Reasons to Do Squat Exercises. By Dr. Mercola. If you're looking for a powerful way to boost your overall fitness and get some serious results - - fast - - from your workout routine, look no further than performing squatting exercises.

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The symptoms for knee tendonitis are pain on the side of, in front of, below or even behind the kneecap. Most commonly the pain will reside below the knee cap, where.

• Building thick, strong legs does not come easy. So how do guys like Branch Warren and Mustafa Mohammad build such huge, freaky legs? Find out what other forum members.
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• Builds Muscle in Your Entire Body. Squats obviously help to build your leg muscles (including your quadriceps, hamstrings, and calves), but they also create an.

This is one exercise that should be a part of virtually everyone's routine, as it's relatively simple to perform, requires no equipment, and can be done just about anywhere. More importantly, although squats are often regarded as .

Suffice it to say, a varied workout routine of appropriate intensity is one of the smartest health moves you can make, and adding squats to your routine is a must. What makes squats such a fantastic exercise? Builds Muscle in Your Entire Body Squats obviously help to build your leg muscles (including your quadriceps, hamstrings, and calves), but they also create an anabolic environment, which promotes body- wide muscle building.

In fact, when done properly, squats are so intense that they trigger the release of testosterone and human growth hormone in your body, which are vital for muscle growth and will also help to improve muscle mass when you train other areas of your body aside from your legs. So squats can actually help you improve both your upper and lower body strength. Functional Exercise Makes Real- Life Activities Easier. Functional exercises are those that help your body to perform real- life activities, as opposed to simply being able to operate pieces of gym equipment. Squats are one of the best functional exercises out there, as humans have been squatting since the hunter- gatherer days.

When you perform squats, you build muscle and help your muscles work more efficiently, as well as promote mobility and balance. All of these benefits translate into your body moving more efficiently in the real world too. Burn More Fat. One of the most time- efficient ways to burn more calories is actually to gain more muscle! For every pound of additional muscle you gain, your body will burn an additional 5. So, if you gain 1. Maintain Mobility and Balance.

Strong legs are crucial for staying mobile as you get older, and squats are phenomenal for increasing leg strength. They also work out your core, stabilizing muscles, which will help you to maintain balance, while also improving the communication between your brain and your muscle groups, which helps prevent falls – which is incidentally the #1 way to prevent bone fractures versus consuming mega- dose calcium supplements and bone. Prevent Injuries. Most athletic injuries involve weak stabilizer muscles, ligaments and connective tissues, which squats help strengthen. They also help prevent injury by improving your flexibility (squats improve the range of motion in your ankles and hips) and balance, as noted above. Boost Your Sports Performance - - Jump Higher and Run Faster.

Whether you're a weekend warrior or a mom who chases after a toddler, you'll be interested to know that studies have linked squatting strength with athletic ability. Specifically, squatting helped athletes run faster and jump higher, which is why this exercise is part of virtually every professional athlete's training program.

Tone Your Backside, Abs and Entire Body. Few exercises work as many muscles as the squat, so it's an excellent multi- purpose activity useful for toning and tightening your behind, abs, and, of course, your legs.

Furthermore, squats build your muscles, and these muscles participate in the regulation of glucose and lipid metabolism and insulin sensitivity, helping to protect you against obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Help with Waste Removal. Squats improve the pumping of body fluids, aiding in removal of waste and delivery of nutrition to all tissues, including organs and glands. They're also useful for improved movement of feces through your colon and more regular bowel movements. How to Do Squats Properly. Squats have long been criticized for being destructive to your knees, but research shows that when done properly, squats actually improve knee stability and strengthen connective tissue. In the video below, personal trainer and coach Darin Steen demonstrates safe squat techniques for beginner, intermediate and advanced.

Warm up Stand with your feet just over shoulder width apart Keep your back in a neutral position, and keep your knees centered over your feet Slowly bend your knees, hips and ankles, lowering until you reach a 9. Return to starting position - - repeat 1. Breathe in as you lower, breathe out as you return to starting position Adding Squats to Your Comprehensive Fitness Routine. Exercise is a key player in disease reduction, optimal mental, emotional and physical health, and longevity. It's really a phenomenal way to get the most out of your life! After reviewing 4.

Exercise also slows down the rate of aging itself, even stimulating the regeneration of the energy- producing mitochondria in your cells, providing perhaps the closest example of a real life fountain of youth as we will ever find. As with most things in life, a balanced routine works best, so you'll want to avoid placing too much emphasis on cardio, strength training or any one type of activity.

Many public health guidelines still focus primarily on the aerobic component of exercise, but this limited activity can lead to imbalances that may actually prevent optimal health. This is why it's so important to maintain a well- balanced fitness regimen that includes not just aerobics, but also strength training, stretching, and high- intensity interval training like Peak Fitness. For instance, Darin recommends beginners do 2- 3 sets of squats just two or three times a week - - do it more than this and you will miss out on important recovery time. As always, as you develop a workout routine that works for you, remember to listen to your body so it can guide you into a path that will provide you with the most efficient and effective benefits.

Front Squat - Robertson Training Systems. Front squats are a different animal.

After years of dedicated powerlifting training and back squatting, I read an article by one of my strength training mentors, Brad Gillingham.“Big Brad” is one of the strongest human beings on the face of the planet, and his 5. In this article, I will take you step- by- step through the process, to help you learn everything possible about the front squat. Let’s start with the big benefits you get from the front squat. Benefits of Front Squatting.

There are numerous reasons you should learn to front squat. Here’s just a short list. Mobility. One of the biggest benefits you’ll receive from front squatting regularly is improving (or at least maintaining) your mobility through all the key joints: The ankles, , knees, hips, shoulders and elbows. Too often people assume that if they want to be mobile, they have to do extensive mobility or stretching routines day- in and day- out forever. And this simply isn’t the case. Instead, what it often requires is a block or period of time that’s dedicated to improving mobility, and then maintaining that mobility going forward.

Front squatting can help you build the mobility, and by regularly including them in your programming they will keep you mobile for years to come. Core Strength. Another benefit to front squatting is improving core strength. This is where a key distinction needs to be made; while back squats tend to put more stress on the posterior core such as the lower back/spinal erectors, front squats put more stress on the anterior core. This area is typically very weak and underdeveloped, so front squatting can be a great tool to bring this up to snuff. And don’t worry, I’ll make sure to give you some resources later on if this is an issue. Muscle Mass – Quads.

Let’s be honest – quads get a bad rap, and if your goal is to get flat- out huge quads, I could think of worse ways to go about developing them. The front squat is at the end of the squat/hinge spectrum. If you want big quads, training with an angled tibia and upright torso (like you do when front squatting) is a sure- fire way to look like Quadzilla come next Halloween. Strength Gains. Front squats are an invaluable tool to get stronger, regardless of your ultimate end- goal. It doesn’t matter if you’re a team sport athlete, a powerlifter or an Olympic lifter – getting stronger in the glutes, quads and anterior core is rarely a bad thing.

When you combine that with the mobility you can develop as well, you have a first- class exercise you should be using routinely in your programming. And while we’re talking about Olympic lifters. Failure to catch a big clean in the bottom position will force you to either power clean every rep of every set, or simply find a new sport to pursue.

As you can see, there are tons of benefits to front squatting. Now that we’ve covered them, let’s get down to brass tax: How to front squat. How To Front Squat – Set- up. Grab the Bar. Initiate the set- up by grabbing the bar with the hands at approximately shoulder width apart. If flexibility is an issue, you can go a little bit wider.(And if flexibility is an issue, we’ll cover that in- depth below). Spin Elbows Underneath, Set Feet. Once the hands are set at the appropriate width, you’re going to walk in underneath the bar, spinning your hands and elbows underneath, pointing them at the wall in front of you.

While you’re setting the upper body, you’ll simultaneously want to set your feet as well. I like to set my feet at approximately hip width apart and directly underneath the bar. Set Neck/Throat. Once the feet and upper body are set, it’s time to set your head and neck position. There’s no way to sugar coat this – front squats can be damn uncomfortable.

There’s a reason you don’t see these performed in most commercial, big- box gyms! What I want you to do is set the bar as close to the base of your throat as possible. Set the bar at the base of the throat, and then lift the neck slightly to set it as low on your throat as possible (without setting it on your windpipe).

The biggest issue I see here is that new trainees are unwilling to sell out and get the bar set where it needs to go. This may not be an issue when you’re handling baby weights, but as the intensity cranks up, a great starting position is more and more important. Elbows Up. Now that the bar is set, I want you to actively drive your elbows up. Too often, the elbows start low when setting up, and this only gets worse when actually performing the lift. Drive the elbows up, making it a goal to have them pointing straight ahead towards the wall in front of you. Big Breath. Before walking the bar out, take a full, deep breath and hold it.

If you do this correctly, you should feel pressure throughout your entire mid- section, not just your lower back. We’ll talk more about bracing below, but think of this as a 3- D hoop that’s locked in and stable. Stand Up, Weights Settle. Next, we’re going to stand up with the bar. If you’re rock solid and stable, all you have to do is drive your feet into the floor and extend the knees. What I don’t want to have happen is where you make this all one motion – you drive your feet into the floor and them immediately start stepping back to set- up.

Instead, take a breath, stand up with the bar, let it settle for a moment, and then start walking back into your set- up. Again, it’s easy to get sloppy on lighter warm- up sets, but getting in bad habits now we’ll cause a ton of issues when you get super strong and handle serious weights. Feet. With the plates and bar settled, it’s time to clear the racks and get set- up. The goal is to minimize wasted motion here. I prefer a 3- step approach, but it really amounts to one step and then two re- positions to seal the deal.

I’m going to describe this as though you’re stepping back with your right leg: 1. Take one moderate step back with your right leg to clear the racks,2. Set your right foot where you want it. You may have to make some minor adjustments with regards to your foot position or where your center of gravity is, but this set- up is not only super efficient, but it’s effective as well.

Stance width will be discussed in depth below, but suffice it to say I like the feet to be between hip and shoulder width when front squatting. Dial in the Feet. The next step is to dial in your foot position. 3D Software Used On Property Brothers.

Stance width when front squatting is relatively narrow (when compared to most powerlifting- style back squats), and as such, you won’t need a ton of toe flare here. The best way to describe this is to have just enough toe flare such that the foot, knees and hips are in a straight line when set- up. Furthermore, make sure that your center of gravity is where you want it as well. Weightlifting may be the only sport on the face of the planet where being on your midfoot and/or heels is preferred and beneficial. At the very least, make sure that your weight is directly over your midfoot, if not shifted back towards the heels slightly. Here’s a quick video on foot position, and how to get a neutral foot. Reset  Setting up for a big squat can be challenging, and a lot of little things can go wrong along the way.

Before actually uncorking that monster front squat, take a quick moment to readjust and make sure everything is dialed in and perfect. Here’s a quick checklist: Take a big breath and brace the core,If possible, think about making the spine long (versus arching hard), and. Drive the elbows up and point them towards the wall in front of you. Now we only have one thing left to do – squat! How to Front Squat – Performance.

Sit back, knees out. Initiate the front squat by sitting back slightly. The key word here is slightly. What you’re really trying to do is allow the hips and knees to flex simultaneously, but most people have a tendency to just plop straight down if they don’t sit back a bit. On the other side of the spectrum, this isn’t a powerlifting- style back squat, either.