Change up your squat game.
Leg day. It’s perhaps every athlete’s nightmare, the most dreaded day of the week. Why? Because it focuses a great deal on the king of all lifts, the squat. Squats are essential for any kind of athlete from a bodybuilder to a mixed martial artist to a basketball player. Squats are an absolutely essential part of any routine and serves multiple purposes. You can use it for hypertrophy or in order to build better overall strength. Whichever way you choose to use squats you’re going to experience some great benefits.
Most people use back squats as their primary squatting exercise, but it’s not the only way to build up lower body definition and strength. There are other squatting variations that can be just as helpful to muscle and strength development. Take a look at these squat variations and try to supplement them into your usual routine.
Front Squat
Why: So what makes the front squat so special anyway? Well it provides for more a full body workout than any other variation on this list. Front squats employ multiple muscle groups besides the legs including the upper and lower back as well as your core. It helps with building up these muscle groups as well as providing a great tool for strength gains.
Zercher Squat
Why: Like the front squat, the Zercher squat is more of a multi-purpose exercise that can translate over to other exercises. The positioning of your legs during this squat favors the stance of a regular or sumo deadlift. It’s ultimately a great tool for building strength and aptitude in the classic compound movement and will have you deadlifting more weight in no time.
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Bulgarian Split Squat
Hack Squat
Why: This movement is another that will ultimately help you in a variety of different ways. Because you start the lift from the floor it has the same effect as a deadlift and that means it will build tremendous lower body strength. This lift will also help to build some quality muscle in the quads as well.
Article via the experts at GenerationIron.com