NoExcusesGym

The squat is a lower body exercise used in weight training. It is also a competitive lift in powerlifting and an essential movement in the sport of weightlifting. The exercise’s main emphasis is on the quadriceps and the glutes, but it also involves the hamstrings, the calves, and the lower back. The squat is often called “the king of exercises” because it “is capable of inducing more and faster muscle growth than any other exercise”.

The squat is performed by bending the legs at the knees and hips, lowering the torso between the legs, and then reversing direction to stand up straight again. The torso remains relatively upright and completely uninvolved in the lift in any capacity but a supporting structure; this is unlike the deadlift. Proper technique is critical, otherwise serious injuries can occur. The back must be kept straight and never rounded, otherwise excess strain can be placed on the spine and cause serious injury. Lifting belts can be used to help support the lower back.

Experts are divided on how squats can be done safely. Some believe the squat must not go too deep — beyond the point where the thighs are parallel to the floor — otherwise excess strain will be placed on the knees. I agree. Please keep your thighs parallel to the floor. I would use other squat modification at sport specific training only.  Still others believe that the knees may travel slightly past the toes. It does seem well agreed upon that the knees should not travel more than a few inches beyond the toes, and that they should stay in line with the toes, not buckling inwards or outwards.

Heavy barbell squats are best performed in the presence of one or more spotters, who can help to safely return the barbell to the squat rack at the end of the set if the lifter is unable to do so.

The squat has a number of variants:

• In the back squat, a barbell is held across the upper back.
• In the hack squat, a barbell is held just behind the legs.
• In the overhead squat, a barbell is held overhead at full extension in a wide-arm snatch grip.
• In the front squat, the weight (usually a barbell) is held across the upper chest.
• In the dumbbell squat, the weights are held hanging at the side.
• In the dumbbell front squat, the weights are held resting on the shoulders.
• In the box squat, the lifter sits back onto a short box, momentarily relaxing the hip flexors, before contracting them and rising off of the box. The use of a box sets a consistent depth and emphasizes the posterior chain over the muscles of the quadriceps.
• The pistol squat, a freestanding one-legged squat where the non-lifting leg is held in free space.
• The split squat, an assisted one-legged squat where the non-lifting leg is placed, at the ankle, on a knee-high platform behind the lifter.
• The hindu squat is a squat done without weight where the heels are raised and the weight is placed on the toes. The knees track far past the toes. This is a controversial exercise, and it criticized for being damaging, evidencing the knee problems historically experienced by Indian wrestlers who did hundreds daily. I do not recommed this to you.
• The Smith machine squat.

The squat also has a number of commonly specified depths:

• The quarter squat descends about half of the way down towards a half squat.
• The hams-parallel squat descends until the bottom of the thighs, the hamstrings, reach an imaginary line drawn parallel to the floor. This squat is also very save for your knees. I don’t recommend to do deeper squats.
• The quads-parallel or powerlifting legal squat descends until the crease of the top of the thighs and hips are at the same level as the knees.
• The half squat descends to a depth that is between hams-parallel and quads-parallel.
• The full or ass to the grass (ATG) squat descends past quads-parallel to the maximum that a lifter’s flexibility allows.

Individuals who find that they cannot safely perform the squat are advised to try the leg press.

(by Marcela Vanharova)