Want an effectively ripped and sculpted quadriceps muscle? Tired of having no muscles on your lower body? Yes, many are, but have you ever tried Sissy squat? If the answer is no, I advise you to continue reading because you will be well motivated to start your journey with this exercise.
Squatting exercises of all kinds have always been one of the best ways to target the lower part of the body and many people may not know their importance and benefits, but did you know that squatting exercises and their variables can help you build most of the muscles of the lower body? Today we will discover the sissy squat exercise and we will go into its details and learn how to do it correctly and how to make progress with it, as well as the benefits and mistakes that you should avoid.
Let’s continue together!
What is a sissy squat?
It is one of the variants of squatting exercises that primarily target the quadriceps muscles, so that the sissy squat exercise achieves the maximum range for stretching the quadriceps muscles and is relied upon as a test of the endurance of the thigh muscles.
The sissy squat itself has variants, but the most popular is the sissy squat on a bench so that your knees are supported and you are able to extend your hips back as far as you can reach.
This exercise is also relied upon to increase the endurance of the muscles, stretch them and make them more solid.
Sissy squat muscle worked
The Sissy squat is almost similar to a compound exercise because it works more than one joint and isolates the thigh muscles and targets a group of muscles in the middle of the body, such as:
Quadriceps: It is mainly targeted so that each of the three vastus muscles and the rectus femoris are extended.
Other muscles are also targeted secondarily, and this is not a major exercise for these muscles, such as the core, including the abdominal, oblique and lower back muscles.
How to perform a supported sissy squat?
You can do the sissy squat with the machine or just by using your body weight, both of them work in the same way, but the machine may help you stretch the thigh muscles to the maximum extent, so we will focus on explaining how to do the sissy squat with the machine, and we will explain how to do it with your bodyweight only.
There are many machines that work differently, but they all support your feet and keep you steady.
- First, start with some warm-ups, stretching the thighs and doing some regular squats for a few repetitions.
- Fix your feet on a sissy squat machine, stand up straight and make sure the surface of your feet rests well under the pillow.
- Keeping your feet facing forward, support the calves with the inclined pillow.
- Let your hips fall back to a good depth.
- On your way to squatting, keep your back straight and lean forward slightly so that it is almost parallel to your knees.
- Extend the thigh muscles and push the hip back well, but do not fall too much. Stop when the knees are at a 90-degree angle.
Pro tip for improving performance:
- You must work with these tips because they will make you benefit from the exercise well. First, you must squeeze your muscles before you squat. When you are standing with your feet supported by the pillow, it should not be as if you are going to squat.
- Focus on going backwards like a stick, i.e. try to bend your knees until after you put your thigh muscles and glutes under tension, so focus on letting your body fall back straight (but not excessively), then start bending your knees little by little and extend your hips back well.
- Sissy squat is not as easy as its name, so please don’t underestimate this exercise as it is a killer for the quadriceps that you will feel tearing with every centimeter you add in the squat.
- As for the position you should be in when going deep, your position should be similar to that of sitting on a chair in a job interview (this analogy indicates that you should be alert, your chest pushed forward, your back straight, and your eyes looking forward), and an angle The knees are 90 degrees, which means that the muscles of the thighs should be parallel to the floor.
Advanced sissy squat:
If it’s your first time trying a sissy squat, I’m afraid to tell you that it’s not your turn to do this addition yet.
So you can add some challenge to your sissy squat by adding some weight so that you can carry a heavy plate, dumbbell or kettlebell (any weight that matches your fitness level).
The method remains the same, just hold the weight with your hands near your chest.
Try to squeeze as much as possible on your muscles throughout the exercise.
Also, the number of repetitions and sets you can increase as your fitness increases.
Be smart:
Like I said earlier, don’t let Sissy squat fool you, because it looks easy and you may think you have solid knees and can handle them, but you have to be careful with adding weights so you should make a good choice, because it is easy to injure your knees when going with heavy weights.
What mistakes should you avoid during performing a sissy squat?
There are some mistakes that may impede the course of your progress and may sometimes be a cause of injury or lack of satisfactory results that you must correct now.
Don’t stretch your muscles well:
This is not a mistake if you are still training your muscles to get used to this exercise, but if you want to target the muscles and squeeze them you should make as much use as possible of the range of motion you have.
Pushing the back forward excessively:
This is also a mistake that you should not make, so that the weight of your upper half of the body does not fall on the thigh muscles, and this becomes a low-intensity exercise because it serves as a balance and the pressure is not stronger on the muscles. Try to be as if you are sitting in a chair.
Don’t engage your core muscles:
The core and oblique muscles have a role in this exercise, although we do not want to target them, but you must use them in order for your path to be balanced and more stable.
Focus only on the machine to train the thigh muscles:
Although the machine is very effective in isolating the thigh muscles, this does not mean that you should limit yourself with it. Try performing sissy squats without a machine. Try compound exercises that target the lower body.
How to build muscle with a sissy squat?
Well, when it comes to building muscle, this is not only limited to exercise. Yes, it will help you build muscle, but in a specific proportion, so that building muscle is linked to several factors that we will address now:
First, try to target the muscles 3 times a week with different exercises. You can train the thigh muscles in each session that includes exercises for the lower body.
Gradually increase the weights, also increase the intensity of the exercise, but not to the point that it exposes you to injury, and you can add a few sets and increase the number of repetitions.
Focus on eating a lot of protein, but within the recommended proportions, try to get a balanced diet that includes macro nutrients such as (carbohydrates, proteins, healthy fats).
Commitment to exercises, this is the most important thing that you should work on because commitment is difficult, especially for people who suffer from lack of time because of work or something else, so try to allocate time for exercises and adhere to it well and in a systematic manner.
How to do a sissy squat without a machine?
Yes, you can do sissy squats without the intervention of the machine. In fact, many people rely on doing it without the intervention of the machine, but believe me, it may be difficult in terms of performance because it exposes you to more risks despite its effectiveness in targeting the thigh muscles.
So if you have not suffered from knee injuries before and have no knee problems in general and you are still young and healthy, then you are ready.
Perform a sissy squat without equipment
- If you are able to balance your body you can do it without any support, if you are unable to balance your body you can hold on to an iron bar or a wall or anything fixed.
- Stand straight, with your feet not too far apart.
- Stand on your toes, start bending your knees to the floor and at the same time bring your back back.
- Focus on keeping your back straight and making sure that you go with your knees to the floor and your back at the same speed.
- Your pelvis should stay in the middle, the distance your back goes back to the distance your knees go forward.
- Try to stretch your muscles well and go to any depth you can reach.
- Get up again in the same way, if you can’t, you can simply put your heels on the floor and get up by squatting.
Sissy squats variations without machine
The best variables that we identify with here. First, how can we determine the variable that we should believe in as being better and rely on it? The answer is any variant that stretches the thigh muscles in the same way and targets the same muscles.
So here are the two best sissy squat variants that are very effective.
1- Banded sissy squat
The resistance band works as the best alternative to many equipment, as it performs almost the same role as the sissy squat but also adds a significant challenge as the resistance band is more difficult on the thigh muscles.
Tie the band at the height of your knees, it is better if the band is short.
Bring your legs together on the opposite side of the band. Place the band just behind your knees in the flexion area.
Go back well until the band is well tightened, stand straight and start doing a sissy squat just like a machine, just don’t let your weight fall backward because the surface of your feet is not supported so focus on extending your hips down well and keeping your back straight and pushed forward about 20 or more 30 degrees.
You can add some challenge or intensity, hold a dumbbell or kettlebell in your hands and do a few repetitions.
2- Kneeling lean backs
This is also another variant of the sissy squat exercise. Believe me, you can train your muscles only in your bedroom with this exercise because it does not require any kind of equipment and it is so effective that you feel your thigh muscles tearing as soon as you try it, it also allows for a greater range of muscle stretching.
Kneel on your knees, not much spaced between them, keep the thighs and the upper part of your body in a straight shape like a stick, then start kneeling back as far as you can reach and press your toes and return to the previous position again.
Also, in order to add some challenge or to increase the intensity, you can carry a heavy plank in your arms, dumbbells, or any weight you have available and perform this exercise.
Benefits of sissy squats
Squatting exercises in general have countless benefits for the lower body area, as it was proven through a study conducted by NCBI, that squatting exercises with body weight for eight weeks leads to a significant decrease in body fat by (4.2%) as well as a significant increase in body mass The skinny, and the thickness of the muscles was about (3.2%).
You can benefit more with the Sissy squat because it is an advanced type of squat exercise, so that you can:
- Get strong thigh muscles.
- Improve muscle strength.
- Build muscle endurance.
- Helps to extend the knee well and improve its movement.
- Improve your performance with regular squats, or strength exercises such as the deadlift.
FAQ
Why does sissy squat hurt my knees?
If you feel pain in the knee while doing the sissy squat, you are definitely doing it wrong, that’s why many beginners complain about the difficulty of sissy squat and when we look at how they do it, we find that their movement is improper, so they feel pain.
Do sissy squats work calves?
Sissy squats do not work the calf muscles on the machine because there is no stretching or contraction of these muscles, there may be some slight pressure when doing it without equipment but even so, it is not an actual exercise for the calf muscles.
Learn about calf isolation exercises with dumbbells here.
How often should you do sissy squats?
It would be best to do sissy squats two to three times a week and focus on a variety of exercises and rely on different variables and allow your knees and quadriceps to get more rest and recovery after the exercises.
Useful links
These links may be useful to you if you are a fan of building fitness and strength or gaining muscle at home, these links contain the most powerful CrossFit exercises that you can rely on mainly.
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