Optimising Squatting Technique - Essay Example

OPTIMISING EXERCISE TECHNIQUE (SQUATS) By Optimising Exercise Technique (Squats) Introduction Squat is a common mode of exercise that is practiced by entirely all athletes since it is a comprehensive full body exercise. Squatting is achieved by an individual bending the knees and hips with a weight on their upper back. The knees will move slowly in a downward motion until they come lower than the knees in a position known as breaking the parallel. In this position, the hips will be lower than the knees thus achieving the squat. Squats are ideal since they involve all body muscles entirely in doing the exercise (Komi, 2010). Some of the advantages of squats as a mode of exercise are as follows. Squats strengthen critical muscles in the body for instance; soleus, Sartorius, and glutes. They also reinforce the back chain of muscles that include; the hamstring, glute, and calves. Through doing squats as an exercise, an individual will be able to burn calories thus getting rid of extra fats from the body. Squats enhance the general body endurance as they will facilitate accomplishing other tasks and sporting activities (Strossen, 1989). Guidelines on Ideal Squatting Techniques Squatting involves five distinct steps that ought to be to achieve the best results. If squatting is not done in the right manner, it will lead to other problems since the person involved may develop irregular body growth due to lack of balance during the entire course. To begin with, the individual is supposed to grab the bar with a medium grip. The feet should be positioned directly below the bar assuming a perpendicular angle. The bar should be put on the rear shoulder and the traps during the shoulder being up with the upper back muscles remaining tight (Puddu, Giombini, & Selvanetti, 2001). Step 1 The position of the feet parallels to the ground Source: (“How to Do Squats”, 2015) The next step involves unracking the bar from its position by squatting up. It is achieved by the person taking a single backward step with one leg. After the bar has checked into position, you should stand steadily while the hips should lock to ensure maximum stability. Step 2 The bar position Source: (“How to Do Squats”, 2015) Next, the individual should take a deep breath and hold it as he/she prepares to make the squat. The knees are pulled to the side while the hips move backward and downwards. The motion should continue to the point one breaks parallel. Breaking parallel is a position whereby the hips are below the knees (Magill et al., 2014). Step 3 Making the down wards movement Source: (“How to Do Squats”, 2015) The chest is out while the hips assume a backward and downward movement Source: (“How to Do Squats”, 2015) After breaking parallel, you should hold your breath while at the bottom. The entire movement is reversed by driving the hips upwards. The knees should be maintained out with the chest up, and the upper back muscles remaining tightly held to support the body from collapsing. Step 4 Upward movement Source: (“How to Do Squats”, 2015) Once you reach the top, the hips and knees should be locked. Exhale and take a one-second rest and adopt a deep breath again to make the next squat rep. The processes should be repeated until the fifth rep is achieved. With practice, the number of reps should be increased since the more one performs the squats, the more he/she will be in a position to accomplish more reps (Marinovich and Heus, 2005). Squat Techniques Squat stance The squat position should be maintained at a shoulder width from heel to heel. The width of the shoulders should be equivalent to the position to ensure good results from the squatting activity. A narrow squat position is not ideal since it will make the belly come on the path of the legs thus causing difficulties in breaking parallel when squatting down. On the other hand, squat stances that are wider than the shoulder width normally are not good either since they end up hurting the groin. Thus, for maximum strength and benefit from the squats the stance should be equivalent to the width of the shoulder (Gandolfo, 2005). Foot Position Stability is very critical whenever one is doing squats. The toes should be placed in a manner that they assume an angle of thirty degrees out. Both heels should maintain contact with the floor to enhance stability at the same time prevent the knees from being hurt. Knee Position Knees play a fundamental role in squatting since nearly all the movements are dependent on the position and strength of the knees. Thus, the position of the knees will determine the effectiveness of the squats at the same time increase the overall strength during the squatting exercise. Ideally, the knees should be pushed out and maintain the same direction with the feet. Similarly, the thighs should also preserve the orientation of the knee with the hip muscles assuming the entire weight. Squatting while the knees are forward is wrong as it can result in difficulty in breaking parallel when squatting down. Additionally, pushing the knees forward will lead to front hip pain because the femur will imply the ileum. An individual will tend to squat less with the knees kept forward since the exercise will engage less groin that means fewer muscles will be involved in the whole process (Sandler, 2005). Squat Grip To ensure an ideal grip is maintained throughout the exercise, the upper back should be squeezed by pinching the shoulder blades. The back muscles should be between the bar and the skin, so s to provide support for the weight that is exerted on the upper back. If one maintains a narrow squat grip, it becomes easier to squeeze the top back harder thus making it an idea to balance the weight on the upper back muscles. However, a medium grip is recommended to enable bench press. In cases whereby it is difficult to achieve a medium squat grip it is often recommended that the individual should engage in daily shoulder dislocation exercises to enhance the flexibility of the joints to enable a medium grip in future squats (Kennedy and Yoke, 2014). Squat Bar Position The block should be kept below the traps and above the shoulder muscles to ensure more muscles are utilized during the exercise thus enabling the individual involved to get much stronger. However, it should not be kept in a lower position since the bar will easily slide to the back thus resulting in stress being exerted on the elbows and wrists. Additionally, the bar should be maintained at a centre position to avoid leaning on either side. If it leans, on the one hand, it will hurt the knees, hips or lower back since that side will be overworked. Squat Depth The depth of the squat determines to what extent the knees move down to break parallel. Ideally, one should squat to the point the hip crease is lower than the top of the knees when being observed from the side. However, the squat depth should not be so profound that the butt touches the ankles since the lower back will round resulting in the spine getting hurt (Sandler, 2005). Practical Application of Squatting Squat is often regarded as the most efficient way to refine the body’s functional movements for development purposes in athletes to enhance performance as well as prevent injuries. The fact that squatting exercises engage all body portions entirely it enables holistic refreshment to the bones and muscles thus forming a foundation for higher body function. The squat mechanism on its own is a preamble technique for all athletes as it enables them to develop a maximum force that will propel other movements such as diving jumping running just to name but a few. Ideally, the concept of squat technique was often regarded as an exercise to pass the time but with developments in the areas sitting as grown to be a fundamental technique that is critical to all sporting activities. Athletes need to perform squats to prepare their bodies for rigorous sporting activities since the bones and muscles will have been refined for higher exercises (Mootz and McCarthy, 1999). Ideal Squat Program Warm up Back and leg stretch 5 minutes Squat 1*10 reps 60kg 10-15 kg jump 1-5 reps up to the workout weight Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week4 Week5 Week 6 Tuesday 4*8 70% 4*6 80% 3*5 85% 3*3 90% 2*3 95% 2*2 100% Friday 2*8 50% 2*8 60% 2*8 70% 1*8 70% 1*8 70% REST Sets * reps at the percentage of 1RM The table above denotes the standard squat training program that is followed by discus throwers. In the first week, the athlete performs four sets of eight repetitions at a seventy percent of RM. The athlete will progress through a six-week training session until he/she can be able to achieve two sets of two repetitions at one hundred percent of the RM. The squat program consists of two training days in a week that is Tuesday that is considered to be a heavy day based on the magnitude of training and Friday which is a medium day to allow the athlete recovery time. Such a program challenges the athlete to develop and apply strength on a broad range of multiple joint movements at a progressive velocity thus resulting in increased performance in the sporting activities. A high magnitude of explosive power is the result of such a program in sporting activities. References Gandolfo, C. (2005). The woman triathlete: [technique, equipment, and training advice tailored to your needs]. Champaign (IL), Human Kinetics. How To Do Squats And Lunges. Available at: http://www.wikihow.com/Do-Squats-and-Lunges Kennedy, C. A., & Yoke, M. M. (2014). Methods of group exercise instruction. Komi, P. V., 2010. The Encyclopaedia of Sports Medicine An IOC Medical Commission Publication, Volume XVII, Neuromuscular Aspects of Sports Performance. New York, NY, John Wiley & Sons. Available at: http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:101:1-201410295191. [Accessed on 3 July 15.] Magill, P., Schwartz, T., Breyer, M., & Hernández Aldana, D. (2014). 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