the times Saturday April 9 20226 Body + Soul
how best to go about it? Basic squats don’t
require any equipment other than your
body weight, making them the ultimate
portable exercise that can be performed in
the most restricted of spaces. However, to
get the full benefits you have to do them
right — and not all of us manage this. Even
the start position can be wrong.
“A fitness industry myth hanging over
from the 1980s is that everyone should
squat with feet hip-width apart and feet
parallel,” says Luke Worthington, a
personal trainer. “However, while for
some people this may be comfortable, for
others it will be impossible as much
depends on your build and the position of
your thigh bones. Start in a position that’s
comfortable for you.”
Another common mistake is allowing
your knees to buckle inwards when you
squat. But what is commonly considered a
mistake, extending your knees beyond the
toes, isn’t necessarily true, says Jade He-
witt, a lecturer in strength and condition-
ing at Buckinghamshire New University.
“As long as your entire foot remains on the
ground with knees in line, then your knees
going beyond your toes as you sit into the
squat is absolutely fine.”
Worthington says many beginners try to
squat too deeply. “People assume that
lower is better, but while a deep, low squat
does mean more mechanical work is being
performed by the body so that your
muscles work harder, we are all different in
our range of movement,” he says. “Your
limb length, pelvic anatomy and joint
mobility all play a role in determining to
what depth you can or should squat.”
Attempting to force your body into a squat
range beyond your capability is a fast route
to injury, he adds.
Once you master them, squats have an
extraordinary power to transform your
body. By targeting a range of core muscles
such as the rectus abdominis, transverse
abdominis and obliques, they improve
posture. In a study comparing planks with
weighted squats, it was the squat that did
best in terms of activating the core musclesI
f there is one exercise that most ex-
perts agree we should all be doing
every day it is the squat. It’s not just
for toning your glutes and making
your derriere look perkier. Many
consider it to be an unrivalled all-
body, strength-building move that
improves flexibility and stability as well as
blasting fat with a few daily repetitions.
“Powerlifters often call squats the ‘king of
exercises’,” says Dr Richard Blagrove, a
lecturer in physiology and an expert in
strength and conditioning at Loughbor-
ough University. “They are a time-
efficient and very effective strength exer-
cise that work a very large volume of mus-
cle mass including most of the muscles in
our legs, the postural trunk muscles, the
glutes, calves and the muscles in our back.”
Because they use the largest muscles in
the body (that’s your glutes, quadriceps
and hamstrings), squats are incredibly
effective at burning fat. “Squats are a com-
pound exercise, meaning they engage
multiple muscle groups at the same time, a
hugely effective way to use calories,” says
Dalton Wong, director of Twenty Two
Training. “You can ramp this up as you
become more proficient by adding weights
and performing jump squats.” To boost
general mobility, strength and posture, as
well as reduce your waistline, Blagrove
says we should all do squats most days.
Wong says it is the single most impor-
tant exercise we can add to our routine
from midlife onwards. “Squats mimic
many of the functional movement pat-
terns we perform in everyday life such as
sitting to standing, climbing stairs and
bending to pick something up,” he says.
“The more we can strengthen the mus-
cles needed to perform these movements
by squatting, the slower the rate of physi-
cal decline as we age.” Doing squats can
help to protect our backs, reduce strain on
muscles, improve balance, and strengthen
bones — all of which helps to mitigate the
damage that comes with ageing, and can
help to prevent falls. Given all the evi-
dence, there is no excuse not to squat. ButThere’s no better workout for strength, f lexibility and
a healthy back. Peta Bee finds out how to get it right
Power of the
squat The crucial
midlife exercise