Are you doing your Squats correctly?

You can Love them or hate them, squats are one of the most effective exercises you can do. It's very important, however, that you do them just right to maximize effectiveness and to prevent injuries.

Squats are also highly versatile: you can do them just about anywhere — before you sit down on the toilet, or putting on your make up in the mirror. Multitask by adding upper body and other moves to make them a little harder.

Here are the steps on how to do the perfect squat.

1. Stand with your head facing forward and your chest held up high and out.

2. Place your feet shoulder-width apart or slightly wider. Extend your hands straight out in front of you to help keep your balance. Or you can also bend the elbows or hold your hands together.

3. Sit back and down like you're sitting into an imaginary chair. Keep your head facing forward as your upper body bends forward a bit. Try not to let your back round, let your lower back arch slightly as you go down.

4. Lower down so your thighs are as parallel to the floor, with your knees over your ankles. Be sure to keep our weight back into your heels.

5. Keep your body tight, and push through your heels to bring yourself back to the starting position and that's one count.

Start by doing just three sets of 10 squats, and then add more reps (12, 15, 20) as you get used to the motion. It's definitely a strange feeling at first, so don't expect to master the squat right away. Focus on your form, and then worry about adding more reps later. I hope this helped you out as much as it helped me.