Remember the dreaded utak-baitak punishment back in school where we were asked to squat and get up a number of times till our thighs gave up?  During our childhood, we must have not even given it a thought but it's an exercise performed to develop stronger lower body muscles. This punishment is known as squat exercise; however, there are a lot of crucial points to keep in mind before starting. Let us explore some benefits of body weight squats and learn the step-by-step method to perform it accurately. Number of Push-Ups You Can Perform Could Indicate Your Heart Attack Risk! Step-by-Step Method to Perform the Exercise Correctly.

Before speaking about the benefits of squats, let us first learn about the form and technique of this exercise.

    • First of all, it is essential to complete the full range of motion and dip down as low as you can.

    • If you have observed a child playing, you must have found that they dip down to squat and stay at that position for some time without any discomfort. Now that's a perfect squat.

Small Child portraying perfect form for squat (Photo Credits: Pixabay)

  • The old rule about squats is that your knees should not go beyond your toes as you dip down. However, the new theory suggests that it's fine if your knees cross your toes while performing a full range of motion in the squat.

  • By restricting your knees crossing toes in a squat, you limit your squat and heavily put unnecessary pressure on your hips, thereby causing more damage to your knees. Foods to Eat After a Workout: How A Protein-Rich Meal Can Help You Build Muscles.

A step-by-step method to perform squat:

1. Stand straight with your feet at shoulder width apart and toes pointing outwards.

2. Tighten up your core, keep chest upward and shoulder blades backwards.

3. Put your arms wherever they are comfortable, either you could put straight forward or put it beside your hips or in a folded position behind your head.

4. Slowly go dip down, imagining that you are going to sit, move your hip outwards while moving down without folding your back excessively.

5. As soon as your hamstring touches the calves muscle, move up smoothly.

6. Initially, you won't be able to go dip low enough to touch your calves, so keep practising and try to develop your depth day by day because the full range of motion helps in complete strength development.

7. Initially, beginners should perform three sets of 10-12 repetitions every day to develop their form and strength. As soon as you get comfortable with 12 reps, try completing 15 and later then move to 20 reps in each set.

Benefits of Squat Exercise:

1. Squat exercises effectively work on your lower body muscles where the target muscles are quadriceps femoris, gluteus maximus and hamstrings.

2. Squat develops our lower body strength at the same time it improves our posture.

3. Squats even helps in weight loss as in this exercise larger muscles are involved and movement of bigger muscles aids quick fat loss.

4. Squat improves your endocrine system, helps in the smooth functioning of the bowel system and also boost the testosterone level in our body.

Now after speaking about so many benefits, you must start doing this age-old exercise and help yourself in developing the good lower body. However, if you have suffered a knee injury, hip injury or lower back injury, then please do consult your doctor before starting this exercise.

(This article is written for an informative purpose and should not be substituted for medical advice. Kindly consult your doctor before trying any tips.)

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 20, 2019 07:12 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).