Exercise of the Day: Plie Squats

Squats are a key part of any fitness plan. The biggest muscles in your entire body are housed between your hips and your knees, and no one can make make true progress on their fitness goals without giving these muscles the attention they deserve. So if one kind of squat is so important and makes such a huge difference, why stop there?

Plie squats still work those super star quadriceps muscles that make up the tops of your thighs, but these fiery squats also really engage your glutes in your bum and the muscles of your inner thighs. Adding this variation to your workout vocabulary can help add variety to your lower-body workouts and also help incorporate the inner thigh muscles that can be so hard to train. You'll definitely notice a whole other type of burn when you do plie squats. The uncomfortable burn of challenging squats is even more intense when you add the wide stance. But the payoff is more than worth it. Athletes will love the added strength that will help with movements to the side, squatting motions, and jumping. Those shaping up will love being able to firm up those tricky inner thighs

To do plie squats, start with your feet about shoulder width apart and your toes pointed outward at a comfortable angle. You can do plie squats with your body weight, or you can add weight by either holding a dumbbell between you legs with both hands, or holding a barbell across your shoulders or chest. While keeping your back straight and your abs tight, squat down, being sure to keep your knees over your toes. This should be a slow, controlled movement. You should squat down as low as your flexibility will allow. Shoot for getting the tops of your thighs completely parallel to the floor. Pause briefly at the bottom of your squat before slowly returning to your start position.

You can do plie squats in place of your standard squats. Or, you can switch it up by doing standard squats one workout and plie squats the next. You can also do them in addition to your regular squats if you're feeling particularly like punishing your legs.