i’m like scared to do squats at home (and push ups) because i don’t really know proper form... do you have any tips?
so the thing about bodyweight exercises is that, for a beginner, you may need to start out with easier forms of the exercise. for pushups you can start with the anchor point being your knees rather than your toes (cutting out a decent portion of your leg weight, lifting less weight while you build up strength). for squats this really boils down to number of reps.
here’s some visual aides:
a few points of importance:
see how he keeps his feet slightly wider than shoulderwidth apart and keeps them planted flat on the ground throughout the exercise
use full range of motion- squat all the way down and return to a standing position during each rep
this is a good pace actually- do not rush squats, and settle into the motion, keeping your bodily integrity. if it feels too easy at this pace, give it a few reps- you’ll feel the burn
last thing- his arms. they go straight out to keep balance as his center of gravity (lower torso and butt) dip behind his feet a little. this is also helpful because propping your arms against your legs or doing anything too fancy with them might throw off your balance/form.
okay, if you’re a beginner, you may not be able to go this low during each rep, but that’s okay. you can work up to it.
notice how he’s keeping his back relatively straight (butt is up a little, but he’s holding pretty steady regardless). you should feel your core engage in keeping your body straight.
his hands are planted shoulderwidth apart, and notice his scapula on his back- they are retracted together. this basically means that he is holding his shoulders steady and his upper back aligned to make sure that the chest/shoulder/tricep muscles specific to the exercise are being isolated properly.
i highly recommend having a partner spot your form- and if you don’t have somebody to do that i also recommend having a mirror set up so you can watch your form.
final note: this depends on your goals with these exercises. if you are planning on building bodily integrity (being able to do these exercises at bodyweight for prolonged reps) or strength training (working up to squatting/pressing *more than* bodyweight).
if you want to work on integrity/endurance- work until the set number of reps becomes easy, then increase the number of reps while still maintaining good form.
if you want to work on strength training- gradually work up to the point that you can squat holding a weight, or do pushups with a weight on your back (backpack recommended- dropping loose plates/weights/heavy things on your fingers is v. painful i nearly broke my hand with a couple of 25 plates once)
anyway, hope that helps! if you want advice on any other bodyweight exercises to try out, let me know!
(these images are used merely as examples, and are subject to their owners copyright, but i got them on a google search so they’re not that private are they?)
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