Benefits of Squats

When it comes to fitness and workouts, I always say less is more. So if there is one exercise through which I can workout on a substantial part of my body, in my books, that exercise is a winner. Once such exercise, in the universe of bodyweight training is the SQUAT.

Just counting the squat as one of the many quadriceps exercises is doing it a disservice. It is actually the precursor to many motions – sitting down, jumping up and virtually any plyometric motion that your legs might perform. These motions have to mimic the squat in some way.This hence, renders it primarily as functional training exercise. The squats benefits us in the following ways:

·   It is one the best quadriceps strengthening exercises – The squat is a movement that is carried out by the flexion and extension of the knee joint, along with some flexion and extension at the hips and ankles. However, the bulk of this movement is carried out by the knee joints and therefore it primarily works the muscles in this area. The most prominent muscles carrying out this function are the quadriceps, which act as the antagonists.   The hamstrings control the cadence of the squat by acting as the antagonists. Therefore the squats are an excellent exercise for strengthening the quadriceps.

·     It has various functional benefits –As mentioned before, the squat as a movement is a precursor to most locomotive movements carried out by the lower limbs. The squats also mimic the sitting and raising actions. Apart from the strengthening of the quadriceps, the squats benefits us by strengthening the ligaments and tendons in the entire leg region thus making basic, daily tasks and functions easy to do.

·   Squatting is good for knee flexibility and overall health –Contrary to what you may believe, full squats are fantastic for strengthening the knees. Observe toddlers or as a matter of fact, observe babies in their fetal position within the womb. They are in the concentric position of the squat and remain like that for 40 weeks. If your trainertells you to squat only half the way down, be wary of this person and fire them immediately. The purpose of your fitness training regime is to ensure your fitness levels increase and this includes your flexibility too. By training through only half the range of motion of any joint, you’ll eventually reduce the flexibility of that joint. So ensure you are training all your joints, knees especially, through a full range of motion.

·         It improves posture –One of the greatest benefits of Squats is that it trains the body to move in the correct posture while it is carrying out the movement. As the saying goes, function dictates form – therefore squatting, improves function. The important thing to note here is that you need to train in correct form in order to be able to fix your posture.

Many more arguments can be made in the favor of squats and more so, full squats. So make sure you begin training with squats to reap all its benefits, peak functionality being the most important of these.