Essential Exercises Part 1: The Squat

If you don't squat, you don't train...

The squat is an essential human capacity. The ability to squat deep and extend back to the standing position while maintaining healthy body positioning is necessary for many of the movements we do in everyday life. Picking things up, getting up from laying or sitting on the floor, sitting down or raising up out of a seat, climbing on top of objects such as a ledge, moving heavy furniture up and down stairs, jumping and landing from any sort of height, and the list goes on. The need for squatting in athletes is even more paramount. Athletes need to accelerate their bodies at high rates and manipulate various amounts of weight during competition and so the ability to produce great amounts of force during hip and knee extension is incredibly important.

The main biomechanical components of the squat are both knee and hip extension as well as the maintenance of a rigid lower and upper back. Both the hips and knees are in a flexed position at the bottom of the squat and they extend as one stands up.

This ability to extend the hips and knees while maintaining a rigid torso is essential to any activity in which one bends the legs and straightens them, such as climbing stairs or running. That is why the squat is so incredibly important for all human beings.

Now lets get to the specifics on how to properly do this exercise. The squat is more complex than it seems, simply due to the requirement to maintain proper body positioning during all phases of the movement. This complexity is exaggerated in deconditioned populations due to the difficulty of maintaining such positions. To tackle the squat let us begin with a body weight squat with no additional weight.

Here's what it looks like:

Lets break the movement down:

1. Start standing with feet a little bit further than shoulder width apart, toes pointing slightly out, and keep your chest up.
   
   
   
2. Begin to bend at the hips and knees and shove your butt back as if sitting into a chair.
   
   
   
   
   
3. As you descend keep your chest up and core tight to maintain the slight arch in your lower back (Lordosis). This is primarily achieved by contracting your abs and lower back muscles.
4. Make sure that your knees are tracking in line with your feet. This means that your knees point in the same direction as your feet.
   
   
   
   
   
5. Keep your feet flat on the floor and focus your body weight on your heels. Do not let your heels raise off the ground or shift your weight onto the balls of your feet.
6. Make sure that your knees don't glide excessively over your feet. This is achieved by “sitting back” into the squat. This is the part of the squat that the deconditioned person has the most trouble with. It takes a certain amount of glute and hamstring strength to maintain the “sit back” position.
7. Lower yourself until your hips are just below your knees and then immediately stand back up, essentially reversing the movement. Maintain all the positions previously stated. Upon standing up contract your glutes (butt muscles) hard to fully finish the hip extension.
   
   
   
   
   

Now you have mastered the body weight squat, also commonly referred to as the air squat. Make sure to practice this a lot if it is difficult for you. You want it to be practically effortless before adding weight.

**Please Note:

If you cannot properly complete a body weight squat, I suggest you first work on a leg press or box squats. The box squat is only useful if you are very close to being able to do a proper squat. If you are not quite there, as is much of the general population, I refer you to the following video where Mark Ripptoe, one of the most respected men in the strength and conditioning community, discusses the use of the leg press as a means of progressing toward squatting.

 Weighted Squat:
After mastering the body weight squat you are ready to add weight. This can be done in more than one way, but for our purposes here we will only be talking about the back squat in which a barbell is held on the back of one's shoulders. The proper positioning looks like this:

This is called the “low bar” position and it is what I do with most of my clients because it is easier on the lower back and allows people to push the most amount of weight. The bar is supported just above the shoulder blades by holding a retracted scapula and shoving the elbows back behind your body. By shoving the elbows back it creates a shelf for the bar to rest on. Place your thumbs over top the bar to keep your wrists straight and avoid having any unnecessary strain be placed on them.

The rest of the movement is exactly the same as the body weight squat with extra emphasis placed on a few things.

1. With weight on the back it becomes extra important to maintain a rigid torso. This means keeping the chest up and maintaining the slight arch in the lower back.
   
   

   
2. This is done by squeezing the abs hard and pushing them out while retracting your scapulae. This rigid position must be held throughout the entire range of motion.
   
   

   
3. When handling heavy weight, it is useful to use the Valsava Maneuver to assist in maintaining a rigid torso. Please be aware that the Valsalva Maneuver can spike blood pressure and so it is not recommended for inviduals with heart issues or older populations. Healthy and younger populations, though, can use the manevuer safely. The Valsava Maneuver is when one takes in a deep breath, holds it in, and squeezes their abs and lower back muscles so as to create pressurized compartments around the spine which hold it in place. This puts the spine in an extremely secure position and so very heavy weights can be safely handled.
4. To apply the Valsava Maneuver, take a deep breath in while standing just before descending and squeeze your abs and lower back tight. Hold the breath and abs tight the whole way down. Air can begin to be released through pursed lips during ascension to maintain pressure while still letting air out. This can be seen here:

Note how he takes a breath in at the top, holds it on the way down, and begins to let it out slowly while maintaining pressure during the way up. This kind of weight could not be handled safely without the Valsalva Maneuver.

Programming:
For strength purposes you want to keep your squat sets around the 5 rep range. This will give you the greatest strength gains in the safest manner. A simple way to program your squats is doing a basic 5x5 structure. This means 5 sets of 5 reps each. Your first few sets will be your "warm-up" sets and your last few will be your "work sets."

Sample Workout:
(Warm-Up Sets)
5 reps with just the bar.
5 with 95.                    
5 with 135
(Work Sets)
5 with 185
5 with 195

You want your work sets to be very challenging to the point where you could probably not complete another rep. Do squats 2-3 times a week (separated by at least 48 hours) and try to increase weight every workout (if you are a beginner) and every week or two if you are more experienced. Strength gains will always be quickest in the novice.



Now you know how to squat and why it is important. Put it into your training program today and begin to build useful strength that will improve your quality of life.

Thanks for reading.

Happy Training,

Chris Moran. CSCS.