Have you heard that the "squat is the king of all exercises"? No? Well it got that reputation because it works so many muscles at once and it's great at building mass and strength.
Generally when people say "squat", they mean barbell back squat. You put heavy weights on a barbell and put that barbell on your upper back. And basically you sit down with it (onto no chair) and stand back up.
That's great for a lot of people, but not for everyone.
They're a pretty technical lift, which isn't to dissuade you if you want to learn them. Just make sure you find a competent coach.
The good news is you don't have to do barbell squats in order to develop full body strength.
I'm a huge fan of goblet squats. They're a great way to get introduced to the movement pattern. Each repetition reinforces good form. They're versatile and effective at developing strength.
What are goblet squats?
Instead of the weight balancing on your back, you hold it in front of you, close to your chest. If you're using a dumbbell, you cup your palms underneath one side of the dumbbell. Your forearms will be almost vertical.
Keeping it close to your chest helps cue you to maintain an upright posture with your torso. If it's too far away from you, you'll feel it pull you forward.
Once you're standing nice and tall with the weight secure, place your feet comfortably apart. For most people that will be about shoulder width apart. Your toes should be pointed forward or slightly to the outside. You're now in the proper starting position.
Bend at the hips and knees to descend. You lower yourself until your thighs are parallel (or just below) the level of your knees - or as deep as you can go comfortably. If you can go cheeks to heels, great, but it's not necessary. Your eyes should look straight ahead, not up or down.
Keeping your whole foot planted on the floor, drive up to the starting position. That's one. You repeat for the desired number of repetitions.
In terms of breathing, you want to keep your core tight. You do this by bracing - imagine you're about to get punched in the stomach. Take a nice deep breath in and hold it. This creates pressure within your core that helps protect it. As you ascend, you breathe out a little. If you need to, reset and inhale at the top position.
What do goblet squats work?
Primarily the muscles of your lower body: your quads (muscles on the front of your thighs), and glutes (your butt). Because you have to work to maintain the upright posture, your core also gets a good workout.
One of my favorite things about goblet squats is they reinforce great squat form. You'll be able to tell right away if your form is off. There are two common mistakes you may encounter.
The first is your torso starts to tilt forward as you descend. You'll feel this because the weight will pull you forward. Avoid this by keeping your core tight and the dumbbell right against your chest. If your torso is upright, you won't get pulled forward.
The next is when your knees cave in towards each other. This puts your knees at risk for injury. A cue that helps many people is to think about driving your knees out and away from each other as you descend. Goblet squats reinforce this because at the bottom position your elbows should be just inside your knees.
What if you can't get down to the parallel position?
That's okay. You can still do goblets. Set up a box or bench behind you at a height where you can sit comfortably. Then proceed to do goblet box squats.
You can do those to build up strength and eventually the range of motion to do goblet squats without the box.
How many reps and sets? How often?
You can do box squats as part of your normal workouts 2-3 times per week. If you're just starting out, 1-3 sets with a weight you can manage 10 reps with is good. As you get stronger, you can increase the sets and/or the reps and the weight.
When you goblet squat heavy you want to make sure you squat down first to get under the weight to start rather than try to pick it up and curl it into position. And yes, you can develop enough strength where you're using really heavy resistance.
What if you don't have dumbbells?
You can use kettlebells if you have them instead of dumbbells. If you don't have that, you can fill a backpack with books and hug it against your chest for resistance.
Can you do these and back squats?
Yes. You can use goblet squats either as part of a warm-up for doing heavy back squats or as an auxiliary lift to supplement them, if you want.
But of course goblet squats can be your primary lower body exercise as well. Do them consistently and see your strength and muscle improve while easily maintaining great form.
Kommentare