Sissy Squat
How to do Sissy Squat?
Sissy squats are an advanced bodyweight exercise that primarily target the quadriceps. By leaning back while keeping the hips extended, the movement isolates the quads and provides a deep stretch while forcing them to work through a full range of motion. Sissy squats also engage the core and hip flexors. This exercise is excellent for building quadriceps strength and size without the need for weights, though it requires balance, control, and flexibility.
Steps to Perform the Exercise:
- Set Your Feet: Stand with your feet hip-width apart and toes pointing forward. Stand close to a stable surface, like a wall or railing, for support if necessary.
- Engage Your Core: Tighten your abdominal muscles and stand tall with your shoulders back and chest lifted.
- Lean Back: While keeping your body straight from head to knees, slowly lean back by bending your knees, keeping your hips extended. Focus on letting your knees bend forward while your torso stays straight.
- Lower Your Body: Continue to lean back and lower your body as far as your strength and flexibility allow. Your knees should move forward while your heels rise off the floor, putting more tension on your quads.
- Push Through the Toes: From the bottom position, push through your toes and extend your knees to return to the starting position, maintaining control throughout the movement.
Tips for the proper execution of Sissy Squat
Keep Your Hips Extended: Make sure your hips don’t bend during the squat. The goal is to isolate the quads by keeping your body straight from head to knees as you lean back.
Focus on Control: Move slowly and with control, especially when lowering yourself. Avoid dropping into the movement too quickly.
Don’t Overextend: Only lower yourself as far as your flexibility allows. As you gain strength and flexibility, you can increase the range of motion over time.
Protect Your Knees: Ensure that your knees track straight forward, not collapsing inward, to avoid placing excessive stress on your joints.
Use a Support if Needed: If you're new to sissy squats, hold onto a wall or railing for balance until you become more comfortable with the movement.
Muscles worked when doing Sissy Squat
- Primary Muscles: Quadriceps.
- Secondary Muscles: Hip flexors, core (rectus abdominis, obliques), calves (gastrocnemius), lower back (erector spinae).
Primary Muscle(s):
Quads
Secondary Muscle(s):
Lower back
Abdominal
Oblique
Calf
Equipment needed for Sissy Squat
No equipment needed for this exercise.
Adjust the difficulty of Sissy Squat
How to make Sissy Squat harder?
How to make Sissy Squat easier?
How to make Sissy Squat harder?
To make Sissy Squat harder:
-
Go Deeper: Increase the range of motion by lowering your body further, aiming to bring your knees as close to the ground as possible while maintaining control.
-
Perform on an Elevated Surface: Stand on an elevated platform or block to increase the challenge by allowing your knees to travel further forward, putting more tension on your quads.
-
Add Weight: Hold a weight plate or dumbbell at chest level to increase resistance and make the exercise more challenging.
-
Single-Leg Variation: For an advanced challenge, perform a single-leg sissy squat by lifting one leg off the ground and performing the movement with only one leg at a time.
How to make Sissy Squat easier?
To make Sissy Squat easier:
-
Use Support: Hold onto a stable object like a wall, chair, or railing to help you balance and control the movement.
-
Limit Range of Motion: If you’re a beginner, start by performing a partial sissy squat, lowering yourself just a little. As you build strength and confidence, gradually increase your range of motion.
-
Perform Regular Squats: If sissy squats are too difficult, build your strength and control with regular bodyweight squats before attempting this advanced variation.
