3 great squat exercises to improve your strength and mobility
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. The squat is part of the holy grail of fitness. It’s one of the first few exercises one learns when they set foot in a gym, or start training at home, or even take an outdoor activity like running or cycling—you just can’t avoid it.
Even the simplest, most conventional version of the squat is such a winner, and has so many additional challenges which could be added to it, that one could get away with just knowing how to do it. But like every other bodyweight exercise, there are variations of the squat that could completely change your strength and mobility levels. Over the last few months, I have not done as many basic squats as I have done variations of it.
To learn some of them, you need time, like the pistol squat, and some of them are more calorie-burning additions to a lifting day, like the jump squats. While using the same foundational principles of the conventional squat, these variations are more targeted towards certain muscles, and are useful on days that you don’t want to just squat, but squat with a goal in mind. Your goal could be to strengthen, to rehabilitate, or to activate fast twitch muscles, depending on your other activity outside of the gym.
The list does not include the two most popular variations which are the front and the back squat. This is the easiest variation to learn. And it’s quite unique as well because it works the inner thighs, taking the load off the quadriceps and onto the adductors.
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