Squats, Enough Said

Squats are the single most important exercise to any training program, however they are so commonly overlooked or misunderstood. The other day, my boss wanted us trainers to run each other through a quick workout. When I started leading my co-worker and fellow personal trainer through his workout, I had him start out by doing air squats. His squats were quite possibly the worst that I have ever seen. When I told him to squat, rather than flexing the hips, he shot his knees half a foot in front of his toes, and did quarter squats. I then began to give him some coaching, using cues like butt down and back, its a hip movement not a leg movement. And then I proceded to demonstrate for him how to properly perform the movement, and he decided to correct me. He was telling me that if he bent forward like I did, he was going to hurt his back. While that would be true if he were to flex his spine, if he were to flex at the hips, his back would be able to stay in good position while also protecting his knees. How did we get where we are in our society that fitness trainers don't even know how to perform basic exercises, much less teach them to others? What is the mark of a truly great trainer? I believe that the mark of a great trainer is a focus on the fundamentals and the basics, and the ability to perform the common, uncommonly well. It is about time that everyone in the fitness industry stop focusing so much on money, and focus more on helping people. And that we begin to master the basics of exercise and nutrition, and stop relying on our ability to impress people with how tough our workouts are, or our bad science or our large repitoire of useless exercises. If you can't even squat yourself, you are worthless as a trainer. Make sure you humble yourself and learn the basics before you consider this as a career.

Workout:
"Fight Gone Bad"
Complete 3 rounds of 1 minute at each station, with one minute between rounds.

Wall-ball, 10 foot target, 20 pound ball
Sumo Deadlift High Pull, 75 pounds
Box Jumps, 20"
Push-Press, 75 pounds
Row

*Spend one minute at each of five stations, resulting in a a five-minute round after which a one-minute break is allowed before repeating. This event calls for three rounds. The clock does not reset or stop between exercises. On call of ‘rotate,’ the athletes must move to the next station immediately. One point is given for each rep, except on the rower, where each calorie is one point.