Here at Tom’s Guide Fitness Desk, we love weird workout challenges more than anything. Looking for inspiration, I found her 90 squat challenge from Kayla Itsines, her CEO and trainer at Sweat app. Squats are a great exercise to work your gluteus maximus, gluteus medius, gluteus minimus, quadriceps, hamstrings, hip flexors, calves, and core. Squats can be done with just your body weight or you can add the best resistance bands or adjustable dumbbells for extra intensity.
I often do squats as part of my workout routine, so I decided to use Kayla Itsines’ 90 Squat Challenge to finish off my workout. The goal is to move as fast as you can while maintaining good form and record your time as a fitness metric. The entire workout took her less than five minutes, but it was a reminder of how versatile the humble squat is in terms of targeting different muscles in the lower body.
how to squat
Let’s start with how to do a bodyweight squat with perfect form.
- Stand with your feet hip-width or shoulder-width apart.You can set the foot position a little wider
- Point your toes slightly outward at a 45 degree angle, or forward if more comfortable.train your core
- Bend your knees and move your hips back as if you were sitting in a chair directly below you.
- As you squat, press your knees outward so that they pass directly over your middle toes, distributing your weight across your feet.
- Keep your chest up, look straight ahead, and keep your back flat.Avoid rounding and rounding the spine
- Lower until your thighs are parallel to the floor, your knees are in line with your toes, your heels are on the floor, your spine is neutral, and your heels are pressed to come back up.
Click here for details How to squat and mistakes in form to watch out for.
What is the 90 squat challenge?
As you can imagine, this squat challenge involves performing 10 repetitions of 9 different squat variations. The squats on the list are:
Bodyweight squat: Follow the step-by-step instructions above to do bodyweight squats. Be sure to engage your core and tighten your glutes at the top of the move.
Sumo Squat: Sumo squats mimic the poses of sumo wrestlers, moving the legs into a wider stance. To perform a sumo squat, stand with your feet wider than hip-width apart and your toes angled away from your body. Aim for about 45 degrees. Look at your knees to make sure they are still directly over your feet. Next, engage your core, lightly clasp your hands at chest height, push your hips back and bend your knees into a squat position. Keep your back straight and face forward. Continue lowering until your thighs are parallel to the floor.
Squat pulse: To do the squat pulse, squat down and stop at the bottom of the squat. Stand up a few inches, then squat down again. Continue pulsing at the bottom of the squat to keep your posture low throughout. Do not allow your body to rise to the starting position.
pop squat: Pop squats or jump squats can help get your heart rate up. To perform a pop squat, place your legs hip-width apart, work your core, and then squat down. Push off the floor at the bottom of the squat and jump explosively. Land from a jump and crouch.
Weighted squat: This exercise requires some weight. This is best done with adjustable dumbbells, kettlebells, or weight plates. Hold the weight in both hands at chest height. Strengthening his core, he completes 10 squats. Weight adds strength.
Double pulse weighted squat: Hold the dumbbells in your hands and now complete a double pulse each time you squat, raising them a few inches and then squatting back down. After completing two pulses, push your feet back to the starting position.
Narrow squat: Narrow squats target the quads more than regular wide squat stances. In this variation, bring your feet together with the toes of both feet facing forward. From here, keep your abs engaged and push your glutes back into a squat, then push your legs out to return to the starting position.
Squat and oblique crunch: For this variation, start in a wide squat stance with your hands at your temples and your elbows out to your sides. Squat down while keeping your core strong, and lift one knee up to your torso as you rise from the squat. At the same time, bring your opposite elbow in front of your chest and tap your knee. Keep switching sides.
From squats to lunges: Finally, for this exercise, complete the squat and step one leg back to complete the lunge while pushing into the floor to return to the starting position. Continue to switch lunging legs.
I Did This 90 Squat Challenge – Here’s What I Learned
It took me less than 5 minutes to complete this 90 squat challenge, but it’s a great reminder of how versatile the squat exercise can be. I found that some variations worked the glutes considerably more than others. Pop squats, I’m looking at you, but switching to the narrow stance really worked the quads. I enjoyed this variation of the challenge and could feel it in my lower body after 90 repetitions.
Squats are not only a great lower body exercise, they also strengthen your core. This is because you need to work your midsection to stabilize your torso while you are moving.In fact one 2018 survey We found that the back squat resulted in higher core muscle activation than the plank.
A strong lower body and core is important for runners like me and it helps improve running form and reduce injuries. The glutes are the largest and strongest muscles in the body, but many runners tend not to use them while running, so hopefully building glutes strength will pay off in their next race. increase. I will definitely repeat this squat challenge in the future.
