5+ Benefits of Squatting and How to Prepare
When you squat, with your heels firmly on the ground and your back nice and straight, you will feel your hamstrings, quads, achilles tendons, lower back, and groin gently release all the tension of being a member of today’s chair-sitting, heel-wearing society.
Brock Armstrong
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5+ Benefits of Squatting and How to Prepare
Squatting is one of the best movements that you can do with your body because it hits so many different muscle groups. The obvious muscle groups are the quads, hamstrings, and glutes but don’t forget the core and trunk muscles that have to stabilize your torso and help you maintain a nice neutral spine.
By simply getting into a squat position you can stay loose and mobile as well as undo some of the mobility and strength issues we see from sitting in chairs much of our day.
According to a study called Muscle activation in the loaded free barbell squat, the mighty squat is a complicated movement that allows all of your body parts to work together and grow stronger as a single unit. When compared to something like a single arm bicep curl, the squat makes a much more significant impact on your body and can increase a greater variety of performance parameters.
You don’t even have to do a weighted squat to see these benefits either. By simply getting down into a squat position you can stay loose and mobile as well as undo some of the mobility and strength issues we get from sitting in chairs the majority of our day.
So don’t get scared off thinking this article is going to be all about squatting “the exercise” that is often characterized by a large man with an enormous barbell across his back. I actually hesitate to call squatting an “exercise” at all—unless, of course, you are that large man with that enormous barbell across your back. Aside from that, the squat (and simply squatting) can be as natural as taking a seat.
I’m not kidding. The vast majority of the world engages in squatting as a way to pick stuff off the floor, go to the bathroom, eat a meal, drink tea, or chat with friends. For them (and you, should you accept this challenge) squatting is an extremely basic act.
Squatting Reminders
The first thing I want you to remember is that you should squat in whatever way feels most comfortable for you. As you get better at the squatting movement, your aim should be to improve your form and positioning but do not force your body into any position that it isn’t ready for. That might mean that you squat with a narrow stance or (like me) a wider stance. Maybe your toes are pointing straight forward or maybe (like me) they’re rotated outward a bit. Let your skeleton be your guide.
The second thing I want you to remember is to focus on your range of motion, rather than immediately trying to squat a heavy load. As long as you can maintain good form (and don’t have to fudge it just to get yourself lower), squatting deeper with a lighter barbell, kettlebell, or nothing at all is better for you. It also produces greater muscular and tendon adaptations than when your squat is shallow but with huge heavy plates on the barbell.
Although weighted squats will make you strong, it is not the only way to do it. A Japanese study on the effects of body mass-based squat training found that an eight-week program that had its participants do 100 bodyweight squats each day increased lean mass, vertical jump, and knee muscle strength while also lowering the participant’s body fat percentage.
Next, unless you are a powerlifter preparing for a competition, a study on wearing knee wraps suggested that wearing any type of knee brace can actually change the mechanics of the squat. It also alters the targeted musculature and can compromise the integrity of the knee joint. That is exactly the opposite of what we are aiming for. We want to build you up, not break you down. So, I encourage you to avoid using those knee wraps and instead focus on making your body stronger and more stable.
If you are having a lot of trouble getting into a squat, single leg squat variations (split squats and lunges) are very effective replacements or alternatives which target the same muscles groups and even result in similar hormonal responses. One of the fit-folks who I coach experiences knee pain when she squats but can do lunges all day long. So, while we sort out what is going wrong in her knee, she is seeing some real gains from performing the alternatives.
They Can Double As Cardio
Body weight exercises like squats, push-ups, and pull-ups are also incredibly energy intensive which makes them a great tool for driving your heart rate up and getting some metabolic conditioning.
One of the things that I love about body weight exercises like squats, push-ups, and pull-ups is that they are also incredibly energy intensive which makes them a great tool for driving your heart rate up and getting some metabolic conditioning. An article called Do We Systematically Underestimate the Energetic Costs of Push-Ups, Pull Ups, Squats & Co detailed how some new studies say that anaerobic exercises actually burn twice as much energy as we had previously thought.
This means that for a fellow with a body weight of 175 pounds, 30 minutes of body weight exercises doesn’t consume the 288 calories we previously would have calculated. It actually consumes more like 576 calories which is a lot more than 30 minutes of running on a treadmill would consume (~400 calories).
Prepare to Squat
If you haven’t squatted in a seriously long time, it is likely going to take some time to prepare your joints for the movement. I urge you to be patient. I promise you, it is worth your time and effort.
First, you are going to need to loosen up your calves. The tighter the calves, the more your heels will refuse to stay down on the ground. The tendon changes that we all experience in response to wearing shoes with heels (or “heel-drop,” to use running shoe terminology) has left our calf muscles short and tight. So we need to spend some time working on undoing that.
There are many good calf stretches and if you have spent many years in heeled shoes and sitting in a chair, you should probably do them all. Check out the article called How to Build Strong and Define Calves for some help with that.
You’ll also need to get some mobility in your hamstrings as well. For that, place a rolled-up yoga mat under your toes and bend forward from the waist as far as you can with a flat back (you may know this as forward-fold). As soon as your back starts to round, stop folding and start holding that position. Hang out here for 30-60 seconds and remember to breathe.
Now, get down on your hands and knees in a crawling position and drop your hips back as far as you can, without letting your feet inch closer together or letting your tailbone to tuck under. This is similar to what’s call Child’s Pose in yoga. Hold this one for 60-90 seconds and don’t forget to keep breathing.
Next, tuck your toes under, flex your feet, and work on getting your feet completely perpendicular to the floor. This will help with your shin alignment when you get yourself into a real squat, which we will talk about shortly.
After you have spent 90-120 seconds stretching your feet out, it is time to put some of your body weight on your legs. Maintaining that same body position and alignment, push your body up off the ground and get into a squat position. At this point, it is ok to have your heels off the ground if it helps you maintain the position. That will come with time if you keep at it.
If your heels are quite far off the ground, take that rolled up yoga mat from earlier and put it under your heels to give yourself some support. You can slowly unroll the mat each time you practice this as your heels get closer and closer to the ground over the next days and weeks.
After practicing this for a while (some of you will only need to do it for a few days but for others, it will likely take a few weeks), you will be able to maintain a neutral spine and plant your heels on the ground. Until that day, continue to use this progression.
Your own personal squat depth is based on how well you can keep your shins and pelvis in the correct position.
Some pro tips:
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The more vertical that your shins are during the squat (with your knees stacked above your ankles) and the more untucked your pelvis is, the more glutes you will use. The more your knees are in front of your ankles and the more tucked your pelvis is, the fewer glutes you will use. We want to use our glutes, so keep those shins vertical and that pelvis aligned.
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How long you can or should hold a squat depends on a few things. Your glutes fire primarily on the way up and out of the squat but they also get involved while you are in the squat. Once you get to the point where you can relax in the squat, instead of staying in the position through sheer act of glutes, you will be able to hang out there for longer and longer.
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How deep you can get into the squat also depends on a few things. Your own personal depth is based on how well you can keep your shin and pelvis in the correct position (see above). Most of us westerners (who didn’t grow up having to squat to use the washroom) will find our range of motion to be quite limited. That’s cool. Start with what you’ve got and work to improve it.
Why You Should Squat
1. Squatting improves core stability.
When you do a squat, your extensor muscles, lateral and straight abdominal muscles, as well as many of your lower back muscles, provide the stability to keep your body in a straight position. Squats not only increase the strength in your legs and glutes, but they also give your core a workout too. Using a functional movement like squats is an important part of developing a strong and stable core and torso.
2. Squatting improves your running.
There are a ton of studies that confirm the stronger your squat is, the faster you can run. Research shows that by increasing the weight of an athlete’s squat during the season directly translates to faster sprint speeds. It is likely that the increased force production that we see in the increased squat performance contributes to the improved sprint performance as well.
3. Squatting improves your jumping.
No surprise here that training your body to quickly and adeptly do the simple movement of standing up from a squatting position can also improve your ability to jump. Even if you wouldn’t take the time to jump from a deep squat during something like a basketball game, training the deep squat (and using your full range of motion) has been shown to improve your vertical leap more than even just regular squatting.
4. Squatting improves your endurance.
I have heard the concern from many endurance athletes that squatting (along with other forms of resistance training) will make them bulky and therefore slow them down. Well, once again (and I find myself saying this a lot about this bulking-up notion) this simply isn’t true.
When runners include resistance training in their running regimen, marathoners actually improve their running economy. In cyclists, even though their quads do plenty of work already, endurance cyclists improve their efficiency when they include weighted hip flexion strength training in their program. Other reviews of resistance training in endurance runners and road cyclists have confirmed these results.
5. Squatting improves your bones.
A 2013 study on postmenopausal women found that weighted squats can help people with osteoporosis or osteopenia improve their bone mineral density, especially in the spine and neck. And not just a little bit—the study showed an increase of 2.9% in the spine and 4.9% in the neck, after only 12 weeks. Not to mention the added benefit of boosting their overall strength levels by 150%. Again, that was after only 12 weeks of squatting so imagine what would happen if you make squatting part of your everyday life.
Squatting in Everyday Life
Hold onto your sweatband because what I am about to say may shock you: squatting doesn’t have to be an exercise.
A common issue that I encounter while doing research for these QDT articles is that most of the studies out there look at these body movements as an exercise, rather than as a way of moving through the world. But remember that squatting, in particular, has taken on many forms around the world and throughout history. It’s not just for the guy grunting and heaving away in the corner of the gym.
OK. Hold onto your sweatband because what I am about to say may shock you: squatting doesn’t have to be an exercise. The more and more that I think of our health, wellness, and mobility being built outside the gym rather than inside it, I see the squat as more of what I would call a mobility maximizer.
In fact, if you can get so comfortable with it that you can relax at the bottom of the squat position and actually use it as a way to take-a-load-off, your general wellness and fitness performance will likely improve.
Everyday squatting happens:
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When you are standing up out of a chair.
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When you are lowering yourself onto the toilet seat.
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When you are picking up the nacho you dropped on the floor.
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When you are chatting with a child.
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When you are getting eye to eye with a four-legged friend.
It all counts, it is all awesome, and it is all a part of being a healthy, mobile, and fit meat sack on this evermore static and comfortable blue planet.
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About the Author
Brock Armstrong was the host of the Get-Fit Guy podcast between 2017 and 2021. He is a certified AFLCA Group Fitness Leader with a designation in Portable Equipment, NCCP and CAC Triathlon Coach, and a TnT certified run coach. He is also on the board of advisors for the Primal Health Coach Institute and a guest faculty member of the Human Potential Institute.