Why wall squats

Why wall squats

Squatting is an activity that most of us do in our everyday life, whether it’s to pick something up from the floor, to sit down, or for some other more advanced activity. However, there are some of us out there who may have trouble squatting. This can be due to tightness in the hamstrings causing discomfort near the buttocks, weakness in the quadriceps (quads) muscles that help us straighten our knee when walking and help us slow down when we need to squat, or possibly due to pain from arthritis that makes it difficult to build that strength up in the quads. Many things can cause difficulty squatting, and the wall squat is just one but great exercise to build the muscles to improve the ability to squat.

The quads are one of the largest groups of muscles in our bodies. They help us walk, squat, go up and down stairs, and run, just to name a few; it’s very important to keep strength and stability in the quads. The wall squat is a good starter exercise to build strength in this muscle group – it is gentle on the knee joint and works very specifically on the quads. Start with a set of 10, and try it twice a day. Build up to holding the squat 5-10 sec, and increase the number of reps to continue strengthening. To recruit other muscles that would also engage in real-life situations, you will want to progress to a regular squat away from the wall.

Lindsay Brady, PTA

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *