Squats and Deadlifts
Squats are probably the single most common exercise that I see people needing help with in the gym.
People often think they know how to do a proper squat, but sometimes the truth is that they don’t know squat!
The main thing to know about squatting with proper form is that you go all the way down until the top of your thigh is parallel to the ground. That might be lower than you think. You should ask someone to watch you to be sure.
Also keep in mind that your heels should not come off the ground at any point during the lift; third, the movement should be initiated from the hips, not the knees. What I’m saying is, stick your butt out!
A deadlift, to put it simply, involves picking up a weight that’s on the ground in front of you. I’m sure you’ve heard the advice to lift heavy objects with your legs and not your back–that advice is talking about the deadlift! It is a great functional exercise for this reason.
Another way to look at deadlifts is that they are just like squats except that you hold the weight in front of you. The two most common types of deadlifts are the Romanian deadlift and the more traditional Olympic deadlift. The Romanian deadlift involves less knee flexion than the Olympic deadlift.
Romanian deadlifts involve less knee flexion.
Deadlifts work your grip strength and lower back but they also work your hamstrings and glutes. So ladies, you want to make sure you’re getting deadlifts into your workouts!
Make sure you don’t use your back too much on these and that most of your range of motion is at your hamstrings. That means just like squats, stick your butt out when you do a deadlift.
Sometimes I refer to squats, deadlifts, and lunges as “the big three.” They are my three favorite leg exercises!
Check out this video segment on how to do squats:
