13 Nov
Blog

Learn how to perform a Sumo squat and ace your fitness goals now

No matter how helpful your exercise routine is, you always seem to miss out on the complicated exercises. Is not it? While the lats, triceps, chest and abs provide all the fun of the fair, we almost forget about the glutes and inner thighs. But not anymore. The Sumo squat is the perfect way to train both your glutes and inner thighs for the best workout experience ever. Incorporate this exercise into your fitness routine and watch you get to the top.

Sumo squat form that makes all the difference

One possible exercise that will help you complete your daily fitness routine is a must. With such a workout, you are sure to improve your fitness game and give your health a quick boost. The Sumo squat form is one such method to gain fitness instantly. If you continue to follow the workout in a timely manner, there is no way you can get started. If you are concerned about the level of difficulty during this exercise, don't panic. Since the workout is easy for everyone to do, you are unlikely to encounter any obstacles.

How To Do It – Stand with your feet wide apart. At this point, your toes should be pointing at a 45-degree angle. Now crouch down. Bend at the hips, knees and sit back. Keep your chest up and your knees out. Make sure your thighs are parallel to the floor. Now return to the starting position. Try not to get your feet off the floor. Practice that Sumo squat form a couple of times for the best results.

Variations that make you want more

While sumo squat is a breeze to add to your fitness routine, sometimes it doesn't work as well as you'd like. This is the case when sumo squat variations are used. With a little weight, it can change the game for you. So let us guide you through these incredible variations that require all of your attention right away.

1. Dumbbell Sumo Squat

Strengthening your legs and glutes requires intense training. To do this, you may need more than just empty exercises. Dumbbell Sumo Squat helps add that extra weight your daily workout might be looking for. This beginner workout is all you need to get on track with your healthy life. All you need is a dumbbell for this workout. The free weight exercise is best for those waiting to improve the quads, glutes, and hamstrings.

How it goes- Hold a dumbbell in one hand. Make sure your back is straight at this point. Try to keep your legs wider than shoulder width apart. The weight should be between your legs. Now try to bend at your knees until your thighs are parallel to the floor. Do the descent for 4 seconds, then hold the position for three seconds. Return to the starting position within one second so that each repetition lasts about seven seconds. Repeat that Dumbbell Sumo Squat for the best experience.

2. Kettlebell Sumo Squat

Glutes, hamstrings, and quads are some of the muscles this exercise targets. The Kettlebell Sumo Squat is the perfect way to get your fitness goals going forever. All you have to do is follow the instructions carefully for the best experience. This also helps you avoid trouble.

How To Do It – For starters, you need to place your feet beyond the width of your hips. At this point, your toes should be pointing outward. Now try to hold a single kettlebell in front of your hips with both hands. Your palms should be facing your body. Begin the squat by squeezing your hips. Then try to bend your knees and hips. Now return to the starting position. At this point, your back should be straight. Repeat that Kettlebell Sumo Squat to avoid complications.

Conclusion

The sumo squat is a powerful workout that you can easily try out every day. This is the best way to improve your fitness routine and make your dreams come true.

FAQ

1. How does it work? Kettlebell Sumo Squat Help?

The Kettlebell Sumo Squat is best for muscle strength and compound movement. It also helps in speeding up the body's performance.

2. Is This the Best Way to Improve Your Fitness Routine?

Yeah don't worry

3. Are there any other types of sumo squat you should try?

Yes. If you don't find that Kettlebell Sumo Squat helpful, then sumo jump squat and weighted sumo squats are perfect.

09 Oct
Blog

The Cossack Squat: Reclaiming Your Baseline Balance

This straightforward exercise not only strengthens the strength and coordination of each leg, but also removes the instability of the hips that inevitably creeps in after years of training heavy bilateral movements like squats and deadlifts.

We are not perfectly balanced machines. One side of our body has more prominent organs than the other side in different places. We have one dominant side that will always be a little stronger and more coordinated than the other.

So when we start doing heavy bipedal or bilateral movements like squats and deadlifts, it makes sense that we develop a tendency to push harder, toward our dominant side, or to prefer it.

It's part of the business to be human, and no amount of one-sided focused remedial action or exercise will balance us perfectly.

There is no point in thinking about it because we are naturally unbalanced.

We should always focus on the basics that are beyond any movement and practice. If you want to know what these core principles are, check out this new course I am offering.

When the imbalance is too great

However, sometimes the space between the sides and segments can get a little too big. In this case, we need smart exercises that train all of the variables to move the gauge back towards your baseline. This is a reasonable asymmetry.

The Cossack Squat requires you to move into positions that can be difficult at first, but the movement itself is simple and straightforward.

It can be done anywhere with body weight or loaded in different ways with whatever type of weight is available to you.

Why The Cossack Squat?

Any one-legged exercise can improve stability and physical awareness. What makes the Cossack squat valuable is that you have the slight support from your hind leg.

With this support, you can focus on controlled movement over the entire range of motion available to you, while building more mobility and strength at the end of your range.

The Cossack Squat: Restoring Your Basic Balance - Fitness, Fitness, Balance, Squats, Mobility, Strength Training, Range of Motion, Posture, Stability, Deadlifts, Hip Abduction, Levels of Motion, Movement Patterns, Coordination, Asymmetry, Cossack Squats, Imbalances, Adductors, Core Stability

If you fall, you are at the limit of your hips and ankles. Just look at the picture above. I crouch on one side of my body as low as I can.

We all tend to emphasize linear movements in which we move straight up and down. If you want a big squat and deadlift, that's fine. However, you need to make sure that you move in different directions and movement patterns, at least at times.

The Cossack squat is an exercise that you can add to the end of your workout to help you move in a different plane.

It is best if you move through these different patterns to avoid overloading the pattern (injuries to your soft tissues cannot move in just one pattern or restrict your free range of motion for too long).

It would be helpful if you moved in these different positions to keep all of the connective tissue in the body healthy.

The longer we've been training, the more we may need this.

The older we get, the more we have to move in every possible way.

And the more we sit for work, the more we should move in every possible movement pattern.

Use any movement pattern

  • Place your feet a foot or two outside shoulder width. You may need to adjust your feet wider. Play with your posture to find out what is comfortable and strong.
  • Ground the foot on the side that you will be crouching on first. Press your big toe firmly into the floor and apply pressure to the floor outside of your foot just below the outside edge of your ankle.
  • You can curl your toes out at first but eventually work towards keeping them straight as this will challenge your mobility and stability to new levels.
  • Use your other foot on the opposite side to help you and push you into a crouch.
  • Sink into a crouch without your heels or any part of your feet losing contact with the ground. With some variations, your toes may lift and twist up on your back leg. However, if you keep them down, it is better to question the mobility of your adductors.
  • Squeeze the foot you were squatting on to push your hips up and back, center.
  • Let yourself sink to the other side without a break, taking into account the same points of contact and ideas.

Weighted Cossack squat

To add weight to this exercise, you usually hold the weight in front of you to use as a counterweight to keep you upright, or you can hold it close to your body.

The Cossack Squat: Restoring Your Basic Balance - Fitness, Fitness, Balance, Squats, Mobility, Strength Training, Range of Motion, Posture, Stability, Deadlifts, Hip Abduction, Levels of Motion, Movement Patterns, Coordination, Asymmetry, Cossack Squats, Imbalances, Adductors, Core Stability

If you want to change it, try keeping a weight behind your head.

The Cossack Squat: Restoring Your Basic Balance - Fitness, Fitness, Balance, Squats, Mobility, Strength Training, Range of Motion, Posture, Stability, Deadlifts, Hip Abduction, Levels of Motion, Movement Patterns, Coordination, Asymmetry, Cossack Squats, Imbalances, Adductors, Core Stability

Holding a weight behind your head will test your dexterity to stay upright.

You will train the strength and flexibility of your upper back, and your core will work even harder to hold the posture and stabilize you. Win, win and win.

Watch your limit

This exercise is not about bending and creasing into a position that you cannot yet reach. It's about finding the edge of your flexibility and stability in this movement and slowly challenging it without losing posture and stiffness or compensating in any way.

If you practice it consistently you will get to this bottom position, but your adductors, knees, and ankles won't like you very much if you try to force it too soon.

Ready for more trouble?

There are several different ways to load this exercise to make it more challenging. Holding a weight behind your head, which I described earlier, is one of them. Keeping the weight above your head with your arms outstretched is another matter.

However, there is something else you can do to test your mobility and stability that doesn't necessarily require weight.

The Cossack Squat: Restoring Your Basic Balance - Fitness, Fitness, Balance, Squats, Mobility, Strength Training, Range of Motion, Posture, Stability, Deadlifts, Hip Abduction, Levels of Motion, Movement Patterns, Coordination, Asymmetry, Cossack Squats, Imbalances, Adductors, Core Stability

Choose the side you squat on and place a small plate or similar flat object under this foot. Do the number of repetitions you choose, then switch sides.

If you lift your foot just a few inches, you will struggle to hold the position as you lower yourself into a lower position.

09 Oct
Blog

The Cossack Squat: Reclaiming Your Baseline Balance

This straightforward exercise not only strengthens the strength and coordination of each leg, but also removes the instability of the hips that inevitably creeps in after years of training heavy bilateral movements like squats and deadlifts.

We are not perfectly balanced machines. One side of our body has more prominent organs than the other side in different places. We have one dominant side that will always be a little stronger and more coordinated than the other.

So when we start doing heavy bipedal or bilateral movements like squats and deadlifts, it makes sense that we develop a tendency to push harder, toward our dominant side, or to prefer it.

It's part of the business to be human, and no amount of one-sided focused remedial action or exercise will balance us perfectly.

There is no point in thinking about it because we are naturally unbalanced.

We should always focus on the basics that are beyond any movement and practice. If you want to know what these core principles are, check out this new course I am offering.

When the imbalance is too great

However, sometimes the space between the sides and segments can get a little too big. In this case, we need smart exercises that train all of the variables to move the gauge back towards your baseline. This is a reasonable asymmetry.

The Cossack Squat requires you to move into positions that can be difficult at first, but the movement itself is simple and straightforward.

It can be done anywhere with body weight or loaded in different ways with whatever type of weight is available to you.

Why The Cossack Squat?

Any one-legged exercise can improve stability and physical awareness. What makes the Cossack squat valuable is that you have the slight support from your hind leg. With this support, you can focus on controlled movement over the entire range of motion available to you, while building more mobility and strength at the end of your range.

The Cossack Squat: Restoring your basic balance - fitness, fitness, mobility, strength training, range of motion, posture, stability, deadlift, hip abduction, planes of movement, movement patterns, coordination, asymmetry, Cossack squat, imbalances, adductors, core stability

If you fall, you are at the limit of your hips and ankles. Just look at the picture above. I crouch on one side of my body as low as I can.

We all tend to emphasize linear movements in which we move straight up and down. If you want a big squat and deadlift, that's fine. However, you need to make sure that you move in different directions and movement patterns, at least at times.

The Cossack squat is an exercise that you can add to the end of your workout to help you move in a different plane.

It is best if you move through these different patterns to avoid overloading the pattern (injuries to your soft tissues cannot move in just one pattern or restrict your free range of motion for too long).

It would be helpful if you moved in these different positions to keep all of the connective tissue in the body healthy.

The longer we've been training, the more we may need this.

The older we get, the more we have to move in every possible way.

And the more we sit for work, the more we should move in every possible movement pattern.

Use any movement pattern

  • Place your feet a foot or two outside shoulder width. You may need to adjust your feet wider. Play with your posture to find out what is comfortable and strong.

  • Ground the foot on the side that you will be crouching on first. Press your big toe firmly into the floor and apply pressure to the floor outside of your foot just below the outside edge of your ankle.

  • You can curl your toes out at first but eventually work towards keeping them straight as this will challenge your mobility and stability to new levels.

  • Use your other foot on the opposite side to help you and push you into a crouch.

  • Sink into a crouch without your heels or any part of your feet losing contact with the ground. With some variations, your toes may lift and twist up on your back leg. However, if you keep them down, it is better to question the mobility of your adductors.

  • Squeeze the foot you were squatting on to push your hips up and back, center.

  • Let yourself sink to the other side without a break, taking into account the same points of contact and ideas.

Weighted Cossack squat

To add weight to this exercise, you usually hold the weight in front of you to use as a counterweight to keep you upright, or you can hold it close to your body.

The Cossack Squat: Restoring your basic balance - fitness, fitness, mobility, strength training, range of motion, posture, stability, deadlift, hip abduction, planes of movement, movement patterns, coordination, asymmetry, Cossack squat, imbalances, adductors, core stability

If you want to change it, try keeping a weight behind your head.

The Cossack Squat: Restoring your basic balance - fitness, fitness, mobility, strength training, range of motion, posture, stability, deadlift, hip abduction, planes of movement, movement patterns, coordination, asymmetry, Cossack squat, imbalances, adductors, core stability

Holding a weight behind your head will test your dexterity to stay upright.

You will train the strength and flexibility of your upper back, and your core will work even harder to hold the posture and stabilize you. Win, win and win.

Watch your limit

This exercise is not about bending and creasing into a position that you cannot yet reach. It's about finding the edge of your flexibility and stability in this movement and slowly challenging it without losing posture and stiffness or compensating in any way.

If you practice it consistently you will get to this bottom position, but your adductors, knees, and ankles won't like you very much if you try to force it too soon.

Ready for more trouble?

There are several different ways to load this exercise to make it more challenging. Holding a weight behind your head, which I described earlier, is one of them. Keeping the weight above your head with your arms outstretched is another matter.

However, there is something else you can do to test your mobility and stability that doesn't necessarily require weight.

The Cossack Squat: Restoring your basic balance - fitness, fitness, mobility, strength training, range of motion, posture, stability, deadlift, hip abduction, planes of movement, movement patterns, coordination, asymmetry, Cossack squat, imbalances, adductors, core stability

Choose the side you are on Crouch down and place a small plate or similar flat object under this foot. Do the number of repetitions you choose, then switch sides.

If you lift your foot just a few inches, you will struggle to hold the position as you lower yourself into a lower position.

25 Sep
Blog

How to Keep Yourself Upright During a Squat

We all know that when we do a barbell squat, we shouldn't look like we're bowing to worship the gym floor. However, that's a lot of what you see in gyms.

So we do corrective exercises that focus on building strength and stability for the muscles and patterns that are supposed to prevent this from happening.

These are usually simple single-joint exercises, performed on only one side of the body at a time. But sometimes and mostly we can develop what we need by simply spending more time in the positions we want to improve.

If you want to know all about the principles behind it, check out my online course, which starts in a couple of weeks.

Addressing posture and position in the crouched position

Moving through positions is what the 1.25 squat does best.

It will get you through positions that are often more difficult to hold.

More time practicing the lower squat positions means we have more opportunities to do sensory learning – feeling the muscles that contribute to a movement where and when they should.

The continuous controlled motion from the bottom of your squat to a quarter of the standing position to the base causes you to maintain the kind of balance and posture that a great squat creates.

It's better than just doing more reps, as it's difficult to lower into the second squat without sitting back on top as you normally would. It helps you feel every change in the pressure of your feet and the tilt of your torso.

The advantages of the 1.25 squat

Some exercises are just variations for advanced lifters who need a fresh kick to get stronger.

It does, but it's great for inexperienced squatters too.

It can be a targeted movement exercise for anyone trying to get their squat pattern fluid and strong. And it can be a way for someone who already has an ingrained good squat to strengthen their quads and glutes while working on the ability to maintain adequate tension at a depth in their squat.

The 1.25 squat not only strengthens and trains the coordination of the muscles that perform the movement.

It provides a condition that naturally trains the stabilizing muscles of the trunk. Muscles such as the abdominal muscles, the obliques, the transverse abdomen and the erectors stiffen the spine.

Posture collapses and squats fall apart because these muscles are out of control during the hardest part of the movement (Turn back from bottom to stand up again).

With this exercise, you will train this tension ability better, as you will spend most of the time in this part of the movement.

Here's how to prop up, lower, and hit your squat

Stand under the barbell and step out like a normal squat. Inhale and focus on creating proper braces. You need it to be rigid for this extended repetition.

Lower yourself into your crouch and once you have reached your depth come a quarter of the way to full standing. Remember to come 3-5 inches across in parallel.

How to stay upright during a squat - fitness, fitness, squats, posture, corrective exercises, online training, transverse abdominal, quads, coordination, abs, front squats, glutes, upper back, obliques, sensory awareness, core stability

How to stay upright during a squat - fitness, fitness, squats, posture, corrective exercises, online training, transverse abdominal, quads, coordination, abs, front squats, glutes, upper back, obliques, sensory awareness, core stability

Immediately go back to the bottom of your crouch and then stand up from there. This is a repetition.

How to stay upright during a squat - fitness, fitness, squats, posture, corrective exercises, online training, transverse abdominal, quads, coordination, abs, front squats, glutes, upper back, obliques, sensory awareness, core stability

Make sure that you do not take a break at any point.

  • Once you get to the depth, you come up.
  • Once you feel like you are 3 to 5 inches above the parallel, go back down immediately.
  • The second time you reach the floor of your crouch, stand up all the way without hesitation.

Do no more than five repetitions on this exercise and be careful with how much weight you use.

The focus is on the quality of movement, posture, tension and the feeling that the muscles are working well in a coordinated effort.

Don't worry if you're too high or not high enough on the quarter repetition. If you get in and out of the squat twice, you are doing the exercise correctly.

Change it

The goal of this exercise is to make sure the right muscles are working where they should and to increase stability in the motion that you often lose them in.

The muscles of the upper back help create the structure and posture you need for a solid squat. A front squat of 1.25 can therefore be a significant variation for this purpose.

When doing front squats, you need to maintain tension in the upper back and prevent the chest from falling forward. If you don't, throw the rod on the floor in front of you.

Rotating 1.25 front squats with rear squats improves posture and muscle coordination for a strong squat.

Challenge your squat technique with breaks

This exercise can be quite difficult even if you have a lot of experience.

However, once you've trained with them, try adding breaks.

Breaks force even more control to maintain tension in these positions as you spend even more time down below.

Taking a break from a count at the bottom of the crouch after climbing a quarter of the way up, and then the second time at the bottom too, allows you to challenge yourself and develop for some time.

25 Sep
Blog

How to Keep Yourself Upright During a Squat

We all know that when we do a barbell squat, we shouldn't look like we're bowing to worship the gym floor. However, that's a lot of what you see in gyms.

So we do corrective exercises that focus on building strength and stability for the muscles and patterns that are supposed to prevent this from happening.

These are usually simple single-joint exercises, performed on only one side of the body at a time. But sometimes and mostly we can develop what we need by simply spending more time in the positions we want to improve.

If you want to know all about the principles behind it, check out my online course, which starts in a couple of weeks.

Addressing posture and position in the crouched position

Moving through positions is what the 1.25 squat does best.

It will get you through positions that are often more difficult to hold.

More time practicing the lower squat positions means we have more opportunities to do sensory learning – feeling the muscles that contribute to a movement where and when they should.

The continuous controlled motion from the bottom of your squat to a quarter of the standing position to the base causes you to maintain the kind of balance and posture that a great squat creates.

It's better than just doing more reps, as it's difficult to lower into the second squat without sitting back on top as you normally would. It helps you feel every change in the pressure of your feet and the tilt of your torso.

The advantages of the 1.25 squat

Some exercises are just variations for advanced lifters who need a fresh kick to get stronger.

It does, but it's great for inexperienced squatters too.

It can be a targeted movement exercise for anyone trying to get their squat pattern fluid and strong. And it can be a way for someone who already has an ingrained good squat to strengthen their quads and glutes while working on the ability to maintain adequate tension at a depth in their squat.

The 1.25 squat not only strengthens and trains the coordination of the muscles that perform the movement.

It provides a condition that naturally trains the stabilizing muscles of the trunk. Muscles such as the abdominal muscles, the obliques, the transverse abdomen and the erectors stiffen the spine.

Posture collapses and squats fall apart because these muscles are out of control during the hardest part of the movement (Turn back from bottom to stand up again).

With this exercise, you will train this tension ability better, as you will spend most of the time in this part of the movement.

Here's how to prop up, lower, and hit your squat

Stand under the barbell and step out like a normal squat. Inhale and focus on creating proper braces. You need it to be rigid for this extended repetition.

Lower yourself into your crouch and once you have reached your depth come a quarter of the way to full standing. Remember to come 3-5 inches across in parallel.

How to stay upright during a squat - fitness, fitness, squats, posture, corrective exercises, online training, transverse abdominal, quads, coordination, abs, front squats, glutes, upper back, obliques, sensory awareness, core stability

How to stay upright during a squat - fitness, fitness, squats, posture, corrective exercises, online training, transverse abdominal, quads, coordination, abs, front squats, glutes, upper back, obliques, sensory awareness, core stability

Immediately go back to the bottom of your crouch and then stand up from there. This is a repetition.

How to stay upright during a squat - fitness, fitness, squats, posture, corrective exercises, online training, transverse abdominal, quads, coordination, abs, front squats, glutes, upper back, obliques, sensory awareness, core stability

Make sure that you do not take a break at any point.

  • Once you get to the depth, you come up.
  • Once you feel like you are 3 to 5 inches above the parallel, go back down immediately.
  • The second time you reach the floor of your crouch, stand up all the way without hesitation.

Do no more than five repetitions on this exercise and be careful with how much weight you use.

The focus is on the quality of movement, posture, tension and the feeling that the muscles are working well in a coordinated effort.

Don't worry if you're too high or not high enough on the quarter repetition. If you get in and out of the squat twice, you are doing the exercise correctly.

Change it

The goal of this exercise is to make sure the right muscles are working where they should and to increase stability in the motion that you often lose them in.

The muscles of the upper back help create the structure and posture you need for a solid squat. A front squat of 1.25 can therefore be a significant variation for this purpose.

When doing front squats, you need to maintain tension in the upper back and prevent the chest from falling forward. If you don't, throw the rod on the floor in front of you.

Rotating 1.25 front squats with rear squats improves posture and muscle coordination for a strong squat.

Challenge your squat technique with breaks

This exercise can be quite difficult even if you have a lot of experience.

However, once you've trained with them, try adding breaks.

Breaks force even more control to maintain tension in these positions as you spend even more time down below.

Taking a break from a count at the bottom of the crouch after climbing a quarter of the way up, and then the second time at the bottom too, allows you to challenge yourself and develop for some time.

12