The Goblet Squat is one of the most common and least complicated exercises you can do. It targets your glutes, quads, hamstrings, and core muscles; it’s an efficient way to build strength and stability in your lower body. For a beginner, the goblet squat is a great way to start because you use a weight that’s really easy to handle and allow for a full range of motion.
How To Do The Goblet Squat
Place a dumbbell (or kettlebell) against your chest and hold it steady with both hands. You can choose the weight you want, but if you’re a beginner, I recommend using a lighter to improve your form.
- Stand with the weight against your chest, feet slightly wider than your hips.
- Bend your knees to lower yourself into a squat, make sure to keep your back is straight in a neutral position.
- Squat down until your thighs are parallel with the floor, or about two-thirds of the way between the knee and ankle joints (which are roughly vertical).
- Slowly, in a controlled motion, return to starting position.
- Repeat for the desired number of repetitions.
Proper form and warm-up are vitally important. The key to proper performance is to maintain a rigid torso and flat back throughout the movement. To avoid injury, make sure you warm up properly before every workout session.
Goblet Squat Benefits
Performing Goblet Squats regularly can help to improve strength, endurance, and prevent injury. The goblet squat is a great exercise for increasing mobility in the hips and ankles.
Additional benefits include
- Increasing work capacity and reducing body fat levels.
The goblet squat increases your work capacity because the more familiar you are with an exercise, the easier it becomes. This leads to improved cardiovascular function and increased overall strength, as well as a reduction in body fat levels.
- Preventing injury
Performing Goblet Squats is one of the most common ways to prevent lower back injuries (the most common type of physical injury). By strengthening your core muscles, you’ll also prevent lower back pain from occurring in the future.
- Increasing lean body mass
The goblet squat develops the muscles of the legs and increases lean body mass because your muscles are working harder to perform the exercise. This, in turn, leads to an increase in metabolism and fat loss.
- Decreasing joint pain and inflammation.
Performing Goblet Squats regularly prevents joint pain by strengthening the muscles around your joints (bones and joints).
- Improving cardiovascular health
Goblet squats strengthen the muscles of the legs and increase overall work capacity, which in turn can help to improve cardiovascular health.
The goblet squat is a great exercise for overall lower body development. It will improve your overall strength, balance, and explosiveness.
Goblet Squat Muscles Worked
Below is a list of the muscles targeted during the goblet squat.
- Gluteals: the glute is activated to maintain hip extension in the bottom position.
- Hamstrings: the hamstrings are activated to generate hip extension during the squat.
- Quadriceps: all quadriceps muscles are active in the goblet squat, although the vastus lateralis is primarily used to maintain knee flexion.
- Lower Back: The lower back muscles are primarily responsible for maintaining lumbar stability and posterior pelvic tilt throughout the movement.
- Core: The core muscles are engaged to stabilize the pelvis and maintain posterior pelvic tilt.
- Upper Back: The muscles of the upper back are primarily responsible for maintaining a neutral spine throughout the exercise.
- Shoulders: The shoulders are primarily responsible for maintaining a horizontal shoulder position.
Common Mistakes
Common mistakes with the goblet squat include:
- Failing to have proper form. It’s important to keep your back in a neutral position and maintain a rigid core throughout the movement. This will help to prevent injury. If you feel pain or tension in your lower back, check your form and use lighter weights until you’re able to achieve proper form without discomfort.
- Performing the movement too quickly. The goblet squat is a slow, controlled exercise that requires a slower pace throughout the entire movement. When you perform it quickly, this can lead to excessive strain on your lower back and lead to injury.
- Using too much weight or too light a weight. If you’re new to the goblet squat, try using 1-3 sets of 10 repetitions with a weight that’s easy for you to handle. Once you feel comfortable with the exercise, you can progress to 2-5 sets of 1-3 repetitions with a more challenging weight.
- Using momentum in the movement. Since this exercise requires control throughout the entire movement – it is best to stabilize your core muscles and maintain the proper form throughout each repetition without using momentum.
Summary
Goblet Squats are a great exercise for building muscle and strength in your lower body. If you’re looking to increase your overall mobility and stability, as well as burn fat while improving your cardiovascular function, the goblet squat is a great exercise to add to your workout program.