Today’s article comes to us courtesy of Jarlo Ilano, PT, MPT, OCS, physical therapist and co-founder of Gold Medal Bodies.
Squats. I love ‘em. There are probably some states and municipalities where they’ll let me marry them. I’m sure my wife would understand, she knows what they mean to me.
Like with any great love, it was transformative. I was your typical ectomorph asian kid (interesting aside, Teddy Roosevelt called Filipinos “his little brown brothers”. Hard to be offended though, since it was Teddy fricking Roosevelt). Then came squats, like a revelation from the heavens:
“Thou shalt gain thirty pounds of muscle from putting weights on your back and bending your knees!”
Thunderbolts and lightning, it was a big thing.
Tale as old as time: Do your squats, eat more than you can stand, repeat as needed, and you’ll grow. I was lucky enough to learn that early and not get too distracted by everything else.
I was also lucky enough to dial in my form from the start. Attribute it to starting early enough as a kid or genetic heritage, but squatting butt to heels was no big deal. The ability to get to the full range of motion allowed me to get maximal gains from my lifting. Because it was so natural, I didn’t think anything of it. [Read more...]
