Mistakes and horrors in the weight room (second part)

By Dr. Francesca Fanolla

" first part

Squat

The other fundamental exercise that is often wrong is the SQUAT, together with the LEG PRESS.
The most frequent and dangerous mistake is to perform the push-up on the legs by shifting the weight of the body and the center of gravity too far forward, exceeding the toes with the knees and greatly overloading the knee joint.

The correct execution requires that the pelvis is brought backwards during the descent phase, with the sensation of feeling the weight exclusively on the back foot (heels), while NEVER lifting the forefoot.
All this making sure that the knees do not exceed the tips of the feet, contracting the abdominals, thus stabilizing the spine and the buttocks, often forgotten.
At least in terms of sensation, the buttocks should be the main "motor" muscles of the squat, not the quadriceps!
Therefore, a position of the feet wider than the pelvis, with toes always slightly divergent (the parallel feet cause a "forced" line of motion for the knees during the descent) and a sensation of accentuated push and contraction at the level of the buttocks, rather than of the quadriceps.
Absolutely AVOID the squat performed with the lift under the feet. If a client fails to perform the squat test (maximum squat without lifting the heels off the ground), it means that it is NOT YET THE TIME to propose this exercise, he is not ready yet, as he does not have the right level of tibio mobility. -tarsica and elasticity of the calves essential for the correct execution of this exercise.
The rise under the feet, in this case, does nothing but accentuate the imbalance of the body forward and the tension at the level of the knees.
So, let's forget the comfortable and hasty "tablet" under the feet, but let's commit to a period of stretching and lengthening for the calves, and then move on to the squat.
The same rules of posture also apply to the exercise of LEG PRESS.

After these brief explanations, perhaps obvious but useful for many, I remind you that body building, strength machines and barbells are extraordinarily effective and stimulating, but very dangerous if used without criteria and superficially.
Good training everyone