Performing The Squat

Many people know the squat and either do one of two things, neglect to carry out squats in their training regime or carry them out with really bad form just to look like they are lifting heavy weights.

The squat is one of the three exercises of Powerlifting and an important movement in many of the exercises in the world of weight lifting so its interesting that many a visitor to the gym neglect this important exercise.

When performing a squat you are primarily working the quads and glutes but you are also using the hamstrings, calves and to a lesser extent the lower back as secondary muscles.

There are many types of squat but the main squat carried out is just called the squat (other variations have extra names in the exercise such as Bulgarian squat or Hack squat).

Squat

Equipment - Barbell bar, power cage and weights

Preparation - Hold bar with an over hand grip about shoulder width apart with the bar held (not resting) at the back of the neck and your feet about shoulder width apart.

Movement - Bend your legs at the knee and hips so you lower your body towards the ground while keeping your torso relatively upright and your back straight, once you have lowered to a reasonable level reverse the movement you have made to return to a standing position...again keeping the back straight...very important as we dont want injuries!

Reps/Sets 8 to 12 reps for 4 sets

Below is a video showing the correct form for the squat exercise

Beginners Chest Workout

Its time to show you the beginners chest workout (thats unless you have downloaded my free weight training plan). This beginners chest workout also includes to tricep exercises, this is because when training your chest it is the best time to train your triceps also as they are a secondary muscle group when training your chest.

This is the best beginners chest workout available and if done correctly once a week you should see huge gains in strength within twelve weeks. Not only this you will also start to get a chest that will keep you staring at yourself because it will increase in size greatly.

Bench Press - 4 sets of 8 to 12 reps
Dunbbell Press - 4 sets of 8 to 12 reps
Pec Dec - 4 sets of 8 to 12 reps
Cable Crossovers - 4 sets of 8 to 12 reps
Tricep Dips - 4 sets of 8 to 12 reps
Cable Pushdowns - 4 sets of 8 to 12 reps

If you complete this beginners chest workout for 12 weeks and eat correctly then you are sure to see massive gains in muscle and strength.

Disclaimer - With any workout please only lift what you physically can, its more important to lift lighter and correctly than lift heavy and damage yourself.

Measure Your Gains

One thing that many people fail at when training is understanding the changes to their body. You find that many people monitor their diet yet dont get the gains they wish for as they are wary of standing on the scales and seeing their weight go up so eat less.

You have to think that when someone sees a weight gain they think that it means they have put on fat, the truth is that this could be muscle.

To measure your gains the last thing you need to do is stand on the scales! There are two ways to measure your gains, the first is to watch your strength increase as you start lifting heavier weights and the second is to measure yourself.

Measure your gains with a tape?

Yes, the best way to see your gains is to measure your body on a monthly basis, below is a guide to checking the measurements for different parts of your body.

Biceps - Measure from your shoulder to your elbow, at exactly the halfway point (example if the length from your shoulder to your elbow is 30 centimetres then this is at the 15 centimetres mark). At the halfway point measure the circumference of your arm.

Chest - Measure around your chest just under your nipples.

Waist - Measure around your waist (just above your belly button).

Leg - Measure from your hip to your knee and then measure the circumference at the halfway point.

What you should see, if your making the correct progress, is that all parts of your body get bigger while your waist reduces in size. This will not happen overnight but by measuring your gains every month over a 12 week period you should see a huge difference in your body.

I check on my size on a monthly basis and use it as a guide to understanding what my body is doing.