Squats are a brilliant lower-body exercise, helping to strengthen your hips, calves, hamstrings, and obliques, but it’s easy to go wrong. If you’re experiencing pain in your lower back, knees, or ankles, you’re probably making a very common mistake.
Let’s start by taking a look at how to squat with proper form. To squat, stand with your feet slightly wider than shoulder-width apart. Imagine that you are standing on a clock face and pointing your toes at 11 o’clock and one o’clock. To begin the squat, bend at the knees and hips as if you were sitting in a chair that is directly below you. As you squat, push your knees out so they’re directly over your middle toe.
As you begin to squat lower, puff out your chest and keep your eyes looking straight ahead to keep your back flat and avoid rounding or rounding your spine. Squat down as low as you can while keeping your knees in line with your feet and your back flat, then push through your feet to return to the starting position.
Squats are a great lower-body exercise if, like millions of Americans, you find yourself sitting all day. As you squat, you open your hips and loosen your lower body. You’re also working one of the largest muscle groups in the body, so you’re also getting cardio. It’s also easy to make squats harder by adding weights or resistance bands (here’s how to do resistance band squats). take a look at the The best exercises to do if you’re sitting all day.more him The best exercises to strengthen the lower back. here.
The Most Common Squat Mistake You’re Probably Making
But what if squats cause you pain? According to fitness trainer Mark Villena, one of the most common squat mistakes is having your knee buckle when you lower into the squat. in a shared video on TikTok With more than 3.5 million views, Villena explains that when the knee bends, it puts pressure on the arch of the foot.
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So what is the solution? In his video, Villena explains that when you squat you should think about pushing your knee out as you lower your body: “I want you to force your knee out, creating external rotation.” This puts less pressure on your lower leg and forces your glutes to work harder.
Another common squat mistake involves the knee moving over the toes as you squat. If your knees go past your toes at the bottom of the squat, you could be at risk of injuring your knees or lower back. You also won’t be able to squat that low, which will be a problem if you’re into heavy lifting. Your knees may be moving too far forward due to tighter hips, but think about being able to see your toes at all times during the movement.
Looking for more exercise inspiration? we have found the best abdominal workouts you can do for free, a exercise that is better than squats to strengthen the glutesand one of the The best arm exercises to build arm muscles without weights..
