Mix-up Your Squats: Three Ways To Keep It Fresh!
Squats are amazing! They are literally one of the best exercises you can do when working out. Squats burn a ton of calories, engage the largest muscles in the body and can be done just about anywhere. Whether you are working out for aesthetics, you are an athlete or want to lose a few pounds, mixing up your squat pattern is essential.
The key to doing a great squat is to control the speed and range of motion, this allows you activate and squeeze your muscles. You may have heard that when you squat you shouldn’t let your knees pass over your toes, this is not entirely true, as long as you can keep full contact with the floor, you are totally fine! A good rule of thumb is to ground yourself with three points of contact under your feet: distribute your weight evenly between the big toe, the outside of the foot and your heel.
Start by driving your hips back, keep your chest upright and get as low as you can. You know you have gotten to your lowest point when you either: start moving only from your upper body, your butt touches the back of your legs or you start to lose full contact with the floor. Use a mirror to check out your form.
Narrow Squat
Place your feet less than hip width apart. You may notice that you can’t get as low as a wider squat, that's totally normal. Just get as low as you can without breaking form. The narrow squat really targets your quads and glutes.
Check out the video below for a how to:
Neutral Squat
Place your feet between hip width and shoulder width apart. When you lower into the squat, use your feet as a guide so that your legs track inline with the feet. The Neutral squat targets your quads, hamstrings and glutes.
Check out the video below for a how to:
Sumo Squat
Place your feet so that your heels are set up shoulder width apart and your toes are at a 45 degree angle. Drive your legs outward as you lower your body, keep your chest upright and have full contact with the floor.
Check out the video below for a how to:
8 Week Squat Workout: Monday-Narrow Squats, Wednesday-Neutral Squats, Friday-Sumo Squats
Week 1: 3 sets of 20
Week 2: 3 sets of 25
Week 3: 3 sets of 30
Week 4: 4 sets of 25
Week 5: 4 sets of 30
Week 6: 4 sets of 35
Week 7: 5 sets of 30
Week 8: 5 sets of 35