Last week I was talking to one of my clients about her squatting and correct form. Working in a gym environment I have seen a lot of variations but many of them are actually setting them up for injury. I find that many people will sacrifice their form in order to get lower or do what the other people at the gym are doing. You should never force your body into positions it isn’t prepared to reach just so you can perform the ideal squat. You should always switch up your positioning to find what works best for you. As with any movement, it’s important to know what it’s supposed to look like and where in your body you should be feeling your muscles contract. Squats force the body’s parts to work and grow stronger together. It works the quads, glutes, and hamstrings. Your upper body also has to stabilize your core and maintain a neutral spine, all while supporting the load.
Depending on your fitness level, squats can be a little challenging because your muscles will actually have to work to maintain the load. They may also feel a little tight depending on muscle imbalances.
Squats may be the king of exercises but they’re not magical, if you cant perform them safely and correctly they will not be effective. Everyone’s limb-length and body type is different, some womens glutes respond better to certain exercises as opposed to other ones. There is no one-size-fits-all program for everybody. Most people are also quad dominant so if the goal is to build the glutes then you have to learn to activate the glutes first to see the correct results while squatting.
That said, if you know what you’re doing with squats, and have great glute activation, they can help with building the glutes. But in my experience, they still aren’t necessarily the best exercise for building the booty.