Six Lower-Body Exercises to Do Instead of Squats

Hip mobility and strength get involved in most of daily activities such as bending down, sitting up or climbing up stairs. Apart from contributing to an amazing shape, the glutes matters in maintaining high-level performance over many aspects of our life for people of all professions because the hip extensor provide strength for the lower-body and distribute power to the rest of the body. Therefore, hip strength is not only important for athletes to improve performance in competition or fitness enthusiasts who would like keep in better shape, it also has a deep influence on the general population who just move for a living.

Squat is a fantastic exercise for improving athletic performance, but inappropriate or incorrect squat might lead soreness, tension or even injury to the lower back. As alternative, the following exercises may help you to reach the same effect exempted from the potential side effects.

1. Glute Bridge

Glute bridges is an amazing exercise that engage the hip extensor muscles in a range of motions that is beneficial to both the lower back and knees. To start, lift your hips upwards slowly and pushing your feet right against the floor while retaining low back straight and stable throughout.Return to the beginning position and repeat.

2. Hip Hinge

Another excellent exercise for training on glues. The difference is that it not only improve strength of glutes, it also contributes to the strength training of inner thighs. To start, stand tall with your feet shoulder-width apart, lean forward with your low back straight and stable until you fell tightness in your rear end and thighs. Return to the beginning position and repeat.

3. Step-ups

Stepping ups on a step board is a nice way to engage the hamstrings and all the muscles of hip in strength training. If you do not have a step board around, find a box that is same high as your knees as an replacement. If general step-ups do not work well on you, you can increase the difficulty by holding dumbbells with palm facing palm.

4. Rear Lunges

Keeping squat and lunges for long time may result in damage to the knee joints. Backwards lunges focus most of the movements on the hip instead of the knees, which not only is great for knee protection but also saves energy for the hip training . To start, stand tall with feet hip-width apart, and step backwards with your left foot until your right thigh is parallel with the ground and your left knee touching against the floor. Retain the spine and low back straight and stable throughout the movement. Return to the beginning position and repeat.

5. Kettlebell Swing

Kettlebell swing is more like an upgraded or intensified version of hip hinge, and it is an efficient way to build and tone up your glutes. To start, stand tall with your feet hip-width apart and hold the kettlebell between your legs with your two hands and upper body leaning forward slightly. Swing the kettlebell in front of your body until reaching your should height. Return to the beginning position and repeat.