All About Squats

MOVE OF THE MONTH: SQUAT

Why squats are important:

They work more muscles at one time than most other moves
- There’s the obvious lower body muscles such as the hamstrings, the quads, and the glutes, but squats also can work your arms, your abs, and your low back.
Although deemed as a lower body exercise, they actually build and enhance muscles throughout the whole body
- Think about it, if you are doing any kind of weighted squat you are using your arms to hold onto that weight, therefore enhancing the muscle tone in your upper body. Adding to a full body workout, your abs are your support system in the movement. As you squat and come back up, your abs are contracting to stabilize the movement.
You burn more calories per rep
- Working multiple muscles at once is going to burn more calories than working a singular muscle group. Think about it as each muscle will burn X amount of calories per rep, and if multiple muscles are being used, you will be burning that many more calories
Squats help make your everyday movements and tasks easier
- There is a thing called functional movement, which mimic movements that are done in real life situations. These movements usually involve multiple muscle groups that move in multiple planes. By incorporating functional movements into your workouts, you are readying your muscles to ease through daily movements better.
Help with your balance
- A strong lower body equals a better center of balance. By improving your lower body strength you are also improving your muscles stability. You will find that your balance is better in not only other exercises, but as you get older as well.

How to perform the perfect squat

Step 1: tilt your hips back
Step 2: feel the weight of your body in your heels
Step 3: with your hips titled back and your weight in your heels, start squatting down
Step 4: make sure your knees stay behind your toes on the way down
Step 5: once you hit a 90 degree angle with your knees, start standing by pushing up through your heels and lifting through your butt
Step 6: finish the movement by fully extending the hips