The kneeling squat is a fairly rare and effective exercise. This exercise is intended to work out the gluteal muscles and the back of the thigh, creating unusual stress for them.
Applications and benefits
Works on the small muscles of the legs. Also a big plus of knee squats is their ability to “break through” the lower phase of the range of motion in classic barbell squats. That is, for strength training, this is a good auxiliary exercise.
If you are not interested in strength indicators in themselves, then for muscle hypertrophy, an increase in working weights is necessary. In knee squats, you should not chase weight, the correct technique for performing the exercise is important, because this is the study of individual sections. Although knee squats are used in fitness and bodybuilding, they are still more of a powerlifting and weightlifting exercise, even for experienced athletes it is better to work on neuromuscular communication for some time.
The first approach should be performed with an empty neck, and the weights should be added gradually, reaching the “working weight” in 2-3 warm-up approaches. Approaches can be performed both in slow and explosive execution, which will also develop speed qualities.
The main load during knee squats falls on the gluteal muscle and biceps of the thigh, since they, in fact, are trained. The long back muscle along with the press also receives the load. Both muscles act as stabilizers and take the load off the spine. In addition to these main muscle groups, the small muscles of the legs, which usually remain without work, are also partially worked out.
For example, the semitendinosus and semimembranosus muscles of the thigh are involved. But, since the exercise is unusual, in order to load the target muscle groups, it is necessary to work out the muscle feeling, otherwise the load may go to the joints.
When doing squats on your knees, you should be careful, since a rather large load falls on the spine, and its lower part, and the lumbar region. That is why at first it is necessary to use small working weights, increasing them gradually. It is important to properly distribute the load between the muscles.
For that, squats from the knees partially relieve the load from the knee joints, so those who have them hurt with classic squats should probably change the execution option to "knee".
Knee Squat Technique
It is best to perform the exercise in a power rack, this will allow you to correctly set the height of the barbell under you, and in case of complete failure, you can simply lower the barbell onto the racks.
- To perform the movement, you need to sit on your knees, before that, putting something soft under them, spreading your legs wider than your shoulders, you can rest your socks on the floor, or stretch them out if stretching and working weights allow.
- The back should be bent in the lower back, we sit down under the bar and put it approximately on the lower part of the trapezoid, while the shoulder blades must be brought together.
- The head looks forward, which ensures the correct position of the cervical vertebrae.
- Slowly sit down until the buttocks are at the level of the top of the calf muscles, you can sit even a little deeper to better stretch the muscles.
- Do not linger at the bottom point, due to the contraction of the gluteal muscles, return to the top point, maintaining the deflection in the lumbar region.
- Breathing plays an important role in the performance, since the correct contraction of the diaphragm allows you to better keep the correct posture, and this eliminates the load on the spine.
- The legs should not be spread apart, the knees should look forward and be parallel to each other.
- Between sets, during rest, it is best to hang on the horizontal bar, stretching the lumbar back.
- After completing this exercise, the best continuation will be reverse hyperextension, so if kneeling squats are not the closing exercise, then you know what is better to include after it.
As you know, the muscles of the legs are represented by a wide range of muscles and are the largest muscle group in the human body. As a rule, athletes train only the largest muscle groups, which give the bulk. But, if you are also interested in strength indicators, as well as the maximum implementation of muscle hypertrophy, then it is desirable to train all the muscles.
One way to get the most out of your leg workout is to use knee squats in your workout.
Conclusions
This exercise came to bodybuilding from weightlifting, with the help of it, weightlifters “break through” the lower phase of the snatch, you can use it to increase the weight in squats with a barbell.
Include knee squats in your training, and you will get a way to additionally load and pump weak areas of the legs, shock the muscles in this area with new stress, as well as their ability to “break through” the lower phase of the amplitude of movement in classic squats.
Useful links
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5sP48cwKhis
