(1) They are the single hardest exercise in the world.
(2) They hurt like crazy!
(3) You can’t walk right for a few days afterwards, but…
this is not a reason to skip them as they pay BIG dividends.
I am, of course, talking about squats.
Squats work primarily:
- quadriceps,
- hamstrings,
- glutes,
- lower back
To a lesser degree they will work the rest of your body too, including your abs.
Use a rack if possible. My rack at home looks like this one
Doing squats correctly can have profound effect on your physique. Check out the video then read the instructions below…
Getting Into Position
- Get under the bar and position it on your lower traps
- Your neck should be in the middle of the bar. Any imbalance in weight could result in serious injury
- Ensure that your chest is out and your shoulders are back
- With your knees bent and with your back straight, stand up, lifting the bar off the rack
- Now take a couple of steps backwards, ensuring there are no obstructions around you
- Keep your legs about shoulder-width apart
The Downward Portion of the Rep
- Keep your head facing forward throughout the whole movement
- Now begin to squat down, bending at the knees.
- A good tip is to visualize your back being arched inwards (concave) throughout the movement. From a side view, the weight should go up and down in a straight line (see video).
- The bottom of the rep is when your legs are about parallel to the floor. Do not stop any higher this as you’ll limit the amount of stimulation on the quads, hamstrings and glutes. Please, no partial squats - parallel to the floor is about right.
- It should take about 2 seconds to get down there
The Upward Portion of the Rep
- Now come back up to the starting position. (If you can’t get back up, you’re in a whole heap of trouble
) - It should take 1-2 seconds to get back up
You should reach failure between 8 and 12 reps.
If you can do more than 12 reps, make a note to increase the weight on this set for your next leg workout.
Stay Motivated!
Mark McManus
PS - After you’ve finished all your sets, make your post-workout shake, collapse in a heap on the couch and curse the day you ever heard of the dreaded squat.
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This post currently has 5 Comments
Uplift
May 29, 2008
Yeh, racks are crucial if you train alone. Power racks/cages like those advertised on this site make squat workouts super safe, and they are great for beginners until they have good feel, good mind muscle connection, helping them figure out range of motion. You adjust the bottom rods, and then have a guide to let you know when you are low enough. As soon as the bar slightly touches the rods, it signals the position to stop. The rods also let beginners (and advanced using more weight) check on form, are you leaning, favouring one side. If so, the bar will continually touch one rod before the other.
Power racks/cages are also great/safe for benching, any pressing, chinning, isometrics, partials, can be easily rigged up for dips, and like you say Mark, virtually last forever… a bargain. They aren’t hard to dismantle and shift anywhere. These days with all the imports, prices are really attractive. Ebay has some bargains. Just check sizes to suit, weld quality and metal thickness.
sunny
I don’t have a rack, and I don’t have the spare cash to invest in one for at least the next 2-3 months. I do however, have a bar, and plenty of weights.
What I have been doing recently is take my barbell and put it behind my head with less weight (that way I can pull it up that high from the ground) and I have been doing one leg squats by putting one leg behind my on my bench.
These “pseudo squats” sort of feel good, but are there any other recommendations you have for people who have little or no equipment?
Uplift
One leg squats are great!
Another exercise you can do is lunges with dumbells. But you need to learn to do them correctly, so the front leg/glute/hamstring is doing most of the work. If you feel the back leg mostly getting tired, you need to learn to isolate and focus on the front leg as the driver and lowerer. Walking lunges are also deluxe.
Without a rack, to work thighs really hard, you can do leg extensions, to pre-exhaust thighs, then immmediately/no rest go straight to deadlifts. The glutes and back will force your thighs to keep working, and they will get plenty of stimulation.
Computhomas
@sunny: You could do Front Squats also.
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