Squats The Ultimate Exercise

In training, the squat is a full body compound exercise that trains primarily the muscles of the thighs, hips, and glutes, quads, hamstrings, core, as well as strengthening the bones, ligaments and insertion of the tendons throughout the lower body.

Squats are great for anyone wanting to add more functionality into their lives because it mimics the movements we do each time we stand up or sit down.  If you want to pick up heavy objects from the ground, you can also apply the squatting technique to avoid putting all the weight on your back and causing possible injury.

To perform the squat, the movement is initiated by moving the hips back and bending the knees and hips to lower the torso and accompanying weight, then returning to the upright position. The squat can continue to a number of depths, but a correct squat should be at least to parallel 90 degrees (where the hips have descended to the same level as the knees, so that a line between the knee and hip joints would be parallel with the floor). Squatting below parallel qualifies a squat as deep and should only be performed if you have the proper flexibility, range of motion, and experience in training.

A few common errors when squatting are:

• Descending too quickly 
• not engaging the hips which ultimately causes you to flex your torso forwards.  This in turn, will shift your body weight forward and put pressure on your knees. 
•  As a general rule of thumb, you should not squat with your knees past your toes for safety.

So why is the squat the ultimate exercise?  In my opinion, the leg workout are the toughest days.  Your leg muscles are the largest muscle group in the body and when you squat, you're metabolism will increase and burn more calories.

At my B.O.S.S Fit Bootcamps we incorporate squats weekly into the program.  Squats are my favourite exercise and I have always made it a part of any of my clients programs.  Most of my bootcamp recruits, know how tough a leg day is but they know the importance of it being part of the program. 

So if you are not adding squats into your program, your program is definitely incomplete!  Time to ditch the 365 day track pants in the gym, put in work, chicken legs are not cool, and time to show off those leg muscles :)

Yours in good health,

Coach Corey