Squats: ​An Ideal Exercise for Building Leg Muscle

The squat is a natural and easy exercise and yields surprising results. Your FizzUp online fitness trainer breaks down this exercise and give you all the information you need to do this equipment-free strength training exercise perfectly.

How to do the perfect squat

Even though the squat is a completely natural movement, you still need to follow these key steps. As with any strength training exercise, doing the exercise correctly is essential if you want to get the best possible results.

Here are our tips on how to do the perfect squat:

• Start by standing with your arms at your sides and your feet shoulder-width apart. For more stability, point your toes slightly outwards.
• When you begin the exercise, bend your knees as if you were going to sit down, which will then push your hips back. This backward movement of the hips is key for doing the exercise correctly. Continue to descend until your thighs are at least parallel to the floor. To keep your balance, hold your arms out in front of you.
• Once you’re in this position, you can then finish the exercise. Push through your heels to come back to a standing position while maintaining a flat back.

Common mistakes and FizzUp tips on how to avoid them

Here are a few tips from your FizzUp trainer to help you in your fitness training and guarantee the best possible results. These tips will help you avoid some of the most common mistakes, such as leaning forward, bending your knees too far or inwards or doing the movement too quickly. To ensure that you do the exercise properly and that you work your muscles correctly, follow these three recommendations:

• Keep your back as straight as possible: to help you do this, look straight ahead during the entire exercise.
• Lock your shins and ankles: they should stay in a vertical position so that your knees don’t go past your toes.
• Concentrate on your breathing: inhale as you squat and exhale as you stand back up.

Muscles worked while doing squats

• Muscles in your buttocks (the gluteus maximus, gluteus medius and gluteus minimus): These are the muscles that are worked the most while doing squats. Doing squats regularly guarantees quick and surprising results. Get ready for firm and toned glutes!
• Thigh muscles: The quads, hamstrings and adductors are all targeted while doing squats.
• Stabilizer muscles in the knees and hips: They engage to keep the joint in its socket. They play an important role in your posture and in the transfer of energy between different muscle groups.
• Abs: Because these muscles contract during the entire exercise, squats work your entire abdominal wall in an isometric contraction. This is essential to maintain the correct position and do the movement as instructed.

Go further with these two squat variations

Squat jumps:​ As the name suggests, this is a squat combined with a jump. This is a more complete strength training exercise that engages your cardiovascular system while evenly building your leg muscles. In addition to developing your quads and glutes, this variation also works your calves.

Burpees: Burpees increase the level of difficulty slightly. Do a squat, a double mountain climber and then jump. The burpee works your entire body. It’s ideal for building your leg muscles and cardiovascular endurance as well as burning fat.

Squats: Building leg muscle and other benefits

Squats mainly targets the thighs and glutes. The more you repeat this strength training exercise, the more you’ll develop and tone up your legs.

So with squats, you work and develop your lower-body muscles. These muscles support your weight and are used when walking or running. If you do this exercise every now and again, you’ll gain mobility and explosiveness.

The squat is also a strength training exercise that directly targets the stabilizer muscles in the hips and knees. It makes it possible to gradually improve your posture and balance.

In short, the goal of the squat is to specifically target your legs by making them firmer and more toned and to make your glutes rounder, while improving your posture and explosiveness.