Chris Freytag

Squat Variations

Chris Freytag
Duration:   1  mins

Description

Are you bored with your typical bodyweight exercises? Get ready to mix it up as Chris leads you through four different squat variations that will keep your muscles guessing and give you the results you want: a toned lower body.

Squats are not only a great lower body exercise but incorporating multiple squat variations in your workout keeps your mind in the game and your routine more fun. It also keeps your muscles engaged and is great for getting results. So if you’ve recently hit a weight loss plateau or aren’t seeing the results you want from your bodyweight moves, you need to keep surprising your body with new moves like these squat variations.

First, make sure you’ve got the basics of how to do squat down. Chris will then guide you through the proper form for four different squat variations: wide squats, narrow squats, walking squats, and yogi squats. For the wide squat, you’ll take your feet even wider than shoulder-width apart and sit back into your chair position. Chris will ensure you’re performing each move correctly, bringing your hands forward for counter-balance if you prefer, and keeping your knees tracking over your toes.

The next move she’ll demonstrate is the narrow squat, when you bring your feet closer to hip-width apart, sitting back into that chair pose again and keeping your knees tracking over your toes. Move number three of your squat variations will be walking squats, where you step side to side in lateral motion, keeping your chest and heart lifted. Lastly, for yogi squats, you’ll bring your body closer to the ground, have your heels in and toes out, and drop your buns down to the ground. You’ll see this move performed in many yoga workouts. The elbows come to the inside of the knee to open up your hips, sitting up nice and deep.

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All exercises you perform are your own responsibility and you perform them at your own risk. Always seek the advice of a physician or other qualified health provider before starting any physical exercise, fitness or wellness regiments of any kind.

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Hi, I'm Chris Freytag. Today, I'm going to show you several variations of the squat exercise. A great lower body exercise that has lots of different variations that not only keeps your mind in the game and makes a workout lots of fun, but it also trains your muscles in different directions, and it's great for getting results. Let's start with a wide squat where your feet are even wider than shoulder width apart, and you're gonna sit down into that imaginary chair, knees track over the top of the toes. Squeeze up through your glutes on the way back up. How far you come down has to do with flexibility in your knees. You want to keep your chest lifted. A narrow squat is going to bring those feet closer, hip width apart. And you're going to sit back into that chair, sometimes called the chair squat. Sit way back. Notice I bring my hands forward for counterbalance. If you'd like, keep your knees tracking over your toes. Another option, walking squats, where you go side-to-side lateral motion. So I'm going to come down into that squat. And then it's like you're sliding your butt across a picnic bench. And you're gonna squat side-to-side while you're moving. Breathe. Keep your chest and heart lifted. Good. And then last but not least, let's try the Yogi squat which is going to bring you all the way down to the ground. Heels and toes out. Drop your buns all the way down. You'll see this in yoga workouts, elbows come into the inside of the knee and you're just really opening up those hips, sitting down nice and deep. You will see lots of these squat variations in the Get Healthy U TV videos. So I hope you'll give some of the workouts a try.
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