It is fairly well known how beneficial it is to include squatting exercises in any fitness routine. The benefits are plentiful, including but not limited to:
– Increasing full body strength (not just your lower body)
– Enhancing athletic performance
– Promoting flexibility and developing posture
– Accelerating fat loss
– Improving knee stability and joint integrity

In order to receive these benefits, it is important to know what muscles are developed during a squat, how to identify and correct common squatting mistakes, and to understand how to safely develop your squat with increasingly advanced progressions.

Muscles Worked

It is not necessary to have a formal education in exercise and fitness to have an understanding of human anatomy – anyone can do it. Since anyone can do it, it is helpful to familiarize ourselves with the language of fitness and learn how to correctly refer to different muscle groups. Educating ourselves in this manner will further our understanding of why we do things, which can provide us with a higher level of confidence and a clear intention.

The major muscles developed in a squat include the quadriceps, glutes, hip flexors, erector spinae, and transverse abdominis. There are certainly other muscles that are involved in a squat and different squat variations can emphasize or de-emphasize certain muscle groups, but these are the major players, or prime movers, in any squat movement.

How to Identify and Correct Common Squatting Mistakes

When it comes to assessing and correcting a squat movement, there is one tool that stands head and shoulders above the rest. That tool is practicing your squats in front of a wall. Refer to the GIF animation below and view the PDF file for detailed instructions on how to perform the exercise.

Squat [Facing a Wall]: A screening tool that can be used to assess and improve squatting technique.

Squat [Facing a Wall] PDF File

A great thing about this exercise is that it can be performed by anyone, anywhere, and without any equipment. Furthermore, if your squat pattern is lacking, this exercise is going to expose those inefficiencies right away and provide you instant feedback.

 

 

 

Two common mistakes, or inefficiencies, to look out for when practicing this movement are:

• Knees tracking forward and touching the wall (This means that you need to do a better job of pushing your hips back and keeping your weight through your heels and not your toes)
• Chest falling forward and touching the wall (This means that you need to work on your back development, and focus on keeping the muscles along your back tight and engaged as you move through your squat)

This tool can be used as both an assessment and a strength exercise. The more you practice, the better you will get. This practice is invaluable, as it can serve as a great compliment to any other squat variations you may choose to incorporate into your fitness routine.

 

Develop your Squat with Increasingly Advanced Progressions

Here is one simple progression you can use to advance your squat:

1) Squat [Bench Assisted]: A simple body weight exercise that can help to increase full body strength, enhance athletic performance, and incorporating a bench can help to reinforce a strong movement pattern, achieve consistent depth, and allow for the safe execution of a squat.

 

Squat [Bench Assisted] PDF File

 

 

 

2) Squat: A simple body weight exercise that can help to increase full body strength, enhance athletic performance, promote flexibility, and develop posture.

Squat PDF File

 

 

 

 

 

 

3) Squat [Bench Assisted, Dumbbell, Goblet Style]: This front-loaded squat variation can serve to increase full body strength, enhance athletic performance, and incorporating a bench can help to reinforce a strong movement pattern, achieve consistent depth, and allow for the safe execution of a squat.

Squat [Bench Assisted, Dumbbell, Goblet Style] PDF File

 

 

4) Squat [Dumbbell, Goblet Style]: This front-loaded squat variation can serve to increase full body strength, enhance athletic performance, promote flexibility, and develop posture.

Squat [Dumbbell, Goblet Style] PDF File

 

 

 

 

It is very important that you “earn” your progressions and that you do not jump forward too quickly. Take the time to understand what a well-executed squat looks like, feels like, and consider all of these exercises as tools that can help you build quality habits and sound movement patterns.