By Elizabeth Towe
What is an easy, multi-functional exercise you can do anytime? Squats are great when you want to squeeze in exercises anywhere. And since they involve hip, knee and ankle joints, all the muscles that cross those joints are active, including the deep core muscles of the torso to keep the spine stable. There are many variations of squats, but we want to focus on wall squats for strength endurance, since we are coming into ski and snowboard season.
Exercise:
Find a solid wall to lean your body weight against.
Lean your back against the wall as you walk your feet forward and slide slowly down the wall. Walk your feet out so that your knees stay behind the toes.
As you slide down, initiate your squat with your hip joint, keeping the back of your pelvis against the wall. Do not tuck your pelvis or press your lower back into the wall. Keep a small space between your lower back and the wall. Brace your core by gently pulling your belly button toward your spine. Begin to think of the pelvic floor as a basket and lightly draw upward toward the crown of your head (do not change the position of your pelvis).
Hold this position for 30 seconds, or until your legs are fatigued. Be mindful to keep your weight shifted back into your hips and behind your knees to keep stress off the knees.
Do five or more of these and increase the length of time you can hold the squat to improve your strength endurance.
You can do these anywhere, anytime!
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Elizabeth Towe is a runner and a cyclist and the owner of Balanced Movement Studio in Carrboro. She graduated from East Carolina with a degree in exercise and sports science and has been personal training for over 20 years. Her ultimate goal for all of her clients is to help them realize and achieve the optimal quality in their life – and to remember to have fun doing it.
