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It seems like the world is obsessed with squats. Everywhere you look, fitness experts are telling you how important it is to squat and that they’re one of the best exercises for your lower body. But why? What does this exercise really do for your health and fitness level? Let’s take a closer look at what makes squats so great!
What are squats?
A squat is a type of exercise that targets your lower body. Squats are usually done as part of weight training but can also be done as part of cardio workouts to improve endurance and aerobic conditions. In addition to being great for building up strength in your legs and core muscles, squats have been shown to offer some pretty impressive health benefits too!
Health benefits from squats.
- Boosts bone mass and density (reduces the risk of osteoporosis)
- Increases metabolism, which burns calories more efficiently
- Enhances athletic performance (improves speed and power)
- Improves flexibility through the hips, knees, ankles, and feet regions
- Reduces knee pain by surrounding muscles around joints
Why should you squat?
Squatting offers so many benefits to your health and fitness level. They are one of the best exercises for increasing leg strength, boosting endurance levels, and improving flexibility which can help you improve all aspects of physical activity, whether it’s during exercise or everyday activities. If that isn’t convincing enough, squats are great at burning calories too!
How to properly do a squat?
- If you want the best results possible from squats, then it’s important that you perform them correctly. Here are some quick tips on how to make your lower body workouts as effective as they can be with squats:
- Keep your feet about shoulder-width apart and point forward or slightly outward at a diagonal angle depending on the comfort level
- Make sure your knees don’t go in front of your toes when doing this exercise–this will help prevent injury by keeping all pressure off the knee joint (which is bad)
- Bend at both hips AND knees simultaneously while maintaining an upright posture (a straight back)–the weight should remain over the heels and midfoot while you’re squatting.
- Keep your core engaged and tighten throughout this exercise to help stabilize the body–squatting is a full-body workout, after all!
If these tips still don’t make sense, then do not worry. We have provided some visual examples for our beloved readers below:
- Image of someone doing squats correctly: Image showing correct form during a squat with feet shoulder-width apart, knees behind toes but over ankles, weight on heels, and lower back upright (not curved or slouched).
- Image of incorrect form performing squats: This image shows an example of incorrect form when performing squats by having feet too close together instead of being shoulder-width apart as well as knees going in front of toes which can cause injury.
What mistakes do people make when they perform squats?
One mistake people make is not properly engaging their core muscles while performing this exercise. This makes it difficult to keep balance since you’re not stabilizing the weight properly. Another mistake is letting your knees bend too much during this movement, which can put a lot of extra pressure on them and cause injuries over time!
Squats are one of those exercises that might be difficult at first, but over time become easier as you build strength in your legs. Do yourself a favor and start incorporating them into your workout routine! Squatting offers so many health benefits, including building stronger bones, boosting metabolism levels for faster weight loss results, improving endurance/aerobic levels, which can help you in all aspects of physical activity, and reducing knee pain around the joints. Try out this simple exercise next time you’re at the gym when working with weights or even as part of a cardio workout routine to see how it improves your health!
How about you? How many squats do you think you can do in one minute?
