The sissy squat is a quad train that’s hit it large of late.
Its inventory has soared as a result of it trains all of the muscle tissue in your quads whereas absolutely lengthend—one thing most different quad workout routines, together with the front and back squat, don’t. And this implies it’s uniquely efficient for rounding out quad growth.
On this article, you’ll discover ways to do the sissy squat with correct kind, what makes it useful, the most effective sissy squat options, and extra.
Key Takeaways
- Sissy squats are a body weight train that prepare all 4 of your quad muscle tissue, one thing most different leg workout routines miss.
- A key sissy squat profit is that they prepare your quads whereas absolutely stretched, which can increase development.
- The very best sissy squat options are the kneeling, banded, Smith machine, and weighted variations of the train.
- You’ll be able to carry out sissy squats at house the identical approach you do them within the health club, making them a handy and efficient train wherever you want to coach.
- Sissy squats are secure for most individuals’s knees, however when you expertise discomfort, think about a sissy squat different that’s simpler in your joints.
What Is a Sissy Squat?
The sissy squat is a body weight train that trains the quadriceps.
You carry out the sissy squat by holding onto one thing sturdy, then flexing your glutes and bending your knees, permitting your physique to lean backward, your knees to track over your toes, and your heels to return off the bottom.
You proceed to decrease your self till your knees are absolutely bent, then straighten your knees to face again up.
You can too carry out the sissy squat utilizing a sissy squat machine (or “sissy squat bench”), a bit of apparatus that locks your toes and shins in place, permitting you to carry out the train with higher stability.
Whereas performing a sissy squat with a sissy squat machine could be extra comfy, it prevents you from absolutely lengthening the quads whereas performing the train, which suggests it most likely isn’t fairly as efficient for building muscle because the common sissy squat. Moreover, most industrial gyms don’t have a sissy squat machine.
For these causes, most individuals desire the common sissy squat, in order that’s the variation we’ll give attention to on this article.
Sissy Squat Kind
One of the best ways to study find out how to do a sissy squat is to separate the train into three elements: arrange, descend, and ascend.
1. Set Up
Stand along with your toes shoulder-width aside and a sturdy object (equivalent to a squat rack) 1-to-2 toes out of your dominant aspect. Seize the thing along with your dominant hand between hip and chest top.
2. Descend
Flex your glutes as laborious as doable, then bend your knees and permit them to maneuver ahead over your toes. As you descend, let your physique lean backward and your heels come off the ground.
Proceed descending so far as you comfortably can or till your glutes are 6-to-12 inches out of your heels.
3. Ascend
Reverse the motion and return to the beginning place by pushing your toes into the ground and straightening your knees. This can be a mirror picture of what you probably did through the “descent.”
As you ascend, guarantee your hips stay absolutely prolonged in order that your physique kinds a straight line out of your head to your knees.
Right here’s the way it ought to look while you put all of it collectively:
Sissy Squat Advantages
4 muscle tissue make up the quadriceps: the vastus lateralis, vastus medialis, vastus intermedius, and rectus femoris.
Right here’s how they appear:
The three “vastus” muscle tissue connect to the femur (thigh bone) and knee and are chargeable for “extending” (straightening) the knee. Conversely, the rectus femoris attaches on the hip and knee, which suggests it extends the knee and “flexes” the hips (brings your knees nearer to your chest).
Thus, to completely stretch the vastus lateralis, vastus medialis, and vastus intermedius, you have to absolutely bend your knee. Nevertheless, to completely stretch the rectus femoris, you have to absolutely bend your knee whereas “extending” your hips (pushing your hips ahead to create a straight line between your torso and thighs).
Most leg workout routines, together with the front, back, and Bulgarian split squat, contain bending the knees whereas extending the hips, however few contain bending the knees whereas the hips stay prolonged.
This implies most leg workout routines prepare the vastus muscle tissue in a totally stretched place however don’t prepare the rectus femoris when absolutely lengthened. That is important as a result of studies show that coaching your muscle tissue in a stretched place is essential for maximizing development.
In different phrases, most leg workout routines successfully prepare the vastus muscle tissue, however most don’t optimally stimulate the rectus femoris.
Herein lies the most important advantage of sissy squats: it entails squatting along with your hips absolutely prolonged, making it ultimate for emphasizing the rectus femoris and rounding out your quad growth.
Sissy Squat: Muscle mass Labored
The primary muscle tissue labored by the sissy squat train are the quadriceps, the 4 muscle tissue on the entrance of your thigh:
- Vastus medialis
- Vastus lateralis
- Vastus intermedius
- Rectus femoris
Right here’s how they appear in your physique:
The Greatest Sissy Squat Options
1. Kneeling Sissy Squat
The kneeling sissy squat is a superb different when you’re new to sissy squatting as a result of it means that you can strengthen the identical muscle tissue because the common sissy squat from a kneeling place, which supplies you a extra steady base and minimizes the stability required to carry out the train.
2. Banded Sissy Squat
Within the banded sissy squat, you stand on one finish of a resistance band and wrap the opposite finish behind your neck. It’s a implausible different as a result of it means that you can progressively overload the sissy squat when the body weight sissy squat turns into too straightforward, which is significant for gaining muscle and energy.
3. Smith Machine Sissy Squat
The Smith machine sissy squat requires much less stability and coordination than the common sissy squat, making it a workable variation for individuals who discover the common model unstable or awkward.
This sissy squat different additionally makes including weight extra easy, which is useful for superior weightlifters who discover the body weight model too straightforward.
4. Weighted Sissy Squat
The primary advantage of the weighted sissy squat over the body weight sissy squat is that it means that you can carry progressively extra weight over time, which is essential for gaining muscle and energy. That stated, the weighted sissy squat is troublesome to do appropriately, which suggests it isn’t ultimate for everybody, particularly new weightlifters.
FAQ #1: What do sissy squats work?
The sissy squat works the quadriceps. Nevertheless, there’s barely extra to it than that. The sissy squat’s profit is that, not like most leg workout routines, it trains all 4 quad muscle tissue, together with the rectus femoris.
In different phrases, the sissy squat is a superb train for constructing proportional quad mass as a result of it really works all of the muscle tissue on the entrance of your thighs.
FAQ #2: Are sissy squats dangerous on your knees?
Sissy squats aren’t inherently dangerous on your knees. Whereas absolutely bending your knees will increase knee torque, the stress in your knees throughout sissy squats is well within secure limits for most individuals.
That stated, it’s possible you’ll discover the sissy squat uncomfortable if you have already got knee points. And if that’s the case for you, it’s smart to discover a sissy squat different that you would be able to carry out with out ache.
FAQ #3: Are sissy squats good for quad development?
Sure, sissy squats are good for quad development. They prepare your complete quads by means of a wide variety of movement and whereas absolutely stretched, so that they’re extremely useful for including mass to your thighs.
FAQ #4: Are you able to do sissy squats at house?
Sure, you are able to do sissy squats at house the identical approach you do them within the health club: grasp one thing sturdy, flex your glutes and bend your knees to lean again, let your knees observe over your toes and your heels carry off the ground, after which straighten your knees to face again up.
Scientific References +
- Neumann, Donald A. “Kinesiology of the Hip: A Focus on Muscular Actions.” Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy, vol. 40, no. 2, 1 Feb. 2010, pp. 82–94, https://doi.org/10.2519/jospt.2010.3025.
- Maeo, Sumiaki, et al. “Greater Hamstrings Muscle Hypertrophy but Similar Damage Protection after Training at Long versus Short Muscle Lengths.” Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, vol. 53, no. 4, 2 Oct. 2020, pp. 825–837, https://doi.org/10.1249/mss.0000000000002523. Accessed 9 Aug. 2021.
- Pedrosa, Gustavo F., et al. “Partial Range of Motion Training Elicits Favorable Improvements in Muscular Adaptations When Carried out at Long Muscle Lengths.” European Journal of Sport Science, vol. 22, no. 8, 23 May 2021, pp. 1250–1260, pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33977835/, https://doi.org/10.1080/17461391.2021.1927199.
- EARP, JACOB E., et al. “Inhomogeneous Quadriceps Femoris Hypertrophy in Response to Strength and Power Training.” Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, vol. 47, no. 11, Nov. 2015, pp. 2389–2397, https://doi.org/10.1249/mss.0000000000000669. Accessed 2 Feb. 2020.
- Kubo, Keitaro, et al. “Effects of Squat Training with Different Depths on Lower Limb Muscle Volumes.” European Journal of Applied Physiology, vol. 119, no. 9, 22 June 2019, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-019-04181-y.
- Schoenfeld, Brad J. “Squatting Kinematics and Kinetics and Their Application to Exercise Performance.” Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, vol. 24, no. 12, Dec. 2010, pp. 3497–3506, journals.lww.com/nsca-jscr/fulltext/2010/12000/squatting_kinematics_and_kinetics_and_their.40.aspx, https://doi.org/10.1519/jsc.0b013e3181bac2d7.
