Summer Squat Challenge

by Grace Lin

Our newest skill for the summer is the squat!  Everybody loves squatting, and if you don’t love it, you better learn to love it.  As I’ve mentioned before, squatting is one of the most important fundamental movements in CrossFit (and in life).  Here are some reasons why squatting is so important:

Squats are a functional movement that people do every day – think about how many times you sit down and stand up every day.  That’s a portion of the squat.  And in some countries, people still go to the bathroom while in a squat.

Squats are a full-body exercise – Most of the emphasis is on the legs when we squat, but squats require our entire body to work.  You have to engage your traps, shoulders, and core in order to squat correctly.

Squats will make you fitter– The strength and coordination gained from doing squats properly will translate to better running, sprinting, jumping, balance, mobility, and posture.  

Squats make your booty look better – You want a firm butt?  Then do more squats.

Squats improve mental toughness – Harnessing that energy and grit to get through a 10 rep max is part of being mentally tough.  Grinding through what may seem to be an impossible set of squats will help train your mind and body to push through that feeling of uncomfortableness.

For our summer squat challenge, you have been tasked to accumulate 3 minutes holding a good position in the bottom of a squat.  When you perform the challenge, please take notes on how many sets it took you to accumulate to 3 minutes and how long those sets were.  Also take note of the difficulty level and how you felt while holding the bottom squat position.

We will be releasing a new video over the next several weeks that demonstrate common squatting faults and how to fix those faults.  In addition, we will provide some mobility tips to fixing common squatting mistakes.

If you haven’t read the two articles on squat therapy, please reference them here: mobility and motor control.  Happy squatting!