Thursday, August 8, 2013

Mercola Squat Technique


At the link below is a youtube of the "perfect squat".

On the one hand it is very cool that a mainstream (for "fitness") site like Mercola has a post about the virtues of squatting.  But it’s a mind blower that this guy takes almost ten minutes to warm up before squatting.  Does he do that before he sits on the toilet, sit in his car or - after the two hour drive - stand up out of his car?  Did Paleoman stretch out and warm up before he squatted to dump, or rest? 

If you want to get ready for squats to do a workout, do some squats!  I guarantee you will get some stretching, your muscles will warm and you will not explode in a puddle of overexertion from the effort.  I've seen hundreds of deconditioned folks squatting without injury.  Just start.

For what it’s worth, I do not give style points for copying his stylish breath behavior – but it is entertaining to see the gent making the dramatic noises for his squatting efforts.

It is good to breath.  It is good to breath while squatting.  It can be good to hold one’s breath while squatting.  But first, just move right and the body will take care of the breathing for you.

One thing I’ll grant this gent – it’s not easy to either teach or learn to squat with virtuosity.  I’ve been working it since 2007, and still have to pay attention to get it closer and closer to right.  I did some squats tonight with 275 pounds, to below parallel, and the technique did not suck.  Not much to show for all those years of work but it felt great!  And when I started to squat again after knee surgery, I thought I’d never be able to do it pain free. 

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