“If I were to give you one exercise for life it would be the squat,” says Joan Pagano, an exercise physiologist in New York City. “It is the most functional move, the one that we need to get up from a seated position, and it serves us throughout life.”
The squat is so much more than just a great butt workout. It actually may be the single most effective exercise ever invented. “If you’re just starting out, or if you have knee issues, a squat can be difficult,” says Pagano. Thankfully, there are many ways to do a squat, so if the classic move is difficult for you, you don’t need to be left without, well, squat. Here are three squat modifications that are effective for every body: the wall squat, the sit-to-stand squat, and the stand-to-sit squat.
Joan Pagano is an exercise physiologist in New York City.
References
Department of Physiology, Faculty of Human Movement, Technical University of Lisbon, Portugal. (2003). Weight lifted in strength training predicts bone change in postmenopausal women.
Mansfield, D. (n.d). The squat: Functional and effective.
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