One of the reasons I can get away without doing much cardio and ab exercises is that I do a lot of squats.  It is arguably the best exercise period (dead lifts advocates might have something to say about it).   However without argument its the best exercise for the lower body.  Every muscle on your body is involved ESPECIALLY YOUR CORE —>obliques, abdominals, erector spinae, multifidus and the glutes. The core is central to all your strength and physical activities.   A good core will do wonders for the overall strength of your body and translates to excellent equilibrium, stability and posture whenever you are moving or exercising.

Squats is also an excellent exercise for the quadriceps, Hamstrings and as I mentioned already Glutes

Quadriceps

Even if you are new to squats, avoid using the machine because it forces your body to one plane of motion (potential for  injury).  Avoid using the belt because it robs your core of the benefit of getting stronger.  Instead use no weight or light weight to learn how to perform this great exercise the correct way. Depending on the amount of weight and rep/set scheme,  its a great exercise for losing weight or gaining muscle or just conditioning/endurance because it involves pretty much every muscle you have—-yes even the upper body is used for assistance.  This is why squats is called the king of all exercises!!!

Performing a high rep with light weight (12,15,or even 20) plus minimum rest  will cause your body to utilize a lot of fat for energy and build your stamina.  A low rep (6-8), heavy weight will add strength and muscle gain.

Here are the  Ten tips to get you to do it the correct way.

1) Hands in Bring hands close to your shoulders gives a nice shelf for the bar because upper back and traps bunches up.

2) Pull shoulder blades back and together (squeezing as hard as possible)  This will help give you the shelf for the back

3)Stance Assume a comfortable stance with toes slightly out –feet hip width apart.  If you are assuming a narrow stance the toes should be pointing forward

4)Weight balance You should feel the weight from mid foot to/or slightly toward the heel

5)Chest up , Low back tight —this is very very important.  Before you squat puff the chest up like the superman/superwoman you are (after all it takes one to squat) and elevate rib cage.  It will help you set a nice arch in you lower back

6)Focus on a spot Find a spot slightly above eye level (45 degrees) and focus on it

7)Big breath Core tight Take a big breath and get all your core muscle tight -Abs, Obliques, lower back brace your abs as if you were going to be punched in the stomach–I can’t stress how important this is in preventing injuries

8)Sit back To perform a squat properly you need to sit back (as in sitting on a chair).  This means you  don’t start off bending your knees.  You start off with your hips (remember brace your stomach for that punch)  and your knees will follow

9)Knees out knees out to the side as you are sitting back force your knees out-  This activates muscles of the hips and it works to keep the femur, knee and ankle in proper alignment.

10)Speed When moving with a heavy weight speed is key–come down with a tight and controlled speed. When you hit the bottom of the movement (90 degrees of below) with speed, you are going to come out of the bottom with speed.  An example would be a vertical jump.  You wouldn’t lower yourself very slowly and expect to jump very high would you?  When you’re coming up remember you are still looking at that spot mentioned earlier and your chest is still puffed out with your rib cage elevated and stomach tight like your bracing yourself for a punch…

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****When you squat, Never let your knees go past your toes this means you are leading with your knees instead of your hips—remember you sit back—start with your hip and your knees will follow.  Put a bench/chair  behind you to make this stick in your mind and as you squat touch your glutes on the bench/chair.

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Even if you squat with no weight for now its a great exercise.  Don’t be concerned with  how much weight you are squatting.

Note:  An often over looked exercise is hyper extensions  and Romanian dead lifts .   These two exercises also strengthens your lower back and hamstrings and will help you with your squats.

Ps……hmmmm now that I think about it should I put a video demonstrating it ??