Why you Should Do 50 Squats per Day

If you are looking to do some body work now to improve your cycling performance later you should consider doing an exercise known as a squat.  Your legs are used heavily on a bike to spin the pedals and propel the bike and strengthening them will make a big difference in how fast and long you can ride.  A squat is a body weight exercise that requires no gym visit or special equipment and can be done anytime and anywhere with as many repetitions as you want.    

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Why Do a Squat
Squats help us to perform and improve everyday basic movements, such as sitting, standing, lifting, running, walking, jumping, and cycling.  Having strong muscles reduces the risk of injury and falls, improves endurance, and burns calories which aids in losing or maintaining weight and enhancing athletic performance.  They are low impact, making them safe to do for all ages and fitness levels.  As we get older, movement and strength will help us with our mobility and flexibility and allow us to continue to do the things we love.
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Squats are a compound exercise which means that they work more than one muscle group at a time making the small investment of time to perform them have big results.  They use the body’s largest muscles which makes the fat burning particularly efficient.  Squats help to strengthen the bones, joints, muscles, ligaments, and tendons surrounding the hips, knees, ankles, thighs, gluts, obliques, quadriceps, and core.  They are a strength exercise, but doing multiple repetitions can raise your heart rate and increase your metabolism which will benefit your heart and, along with a healthy diet, help maintain or lose weight.  Squats strengthen your muscles allowing you to take some weight off your knees and ankles to reduce the likelihood of injury and can they improve your posture.

Performing squats will strengthen your legs so you can tackle hills on your bike with less effort

​How to Do a Squat
There are many variations of the squat exercise for the legs where you position them in a narrow stance, medium stance, wide stance, single leg, or split. Arms can be left as your side, rested on your thighs, extended in front, or raised overhead with or without weights.  Adopting the correct form is important so that you do not introduce any injuries.  If you are just starting out, practice a basic squat as follows before moving onto more challenging versions:
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1. Stand with feet in a medium stance shoulder-width apart, toes pointing outwards slightly.
2. Place your arms down by your side.
3. Brace your core, hinge forward at the hips and bend your knees as if sitting down all at the same time.  Keep your upper body upright and back straight.  Stop descending when your thighs are parallel to the ground and before your knees extend past your toes while keeping your weight in your heels.
4. Complete the exercise by pushing back to standing with the weight in your heels and squeezing your glutes at the top of the movement.
5. Repeat.

The number of repetitions you do will depend on your goals, current fitness level, and any injuries you currently have that you will want to make allowance for.  Doing three sets of ten repetitions each every other day each is a common plan, or you can adopt a challenging routine by doing 50 or 100 squats every day and feel the burn and benefits before spring arrives.  

Woman doing a split squat holding small weights

​Squat Variations
Once you’ve mastered the basic back squat there are some modifications you can make to exercise different muscles or just add variety to your routine.  Some of these require additional equipment. 

• Pause Squat – Pause at some point during the squat, say for 5 seconds, either when you are at the lowest point, halfway into the squat or any other stage where you feel a weakness or room for improvement. 
• Split Squat – Extend one leg onto a bench or couch and bend to a kneeling lunge before returning to an upright posture.  This exercise emphasizes individual leg strength and requires balance. 
• 1-1/2 Rep Squat – Perform a full squat, descending and standing up and then descending again only halfway before standing up.  This variation increases the time under pressure.
• Goblet Squat – Holding a weight on the front of the body is more of a front squat than a back squat that we have been describing and although there is a difference between what muscles are engaged, they both have the same overall benefits.  Hold a weight such as a dumbbell or kettlebell at chest level with the elbows under the wrists.  Do not rest the weight on your chest, instead support it with your upper back continuing to stand upright and keep your shoulders down.  Keep the weight at the chest and maintain the form as you descend and stand up.  Take care when standing up not to allow the hips to shoot backwards so you can engage more of the quadriceps and less of the hamstring and lower back.  Using a lighter weight with more repetitions will build endurance while a heavier weight will build strength.  Variations of the goblet squat are:
  • Pause at the bottom of the squat a few seconds
  • Hold the weight at shoulder height with arms extended
  • Perform a curl with the weight at the bottom of the squat or lift it up at the top
  • Hold double weights, one in each hand

​Recovery from Squats
If you experience soreness and fatigue after doing a squat training session on multiple days in a row making it difficult to do the exercises the next day there are some things you can do to speed up recovery:

• Take a rest day – Taking a day or two off gives your muscles a chance to recover. 
• Stretch – After your squat session or before a new one, perform some stretching, paying particular attention to your hamstrings, quads, glutes, and calves.
• Soak – Take a warm bath, maybe with Epsom salts, or take a dip in a spa with warm water and turn on the water jets.
• Massage – Get a professional massage with particular emphasis on those areas of your body that are giving you a problem such as the legs and lower back.
• Foam roller – Identify the area that is the sorest, whether it is the back or front of the legs or lower back and slowly lower your body onto the foam roller at the targeted area.  Holding pressure there alone should help, or you can move slightly forward and back and side to side for about 20 seconds or until you get to the point of discomfort, then stop.  You can repeat or move to another area.   
• Gentle movement – Take an easy walk on a flat surface or slow bike ride to keep your legs moving and work out the lactic acid that has accumulated.

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​Squats are one of the most effective ways to improve your performance on the bike.  Whether your plan includes 10, 50, or 100 squats every day will depend on your goals and the fitness level you’re starting from.   If you are just getting back on the bike after an absence, talk to your doctor before you get started. If you are uncomfortable not knowing if your form is correct or not sure how many repetitions to do, work with a fitness trainer who can help you with these or watch some videos and check your form in a mirror.