5 Fun and Functional Squat Variations

You likely heard me (or people like me) toss around the term "functional movement." In a nutshell, functional movements are exercises that relate to movements we do in our daily lives. Walking, lifting, bending down to pick things up, carrying objects, stuff like that. Unless you're training for something with a particular variety of movements (dance, rock climbing, hockey, swimming) functional movement exercises are the most beneficial ones you can train because they're immediately applicable to your everyday life. 

Performing squats—or simply squatting—is one of the most important functional movements you can do. Movements such as walking, going up and down the stairs, sitting down and standing up, picking things up off the floor are aided by an increased ability to squat. And, of course, in return, those movements help to increase our squatting ability. 

Performing squats—or simply squatting—is one of the most important functional movements you can do.

Practicing the squatting movement both strengthens the muscles in the lower limbs and improves your mobility in the knee, hip and pelvic floor. But, as I wrote in 5+ Benefits of Squatting and How to Prepare, if you've been wearing shoes with any type of heel and spending much of your day sitting in a chair, it's entirely likely that you're not currently capable of performing the squatting motion in a way that doesn't create pressure in certain joints or cause pain. So, I encourage you to go back to that article and prepare yourself before you read any further.

For those of you who are ready to continue, let's talk about how not all squats are created equal. 

How to vary the squat

The most common ways we vary the squat exercise is by making changes to the width of our stance, our foot placement angle, hip depth, and by adding extra load (weights). These alterations create different techniques that lead to different loading conditions and different movements. These variations create many different and fun ways to perform the mighty squat!

But all these different movements also create many different opinions among therapists, coaches, and squatting experts about which squat exercise you should be doing. In my opinion, that question is flawed. Like I always say—the more the merrier. Just not too many, too soon. 

A word of advice for novice squatters

A 2018 study—creatively named How to squat? Effects of various stance widths, foot placement angles and level of experience on knee, hip and...

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