The gym exercise everyone overdoes, according to a PT
They might not be your favourite, but squats are by far one of the most straight-forward strength-training exercises you can do.
While it might take practice to perfect your technique, the concept of essentially crouching down and back up again - while your heels are shoulder-width apart and your core is held in tight - is a fairly simple one to master.
But its lack of complexity also has a downside, according to one personal trainer: squats are way overused in gym routines. Speaking to Business Insider, celebrity PT Dan Roberts explained that the squat works all the same muscles we use most in our everyday lives.
"We tend to live quite quad-dominant lives," Dan said, noting that we spend a large proportion of our time sitting down. "When we sit down our hip flexors tighten, and our glutes switch out. Certain things tighten and these end up working more.
"If these are working more and your hamstrings are weak and your glutes aren't working, to me it doesn't make sense to do exercises which do exactly the same," he told Business Insider.
Instead of dedicating time every gym session to doing weighted squats - which the PT also advised would be "the opposite of what [you're] after" if you're eager to firm up your bum and tone up your legs without increasing the size of your thighs - Dan said he'd recommend doing deadlifts instead.
So now you know: if you spend the majority of your working life sitting down, you needn't devote that much time to squats in the gym. At least not according to this PT, anyway.
Read Dan's full advice over on Business Insider.
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