How to do Squat exercise correctly and its benefits

If there is one exercise that can challenge most of your body's muscles, it's the Squat, which is an important workout that works on the body's muscles, as it builds muscles especially in the legs, core, and fibers, and it strengthens the heart muscle and blood vessels.

Squat exercises help muscles perform daily tasks like walking.

Adding squat exercises to your workout routine can boost your exercise performance and lower injury risk.

Squat targets muscles in the lower body, but you also need to use several upper body muscles to perform it.

• Muscles targeted by Squat exercise:

• Lower muscles targeted by the Squat exercise:

1. The large, small, and middle glute muscles.

2. Thigh muscles.

3. Hamstrings.

4. The adductor muscle.

5. The inner thigh muscles.

6. The calf, also called the 'leg duck,' is a back muscle located in the lower leg.

• Squat exercise also targets your core muscles:

1. The rectus abdominis muscles
2. The oblique muscles and the transverse muscles.
3. The spinal erector muscles.

• The Squat exercise also targets your shoulders, arms, chest, and back muscles.

• How to do the exercise:

1. Stand straight, open your feet slightly wider than shoulder width.

2. Bend your knees and push your hips and butt back to lower down like you're sitting on a chair.

3. Keep your chin and neck lifted, then lower until your thighs are parallel to the ground, but keep your weight on your heels.

4. Go back to the starting position by straightening your legs again.

5. Repeat the exercise 15 times.

• Benefits of the squat exercise:

1. It reduces injury risks because you get better at doing body movements right, keeping balance, moving, and having good posture. It also helps strengthen tendons, ligaments, and bones, which can lower injury risk.

2. Burns calories, as calorie burning is linked to exercise cardio like running or cycling, but doing intense compound moves like squats can burn a lot of calories.

3. Strengthens your lower body muscles, which include some of your biggest muscles. From getting out of bed to sitting on a chair, your glutes, quads, hamstrings, groin muscles, hip flexors, and calves handle almost every move you make. Strength training like squats strengthens these muscles.

4. Mixing up your squat exercises helps keep you motivated. Once you master the basic squat, you can try different types to work out different muscles too.

5. You can do it anywhere because you only need your body weight. No special gear is required.

6. You can squeeze the workout in even if you’re busy. Try doing 50 reps a day, 25 in the morning and 25 at night. As you get stronger, add 25 more in the afternoon.

• Common mistakes you make during squats and how to fix them:

1. First mistake: starting the squat by bending your knees

Usually, the first thing you do when squatting is bending the knees. But this not only makes squats harder but also puts unnecessary stress on your knees.

• The right way:

When you start squatting, think about "sitting down" instead of "bending at the knees".

Move your butt back as you go down and feel the weight shift to your heels.

2. The second mistake: letting your knees go inward

This might help you go lower, but it puts a lot of pressure on your knees, enough to make them collapse.

• The right way:

As you go down, try pushing your knees slightly outward so your kneecaps point in the same direction as your toes. Your knees should not bend inward and should stay right above your feet.

The third mistake: arching your back, which puts a lot of pressure on your spine.

• The right way:

Look straight ahead, not down.

Open your chest and relax your shoulders. Put your hands straight in front of you. If they fall toward your knees when you lower into a squat, it means your back is rounded.

Mistake #4: Lifting your heels off the ground

When standing up from a squat, the push should come from your heels. Keeping your heels on the ground ensures proper muscle activation and balance for a correct squat.

• The correct movement:

Keep your heels on the ground and push through them as you stand up. So if you can't do squats without putting weight on your toes, take time to work on your movement, especially your ankles.