The Queen of Exercises

If the Deadlift is the King of Exercises, then the Squat would no doubt be the Queen. Just like in Chess she may not be the most important piece, or the lynchpin of the whole set, but she is the most versatile and powerful piece on the board. A piece you are at a severe disadvantage if you are missing.

Squats come in a variety of flavors, tweaked slightly to put more focus on different muscles groups, but the all share a powerful drive through the feet to get your body (usually plus a substantial amount of weight) from the bottom of the deep sitting position back to upright. Just like with the Deadlift, it is a motion that doesn't sound like it would be difficult, but the more you focus on form and the more weight you add, the more this seemingly simply motion become a difficult full body task.

The Squat targets all of the muscles of the lower body, transferring the load of the lift between different muscle groups as you go from a Squat position to standing. This exercise is particularly good for the thighs and the butt, which are often negelected by men. If you elect to do barbell squats (my favorite variety) and put that heavy barbell up high on your shoulders, then there is significant recruitment of core muscles to keep that weight steady through the motion.

In addition to working the large musclegroups of the legs and the glutes, the Squat also helps to correct a number of common imbalances and limitations created by the modern lifestyle of sedentary desk jobs. When first starting, many people cannot even get into a proper Squat position, lacking the basic flexibility and balance to simply lower their butt down towards the floor while keeping their feet flat and not falling over. Squatting will restore the range of motion that sitting for 8 hours a day has robbed you of.

A lot of weightlifters and atheletes will tell you simply, If you don't Squat, you aren't serious. The exercise does wonders for lower body strenght, improves flexibilty, and works on mental discipline, as the exercise is particularly difficult and intense, for many people being the most intimidating exercise in the gym. If you can keep your cool and push through the last few difficult reps of a heavy barbell squat set, keeping everything in line and your form good with all of the weight up on your shoulders, then you can handle just about anything the gym can throw at you.