Photo by Sergio Pedemonte on Unsplash
The squat exercise challenge is a way for you to start your fitness health journey. Many times you begin to work out with the goal of weight loss in mind and then become discouraged with your progress. When focused on the habit, workouts are much more sustainable.
I began this fitness squat challenge to build a sustainable healthy workout habit. A 30-day challenge feels like the right amount of time to set and maintain a new practice. I completed this challenge, and now I will review what it did to my body.
What Is a Compound Exercise?
A compound exercise is any movement where you use more than one muscle group at a time. You feel “the burn” in most muscles.
There are three primary compound exercises; many nickname them the Big 3. These three workout routines are squats, bench presses, and deadlifts.
For many bodybuilders, compound exercises form a great deal of their workout routines.
Squats
If you worked out in the gym, at home alone, or with a video, you have done at least one squat before. Trainers often suggest this exercise as a way to build strength. I did basic bodyweight squats.
You can research thousands of squat positions on the internet. And use the one you feel most comfortable doing. Be sure to hold your position as the instruction directs to keep pressure off your knee and back.
Squats are well-known as an all-in-one exercise. They target both thighs and glutes, but you also have to tuck in your arms. A lot of muscles are at work here.
To form the habit, I recommend you keep it simple. Start with the basic bodyweight squat. You get practice holding the proper form. Plus, you also build stamina.
Squats are an essential exercise. Thus, many workout programs include this movement because squats have several benefits for the human body.
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Benefits of Squats
Enhance Your Strength
This motion helps to strengthen your leg muscles and improves your agility. All compound exercises strengthen your general body. But squats have an advantage over all these other exercises. It also helps you gain stronger back muscles.
Straighter Posture
Squats strengthen back muscles. This change often leads to improved posture long term. You will sit, stand, and walk more upright with ease as your core and back become stronger.
Improves Fitness by Burning Calories
Most movements burn calories. What does science say about the effect of squats? You can burn eight (8) calories for every minute you spend doing a bodyweight squat. On average, one person can do 25 bodyweight squats in a minute.
You can intensify your squats by adding weights via a barbell. This approach also helps you burn calories faster. The Harvard Medical School researched this topic. The researchers found that a 155-pound person could burn 252 calories in 30 minutes.
Thus squats of both low and high-impact are a powerful aerobic workout routine. Depending on the range of motion, squats can be high or low-intensity workouts. The Harvard researchers found that both forms of this aerobic exercise will burn maximum calories.
Especially Strengthens Lower Muscles
Squats help improve the strength of most muscles, including your back and core.
You also have to place your feet firmly on the ground. And lift using your arms and leg strength. These primary muscles get stronger. These muscles include glutes, quadriceps, hamstrings, calves, hip flexors, and adductors. Thus, the mobility of people who do squats tends to improve.
Photo by Sergio Pedemonte on Unsplash
My Results of the 30 Squats for 30-Days Challenge
The challenge helped me form a healthy habit of exercise. I worked out around the same time every day for 30 days. I feel a change in my body, but the results are not yet visible. A longer squat period would make the difference more pronounced.
- For the first five (5) days, it was hard to do repetitions (reps) without breaks every few minutes. I can now perform at least 30 consecutive bodyweight squats with a proper form.
- I can take an average of 45 seconds to do 20 squats.
- To go easy on my knees, I did 100 squats in 30 minutes. The reps were fours sets of 25 squats.
- My core and thighs feel more toned, but the visible difference is minimal.
- My back feels a lot better when I stand for long periods. I also sit more upright when at my desk.
Conclusion
You will feel a change in your body regardless of your fitness level. You might not see the physical difference in your body. But you will feel more toned, confident, and experience less back pain.
This content is accurate and true to the best of the author’s knowledge and is not meant to substitute for formal and individualized advice from a qualified professional.
© 2022 Kandice Fyffe