You Call That A Squat?

ByAaron Gee

The lift in question is easily the best exercise for building lower body muscle and power, but is seldom performed correctly. Of course, we are talking about the squat.

Simply put: you're not going to get strong, muscular legs without doing squats. However, you're also not going to get the desired results by doing them incorrectly. The squat is all about hip control. You have to force your hips to travel a certain path downwards and upwards to get the most out of this lift. Otherwise, you'll be too much strain on the wrong muscles, and you're probably going to suffer the same injuries as everyone that warns you to never do squats.

Let's get started with a step-by-step analysis.

With the barbell on your back, position your legs so that your feet are a little wider than shoulder width apart and your toes are pointing slightly outwards. The majority of your weight should be supported by your heels, but keep you feel flat on the floor.

As you begin to go down into the squat position, you can do one of two things: you can either shoot your knees forward, or shoot your hips backwards. Shooting your knees forward will put the emphasis on your quadriceps and knees rather than your glutes. Also, In order to balance yourself, your back will start to bend forwards, leaving your lower back to support the weight on your shoulders. I hope you have good health insurance if you plan on doing your squats like this.

Your first instinctual move while squatting should be to shoot your hips backwards, while trying to keep your spine and shins vertical. Focus on maintaining the arch in your back to prevent your lower back from hunching over. Keep your muscles tense, as relaxing can cause you to lose your balance.

To get the full effect of the squat, your thighs should go slightly passed parallel to the ground. If you can't support the weight going that far down, drop the weight! There's no need to try and impress everyone around by stacking on more weight than you can handle.

I know that it's popular these days, especially within the CrossFit community, to perform ultra-deep squats, where one's butt almost touches the ground before lifting back up. Although in theory I can accept this practice, I do not believe I have ever seen the lift executed properly or safely. Lifters utilizing this method tend to lower their torsos as low as physically possible before bouncing back upwards due to the natural elasticity of the muscles and tendons. With such a heavy weight forcing the body downwards even further, this can stretch the tendons and ligaments of the knee too far and can generate significant knee damage.

In order to prevent this, lower your torso slowly and pause for a brief moment at the bottom of the lift. This eliminates the desire for your body to generate momentum by springing back upwards, and focuses more of the effort on your muscles. Focus on pushing upwards with your heels, while keeping your back arched and your shins as vertical as possible.

If this feels uncomfortable, that's OK. It's a very awkward lift when performed the right way. But squatting this way will guarantee that you are getting the most out of each lift.

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Health and Fitness: Build-Muscle
Aaron Gee

Email Address:SubscribeBuild Muscle Article FeedFind More ArticlesSearchSimilar ArticlesBest Bodybuilding Workout - How to Build Muscle FastBuilding Muscle Past 40How to Build Muscle and Get StrongerPlatzian Thighs Through Half-SquatsGet the Low Down Secrets on Bodybuilding and FitnessBodybuilding HIT ProgramAdd Dumbbell Squats to Your Exercise RoutineBodybuilding HIT Program-2Truth of Fiction? - A Look at Bodybuilding MaximsBodybuilding Workout - 5 Tips and Strategies to Build Muscle FastRecent ArticlesOptimize Your Bodybuilding Efforts With Whey Protein PowderThose Pesky Little Calf Muscles - What You May Be Doing Wrong, And How To Make Them EpicThe Ten Things I Love About Weight TrainingWhat Percentage of Body Fat Will I See A Six Pack?Best Nutrition for Building Muscle - 6 Tips for a Muscle Gain DietTop Ten Superfoods for Perfect AbsHow a Six Pack Can Make You FamousBest Ways to Build Muscle7 Useful Guidelines for Skinny Guys on How to Build Muscle FastQuick Guide To Mastering The Muscle-UpSubmitted On March 15, 2012. Viewed 18 times. Word count: 554.

MLA Style Citation:
Gee, Aaron".".15 Mar. 2012EzineArticles.com.22 Mar. 2012 .APA Style Citation:
Gee, A. (2012, March 15). . Retrieved March 22, 2012, from http://ezinearticles.com/?You-­Call-­That-­A-­Squat?&id=6943094Chicago Style Citation:
Gee, Aaron "." EzineArticles.com. http://ezinearticles.com/?You-­Call-­That-­A-­Squat?&id=6943094EzineArticles.com© 2012 EzineArticles.com
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