Considerations:

• Brace the core

• Ground Tension “Talons”

• Pack the shoulders

• Back straight

• Head neutral

• Railroad tracks

Directions:

1. Start with your feet about hip/shoulder width apart hinge. Pick up the dumbbell and hold in a double arm rack position in front of your chest with your shoulders packed and forearms vertical. forward at the hips by pushing your butt back and grab the bar with your hands right outside your legs

2. Take all considerations and cues into account before standing and extending the hips by driving the hips forward. Maintain a firm grip without pulling upwards with the arms. Take a slight pause at the top of the exercise to reassess checkpoints and considerations before returning to the starting position in a controlled manner.

Pain points:

• Lower back

  • Make sure back is not rounding forward at the waist (see brace the core, pack the shoulders)

  • Make sure the barbell path is straight up and down. The barbell should not travel forward away from your body as you lower it to the ground.

• Knees

  • Make sure knees are tracking with the second and third toe on each foot, or spreading apart, not moving in towards each other as you are coming down into the squat.

  • Make sure your knees do not shift forward excessively as you squat down, try to keep your knees behind the toes to keep your heels on the floor to not overload the quads. The squat is a glute-dominant exercise.