Let’s talk squats! It can either be your go-to exercise to get your blood flowing or the closer of a great workout. Either way, squats are a great tool to utilize in your workout. Our Chiropractic Physical Medicine team encourages fitness to be a part of your everyday lifestyle, to live your best life, even better!
Why we love squats:
- Squats are one of the best functional exercises. They promote mobility and balance, as well as making day-to-day tasks easier for you.
- Squats have been notorious for damaging your knees. But when squats are doing correctly, they actually improve knee stability and strengthen the connective tissue.
- Squats can actually improve core strength. When you add weight to squats, your body has to work hard to remain stable and not shift the weight. In return, this strengthens the core as a whole, which includes the lower back, inner spinal stabilizers, mid-back, obliques, and abs.
- Squats can help prevent injuries. Getting active daily is a great way to prevent injury. A majority of injuries can be linked to imbalances and weaknesses. Squats can help strengthen a ton of muscles in the body at once.
- Squats can support healthy posture. Squatting strengthens your core and your lower extremities, by doing this, posture is influenced. Your core and back muscles work together to improve posture and unison in the body.
Not only are squats great for the body – but there are so many variations of the squat to switch it up and make your fitness routine versatile.
Some of our favorite squat variations are:
- Body Weight Squat: The standard squat, it may seem easy at first but once you get going, you will definitely start to feel the burn! Stand with your feet hip-width apart, then pull your shoulders back. Push your bottom and hips back as if you were sitting in a chair and lower down as far as possible while keeping your weight on your heels. Return to the starting position and repeat.
- One legged-squat (pistols): These are a bit more challenging! However, with time, they are great to strengthen your legs. Stand on one leg, with the other leg straight in front of you. Lower yourself down on one leg as if you’re sitting in a chair. Focus on going down as far as possible, working toward getting the back of you leg touching your calf muscle. Repeat on the other side.
- Jumping Squats: Very similar to the standard body weight squat, these incorporate a cardio element. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, then lower yourself into a squat position with your thighs parallel to the ground. Jump up as explosively as possible, land in a squat position and repeat.
If anything is stopping you from staying active, we’re here to help! Our team of experts can help get to the root cause of your concerns. Click here to schedule an appointment or free consultation.
