How to Squat

After re-reading some of my older posts, including my 30 Day Squat Challenge Challenge post, I realised that I have not once described how to preform a squat, no wonder you keep skipping leg day!

First things first you need to get your spine in the correct position, the easiest way I have found to do this is to bring your shoulders up then back then down.

You should feel like you are sticking your chest out like a proud chicken and you should also have an arch in your lower back.

To check if you are arching your back to much or too little is to stand with you back to a wall, making sure your head, back and bum and are all in contact it the wall.

You might need a glamorous assistant to help you out but you should be able to fit your flat hand in the gap, if you can get your fist in there then you need to hinge your hips to correct this.

If you don't know how to hinge your hips then the easiest way I have found to learn is to lie on the floor and practise putting you back completely flat against the floor and moving your hips to make an arch, again you can test if your arch is excessive my testing it with the palm of your hand.

Hopefully after me waffling on you should be stood up, head up and proud looking straight ahead, no looking down, you are trying to eliminate your extra chin not give your self more!

You should place your feet just wider than shoulder width, you can go wider but the standard squat you only need to be just wider than your shoulders.

Try and point your feet forward, if you can't don't worry too much about it, some people struggle to for  variety of reasons.

Come down with your bum first, just like you would if you were sitting down, providing you don't throw yourself down or use your hands to steady yourself onto the seat.

Come down as low as you can, aim for chair height to start with, to help you measure yourself place a chair behind you and bring yourself down until your rump touches it.

When you are at the bottom of your squat make sure you push back up through your heels, you can test this by wiggling your toes at the bottom of your squat, it you are pushing through your toes you can't wiggle them, that's just science!

You need to do all of this all while remembering to brace your core, to breathe and to count your reps!

If you are really struggling with your squats then put a Swiss ball between yourself and a wall, with your upper body resting on the ball, and use the ball to help bring you down, if can help you get the technique down but try not to rely on this method.

If you can't squat then you basically don't know how to sit down or go for a poo properly and even babies can manage that!