Workout of the Day:
“Cindy”
Complete as many rounds as possible in 20 minutes of:
5 Pull-Ups
10 Push-Ups
15 Squats
Stephanie just joined CF Invictus, and during her three introductory sessions with Dani demonstrated near perfect squat mechanics. Nice work!
Bad Habits – The Air Squat
Written by Mike Hom
In this series of posts, I will explore bad habits in common movements. Most of these movements will be fundamentals, such as the air squat, push up, and pull up, and then move on to barbell, dumbbell, and kettlebell movements. Let’s start with the most fundamental of movements, the air squat.
CJ previously posted a fantastic blog entry that describes the dysfunction associated with a pronated squat. To paraphrase what he said in his post, pronating–or rolling to the arch of the foot–while squatting is a sign of lackluster hip and pelvic control. A combination of muscular imbalance and poor activation of posterior muscle groups. Furthermore, pronating makes your knees cave in which creates an obstruction for your hips to move. Cues like “spread the ground”, “push your knees out”, and “active hips” try to rectify this problem.
Another common problem is the soft chest, characterized by protracted shoulders at the top of a squat and allowing the chest to drop during the descent. Several problems can be inferred. The upper torso is a main contributor to midline stabilization. Without going into too much detail, soft chest syndrome usually results in a “softening” of the thoracic spine, which gives people the “fish pole” look. This can lead to injuries in the future. Furthermore, a lazy chest generally results in a blunted expression of hip extension. A couple things help alleviate this problem. For those that squat with their arms out, try to raise those arms as high as possible. This effectively raises the chest and brings your whole spine into nice, tight extension. I believe the set-up is one of the most important pieces of the equation. If your chest is nice, big, and puffed out from the get-go, you should fight to maintain that nice big chest on your way down and up, barring any major bio-mechanical issues.
Of course, we must also address where your heels should be when you squat. In CrossFit, we squat with our whole foot on the ground, heel included. I won’t argue here whether there are benefits to movements like Hindu squats, but I will tell you that people with knee problems generally don’t benefit from them. On the other hand, a correctly performed CrossFit air squat has had nice rehab effects for many with knee issues. So why do we squat with heels down? Simply put, efficiency of movement. Try this, squat down while rolling onto the balls of your feet and try to explosively stand up. Now, squat down while staying rooted on your heels and try to explosively stand up. What’s the difference? When we stay rooted on our heels, we can more effectively recruit muscles from our posterior chain–glutes, hamstrings, etc.–which help us generate explosive hip power. Rolling onto the balls of your feet reduces your body’s ability to use those big muscle in the back of your body to produce power. That is why we have people “sit back” in their squat. It helps them stay rooted on their heels and recruit the explosive power of the posterior chain.
In sum, remember these points the next time you squat: move your knees out of the way, lock your lower back into extention, keep your chest up, and keep your whole foot on the ground. These are the keys to the squat kingdom.
You go girl! I can’t quite explain my surprise when Stephanie performed her first air squat. I thought hmm not too shabby and then just for fun I challenged her to lift her arms and chest just a bit more. Voila she was damn near straight up and down. I must say we are close to completing the review of all 9 fundamental movements and she moves very well. Stephanie, I am so excited to see you flourish at CFI. Something tells me you are going to be a beast (BTW that is a compliment in the CF world
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In response to the air squat I will simply say most all of us have room for improvement. I always thought I had a damn good squat. Right up until Cal ran me through some tests to reveal I have several things to work on. Don’t settle for mediocre. The air squat is a fundamental component in the CF methodology…challenge yourself to perfect your squat.
Best moment of this morning…Manimal was leading the crew in a warm up utilizing a DB. The group finished the warm up exercise and looked to Manimal for instructions on the next drill. Manimal held the DB in his right arm, looked down at his beautiful bicep and begin to coach the curl. He then looked up and gave a big smile…I must admit for a moment I thought we lost Manimal to the dark side.
Look forward to working with the 6:30 crew tonight. I hope everyone has a great day. Oh and Happy St. Patty’s.
CJ was talking about Calvin’s balls this morning. So was Mark.
They both spoke highly of them.
p.s. So great seeing Trish with us at 6 a.m.!!!!!
Thanks Cynthia! It’s always good to see my 6am peeps as well!
If you haven’t seen the billboards around town, right now through the end of March the SD Museum of Natural History is hosting the Body Worlds exhibition. If you’ve never seen this before, it’s pretty amazing. This is a great exhibit that shows how incredible the human body is using a revolutionary preservational method called plastination. It’s a fantastic way to learn some things about your body, and you can check out more here: http://www.sdnhm.org/exhibits/bodyworlds2/index.php (or just click on my name for the link).
Tickets are $27, and I’m planning on heading up there sometime Saturday if anybody is interested. I think it’ll be a great lead-in to the Paleo potluck. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to get back to doing bicep curls. I don’t know if you heard me counting, but I’m over a thousand so far. It’s a deep burn…
Wow, I didn’t mean for that post to sound so promotional. I swear they’re not paying me.
Are we doing a sign up for what we’re bringing to the potluck on Saturday? I don’t want to bring something similar to what Michele brings and be thoroughly embarrassed by the comparison!
I saw that human body exhibit when it was at UTC last year. Oh my. I’m very glad that we’re covered in skin so we don’t have to see all that crap in there. BLECH!
I have to agree that the Bodies Exhibit is very worth seeing. Especially for a crossfiter who is in touch with their bodies. It would be great to hear what everyone’s favorite part of the exhibit was. I saw it in NYC and thought that the circulatory sysem section was absolutely amazing.
Cindy: 22 rounds + 5 pull ups (20# vest)
POS….a 20# vest? Nice work brother.
Cynthia–maybe I shouldn’t cook and should just be the judge!