Salus Students Do Know Squat about Squats

Hero Seto ‘25AUD spends a lot of time working out at the Hafter Student Community Center (HSCC) and she has a competitive edge. So, when she saw an opportunity to participate in the “Squat Till You Drop Challenge,” she was all in.

Then when Seto found out Joe Riley, program manager at the HSCC, had done 300 squats before he went home from work one day during the challenge, that competitiveness kicked into high gear.

“I decided I was going to at least pass 300. And, after I completed the first 300, I set a goal of 500. And, after that 500, I figured I might as well do the other 500 so I wouldn’t have to worry about Joe catching up with me,” said Seto.

According to Riley, students who participated had from March 1 to March 31, 2023, to complete 1,000 squats.

To do a squat, the participant stands with their feet slightly greater than shoulder-width apart with toes pointing forward. Then slowly descend, bending through the hips, knees and ankles, stopping when the knees reach a 90-degree angle and then returning to the starting position.

Abby Williams ‘25OD chose to participate in the challenge because squats are one of her favorite exercises and she’s a very goal-oriented and numbers-driven person. Williams works out four times a week and likes to incorporate weighted squats into some of her workouts. She did the challenge squats before or after her normal workouts, and sometimes both.

“I usually did at least 100 squats every day that I came to the gym, but on the days that I was really feeling it, I would just do 400 at a time or even 200 before my workout and 200 after my workout, just to feel that extra burn,” said Williams. “I ended up doing a little over 2,000 squats. My original goal was to hit 3,100 squats, but midterms got in the way, so I only ended up with about 2,000.”

Williams added she would highly recommend the squat challenge to other students as it’s a great way to keep in shape and since the challenge is spread out over 30 days, it’s an attainable goal to achieve.

Seto said she was able to reach the 1,000-squat goal of the challenge in just two-and-a-half hours rather than string it out over the course of the month. She did sets of 100, then took five- to-10-minute breaks in between.

“It was really important to me to not lose my form. I had decided that I would stop for the day if I felt my form slipping, because I know that's what could cause injury,” she said.

Over the next week, Seto didn't have much soreness in her legs, but some of the muscles deep in her back and along her spine that don't see so much extended use were pretty sore.

“I knew it wasn't an injury because there wasn't any sharp pain, but I did have to take it easy for a while. If I were to do the challenge again, I'd probably break it up over two or three days instead,” she said.

Those who completed the squats were entered into a raffle to win a $30 Wawa gift card. Riley said there were 15 students who participated in the challenge, 10 of whom completed the required number of squats. Williams and Seto were the winners of the gift cards.