Air Squats

Great For The Thighs And Butt - Simple, Effective, No Equipment Needed 

Air squats primarily work the quads and the glutes, or the thighs and the butt.

They work all of the major muscle groups in the lower body, but they primarily work the thighs. This is a good exercise for the beginner as well as the conditioned athlete.  Squats can be performed anywhere and they are a great way to strengthen and tone your lower body while also increasing the flexibility in your hamstrings and glutes.

Pay attention to your form though.  You will see all kinds of "variations" if you watch other people - especially when people start to get fatigued.  The one I like the best is when people bend over at the waist and hardly bend their knees at all. 

Hey, we all get tired.  When that happens, I try to remind myself that it's better to do 10 the right way than 30 the wrong way.

Technique

• Stand with your feet a little wider than shoulder width apart, your toes pointing slightly outward, and your arms resting at your sides.
• Keeping the back straight and the eyes forward, bend at the knees slowly pushing the butt and hips out and down as if you are sitting on a chair. Keep your feet flat on the floor and keep your weight evenly balanced between the front and back of your feet.
• The tendency is to lean forward, so focus on pressing up through the heels.
• Keep your head and shoulders aligned over your knees and your knees aligned over your ankles. Extend your arms out in front of you, no higher than shoulder height, to act as a counter balance.
• Lower until your thighs are parallel with the ground. Do not let your knees extend out past your toes and do not let them collapse inward. They should either be in line with your toes or rotated out slightly. The chest is still up and broad. The eyes are still forward.
• Press up squeezing the thighs and glutes. Keep the knees slightly bent at the top. Do not lock them out. Return your arms to your sides.

Keep In Mind...

• Do not arch or round your back. Keep it straight.
• Do not lean forward. Keep your weight evenly distributed on your feet.
• I said it above but it bears repeating not to let your knees extend forward past your toes. Also, do not let them collapse inward.
• When you are confident you are performing your air squats with good technique and posture, try to go down as low as you can, touching your hamstrings to your calves with your feet flat on the floor.

Modifiers

Jump Squat

To spice things up do a jump squat. From the bottom, explode upward and jump as high as you can. When you land, make sure your knees are slightly bent and immediately return to the bottom position.

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45 Degree Squat - For just starting out or injury recovery

If it causes pain or if you feel like you are going to collapse if you go down until the thighs are parallel to the floor, start by going down until the thighs are at a 45 degree angle to the floor. Do more as you build up to it. 

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Prisoner Squat

The Prisoner Squat is just an air squat with the hands on top of or behind the head.

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Weight

You can always add a little weight.  There is some kind of construction going on where we work out on Saturdays.  Lucky for us, there is a giant pile of granite rocks there.  Sometimes we start out the morning by running over to the pile and picking out a rock.  Air squats are only one exercise you can do now that you have a rock.

Then it's decision time.  I know I'm going to be stuck with this rock for the next hour so I don't want an 80 pounder.  But how will it look if I pick one the size of my fist?   

Have some self respect and get yourself a decent size rock.