Squats

Squats are an exercise mainly utilising the muscles in the leg, these include the quadriceps, hamstrings, hip flexors, calves and glutes as well as the lower, middle and upper abs to some degree. It is recommended that once your reach a unilateral squats exercise (Pistol Squat and Shrimp Squat) that you add weight.

Basic Variations:

 * Squat negative: A standard squat in which the body only goes down.
 * Standard squat: The standard squat, spread your legs out slightly and bend your knees, try not to let your knees go over your feet and maintain a straight back.

Intermediate Variations:

 * Archer squat: A squat in which the legs are spread out widely and the body leans down on one knee. A progression to either the pistol squat or shrimp squat.
 * Weighted squat: A squat in which the body is weighted with either a weighted vest or some other form of extra resistance.

Advanced Variations:

 * Pistol squat: A squat in which the body goes down on one leg and keeps the other straight. The knee can be bent past the foot for a cleaner looking exercise.
 * Shrimp squat: A one leg squat similar to the pistol squat in which one leg is held behind the body creating the look of a shrimp tail, hence the name.
 * Weighted pistol squat: A pistol squat in which weight is added, difficulty varies depending on the amount of weight.
 * Weighted shrimp squat: A shrimp squat in which weight is added, difficulty varies depending on the amount of weight.