Training your legs or lower body is important to develop a balanced and perfect body. As you need stronger legs to run or walk a mile on regular basis.
Squats are the best compound (multi joint) exercise that tone your body naturally, strengthen your leg, hips, quadriceps and glutes.
They are not only for bodybuilders or athletes but, everyone can do squats and get amazing benefits that help you tone your muscles. Also strengthening your lower body reduces the chances of lower back injury.
Best thing about squats are you can do them without any equipment at home or anywhere. squats have few other benefits such as, it's a great core exercise that improves your balance and stability.
It can be done with or without weight, but adding weight in your squats will help you develop the bigger muscles. It is also a full body workout that boost your testosterone and human growth hormone.
A study shows that strength training can induce growth hormone and testosterone release, regardless of age.
Related: How to Improve Squat14 Benefits of 100 Squats a Day
1. Squats Burn More Calories
Larger muscles of the body require more energy to perform the move. Our quads are big muscles so, when you do squats it trains more than one muscle. Multi-joint exercise requires more oxygen and energy which helps to burn calories.
Therefore, your body uses more calories. Adding weight in your squats will help you burn even more calories.
2. Squats Build Muscle In Lower Body
The muscle used during squats is quadriceps, abdominal, calves, hips And lower back. They not only tone muscle but also help to get them stronger and increases the muscle mass, as it release the muscle building hormone testosterone which is crucial for muscle growth. You can add weight to build muscle in your lower body.
3. Squats Improve Your Core Strength
Your core muscle helps you with everyday movement such as standing, leaning and rotating. Strengthening your core also improve you balance and posture. Squatting activates your lower back muscle which helps to ease the lower back pain.
4. Improve Your Metabolism
Squats not only make your legs stronger but also help in maintaining your weight. Building bigger and lean muscle improve your metabolism and energy expenditure.
A study shows that strength training increase metabolic rate and lean body mass.
5. Squats Can Decrease Chances of Injury
As you know legs are the largest muscle in the body, regularly training your legs make them stronger and cut down the risk of injury and loss of bone density.
Squats also helps improve your other muscle but, Doing them with proper form is the best way to prevent injury.
6. Improve Flexibility, Mobility and Balance
With age we lose elasticity and flexibility, squatting helps to slow down the process and improve flexibility and elasticity in your leg muscle, because squatting involves bending (when you get down) and stretching (when you stand up) movement.
Strong core helps you to improve your balance and mobility as, squats improve your core strength. You will improve your coordination and general balance very easily.
7. Squats Improve Your Cardiovascular fitness
Squats make your heart stronger, reduce your bad cholesterol, improve lungs capacity, maintain your blood pressure and improve your circulation therefore, your heart works more efficiently and improves your cardiovascular fitness.
8. Squats Can Improve Speed and Jumping
Increasing strength in your lower body also improve speed and power in your legs which helps you jump higher. Squats definitely help you in basketball or running.
9. Better Posture
A good posture makes you look attractive, tall and confident also it reduces the chances of lower back pain.
To maintain a good posture you need stronger legs, core and lower back which help you to maintain a proper posture. Squats works and strengthens all the necessary muscle that helps to develop a straight back and helps you maintain a good posture.
10. Strengthen your joints
The joints of the knees, hips and ankles will benefit you most while doing squats. If you do them in a correct form, not only you will notice difference in your joints but also, it will strengthen them.
11. Improve Explosive Power in Lower body
The best benefit of squats is explosiveness; which help to generate force with greater speed, in short efforts. This is the most important for sprinters, and the cyclist.
12. Reduce Back Pain and Increase the Bone Density
Squats will also help to strengthen your overall core including your back which help to lower the back pain. They also train your spine, hips and legs, the longest muscles in your body, which helps to increase the bone density and prevent osteoporosis, especially in older men and women.
13. Tone your Buttocks
With a good numbers of repetitions, even without any external weight, it helps to tone the buttocks, and make them tight and attractive.
14. Can be Done Anywhere
Body-weight squats do not need any equipment. There are many body weight squats variations that make your exercise more difficult such as single leg squat, jumping squats. Do with proper form to get maximum benefits and avoid injury.
How To Do A Basic Squats
Body weight squats are best compound exercise for lower body, you can do squats with body weight make sure maintain proper form to get maximum benefits and avoid injury.
- Stand up and spread your feet wider than hip width.
- Keep your core engaged, stand straight and keep your chest out.
- Bend your knees, lower slowly until your thighs are parallel to the ground.
- Hold this position for few seconds so you can feel squats in your thighs and glutes.
- Return to starting position, keep your core tight and engaged and chest out as initial position.
Some Extra Tips:
- Ask your trainer or any expert how to do squats properly, they will help you to correct your form.
- If you have any injury in your legs then get your doctor's advice before doing squats.
- Focus on nutrition and healthy lifestyle to get maximum benefits from the exercise.
- Avoid bad form to prevent injury.
Last-Line
100 Squats daily can build strength in lower body and improve your fitness.
Doing squats with proper form will give you many benefits such as improve your joints and bone health, speed up your metabolism and calorie burning, helps to decrease the injury, improved posture, balance and help you strengthen core.
To make your squats more interesting you can try different variations such as single leg squats and jumping squats. Such variations are great for improving speed and power in your lower body.
Post a Comment