How Many Squats You Should Be Able to Do Per Day
EVERY GYM HAS someone who’s a bit too obsessed with their mirror muscles. You know the look: A ripped upper body that seems capable of tearing logs into firewood sitting atop a pair of legs that resemble kindling sticks. This is the sure sign of a person in dire need of a regular leg day. But most guys understand that true strength—the kind that translates beyond the gym—is a total-body endeavor, and that the lower body can’t (and shouldn’t) be neglected. Indeed, forging your legs into stalwart pylons with exercises like the squat is key to achieving just about any real-world fitness goal. Which begs the question: How many squats should you do a day?
While the classic squat (or any of its countless variations) should always be a cornerstone of your training program, the answer to the above question depends entirely on your goals and how you incorporate the exercise into your routine. The same goes for the obvious corollary question: How many squats should you be able to do?
Should You Squat Every Day?
The answer to this question depends on what exactly you're asking. If you’re talking about bodyweight squats—as you might perform during, say, a warmup or calorie-crushing finisher—the answer is “go right ahead.”
“The exercise puts you in deep knee flexion and helps challenge [and increase] hip mobility,” says Men’s Health fitness director Ebenezer Samuel, C.S.C.S., adding that most people should be able to do 30 to 40 a day—although they can probably do all those reps in a row with proper form. “It should be two seconds down with a one second pause at the bottom, squeezing your glutes on the way up, because if you don’t, you’re just going to fly through them and kind of waste your time.”
If your goal is hypertrophy (science-speak for building muscle), however, the answer is different. In this scenario, you’re typically not relying on bodyweight. You’re lifting heavy, loading your squats with iron (e.g., barbell, kettlebells, dumbbells) or some other form resistance, such as resistance bands, and performing fewer sets of fewer reps. That's usually what people mean when they say it's time to squat. “For hypertrophy, it’s not about how many squats you do per day but rather how you fit them in,” says Samuel, who recommends performing the move two times a week with three sets of six to 10 reps if your goal is increasing lean mass. “If it’s strength, still do them twice a week, but drop the reps to four to eight per set.” Remember you'll want to be working with heavy loads, too.
In short, if you’re training your legs hard—a situation that almost always involves some variation of a loaded squat—you’re not going to be able to hammer them every day without risking overtraining. “Your legs are your strongest muscle group, and you should be able to go heavy with them,” says Samuel, explaining that doing so will tax your nervous system and stress your lower body—and thus require time for recovery and adaptation. “As a result, you’re better off giving yourself one to two days of rest before hitting them again.”
Benefits of Squats
You likely already know the aesthetic perks of incorporating squats into your weekly routine: Sculpting glutes worthy of Michelangelo’s David and thighs that taper into perfect teardrops above your knees. But the benefits don’t stop there, especially with the loaded variations.
You’ll also engage a suite of synergist (assistive) muscles, including your hamstrings, adductor magnus (powerful muscles that run along each of your inner thighs), calves, and even your core—especially your erector spinae, which flank both sides of your spine, supporting and stabilizing it.
Bottom line: The squat might seem like a lower body exercise, but it has total body repercussions. Consequently, it will benefit not only the muscles below your waist, but also many of those above it—and that means greater performance in everything you do both in and out of the gym. Read on to learn how to perform this classic exercise with perfect form.
How to Do Squats
There are lots of different ways to squat, but learning how to do the most basic variation will help to build the base you'll need to progress to more demanding workouts. Start with the bodyweight squat, also known as the air squat. This is the variation you can train every day—but remember, you won't build much muscle.
Start by getting into position, with your feet just beyond shoulder-width apart and pointed slightly out. This will wind up slightly different for everyone, so listen to your body to make sure you're in the best stance for yourself.
Organize your upper body by tightening your shoulder blades and squeezing your abs. Maintain this tension throughout the movement to help keep your torso upright.
Begin the movement by pushing your butt back, then bend your knees to lower down into the squat. Open your knees as you descend.
Depth here should ideally be when your butt is lower than your knees. This will be easier to reach than most loaded variations, but some people still might struggle with their mobility. If that's you, just go as low as you can within reason.
Stand straight up, squeezing your glutes to extend your hips at the top.
Comfortable with the air squat? Try out these other squat variations on your leg days, which add a load to shift the focus to other muscle groups. There will be slight differences, but all of them will require you to go down, then stand back up.
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