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Tips To Help You Get The Most From Squats
Squats work your hips, glutes, quads, and hamstrings and tighten your core. We love them because they shape the entire lower body and help improve balance, strengthen the pelvic floor and reinforce healthy muscle patterns in the body.
When you do a squat, your body’s first instinct is to choose the path of least resistance, which can lead to improper form. We asked Lead Instructor Catie Fahrner to throw her training out the window for a moment and demonstrate how NOT to do a squat. Here are three common squat don’ts:
1. DON’T let your knees track forward beyond your toes.
When squatting, keep your knees behind your toes. Letting your knees go too far forward puts unnecessary stress on your body and prevents the right muscles from firing.
2. DON’T tuck your butt under and round your shoulders forward.
Focus on reaching your tailbone behind you (like you’re about to sit in a chair) and roll your shoulders down your back. By doing so, you’ll alleviate low-back tension, open up your chest, and work your glutes and core more effectively.
3. DON’T move your chest up and down instead of dropping your seat.
When many people squat, they lower and lift their chest instead of bending their knees and dropping their seat towards the floor. Moving your chest up and down doesn’t work your glutes at all and can cause low-back strain.
And now, for the perfect squat:
Look at Catie’s beautiful form above. Her knees are stacked over the the top of the feet, her seat is dropped as if it were reaching back to sit down, and her chest is lifted and bright. A squat like this will deliver maximum results in minimal time.
If you have any questions about the right way to do a squat, don’t hesitate to ask your studio owner or instructor—they’ll be happy to check your form. And if you’re doing our online workouts, feel free to ask us questions in the comments below or email us at onlinesupport@barre3.com. We’re here for you!
Squats work your hips, glutes, quads, and hamstrings and tighten your core. We love them because they shape the entire lower body and help improve balance, strengthen the pelvic floor and reinforce healthy muscle patterns in the body.
When you do a squat, your body’s first instinct is to choose the path of least resistance, which can lead to improper form. We asked Lead Instructor Catie Fahrner to throw her training out the window for a moment and demonstrate how NOT to do a squat. Here are three common squat don’ts:
1. DON’T let your knees track forward beyond your toes.
When squatting, keep your knees behind your toes. Letting your knees go too far forward puts unnecessary stress on your body and prevents the right muscles from firing.
2. DON’T tuck your butt under and round your shoulders forward.
Focus on reaching your tailbone behind you (like you’re about to sit in a chair) and roll your shoulders down your back. By doing so, you’ll alleviate low-back tension, open up your chest, and work your glutes and core more effectively.
3. DON’T move your chest up and down instead of dropping your seat.
When many people squat, they lower and lift their chest instead of bending their knees and dropping their seat towards the floor. Moving your chest up and down doesn’t work your glutes at all and can cause low-back strain.
And now, for the perfect squat:
Look at Catie’s beautiful form above. Her knees are stacked over the the top of the feet, her seat is dropped as if it were reaching back to sit down, and her chest is lifted and bright. A squat like this will deliver maximum results in minimal time.
If you have any questions about the right way to do a squat, don’t hesitate to ask your studio owner or instructor—they’ll be happy to check your form. And if you’re doing our online workouts, feel free to ask us questions in the comments below or email us at onlinesupport@barre3.com. We’re here for you!
