If you’re trying to tone your butt, hips and thighs better, you must do your squats! There are many variations of the squat exercise: bodyweight, one-legged, prisoner, lateral (side), plie, dumbbell, sissy, etc. You can do all the variations of the squat exercise. You will be rewarded with a great looking set of legs.
Some of you have experienced injury from doing the squat exercise because of incorrect technique or from "maxing out" on the squat. I don't ever recommend this because you are asking for low back and knee injuries.
The squat exercise requires leg strength, core strength and good posture. It is a great exercise to build muscle and burn fat. And, squatting is something we do in everyday life. Unfortunately, the squat exercise has gotten a bad rap from some people. So, here is the correct way to do the basic barbell squat:
1. Get a tight grip with the bar resting on your shoulders. Your elbows should be pointed downward to help you keep your upper back (trapezius muscles) contracted and to keep your back from rounding. Lift the bar off the rack, step back and stand with your feet a little wider than shoulder width. The toes should be turned slightly outward to keep undue pressure off of your knees.
2. Take a deep breath and begin the lift. Push your head and shoulders up and back (keeps the bar from coming forward) and push your hips back as you bend your knees. The bar, knees and feet should be in a vertical line. Sit back on your heels as you lower the weight. Maintain the normal arch in your lower back at all times while keeping your posture as upright as possible (don't let your shoulders fall forward). You don't have to lower your thighs to below parallel.
3. Don't let your knees cave in at any point in the squat exercise. As you lower the bar, try to push your feet outward without actually moving them. This will keep your knees aligned properly. Once you have lowered to the desired squat position, contract your glutes and thighs and explode upward to the starting position and exhale. You have done one repetition!
Don't substitute the squat exercise with lunges, leg presses, leg extensions, etc. Instead, supplement the squat exercise with these other leg exercises.
A close cousin to the squat exercise is the squat jump. The two exercises work well together because the squats build strength and the jumps build power (and better activate the bulkier, shapelier fast twitch muscle fibers).
To do the squat jump, descend into your squat, swing your arms back and forward and jump up explosively (reaching upward with your arms) and repeat for the required repetitions as fast as possible.
It is important to learn proper jumping and landing techniques before doing squat jumps. If you have knee and low back problems, high-speed squat jumps are not for you.
Don’t do squats and your legs won’t look as great as they could.
Mark Dilworth, BA, PES, CPT is a Certified Personal Trainer and former NCAA Division I athlete. Mark’s Fat Blaster Athletic Training System has been proven to give his clients the fit, sculpted and athletic-type bodies they want. Visit Mark’s sites:
My Fitness Hut http://myfitnesshut.blogspot.com
Her Fitness Hut http://herfitnesshut.com
Sports Fitness Hut http://sportsfitnesshut.blogspot.co