Squats are arguably the most important foundational movement pattern for strength training exercises. Nearly every total-body or lower-body resistance training workout will include at least some variety or modification of a basic squat. This prominence isn’t arbitrary; rather, there are numerous and significant benefits of squats, meriting their designation as a key strengthening exercise.

If you’ve spent much time in a gym, or played sports when you were growing up, you’re likely familiar with squats and how to properly perform one. But, are you aware of all the benefits of squats? Below, we re-introduce you to one of the most effective exercises—the humble squat—and detail the benefits of squats, and why it’s important to appreciate and regularly perform this lower-body sculpting move.

There are many benefits of squats and they strengthen quite a few muscles, but they primarily target the legs. Squats strengthen your glutes (butt muscles), which are essential for power, core stability, and efficient forward propulsion when running, walking, jumping, and skipping. Squats also strengthen the quads, a group of four muscles on the front of your thigh that controls knee extension. On the backside of the legs, squads also strengthen the hamstrings and calves, both of which are instrumental in walking, running, and jumping.

While squats may primarily work your legs, they also require core activation, working your glutes, hips, abs, obliques, and back extensors. In fact, studies investigating the muscle activation of various exercises demonstrated that squats actually require more involvement than planks. Having a strong core not only aids movement efficiency but also helps protect against injuries of the low back and hips.

If you play sports like basketball, volleyball, or tennis, you’ll appreciate the boost your jump game gets from consistent squat workouts. The strength you’ll develop in your glutes, calves, and hamstrings from squats will help power a more explosive, impressive jumping ability.

The core strengthening work—particularly along the erector spinae of the spine—from squats helps improve posture. Poor posture is associated with back pain, neck pain, sleep disturbances, and even slower metabolism.

Squats improve the strength and power in your legs, which can translate to a more economical running stride and faster speeds. They can also help correct muscle imbalances created by long-distance running, by requiring more glute and quad activation.

Loading your bones during squats can signal the body to increase the mineralization of your bones. Doing this also turns on key hormones that build bone rather than break it down. Bone density is particularly important as we age, so it’s certainly worth focusing on squats to delay bone loss.

Squats can increase the mobility and flexibility in your ankles, hips, and knees, which can help you feel more limber and may protect against the risk of injuries. Squats can also improve your balance, particularly when you load on one side of the squat.

Like any exercise, performing squats—especially weighted squats—burns calories, but even more importantly, building lean muscle mass through exercises like squats increases your overall metabolic rate. This means that spending time in the gym getting your squats in will help you burn more calories the rest of the day (and night!) as well.

When performed quickly or in a circuit, squats can improve cardiovascular fitness and heart health. As a total-body movement, squats recruit nearly every major muscle in the body, especially when an external load is used. Therefore, a set of squats will get your heart pumping and lungs expanding.

While you might not be able to do heavy front-loaded squats at home without a squat rack, basic squats (along with many modifications) can be performed anywhere with just your bodyweight or minimal equipment. Whether you’re traveling and have only a small hotel room, or want to get in a gym-free workout at home, squats are a convenient, powerful exercise move for tight spaces, limited time, and minimal equipment workouts.

There are so many ways to modify and alter squats to continually challenge your body and change up the muscular demand. From sumo squats and back squats to split squats and single-leg squats, you can find a different squat variety for every day of the week. Varying your squat routine keeps your muscles challenged and prevents boredom.

Here are the steps to perform a basic bodyweight squat:

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