Squat!!
Those things every girl goes on about, booty and leg training go to exercise. Those ones you see grown men screaming at in the middle of the gym in squat rack with over 100kg on their back.
Whether you are on a "squat challenge" app or you've seen the picture on Facebook/Twitter/Instagram or you are simply keen to learn how to squat, this is what I will touch on in this post.
For someone that does tend to lift heavy weights I do take days out to focus on form and natural movement, I will still do weighted exercises just not as heavy as I would normally do.
There has been much debate in and out of the gym, off and on the net about how to squat correctly. Depth, weight, reps, position, form, knee tracking, loading, timing and rest... Just a few of the things that people do not understand.
Let’s start with a touchy subject, “Squat like a baby!”. This quote has been used so many times in varying ways and plenty of research blogs and published articles.
Yes, if you watch a small child squat and crouch down to do something on the floor they have a perfect technique and seem very comfortable in that position.
This is due to their joints having more space in between the bone, as a child develops and grows the gaps between joints become smaller and smaller until the extra bones (just an extra 94) fuse together to make longer larger bones. Some of the 300 original bones in a baby are made of regular bone and some are made of cartilage. Cartilage is soft and flexible to start because in babies and children, bones have to be strong enough to support the body, but soft enough to permit continued growth. But over the years the cartilage grows and slowly hardens into bone. Also, some bones fuse together. All of this is part of the normal growth process. By the time they are 8 they have smaller joint space which will limit their rage of motion in comparison to a toddler. To help prevent this limitation doctors and child therapists have recommended that a child continues to play sport and stretch throughout a young age to help stabilise the muscles and bones. As an adult you may not have the same range of motion as a small child, this is due to general wear and tear to the muscles ad joints. Also during adulthood the joint fluid breaks down and sifts away and joints become more immobile.
Another point is that adults and children/babies have different centres of gravity due to they proportions. Look at a baby and you will see that their head and shoulders are the majority of their body weight in comparison to an adult with a majority of bodyweight coming from their lower torso and legs. By having a different centre of gravity it allows a child to maintain a base for a squat making it easier to perform, whereas in an adult our centre of gravity is in our lower limbs/torso making us more stable to run and move properly and perform movements like squats with a more controlled manner and less risk. Babies can’t move like adults. (Period!)
You will probably notice that some PT’s will get their clientele to place their heels on weights to raise their heels, this is mainly due to short or tight hamstrings which are effecting quad activation. By raising the heels it will allow for greater quad recruitment thus building strength in these areas as it places greater pressure into the heels using the quads as the primary driving force during a squat. This is a great move for Body Building and a great activation exercise to help define and grow the quads.
Depth…
Yes thats me....
Everyone goes on about the whole “Ass to Grass” saying. Yes that is right for a full squat you would go all the way down. But what if you only wanted to recruit certain muscles during your squat?? Well that my friends would be why you change the depth of your squat, so for quad development you may decide to go for a heavier half squat and hold, or for say Hamstrings/ Quads/ Glutes you may choose a full depth squat. For some people until they master a bodyweight squat and instilling the no lifting of the heels rule they may not be able to perform a full squat in comparison to someone who has mastered the technique. Also when going heavier you may find your range of motion decreases due to pressure and weight transfer through the lower body, thus decreasing your ability to go right the way through the motion.
BeforeI bore you all on this I'm going to leave it there. This is another one of those posts that can be split into two and addressed at another time.
Happy Squatting.
Cheers then, See ya.
Beth xoxo
