Squats are one of the most effective forms of workout that help in building lower body strength. Incorporating squats in a routine workout also provides multiple benefits, such as toning the body, shedding weight, aiding in other exercises, improving the posterior chain, and so on.
There are various exercises that can help you build overall body strength. However, if you want to get better at squats, it's necessary to zero in on a few exercises that can help in building squat strength. If you know your greatest weakness in squat, you can also choose the exercise that can address the same.
Best Exercises for Women to Effectively Perform Squats
Here's a look at seven such exercises:
1) Lunges
Lunges tend to be one of the most versatile exercises that can help you to get better at squats by toning your body and building overall body strength.
Lunges target the major muscles of the lower body, including calves, quads, hamstrings, glutes and core region. Performing lunges regularly can help in strengthening these muscles, which are also targeted during squats. Lunges can also help in building better core stability and strength, which can help you effectively perform squats.
Besides getting better at squats, lunges can also help in increasing the range of motion and improving body posture.
2) Leg Press
A leg press can be considered a similar joint and muscle action to a squat's, which can help you gain stronger legs.
This resistance training exercise is an excellent way to build strength in your legs, which can help you get better at squats. It can allow you to hold squats for a longer period, along with increasing the repetitions for the exercise.
Regularly doing leg presses can also provide other benefits, such as reducing the risk of injury, building muscles and improving deadlifts.
3) Abs Rollout
Incorporating the abs rollout into the workout regime can help you get better at squats in multiple ways.
The abs rollout can provide better stability of the hips and strengthened core, which helps in better squat strength and stability. It can also help in improving the health of the lower back along with allowing for better functional strength and posture. That can enable you to maintain the proper stance while doing squats.
4) Calf Raises
Calf raises are most beneficial for building explosive body power and promoting ankle stability. Better explosive power can improve the rising motion of squats, while ankle stability can allow you to perform weighted squats more efficiently.
Additionally, this exercise can help in strengthening the calf muscles that can help in better movement of the squats. Therefore, you should include calf raises into your workouts.
5) Weighted Plank
Weighted plank is often considered an isolated exercise that can greatly target your core region. This exercise can help in building the stability and strength of both the core and back.
That can be highly beneficial for performing squats. Better core and back stability ensures you're able to maintain the correct posture in squats along with reducing the risk of straining the muscles.
Furthermore, the weighted plank can greatly enhance the posterior chain of the body along with boosting mental strength.
6) Glute Bridge
Glute bridge is one of the most dynamic exercises you should include in your workout routine to get better at squats. This exercise targets your glutes, lower back, abdominal muscles and hamstrings.
The Glute Bridge can strengthen your lower body along with the back. It can also bring greater stability to the body along with strengthening the glutes. All these factors combined can help you get better at squats.
7) Good Mornings
A weak lower back can affect your ability to perform squats effectively along with increasing your chances of getting injured.
Regularly performing good mornings, which look like a friendly bow, can help you build the strength of your lower back. A stronger lower back can allow you to get better at squats by increasing your strength.
If you think your lower back is holding you from effectively performing squats, you should definitely include good mornings in your workout routine.
Bottom Line
Including exercises that particularly target your weaknesses while doing squats can be very effective. For instance, if you have a weak lower back, include the weighted plank and Glute Bridge in your workout routine.
Other steps you can take to get better at squats include following the proper technique and trying different modifications of squats.