Fitness into my life

Why do you exercise? To lose 10 lbs? To have energy to play with your kids? To get that summer beach body? Whatever your personal reason is for working out there is one thing that is for certain. We exercise to improve our overall health. Now with that in mind. If I gave you two exercise options, both with very similar benefits, but one of these exercise may potentially injure you, which one would you choose? No brainer, right? That is what is called a "contraindicated exercise" . Contraindicated exercises are those that have the potential to be detrimental to your health or physical well-being. Some exercises are labeled as contraindicated for general populations while others are contraindicated on a case by case basis due to a number of causes and limitations. So lets break down the different types of exercise contraindications or the reasons why your trainer might not want you to perform a specific exercise. Cardiac Limitations So early in my career as a personal trainer ...

Squats. Whether you love them or hate them they are one of the most basic and primal movement patterns that humans develop early on in life. For real, the next time you're around a little kid check out how they squat when they're playing with their toys. It's perfect. A perfect squat, all the way to the ground and they can just hang out there for hours on end with no discomfort. Now ask your average adult to get into the same position and hold it. So simple even a child could do it? Well, not so much. Good form during a squat is far from child's play. It's more than just lower body strength. Hip and shoulder mobility, gluteal activation, core strength, balance and knowing how and where to position your hips all come into play when we execute a proper squat. But hey let's load up that bar and go heavy before we have all those separate elements locked down (insert eye roll here.) I like to compare mastering each of these elements to spinning plates. In the beginni...