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Sports & Fitness vocabulary · Exercises & Technique

Squat

Meaning in sports & fitness, with examples

/skwɑt/nounCore term

In sports & fitness, squat means: An exercise in which you bend your knees and hips to lower your body as if sitting down, then stand up again; done with body weight or a load.

In Turkish: squat, çömelme

How it is used

A basic movement in strength training and one of the three powerlifting lifts. Trainers coach depth, knee position and posture. Squat is both a noun ("back squat", "front squat") and a verb ("She squats 100 kilos").

Example sentences

  1. Push your hips back as you lower into the squat.

  2. He can squat twice his body weight.

  3. Today we're doing front squats instead of back squats.

Common collocations

  • back squat
  • front squat
  • goblet squat
  • squat rack
  • squat depth
  • deadliftA lift in which you pick up a loaded barbell from the floor until you are standing upright, mainly working the back, glutes and hamstrings.
  • lungeAn exercise in which you take a long step forward or backward and bend both knees to lower your body, then push back up to standing.
  • glutesShort for gluteal muscles: the muscles of the buttocks, mainly the gluteus maximus, medius and minimus, which move and stabilise the hips.
  • quadricepsThe large group of four muscles at the front of the thigh that straighten the knee; often shortened to quads.
  • barbellA long metal bar with weight plates added at each end, held with both hands for exercises such as squats, deadlifts and bench presses.

More terms: Exercises & Technique

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