapezius are needed to maintain this position throughout the lift, in conclusion, the entire back. Creasing hips below parallel requires gluteals, hamstrings and quadriceps. Knees tracking over the toes mean strong quadriceps to prevent valgus of the knee. Upright torso means a strong core and all the muscles that come under the core umbrella. This short breakdown shows that nearly all the muscles in the body are required to execute a squat. Therefore, hint to fat loss, hypertrophy and strength individuals, the squat can full all your goals if performed properly, Ill explain why throughout the remainder of the article
Key Movement points in a squat if performed under load with a bar:
Hands just outside shoulders on the bar to engage scapulae muscles and maintain high, upright chest Feet in a 10 to 2 position, at shoulder width apart Neutral pelvic position On downward phase, keep weight on heels Knees tracking over toes Ensure hips break parallel with knees Drive through heels on upward phase, engaging gluteals
Common mistakes in a squat
These are a number of the most common mistakes that people make when squatting. Dont worry if you nd yourself committing these mistakes; just take steps to rectify them. An easy way is to get a friend to watch you or better, get a qualied personal trainer to analyse your technique. Coming up onto toes- can be linked to lack of ankle mobility and other key points not being upheld i.e. chest high Knee valgus (knee turning inwards)- This is often down to weak hip abductors, i.e piriformis, gluteus medius, gluteus minimus are the major ones to mention . Knees coming too far forwards- not focussing on heels driving into ground, lack of hamstring activation Ankles collapsing- linked to knee valgus, ankles pronating can also be due to squatting in trainers which distribute weight badly Thoracic (top of) back rounding- can be due to lack of exibility, lack of core strength and lack of upper back mobility and strength Bum wink Lumbar rounding- weak hip exors and again a exibility issue is often to blame in this situation Pelvic tilt- An Anterior tilt of the pelvis at start position is due to weak abdominals and a tight lower back and a posterior tilt is when the posterior chain is weakened and the abdominals are tight Unable to break parallel- exibility or a lack of glute activation Feet pointing forwards- Often from poor teaching, prevents you from achieving full depth, increases the chance of forward rotation leading to back pain Common Misconceptions MYTH- Full depth squats hurt your knees. Many studies show the initial phase of a squat is when there is the most amount of pressure on the knees and the pressure on the knee decreases as the degree of exion is increased. MYTH- Weight training stunts your growth. Several studies have given undeniable evidence that Squats and weight training in general increase bone mineral density and growth. MYTH- Squats mean you get big legs and bum- As mentioned before squats can full many purposes and you can achieve larger legs with an appropriate diet, weight and rep range. But for fat loss clients because of the multi joint and multi muscle it is a fantastic way to lose fat alongside a correct nutrition programme.
SQUAT VARIATIONS
Back squat The most common squat, performed with the bar on the back of your upper shoulders. This type of squat can help with many aspects of sport and everyday life: Increased mobility and decreased pain. Many studies have shown that squat training has decreased knee pain, bettered balance and reduced inammation Squats make you run faster. Its science! Newtons 3rd law of motion, every action has an opposite and equal reaction. Therefore, the more force you can produce in a squat the more force you can push through the ground, the faster you will run especially if you are doing hill repeats up Leckhampton hill! Squat for distance and height. Studies have shown that deep squats improve your jumping height and distance. Want strong toned abs? The plank has nothing on the squat for engaging shallow and deep abdominal muscles. So for a test of core strength, do a squat to test for any rounding of upper back etc Front squats Great exercise for determining structural balance between quads and hamstrings. If your maximum front squat is less than 85% of your back squat then you have structural imbalance (Poliquin,2012) Excellent way of determining exibility in upper body as well as lower body. If you cannot hold the bar properly on the front of the shoulders you have tight forearms and external rotators of the shoulders Front squat train to be easier on the knees and activate quads more Wide squat stance A quick word on the wide squat stance. Used by a lot of power lifters, engages the hips to maximum effect. Can be very challenging for novice and inexible lifters. When training females I may use this at times to strengthen the often weak hip girdle of a female as well as taking advantage of the often more exible hip region.
Conclusion
The squat is a fantastic exercise for many goals due to the multi joint nature of the movement and can be well utilised for testing strength, exibility and muscle imbalances. This is the rst exercise any well qualied personal trainer should be assessing when rst meeting a prospective client. All the clients who come to visit me in Cheltenham get a squat assessment! Please email me to nd out various exercise to strengthen or lengthen muscles that you have identied are weak or tight from my guide.