My buddy Andi is back with another exercise video.
Last week it was Push-Ups…this week, we are focusing on developing leg strength with the bodywight squat. More specifically, today’s video showcases a progression of bodyweight squat variations..from the ultra-beginner high-chair two-leg bodyweight squat..all the way to single-leg pistol squats…ouch.
Note – readers of Health Habits come in all different shapes, sizes and experience levels. Some of you will need to start with the most easiest squat variations performed in the video. Others will be ready to tackle the pistol squats. Most will be somewhere in the middle. Either way, I hope this video helps encourage you to push yourself toward greater levels of fitness.
Teaching my clients how to properly/safely squat is very, very important. Squatting is a very natural movement – babies squat before they walk. However, over time, most adults develop muscle imbalances and bad habits which made proper squatting technique next to impossible.
So…in addition to today’s video, I am going to give you two VERY important squatting tips.
1. Squatting is not about bending your knees and hips…it’s about dropping the weight of your torso straight down toward the ground. Focus on dropping your belly down between your legs.
2. Squatting involves movement in your hips, knees and ankles. Unfortunately, due to those bad habits and muscle imbalances mentioned above, most people put too much stain on their knees during the movement.
To fix that, I make sure that they shift their center of gravity backwards towards their hips…saving their knees undue load/stress. I do this by employing two “tricks”
The first is to have them squat facing a wall with their toes no more than 6 inches from the wall…forcing them to stick their butts backward.
The second trick involves some quasi-gross visualization….Imagine you got up in the middle of the night and needed to go to the bathroom…unfortunately the power was out and it was pitch black. You stagger into the bathroom, lift the seat, turn around and reach with your derrière…aiming in the dark to sit down safely without ending up on the floor.
The point of this exercise is to make them really stick their butt backwards when they squat..once again saving the knees.[/box]
Next post – Complete Core Conditioning
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