Find out which types of barbell squats are available depending on the sport you choose: bodybuilding, powerlifting, or weightlifting. Squats are by far the most popular and highly effective movement in strength sports. This exercise allows you not only to effectively pump the muscles of the legs, but also significantly increases the anabolic background in the body. Today we are going to tell you all about squatting in strength sports and bodybuilding.
Squat technique
Squats have one general scheme of execution, and all variants of this movement involve changing the position of the body, legs, etc. Thus, we will start with the classic squat, and then talk about the possible options for doing it.
Place your feet hip-width apart and spread your socks slightly, but if it is convenient for you, then you can not do this. Bend your back slightly by pulling your shoulder joints back. The muscles in the lower back should be focused on supporting the torso angle.
Bending the body slightly forward, begin to lower. When moving, the gaze should always be directed forward. The bottom of the trajectory is where the thighs are parallel to the ground. The upward movement should be smooth and jerks should be avoided.
- Head position. The gaze is directed only forward, and the head and neck are located above the back. This will reduce the stress on the spinal column and will make it easier for you to maintain balance. Almost any movement of the head can lead to a violation of the technique of performing the exercise.
- Body position. The back should always be flat, the shoulders are slightly laid back, and the lower back is flexed naturally. To make it easier to maintain balance, tilt your body forward slightly. The smoother your movements, the easier it is to maintain balance.
- The position of the sports equipment. The projectile should be positioned on the trapezium, approximately at the level of the seventh vertebra. To make it easier for you to perform the movement, place a towel around your neck, which should not be very thick, so as not to shift the center of gravity.
- Travel speed. Move slowly and concentrate fully on the technique. Try to eliminate all jerks by moving as smoothly as possible. The technique can only be learned by using a slow pace. When you perform the movement well, you can slightly increase the speed. However, not at a high speed, the load on the knee joints increases dramatically.
- Breath. Inhale and hold your breath as you move down. Exhale while lifting. This technique will allow you to stabilize your chest and spinal column.
- Arrangement of hands. The thumbs should be on the rest, and the grip is symmetrical to the spinal column. Very often, athletes make the mistake of spreading their arms very wide, or placing them on the bar. Try to keep your hands close to the center of the projectile and point your elbows down to allow your shoulders to unfold naturally.
- Heel pads. You can put something under your heels to help you maintain balance and compensate for the low flexibility of the knee joints. But if you can squat normally without heel pads, then don't use them.
Types of barbell squats
- With a lowered barbell. The exercise is quite different from the classic version. To complete it, the projectile must be placed lower than usual, and the body tilts forward more. This will increase the weight of the projectile, but you need to be more careful as the center of mass shifts.
- Smith Machine Squats. This simulator allows you to reduce the load on the spine and make the movement safer.
- Front squats. Today this movement is no longer as popular as it used to be. When performing it, the projectile is located at chest level on crossed arms in front of the athlete.
Note that there are a lot of exercise options, but most of them are rarely used.
Squat Tips
Start at about a quarter of your body weight. After mastering the technique of movement, begin to progress the load.
In each lesson, start doing one to three sets of 10 or 12 repetitions each. In this case, the weight of the bar should be close to the maximum. Then reduce the weight to 75 to 80 percent of your maximum and do your maximum reps. If you can do 12 reps, then you should increase the weight.
Beardach tells more about barbell squats in this video:
