#1 Drill for Stronger Squats, Bulletproof Knees, and Resilient Legs
One of my favorite drills for happier knees and heavier squats is what I like to call the heels-elevated hip thrust (or hip bridge, whatever you wanna call it).
Basically, it works like this: you lay on the floor near some sort of an elevation (a couch works great), and provided you first have your spouse’s permission, you put your feet up on the couch and then bridge your hips toward the sky.
It looks a little something like this:
Why are these so awesome for improving your squats and making your knees feel less rotten?
It comes down to this: While squats don’t hurt your knees, muscle imbalances sure can. If your quads are out-pacing your hamstrings in terms of strength, knee issues will almost certainly arise — and if not now, then they almost certainly will soon.
Even if you’re doing lots of swings, deadlifts, and other hip-hinging motions, it may not be enough to keep your knees truly bulletproof as you get older, or as your training intensifies. One reason is that hip hinging motions — as great and as essential as they are — don’t quite strengthen the hamstring around the knee in the way that leg curling motions do.
“Leg curls?! That sounds like bodybuilding to me!”
Calm yourself, friend-o. It is, but has a hardcore pedigree.
Bodybuilding legend John “Mountain Dog” Meadows swears by hamstring curls before squatting to both shorten his warm-ups, protect his knees, and squat heavier and harder without regretting it the next day.
Who wouldn’t want that kind of result?
You may not have the same high mileage on your body as the Mountain Dog, but I’m willing to bet your knees have seen better days. And even if that’s the case, it’s no reason you shouldn’t be able to get stronger and stronger as the years go by — age, mileage, and injury history aside (obviously with injuries you will have to be realistic about how much strength you want to pursue, but you usually have options).
If strength is one of your pursuits, bulletproofing your oft-overlooked nooks and crannies will make it much more likely to be successful beyond just 6–8 weeks. Even if all you’re after is getting strong enough and fit enough to keep up with your kids or grandkids, “bodybuilding movements” like these will keep you in the wrestling matches/backyard football games without having to take a time out because “I think I pulled something!”
These “bulletproofing” type of movements were common in old-school bodybuilding, powerlifting, and weightlifting, and are one of the secrets behind the long careers of a number of the biggest names in strength.
On that note, if you like training that:
- Gives you more strength than it takes from you
- Improves your stamina and resilience simultaneously
- Powers-up every nook, cranny, crevice, and corner of your Soft Machine
Then you just might like my 9-Minute Kettlebell and Bodyweight Challenge.
It’s a challenge designed to be done alongside your regular workouts (NOT instead of them) that uses super simple, full-body movements that can be learned in mere minutes — moves like crawling, kettlebell carries, and more — and is designed to help tap into some of your body’s little known reflexes and inner storehouses of power, so you can expand your brute strength, build cyborg stamina, and forge unbreakable physical and mental resilience.
Even cooler:
Each session will leave you feeling like you’ve made gains — NOT like you’ve been drained.
Plus, the workouts are built to be done daily without sucking up tons of time or energy, so you can take on the rest of each day with a new surge of power and confidence.
Many people find that these moves help amplify their strength in their favorite kettlebell and bodyweight moves while also crafting a lean, hard, and functional physique.
Example:
· Lewis from Singapore nailed his first 1-arm pushup after doing a bodyweight drill called ‘Dead Bugs’ (which is also covered in the Challenge)
· Busy mom Lina from Sweden used crawling to not only improve her full-body strength and resilience, but also shredded so much body flab that she could see her abs for the first time in ages
· Barak from Israel saw his pullups go from 6 reps to 8 reps just by doing daily kettlebell carries
And best of all, it’s free.
How free?
I’m talkin’ freer than the 4th of July, my friend.
Get thee thine own copy here => www.9MinuteChallenge.com
Have fun and happy training!
Aleks Salkin
