When it comes to strength training and fitness, there are a SO many exercises to choose from however I believe this is An Exercise That Should Be In Your Workout Routine. After the age of 30, it’s one big pile to choose from and decide which exercises to do. Let me assist! Now, ofcourse all Personal Trainers have their preferred exercises and the ones they believe are best and I’m sure most would agree with me that Squats are an imperative exercise to add to your workout routine.
Even if you don’t necessarily have a ‘workout routine’ I would highly recommend doing a variation of a squat that feels good and a little challenging for you. Here is a Squat Challenge a friend posted recently. I have shared with my clients and they all LOVED IT.
Now let’s get into Why Squats are SUCH A GAME CHANGER
In this season of life, it is about efficiency & optimization vs. overtraining, and burning your adrenals out, or under-training due to confusion. This goal of this article is to assist you in having clarity and confidence in your fitness routine.
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Squats are a full-body exercise:
When done and cued properly, squats strengthen multiple muscle groups, including your the obvious like legs and glutes, they will also make you engage your core, and back muscles. Particularly, in this season of life, it is not about lifting more or doing more, it is about Quality. In the Optimal Health Membership, I go through the top 5 different variations and encourage people to draw awareness into their body. Painful squats is not the idea, it is about correction so as to balance any weakness or tightness in your body.
2. Squats can improve your posture
As I always say – Posture starts at the Pelvis. Upon practicing, you will tilt your pelvis forward and backward. The Pelvis is the base of the spine. If it doesn’t move, the upper back posture aint gonna move either.
3. Squats can increase your flexibility (Injury Prevention)
Strengthening and Stretching are not two separate entities. Doing Squats mindfully and slowly will help balance out your nuances! The goal is NOT doing as many as possible as fast as possible, rather it is noticing the ways in which your body wants to cheat. Sometimes the knees and ankles cave in, sometimes we bend forward due to many reasons. One thing I emphasize in the Squat Module in the Optimal Health membership is finding the range of motion JUST before the cheats. From there the goal is to correct the cheats. This is you fixing your tension patterns in real-time which will help improve range of motion.
Snag your FREE Stretch Guide here!
4. Squats can help with weight loss & metabolism
Squats require a lot of energy to perform. If you try the above squat challenge, you will see that real quick! Energy in your body = calories. This is one of the few exercises I teach in the Optimize Your Metabolism program. They’re a GREAT bang for your buck that help with getting stronger and burning fat. They also stimulate the release of growth hormone, which can boost your metabolism so you can see better results.
5. Squats help build functional leg strength
No matter which variation you do, the ‘squat’ is applicable in our day-to-day. Everything from going up the stairs, getting up off the floor or couch, squats build functional leg strength. As you age, you will be stronger and more independent so I highly recommend getting crackin’ on those, rather than thinking you need to do the 20 different exercises all your Personal Trainers and Physiotherapists have given you. Hec, I used to be one of those Personal Trainers too. But this season of life calls for EFFICIENCY and OPTIMIZATION.
6. Pelvic Floor engagement
Pelvic floor engagement doesn’t come naturally during squats or anytime, hence as we age we are taught that urinary incontinence or dribbling after child birth is normal. Building a connection to your Pelvic Floor is such an absolute must as the PC (pelvic-coccygeal) muscles are related to SO many things regarding Women’s Health. Although Pelvic Floor”kegels” are very limited, it’s a start. I recommend imagining a marble at the pelvic floor, then pulling it up all the way up to your rib cage! Check out my Free Pelvic Floor meditation here! There are also multiple Pelvic Floor tutorials in the Optimal Health Membership
In conclusion, squats are a versatile and effective exercise that I highly recommend be included in your workout routine. By incorporating squats into your strength training program, you can improve your overall fitness, posture, flexibility, injury prevention, fat loss efforts, and pelvic floor health.
As always, please feel free to contact me via Instagram or the Contact page here with any questions or shares.
For access to more delicious tools that will help you move the needle forward on your Fitness, Nutrition, Injuries, Metabolism, check out the Optimal Health Membership. Here lies tons of bite-sized applicable tools to help you on your fitness journey in this season of life.
XO!
Asma