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MH SQUAD MENTAL STRENGTH WORKOUTS

Workouts

Test Your Strength and Mobility

With These 10 Squat Variations
You likely already know that squats are a
superlative calorie-torcher. But there’s
more than one way to do the deep work

B Y A N D R E W T R AC E Y A N D S C A R L E T T W R E N C H
PUBLISHED: SEP 1, 2022

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Joe Wick's 15-Minute Full-body Ket…
by Men's Health UK
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The barbell back squat has long been lauded

as the king of lower-body lifts,
commandeering the muscles in your quads,
glutes and hamstrings, as well as your back
and core, as you brace to prevent your body
folding like origami under the heft of a
loaded bar. By recruiting multiple muscles –
particularly larger ones such as your glutes
(and we mean no offence) – squats can
quickly contribute towards a bigger calorie
burn, too. In other words, if you’re really
serious about getting functionally fit while
giving your metabolic rate a bump, you’d be
unwise to skip out on leg day.

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But, of course, barbell back squats are merely

one flavour in the spectrum – squats may be
important, but there are several ways that
you can weave them into your workouts.
Whether you’re looking to boost strength and
athleticism, or improve mobility for daily life
or post-injury rehab, there’s a variation to suit
your purposes – and skill level. Let’s get deep
into it…

01/ Barbell Front Squat

Let’s kick off with the classics. Position a
barbell across your shoulders and lift your
elbows high (A). Push your hips back,
bending your knees until your thighs pass
parallel (B). Drive through your feet to stand.

02/ Barbell Back Squat

Holding a barbell across the back of your
shoulders, stand tall and breathe deeply (A).
Maintaining an upright posture, push your
hips back, bending to just past parallel again
(B). Stand explosively.

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03/ Overhead Squat

A true test of mobility. Press a bar over your
head, locking your arms out, your feet just
wider than your shoulders (A). Push your
hips back and drop down (B). Keep your
torso upright. Push back up.

04/ Goblet Squat

Hold a dumbbell close to your chest, with a
strong upright posture (A). Sink your hips
back and descend into a squat (B), your
elbows in between your knees. Drive back up
explosively and repeat.

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30-DAYBEGINNER'SBODYBUILDINGCHALLENGE

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05/ Spanish Squat

Loop a resistance band around a rack and
step into it, so it rests around the back of your
knees. Walk back to build tension (A). With
your feet in a narrow stance, drop into a
squat, pause, then push up explosively.

06/ C
Cossack
ossack Squat
Easy to do poorly, hard to do well. Stand tall
in a wide stance (A), shift your weight to
your right foot, squatting while keeping your
left leg straight (B). Push off the right leg to
stand. Alternate sides each rep.

07/ Pistol Squat

Things are getting sticky. Stand tall, lifting
one leg (A), bend the other knee and squat,
keeping your lifted leg raised. Once the
crease of your hip is below your knee, pause
(B) and drive up. Use a band if you need.

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08/ Rear Foot Elevated

Split squats build your core and take stress off
your lower back. Stand tall with your right
foot on a bench (A). Bend your left knee,
slowly lowering (B). Drive up through your
left foot. Do reps on one side, then swap.

09/ Split Squat Jump

Brace your core and step one foot back,
sinking into a lunge, with your rear knee just
touching the floor. Drive up, switching legs
mid-air (A) to land in a lunge with the other
leg forward (B). Alternate legs each rep.

10/ Landmine Hack Squat

Wedge a barbell into a corner. Load weights
on one side, lift the bar on to your shoulder
and face away from it. Step forward and
brace your core (A). Push your hips back and
drop into a squat (B). Explode up and repeat.

A N D R E W T R AC E Y

With almost 18 years in the health and fitness

space as a personal trainer, nutritionist, breath
coach and writer, Andrew has spent nearly half
of his life exploring how to help people
improve their bodies and minds.    
As our fitness editor he prides himself on
keeping Men’s Health at the forefront of
reliable, relatable and credible fitness
information, whether that’s through writing
and testing thousands of workouts each year,…
taking deep
Read full biodives into the science behind
muscle building and fat loss or exploring the
psychology of performance and recovery.   
Whilst constantly updating his knowledge base
with seminars and courses, Andrew is a lover
of the practical as much as the theory and
regularly puts his training to the test tackling
everything from Crossfit and strongman
competitions, to ultra marathons, to multiple
24 hour workout stints and (extremely
unofficial) world record attempts.   
 You can find Andrew on Instagram at
@theandrew.tracey, or simply hold up a sign
for ‘free pizza’ and wait for him to appear.

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