The Squat

In the effort to give my blog greater consistency and depth, my next few posts will be dedicated to this unbeatable exercise, its many variations, techniques to ensure proper form, and of course more than a few comments on all the ways it is done wrong by many. (I promise, you will either know what I am talking about, or recognize it on your next session in the gym.)

The squat, in all its forms, is perhaps the apogee of all exercises for both its impact on the body, and its functional implications. It is an exercise that everyone should be doing, and it should be the centerpiece of any program. Any program. Sport specific, general fitness, functional movement, muscle hypertrophy, muscle endurance, power, strength; if you can come up with a program, the squat can be modified to match the desired outcomes. Promise.

The squat is a core exercise, and because the spinal column is loaded, it is also a structural exercise. This means that a maximum amount of muscle across the entire body is activated, and the movement pattern is very natural to the engaged muscles, and there are many.

The lower body, the core, and the upper body are are highly engaged in the squat, and even more amazing are the subtle variations that can be made to the Classic Squat to emphasize certain muscle groups over others.

Again when properly performed, the squat is something that can benefit anyone, at all ages, and there are studies to prove this. (References will be thick in my upcoming posts.) If you are unsure that EVERYONE can benefit from squats, count the number of times you sit down in a chair each day. That is a squat. It is also one of the things that squat training has shown to help the elderly do with greater ease.

Stay tuned.