Squats – Cardio or Strength Training?
There’s no shame in being confused by this question – are squats cardio or strength training? You may see a lot of gym goers squatting in the weight section, but then you check out the cardio class and they are squatting out as well. Seemingly everyone is doing squats. So, many may be confused about what type of exercise is cardio. Is it within a strength training workout? Or you’re actually doing cardiovascular exercises when you do the almighty squats?
Usually, squats are seen as strength training. That’s because they are a resistance exercise that will build strength and muscle in your lower body. Nonetheless, depending on how exactly you’re doing the squats, they may also have some cardiovascular benefits, therefore, they can be used as cardio exercises too. Having this said, squats can be integrated into both fitness types. Then again, it depends on how exactly you are squatting.
Difference Between Cardio and Strength Training
Before you get to understand whether squats are cardio or strength training, it is first important to understand what cardio is classified as and what strength training is classified as.
Cardiovascular exercises
Cardio is defined as anything that will increase your heart and breathing rate. Having this said, weight lifting also could be somewhat classified as cardio, isn’t it? That’s because strength training will also work and challenge your cardiovascular system. However, weight lifting is not exactly cardio because it won’t challenge your cardiovascular system as much as actual cardio exercises. Doing weight lifting/ strength training you’re trying to build muscle and strength, not really paying attention to endurance and cardiovascular system. However, the goal of cardio is to improve fitness, endurance, and health.
We’re thinking about cardio when thinking about workouts such as HIIT, slow paced cardio such as power walking, cycling, running, swimming, and numerous other types of cardio. When you’re doing other sports such as football, dancing, basketball, boxing, and so on – they are all cardio.
Strength training
If your goal is to build muscle and gain strength, then strength training is what you should be focusing on. Yes, when you are strength training, you challenge your cardiovascular system and increase your breathing rate, but usually far as much as you do when actually performing cardiovascular exercises. Similar to cardio, there are a lot of different types of workouts. There are training types of powerlifting, hypertrophy, endurance, and so on. There are also almost endless types of exercises for strength training.
In short, there are a lot of different types of strength training workouts and different strength training exercises that will allow you to build muscle and gain strength, as you also improve your physique, and your cardiovascular system, burn fat, and so on. Usually, there are a lot of different tools and equipment that help assist your goals and challenge your limits. They include your own body weight, barbells, free weights, dumbbells, weight machines, as well as resistance bands.
So… Are Squats Cardio or Strength Training?
Although you can do squats both when doing cardio exercises and when doing strength training, they mostly seem to come under the strength training category. It is cardio only when you’re doing squats with only your body weight, without any dumbbell or barbell, but even then, it is still mostly a resistance exercise. This is because you use your own weight in order to complete the move, and it can still be challenging. There’s no doubt that it is an actual strength training if you do use some weights (barbell or dumbbell). Especially heavier weights. Nevertheless, when you’re completing squats with your own body weight, you can still reap the cardiovascular benefits from squats. It depends on how you do them (no weight, rest between sets, amount of reps and sets, and so on).
How To Perfect Your Squats?
There are many different types of squats that you can look into trying. Squat variations will help work multiple muscles, and they will definitely help take your good old classic squat to the next level. Moreover, it also works the other way around, to check out the squat variations, we should take the classic squat.
A great starting point is to keep your feet hip-width apart with your toes facing forward. While there are some people who may prefer a slightly wider or narrower stance, a good starting point is the hip-width apart. During the entire movement, you must keep your core engaged. Squat down, pushing your hips back. Your knees must face outwards and your shoulders back, with your chest all upright. Avoid putting stress on your back. As you lower, for the maximum result, you would want to hit a 90-degree angle with your thighs parallel to the ground. Therefore, for those who are just starting out, you may need to get as low as possible. Practicing will get you there.
When you’re at your lowest point, push into your feet and stand up, back at the starting position. Do not round your back in the meantime. As you’re pushing through the feet to stand up, you should try to make this part as powerful as possible. It will help keep your form.
Strength-based Squats
As long as you want to build strength and muscle in your lower body (lower back, legs, thighs, etc, you will need to focus on strength-based squats. Check out some awesome ways to get more from your squats. This is an exercise that will definitely help you pack a lot of strength and muscle.
Add some weight
In order to add weight, you must first make sure that you have a perfect form using your own body weight. Only after having a great technique and mastering the form, you are good to go with adding some weight to your workout. Do it slowly and then work your way up as you improve. Don’t start right away. On the other hand, don’t get stuck. Make sure that you apply progressive overload to your strength training workout.
This means that you need to challenge your body by making your muscles work even harder than they were working in the previous training sessions. This means bodyweight squats, then squats with 20 lbs barbell, then 40 lbs barbell, and so on until you can squat with perfect form. Aim for about 3-4 sets, 6-10 reps.
Add resistance
Using resistance bands in your workout sessions is a great way to improve your squats. They come in different levels, which will allow you to adjust to the one that suits you best. Similar to weights, you will need to go for the one that will challenge you, however, it will not ruin your form. There are different ways to use the resistance bands.
For example, you could wrap the band around your knees. It is the most popular method because it makes it harder to spread your legs, which will force you to pay more attention to your knees. This one will engage more glute muscles. The other is to step on the resistance band (but you’ll need a longer one). Stand on one end with both feet and wrap the other end around your neck. When you squat the band is loose, but it puts resistance when you stand back up.
Cardio-based Squats
Well, as said, squats are usually mostly a strength training type of exercise, nevertheless, you can include squats in your cardio routine and yield a lot of benefits. As said, depending on how exactly you’re doing it, they can make a great option for your cardio. Check below the ways you can squat that will help yield the cardiovascular benefits:
Always do more
Progressive overload your squats by adding more reps and sets. When you’re looking to challenge your cardiovascular system, doing more is almost always better, although you should do it carefully, and without sacrificing your form. This means that you will gain strength and muscle, but you will also yield some hearty rewards, improving endurance and cardio system health. Aim for a higher volume of squats.
Considering that this is about quantity, you do not need to worry about adding weight. You don’t. You’re using your body weight and strive to do as many reps as possible. Even for a beginner, you should be able to do at least 3 sets of 10 reps. With more experience, you could aim for 5 sets of 20 reps. Try to do as many reps as possible in a certain period of time. Regardless, this will surely get your heart pumping.
Add in a jump
Adding in a jump to your squats will most definitely make this a cardio type exercise rather than strength based. With the jump, you will be challenging your cardiovascular system way more and also improve the power through the heels in your extension. Moreover, jumping at the top of the movement will also allow for a seamless transition into the next rep.
Add pulses
Pulse squats are those squats that do not go the full range of motion. Instead of that, when you are at the bottom of the squat, you’re basically pulsing up and down before finishing the rep. You may think that it is not going to have much of an effect, however, by doing it you will realize that it is what will make you feel the burn. It will definitely increase the burn in your lower body, making you work a bit harder, especially when you’re doing it with a lot of reps. Adding pulses is definitely a killer!
Are You Ready For Squats?
So, as I already mentioned, squats are mostly in the strength training category than it is in the cardio section. Nevertheless, squats can still be perfect even if you’re trying to improve your cardiovascular system.
As you have learned in this post, depending on how you execute this move, it can be a real strength training challenge, or it can improve your heart health, making it a real cardio challenge. In short, this is a move that can seriously benefit both your cardiovascular system and your muscles, building strength, and lean muscle! Regardless of how you decide to do your squats, you need to make sure that you have a perfect form which will help prevent injury and gain maximum results.
- Now that you’ve read this post, I’m pretty sure you are ready to feel the burn and go for the best results in your life. Squats are a perfect movement that can help you get there. However, the wait can be hard, therefore, if you need a bit of help with your gains, then you always have Cycle Gear to help you!
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