Wall Squat / Wall Sit

Have A Wall? Then You Have All The Equipment You Need For This Exercise

The wall squat is a simple leg exercise that will make the front of your quads hate you.  They are really effective and they couldn't be more convenient.  You can do them just about anywhere you have a wall. 

Not only is it a great exercise for the thighs and the glutes, it is also very good for strengthening the muscles around the knee and patellar tendon.  That is great news if you like to run.  Increasing the strength in those areas is the best thing you can do to prevent running related injuries.

You may ask yourself why you would want to do a squat against the wall.  There are a few really good reasons.  First, the wall gives you some stability of you are new to squats.  Second, this exercise is excellent for the front of the quads.  Third, you can ensure your knees do not extend past your toes and that keeps a lot of unwanted stress off of the knees.

Technique

Stand against the wall with your feet extended out about 2 feet from the wall. Your feet should be hip or shoulder width apart, pointing slightly outward, and knees should be slightly bent.

• First and foremost adjust your feet so you feel no pain as you squat down and press up. There should be no knee pain throughout this exercise.
• A good way to judge how far away from the wall your fee should be is to keep in mind your knees should be over your feet at the bottom of the squat, not beyond them.
• Keep your back straight and against the wall.
• Keep the back of your head against the wall and your eyes straight ahead.
• Contract your abs
• Bend your knees and lower yourself until your knees are bent at 90 degrees (or as far as you are comfortable with) and hold.
• If you are just starting out, start with a hold of 5 to 10 seconds. Later, bump that up to 30 to 60 seconds. Later make it a 1 to 2 minute hold.
• Press back up to the starting position squeezing the things and glutes.
• Experiment with holding at different angles to work different parts of the lower body.

Keep In Mind...

• Make sure the front knee does not extend beyond the toes to avoid knee injury.
• Do not let your knees collapse inward.
• Pay attention to what your knees are telling you while doing wall squats.
• In fact if you have a back or knee injury, check with your doctor to see if this exercise is appropriate for you. If you have pain, don’t try to work through it.
  

Modifiers

Squeeze a ball between the legs while doing the wall squat to add an adductor element.

Hold a weight, medicine ball, or anything else to add resistance.

Ball Squat

• To work a little bit more on your stability, put a stability ball between your back and the wall.
• Start with the ball against your lower back.
• As you squat down, you roll down the ball instead of sliding down the wall.
• Pay attention to your posture since the wall isn't there to keep you straight.
  

One Leg

This is a fairly advanced exercise so be careful the first time you try this.  It is a pretty challenging exercise, and it can really help improve our balance and stability.

• Start with your back against the wall and maybe something to hold on to for balance.
• Start in the original wall squat position.
• Move one foot closer to the center of your body and lift the other leg off the ground.
• Watch your form, contract the abs, and bend the right knee and lower yourself until your knee is at a 90 degree angle, or as low as you feel comfortable going.
• Hold and then press back up. Do your full number of reps on the first leg before switching to the other leg.
• This exercise isn’t supposed to be easy so work your way up to it.