There is no denying that working out is beneficial both for your physical as well as mental well-being. But, if there is one exercise that experts agree can benefit you much, it is undoubtedly squats. You do not require any special equipment.
Though you can easily do squats without weights, your body gets used to the exercise quite quickly, and you might have to start doing squats with weights if you want to challenge yourself. If you are working on a computer or playing mobile games for long hours, then taking a break to do some exercises will ensure that your body doesn’t lose shape. In this article, we take a look at the various benefits of doing squats and what makes this exercise indispensable for your workout routine.
How to Do Squats?
Squats are one of the most straightforward exercises to do. It incorporates natural movements of the body that mimic many day-to-day functional movements. Let us see how to go about executing a simple type:
Breathe in and push out your butt
While keeping your back straight and your chest and shoulders up, squat downwards.
Go down until your hip is past your knee level and come up.
Maintain a natural position and keep your knees in line with your feet.
If you want to increase effectiveness, you can use a squat rack. This will help you load weights and also provide peace of mind when it comes to keeping safe.
What Muscles Do Squats Work?
People have a misconception that it is only good for building lower body strength. The truth is, this exercise is essential for building muscles in your entire body. This is especially true if you are doing a barbell squat. To perform it using weights, you’ll have to force your abs, shoulders, arms, and back to stabilize your body to lift the weight. This ensures that you are working on every major muscle group in your body.
Reasons Why You Should Do Squats Every Day
Most people in the gym skip it, chiefly because they are hard. There is no denying the truth in that, but the more you do them, the more you will get out of them. Most people do not see or feel any change in their body until they start doing this. Here we list down the top reasons why you should incorporate this exercise in your daily exercise regimen.
Increased Testosterone
It is amazingly useful for increasing testosterone and human growth hormone levels. These anabolic hormones will have an impact on all the muscle groups you are working on and become a catalyst for muscle growth. This will also allow you to burn calories faster and get in shape quicker.
Tone Your Body
It is ideal if you are looking to get a well-toned body that is also a head-turner. There are individual variations, such as the Zercher squat, that build traps, strengthen abs, and even work out the biceps.
Improved Posture
If you are looking to improve your posture, we suggest you try doing back squat. This will focus on your hips, glutes, and lower back. For upper back strengthening, try doing front squats. These two variants will ensure that you always maintain a good posture – which in itself has many benefits for your mental and physical health.
Stronger Joints
If you perform it regularly and adequately, the strain applied will not only help you gain muscle, but also engage your ankle, knees, and hip joints. This will enable you to have stronger bones and a stronger skeletal structure that will keep diseases like arthritis at bay, even in old age.
Positively affects mental health
Yoga increases body awareness, relieves stress, reduces muscle tension, tension and inflammation, sharpens attention and concentration, calms and centers the nervous system. Most people think of squats in the context of training or exercising in the gym, but it is also a useful yoga posture that you can add to your daily routine. Malasana, or the Garland Pose, is one of 10 yoga poses that is done with squats.
Increase Your Overall Fitness
Such exercises are ideal for getting your heart rate up. Although it is not an aerobic exercise, it will surely improve your cardiovascular abilities. Additionally, most cardio and sports training include working on the lower body. Therefore, they are critical for cross country trainers.
If you really want to have a much more robust system that will allow you to run faster and longer, then we suggest you to give Bulgarian split squats a try. Not only will these strengthen your lower body, but these also work as functional stretching exercises just before you go for a run.
Improve Core Strength
Squats allow you to build a strong core, even without doing a single crunch; doing these will ensure that you get a rock-solid core that is necessary if you are going to try to level up your training. The more exercises you do, the stronger your core will be. And the stronger your core is, the more time you will be able to do. Additionally, if there is a squat hack machine at your local gym, we suggest you to definitely check it out. This machine will allow you to work on your abs and your core strength.
Improves Circulation and Digestion
Doing squats daily also lends itself to better organ functioning. Good blood flow and regular muscle stretching will allow more oxygen and nutrients to travel to different organs of your body. Additionally, the speed at which fluids travel in your body also remains at an optimum level. This can significantly affect the efficiency of your small intestine.
Prevents Injuries
It improves your balance and flexibility. This makes many day-to-day activities much more manageable and reduces the chances of sustaining injuries. Moreover, it also strengthens your tendons and ligaments, which keep you steady as your other muscles do the job.
Conclusion
If you do not have the time to go to the gym to lift weights, you can get a kettlebell and do some goblet squats. Adding some weight will keep you from getting used to the exercise and keep things interesting. If you have any queries or would like to share your own experience regarding this exercise, let us know in the comment section below!
Author’s Bio: Thomas was born in Denmark, and his parents came to Alaska when he was only three. He practiced martial arts as a child and went on to study journalism in college. Thomas is a self-educated personal trainer now, but his passion for writing still helps him craft amazing articles.