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Squatting - One of the Most Important Exercises
Squatting
literally means assuming a crouching position with the knees bent so
that the hips will come in the same line with the heels. The advantage
of squatting exercises is that it develops a level of functional
coordination between the hip joints, knees, and ankles, meanwhile
training the corresponding muscles, which includes the hamstring, quads,
glutes, calf muscles, and the muscles of the lower back. Originally it
was weightlifters who popularized this exercise, but these days,
virtually every sportsmen who indulges in sports with some amount of
athleticism does squatting as a supplementary workout routine.
Squatting
can be done in several ways – with or without a bar bell, in a narrow or
wide stance (in terms of foot position), and with a definite amount of
knee flexation (knee angle). The variation in weight or change in
position is meant to vary the weight or force exerted on the knees, hips
or ankles, to suit the existing physical strength of the person
concerned. Elaborating on that point, even though parallel and deep
squats produce virtually the same amount of muscle activation, the
former is prescribed for athletes who have had knee injuries before,
since this method puts lesser strain on the knee joints and muscles.
Similarly, those with hip problems are advised to do 90-degree squats
for the parallel and deep squats put a definite amount of pressure on
the hip joints.
Another
popular and most effective squatting exercise is the traditional Indian
bethaks or the Hindu bethaks. The plus of this workout is that it does
not put too much strain on the knee joints, but actually rehabilitates
while building on the strength of the leg muscles. Further, if properly
executed, combined with deep breathing, Hindu bethaks also contributes
towards building immense lung power and strong ankles. But, it must be
understood that this squatting exercise is not that simple a thing to
perform. People who normally can do 500 squats might struggle to
complete 50. Hindu bethaks itself is testimony to the difficulty
associated with this workout. On a realistic scale, hundreds of Hindu
bethaks, cannot be done in one go, even if you are Arnold
Schwarzenegger. Instead, the technique is to work slowly into it,
without forcing progress in a hurry.
Other
squatting exercises in vogue include back and front squats, overhead
squats, box squats, dumbbell squats, pistol squats, ATG squats and Smith
machine squats.
From a
common man point of view, the choice of squatting exercises must be made
based exclusively on the prevailing conditions of one’s knees, hips, and
ankles. Hence, it is advisable that instead of randomly starting with
any squatting exercise, you first seek the advice of a gym instructor
and listen to his/her instructions carefully. It must be kept in mind
that a badly done workout can actually bring more harm than any real
benefit. After all health is wealth, isn’t it?
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