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Squats
Men's Fitness, Sept, 2001
To fully develop your legs, you have to perform squats. Not only do they hit your quads, glutes and hamstrings, they also bring more muscles into play than just about any other lift short of the clean-and-jerk. The complexity and overall body involvement of this compound movement, what makes it so beneficial, also make it one of the most potentially dangerous lifts you can perform. Here's how to do it right:
THE RIGHT WAY
START
* Bar resting across traps
* Head up, eyes forward
* Chest out
* Back in its natural alignment
* Feet shoulder-width apart
FINISH
* Head up, eyes forward
* Chest out
* Natural arch of back maintained
* Weight in line with feet
* Drive through heels on the way up
THE WRONG WAY
START & FINISH
* Bar resting on neck stresses cervical spine
* Rounded back stresses lower back
* Weight too far forward takes direct load off leg and glute muscles and places additional stress on lower back
COPYRIGHT 2001 Weider Publications
COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning
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