Of course, lifting more weight is a good way to to build some muscle
And do all of those things we talk about:
→ Improve bone density
→ Reduce risk of diabetes and get better blood sugar control
→ Make everyday tasks easier
→ Protect your joints
→ Help with posture
→ improve your core strength
→ independence as we age and quality of life
I could go on..
But sometime many people:
Cannot squat too deep
Don’t have much weight at home
Cannot put too much pressure on their back
This is where we – meaning me – have to put our egos to one side and think back to why we are exercising?
I am exercising to put a stimulus on the muscle to FORCE the body to adapt, get stronger, strengthen the joints, help with muscular endurance, build strength.
But at the same time there is a risk of constantly increasing weight and losing your form.
One thing that should not be compromised is your form..
Otherwise, your risk of injury goes up and up.
This is where I like to use a chair or a bench and partial reps to:
- Make it safer as I can sit on a chair
- Put more tension on the muscle without lifting more weights
I share a few stages here:
Step 1: try with a chair and a cushion or rolled up mat as a marker to increase your depth
Step 2: go to the chair, and try partial reps (coming up half way then sitting back down x3 then doing a full rep to the top..this puts more tension on thighs)
Step 3: Try step 2 but with a weight such as a barbell, like I do in the video in my own training too.
And this is the great part of this..
You can do this wherever you are at
Work at your pace and focus on progress
Just like we do inside our 28 Day Kickstart (reply with ‘kickstart’ for more info)
Matt