What is a goblet squat? The goblet squat with heartbeat is one of many great kettlebell exercises you can use to strengthen the lower body and anterior core. This exercise is a perfect option if you don’t have access to a heavier kettlebell, as the heartbeat movement makes it more challenging than regular goblet squats. Because you use a lighter kettlebell than you would use with the regular goblet squat variation, this exercise is also a great choice if you currently do not have the requisite level of upper body strength to hold a heavier kettlebell.
Although a kettlebell is used for this exercise, if you do not have access to a kettlebell, you can use a dumbbell and perform a dumbbell gobet squat. Just make sure that your upper body and torso remain in the same position as if you were holding a kettlebell.
The goblet squat with heartbeat might be too advanced for women who are just beginning to strength train. This might be due to lack of strength, stability or mobility. A few great exercise options for beginners could include goblet box squats (squatting onto a box/bench and standing up), regular goblet squats, or bodyweight squats (regular tempo, pause squats, or negatives)
The goblet squat with heartbeat is a great option for the intermediate lifter, and is pretty versatile as it can be placed at the beginning of the workout to prepare the body for more advanced exercise variations, or it can be performed after the more advanced movements have been completed. You can perform this exercise on its own, you can pair it with another exercise as part of a superset, or can you even make it part of a metabolic conditioning circuit. Intermediate lifters might perform 2-4 sets of 6-12 reps of the goblet squat with heartbeat.
Women who are comfortable with the goblet squat with heartbeat exercise can choose to perform negative goblet squats with heartbeat where the lowering phase is increased to 3-5 seconds. This trains the muscles eccentrically. You can also perform the pause squat variation, pausing for 3-5 seconds in the bottom position, or you can combine the negative and pause squat variations. You can also increase the weight/resistance for multiple sets (2-4+) of fewer repetitions (3-6), but make sure that your form remains good.
The goblet squat with heartbeat is very beneficial for someone who might not currently have the requisite levels of technical proficiency, strength, stability and mobility to perform barbell front squats. Like the barbell front squat, this exercise also trains the body to remain in a more upright position, and challenges the core muscles, particularly the anterior core. This exercise can be used in many different kettlebell workouts for women. How a woman chooses to use the goblet squat with heartbeat is highly dependent on her overall technical ability and experience, how much weight is being used, the set/rep scheme used, where the exercise falls in the workout, what it’s paired with, and what the rest periods are. In general, the goblet squat with heartbeat can be used to do any or all of the following:
Video Transcription:
One of my favorite variations of the kettlebell goblet squat is the goblet squat with heartbeat. Now, this one absolutely kills your anterior core, also known as your abs, so you are definitely going to need to lighten up on the weight a little bit. If you normally use a 16 kilo or 35 pound kettlebell, you’re going to want to drop down to a 8 or 12 kilo which is about 18 to 26 pounds.
This is what the goblet squat heartbeat looks like; you are going to clean the bell up the exact same way you do with a regular goblet squat and when you drop down in the bottom, you are going to press it away from you and then pull it back to your chest. Then, come back up. That’s one rep. Push back into my hips, grab the weight, clean it up, pull it up to my chest but not too close, sit down on the bottom, press it out, row it back and stand up. I’ll show you from the side what it looks like... make sure you can control that weight the whole time.
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