Muscles Worked in the Squat
The squat is a hugely beneficial exercise that trains a ton of muscle groups at once. This article is a guide to muscles worked in the squat plus some common squat variations.
What Muscles are Worked in the Squat?
- Quads
- Glutes
- Adductors
- Hamstrings
- Abdominals
- Obliques
- Spinal Erectors
These are the primary muscles involved in the squat. The squat is a full body movement and it trains many different muscle groups at once.
What Muscle do Squats Work the Most?
The squat primarily trains the quads and glutes. The other muscles involved like the lower back and hamstrings take on more of a supporting role.
Muscles Used in the Back Squat
The back squat is an excellent squat exercise that increases the demands on the body. This exercise is fantastic for your body! These are the muscles worked in the back squat.
- Quads
- Glutes
- Adductors
- Hamstrings
- Spinal Erectors
- Abs
- Obliques
- Lats
- Upper Back
Muscles Used in the High Bar Back Squat
The high bar back squat means the bar sits on your upper traps.. This stance helps you stay more upright. This exercise primarily builds the quads and glutes. It is an excellent choice for leg development.
Low Bar Back Squat
The low bar back squat means the bar sits lower on your back, on the bottom of your rear deltoids. This bar stance helps you lift heavier loads and increase stability. This exercise includes more forward lean, making it a good choice for powerlifting, lifting heavy loads, and building your glutes and lower back. It still trains the quads, but slightly less so than the high bar squat.
Front Squat
The front squat primarily trains the quads, glutes, lower back and upper back. The bar rests on your clavicles in front of your body. This exercise limits the load you can use, but it is super for upper back strength and quad strength. The front squat might also be a great choice for those with knee or back injuries.
Split Squat
The split squat works the quads, glutes and hamstrings. The split stance makes this a great exercise for training the vastus medialis, the inner portion of the quad muscles. This exercise also trains the medial glutes and adductors hard!
Sumo Squat
The sumo squat uses a wider stance than the other exercises on this list. This means this exercise is a good choice for adductor strength, but you may feel your quads a bit less in this exercise.
Close Stance Squat
Putting your feet close together will hammer your quads hard! This exercise is great for building great quads, but may limit the load you can use.
Putting it all Together
The squat trains the legs and glutes hard. No matter the type of squat you use, you are sure to build your legs and lower body, in addition to your core too! What type of squat do you use, and what type of muscles do you hope to build with the squat? Let me know in the comments below!
