HealthBuilding® Blog » Body Parts http://www.healthbuilding.com/blog The Art & Science of Building a Healthy Body by Dr. William Elliott, Ph.D. Sat, 05 Jun 2010 19:35:14 +0000 en hourly 1 Resistance Training Exercises – The Squat http://www.healthbuilding.com/blog/health-fitness/resistance-training-exercises-%e2%80%93-the-squat.html http://www.healthbuilding.com/blog/health-fitness/resistance-training-exercises-%e2%80%93-the-squat.html#comments Thu, 13 Aug 2009 23:41:56 +0000 Dr. Elliott http://www.healthbuilding.com/blog/?p=57 We all know that exercise is good for our health.  Nonetheless, coming up with productive exercises and performing them properly can be a challenge.  This is especially true when it comes to resistance training exercises.  So, I am going to start posting exercise descriptions and illustrations to introduce some of my favorite resistance training exercises to HealthBuilding.com visitors.  Put these exercises to work to help meet the recommendations in the Federal Physical Activity Guidelines.  Keep in mind that every exercise is not for everyone, so if you come across one that doesn’t work for you, for any reason, try another one.  Let me know if you have an idea for a resistance training exercise to be added the HealthBuilding Blog.  Let’s get started with the Squat:

 Barbell Squat

Barbell Squat
Stand with your feet placed wider than shoulder-width apart while balancing a barbell across your shoulders.  Before you start moving downward, make sure that the barbell is symmetrically placed.  Once you feel comfortably balanced, slowly begin to lower your body.  When you reach the point where your upper legs are parallel to the floor, push back up to the starting point.

Tips and Considerations
- Stay within a fairly comfortable range of motion (ROM).  If you can only go down a quarter of the way, stay within that ROM until you can go deeper.  If you can go lower than the point where your upper legs are parallel to the floor, do so carefully.
- Keep your abdominal muscles tight during this exercise in order to protect your lower back.
- Do not lock your knees out in between repetitions.
- Spotters can place their hands on your hips if you need a bit of help.
- Set the safeties on the squat rack as close to the bottom of your ROM as possible.

Muscles Involved
- Quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes, calves, abs, paraspinals

© – This material is copyrighted and may not be copied, reproduced, or adapted without the express permission of Dr. William L. Elliott, Ph.D.

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