Our honest take on the squat challenge is that something is always better than nothing…but squat challenges are not at all well developed and they have you doing a ridiculous number of repetitions of the exact same exercise when you could mix up the variety and hit more muscles, in varied ways, and see better results. Squats use multiple large muscle groups and are a great way to not only shape those muscles, they are also very efficient calorie burners. You can definitely lose weight sticking to a workout program that uses smart strength training, functional movement and various intensities of cardio (squats can technically fall into any of these categories), Strength training offers a great deal of benefits to people looking to lose weight a squat is one of the most traditional, functional, and effective exercises in any strength routine. Keeping your core contracted nice and tight during your squats is a great way to get the most benefit out of the squats for your core, and it also helps protect your back. Your spine compresses slightly throughout the day, but the difference you see from weighted squats will be incredibly minimal & will return to normal once your spine decompresses itself while you’re sleeping (like it does every night).Ībsolutely! The entire core - abdominals, lower back and obliques are all engaged while you do squats. This is especially true when the saved time means you have the extra time and energy to do deadlifts, lunges, bridges - a few of the best butt and thigh exercises - as well. A few sets of ten repetitions of squats with a weight that makes reps 8-10 difficult to complete (without sacrificing form) is more effective than hundreds or even thousands of squats. Rather than doing hundreds and hundreds of repetitions of squats, try doing weighted squats. We believe in quality over quantity and the body responds to the same principle. Check out our 4 Week Butt & Thigh Program for a complete lower body training plan If you are sore from doing squats, wait until your butt and thighs are no longer sore before you do weighted squats or intensive leg exercises again. Muscles that have been heavily taxed need a chance to heal themselves in between workouts. Depending on what type of weight you’re using, how you’re holding it, and what squat variation you’re doing, it can end up being a total body exercise. Squats predominately work your butt (glutes) and thighs (hamstrings and quadriceps) but abs, obliques, lower back, calves, and the ankle complex all play supportive roles. The extent will depend on the routines you’re doing, your consistency, intensity, diet, and of course, genetics. So to the people wondering if you really can “build a booty” if you weren’t born with a shapely bum, the answer is yes, absolutely. On the other hand, if you’re very lean or have little body fat, you can build a round, shapely butt by building thigh and glute muscles with strength training targeting the lower body.
Muscle also takes up less room than fat, meaning that although you may be building muscle and shape in the area, it technically gets smaller. This is because squats are a great way to build muscle, which is a great way to reduce body fat over time the lower body will lean out, but the change in body composition (more muscle, less fat), means that your overall metabolism will be faster and it also leads to a change in shape, as well the thighs will become more toned and the glutes will be lifted, more firm, and the glutes will appear more shapely. If you have weight to lose or if you’re carrying extra body fat, squats (and other lower body strength exercises) can help reduce weight and/or body fat, making your butt and thighs comparatively smaller, tighter, more toned and more compact. It largely depends on your starting point. This is just one anecdotal account - be sure to remember fitness looks different on everyone, and each of our bodies responds to exercise in a different way.īelow, we’ve put together a list of the most common questions we get regarding squats if we’ve missed any, leave them in the comment sections below.Ĭommon questions about squats and strength trainingĭo squats make your legs bigger or smaller? In terms of the changes in my lower body, the picture above gives a rough idea of my squats before and after. My weight dropped, my shape changed, my health improved, my strength increased, balance improved, posture improved - the list of benefits goes on and on. Once I ditched that mentality and began lifting, I fell in love with the way it made me feel so much stronger and more capable. Like many people, I used to avoid strength training because I didn’t want to “get bulky”. The misinformation is unfortunate because lifting has tremendous benefits when it comes to health, weight loss, and shaping the body.
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