Fit Geek

So, in part 1 I discussed how you can do a glute-ham raise at home with a partner.

David is now a member of my gym so he was able to get some footage of me doing a glute-ham raise on an ab bench. (Very crappy phone footage, but whatever.) We had to be kind of discreet filming because I don’t think it’s allowed in the gym. Sshh, don’t tell.

So first of all, find an ab bench that looks like this.

Make sure the ab bench you use has pads on the foot-holder dealie.

It should have cushions on the foot-holder thingies. I’d recommend putting a towel on the part where your knees will be resting because this exercise can be rough on your knees. Trying to describe how to mount this thing to do a glute-ham raise is kind of awkward. I think the most accurate way to put it is to think of the way you’d normally slide in to do an ab workout, but do it upside down. Just watch the video, haha.

I mentioned in my first glute-ham raise post that this exercise is HARD. So try it out if you’re feeling hardcore. One thing you want to watch out for is not leading with your butt too much. You want to be as straight as possible coming back up. I’m leading with my ass a little bit in the video, but it’s normal for that to happen to a small degree.

To make this exercise a little easier, you can put a bosu ball on the bench and use that to push yourself back up. It shortens your range of motion and gives you a little more momentum coming back up.

Also, I’m small and I have short legs, so this modification on the ab bench works for me. I’m not so sure how well it’d work for someone with longer legs. I’d get David to try it out but his knees are all scabbed up from a drunken fall.

And if you’re curious about what else I do for legs, here are some videos. Once again, terribly sorry for the horrible quality.

Me squatting 125 lbs for 4 sets of 4 reps. It’s not the prettiest squat ever, but this was pretty hard for me. I’m small, okay!

Romanian deadlifts. 3 sets of 8 at 120 lbs. These are actually pretty easy for me, but my biggest issue is my grip going out. I need to do farmer’s walks!

In other news, good weekend was good. I partied with cool people and ate an overly-teriyakied chicken sandwich at Vagabond. I had good ceviche (review to come soon!) I also saw Rise of the Planet of the Apes. Yeah, it was as cheesy as you’d expect it to be, and there were a few loopholes in the plot. It did, however, make me wonder how my pet bunny, Sumo, would feel about me if he suddenly got super intelligent. Despite his cuteness, he’s a pretty hateful little turd. It’s probably for the best that he stays dumb, lest he turn into an evil, brainy bunny bent on taking over the world.

He already thinks he rules the world.

So cute....so evil!

Admittedly, I’m a bit competitive.

Whenever I see a girl getting ready to do a barbell squat (a rare occasion), I always watch her from the corner of my eye to see how many plates she puts on the bar. Recently I was taken aback by how heavy two different girls loaded up their bars. Until I saw how low they went. Or rather, how low they DIDN’T go.

Yesterday a 16- or 17-year-old girl was squatting 135 lbs (for 15 reps!), and a few weeks ago I saw a bodybuilder chick squatting 225 lbs. The only thing was, their range of motion was extremely limited. They only did quarter squats, which is where their thighs don’t even go parallel to the floor. It’s a lot easier to squat a heavy-ass weight when you’re only going down a few inches. For the record, I can squat 125 for something like 4 sets of 4 reps. The difference is that I go ASS TO GRASS! That’s when you go all the way down.

In my opinion, squats are the king of exercises. No other exercise is as challenging, or rewarding. Squatting works multiple muscle groups AND your cardiovascular system, boosts your metabolism for hours after you’ve exercised, and gives you a nice butt. But to get the full benefit of squatting, you should try going down as low as possible, or at least get your thighs parallel to the floor.

So why should you go ass to grass? When you do a partial squat, it’s mainly recruiting your quadriceps. When you do a full squat, you are using your glutes and hamstrings in addition to your quads. That makes for a more balanced exercise. By only doing partial squats, you can develop muscle imbalances (which lead to injury), and you are placing anterior stress on your knees that isn’t being balanced by the posterior pull that happens when you do a full squat.

Squatting is a great indicator of lower body mobility, so if a person cannot successfully do a full-range-of-motion squat, it’s most likely because of tightness in the hips, knees, or ankles. Improving your flexibility will help to improve your squat.

Some people argue that squats ruin your knees, but the fact is that unless you have a pre-existing condition, squats can actually strengthen your knees and help to prevent injuries. The thing is that you have to make sure your form is correct. When you start doing things like rounding your back, bending your knees inward, and letting your knees pass your toes on the descent, then you’re setting yourself up for problems.

Here are some tips on how to squat.

o hai.

If you are doing a traditional squat, stand with feet shoulder-width apart. Point your toes out slightly. You can also stand with your feet pointing straight ahead, but I find that pointing your toes out a little helps to prevent your knees from dipping inward. Your knees should ALWAYS be pointing in the same direction as your toes.

Move your hips back as if you were going to sit back in a chair and bend your knees. Keep your back straight. Think of this movement as horizontal more than vertical. Your are moving your hips back horizontally, and then lowering yourself by bending your knees and dropping your butt down.

Go as low as you can. Keep your back straight and try not to let your butt tuck in. It needs to be sticking out.

DO NOT DO THESE THINGS:

The hunchback is a no-no!

Round your back.

Let your knees bend inward. This usually happens as a slight movement when you are coming back up, rather than being a fixed position during the whole exercise. Like I said, pointing your toes out a little helps a lot with this.

Let your knees pass your toes. If you are doing this, you are moving more vertically than horizontally. People who squat like how I am in the picture above are not sticking their butt back enough. Try practicing by sitting back on a chair. Do that until you can squat without the chair.

Keep in mind that your unique anatomy is going to effect your form. Short people have a much easier time squatting than tall people because well, their legs are shorter. It comes more naturally to them.

The best thing to do is ask a professional to observe your form and correct it if need be. And if you have knee problems or have ever had knee injuries, then you should most certainly consult with a physical therapist before attempting squats. However, if you’ve never had any injuries, practicing body-weight squats at home is a good way to learn. That’s how I did it in the beginning.

More info on deep squat test.

More info on full squat flexibility.

Now get off the leg press machine and do some squats!

Squats are useful when your bladder is full and there's not a bathroom in sight.

The glute-ham raise machine is like the unicorn of the gym. Something magical that you’ve only ever heard of, but have never seen.

For those of you who are not familiar with this contraption, it looks like this:

And this is how you use it:

It’s one of the most challenging ways to train your glutes, hamstrings, and calves. I’ve never actually seen a glute-ham raise machine in person. Fortunately, that’s not a problem because there are a couple of ways you can do a glute-ham raise without the machine. Right now I’m just going to go over one of them.

But first, a warning. This is advanced exercise. Not because it’s complicated or the movement is hard to figure out, but simply because it’s just plain HARD. If you’ve never done it before, you will be sore the next day. And chances are that while executing this move you are going to feel some strain in your knee pits. This is because the muscles and tendons in that area aren’t used to working that hard. Just take it easy when you’re first starting off, and keep at it. With time you’ll stop getting sore.

That being said, if you’re feeling confident, give it a go! It’s an incredible way to work your posterior chain, and once you actually try it you’ll see why. Even if you aren’t strong enough to complete them in the full range of motion, just do the best you can.

The easiest (and by easiest, I mean least complicated) way to do this exercise is with a partner, a towel, and a mat. Obviously, lay down the mat. I’d advise rolling up the towel to make it thick, because you are going to be kneeling on it. Your knees are going to need as much cushion as possible.

Here’s a video of me executing the exercise. Don’t make fun of me too much. It’s my first video!

Most importantly, when you are coming back up, don’t rely too heavily on your arms to push you. You really want to be focusing on your glutes and hamstrings to pull you back to the starting position, not the momentum created by pushing off the floor. If you aren’t feeling it in your hamstrings/butt, then you are pushing too hard.

Here’s a photo breakdown with directions:

This is the starting position. Your partner should hold your ankles to keep you stable.

Now, slowly lower yourself down to the floor while keeping your back as straight as possible.

Try to go as low as you can, and when you reach the point where you lose control of the movement, use your hands to assist in pushing you back up.

Yay!

If you can only lower yourself a few inches before you need to use your hands for support, that’s fine. As you progress, you’ll be able to go lower and lower.

If you don’t have a partner, you can always try putting something heavy over your ankles to keep you stable. I’ve seen people do it with barbells, but it’s a bit awkward.

Next time I’ll be covering how to do this exercise at the gym on an ab bench.

So that’s it! Now go do them so you can feel like slapping me for ever suggesting it