The real squat

Squat deep

So today was one of those days where I got to visit the gym. My cold is feeling a lot better, so I felt like rewarding myself a bit. And rewarding means lift weights!

Squats is really hard on the body, it is exhausting when done correct and with heavy weights. That is great, except when you are feeling a bit ill. So today I focused on having a good form while performing the exercise. 

Unfortunately the squat rack was occupied (that almost never happen) in the middle of the day on a tuesday. So I decided to do my squats in a Smith machine. It made the exercise a lot easier since I did not have to spend any energy trying to hold my balance. But on the other hand, it is not the way I prefer to do my squats. It does not feel like the real deal!

I did however do a lot of squats. Since I was working with lower weights I was able to do a lot of them. And just to be clear. I am against this whole thing of doing low weight - many repetitions training. I prefer to lift heavier weights.

It felt good to go really low when doing the squats. The muscles working through the whole motion. The advantages by going deep can be found easily by googling it and reading different articles. 
There are science supporting everything. Sadly, with the Internet. You can find proof of everything. Just go with the stuff that you feel is right, what makes sense. Have a critical mind when reading things. 
And the best thing of all really. Find some big name in the business that shares a lot of knowledge. Someone that you can find trustworthy. Hey, you can even ask me and Bas and we will discuss it on the podcast or I can write a blogpost on the subject in case you want me to. 
I have been around the gym for 13 years, I have done a lot of exercises that I later found not really effective. But when doing that, I have also found the good ones. Like now, I am focusing on learning how to perfect my squats by going deep.

After the squats I walked away over to the deadlift spot. It did not take me long to realize I was in no condition to perform several basic exercises (squat, deadlift, bench press) today. Instead I proceeded to do some shoulder exercises and a little bit of triceps.

All and all a good day at the gym. A short session but when not feeling 100% I don't want to go all out. I am talking about stuff like having a cold, feeling sick. That can lead to severe illness unless handled with care. You can work out, but be smart.