I heard squatting was cool.

ZiezieO
ZiezieO Posts: 228 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Ever since I can remember, I hated squatting. It always made my knees hurt and if I could avoid them I would.

But have you seen the girls with the nice booties from squatting!?! I'm giving this a second thought. However, since you can't spot lose fat, I am asking, can you spot add muscle? If so, it's time to make my washboard behind into a bubble.

Does anyone have any links to some great squats for beginners?

Replies

  • chrisdavey
    chrisdavey Posts: 9,834 Member
    If you were to just squat and eat at a calorie surplus with adequate protein there is no reason why you won't just create hypertrophy of the quads, hamstrings and glutes (provided you squat to depth).

    If you have had knee issues I'd ease into it, get someone qualified and who you trust (not every PT can squat) to teach you and go from there. I like my beginner to aim for 10 reps per set. Get plenty of practice that was and become more efficient.

    Full beginner program would be strong lifts or starting strength though.
  • whitebalance
    whitebalance Posts: 1,654 Member
    Second the PT, and recommend reading Starting Strength. It gives a great deal of useful information on technique, including useful pointers to protect your knees.
  • Will_Thrust_For_Candy
    Will_Thrust_For_Candy Posts: 6,109 Member
    Agree with all of the above but would also add that for a great booty, hip thrusts are absolutely fantastic. Squats, thrusts, and deads and you are on your way to a sweet lower body. Of course, caloric intake to match your goals.
  • randomtai
    randomtai Posts: 9,003 Member
    Also Bret Contreras, Strong Curves is good... I love my booty :bigsmile:
  • NRSPAM
    NRSPAM Posts: 961 Member
    My knees are horrible, but squats don't usually bother me, unless I use poor form. Remember, bootie out, don't let your knees go past your ankles, and push up through your heel. ;) You want to kick it up a notch? Grab a barbell, throw some weights on there, and squat with it. Let it rest on your shoulder blades. If you get to where you can squat with a good bit of weight, but it's difficult for you to lift it and get it off of you, use a weight rack. Fab bootie here! :drinker:
  • Will_Thrust_For_Candy
    Will_Thrust_For_Candy Posts: 6,109 Member
    Also Bret Contreras, Strong Curves is good... I love my booty :bigsmile:

    You and me both....he is a God and it's my most favorite program ever! Hence the thrust recommendation lol
  • marc_santos83
    marc_santos83 Posts: 9
    Goblet squat. Work your goblet squat until you are comfortable with the pattern. You can search it on You tube. It is by far the easiest squat to "understand" without really thinking about it. Once you get it down you can focus on making a "mind muscle" connection to get better contraction out of the glute. Play with foot pressure, usually heel pressure will work, but I still recommend that you push through the ENTIRE foot (foot tripod).
  • livingleanlivingclean
    livingleanlivingclean Posts: 11,751 Member
    I love my squatters bum, and quads....but I also like my in proportion shoulders and back :)

    Competitive bikini/sports models are always wanting a bigger bum, and often train legs twice a week. They don't forget their top half though! :)
  • MercenaryNoetic26
    MercenaryNoetic26 Posts: 2,747 Member
    It is soooooooooo cool. But so are bench press and DLs.
  • Grumbers
    Grumbers Posts: 111 Member
    I'm walking like I lost my donkey because of the number of squats I did at Metafit on Wednesday.

    If that's cool, then yes, it's cool!
  • roxylola
    roxylola Posts: 540 Member
    Also Bret Contreras, Strong Curves is good... I love my booty :bigsmile:

    You and me both....he is a God and it's my most favorite program ever! Hence the thrust recommendation lol

    And another vote for Brett Conteras Strong Curves. Enjoying it and noticing changes in my booty pretty early on in the program
  • explosivedonut
    explosivedonut Posts: 419 Member
    But have you seen the girls with the nice booties from squatting!?! I'm giving this a second thought. However, since you can't spot lose fat, I am asking, can you spot add muscle? If so, it's time to make my washboard behind into a bubble.

    You can't spot reduce, correct. But you you can spot add muscle! That's how it works. Otherwise all those curl bros would have massive legs instead of little chicken legs! (since we all know curl bros skip leg day. And back day, which are the legs of the upper body.)
  • pcastagner
    pcastagner Posts: 1,606 Member
    My knees are horrible, but squats don't usually bother me, unless I use poor form. Remember, bootie out, don't let your knees go past your ankles, and push up through your heel. ;) You want to kick it up a notch? Grab a barbell, throw some weights on there, and squat with it. Let it rest on your shoulder blades. If you get to where you can squat with a good bit of weight, but it's difficult for you to lift it and get it off of you, use a weight rack. Fab bootie here! :drinker:

    Good job on the bootie, but now you need to learn how to squat. Sounds like you are doing high bar squat with a possible exaggerated arch in the lumbar, and for some reason not letting your knee go past your foot.

    The OP should be going for low bar squats (less pressure in the knees), but only after reading "starting strength".
  • krokador
    krokador Posts: 1,794 Member
    Squats, even relatively heavy, don't hurt my knees at all (although they do get harder when my knees already hurt).

    Now leg presses kinda do. And any form of jumping. I need to work on not banging down so much xD

    I'm with the people suggesting a read through starting strength. But as a few quick pointers:
    - toes pointed out slightly (experiment to see what's comfy for you!),
    - make sure to push the knees out on the way down.
    - Think about pushing the ground away from the bar rather than the bar away from the ground (that's a personal trick of mine. It seems to make my feet more stable).
    - Keep the bar over the mid foot, your abs braced, spine neutral, and you'll be just fine :)
    - Look on the ground a few feet away from you, or at your belly button if you're stuck in front of a mirror.
    - If you can't do the bar yet, do goblet squats. Having something up in front forces you to balance AND keep the abs tight, plus you can push your knees out with your elbows to get a nice stretch. :)
  • DR2501
    DR2501 Posts: 661 Member
    Agree with the poster above that said Goblet Squats, nice way to ease yourself in to squatting with added weight
  • Awesomers
    Awesomers Posts: 144 Member
    Fitness Blender has a good 100 squat routine, which is pretty quick. There's another pilates-type workout on their site that focuses on the thighs and butt without pressure on the knees. I tend to switch back and forth between the two a couple times a week.
  • archaichoney
    archaichoney Posts: 132 Member
    Weighted hip thrusts will smoke your *kitten*. They're awesome.
  • Escape_Artist
    Escape_Artist Posts: 1,155 Member
    :heart: Squats
  • MissingMinnesota
    MissingMinnesota Posts: 7,486 Member
    Another thing that works the booty that you can use as your cardio along with the squats, hip thrust and other strength training is a the stairmill/stairmaster.
  • rileysowner
    rileysowner Posts: 8,337 Member
    Often knee issues with squats are because of bad form such as not pushing your hips back, having your weigh on the balls of your feet instead of the heels, pushing the knees way in front of your toes, and more. Doing squats correctly will usually help with sore knees, although not always. Getting a trainer who can check your form would be ideal.
  • marioalberto1
    marioalberto1 Posts: 142 Member
    my knees used to hurt also when I squatted until I started squatting deep.
  • pcastagner
    pcastagner Posts: 1,606 Member
    my knees used to hurt also when I squatted until I started squatting deep.


    that's because your hamstrings and quads are pulling on the joint equally, creating an essentially close to neutral situation for your knees (but your hips are getting hammered).

    High bar squats and even more so, front squats, will shift some of that to the front of the knee.
  • Hauntinglyfit
    Hauntinglyfit Posts: 5,537 Member
    it works.
    squats and deadlifts.
  • DMZ_1
    DMZ_1 Posts: 2,889 Member
    Squatting is a challenging exercise. I take some bootcamp/HIIT style fitness classes and there's always squatting.
  • meshashesha2012
    meshashesha2012 Posts: 8,329 Member
    My knees are horrible, but squats don't usually bother me, unless I use poor form. Remember, bootie out, don't let your knees go past your ankles, and push up through your heel. ;) You want to kick it up a notch? Grab a barbell, throw some weights on there, and squat with it. Let it rest on your shoulder blades. If you get to where you can squat with a good bit of weight, but it's difficult for you to lift it and get it off of you, use a weight rack. Fab bootie here! :drinker:

    the knee past the ankle thing isn't a hard and fast rule. my knees always go past my ankles and i've been squatting pain free for over 20 years. i also have long femurs, so ..

    also in a proper front squat i honestly dont know how it's possible to not have your knees go past your ankles/toes

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