I just ordered one from taobao, can post links and mini review when i get back to HK next week..,
Remember after 12 years you get squatters rights!
I know quite a few "fitness people" in HK who are doing the 30/30 squat challenge. It'll certainly help your squatting. I'm considering it myself but not sure I can face it! 10 mins is usually enough for me. I guess I need to knuckle down. It's harder than it sounds.
Just wanted to reiterate the 'correct form':
- knees and toes are parallel and are looking in the same direction (knees tracking the toes), to ensure the balanced work of the muscles around the knee
- knees don't go over the toes (not to put patella under too much stress)
- ensure engagement of the knees stabilisers - muscles just above the patella. they work most at the last stage of straightening the knee from a very high squat to straight up
There are many benefits to squatting and it's certainly something that most people should do more however it's also a bit idiotic to assume that certain practices held in ancient times are surely good for you so before you sell all your chairs and try to go back in time, you might want to think about it. There are also risks associated with prolonged squatting and too much of a good thing can be detrimental. While I think the 30/30 challenge has merits, I would definitely not advise that people that have little practice or experience try sitting 30 minutes in one go for 30 days. A wiser course of action would be to perhaps start ding 10 minutes three times a day for the first 5 days, then doing 15 minutes twice a day for the next 5 and then 20 and 10, 25 and 5 and finally the full thirty minutes in one go for the last 10 days.
The good:
http://www.acsm.org/docs/current-com...afetysquat.pdf
The risks
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15077301
Hi all, first post here
Squats are not bad for the knees as long as they are done properly. There are many myths around this. My take is proper stance and bar placemente , proper breathing, no lumbar flexion, adequate depth.
You can check out Jonnie Candito on youtube. The guy knows A LOT about strength training and has several videos dedicated exclusively to squats. I'm an old time gym enthusiast and been making a lot of progress since I started listening to this guy.
Hope this helps.