The Importance of Squating
Who would have thought that squatting would be so important? It is among the favourites of Powerlifters, Bodybuilders and other athletes. This is because of a couple of very simple reasons, squats work. When building anything, you always need to start from the foundations and work your way up. And this rule most definitely applies to Squats.
Some of the key benefits of squatting that come to mind are improved flexibility and increased hormone release. Squats are unfortunately an exercise that have many mixed reviews but when done right are an absolute must. If in doubt of why you should make them a weekly routine in your fitness journey, let’s take a look at some of the benefits.
1. Increased hormone production through the performance of Squats.
A total body exercise like Squats are what I call ‘potent hormone stimulators’. It encourages muscle building hormones like testosterone and growth hormone production. Squats involve every muscle in the body, driving that stimulus for growth. To put it simply, put some weight on the bar and get squatting. *make sure you have good technique otherwise it will do more damage than good.
2. Flexibility
When you perform a squat, your body is moving through the whole motion building strength and stimulating growth. What it is also doing is encouraging flexibility, through the use of ‘deep squatting’ you increase the range of motion in the entire hip complex. The major key benefit of this is lower back strength which in turn reduces the risk of back pain and pain in everyday movements.
3. Core Strength
When you perform trunk or midsection movements using weights, your core is forced to engage to prevent injury and maintain an upright posture. Squats are a movement typically loaded through the whole range of motion, from top to bottom, by a dumbbell or barbell. As you increase the weight, you increase the core strength demand on your body, driving growth and control through your midsection to protect your core.
4. Reduction of Injury
Squats build your primary stabilizers, glutes, hamstrings and quad muscles. They are a primary requirement when playing sport, or simply running or walking. The more variations of squats that you do the better your body becomes at reducing the risk of injury. Boosting the muscles around your knees and hips is a simple and easy way to reduce injury when running, jumping or doing almost any kind of activity.
5. Squats increase vertical jump
This is one of the primary focuses for a large amount of sports… eg; AFL, Basketball and more. It is the ability to extend your hips powerfully, this is a key factor in increasing your leap. When performing loaded squats, you are building your drive and leg extension. The benefit of weighted squats is that not only do you get the bonus power in your leap, but you also get the added power and control to absorb it.
6. Stronger Lower Body
This may seem like simple common sense, but all squatting varieties attribute to stronger lower-bodies. Although lower body machines like leg curls and let extension may target specific lower body muscles, squats utilise almost the entire lower body in unison, which directly translates to real world strength. Since you are not locked into a machine, your body also builds stability and is exposed to potential imbalances between your right and left side.
7. Work Efficiency
Forget spending hours in the gym, hopping from one machine to another machine. When you introduce a few sets of heavy squats into your routine, you will see what has been missing. You will also notice that because this is a total-body movement, which will raise your heartrate and leave your legs burning in no time. You will have more time in your session to focus on stretching and core.
8. Calorie Burn
As mentioned previously, squats are a total body workout. One of the key benefits to this is through the engagement of so many muscles, your body churns through calories. This makes your body more efficient at burning calories and increases the need for calorie intake an fat burn.
9. Keeps Strong Bones
As squatting is a load bearing exercise, it helps with overall strength which is great for younger people, and also older people who may have a low bone density. The strengthening will therefore help with injury prevention.
Key Points to remember when squatting
10. Start by standing with your feet shoulder-width apart and your feet parallel.
11. Put your hands on your thighs, look up and lift your chest.
12. Bend your knees, put weight on your heels, and slightly sit back.
13. Slide your hands down your thighs, so that your elbows reach your knees. Ensure your knees don’t go beyond your toes and keep your head and chest upright.
14. Hold that position for 3-5 seconds.
15. Rise back upwards, press through your heels, and straighten out your hips until you reach the starting position.
16. Repeat this process 10 to 20 times. To start with, do these two to three times a week.