Crossfit Air Squat: Technique * Crossfit

Crossfit exercises

9K 0 16.12.2016 (last revised: 17.04.2019)

Air Squat is one of the most popular crossfit bodyweight exercises without weights. Almost no warm-up before workout is complete without them. And why? Because they are useful and versatile. We will talk about this and the correct technique for performing air squats today.

The benefits and benefits of air squats

Air squats are a type of body squat without weights. Exercise means working only with your body and can be done anywhere - both at home workouts and in the gym. At least at work

Air squats are useful for helping the athlete develop endurance, have a fat burning effect and strengthen the muscles of the thighs, buttocks and lower back. In addition, they are practically indispensable as an element of warm-up before training, as they develop large joints and ligaments well. Incorporating this exercise into your regular workouts will have the following positive effects:

Cardiovascular stress. Squats are recommended at a moderate pace or higher. It helps to improve the endurance of the athlete.
Development of movement coordination and balance. At first, arms are used for balance, stretched out straight in front of you. As you master the technique, you can gradually give up this "help".
Safe practice of correct squatting technique. Using squats without weights, you can work out the basic exercise technique - the position of the lower back and knees without risking health, and then move on to squats with dumbbells or a barbell.
Detection of imbalance of the right and left side of the case. This problem is usually found in the shoulder or hip joints, as well as throughout the body. You may notice the dominance of the right or left leg. If one of these deviations exists, the athlete will feel that the load is shifting to one side or one of the legs will tire faster.

Training of muscles, joints and ligaments

When training air squats, the muscles of the entire lower body are included in the work. The main load is on the following muscles of the legs and buttocks:

gluteus maximus muscles;
hamstrings;
quadriceps.

This exercise helps to strengthen the athlete's articular apparatus, ligaments and tendons. The work includes the hip, knee and ankle joints.

Improving the stretching of the ligaments and strengthening the hamstrings is the prevention of possible injury when doing squats with weights.

Execution technique

Squats are not recommended without first warming up. Be sure to stretch the muscles of the legs, hip and knee joints. Plus, squats are often practiced after cardio, when the muscles are already well warmed up.

Consider the main points of an error-free technique for performing air squats:

We take the starting position. The feet are set shoulder-width apart or slightly wider. Toes and knees are on the same vertical line. The loin is slightly arched. You can stretch your arms straight forward or spread them to the sides to create balance.
At the moment of exhalation, the hips drop to a point parallel to the floor. With good flexibility of the body, you can go down and lower, while it is important to keep your back straight.
We fix ourselves at the lowest point and rise to the starting position.

At first glance, the technique for doing air squats looks quite simple. But for quality squats during training, you need to pay attention to the following important nuances:

The feet are firmly pressed to the floor. Do not stand on your toes or lift your heels off the floor. This position allows you to evenly distribute the weight of the whole body and improves balance.
The knees move precisely in the plane of the feet. They cannot crawl out beyond the line of the toes. If the feet are parallel to each other, then the knees will "look" only forward. When spreading the socks, the knees also spread apart.
The back is straight throughout the exercise. There is a slight deflection in the lower back. Rounding of the back or lower back is unacceptable. It is important to bring this moment to perfection so as not to be injured in exercises with a barbell.
The head is straight. The gaze is straight and directed strictly in front of you.
The position of the arms creates balance for the body and does not allow falling. Hands can be held outstretched in front of you or spread apart.
You should try to distribute the weight evenly between both legs. At the moment of lowering, the balance point is on the feet between the heels and toes.