TThe Squathe squat is the best exercise for developing overall, general strength.  There is simply no other exercise that is as effective.

It is also an exercise that even experienced gym goers tend to avoid.

The squat is often misunderstood and maligned by the personal training community.

I’ve seen plenty of actual trainers on social media offer excuses for their clients to avoid training the squat.

On the other hand, knowledgeable strength trainers will get nearly all of their clients to squat, even most of their elderly clients.

Before I discuss why, let me give credit for this discussion where it is due… The Barbell Prescription, my personal fitness bible.

Now, let’s define the squat.

A squat is an exercise in which a weight is held stationary in some form, and the hips are lowered and raised.

Bodyweight squats involve no additional weight.  In this form, it is simply the bodyweight of the trainee the constitutes the load.

A slightly more difficult squat is the goblet squat, where a weight such as a dumbbell is carried by the hands close to the chest.

The barbell squat employs the use of a barbell to provide the load.  There are a number of variations of barbell squats that lifters may employ.

These include the front squat, overhead squat and the back squat.

For our purposes, we are going to refer to a version of the back squat known as the low bar back squat as the squat.

The more popular version is the high bar squat, where the bar rests on top of the traps.

The low bar version places the barbell below the spine of the scapula.

The low bar version is preferable because it engages more muscle mass than any other version, when performed correctly.

This is because the placement of the bar lower on the back forces a more horizontal back angle as you descend into the squat, in order to keep the barbell over the center of the foot.

As a result, more muscle mass is recruited over the longest range of motion, thus causing the most stress on the body, which then drives the greatest strength adaptation.

A correct, full squat occurs when the hip joint drops below the top of the kneecap.

If you fail to drop down to that level, you have not performed a full squat.  Instead, you have performed a partial squat.

While trainees can partial squat with far more weight than they can full squat, they are training less muscle mass, and therefore, placing less stress on the body to create the strength adaptation we desire.

The squat is a natural human movement pattern

One of the big reasons why the squat should be the cornerstone of any strength training program is because it is a natural human movement pattern.

At one point or another, every human being has squatted.

In fact, in some cultures, squatting is second only to standing as the most common posture.

Unfortunately, in wealthy cultures, many people get away from squatting.

As a result, they can suffer from major quality of life issues due to an inability to get up out of a chair or off of a toilet.

Here are the other reasons why the squat is so effective…

  • It is safe.  Performed correctly, it is simply a loaded version of a natural human movement pattern.
  • If offers a wide range of dosing.  Training can start with as little as a partial bodyweight squat and go from there.
  • The squat is a compound exercise involving multiple joints.  No other exercise recruits as much muscle through a large range of motion.
  • The squat will help you get healthier by having a positive effect on metabolism, skeleton and neuromuscular system.

All this is why the squat is the cornerstone of any legitimate strength training program.

If you are ready to start your strength training and fitness journey, be sure to check out my Services and Programs.

Below is a video from the Starting Strength Youtube which explains how to do the squat.

Now, get to work!