Hi Fit Fam
I have the pleasure of writing this blog from the comfort of my lovely Parents home back in the not so sunny Northern Ireland.
Today's blog is inspired by a client. Whilst performing a normal stance TRX squat, she asked me....Jill why does it matter where my feet are? Will it effect where I feel it? Or is it better, do I burn more calories another way?
So after answering her question, it lit a light bulb..... NEXT BLOG!!!!
So Squats!!!!
Squats are the Mummy (for the ladies) Daddy (for the boys) of leg exercises. They are a compound, full body exercise.
A compound exercise is one that involves more than one muscle group. The muscles involved are.
Glute Muscles.
Quadricep (front thigh).
Hamstring (back thigh).
Calves (back of the lower leg),
Many stabilising muscles in surrounding moving joints,
Trunk muscles.
In order to squat movement needs to occur at three joints. The hip, knee and ankle. Each of these joints enable movement in all planes!!! (confused about planes check my past blogs :) ) Therefore there are many squat variations and you may well feel that certain squats target certain areas more than others. Hence the reason for this blog!!!
As a Personal Trainer I am aware that the legs need to be trained in all planes so there is balance in the muscles to prevent injury and provide shape, and
definition. But as to what stance????
Here it goes. In my opinion there is no "right" or specific foot position for targeting specific areas, in essence all the above mentioned muscles should be engaged. If however you want to isolate your quadriceps only... do leg extensions, these are isolation exercises!!!!
" In a study published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, scientists studied different foot positions during squats and found they made no difference in the muscles activated (which include the glutes, quads, inner and outer thighs). " taken from about exercise.com
You may have read this and are a little disappointed. You may have wanted to know how to shape your inner thighs with a specific squat... sorry!!!!
The reality is that all the mentioned muscles are targeted when you squat. However your foot position may effect the range of movement. For example a wide stance may enable greater range of movement!!!
So what it simply means and my advice is to try various squats in your routine. This will add variety to your training. We are aware that the body does get used to certain exercises. So changing stimulus eg the foot position, plane, movement pattern, repitition range and weight etc will be the key in getting the shapely lower body you want!!!!!!
Hope this cleared things up a little!!!!
Until next
week
Stay Healthy
Jill
I have the pleasure of writing this blog from the comfort of my lovely Parents home back in the not so sunny Northern Ireland.
Today's blog is inspired by a client. Whilst performing a normal stance TRX squat, she asked me....Jill why does it matter where my feet are? Will it effect where I feel it? Or is it better, do I burn more calories another way?
So after answering her question, it lit a light bulb..... NEXT BLOG!!!!
So Squats!!!!
Squats are the Mummy (for the ladies) Daddy (for the boys) of leg exercises. They are a compound, full body exercise.
A compound exercise is one that involves more than one muscle group. The muscles involved are.
Glute Muscles.
Quadricep (front thigh).
Hamstring (back thigh).
Calves (back of the lower leg),
Many stabilising muscles in surrounding moving joints,
Trunk muscles.
In order to squat movement needs to occur at three joints. The hip, knee and ankle. Each of these joints enable movement in all planes!!! (confused about planes check my past blogs :) ) Therefore there are many squat variations and you may well feel that certain squats target certain areas more than others. Hence the reason for this blog!!!
As a Personal Trainer I am aware that the legs need to be trained in all planes so there is balance in the muscles to prevent injury and provide shape, and
definition. But as to what stance????
Here it goes. In my opinion there is no "right" or specific foot position for targeting specific areas, in essence all the above mentioned muscles should be engaged. If however you want to isolate your quadriceps only... do leg extensions, these are isolation exercises!!!!
" In a study published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, scientists studied different foot positions during squats and found they made no difference in the muscles activated (which include the glutes, quads, inner and outer thighs). " taken from about exercise.com
You may have read this and are a little disappointed. You may have wanted to know how to shape your inner thighs with a specific squat... sorry!!!!
The reality is that all the mentioned muscles are targeted when you squat. However your foot position may effect the range of movement. For example a wide stance may enable greater range of movement!!!
So what it simply means and my advice is to try various squats in your routine. This will add variety to your training. We are aware that the body does get used to certain exercises. So changing stimulus eg the foot position, plane, movement pattern, repitition range and weight etc will be the key in getting the shapely lower body you want!!!!!!
Hope this cleared things up a little!!!!
Until next
week
Stay Healthy
Jill
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