There are many benefits to making squats part of your fitness routine. Squats are strengthening exercises, and also aid in your weight loss wellness. However, if you really want to bolster your wellbeing, you should try the 30 day squat challenge. Award-winning wellness writer Hope Gillette explains, ‘The 30 day squat challenge is exactly what the title implies: one month (30 days, no using short months!) of nothing but squats. Of course, you can do the 30 day challenge along with other exercises, but the purpose of the routine is to tone your legs, booty and lower body while you strive to reach an increasingly difficult goal.’
So how do you do the 30 day squat challenge? Gillette instructs, ‘On day one, do 50 squats consecutively. After that, each day you do squats increase the number of repetitions by five, and then rest (do NO leg exercises) every fourth day. The day after each rest-day, you should add 10 more reps than the last day you did your squats. The final eight days of exercise, increase reps by 20 instead of 10. At the end of 30 days, you should be doing approximately 250 squats.’ Still not sold on squats? Here’s why they’re so important:
1. Squats are Multifunctional: Gillette asserts, ‘Squats are one of the best functional exercises out there, promoting balance, mobility, fat burning, and body-wide muscle development. A complete workout in a simple movement.’
2. Squats Help You in Real Life: ‘Functional exercises are the ones that help you perform real-life activities,’ notes Gillette. ‘And squats are one of the natural movements people have been doing since they could walk upright.’
3. Squats Help You Tone All Over: Gillette enthuses, ‘Squats are the perfect exercise to shape your buttocks and legs as well. They also help with abdominals and lower back muscles.’
4. Squats Aid in Muscle Mass and Weight Loss: ‘Doing squats helps increase your muscle mass (the more muscle you develop, the more fat you burn), which can help the body burn 50-70 more calories a day,’ says Gillette. ‘So gaining 10 pounds of muscle through functional exercises like squats will help the body burn 500-700 additional calories.’
However, before you take up the 30 day squat challenge, you need to watch out for certain risks. Gillette warns, ‘While the principle behind the 30 day squat challenge is very simple, the way you chose to do the squats involved might not be. Keep in mind that you can hurt yourself doing squats if you do not adopt the proper form and you do not follow nutritional and warm up guidelines. You may also be wasting your time with the repetitions, if you don’t know what you are doing. The risks associated with performing squat exercises improperly include knee damage (strains or sprains), lower back strain (very painful and debilitating), stress fractures on the lower back and shins, herniated discs and muscle tears.’
So what’s the best way to do your squats? Gillette recommends, ‘Even though squatting is usually more narrow, for the purpose of muscle strengthening, a wide squat—with your feet wider than shoulder-width apart—is ideal. Not only will this stance work the same muscles as a narrower one, it will work the glutes and the quadriceps without putting undue stress on the knees. Try your squat with wide and narrow stance and feel which muscles you are working the most with each variation. You can choose the one that feels best for you or do a combination of both. If you feel too much pressure on your back or knees, modify form.’