According to Lucy Arnold, PT and founder of inclusive fitness clothing brand Lucy Locket Loves, squat holds are great for building and maintaining muscular strength in the lower body. “Working towards a five-minute hold will help improve your overall squatting technique, your mobility and could help you to lift more weight,” she says.

For Pete Pisani, trainer at workout app Fiit, squat holds also offer many benefits, the main one being that they can help increase muscular stamina and endurance, as well as improve joint health.

“During a squat hold, you’re creating sustained tension in the muscles,” he tells Strong Women. “By doing this, you’re increasing time under tension, causing an increase in muscle breakdown. More muscle breakdown means more muscle growth.”

When you put a muscle under tension at its end range of motion (at the bottom of the squat), you’re helping your muscle tissues and joints adapt to that weight. That means that by keeping your muscles under resistance for a long period, you build strength, endurance and muscle tone.

“I did 10 bodyweight squats every day for 2 weeks – and was amazed to see how much stronger it made me”