Today we will look at three exercises and answer the question of “Why” we do them and the question of “How” to do them and images to keep in mind while doing them.
Front Squats
Why
Squat or getting up from a seated position is one of the most frequent movements you will do every day. Doing Squats will strengthen the legs and hips. Increasing stability in the knee joint and decreasing the chances of you using your lower back to get up and down prevents back injuries.
The Front Squat is beneficial for a lot of reasons, but the two I will highlight are first, it is easier to activate the core muscles, which helps lower back discomfort. Second, they have a more realistic carry over to everyday life, such as standing up with a laundry basket.
How
- When holding the weight, think like you have two laser pointer on your elbows, and they need to be pointing straight ahead.
- When lowering, pretend you are lower a big pot of hot water and don’t want to spill any of it.
- When coming up, think like someone is pulling you out of the water by your shoulders.
Stability Ball Plank and Stir the Pot
Why
The Stability Ball Plank and Stir the Pot exercises are a play on the more familiar Plank exercise. You get all the Plank benefits (abdominal strength and postural alignment) with the added benefit of training the core to stabilize in an unstable environment. This carries over nicely to real-life movements like walking or having to stabilize yourself when you trip.
How
- When setting up, think about being long when getting on the stability ball
- Think about pushing your toes and forearms through the respective floor and ball.
Kettlebell Cleans
Why
Cleans are a great power exercise; power is essential when it comes to sports and when it comes to reacting quickly to life. Example catching yourself when you fall. Power is also the first quality we start to see a decrease in when aging.
Preventing the loss of power is why we want to find movements that help us maintain as much power as possible, and the Clean is one of the best at doing just that.
How
- To create the power, you want to think about snapping your hips through like a rope is tied around your waist; you are trying to snap the cord by popping your hips through.
- To start the movement, pull the weight up like you are zipping up a zipper.
Next time you see these exercises in your program, you will have a better understanding of why we do them and have a better idea of how to do them.
Your Fitness Sherpa, Josh
