Over the years I have tried many movements and exercises. Some felt like a waste of time. Others helped me add on pounds and absolute strength (thereby making me look muscular than my 165 lbs) while at the same time keeping me light on my feet (like I was when I was a 100 lb kid). Here are five movements that I seem to have settled on now. They get done on a regular basis although not in each and every training session.
The Front Squat
Feet positioning: whatever keeps you stable.
If you don't or can't squat, you don't know squat about human kinetics. The squat gives you an accurate idea of your capacity to do hard work. If you have flexibility issues, the squat again will let you know exactly how much inflexiblity you have in a particular spot. It aids greatly in digestion/elimination and will help strengthen the inner abdominal wall. The squat will also allow you to develop and maintain the proper strength balance between the quads (front of the thighs) and the hamstrings (the back of the thighs). Your hamstrings should be roughly 66% stronger than your quads. Most people (even some pro athletes) have an imbalance! For instance, if you have a quad/ham imbalance, then you will develop a lot of soreness in your quads after a session of running. The worst case scenario: your knees won't track correctly leading to a host of other serious issues. I know that the strength ratio between my quads and hamstrings is finally up to par now because I never develop any soreness in my quads after a hard session of sprinting.
An alternative grip like this is easy on the joints.
Although the back squat was the foundation of my earlier training years, these days I primarily concentrate on the front squat. I feel the effort put into the front squat translates well into my choice of certain recreational activities, namely snowboarding and simply showing off my legs in the beach. The squat is also the main reason why I don't bother with "cardio". Just squat 25 times with your bodyweight and tell me if your heart isn't going like a steam engine.
You can do this at home with perhaps a backpack loaded with books strapped to your chest (instead of your back). You could also hold a sack loaded with sand to your chest (more challenging because the sand tends to shift).
(Acceptable substitute) The Overhead Squat
The Overhead Squat demands total concentration. Hah! You thought I was going to suggest an easier substitute, didn't you? Remember this: the easier an exercise, the less benefit you will derive from it.
While the overhead squat does not tax the leg musculature as much as the back or front squat, it does allow you to develop a stupendous amount of rotational balance plus the endurance necessary to hold a heavy object overhead for time and distance. Additionally if you have flexibility issues of the shoulders and/or a weak lower back, that will become evident right away during this exercise. I do overheads maybe once every 5 weeks or so.
Again you could hold a sack of sand or a loaded backpack above you.
2 comments:
From the instructor's corner -
These are definitely good exercises - but I want to correct the form of the people in the pictures!! The woman in the picture has her wrists bent backwards, which puts a lot of pressure on the wrists and can cause injury or soreness. Also, her butt is a bit below her knees, and the knees should really be the basement (quads being parallel to the ground and no lower). Also, the dude's knees look like they're hovering a little out past his toes, which puts a lot of pressure on the knees from the weight overhead.
Ok. Breath. :) Enough of the instructor corrections ;) That's really good to know about the ham/quad balance. I'd never known that, and I should really work on my hams some more, because if I have a lot extra biking or step in a week, I'll find that my quads hurt. But perhaps if I strengthen my hams more, they won't as much. Good tip!
Rain, you haven't seen how my wrists look when I do front squats :) Initially it hurt but now my wrists are flexible enough that I regularly front squat 225 lbs for reps holding the bar like that. Will take a picture of me squatting this weekend and post it here next week.
Glad to know you picked up a new tip here :)
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