Inside the Exercise: Squats - Transcript
Guard Fit Challenge – Video: Inside the Exercise – Squats
Three athletes are shown, one at a time, performing squats in a weight room. All are using free weights and are performing the exercise with a spotter and within a frame with catch bars in order to further reduce the risk of injury. An intro screen that says “Inside the Exercise: Squats” appears, and then SGT Ryan McDonald – one of the athletes – begins a description of the exercise.
Ryan: This exercise is the squat. Squats are a great gross movement or core exercise. It allows you to recruit your quads, your hamstrings and you’re also using your core, your abs and lower back. When doing this exercise, because you’re using a free weight it’s really important to focus on form. Form is the key. You want to pick a weight that is going to allow you to complete the exercise, challenging your muscle groups, but not sacrifice form.
While Ryan continues to describe the importance of form, the video shifts to show SPC Tim Bailey performing squats while being spotted by SGT Jeremy White.
Ryan: When doing this movement I want to make sure that my weight is balanced over my feet and the majority of my pressure is based on the heels and the center of my feet.
Camera focuses again on Ryan, who demonstrates form – first without the barbell and then with it.
Ryan: I don’t want to find myself forward on my toes and I don’t want to fall too far back. The bottom of the repetition is when the legs come to 90 degrees or just under and then I extend forward. Something that I do with this exercise…is I’ll raise my chin and raise my eyes to the ceiling to look forward. This helps me drive my chest up and my hips forward for proper form.
Camera attention is then focused on Jeremy spotting Tim. Tim performs the squat exercise to illustrate both poor and proper forms.
Jeremy: What you want to do is find weight that you can handle 8 to 12 reps. You want to start out really light and probably do that for at least two or three weeks, just to get used to the movement…one of the ways you can do it wrong and really hurt yourself, you go too far forward with the knees, you start wobbling and as you can see, you start to fall forward. It’s important to do with this catch bars just in case anything does happen…or if you don’t have a spotter, isn’t able to help you up, you can just lay down on the catch bars and be done with the movement
After Jeremy finishes the explanation of the exercise, he and Tim switch places and he performs the exercise until the final screen of the video. The final screen contains the words “Inside the Exercise: Squats.”