How Not To: Essential Tips & Techniques - Squats

This is the second part of Fitness O2's "How Not To" series (you can read the first article about the plank here) posted by our loyal bootcamper, Hadi Hmayssi. Our focus in today's post is on the notorious, squat, an exercise many of us don't like, but a very important exercise in strengthening part of our core muscles as well as our legs, here is how not to do a squat:

1. Your legs should not be very wide apart nor very close, the right distance is shoulder width
2. Your hands should not be on your waist but rather crossed on your chest or extended straight in front of you to help you balance yourself
3. During movement up and down, your knees should not cross your toe line meaning you go down with and not by leaning forward. The motion should be a straight up-and-down motion.
4. Do not arch your back to the inside, look straight ahead with your chest up, shoulders to the back, stomach to the outside and your bottom pushing outside as you go down.
   
5. Do not go all the way down; your bottom should not go lower then your knees or you will put unnecessary pressure on the knees.You should make a 90 degree angle with your legs.
6. Inhale going down and exhale going up
7. Do not do it fast, the slower you go, the more resistance you create on the muscle this means better results. When going down, do it in 4 stages (4 seconds) and when going up do it in one stage.

What do you think of the squat? is it worth spending time making sure the technique is right?

Picture courtesy of iStockPhoto.

Related Posts by Categories

Widget by Scrapur