Why we all should Squat!!

Why we all should Squat!!

Part 1

If somebody told me that I could only do 1 exercise for the rest of my life I would have to pick the Squat.

Why the squat???

Because you will not get another exercise more functional that will benefit you more in life. I know some people might say bench press or the AWESOME bicep curl because when you look in a mirror that’s what you see.  Hands down, the squat trumps all.

If you go back before the invention of the chair, you will find that our ancestors squatted all the time. It was the natural thing to do, weight on your heels and ass to grass with-out a thought. We don’t have any recordings of that. So where is my proof. Next time you play with your children  or see any child under 4 years of age ask them to sit on an imaginary chair or  play the sitting game. They will perform a perfect squat sitting on their heels, Its simple bio-mechanics and genetics but sad to say that we as a people train ourselves not to squat.

Take any indigenous people that has not succumbed to the modern way of living and look at their lifestyle and medical history. Research has shown that the percentage of knee & hip disease in these people is next to nothing compared to modern society.

But Squatting is bad for your knees!!! My trainer told me so.

No, No, No. Bad squatting is bad for you. If your trainer, coach, or  fitness guru tells you not to squat because it is bad for you, he is not versed on the mechanics of the human body and does not know how to teach. Squatting is bad if you squat wrong. If you squat the right way your open to an abundant amount of strength and functional health.

Going beyond parallel will damage ligaments, cartilage and bones!!!!

Again NO…. To engage the stretch reflex of the muscles and recruit more muscle fibres your hip must break parallel with the knee joint. Imagine for a moment you’re in a car and the person in front of you jams on the brakes causing you to break even harder. That’s not good for your cars brakes. Now if the person in front of you slows down and you adjust accordingly, your safe and your brakes will be ok. Consider your knees a set of brakes if there is a sudden stop you add more pressure and can damage the joint.

Can I just leg press, or do the leg curl or leg extension???

Buy all means do, but your proprioceptors and nervous system will not be active. I have seen people leg press all the weight on the leg press machine a get off and high 5 their friend. Well done, but ask them to squat even half  the weight they just lifted and you will see honest strength, that is  if they can do it.

It’s the same with the leg curl and leg extension. Good machine’s in their own right but again if you squat, your doing 1 exercise instead of 2 and not only gaining real strength but saving time in the gym.

Funny Story

A conversation between a very well  respected coach (no not me..) and a doctor made me laugh so much I need to write about it.

A client came into his conditioning centre saying that she can train except she was not allowed to Squat because she had bad knees. The coach was a bit baffled (if you have bad knees you should strengthen them) and rang the clients doctor, to his surprise the doctor confirmed that his client should not squat or do any leg exercise. Question - how does one make the legs and knees stronger??. The coach asked the doctor can his client do sit-stands which was getting his client to sit on a box and stand-up from that position. The Doctor thought  that this was a good idea mmmmmmmmmmmmm!!!! You are not allowed to squat but you can sit down to a box parallel with the clients knees and stand up from that position. So you are not allowed to squat but you can squat. Within 1 month the client was not using the box = SQUATING, went back to her doctor and all her knee pain was gone. Why???? SQUAT, SQUAT, SQUAT.

So SQUAT in the gym, the office, the street, and a personal favorite do the Van Dame Squat (very advanced) in the night club.

Thank you for reading

Stephen Kinsella