When beginning with weight training it’s important to understand that
form is everything if you want to lose weight effectively and avoid injury at the same time. The first (on average) 2 months of your training should focus on higher repetitions (preferably 3 sets of 15 repetitions) with lighter weights in order to cement your form. Your training should centre around perfecting a series of basic movements (squatting, lunging, pushing movements such as pushups, pulling movements such as pull-ups, bending and twisting movements) around which most of your future training will likely revolve, whether while working with light weights or simply body weight at first. They are basically movements that revolve around the ways in which the human body should move naturally.
Squats – When performing a squat you want to start by working on squatting down to
parallel/90 degrees.
Begin by standing with your feet shoulder width a part and your hands across your chest rather than out at your sides or straight out in front of you, as both will tend to draw your shoulders forward, which is not what you want. As you prepare to make your descent you need to stick your butt out so that a small arch is formed in the lower back, keep your shoulder blades together, your back as straight as possible (you don’t want to lean far forward, though this is a common problem since most modern westerners have a week posterior chain/back, lower back, glutes and hamstrings with stronger anterior muscles). While you want to keep your back relatively straight, the most important thing is to
not allow your knees to move past/in front of your toes, but, instead, keep them in line with your toes. Perhaps even more importantly,
you don’t want you knees to wobble in and out, but remain inline with your toes. This may be a challenge for many people who have spent a great deal of their life being sedentary since the
vastis medialis (muscle on the lower inside of your quadricep) tends to be very weak among sedentary people.
It’s important to note as well to be sure to drive with your hamstrings when performing a squat. You’ll feel the squat in every muscle in your lower body to some degree when performed properly, however, you should not allow your quadriceps to take over while performing a standard squat. Many people find it difficult to properly activate their hamstrings and glutes, so really focus on that.
If you find that you have trouble with this, you could throw in 3 sets of hamstring curls to help you focus on activating the hams/glutes.
Another problem are
tight hip flexors, which can prevent a person from moving their hips back far enough to move into a squatting position without leaning far forward. If that’s the case, I’d suggest take measures to improve flexibility (yoga, stretching paying particular attention to problem areas, foam rollers etc.)
If you attempt to perform a squat and notice that you simply can’t do a body weight squat, you should begin with using a Swiss ball against a wall. Take a Swiss ball (preferably medium sized) and place it in between a wall and your lower back. Place your feet slightly in front of you so that you are leaning lightly against the ball, then perform the squat in the same manner as described above.
Overall this is a great way to gain lower body strength, as well as to tone/define the leg muscles.
Note about body fat percentage and squats. For those with a body fat percentage of 40% and upward, you will likely find squatting fairly difficult while carrying excess weight. Don’t allow this to discourage you, though. For those with higher body fat percentages, it is better to begin with Swiss ball squats and stick with them until a decent amount of fat loss occurs, rather than beginning with body weight squats. Again, don't become discouraged! Persistence prevails, when all else fails
