Posted on November 06, 2017 by Jenny Cromack
The squat, whether a back squat, front squat, goblet squat is a fundamental movement pattern in 99% of peoples training programme, and if it isn’t it should be.
Types of Squat
– Back Squat
– Front Squat
– Goblet Squat
– Single-leg Variations
– Overhead
Why Should You Squat?
– Compound movement – targeting a variety of different muscles.
– Targets the trunk – A great anti-extension
– Can be used for different goals – Whether you want to put on size, strength or lose weight, squats are great and can manipulated to suit you.
– Shows up movement deficiencies and tightness – with in hips or ankles most commonly.
Coaching Points
– Just outside of shoulder width apart with your stance
– Weight always reminds on your heels
– Break at the hips and sit back, don’t flex at the knees
– As you squat down push the knees out as far as possible, you should think about squatting in-between your knees.
– Control the movement, unless you are training for Rate of Force Development (RFD) reasons, it is best to perform the squat in a controlled slow manor.
– Finish the rep off – remember to squeeze your glutes at the end of the rep. This will get the maximum out of each squat.
– Don’t be scared to start with a body weight squats and then work your way up until you have perfected each type of squat.
Tops Tips
– Use a band round the knees – to help push to knees out as you squat down.
– Use box squats (so you are aiming to squat to the box) – use this to help get deeper squats, keep lowering the box as you get lower and lower
– Raise the heels – this should keep your trunk more upright, also allow for more depth in each rep
– Mobility – the bottom line is you need to be mobile in the hips and ankles to squat well. There is no quick fix for this, just dynamic stretching, practice and maybe a bit of yoga…
Happy squatting!!