Weight Plate Pressure Squat good to-go exercise
Over the years, I have been fortunate enough to do most of my workouts in wellequipped fitness centers at no cost. One of the perks of working in the fitness industry is a free membership, and I took full advantage. But there have been times where I needed to adjust to less than optimal facilities and equipment.
This week I have some tips for becoming less reliant on specific equipment so it’s easier to take a workout “on the road.” I also want to show you an awesome exercise that’s perfect for an unknown workout environment.
The pandemic has interrupted the traditional fitness center membership model significantly. Many gyms were forced to close for months, and members quickly adapted to working out in other places. Home gyms, public parks and driveway workouts are more popular now than ever before.
The change of venue has subjected many exercisers to a learning curve they hadn’t faced before. For example, the leg press machine is a staple part of any standard fitness center. The cost is $4,000$6,000, and it’s a behemoth that takes up a massive footprint. For this reason, it’s not feasible for most people to add a leg press to a home gym or to transport one to an outdoor venue. So, those who no longer have access to the one at the gym need to adapt.
In these situations, understanding movement patterns is critical. The leg press is performed horizontally, but the basic movement pattern requires hip extension and knee extension. These movement patterns are easily re-created by performing a squat. While a squat is performed vertically, it’s essentially the same movement pattern as the horizontal leg press.
Once movement patterns are understood, it’s possible to re-create almost any exercise without equipment. The tricky part is finding enough resistance to match what’s available in a fitness center. Most home gyms or city parks don’t have racks and racks of weight plates. The answer in these situations is to decrease repetition speed.
Slowing down forces the muscles to contract longer, and this fatigues the muscles by challenging their endurance. This is a slightly different form challenging muscles with heavy weight, but the end result is the same — fatigued muscles.
This week’s exercise challenges the entire body using the slower repetition approach. The Weight Plate Pressure Squat also requires an isometric contraction that dramatically demonstrates the point of slowing down. But it’s an easy exercise to modify for use at home and is appropriate for almost all fitness levels.
1. Select a small to medium weight plate (a similarly narrow, heavy rock would do).
2. Stand with your feet shoulder width apart and hold the weight with both hands at chest level (think of a praying position with your hands).
3. Extend both arms out straight while holding the plate between your palms.
4. Squat down slowly, then stand back up slowly.
5. Continue performing 10 slow squats with the plate held between the pressure of your palms.
6. Perform two sets of 10. The isometric pressure between the palms forces the chest, shoulders and arms to contract throughout the entire set. The legs and hips are working dynamically to move through the squat range, so this exercise really engages the entire body with only a simple weight plate for resistance.
For those looking to kick it up a notch, try holding the squat position at the lowest point for 10 seconds. It’s tough, but effective!
Director of business development and population health solutions for Quest Diagnostics, Matt Parrott began this column 20 years ago in Little Rock. He has a doctorate in education (sport studies), a master’s in kinesiology and is certified by the American College of Sports Medicine.
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