Monday's Move of the Week

The Move: The Squat

Experts agree, the squat is the most effective and efficient strength training move to firm and strengthen the lower body. This exercise is great because it’s functional, meaning that it mimics a movement that you do every day. In the squat’s case, the functionality is sitting down in and getting up from a chair. To burn the most amount of calories and to gain the most amount of strength when strength training, you want to use the most amount of muscles per move (plus always include large muscles). The squat does both of these things in one relatively simple movement.

Before we get into the nitty gritty of the squat exercise, I would like to address something: knee problems. One question that almost all of my clients ask me before we begin squats is “aren’t squats bad for the knees?” The answer to this is no; when done correctly, squats should not effect the knees adversely in the slightest. IN fact, when performed with correct form, the squat can help strengthen the stabilizer muscles around the knee to prevent knee injury. But done incorrectly, your knees are going pay. Therefore, as with any exercise, it is very very important to use correct form and controlled movements. Let’s get into the squat…

The Muscles Worked: Quadriceps, Gluteus Maximus, and Soleus (lower part of the calf)

How to:

Start standing with feet hip width apart.

Slowly, bend knees as you allow the hips to bend back behind you

Lower yourself until your thighs are parallel to the ground

Push through your heels and come back up to standing

Trainer Tips: A couple things to think about in regards to proper squatting form:

• Never leg your knees go past your toes, try to keep them over your ankles as much as possible
• Push through your heels and not your toes, this protects the knees while making sure that you are working the proper muscle groups to their full potential

Make 'em Harder: You can make this move harder by adding weights…a barbell or two dumbbells work nicely. Just make sure that by adding weight you are not sacrificing your good form.

Enjoy!