Squat mastery is an important strength and longevity tool. As we age we lose our flexibility and mobility creating a cascading effect of physical decline in our lives. By squatting everyday using proper squat form a beginner trainee can reverse the effects of this natural decline by building muscle mass for overall strength and power.  There are many benefits to incorporating squats into a daily training effort. Use the jumplinks below for my top 5 Health Benefits of Doing Squats Everyday and squat instruction:.

1. Create a More Functional Body for Everyday Life

By building functional muscle the body increases mitochondrial density. The mitochondria are tiny cellular blast furnaces.  Increasing mitochondrial density amps up the metabolism. Every extra pound of muscle gained will burn an additional 50-70 calories.  If you gain 10 pounds of muscle, then your metabolism will burn an additional 500-700 calories per day. That additional muscle will also help in the regulation of glucose and lipid metabolism as well insulin sensitivity protecting against obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease. This aids in toning and tightening your body from your abs to your butt to your legs.

3. Improve Mobility and Balance

4. Prevent Injuries

Performing a squat over a full range-of-motion with a slow controlled speed allows the trainee to eliminate gaps of weakness. This technique strengthens the ligaments and tendons making muscle insertion points far more resistant to tearing.  This can dramatically reduce the chance of injury in everyday life.

5. Boost Sports Performance

Squats are the “King” of all progressive resistance exercises. When performed correctly with the requisite amount of intensity this one exercise gives a trainee great gains in strength overall. There are five bio-motor attributes that aid in better sports performance – strength, speed, endurance, agility and flexibility.  Speed and agility are directly improved when strength capacities are increased.

How to Do Squats Properly

The technical premise is to make squatting “all about legs.” Learn how to do a technically perfect ultra-deep bodyweight squat first then work through the subsequent variations of goblet squat, front squat and high bar/low bar barbell squat.

Below are the key technical points that apply to all squat variations and instructive video.

After mastering the bodyweight squat the challenge becomes – how do we increase the squat payload while retaining the optimal squat technique we worked so hard to attain in our bodyweight squatting? A kettlebell or dumbbell can be held under the chin, or a barbell plate clutched to the chest to create additional squat payload. With the introduction of these payload-enhancing tools, great care needs to be taken to not allow the archetypical squat technique (ingrained in no-weight squats) to be corrupted, degraded or compromised. A technique we use to make this transition is to push the implement out in front of the body while lowering.  Eventually the low position becomes more comfortable and the trainee can hold the implement close to the body. Goblet squatting allows us to dramatically increase squat resistance by grasping these external payloads.

Take 15 minutes to incorporate squats into your daily routine. I recommend starting off with 2 sets of 10-12 reps daily to ingrain a new neuromuscular pathway. As your strength and mobility improve vitality increases. My clients find that tasks that seemed overwhelming or unattainable all of a sudden become easier to perform. The body finds a new synergy that allows it to overcome and improve overall movement. 

Take your squat and your training to the next level!

Marty Gallagher's Purposeful Primitive training techniques are used by the very best in the World to become stronger and leaner.