Squats are one of the best exercises for the lower body and they’re an ideal exercise for improving functionality. Think about how many movements you do every day that require you to squat. When you descend into a squat, you work your quadriceps, hamstring, glutes, abdominal muscles, and calves. Even your core gets some benefit since your core muscles contract to stabilize your body as you squat. If your core didn’t contract and hold tension during a squat, you’d be at a higher risk of tumbling forward.
Despite their benefits, squats aren’t a simple exercise for everyone to do. Your anatomy plays a role in how challenging squats are. Taller people and those who have long legs relative to their torso length have a harder time going deep into a squat. For this reason, two people may squat differently because their anatomy limits them. The composition of your hip anatomy also plays a role in how comfortably you squat. Some people feel more comfortable with a narrow stance while others prefer a wider one.
Regardless of anatomy, beginners will usually find certain squat variations easier and more comfortable in the beginning. Let’s look at some easier squat variations to tackle when you first start out.
Prisoner Squats
The best introduction to the squat and a way to master the mechanics of the movement is the prisoner squat. Despite its strange name, a prisoner squat is a bodyweight squat that you do with your hands positioned behind your head as if being arrested. Thus, the name prisoner squat. By placing your hands behind your head, it lengthens your body and forces your core muscles to stabilize more.
The prisoner squat is a top choice for beginners since you can do it with no weight. This gives you a chance to perfect your form and develop a baseline level of strength before adding weights. One mistake people do when they start squatting is they use weights too early. The resistance you use is less important than how you position your body when you do the exercise.
You can even turn prisoner squats into a plyometric exercise that raises your heart rate by doing prisoner squat jumps. For this movement, descend into a squat in the same manner but jump vertically into the air before gently landing on the ground in a squat position. Keep repeating to boost your heart rate and improve your vertical jump height.
Most fitness trainers believe you should be able to do at least 30 bodyweight squats or prisoner squats with good form before adding weights or doing more advanced squat variations.
Wall Sits
Once you’re comfortable with prisoner squats, wall sits is another exercise that strengthens your lower body in preparation for weighted squats. Unlike prisoner squats where you move your body through space, the wall sit is an isometric exercise. To do this exercise, you descend into a squat and hold the position with your back against a wall.
To do a wall sit correctly, place your back firmly against the wall and slide your back down the wall, as if squatting, until your legs are parallel to the floor. Your feet should be about shoulder-width apart throughout the exercise. Once in position, tighten your abdominal and core muscles. Hold for 20 seconds and gradually work up to holding a wall sit for 60 seconds.
A downside of wall sits is they strengthen your lower body muscles at a single angle of muscle contraction. However, they don’t improve joint range-of-motion or help you master the mechanics of squatting. However, they’re a good exercise to build some strength you need to squat.
Goblet Squats
Once you’ve mastered prisoner squats and walls squats, the goblet squat is the next challenge. A goblet squat is where you place a weight, such as a dumbbell or a kettlebell in front of your body, at chest level, when you squat. Holding a weight in front serves as a counterbalance to your buttocks as you squat. This counterbalance helps you keep your back straight throughout the movement.
One of the most common mistakes people make is rounding their back when they squat. In fact, goblet squats are your safest bet if you have a history of back pain. If that’s the case, you might want to make it your “go-to” squat variation since it’s more back-friendly.
Holding a weight in front of your body also forces your core muscles to work harder than a traditional squat. You may find you can descend lower into a squat when you do a goblet squat as opposed to a front squat or back squat.
Goblet squats are also an effective warm-up movement before starting a lower body workout. It’s a natural progression from bodyweight squats, like prisoner squats, to the goblet squat.
Box Squats
A box squat is where you place a box behind you to serve as a guide for how low to squat. When you first start out, you may not have a “feel” for how low to go into a squat. The box is your guide. Your goal is to descend until your buttocks touch the box.
By having the box there as a guide, you know how low to go. Instead of worrying about squat depth, you can work on other aspects of a squat like not rounding your back or letting your knees fall inward. The lower the box, the deeper you’ll have to descend to reach the box. So, when you’re first starting out, choose a box around 40 centimeters in height. This will allow you to squat to parallel. When you’re ready to squat deeper, choose a shorter box.
Front Squats
Once you’re ready to add resistance, you can use a barbell to do front or back squats. With front squats, you place the barbell in front of your body by resting it in front of your shoulders. With a back squat, the barbell is behind you, on your trapezius and rear deltoids.
If you have back pain, front squats are a more back-friendly movement. If you have a history of back pain, front squats are a better option. However, try both and see which one feels more natural to you. Front squats place slightly more emphasis on the quadriceps while back squats emphasize the posterior chain more.
The Bottom Line
Squats are a compound exercise that works multiple muscle groups in your lower body and even your core. It’s best to start out with a basic version of a squat that doesn’t require weight, like a prisoner squat, and work up to doing a front or back squat with weights. Now you know which squat versions are best for beginners.
References:
- com. “10 Exercises to Instantly Improve Ankle Mobility”
- Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research: January 2009 – Volume 23 – Issue 1 – p 284-292. doi: 10.1519/JSC.0b013e31818546bb.
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