I’m in the gym yesterday taking one of my clients over to the squat rack. There is a guy standing my the squat rack, stretching, and kind of eying the squat rack.
Josh: "Are you using the squat rack?"
The guy: "Naw, I can go do something else."
I say, "Are you sure, it’s ok if you were going to use it."
He says, "Well, I was going to use it, but I’m happy to do something else. After all, no one likes to do squats."
I say, "Oh man, I love doing squats!"
He says, to my client, "Run away! Get a new trainer! This one is evil!"
True story! Here is the thing, squats are really hard. They are harder than most of the things people in the gym like to do. Especially squatting heavy.
My clients do some hard squatting workouts. I’m not evil. Well, maybe a little =) But the truth is, I just like things that work. Squats work.
A workout isn’t fun to me if it’s not going to produce any results. Squats produce results. I’ll take a hard workout any day if it’ll get the results we want. And getting results is really, really fun.
Some people have other legitimate reasons for not wanting to squat – they’ve heard that if they squat incorrectly they can get hurt. True. This is a good reason to learn how to squat correctly, not avoid them altogether.
There is a rumor in the fitness world that people are lazy. I think the problem isn’t laziness. The problem is that people have been doing crappy workouts and getting no results for so long that they are just cynical and resigned about working out. They know they need to work out, but they don’t really want to put in a ton of effort if it isn’t going to yield results.
It’s the really hard exercises that make a difference. It’s worth the effort to do ’em, ’cause they’ll actually produce results.
It’s also the slightly more technical exercises that make a difference. It’s worth the effort to learn how to do them right.
If you put in the effort, you’ll get the results. Do the big exercises. Add weight to the bar. Watch your body transform.
By Josh Hillis
Author of How To Lose The Stubborn Seven Pounds
Josh is one of the five fat loss experts in The Ultimate Fat Loss Answers
Josh is a fat loss expert, a kettlebell instructor and personal trainer in Denver, Colorado. Josh helps women and men lose stubborn fat.
"I’ve seen more results in 6 weeks training with Josh than I saw in the previous two years working out on my own" -Stephanie Weis
© Joshua Hillis 2008
Squats really do make a world of difference. I am a female that still needs to lose quite a bit of fat, but I am a hard worker in the gym. (Love my 24hour fitness trainer who has a similar style to Josh) Squats transformed my butt very very quickly. They are now a regular part of my program, and I highly recommend them to people. That plus squat jumps (lift the platform up progressively with more steps) are really really nice.
ok..so what IS the proper way to do a squat? They hurt my knee’s..which is the only reason I don’t really do them too often.
The big thing squatting is to make sure you are SITTING BACK.
NOT SITTING DOWN.
A good way to find out how you are doing with this is to stand an inch away from a wall, facing the wall. Squat. If your knees hit the wall, then you are doing it wrong.
I attempted your wall-facing squat..and I find it sort of impossible to do ( knee’s not touching the wall ) if you go the whole way down! Where am I supossed to feel a squat? In my thighs or elsewhere? Because I only ever feel sore in my thighs when I do squats.
Thanks for the advice!!
The trick is to keep the weight on your heels and sit your butt backwards. At the same time, arch your back.
If the weight is on your heels and you sit back, besides your quads it will also engage your glutes (butt) and hamstrings (back of legs).
Most people suck at squats, and don’t be surprised if you need to practice face the wall squats a lot. Try and work your way lower by arching your back more and sitting your butt back.
One more question: so..ALL of my weight should be in my heels, correct?!
Ok, maybe 90% on your heels. Your feet should be flat enough to balance, but the weight should be on your heels.
Hey Josh,
Thought you might be interested in this article..
http://www.okicent.org/docs/dcw_biogerontology.pdf
Right on! Squats are definately a love to hate exercise. Those who have trouble gaining weight and building muscle mass should also learn to do heavy, high rep breathing squats, it is the closest thing to a miracle exercise for gaining weight and building muscle mass for hardgainers. http://www.hardgainers-weight-tips.com
I can’t say I love to squat, but I’ve never hated it! (Maybe I’m not doing them hard enough. 😉 ) The only move I’ve ever hated is lat pulldowns. I’m pretty sure I’m doing them right (have taken a couple weight training classes), but they’ve just always felt weird to me.
If one wants to lose weight or get a well toned body, then he has to show certain amount of commitment and work hard for it. As the saying goes, No pain, No gain. Squats racks are quite tough workouts to do, but it gives great results. Nice article.