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Why every woman is doing squats

Health
 Photo: Courtesy

Most women have their own reasons for working out. No matter the reasons, they need to incorporate this essential exercise in their programme. The exercise is the squat routine.

So what’s so good about squatting?

It is an important exercise because it is the ultimate functional workout. To understand this fully, ask yourself what’s more functional than being able to get off the toilet, out of a car, picking up kids, lifting heavy objects or standing from any seated position?

 These are some of the squat movements we do every day and a strong butt and legs makes all the difference. This is to say squatting exercises are great legs and butt builders.

Type of squatting variations

Barbell back squat:

This is deemed as the “king of exercise”. It’s terrific for building leg strength and toning the butt. As the name suggest, a bar is placed on the back just below the neck, with both hands holding the bar, legs slightly apart and your chest upright.

Squat slowly down and back up. Your knees should form 90 degrees to toe and at no point should the knees surpass the toes while exercising.

Kettlebell or Dumbbells Squats:

 This type is good because it allows you to increase the weight of your squat without having to use a barbell. It also forces you to keep a tall torso in order to keep the bells in the proper position against your chest. It’s a very great option for women who just have a few weights at home. To do it, just squat the same way you do for barbell squat.

Eccentric Slow Paused Back Squat;

This type of squat is effective for ladies who want to push up their exercise and make it more challenging.

It is also great for those interested in building maximum strength on the butt and legs because of the number of the pauses at the bottom end of the workout.

To do this, load a barbell with about 40 to 50 percent of your maximum weight. Then, lower yourself down for about 4 to 6 seconds, pause in the bottom for 3 seconds, then squat back up. By slowing down the lowering (eccentric) phase, you tend to focus on keeping your core tight and your form on point.

The pause in the bottom position makes the movement much more challenging working your butt and legs more.

Box or Bench Squat;

 If you are having trouble squatting below parallel, a bench or box allows you to correctly squat to your lowest possible depth.

And as you progress over time, you need to keep lowering the box or the bench size until you can comfortably do without them or until you are at least several inches below parallel. Here you can use pretty much anything as weight -- from dumbbells, backpacks to water bottles.

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