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You don’t know squats

The squat is a perfect example. It’s probably the most natural human movement, learned long before barbells were invented.

Squatting was a necessary natural movement for our cavemen to do “#2” long before toilets existed, as humans are designed to adopt a squatting position to eliminate them and have been for thousands of years.

It wasn’t until the middle of the 19th century that we started sitting instead of squatting.

Even today, people in the developing world seem to be squatting down all the time instead of sitting in a chair… and it’s not because there’s no IKEA nearby.

You can sit like this for hours, while most of us are lucky enough to stay in that position for a few minutes before drooling all over our lazy boy.

Just keep that in mind the next time you bend down to retrieve a book from a low bookshelf or crouch down to pop in a DVD.

When bending into a squat, you’ll likely be bending onto your toes instead of keeping your heels flat on the floor and your knees behind your toes.

(Thanks to my daughter I’ve been getting a lot of practice lately, as of this morning I’m currently watching Elmo’s Pottie Time DVD for the 23rd time.)

This poor mobility makes us vulnerable to common back injuries. Whether it’s at the gym or in the office, when we squat, we should initiate the movement starting with our hips and glutes, not our quads; the muscle above our knee.

By following this natural chain of motion, you take the strain off your lower back and knees, allowing for a strong and comfortable range of motion.

time to play

Aside from being the best squatters, our kids know how to move without even knowing they are “exercising”. When we were young we called running, jumping and climbing “play”… when we grew up we called it training.

Well, maybe it’s time we got back into some fitness fun and make the world OUR playground.

Get out of that smelly gym while the weather is still nice and stop worrying about how many milliseconds your treadmill cardio interval should be and pick a spot in the park and sprint that fast there as possible.

Then, take a few deep breaths, jump down and do as many push-ups as you can, take a few more breaths, and crawl back on all fours the distance you just ran. Rinse and repeat…

Or get a large tractor tire from your local tire shop and put it in your yard for one of the most intense total body workouts you will ever experience…as I recently discovered after competing in my first strongman competition.

This lift simulates deadlifts as you bend down to lift the hoop off the ground. Then, when you lift the hoop by its end, simulate a standing chest press to knock the hoop over before the hoop goes crazy and knocks you over.

Don’t worry, your name doesn’t have to be Mariusz Pudzianowski or born in Iceland to enjoy the benefits of these strongman exercises.

But these moves are fun and challenging because they train your body the way it should move in real life, pushing and pulling heavy, awkward objects.

That’s why great pro athletes to lean celebrities train this way because it carries over to real life movements AND gets you lean and muscular faster than any other type of workout.

So instead of inviting your friends over to a poker night that only seems to increase your waistline and shrink your wallet, host your own little strongman contest in your backyard. Try to flip the tire as many times as you can in a minute, then, with your lungs burning, hold on to the grass as you collapse in a pool of sweat. Trust me, a cold beer tastes way better when you’ve earned it.

You can also use the hoop for full bodyweight circuits or sledgehammer work. Yes, this is where you get a great workout by hitting the tire with a sledgehammer. Anyone who has used a sledgehammer for handwork knows how physically demanding this movement can be. I can see my dad shaking his head now as he yells, “That’s what your granddad did 12 hours a day laying railroad tracks, but he really drove something into the ground, for goodness sake!”

With the kids going back to school and the seasons changing, it might be time to change up your exercise routine.

Your kids may have had all summer off, but maybe YOU’ve learned a few things so you can be a fitter dad this fall…

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