Why You Should Squat
Summary
TLDRThis video script delves into the anatomy of squatting, highlighting its status as a comprehensive exercise engaging multiple muscle groups. It discusses the roles of muscles around the ankle, knee, and hip during squats, emphasizing the importance of proper breathing and core engagement for spinal protection. The script also touches on the involvement of lesser-known muscles like the pelvic floor and diaphragm, and hints at a follow-up video exploring individual differences in squatting ability.
Takeaways
- 👑 The squat is considered the 'king of exercises' due to its high intensity and the large number of muscles involved.
- 🦿 Squats involve complex movements around the ankle, knee, and hip joints, with specific muscles contracting differently during the descent and ascent.
- 🦶 The gastrocnemius and soleus muscles in the calves are active during squats, even though they are not typically thought of as the primary focus.
- 🦵 The quadriceps, consisting of the vastus lateralis, vastus medialis, rectus femoris, and vastus intermedius, are heavily involved in knee movement during squats.
- 🌐 The hamstrings and gluteus maximus are primarily responsible for hip movement, with eccentric and concentric contractions controlling the descent and ascent of the squat.
- 🌬 Proper breathing is crucial for protecting the spine during squats, with the diaphragm and pelvic floor muscles playing key roles in stabilizing the lumbo-pelvic region.
- 💪 Core stabilizers such as the external oblique, internal oblique, and transverse abdominis are essential for maintaining spinal integrity during the squat.
- 🧘♂️ Spinal extensors, including the iliocostalis, longissimus, and spinalis muscles, help maintain an erect spine and prevent flexion during squats.
- 🤔 The adductor magnus muscle, particularly its adductor head, plays a significant role in hip adduction and contributes to the squat movement.
- 🚫 It's important to avoid improper breathing techniques that could compromise stability and increase the risk of injury during squats.
- 🔍 The script suggests that understanding the anatomy and biomechanics of squats can lead to improved performance and reduced risk of injury.
Q & A
Why is the squat often referred to as the 'king of exercises'?
-The squat is often called the 'king of exercises' because it involves a high intensity and a large number of muscles, making it a highly effective compound exercise for overall strength and muscle development.
What are the three main joints of the lower limb involved in a squat?
-The three main joints of the lower limb involved in a squat are the ankle, knee, and hip joints, each of which moves through a range of motion during the squat.
What is dorsal flexion of the ankle and how is it involved in squatting?
-Dorsal flexion of the ankle is when the top of the foot comes towards the sky, as if pulling the foot off a gas pedal. In a squat, the ankle moves into dorsal flexion when lowering down and into plantar flexion when standing up.
Which muscles are primarily active during the ankle movement in a squat?
-The muscles primarily active during the ankle movement in a squat are the gastrocnemius and the soleus, which are part of the calf muscles.
What are the four individual muscles that make up the quadriceps (quads)?
-The four individual muscles that make up the quadriceps are the vastus lateralis, vastus medialis, rectus femoris, and vastus intermedius.
How do the quadriceps muscles contract differently when lowering down and standing up from a squat?
-When lowering down in a squat, the quadriceps muscles undergo an eccentric contraction, actively lengthening to control the movement. When standing up, they undergo a concentric contraction, shortening to extend the knee.
What is the role of the hamstring muscles in a squat?
-In a squat, the hamstring muscles primarily work at the hip. They eccentrically contract when going into hip flexion (lowering down) and concentrically contract to bring the body up into hip extension.
How does the gluteus maximus muscle contribute to the squat movement?
-The gluteus maximus muscle eccentrically contracts during hip flexion (lowering down in a squat) and concentrically contracts to extend the hip, helping to stand up from the squat.
What are the core stabilizers and spinal extensors that help protect the spine during squatting?
-Core stabilizers like the external and internal obliques and the transverse abdominis help stabilize the lumbo-pelvic region. Spinal extensors, such as the erector spinae group (iliocostalis, longissimus, and spinalis), help maintain an erect spine during squatting.
How does proper breathing during a squat help protect the spine and improve performance?
-Proper breathing during a squat, by creating increased pressure in the abdominal cavity, helps to reinforce the abdominal muscles and stabilize the lumbo-pelvic region, thus protecting the spine and potentially allowing for more effective squatting.
What is the role of the adductor magnus muscle in squatting and why might it cause soreness in the inner thighs?
-The adductor magnus muscle is involved in adduction of the hip and also contributes to hip movement during a squat. It eccentrically contracts when going into hip flexion and concentrically contracts to help stand up. Its involvement in deep squats can lead to soreness in the inner thighs.
Outlines
🏋️ Anatomy of Squatting
This paragraph delves into the squat exercise, often hailed as the 'king of exercises' due to its intensity and the extensive muscle engagement it requires. The focus is on the anatomy of squatting, highlighting the muscles involved and how they contract differently during the descent and ascent of the squat. It emphasizes the importance of proper breathing to protect the spine and enhance squat performance. The paragraph covers the roles of the ankle, knee, and hip joints, and the muscles that mobilize them, including the gastrocnemius, soleus, quadriceps, and intrinsic foot muscles. It also introduces the concept of concentric, eccentric, and isometric muscle contractions.
🦵 Muscles in Posterior Thigh and Core Stabilization
This section examines the muscles in the posterior thigh, specifically the hamstrings, and their role in squatting, primarily at the hip rather than the knee. It also discusses the gluteus maximus, one of the largest muscles in the human body, and its function in hip extension during the squat. The paragraph further addresses the importance of core stabilization for spine protection when squatting, especially under load. Core muscles such as the external and internal obliques and the transversus abdominis are highlighted for their role in stabilizing the lumbopelvic region. Additionally, the paragraph introduces spinal extensors, including the erector spinae group, which are crucial for maintaining an erect spine during squats.
💨 Breathing Techniques and Pelvic Floor Engagement
The paragraph discusses the significance of proper breathing techniques in squatting for both spine protection and performance enhancement. It explains how to breathe downward into the belly and brace the core as if preparing for an abdominal punch, creating intra-abdominal pressure that reinforces the lumbopelvic region. The role of the pelvic floor muscles and the diaphragm in this process is explored, emphasizing their importance in stabilizing the spine and enhancing the squat's effectiveness. The adductor magnus muscle is introduced as an often overlooked muscle that contributes to squat performance and can cause post-workout soreness in the inner thighs.
📚 Conclusion and Future Content Tease
In conclusion, the paragraph summarizes the importance of squatting as a high-reward exercise due to its engagement of multiple joints and muscles. It thanks viewers for their support and teases upcoming content, including a follow-up video on squatting and another on back pain prevention during squats. The paragraph also invites viewers to engage in the comments section and look forward to the next video, which will provide further insights into squatting and individual body types' suitability for the exercise.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Squat
💡Anatomy
💡Muscle Contraction
💡Quadriceps
💡Hamstrings
💡Gluteus Maximus
💡Dorsal Flexion
💡Core Stabilizers
💡Erector Spinae
💡Pelvic Floor
💡Diaphragm
💡Adductor Magnus
Highlights
The squat is often called the 'king of all exercises' due to its intensity and the large number of muscles involved.
Squats engage almost everyone should include some form of squatting in their exercise routine.
The anatomy of squatting involves the cavers to show the majority of the surprising muscles involved.
Breathing properly during squats can protect the spine and improve squat performance.
Dorsal flexion and plantar flexion of the ankle are key joint movements during squats.
The gastrocnemius and soleus muscles are active during squats, even though they are often overlooked.
Intrinsic foot muscles become more active when squatting barefoot.
The quadriceps, consisting of four individual muscles, are primarily involved in knee mobility during squats.
Eccentric and concentric contractions of the quads are crucial for controlling the squat movement.
The hamstring muscles are primarily working at the hip during squats, not just the knee.
The gluteus maximus contracts eccentrically and concentrically to facilitate hip extension in squats.
Core stabilizers like the external oblique, internal oblique, and transversus abdominis are essential for spine protection during squats.
Spinal extensors, such as the erector spinae group, help maintain an erect spine during squats.
The pelvic floor muscles and diaphragm work together to increase abdominal pressure and stabilize the spine during squats.
Proper breathing technique during squats is vital for spine protection and squat effectiveness.
The adductor magnus muscle is involved in hip adduction and plays a significant role in squatting.
The video will also cover how body type and certain muscles can affect squat performance in future content.
Transcripts
the squat is often nicknamed the king of
all exercises and this is because there
are few other exercises that compare to
the squat as far as intensity and the
sheer number of muscles that are
required to perform this movement which
means you could definitely make the
argument that almost everyone should
include some form of squatting as part
of their exercise routine So today we're
going to dive deep into the anatomy of
squatting by using the cavers to show
you the majority of the surprising
muscles involved with squats how those
muscles have to contract differently
when lowering down versus Rising back up
and even discuss how breathing properly
can protect your spine and also make you
a better squatter we've definitely got
some anatomical awesomeness to cover so
let's do
this so when we're talking about the
squat we'll focus mainly on three joints
of the lower limb as well as talk about
stabilizing the spine but when I go down
to say like a barbell squat position if
I lower down we'd look at my ankle my
ankle would be in what's called dorsal
flexion and if you haven't heard of
dorsal flexion before when your foot's
off the ground dorsal flexions when the
top of the foot comes Towards the Sky
like when you're pulling your foot off
the gas pedal but in a squat position
because the foot's planted that movement
comes because the tibia slides over the
foot now when I come back down again to
that lower position dorsal flexion of
the ankle my knee is flexed and then my
hip is flexed but when I stand up my
ankle goes into a little bit of plantar
flexion the knee knee extends and the
hip extends now the reason I went over
those joint movements is because there
are multiple muscles or specific muscles
I should say they're going to be
involved in mobilizing or moving each
one of those joints so let's start with
the muscles that mobilize the ankle now
admittedly most people don't think about
working their calves when squatting but
these muscles are technically active
during a squat so let's quickly cover
some of the main ones here you can see
the most superficial muscle of the
posterior calf called the gastrock nemus
as well as part of the Sol with which
most of it lies deep to the gastrus so
on this side we've removed the superior
bellies or Superior portion of the
gastrock so you can see the upper
portion of that Solus kind of looks like
a soulfish here now how are these
muscles active during a squat now I
often like to show students the length
changes that occur with a muscle kind of
using a rubber band throughout various
movements or certain exercise movements
and so let's use this rubber band as we
go down into a squat position now
remember we already talked about the
ankle going into dorsal flexion when I
lower down and then plantar flexion when
I come up and so the gastrock and Solus
how they would be active as I go down
into the squat especially the Solus
because my knee gets bent we're going to
see that these muscles will
eccentrically contract or lengthen as
I'm stretching the rubber band there and
as we stand up into plantar flexion
those muscles will concentrically
contract or get shorter now I'll get
into more detail about concentric
eccentric and isometric contractions
when we talk about the thigh but what's
crazy about this is that we could
technically get into even more muscles
that are active during a squat
especially like the intrinsic foot
muscles like if you were to even squat
Barefoot those foot muscles would become
even more active now there are 12
intrinsic foot muscles on the bottom of
the foot or the sole of the foot so
we're going to actually save the foot
muscles for a foot dedicated video but
again most of the muscles that we're
talking about down in the calf and the
foot aren't going to be the main focus
of the squat because most most people
think about those thigh muscles being
engaged during a squat especially these
anterior thigh muscles that we call the
quads technically the quadriceps quad
means four seps means heads so we're
going to actually see the quads are made
up of four individual muscles we have
the vastest lateralis out here on the
side we have the vastest medialis on the
inside and then the rectus florus here
and the fourth quad muscle that we'll
see is if I slide that rectus Fus out of
the way you can see underneath there
there's another muscle and I'll touch it
with the tip of the probe and this is
called the vast
intermedius now the quads are primarily
going to be involved in mobilizing the
knee during a squat so let's Orient this
rubber band as if it's one of the Quad
muscles and as I lower down to that
flexed or again lowered position you can
see the rubber band actually lengthens
this would be considered an eccentric
contraction of the quads eccentric
contractions are when the muscles are
actively lengthening think of it as like
controlling the movement controlling
ourselves down and as an FYI our muscles
tend to really respond well to Centric
loading from a strength and hypertrophy
perspective but let's say I decided to
hold the bottom of the squat which I'm
doing now and feeling a little bit of
the burn this would be considered an
isometric contraction the muscle's
active but not changing its length but
when we need to stand up and extend the
knee with the quads the quads will
shorten and we call that a concentric
contraction but let's go back to some of
the thigh muscles specifically the
muscles on the posterior thigh and we
can take a look at these on the Cav by
magically flipping the Cav over so here
you can see we've turned the body over
we're looking at a posterior view of the
thigh and we've got the hamstrings on
both sides here and let me actually hook
the hamstrings with the probe here and
you can see we've got three muscles that
actually make up each hamstring we've
got the biceps forus the semiosis and
look at why it got called the semiosis
you can see this long cylindrical Tenon
this is an FYI the semiosis Tenon can be
used as an ACL graft and then we have
the
semimembranosus and you can see why it
got its name membran is because of this
membrane wide broad tendon here now the
hamstrings do mobilize the knee with
certain movements but in the case of the
squat they're primarily going to be
working at The Hip now I apologize that
you're going to have to deal with the
back side of my body here for a second
but let's put the rubber band In the
orientation of one of the hamstrings and
as we come down into hip flexion the
hamstrings will eccentrically contract
on the way down but then concentrically
contract shortening and bringing us up
into hip extension the gluteus Max
Maximus does something similar but let
me show you the gluteus maximus you can
see it here on the left side as well as
here on the right one of the largest
muscles in the human body so in the case
of the squat if I make my makeshift
rubber band glutitis Maximus similar to
the hamstrings as we come down into hip
flexion the glutitis Maximus will
eccentrically contract and then when we
come back up it'll shorten or
concentrically contract to bring us up
into hip extension and so that takes
care of the main muscles involved in the
squat at the knee and the hip but we
also need to protect our spine when
we're squatting especially if we're
loading up with a barbell we don't want
to be twisting or folding forward at the
lumbar spine or anywhere at the spine
for that matter and so we need some core
stabilizers and some extensor muscles
for the spine some core stabilizers like
the external oblique is active as well
as the internal oblique and another
muscle called the trans verus abdominis
which helps us to kind of create this
natural weight belt in our abdomen to
really stabilize I our lumbo pelvic
region and protect that spine now I did
mention some spinal extensors spinal
extensors would do a movement so let me
show you what flexion looks like flexion
of the spine looks like this I'm trying
not to get my hips involved because that
would be something else but your spinal
extensors will contract and pull you
upright and keep your spine erect in
this position that we want our spine to
maintain as we go down with a squat
especially for loading with the barbell
or some other form of weight but let me
show you these spinal extensors on this
CAD Cav dissection so to orient you to
this particular Cav dissection you're
looking at a posterior view or the back
side of the body and we've removed some
pretty familiar muscles on this right
side like the lausus dorsi the lats have
been removed the trapezius often
nicknamed the traps has been removed and
obviously you can see the right upper
limbs been removed to expose these long
strapl likee muscles that are part of
this erector spiny group and they're the
true back muscles and what I mean by the
true back muscles is they actually
mobilize the spine with that spinal
extension that I showed just a second
ago but there again are three muscles in
this erector spiny group we have the
ilio costalis between my probe then we
have the longissimus and then we have
the spinalis right along the spine here
now I'll often give my students little
pneumonics to help them remember the
names of certain muscles like these
because one starts with i another starts
with L and another one starts with s we
would often say I love school or I love
soccer but the pneumonic that seemed to
stick the most with students for some
reason was I love sex and I guess that
makes a little bit more sense because
they are part of the erector spiny Group
after all but what's remarkable about
all of this is all the muscles that are
involved in creating this amazing
compound exercise movement that we call
the squat and so we might as well add
two other muscles to this list because
these muscles are going to be extremely
important for protecting us and we don't
think about these muscles really when we
squat but they are very important and
one's technically a muscle group and
that muscle group is the pelvic floor
the pelvic floor muscles form this bowl
within your pelvis and they help to
support your pelvic organs and they also
contain some sphincters like a urethal
sphincter so you can control when you
pee and choose to when you choose to pee
when you want to pee and they also are
engaged when you contract your abdominal
muscles so think about Contracting the
obliques and the transverses that we
talked about earlier and that will also
Shore up that pelvic floor but let's
pause on the pelvic floor muscles for
just a second because they are going to
work in conjunction with the next muscle
the diaphragm so you can see the
diaphragm here it's this Dome shaped
muscle and we T typically think of the
diaphragm is the breathing muscle
because it is the breathing muscle and
so when the diaphragm contracts it pulls
down in this direction and that will
increase the volume of the thoracic
cavity and so if we have more space up
here that allows air to rush in and fill
the lungs with more air because now they
have more available space to fill when
the diaphragm pulls down in this
direction but what happens when the
diaphragm pulls down in this Direction
let me show you on this angle let's say
this hand is the pelvic floor and this
is shored up because we're Contracting
it with the abdominal muscles and the
diaphragm contracts and pushes downward
that's going to increase the pressure in
that abdominal cavity you can see kind
of how that would work by pushing
downward we're going to increase the
pressure here and we actually want to
increase the pressure with in the
abdominal cavity while we squat think of
as think of it as if we increase the
pressure in here the abdominal muscles
are going to have more to reinforce
themselves on or to kind of push against
if you will and so that will help us to
shore up even more our lumbo pelvic
region and to stabilize and protect our
spine now one thing that I want to talk
about is how to breathe now you don't
want to get a bar on your back when
you're squatting and do some weird
breathing where you're like opening up
your ribs and shrugging your shoulders
up or anything like that you want to
think of almost like breathing downward
into your belly and so how you could
test to do this is if you put your
fingers on your obliques and you breathe
properly like a lot of people do it in
through their
nose you want to kind of feel
your abdominal muscles wanting to push
out but when you squat think of these
two words breathe and brace so if you're
at the top of the squat you're going to
breathe Embrace and think of almost like
bracing like if somebody's going to
punch you in the stomach because if you
knew somebody was going to punch you in
the stomach
you'd and you'd brace that and that's
kind of what you want to do with the
squat here so if I get the barbell on my
back here again we're going to think
breathe and brace so breathe in and hold
go
down now the exhale is you can start to
Exhale when you get close to the top of
the squat or you can wait till you get
to the very top but you don't want to
breathe out all your
air when you're at the bottom and most
vulnerable because then you're going to
lose that connection in your lumbo
pelvic region and not be able able to
stabilize your spine so it's pretty
incredible to think that breathing
properly one will help you to protect
your lumbo pelvic region and two you'll
likely be able to be a more effective
squatter and potentially even squat more
W weight obviously safely now again the
pelvic floor and the diaphragm are
muscles that you could kind of think of
as protecting you and making you a more
effective squatter but again we
typically think of the thigh muscles and
the glutes as the muscles that were
really working with the squat and there
is one last muscle I do want to talk
about with squatting and it's a muscle
people don't typically think about and
this muscle will also be important for
our next video called built the squat
because we're also going to do a video
on why some people might be a little bit
better built for squatting than others
but let's talk about this last muscle
have you ever done a squat workout and
afterwards you've noticed like the
inside of your thighs are sore well you
can think a muscle called the adductor
Magnus for that soreness abductor
because this muscle will be involved in
adduction of the hip which is bringing
the hip into towards the midline and
Magnus because it's a huge muscle now
this adductor Magnus does more than just
getting involved in adducting the hips
it does something very important for
squatting and let me show you this
muscle on this cadav section so I
actually need to glove up for this one
because I need to move the hamstrings
out of the way but you can see this big
muscle called the adductor Magnus here
on the left and you can even see it over
here on the right now there's two heads
to this muscle one of the heads the
fibers are more oblique or in a diagonal
orientation going in this way towards
the femur on both sides if I showed you
on me be going in like so on my left and
going in like this on my right but the
other head that you can see specifically
right here is called the cond head and
this head's very important as an FYI
it's called the cond head because it
attaches to this bump called the
adductor tubric on the medial cond dile
of the femur hence called the cond head
but this cond head the fibers are not
oriented in that oblique Direction
they're going more vertically mimicking
the fiber orientation of the hamstrings
and so this cond head is very important
to mobilizing the hip of the squat as
well and so when we talk about the
adductor Magnus it's very similar to
what the hamstrings would do again I
apologize for the backside view again
but if we were to do this the adductor
Magnus will also eccentrically contract
when we go into hip flexion and then
concentrically contract to help bring us
up and it gets even more active or more
worked the deeper you go in a squat and
this muscle can get a little bit
involved in limiting some of your
movements depending on your body type
but we're going to wait and talk more
about how your body type and certain
muscles like the adduct or Magnus can
affect how you squat in our next squat
video which will also cover why some
people could be a little bit better
built for squatting than others but more
importantly what you can do to make
yourself a better squatter regardless of
your body type so stay tuned for that
next video but hopefully today's video
helped to give you a strong anatomical
foundation on squatting and why
squatting can be such a bang for buck
exercise just based on all the joints
and muscles required to perform this
exercise movement so thanks for watching
and supporting the channel if you are
watching this video a week or two after
we released it I'll link the next squat
video here as well as link a video on
back pain to help motivate you to
protect your back during squatting and
I'll see you down in the comments and in
the next video
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