How To Guide: Squat Like a Pro!
SQUATTING!
Sometimes squats get a bad reputation in the exercise world. It’s common to think squats are “bad” and should be avoided if you suffer from cranky knees or experience pain with simple tasks like bending over, walking, using the stairs, stepping out of bed, or putting on shoes.
If you deal with knee pain, I understand why you might avoid squats ‘cause hey- who likes to be in pain?
But the truth is, exercises like squats, among many others, are key for alleviating aches and pains while strengthening the proper muscles needed to help you walk, stand up, sit down, bend over, use the stairs, pick up your kids/grandkids - live your life!
Last week, I talked about knee pain HERE and the role exercise plays in ridding pain and making daily tasks easy. Included on that list? You got it - SQUATS!
Squats are one of the most beneficial full body exercises you can do. Remember, you were SQUATTING before learning to walk!
Think about it: Toddlers are masters at squatting - just watch them play with toys on the ground and sustain that squat-like position.
The squat position is learned early on so what happens that makes this movement pattern harder and painful as we age?
You lose the proper mechanics of a squat over time (caused from lifestyle factors and/ or medical) and then begin associating squats with knee and/or back pain. This association is not necessarily valid because when done correctly, squats are a safe and effective exercise for all populations and can easily be modified or progressed based on your fitness level: beginner, advanced or dealing with an injury.
But if you don’t use it, you lose it. And, if you’re experiencing pain, you might assume exercising will only worsen the problem so better to avoid it all together. This thought process is doing more harm than good. Exercise is FUCTIONAL meaning, it keeps your body moving well outside the gym. You want and need this for quality of life!
But if you aren’t maintaining proper body mechanics facilitated by exercise and daily movement, these types of daily activities grow increasingly harder and more painful.
It’s time to learn the proper way to squat and to begin associating squats with a healthy, mobile pain-free life! This blog will teach you:
6 Reasons to Squat
5 Common Mistakes to Avoid
4 Tips to Squat Like a Boss!
BENEFITS: 6 REASONS TO POP A SQUAT!
Squatting isn’t something you only do if/when exercising and why we at Results Fitness incorporate this movement into all workouts. You are constantly squatting all day, every day, and probably without even realizing it! Just think about how often you perform squats: getting on/off the toilet, picking up the laundry basket form the floor, bending down to wash the floor, reaching for items on the lowest shelf of your pantry or grocery store, or squatting down to look in your child’s/grandchild’s eyes.
Want to make life better today and for decades to follow? Here are 6 reasons to pop a squat:
Build Muscle: Squats are known for their leg muscle building qualities; however, squats also build muscle in your quadriceps, calves, hamstrings, abdominal muscles, lower back, and glutes! This seemingly simply exercise recruits SO many muscles at the same time promoting body-wide muscle building. In time, building strength in these muscles means less pain and the ability to perform simple tasks with ease.
Burn More Calories & Fat: Because squats build so much muscle and in different areas of the body, more calories are burned while performing them PLUS after you’re done working out! The more muscle you have, the more calories and fat you burn allowing you to get to that slimmer physique faster.
Improve Flexibility: Squats allow for improved flexibility of all the lower body muscles and joints because of its recruitment of the hips, knees, ankles, plus all the surrounding muscles and ligaments. Continued squatting will help you find more ease and range of motion in all these muscles and joints because of the stretching nature of the squat movement pattern.
·Improve Mobility and Balance: Having strong core and leg muscles are essential as you get older to maintain mobility and prevent falls. Because squats help strengthen your stabilizing core muscles as well as your leg muscles/mobility, it is imperative to include squats in your daily workout routine.
Prevent Injury: Most injuries can be attributed to weakness and imbalances throughout our muscles and joints. Performing squats reduces the chance of these imbalances by working the stabilizing muscles and ligaments around the joints to prevent injury. Squats are also a load bearing exercise for improving bone density while keeping bones healthy and strong to again, decrease risk of injury.
Improve Speed & Ability to Jump: Increased lower body strength has a direct correlation to increased lower body power. This means you will faster and jump higher! Great for athletes or anyone who engages in sports or leisure running, biking and other outdoor activities.
Though a short list of the MANY benefits of squats, learning how to strengthen and improve this movement pattern in the gym empowers you to remain independent throughout your life, doing the things you love.
DON’T MAKE THESE SQUATTING MISTAKES
Although the squat is a mechanically simple exercise, when done incorrectly, it can open the door for injury, causing muscle strain/injury to the low back or knees. Therefore, it is so important to understand the correct way to squat before jumping into the full move or adding weight.
Just like any exercise, performing the perfect squat takes patience and time. If you have existing knee pain, are new to exercising or are now realizing you don’t know how to properly squat, I recommend working with a coach/personal trainer (our Results Fitness coaches are available!). This allows you to work on form and range of motion first before attempting to add weight to a dysfunctional movement pattern which can lead to injury. As with most exercises, it is best to start off squatting only using body weight.
Here are the 5 most common squatting mistakes:
Knees Cave In: When squatting, notice your knees move inwards towards one another? Weak inner and outer thigh muscles make this a pretty common mistake during squats. However, allowing the knees to cave in when squatting puts undue pressure on the knee ligaments (leads to injury). Focusing on pushing the knees out during squats corrects this mistake.
Not Lowering to 90 Degrees: You want to be moving through the full range of motion when squatting to engage your glutes and hamstrings. To get the full benefits of a squat, bring your thighbones 90 degrees parallel to the floor. If you are experiencing knee pain, start off slowly. Your focus is not how low you go but first building strength and improving range of motion and flexibility. To get started, use a high box or bench for guided feedback on how low to go. As you squat down, tap your butt to the box/bench and drive back up. In time, your range of motion and depth will improve and your knees will no longer hurt!
Overarching Your Back: The back has a natural “S” like curve but if you have weak lower back muscles, you are more prone to overarching the spine when squatting. Visually, this means your chest and butt are sticking too far out. Overarching causes more weight to be dumped into the low back; leading to pain and potential injury. If you feel pain in your low back when squatting/bending over, this could be why.
Lifting Your Heels: When squatting, are your feet planted to the ground or, are heels popping off? Allowing your heels to lift when squatting puts too much pressure on your joints and knees. When squatting, focus on planting your toes and fee to the floor. Next, shift your weight down and back into your heels. This also helps you maintain a straighter spine (less overarching) as you lower down.
Not Engaging Ab/Core Muscles: Activating your core muscles while squatting keeps your spine aligned and prevents it from overarching. When your core msucles are loosey-goosey, you are more likely to not only overarch, but activate muscles in your lower back you DO NOT want to be using. Again, if your low back hurts when you bend down and squat, this can be why.
4 STEPS TO GET STARTED
Time to learn the 4 steps to get started to perform the “perfect” squat for YOU so you stay injury free and live happy, healthy and strong in the process:
Warm Up: Never squat without warming up first! Always complete a proper warm up incorporating movements to activate the glutes and core since both will be used when squatting. You will get a better range of motion through the movement and more out of the exercise while preventing unnecessary injury. Examples include a glute bridge, body weight lunges (can do assisted with TRX), infant squats, hip circles, bird dog.
Find Your Stance: To execute the perfect squat, proper form is key! Start by bringing your feet shoulder width apart. From there, find a foot stance that feels best. First option, have your toes pointed slightly out / away from your knees. Second option, have your toes more parallel to your knees. If you’re not sure what’s best, start by bringing your feet shoulder width apart with toes turned about 15 degrees outward.
Plant Your Feet: Keeping your toes, heel and foot planted when squatting helps you engage the right muscles. It’s common to see toes and heels pop off the ground when squatting down and returning back to an upright stance. Before you descend, thinking about gluing all four corners of your feet into the floor to activate your muscles, prevent your knees from caving in and your heels lifting.
Keep your chest up and gaze forward. When squatting, it’s common to let your chest fall forward as you go down. Instead, keep your chest up and eyes looking forward to prevent overarching of the spine.
If you have questions about how to squat, how to squat with existing injury / knee pain or just want to understand more about this movement, click the button now to schedule your free Strategy Session with an RF Coach!
Keep living healthy, happy + strong!