Bodyweight Squat
quadriceps
What moves the load, and what it costs
5.0MET
Quadriceps is the prime mover, with the glutes, adductors assisting. The foundation of every lower-body programme, and the first exercise anyone training at home should master. Add tempo and pauses before you add weight.
Cue: Reach the arms forward as a counterweight and sit down between the hips until the thighs pass parallel.
మూలం·2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities·వెయిటెడ్ స్క్వాట్స్ కింద చేర్చబడింది·జూలై 2026న సమీక్షించాం
SHARED AXIS · SEVEN VALUES FROM ONE TABLE · HIGHLIGHTED ROW IS THIS MOVEMENT
The compendium files bodyweight squat under a category, not a lift. Read the ladder as position, not precision: this is heavier work than sitting quietly by a factor of 5.0, and middling for conditioning work.
Turning that MET value into a real energy cost
- Map the movement to a published category. The compendium measures categories of conditioning work, never individual lifts, so bodyweight squat is filed under Resistance (weight) training, squats, slow or explosive effort.
- Take the category's MET value — 5.0. One MET is the cost of sitting quietly, so this is 5.0 times resting metabolism.
- Multiply by 3.5 to get millilitres of oxygen per kilogram per minute, the unit the MET is actually defined in.
- Multiply by your bodyweight in kilograms and divide by 200. The result is kilocalories per minute of work.
- Count working minutes only. Under load, not under the roof — a set of eight is about 25 seconds of the hour you were there.
kcal/min = MET × 3.5 × body mass (kg) ÷ 200 Bodyweight Squat: 5.0 × 3.5 × 70 ÷ 200 = 6.13 kcal/min
మూలం·ACSM metabolic equation + 2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities·REFERENCE BODY MASS 70 KG·జూలై 2026న సమీక్షించాం
What is actually doing the work
| Muscle | Role | What it does here |
|---|---|---|
| QuadricepsRectus femoris and the three vasti | Prime mover | Straightens the knee. Rectus femoris also crosses the hip and flexes it, so it is loaded differently in a squat than in a leg extension. |
| GlutesGluteus maximus, medius and minimus | Synergist / stabiliser | Extends the hip (maximus), and abducts and stabilises it (medius and minimus). The strongest single muscle group in the body. |
| AdductorsAdductor magnus, longus, brevis, gracilis | Synergist / stabiliser | Pull the thigh towards the midline, and (adductor magnus especially) extend the hip. A wide-stance squat loads them heavily. |
The prime mover produces the movement against the resistance; synergists assist and stabilisers hold a joint still without moving it. An exercise trains the whole muscle it loads — there is no way to work only part of a muscle, and no exercise removes fat from the area around it.
Set up, then earn the rep
Bodyweight. Every rep should look like the first one. The moment it stops looking like the first one, the set is finished.
PATTERN · SQUAT
- Hold the load close to the chest with the elbows tucked underneath it.
- Set the feet shoulder-width or a little wider with the toes turned out 15 to 30 degrees — whatever lets your hips travel between them.
- Reach the arms forward as a counterweight and sit down between the hips until the thighs pass parallel.
- Take a big breath into the belly, brace as if bracing for impact, and screw the feet into the floor.
- Sit down between the hips, keeping the whole foot loaded, until the hip crease passes below the top of the knee or until your position starts to fail.
- Drive up by pushing the floor away, keeping the chest and hips rising together, and breathe out at the top.
Where this one breaks down
Not theory. These are the faults you correct on a gym floor, and the correction that actually works.
Knees caving inward on the way up.
It is usually the hardest rep that exposes it. Think about screwing the feet outward into the floor and stop the set when it appears.
The hips rising faster than the chest.
The squat becomes a good morning and the lower back takes the load the legs were supposed to. Reduce the weight and drive the chest up out of the hole.
Cutting the depth as the weight climbs.
A half squat trains a half range. Load whatever depth you can hold position through, then work on the position.
Heels lifting off the floor.
Usually ankle mobility. Widen the stance slightly, work on the ankles, or squat in flat shoes with a small heel wedge — do not just fight it.
Regress it, or progress it
Regress — earn it first
ఈ సైట్లో దీన్ని ఇంకా సులభతరం చేసేది ఏమీ లేదు: ఇది ఇప్పటికే ఈ పద్ధతిలో ప్రారంభ స్థాయికి దగ్గరగా ఉంది. బరువు తగ్గించండి, కదలిక పరిధిని కుదించండి, లేదా వేగాన్ని తగ్గించండి — ఇదే వరుసలో.
Prescription: load, reps, rest
లక్ష్యాన్ని చూసుకోండి, ఆ తర్వాత బరువు పెరుగుతున్నా టెక్నిక్ను మాత్రం స్థిరంగా ఉంచండి. ఇది ఈ పేజీ కోసం కల్పించినది కాదు, కదలిక యాంత్రికత నుంచే వచ్చింది: కాంపౌండ్ లిఫ్ట్ అనేక కీళ్లపై భారం వేస్తుంది, కాబట్టి ఇది ఎక్కువ బరువును తట్టుకుంటుంది, ఎక్కువ విశ్రాంతి అవసరం.
| Goal | Sets | Reps | Rest | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Strength | 3–5 | 3–6 | 3–5 నిమి | ఎక్కువ బరువులకు ఎక్కువ విశ్రాంతి అవసరం. విశ్రాంతిని రెండు నిమిషాలకు తగ్గిస్తే బలం సెట్ కాస్తా కండిషనింగ్ సెట్గా మారిపోతుంది. |
| Muscle size | 3–4 | 6–12 | 90–180 sec | చాలా సెట్లను ఫెయిల్యూర్కు ఒకటి నుంచి మూడు రెప్ల లోపు వరకు తీసుకెళ్లండి. కచ్చితమైన రెప్ సంఖ్య కంటే ఒక్కో కండరానికి వారానికి మొత్తం హార్డ్ సెట్ల సంఖ్యే ఎక్కువ ముఖ్యం. |
| Endurance / fat loss | 2–4 | 12–20 | 45–75 sec | తక్కువ బరువులు, తక్కువ విశ్రాంతి. కొవ్వు తగ్గడం ఆహారంతో నిర్ణయమవుతుంది; ఇది ఆ సమయంలో కండరాలను కాపాడుతుంది. |
| First month | 2–3 | 8–10 | 2 min | ఫెయిల్యూర్కు చాలా ముందే ఆపేస్తూ, ప్రతి సెట్కూ అదే బరువుతో, చివరి రెప్లో కూడా కదలిక మొదటి రెప్లాగే కనిపించే వరకు. |
Time under load, in kilocalories
Read these as minutes of work, not minutes in the building. A set of eight takes about twenty-five seconds; the rest of the hour is rest, chalk and queueing.
Mapped category: రెసిస్టెన్స్ (బరువు) ట్రైనింగ్, స్క్వాట్స్, నెమ్మదిగా లేదా ఒక్కసారిగా చేసే కృషి — 5.0 MET. That is the published category this movement is filed under, not a measurement of this specific lift.
Worked at 5.0 MET × 3.5 × 70 kg ÷ 200 = 6.13 kcal per working minute for a 70 kg adult. Scale it by your own bodyweight; the equation is linear. The full activity dataset lives at BurnLab.
మూలం·2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities·CATEGORY VALUE, NOT A PER-EXERCISE MEASUREMENT·జూలై 2026న సమీక్షించాం
If the rack is taken
Substitutes train the same prime mover through the same pattern with different kit. Computed from the muscle and pattern data on this card, not hand-picked to fill a grid.
This one needs no equipment at all, which is why it belongs in every travel and home programme. Every no-equipment movement is listed together.
Where it sits in a week
One movement is not a programme. The twelve templates put these in order, including 6 that need no gym at all.
The questions that come up on the floor
What muscles does the bodyweight squat work?
Bodyweight Squat is a compound movement in which the quadriceps is the prime mover, assisted by the glutes, adductors. Straightens the knee. Rectus femoris also crosses the hip and flexes it, so it is loaded differently in a squat than in a leg extension.
Is the bodyweight squat good for beginners?
Yes. It rates 1 out of 5 for technical difficulty on this site — learnable in a single session with no coaching. Start with the lightest sensible load and two or three sets of 8–10.
What can I do instead of the bodyweight squat at home?
Nothing is needed — the bodyweight squat already requires no equipment at all, which is why it belongs in any home programme.
How many sets and reps of the bodyweight squat should I do?
కండరాల పరిమాణం కోసం, 6–12 రెప్లతో 3–4 సెట్లు, 90–180 సెకన్ల విశ్రాంతి. బలం కోసం, 3–6 రెప్లతో 3–5 సెట్లు, 3–5 నిమిషాల విశ్రాంతి. మీ మొదటి నెలలో, 8–10 రెప్లతో 2–3 సెట్లు, ఫెయిల్యూర్కు చాలా ముందే ఆపేయాలి. ఈ పరిధుల్లో ఏదైనా సరే, కచ్చితమైన రెప్ సంఖ్య కంటే ఒక్కో కండర సమూహానికి వారానికి మొత్తం హార్డ్ సెట్ల సంఖ్యే ఎక్కువ ముఖ్యం.
Does the bodyweight squat burn fat from the quadriceps?
లేదు. ఏ వ్యాయామమూ అది పనిచేయించే ప్రాంతం నుండి కొవ్వును తొలగించదు — స్పాట్ రిడక్షన్ను పలుమార్లు పరీక్షించారు, అది జరగదు. క్వాడ్రిసెప్స్ను శిక్షణ ఇవ్వడం వల్ల కింద ఉన్న కండరం పెరుగుతుంది; శరీర కొవ్వు ఎక్కడి నుండి తగ్గుతుందో మీరు ఎంచుకున్న వ్యాయామం కాదు, మొత్తం క్యాలరీ లోటు మరియు మీ జన్యువులు నిర్ణయిస్తాయి.
Muscle roles follow standard kinesiology references and are described by joint action rather than by gym convention — see how this site is built. Energy figures are derived from the 2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities. Every reference is named and dated on the sources page. General information only — not medical or coaching advice. Load, form and progression should be adjusted to your own experience and any injury history. When in doubt, get coached in person.
మూలం·Published exercise references·MUSCLE ROLES ASSIGNED BY JOINT ACTION·జూలై 2026న సమీక్షించాం
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