Favourite Squat Variations

The squat is one of the staple exercises in anyone’s workout. It is great for working the entire lower body, the quads, hamstrings, glutes and calves are all engaged. And if you are doing weighted squats you get a lot of core activation as well. But you shouldn’t just do the same standard squats every workout. There are loads of variations to keep things interesting and challenge your body in slightly different ways. Check out my favourite squat variations;

Regular Squats

Position:
Stand in upright position with knees slightly bent, feet hip width apart and stomach braced.
Technique:
Squat down towards the ground, pushing your hips back and bending your knees.
Lower yourself as far down as you can before pushing back up through your heels.
Points To Remember:
Make sure your weight is through the heels of your feet at all times.
Make sure your knees don’t go forward further than the end of your toes.
Make sure you back remains straight

Wall Squat hold

Position:
Stand with your back flat against the wall, feet slightly forward and hip width apart.
Slide down wall so your knees are bent and you feel your quad (thigh) muscles working.
Technique:
Hold position as still as possible.
Slide as far down the wall as you can.
Points To Remember:
Keep head flat against wall.
Don’t let your knees goes further forward than the end of your toes.

1 legged wall squat hold

You can also do the 1 legged wall squat for a more advanced exercise. Do same as above but lift 1 leg off floor. You may not be able to squat down as low as with the 2 leg version, but that’s fine.

Sumo Squat

Take a wider stance than a regular squat and have your feet aiming outwards slightly. Then perform a normal squat. You will have to make sure that your knees are in line with your feet as you squat. Because of the wider stance, often people’s knees tend to bend in too much.

Squat Pulses

Go down into normal squat position, with thighs parallel to floor. Then rather than squatting all the way up and down, just make small (approx. 5cm) up and down pulse/bobbing movements. Disclaimer – this will really burn!

Conclusion – Favourite Squat Variations

The squat is a great exercise but I just tend to see people doing the same, standard version of it over and over again. Mix your workouts up by trying some of these squat variations.