Squats- Pg. 2
Please remember to warm up completely, and to stretch any tight areas before squatting exercises. Refer to the squat figure section as we discuss the movement. The following guidelines are to insure proper alignment and safety:
- Stand and take three deep breaths through the nose, and place your awareness on the bottoms of your feet. While squatting I like to think of the feet as suction cups, where the sides, front, and back of feet remain in constant contact with the floor as you go through the exercise. Do not allow the feet to roll from side to side or rock from front to back, also try and maintain the natural arch of the foot. Starting with foot awareness is extremely important as they form the base from which you will proceed. Many of us have a tendency to rock onto our toes when we squat; this is an indication that calf area is tight creating an imbalance that could result in injury. To remedy this you need to incorporate an Achilles ankle stretch into your daily stretching routine.
- Foot spacing is very important! While doing fitness level squats foot spacing needs to be at least shoulder width apart “maybe” just a little wider, with your foot slightly angled to your sides. There are a number of variations of foot positioning and spacing in the squatting world, what I describe above is the safest position for fitness level exercise.
- Bring the awareness up to the knees, have them slightly bent, this allows the muscles of thighs to help in stability.
- Become aware of your spinal column. See Spinal Curves section. As you stand and then perform a squat, make sure that you do not lose these curves. Be very mindful of the lumbar (low back) curve, there should be no pelvic tilting throughout the movement (allowing the tailbone to tuck under, or extend backward).
- Take a deep inhalation through the nose, as you exhale through your mouth begin your descent, initiate the movement with the hips going back first. This starts to recruit the hip muscles, the strongest muscles in the body. It also will create the safest alignment of the ankle, knee, and hip joint. Then bend the knees being very mindful not to let them travel over the front of the toes. Lower down until the thighs are parallel with the floor.
- Fitness squats must be performed at a very controlled speed to avoid injury. A good rule of thumb is to lower for four seconds, no bouncing at the bottom of the movement, and return to the upright position in two seconds, without snapping the knees.