Squatting with your shoes off

So I am one of those people who loves legs day. I genuinely do. And like all legs day lovers I am a fan of the squats.  This may be because I am fairly new to them. I avoided them for the longest time due to a supposed back injury (which turned out to actually be a shoulder issue, but that’s a whole other blog post) but now I cant get enough of them.

Squats are an awesome exercise. They engage a lot of large muscles, so are great for those wanting to lose weight. For those wanting to gain it, they are essential, because if you skip legs day, you end up looking all out of proportion.

One thing I quickly learnt was that technique with these is really, really important. You need to keep tall, push through your heels and go deep. I don’t want to go through all the pointers of technique, but if you are new to squats check out this video. Ignore his lack of shirt, as he shows some great technique.

What I do want to talk about is something controversial, that is squatting with no shoes on. People generally sit on one side of the fence or another. I am firmly on the no shoes fence for both squats and deadlifts.

One of the muscle groups you want to work in a squat is the glutes. To do this effectively you want to push up through your heels through the whole motion. This will make sure your glutes stay engaged through the lift. The alternative is you end up on your toes, which is not as stable and doesn’t engage the muscle groups you want as effectively as they could be.

But why do it without shoes, you may ask?! Well most running or gym shoes tend to have an uneven base, with more padding under your heels than your toes. This tilts you slightly forward. They do this to help cushion your heels when you are running, but it doesn’t really help you squat. In fact, it can cause the unsuspecting person to end up pushing more through the front of their foot than the heel when they are coming back up. Squatting without shoes on stops this tendency to end up on your toes. I find having my feet flat on the floor makes it easier for me to make sure I push through my heels and keep my glutes engages through the whole motion. It also stops me from rocking forward and becoming unstable.

Before you try this, just double check your gym is ok with you slipping off your shoes and squatting in your socks, as some don’t like people not wearing shoes. Also, if you wear some kind of orthotic insert, it might be good to check with your podiatrist they’re cool with it (I have no idea on that one, sorry!). If they don’t mind, I challenge you to have a go. Let me know if you are a fan or not. 

Nerd out and graph your results

So those who know me know I am a bit of a nerd at heart. I like numbers and patterns and things that fit together. I even learned how to write essays in English by making myself a formula. Needless to say, I love a good graph!

I always knew that gaining or losing weight was a numbers game with a very simple formula. If you want to lose weight you need to burn more calories than you eat, if you want to gain weight you need to eat more than you burn. In a previous post I mentioned the myfitnesspal app, which can work out all the formulas in the background and give you a rough idea of what you might need to eat for your relevant goals. But how do you know if its working?! I can tell you when I was bulking I couldn't really tell visually if I was getting bigger each day and when I wanted to drop weight I would just poke my stomach longingly, hoping it was harder than the day before. This lead me to believe that bulking was not only about exercise and food intake, but also a little bit of voodoo. For a number of weeks I would eat what I was supposed to, work hard in the gym and rowing and feel like nothing was changing as I couldn't see the difference. It left me feeling out of control of my body and that this whole exercise was pointless. But then I started to graph!

Basically, all I did was create a table in Excel. I had Monday to Sunday in a column for each week. I then put the average weight for the week below. From that, I hit the graph wizard button and let it do the rest. The key is to weigh yourself at the same time every day or every couple of days. This will hopefully help iron out the inconsistencies from one day to another. The weekly average number will help with this too.

Did this change my results? Of course not. What it did tell me was, firstly, I was actually putting on weight (without the aid of voodoo)! Secondly, while I was gaining weight, I was only putting on about 100g per week. So from this I tried bumping up my food intake a little. I then started gaining more like 400g a week. From this I felt more empowered. I knew that I was improving and going in the right direction over time. Even if i went down in weight one day, the graph still trended up over time. Now this could just as easily be used for those looking to lose weight, you obviously just want the graph to trend the other way.

There are many reasons that might cause you to not have the loss or gain expected. This is just one tool to try and work it out. As always, check with a doctor before doing anything drastic and the best dietary changes are the ones done slowly overtime.

As they say, knowledge is power. If you have a goal to change weight but you’re not sure how its going, time to nerd out. Also It’s just nice to have something to show you the numbers are going the right way long term.

No. Not that. Anything but the rowing machine.

I don't think there is a piece of gym equipment that is as universally hated as the rowing machine. No one likes it and no one hates it more than a rower. If you ever want to strike fear into the heart of a rower, just tell them it's time for a '6k erg trial' and watch their face drop.

I think there are two reasons for that and they are it's hard and most people don't use it properly. But look at any rower you know and you know that this exercise is effective.

First things first, rowing on an erg (as they are often known) set to 10 is the equivalent of cycling through mud. It's a great workout for your muscles, but not ideal if you want to use the erg for a cardio workout. Think of the resistance like the set of gears on a bike. You only really use that last gear when you are already at speed and going down a hill. Similarly resistance 10 on a rowing machine is hard work. Its good for a quick burst to work your leg muscles, but the only people who tend to row a long distance on it are hardcore rowers or those who row in the heavyweight category. Rowing on 10 will tire most people’s muscles out before they get a good cardio workout. If you want to simulate what its like to row on water, set it to 4 or 5. If you want a challenge, set it to 8. I, personally, like to have it at 7, but its a preference thing. The lower you set it, the more 'strokes' you will need to take to row the same distance. Find what works for you for the distance you want to row by a little trial and error

The other thing is, most people don't know how to use it effectively. Most trainers don't either. I see a lot of people sit on the erg at my gym huffing and puffing, pulling really hard on the oar, but not moving very fast. So let me break it down, rowing is primarily a legs exercise, that also works out a number of muscles throughout your back. It's not an arms exercise. There are three parts to a rowing stroke and you can remember it as 'legs, bodies, arm.' I could type it all out to you, but I might just post a video below. The basics are, start leaning forward, with bent legs and straight arms. Straighten your legs, then tilt your body back, and then bend your arms. That is the simplified version. The two biggest mistakes to avoid is to not bend your back (ie make sure you sit up tall and keep your back straight) and don't move your arms over your legs, they shouldn't start to bend until your legs are straight.

So if the rowing machine is your idea of hell, here’s my challenge. Do it this week, either 1km, 2km or 6km if you are feeling masochistic. Dial down the resistance and play with it until you find the right 'gear' for you.

And watch this video. It's a little dry and pitched at personal trainers to teach how to teach someone, but he shows what to do, and what not to do. He even uses rowing terms you can use to impress your rowing friends.

Let me know how you go! And show a little love to your local rowing machine, it doesn't get much!