Basic but brutal, wall squats make leg day burn. This is because this simple isometric (static) exercise is also a compound movement, simultaneously activating the quadriceps, hamstrings, and glutes . While wall braces make your lower body work like crazy (think shaky thighs), sometimes you need to revamp your routine a bit to maintain your progress (and eliminate boredom).
To go a step further in burning your legs, make these 5 super resistant versions. But before you do, make sure you master the classic wall sit.
How to do the basic wall squat?
A few months ago we told you how to adopt the correct posture and what were the benefits of doing static squats, but it is worth remembering which is the best technique:
- Stand against a wall with your feet several inches apart.
- Slide your back until your hips and knees are at a 90-degree angle.
- Keep your shoulders, upper back, and head against the wall and distribute your weight evenly on both feet.
- Hold this position for 30 to 60 seconds.
Since wall braces activate slow-twitch muscle fibers, your main goal is to improve muscular endurance , which is great for athletes who run or play sports like basketball or soccer. You can further stimulate those muscle fibers by adding weights. This means that your legs must stabilize while they have an additional load.
Adding additional moves is another easy way to increase the difficulty factor. Doing upper-body exercises like bicep curls, lateral raises, or shoulder presses during the wall squat will engage more muscles, light up your core, and increase calorie burn.
Perhaps the simplest, material-free way to make wall squats more demanding is to lift one leg off the floor. Like other unilateral exercises, the single leg wall challenges your balance, activates your core, and strengthens your weaker side.
5 variants of the classic wall sit squat
One leg wall squat
- Slide your back down the wall until your hips and knees are at a 90-degree angle.
- Keep your shoulders, upper back, and head against the wall and distribute your weight evenly across both feet.
- Supporting your core, bring one leg in front of you, so that your hips are parallel to the knee. Make sure your grounded leg is at a 90 degree angle.
- Hold for 30 to 60 seconds, then switch sides.
Wall Sit with abduction
- Slide your back down the wall until your hips and knees are at a 90-degree angle.
- Keep your shoulders, upper back, and head against the wall and distribute your weight evenly across both feet.
- Place an elastic band above your knees and perform abductions.
- Hold for 15 to 30 seconds.
Bicep Curl Wall Squats
- Holding the dumbbells to the side with your palms facing up, slide your back down the wall until your hips and knees are at 90-degree angles.
- Keep your shoulders, upper back, and head against the wall and distribute your weight evenly across both feet.
- Contract your biceps and bend the weights up to shoulder height, squeezing your biceps at the top of the movement.
- Slowly lower to the sides.
Side Raise Wall Squat
- Holding dumbbells to the side, slide your back down the wall until your hips and knees are at 90-degree angles.
- Keep your shoulders, upper back, and head against the wall and distribute your weight evenly across both feet.
- In a controlled movement, raise your arms to the sides, keeping your elbows slightly bent, until they reach shoulder level.
- Slowly lower the weights.
Shoulder press wall squat
- Holding dumbbells to the side, slide your back down the wall until your hips and knees are at 90-degree angles.
- Keep your shoulders, upper back, and head against the wall and distribute your weight evenly across both feet.
- Bend your elbows and raise your upper arms to shoulder height so that the dumbbells are at ear level and the forearms and biceps are at 90-degree angles.
- Press the weights toward the ceiling, fully extending your arms at the top and your biceps near your ears.
- Slowly lower the weights to ear level.
