5 Disadvantages of Squats You Must Know

Fitness is all about the consistent workout sessions and a top-notch diet. It nourishes your vital organs and maintains the salubrity without any hassles. However, most of the gym enthusiasts don’t realize when to stop and let the body breathe a little. You are likely to go through frequent injuries and aches if you exercise way more than required. While performing squats for a few minutes might tone your legs, long duration of such exercises can be quite daunting. It leads to a variety of injuries and might cause a severe backache.

Here are the potential disadvantages of squats that you must know before you experience the adverse effects yourself.

1.  Severe Back Strain

Squats are the compound exercises that involve various groups of muscles. You can target both the glutes as well as quads while performing such anaerobic exercises. Around half of the beginners do their squats in the wrong manner. With common mistakes like leaning forward too much or downward rotation, you might suffer serious back strains. It leads to severe pain along the lumbar spine and might involve the cervical or other spinal portions. Such mistakes put a considerable amount of strain on your spine and lead to some daunting consequences in the long run.

Experts suggest preventing excessive bending or rounding of the bottom from keeping such strains at bay. You must focus on your posture and ask someone else to see if it’s correct. In case your chest goes beyond the level of knees, then you’re doing your squats wrong.

2.  Joint Injuries

Another disadvantage of the squat exercise lies in the joint-related pains and injuries. You might suffer from joint pains and strains if you squat daily. Such compound exercises put the strain of your body-weight on the knees. Also, the mistakes that you make while performing the exercise might contribute to the adverse effects. Due to excessive pain around the knee joint, you are likely to require natural sleep aids for consistent sleep.

Many fitness freaks end up rotating the knees internally while rising or bending down. Along with this, you might lower down your body way too fast and put excessive strain on your lateral meniscus of the foot. Such factors cause exaggerated pains and injuries around the knee joint. Also, it leads to mobility issues and frequent aches during walking. Make sure to keep your knees at least shoulder-length apart to perform the exercise correctly.

3.  Restricts Hip Mobility

One of the major muscles that the squatting exercise targets are the gluteus maximus and gluteus minimus. It helps tone the entire buttock and might lead to muscle gain around the thigh region as well. However, the exercise also contributes to restricted hip movements and excessive tightening of the hips.

Your buttock region requires a bit of fat to instill cushion effect and allow better flexibility. With excessive squat exercises, you are likely to end up with tight hips that restrict hip movements. Along with this, it leads to hip impingement that occurs when you’re at the eccentric phase of the squat.

Make sure to learn the right techniques of squats to avoid mistakes during the exercise. Also, avoid doing a large number of squats as that limits your hip joint movements.

4.  Might Cause Rhabdomyolysis

Fitness revolves around top-notch workout routine and consistent efforts. Some gym enthusiasts tend to take the fitness goals way too seriously. Further, it leads to health derangements due to over-exercise or high levels of muscular fatigue. One of the diseases that occurs due to excessive squatting is rhabdomyolysis. During the squatting sessions, your body releases a muscle protein, i.e., myoglobin. In case you end up performing too many repetitions, your body undergoes excessive myoglobinuria. As a result, your muscle tissues begin to breakdown, and the protein comes out via urine. You are likely to micturate brownish urine and go through restricted joint mobilities around the knee.

Make sure to limit your squat and slow down whenever you feel exhausted or in pain. You must realize that your health is way more crucial than achieving toned legs.

5.  Requires Proper Training

Yet another disadvantage of squat exercises is that it requires excessive training and techniques. With more than five different types of squats, you might end up performing the exercise in a wrong manner. Further, such mistakes pile up and take a toll on your health. Most of the people find it challenging to perform squats in the initial days. Along with this, you might experience excessive muscle soreness and pains after the first day of squatting.

Compound exercises involve too many muscle groups and lead to high levels of muscle soreness. Even if you can correctly perform squats, the delayed onset muscle soreness might act as a hurdle in your path.

You must seek professional guidance during the initial days of squatting. Not only will it help you prevent injuries, but it also provides the right direction while exercising. With correct squats and limited repetitions, you are likely to achieve toned legs without any hassles.

Final Verdict

Gym enthusiasts wish to gain more muscle and achieve an attractive physique. During the fitness journey, many people end up getting injuries or muscle soreness. One of the compound exercises that causes frequent injuries and strains is squat. It requires proper training and determination to perform your squats without any mistakes. You might bend your knees too much or rotate your legs while doing squats. All these factors contribute to back strains, rhabdomyolysis, and knee injuries in the long run. Before you begin your fitness journey, seek professional help, and sail through the gym days like a pro.