Fitness Training
Learn the benefits of weighted squats with KL Rahul
The Indian cricket team batsman explains the correct technique to doing weighted squats and how to progress through the variations.
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8 min
KL Rahul - Shut Out The Noise
Shut Out The Noise is a documentary on how KL Rahul became one of the best batsmen in the world after his return to the India national team in early 2019.
KL Rahul has been one of the top-performing batsman of the Indian cricket team for a while.
In particular, his performances through 2019 and 2020 were applauded by some of the greats of the cricket world as he cemented his place in the Indian line-up.
As a dedicated player, Rahul has always trained hard in net and gym sessions. He even puts in the effort at home when he can’t go to the gym regularly. And one of his favourite exercises is the squat, for which he also does a few variations.
Here he explains weighted squats and how to get more out of your workout by practicing them.
Name of the exercise: Weighted squats
KL Rahul learnt weighted squats in the gym with his trainer as a way to get more out of his workout from the regular squat.
“It was something that my trainer taught me. Once he thought that I was strong enough to move from bodyweight squats to weighted squats, I started doing those. I just love how it is one exercise that works so many big muscle groups,” says KL Rahul.
What are weighted squats?
Squats are a basic bodyweight exercise that target most of the muscles in the legs. The weighted squat is a variation to the basic exercise in which you carry weights to increase the load on your muscles, so you get more out of the workout.
Targeted muscle groups
Weighted squats work on the same primary muscle groups that the regular squat works on. These are the glutes and hamstrings. They also work on the quadriceps, core and back muscles. Depending on the variation, different muscle groups get activated further when performing the exercise. For example, in weighted squats, the barbell squat loads up the glutes while the front barbell squat puts more load on the quads.
Benefits of weighted squats
KL Rahul loves that this is a compound exercise, which means it works on multiple muscle groups rather than isolating a particular muscle.
“That’s the thing about this exercise – it activates and strengthens so many muscle groups. Glutes, quads, hamstrings, back, your core,” says Rahul.
Most importantly, weighted squats help with increasing the strength in your muscles. They also increase the endurance and power in the muscles. Since they work the core, they also help with stability.
How to perform the exercise
Weighted squats are performed just like regular squats but you need to carry weights when doing the exercise. The important points to remember with a squat are that you stand with your feet hip-width apart, slowly drop your hips like you are sitting back in a chair, hold for a split second when your knees are bent at almost 90 degrees, and then lift yourself back up to the standing position. Perform the same while holding a dumbbell or kettle bell in front of your chest, a barbell behind your back or across your chest to make it a weighted squat.
How weighted squats help KL Rahul in cricket
As a top-level batsman, KL Rahul needs a lot of power in his lower legs and core to be able to play shots. Weighted squats help with strengthening his muscles and building power.
“The exercise strengthens a lot of muscle groups. The stronger those muscles are, the more powerful I feel on the ground. And the more powerful I feel, the more confident I am and the better I am able to perform,” says Rahul.
What to avoid when doing weighted squats
Common mistakes when performing weighted squats are shifting your bodyweight to the heels, extending the knees past the toes, placing weight on joints or balancing them on bones, leaning forward or backwards too much.
“A common mistake that most people do is when their knee goes past their toes; that is very bad form. Another mistake is someone performing the exercise and looking upwards with their chin very high; that can be very damaging so keep your neck neutral. The correct form is to sit back like you are about to sit in a chair; that would be ideal in good form,” says Rahul.
Variations that can help you further
Since weighted squats are a variation themselves, it is best to progress to them by doing the basic squat first. Once you’ve perfected the basic squat, there are several variations that you could do.
“You could do weighted jump squats. You could work on building up on repetitions. If you are looking to build mass, you could do goblet squats and work on the reps of those. You could also do split squats. There are a bunch of exercises that you could do but it should all be a slow progression – once you feel like you’ve reached a certain level then you can move to the next level. The basic strength built from squats and weighted squats, once you achieve that, you can move to tougher exercises,” says Rahul.
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