Women doing Les Mills workouts get more muscle activation in their quads, glutes, hamstrings, and calves when they squat deeper (90 degrees) compared to a more shallow squat (125 degrees).

For women doing Les Mills BODYPUMP, using heavier weights (about 38% of your body weight) in squats makes certain leg muscles work harder than using lighter weights (23% of your body weight).

When women who lift weights do squats with a really heavy weight (close to their max), their leg and butt muscles have to work a lot harder than when they use lighter weights.

For women doing squats in BODYPUMP classes, how deep they squat and how heavy the weight don’t affect each other when it comes to which muscles are working — each factor works on its own.

For women who lift weights regularly, squatting with 80% or 90% of your max weight activates your muscles about the same — going heavier doesn’t seem to turn on more muscle once you hit that range.

When strong guys do fast squats with heavy weights, their butt muscles kick in later during the upward push compared to when they use lighter weights — it’s like their body adjusts how it uses those muscles depending on how heavy the weight is.