How To Do Plie Squat Exercises

Exercise is a dreaded word for many. Most people claim that they do not have time for exercise or are just not bothered about it.

Being physically active has a lot of advantages like it helps you stay fit, reduces your stress levels and improves your sleep patterns thereby increasing your life expectancy levels and quality of life and reducing the risk of heart diseases. Overall you feel happy and refreshed. Doing some exercise daily will help you stay fit. Thus, it is important to accommodate exercise in your daily routine.

A lot of people who do exercises to remain fit neglect their leg workouts. Either, they skip their leg workouts or do not include them in their personal workouts at all. It is easy to understand why people are scared of working on legs. Working on legs actually stresses the whole body. Legs support the entire body. When you work on legs, it releases testosterone and other muscle building hormones. If you work out on your legs you will also be able to gain weight much faster.

Leg workouts offer a lot of benefits. Heart pumping exercises which depend on legs for any kind of movement includes aerobic activities like hiking, dancing, running, etc. A lot of activities depend on the legs and the health of the legs contributes to the overall health in a big way. This shows the importance of leg workouts.

What Are Squats?

There are various ways in which you can target your leg muscles. Squats are common leg exercises performed by people and it can be done in various ways. Squats are strength training exercises which focus on the muscles in the lower part of the body. They are full bodied exercises which train the muscles in the thighs, buttocks, hips and hamstrings. Squats help to strengthen the bones, ligaments and tendons present in the lower body. These exercises are essential for increasing the size and strength of the legs, buttocks and also for developing the strength.

When squatting the different areas that get trained are the lower and upper back, the abdomen, the shoulders, arms, trunk, costal muscles.

There are various types of squats like back squats, front squats, overhead squats, split squats, sissy squats, Bulgarian squat, jump squat, box squat, trap-bar squat, hack squat, etc.

What Are Plie Squats?

Plie squat is a simple exercise which comes with several benefits. It mostly targets the inner thighs, the quadriceps and the glutes. Performing plie squats will help to add strength to your lower body. By doing plie squats you can get legs that are lean, thin and sexy to look at. This is the very reason why plie squats are more popular with women than with men.

Women wear dresses and are more concerned about toning their thighs and legs. This makes their legs look thinner. Women are mostly judged on their outward appearance and hence they feel the need to work on areas that do not look too desirable. This is probably the result of the recent increase in cosmetic surgeries which promise to make every inch of your body perfect. However, if you wish to tone your legs you do not need to go for surgeries. If you perform the right kind of exercises you will be able to get the kind of legs you want to.

Performing Plie Squat

Plie squat actually involves some changes in foot placement and it helps to target your leg muscles in various ways. In traditional squats there is less of inner thigh involvement but in plie squats the inner thigh involvement is much higher. If you wish to add some new challenges to your routine plie squat can be a great variation. You only need to be careful when you are going down.  You must only go down as much as your flexibility allows you to.

Let us take a look at how plie squat is perfomed.

•    First stand with your feet spread wider than your hips. Point your toes out at 45 degrees. Make sure that your knees and toes are aligned

•    In order to add more weight you can now hold dumbbells. Place your hands in front of your body and hold a dumbbell using both your hands. Let it hang in between your legs.

•    Now bend your knees slowly and squat down as much as you can. Ensure all this while that your knees are in line with your toes and contracted abs and straight back.

•    You must only lower your body as much as you can without compromising on the flexibility of your body or even the balance.

•    Now slowly push back without locking knees.

Injury Considerations

The squat has been the traditional weight training element but recently it has come into the throes of controversy. Some trainers say that squats can cause serious injuries to the lumbar spine and knees. It has therefore, been suggested that the Olympic bar squat be modified slightly. However, there are others who claim that squats are good exercises which help in muscle building and strength training. Thus, one must be very careful when performing any type of squats.

Alternative to Plie Squat

Deep knee bends are alternatives to the plie squats. In order to perform deep knee bends stand with your feet wide apart. Now as you bend your knees make your heels rise above the ground gradually. Now squat as low as you are able to go. Then stand up letting your heels return onto the floor. Now repeat this without bouncing.

Plie Squat v/s Deep Knee Bends

Deep knee bends are said to be controversial exercises as they can put tremendous strain on your knees. This exercise is often not recommended by fitness trainers or doctors. Having said that, you will realize yourself that deep knee bends are very similar to the manner in which you can squat down for something in order to perform your daily activities.

Plie squats on the other hand, do not stress the knees because you are bending only about 90 degrees and your knees don’t go beyond toes.