Keeping at It
Through a referral link to my blog, I found another blog that addressed the idea of taking very small steps to progress. I honestly believe that CONSISTENCY and PERSISTENCE are the most critical elements to achieving fitness goals.
Let me tell you just how small some of my Baby Steps have been! I have arthritis in my knees. I have felt it since I was a teenager. It's not severe and I have not had a full-blown flareup in a long, long time now. I have not taken arthritis medication since 2005. To strengthen my leg muscles and protect my knee joints I was going to have to take it SLOW!
Squats are an essential exercise! I started out by simply squatting the best I could, no weight, holding on to a chair back. I could barely get down at all! My knees cracked and felt weak but I kept at it. I tried holding on less and less. At one point I even just touched the chair with one finger! It becomes a mental thing; you're afraid to "let go" even though you're not really holding on. I did that until I could squat with correct form without holding on at all.
A good strategy for achieving proper form is to have a weight bench behind you and just tap it with your butt. Also, you'll have that sense that there is something behind you if you are afraid you're going to fall.
When I started squatting with weight, I used just 5lbs in each hand and I held it any way I could. Just to have something in my hands as I squatted down was a new challenge. I progressed to holding the very light weight up at shoulder height before I moved on to holding more weight.
By that point, I could just keep going! Now I can squat with correct form with a 50lb bar on my shoulders. I have a clear sense of what is proper form and I strive to always achieve it. It's been probably about TWO YEARS since I first started trying to perform proper squats. Is that too long? There's no such thing as "too long"!! It doesn't matter!! If that's what it takes, then that's what it takes.
Let me tell you just how small some of my Baby Steps have been! I have arthritis in my knees. I have felt it since I was a teenager. It's not severe and I have not had a full-blown flareup in a long, long time now. I have not taken arthritis medication since 2005. To strengthen my leg muscles and protect my knee joints I was going to have to take it SLOW!
Squats are an essential exercise! I started out by simply squatting the best I could, no weight, holding on to a chair back. I could barely get down at all! My knees cracked and felt weak but I kept at it. I tried holding on less and less. At one point I even just touched the chair with one finger! It becomes a mental thing; you're afraid to "let go" even though you're not really holding on. I did that until I could squat with correct form without holding on at all.
A good strategy for achieving proper form is to have a weight bench behind you and just tap it with your butt. Also, you'll have that sense that there is something behind you if you are afraid you're going to fall.
When I started squatting with weight, I used just 5lbs in each hand and I held it any way I could. Just to have something in my hands as I squatted down was a new challenge. I progressed to holding the very light weight up at shoulder height before I moved on to holding more weight.
By that point, I could just keep going! Now I can squat with correct form with a 50lb bar on my shoulders. I have a clear sense of what is proper form and I strive to always achieve it. It's been probably about TWO YEARS since I first started trying to perform proper squats. Is that too long? There's no such thing as "too long"!! It doesn't matter!! If that's what it takes, then that's what it takes.
posted by Dagny at
9:01 AM
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