28 Dec Including Squats in Your Workout Routine

If you are looking for a great exercise that doesn’t require using any type of special exercise equipment, you might want to consider adding squats to your regular routine.  Squats are an excellent exercise for toning and building muscles and offers a number of benefits – all without having to purchase anything special.

Benefits of Squats

The biggest benefit of squats is the fact that it allows you to workout so many different parts of the body with just one exercise.  In fact, squats can do all of the following:

• · Allow you to work out all of your major muscle groups
• · Burn a significant amount of calories
• · Tone your thighs and your buttocks
• · Increase the overall flexibility of your lower body
• · Increase the strength of your mid-section and lower back
• · Increase the strength of your lungs and your heart

Of course, in order to enjoy all of these benefits, it is important to use the proper form when performing squats.

Tips for Performing Squats

When performing squats, you can choose to use weights or to simply use your own body weight.  If you are just getting started with squats, it is a good idea to forego the weights until after you have become accustomed to the exercise.  This way, you can be certain to get the proper form down in order to avoid potential injury.  If you aren’t certain about the proper form, it would be a good idea to consult with a professional in order to make certain you are doing the exercise properly. 

While squats are not the only exercise you should include in a routine, it is certainly something that should be added to your routine. If you are interested in interval training, you may want to use the squat as the exercise you perform while “resting” from the treadmill or elliptical machine.