Benefits of Squats and Squat Variations

Arguably the best power lift for developing muscle and strength is the squat. The squat is a compound exercise that trumps virtually any isolated exercise you could possibly fathom. There are many variations of the squat: back squat, front squat, over head squat, one-legged squat. And all have different benefits in their own regard. Firstly, why is the squat so awesome and what makes it so darn effective? Let’s take a look, and you’ll see why, whether your goal is muscle gain or fat loss… you’d be crazy not to incorporate them into your regimen:

Why Squat?

You’ve seen it all too many times; ripped up dudes in the gym from the torso up, and then you see those two gangly limbs that resemble noodles more than anything else – aka chicken legs from the hip down. Guys and gals alike, tend to avoid squats, for different reasons. Males tend to become so self-obsessed with their pecs, abs, delts and biceps, that they devote 90% of their time to upper-body work and disregard their lower counterparts. Women think that “cardio” is the best if not only solution to fit slim legs, and that squats will undoubtedly add unwanted mass and weight to their frame, which is simply untrue if done correctly. Guys can certainly use squats to increase muscle mass and overall man-strength – but for God-knows-what-reason, tend to ignore it altogether.

Many people who lift weights today tend to make non-fuctional isolation movements the bread and butter of their workout and end up disregarding valuable compound movements like squats. It’s the same mistake many guys and girls make, when trying to spot reduce their fat stores (by the way, is not possible). They think by doing 1000 crunches a day, their ab flab will melt, and this is simply untrue.

The truth is, for optimum fat loss and simultaneous muscle gain/maintenance, compound exercises using large muscle groups, such as the squat, are your quickest route to success.

 

Why Squats Are So Effective

Squats are a completely natural movement. I don’t care if you’re 5, 25, or a 92 year-old grandma. Squats should be practiced, and are used daily. What do you think you’re doing when you get off the toilet? Squatting… that’s right. Translating into that natural motion, squats are very functional, which are the exercises I like to spend a lot of our time on. They also improve core strength and increase the amount of power you as an athlete can generate effectively. There are 4 major principles of technique to be used when squatting… and we will call them the “4 points of performance.”

4 Points of Performance:

1. Lumbar Curve
2. Weight back, on heels, not on balls of feet
3. You should squat low enough to where your hips are below parallel, at minimum
4. Keep your knees out over your toes, and do not allow them to bow inward

Lumbar Curve

It is paramount that you maintain a good solid lumbar curve throughout your squat! Failure to do so can result in serious injury which is generally not good, so let’s try and avoid that. Don’t allow your back to curve forward; use your core to maintain that safety net with your lumbar curve.

Weight on Heels

Too many times, people shift their weight forward onto their toes, rather than back on the heels where it should come from. Not only is staying back on your heels more natural and safer, it will also allow you to generate far more power and lift more weight.

Depth

When you stop the squat at parallel or above, you put a tremendous amount of pressure on your knees. Also, by squatting lower, we increase our ROM (range of motion) and can drive up through to heels, and generate more power that way.

Knees

As you get up to squatting heavier weight, it might naturally occur, where your knees bow inward as you lift the weight upward. Your body is trying to redistribute the weight to other body parts. Avoid doing this at all costs as it puts a tremendous amount of pressure on the ACL, meniscus and MCL, ligaments in the knee. It also teaches bad form, which will translate into other weight lifting movements being done poorly.

 

Benefits of Squats

Strength and Mass Gains

Because squats help to release the most anabolic growth hormones and testosterone into your body, you’ll start to gain muscle in your upper body as well. Each exercise will help release these hormones but because the quadriceps, glutes and hamstrings are the largest muscle groups in the body, they release the most growth hormone when released. These growth hormones go to work to start building muscle all over your body.

If you don’t do squats or leg exercises regularly, you won’t build as much upper body strength and muscle as you’re capable of. You’re missing out on huge gains, it’s just that simple.

Fat Loss

As said earlier, squats are a compound exercise, which use multiple joints and many different muscles. They burn blubber and help increase strength at the same time, while bashing calories over the head with a heavy blunt hammer.

Increasing Balance

Squats are an excellent way to improve posture and balance. Because you need to use the proper form, concentration is key. As we age we start to lose balance in the nerve endings and connective tissues in our bodies. This has to do with our brain and a deterioration of communication from the brain and the spine to specific muscles in the lower body.

Injury Prevention

Squats tremendously improve core strength, which is the basis of almost all exercises and movements. By increasing our core strength through anything, in this case squats, we reduce the chance of injury on a constant basis.

 

Who Shouldn’t Squat?

The answer is simple. Every one should be squatting and getting better at them. Again, last I checked, 92 year-olds also go to the bathroom, probably more than the rest of us – and when they get up from the John, they are squatting, whether conscious of it or not. Since we are squatting every day, we should be working on improvement every day. No, Grandma Betty should probably not be going for a 300 lb. 1 rep max, but she can certainly be working on squatting her own body weight (air squat) to become better at it.

Squat Variations

Because the back squat isn’t the only weapon that should be in your arsenal:

Front Squat

Setup:

The front squat is excellent for even further developing core-strength, while nailing the quads and glutes. The front squat has the same 4 points of performance as stated above (lumbar curve, weight on heels, depth below parallel, and knees tracking over toes) but instead of having the bar rest on your high or low back as in a traditional back squat, you will now be resting the barbell across your frontal shoulder plane at the top of your chest. The key here is not relying on your hands for support, as they are merely to keep to bar in place. You should actually be able to let go with your hands, have the bar rest on your shoulders, and still be able to perform perfect reps in this manner.

Execution:

With your weight back in the heels, take a deep breath in and drop down below parallel… then explode upward with a good lumbar curve and solid core. As you travel upward, focus on driving your elbows, not your shoulders, up toward the sky. This will ensure good form and a safe movement. If your elbows get droopy, the weight will naturally pull you forward and you will probably have to drop the weight or risk injury, neither of which are good outcomes.

Because there’s a greater dependance on core strength, most people tend to front squat significantly less weight than they would on a back squat.

Overhead Squat

Setup:

Feared by many, the over head squat is a fairly advanced movement that needs to be worked up toward. Not necessarily regarding leg strength, either. The over head squat halts many because of the bar’s over head position, and people who belong to the “tight shoulder club” and lack the shoulder mobility required for such a movement, may be impeded.

Execution:

There are a few ways to get into the over head starting position. You can snatch the barbell up from the ground to over head, you can also come to a normal back squat position, then rear-jerk the bar over head. Activate your shoulders upward when you get there. Your should have stiff arms locked out… your body will resemble a martini glass when done correctly. If your shoulders get lazy, you will droop and it’ll more closely resemble a wine glass. Once stable with the bar directly over the frontal plane, the mechanics are still the same as before in the back and front squats. Weight back, drop below parallel, and explode upward, while maintaining those active and retracted shoulders. If you lose control, throw the bar behind you and escape forward, or visa-versa.

If your shoulders are not yet ready for this, practice using very light weight, or even a PVC pipe. Do shoulder pass-throughs and get your body accustomed to this over head position.