8 Reasons Why You Should Squat

Squats = one serious full body workout

Squatting is the one exercise that most people should include in their fitness repertoire. The benefits of doing squats properly are numerous, with most people noting an overall boost to their fitness.

Squatting gets your blood pumping

Best of all – you do not need any fancy equipment to do a squat, and neither do you need a gym membership to get the benefits.

What? Squats a full body work out? I thought it is for leg days only?

They actually offer benefits throughout your entire body, including deep within your core.

The Top 8 Benefits of Squats

What makes squats such a fantastic exercise?

1. Builds Muscle in Your Entire Body

Yes, squats are done on leg days and are superb quad, hamstring and calve muscle builders, but they also create an anabolic (building) environment, which promotes body-wide muscle building.

In fact, when done properly, squats are so intense that they trigger the release of testosterone and human growth hormone in your body, which are vital for muscle growth and will also help to improve muscle mass when you train other areas of your body aside from your legs.

Squats can actually help you improve both your upper and lower body strength.

(There are unfortunately a notion amongst more mature ladies that if they build muscle they will look bulky. And the mention of testosterone being triggered, combined with the human growth hormone, may make you apprehensive about performing this exercise. Please remember this: a woman’s body is made in such a way that you will not look like a man when you do weight resistance exercises. Your biological make up is not geared towards that.)

2. Functional Exercise Makes Real-Life Activities Easier

Functional exercises help your body to perform real-life activities, as opposed to simply being able to operate pieces of gym equipment. Squats are one of the best functional exercises out there and has been part of human movement since the beginning. When you perform squats, you build muscle and help your muscles work more efficiently, as well as promote mobility and balance. All of these benefits translate into your body moving more efficiently in the real world too.

Being functionally fit has one enormous benefit for ladies over forty: You will be more mobile as you age which will result in you living your life to the fullest and being more independent as you age.

3. Burn More Fat

I have mentioned before that more muscle = more calories burnt. For every kilogram of additional muscle you gain, your body will burn an additional 100-140 calories per day. A gain of 5 kilograms of muscle will you burn about 500-700 more calories per day than you did before.

4. Maintain Mobility and Balance

Increased muscles also contribute to bone density. Stronger bones and muscles will play a pivotal role in stronger legs, which will in turn have an impact on your core and stabilising muscles, which will help you to maintain balance, while also improving the communication between your brain and your muscle groups, which helps prevent falls. You do not have to take mega dosages of calcium and other supplements.  You just need to squat. How easy is that!

5. Prevent Injuries

Most athletic injuries involve weak stabilizer muscles, ligaments and connective tissues, which squats help strengthen. They also help prevent injury by improving your flexibility (squats improve the range of motion in your ankles and hips) and balance, as noted above.

The older you become, the longer injuries take to heal. Better to try and minimise those injuries with a healthy and active lifestyle.

6. Boost Your Sports Performance Jump Higher and Run Faster

Whether you’re a weekend warrior or a mum who chases after a toddler, you’ll be interested to know that studies have linked squatting strength with athletic ability. Specifically, squatting helped athletes run faster and jump higher, which is why this exercise is part of virtually every professional athlete’s training program.

Granted, you may not want to jump, but you could if you wanted to. It is also important to start thinking of yourself as an athlete.

7. Tone Your Backside, Abs and Entire Body

Squats work your behind, abs, and, of course, your legs. Muscles participate in the regulation of glucose and lipid metabolism and insulin sensitivity, helping to protect you against obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
Squats = more muscles
More muscles = protection against obesity, diabetes and heart diseases
WIN-WIN  all around would you not say?

8. Help with waste removal and keeps you regular

Squats improve the pumping of body fluids, aiding in removal of waste and delivery of nutrition to all tissues, including organs and glands. They’re also useful for improved movement of faeces through your colon and more regular bowel movements.

The benefits just don’t stop, do they.

What’s the Proper Way to Perform a Squat?

Squats have long been criticised for being destructive to your knees, but research shows that when done properly, squats actually improve knee stability and strengthen connective tissue. In the video links below, one of my clients demonstrates a safe squatting technique.

Safe squatting technique

1. Choose a suitable dumbbell weight that you feel comfortable with.
2. Stand with your feet just over shoulder width apart
3. Keep your back in a neutral position, and keep your knees centred over your feet
4. Slowly bend your knees, hips and ankles, lowering until you reach a 90-degree angle
5. Return to starting position — repeat 15-20 times, for 2-3 sets for beginners (do this two or three times a week)
6. Breathe in as you lower, breathe out as you return to starting position

Online training opportunity
Are you a over forty and you want to embark on a new lifestyle but do not know where to start? Or, you would love to have a personal trainer but do not have the time to meet with one regularly? I have designed an online training program that will enable you to get the benefit of a personal trainer at a fraction of the cost, but still get the benefit as if we were training one on one.

Have a look at my website, www.thrivefitnessonline.trainerize.com  for more information, or call me at 0437 314 920 and let’s have a chat about how I can help you achieve the goals you have set for yourself.