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Unfortunately, many people have not yet experienced the benefits of squats. It seems like everyone comes up with any excuse they can think of to avoid bumping into the squat rack.
Squats are one exercise which should be included in everyone’s workout routine regardless of fitness goals, age or gender. This exercise is not just an exercise for legs, but they benefit the whole body in a multitude of ways.
Whether you want to maintain mobility, shed pounds or run faster,squats can definitely help you.Also, the exercises are versatile as they can be done in almost any location with or without the use of equipment.
Benefits of Squats
Build muscle and increase body strength
This is the main reason why people perform squats as they build strong legs which help support the entire body and promote body-wide muscle building.
Not only do they build muscle and strength in hamstrings, quadriceps, and calves , but also they promote an ideal anabolic environment throughout the body which helps in building muscle.
When squat exercises are done properly, they are so great that they prompt the release of human growth hormone and testosterone in the body, which are important for muscle growth and improving muscle mass when you are training other areas of the body aside from the legs.
These muscles help regulate lipid metabolism, insulin sensitivity, and glucose , playing a role in preventing obesity and other diseases like diabetes.
You don’t need to perform squats with heavy weights to achieve these effects because research shows that deep squats with lighter weight are more effective at improving muscle building, so squats can actually help you to improve both your lower and upper body strength.
Burn fat
One of the quickest and effective ways to burn more calories is actually by gaining more muscles. Being efficient at packing on muscle mass, the squat is a highly effective way to burn more fat.
When you have additional muscle, your body will burn extra calories per day. So it makes sense that squats burn a lot of calories because it utilizes a lot of muscle groups.
Increase flexibility and mobility
By simply increasing the overall lower body strength, squats help increase mobility immensely and especially because they increase the leg strength. Flexibility is an important aspect one should consider in any well-rounded workout plan.
As we age our ligaments, tendons and muscles become less elastic, so it is a good idea to do all we can to slow this process. Doing squats will see you limber up and become more flexible as they involve stretching leg muscles and bending including calves, hamstrings, and quadriceps. Improvement in flexibility and mobility carries over to many exercises and regular day to day activities which further reduces chances of injuries and improves overall performance.
Maintain balance
This goes hand-in-hand with mobility. When you create more balance, in turn, this helps facilitate more strength helping you to develop more muscle mass. This happens when stable muscle improves the communication between your muscle groups and brain.
Boost sport performance
Not only will squat put on considerable amounts of size and strength on your legs, but they also increase performance by helping you run faster and jump higher.
This is significant for those involved in sports either weekend warriors or organized team players. Squats help in improving performance that covers a wide spectrum of sports. This is why performing squats is a vital part of every professional athlete’s training program. This is a truly universal exercise.
Prevent injuries
Gone are the days of skipping squats because they are bad for your knees and lower back. In fact, as long as you do squats properly you can prevent injuries. This is one of the many important benefits of squats that is often overlooked.
Many injuries occur as a result of weak connective tissues, stabilizing muscles and ligaments and squats help to strengthen all these smaller structures to give a sturdy and strong foundation that is less susceptible to injuries. Squat exercises can also improve the range of motion in your hips and ankles.
Build core strength
The joints, muscles, and bones that link the upper and lower body are known as the core. This is probably the most important muscle group in the body and should be on the top of any workout plan.
During day to day activities, we engage our cores constantly during reaching, bending, twisting and lifting. Squats are one of the exercises for a strong core as we engage the lower back and the stomach when performing them and once you have a strong core everyday activity becomes easier.
Healthier joints and bones
Squats have the ability to strengthen joints when done properly. The joints, hip, and knee all work together to lift the load and this load is distributed across these selected joints for more strength and less stress on any one particular joints. It is also excellent in building stronger and denser bones.
Help with waste removal
Other surprising benefits of squats are that they help in the waste removal from the body. They improve the pumping of body fluids while delivering nutrition to all tissues like glands and organs. They are also useful for improved movement of feces through the colon and contribute to a more regular bowel movement.
Simple and highly versatile
Other benefits of squats are that you don’t require to have any gym equipment or expensive tools; all it takes is a squat rack and basic barbell to get the job done.
Any standard gym will have this equipment in place and even if you are training from home you should be able to get your own setup going fairly easily. Even if you don’t have access to a squat rack, there are still different squat variations available that you can use in place of traditional barbell squats like dumbbell squats etc.
Functional exercise
Squats are one of the best functional exercises out there as primal and basic movement patterns that humans and also the ancestors performed for many years through activities like cooking, eating, harvesting, hunting and gathering etc.
When you perform squats you build muscle and help them work more efficiently. Any functional movement that we incorporate into a routine will be transferred to our quality of life beyond purely aesthetic aspects.
