As long as I've exercised, I've heard experts say that changing your foot position during squats will activate different muscles. For years, I've believed that simply because that's what I've always heard and, of course, exercises do feel different when you change your stance, right? In an interesting article posted in the January 2009 IDEA Fitness Journal, author Jason R. Karp, PhD, tackled this issue with a variety of exercises including leg extensions, squats, lat pulldowns, seated rows, bench presses, pushups and crunches. For some exercises, changing your position did change the muscles activated. For example, a narrow hand position during pushups does involve more triceps than a wider hand position.
So, what about squats? Does taking your feet wider activate more glutes or outer thigh, as we're sometimes told? I talk about this in my latest FAQ about foot position during squats, discussing what researchers have found when studying different squat positions.
The key to keeping squats safe isn't necessarily where you put your feet, but in keeping your knees aligned with your toes and, of course, making sure the knees stay behind the toes as you squat. Finding a comfortable position that feels natural and doesn't strain your knees is the best way to make your squats both safe and effective.
I'd like to hear about your experience. Do you change your foot position when you squat and how does that change the exercise for you? Leave a comment and tell us your thoughts on squats.
Source:
Karp, Jason R. PhD. "Muscle Activity and Body Position." IDEA Fitness Journal; Jan 2009.
I have more of a question- Are you working different muscle groups when doing plie squats (wide stance, toes turned out, as in ballet)? I always feel that my inner thighs work during this exercise, while doing forward facing squats my outer thighs feel like the are getting worked.
I change around how I do squats. Currently I am doing them with a ball behind my back against a wall and holding 12 lb weights. However I am doing squats, I always change my feet position because I thought that was the right way and I enjoy the change up. I do them with my feet parallel, then feet out like a plie’ and feet together. In the past I have done squats by holding onto the bottom of a kickboxing bag stand because it is weighted. I can go very low this way. I also do a one legged squat with a stretch band with handles wrapped around a pole and I hold onto the handles. I cross one leg over the leg I am working and prop a 15 lb weight in the crook of the leg I am working. Sometimes I stand the foot of the leg I am working on an 8 lb weight to do the squat. I consistently do walking lunges with 12 lb weights.
I definitely feel that the adductors work harder with a wider stance and w/toes pointed out. I will do both stances when doing squats on the Smith machine or when doing leg press. I feel that doing the wide stance on the Smith has added definition between my adductors and quads.
I have been doing squats for years. I find that your body will tell you what feels comfortable. Your feet should not be at an unnatural angle.
The important to remember to keep your back as straight as possible and your head should be looking up.
Squats are the most beneficial weight excersise, incorporating more muscles and a slight cardio benefit.
I believe that not only does foot position make a difference in muscles engaged but also the angle of the push from the foot helps change the exercise. For example, if you push primarily with your heels, you will engage glutes. Pushing from the balls of your foot uses quads and from the sides of your foot engages adductors, providing that the foot stance is angled out. The difference is subtle but noticable if done correctly.
I find that foot position really does have an effect on squats. For example, going with a wide stance allows a much deeper squat (past 90 degrees), which engages the glutes especially. With feet more in the front (as in leaning back on the Smith bar or an exercise ball) seems to fire the hamstrings more.
We did squats with the stability ball this morning (a lot of them) along with wall sits, and yes, my inner thighs already feel it! As some of the other posts stated, we turned the toes outward, and our feet were just slightly wider than shoulder width. Most of us had 6-lb. dumbbells.
I definitely feel my quads working more when I do squats on the Smith machine with my feet close together and directly under the hips.
With squats, it is more beneficial to focus on not just the width of your stance, but in what direction you point your toes. point them out and it will work your inner thigh more and vice versa. i found several good squat routines at http://www.workoutticket.com
If you are still perpetuating the myth that your knees should not pass your toes in a squat, than you have lost any credibility in my eyes. Maybe you should research that statement next and see what you find.
When toes are pointing outward, with a nice wide stance….this targets the inner thigh, doesnt it?
I can not tell a difference in the muscle that is activated between the basic squat and toes out. I do however feel the differece when I do sissy squats (feet together) I really feel that in my glutes.
“Key to keeping squats safe” is not allowing
the legs to go past a ninety degree angle.
Good point about the plie squat. It does make a big difference. I take a weight class and we do a lot of squats with the barbell. I work my butt often because it’s my best and most challenging “asset.” However, I needed to adjust the squat because it just wasn’t benefiting me much and I need to work the inner thigh also. So last night, instead of doing regular squats with everyone else, I did plie squats. WOW!!! Though my inner thighs were going to tear right off my leg. It was amazing, especially when you go fast, then slow, and multiple reps with a weighted barbell. Try it!
As long as you remember that your toes and knees move in the same direction as you are doing a squat of any kind. Yes, feet at a wider stance as opposed to feet together do change the emphasis as far as minor muscles used. Best exercise for your backside if its done properly is a deadlift.
I’m a personal trainer and I like to keep up on the latest fitness information. Changing foot position does activate different muscle groups over the others. for example, placing your feet farther out in front of you during a squat will activate your glutes more than quads, and placing them closer during a squat will activate quads more than glutes. doing a bench press with a closer grip will activate more triceps along with chest. if you don’t believe this, try it and you’ll see. I read muscle and fitness hers magazine and oxygen magazine religiously, as well as keeping up on the latest health and fitness information in the news. I believe that being a personal trainer, it is imperative to keep learning about new fitness breakthroughs and news, as well as news about health because fitness and health go hand-in-hand.
As a champion Powerlifter in high school and with NASA, I know from experience that foot position is key to power in both squat, dead lift, and bench press. The placement and position of the foot is key to integrating all leg muscles into a squat. For conpetition standards a squat must break the plane, meaning that the hip must dip below 90 degrees with the knee for the squat to count. The question really should be, in what position should yoru feet be in order to obtain the desired result.
I want to share with you my experience with Reebok’s EasyTone shoes, in hopes of sparing others. Last summer I began walking for exercise. I gradually worked up to walking a mile a day 5-6 days a week. I invested in a pair of these shoes hoping for any additional improvements in muscle tone they might provide, as advertised.
Instead, my experience was that what they provided was undue stress on my knees (which has resulted in knee pain, previously not an issue), AND an undesirable change in my natural walk. Oddly, I did not experience the pain while wearing the shoes, but rather when I came out of them. Figuring I just needed to get used to them since the instability action of the shoe was unnatural, I was reluctant to give up any potential benefits of wearing them. Besides which, I did not have more $$ to invest in another pair of athletic shoes. So I continued wearing them throughout the summer and until the cold weather set in, at which point my ability/desire to walk outdoors ended. At that point I was interchanging the Reeboks with my regular shoes, and was experiencing the pain intermittingly.
As it has turned out, clearly it was not simply a matter of getting used to them. And adopting that stance was detrimental. For even though I’ve since ceased wearing them, much to my dismay, the pain/changes have not ceased to be. Because there is nothing else which could account for these changes, I’ve determined that the shoe’s instability(touted by Reebok, and their selling point with regard to the toning potential) is(most likely) in fact harmful to the knee joint and additionally, disruptive to one’s natural walk. As well, I suspect alternating these with regular shoes to be problematic.
Beyond the pain, it is extremely distressing to have sustained damage from something I purchased to enhance my exercise experience. I trusted that such products are assessed for any potential for harm, before being allowed to enter the marketplace!
Debbie
This post is a classic example of misinformation. There’s a reason why squatting with a wider shoulder width stance allows one to lift a heavier load: more muscle fibers are recruited.
Proof: real-life experience. Just try it.