0:03 If you're over 60, this is the worst way
0:05 to squat, but it's exactly how I see
0:08 most people doing it. And squatting like
0:10 this quietly puts you off balance and is
0:12 one of the worst ways to build your
0:14 strength. But in this video, I'm going
0:16 to show you the safer, smarter squat
0:19 that protects your joints and helps to
0:21 keep you strong. In my 10 years of
0:23 practice, I've noticed so many people
0:25 squat like this with their arms straight
0:28 out in front, leaning forward. And yes,
0:31 it does feel easier, but it's easier
0:33 because your body is secretly
0:36 compensating in all the wrong ways. And
0:38 when you put your arms out in front
0:40 during a squat, your body uses them like
0:43 a counterwe. It stops you from falling
0:46 backwards, but only by forcing your body
0:49 to lean forwards. That forward lean does
0:51 three things, none of which are good
0:55 after 60. First, it shifts the load into
0:57 the knees instead of the hips, which can
0:59 be a problem if you've already got some
1:02 knee pain. And second, it reinforces
1:04 poor balance because you never teach
1:08 your body to truly stabilize itself. And
1:10 third, it reduces glute activation,
1:13 which is the exact opposite of what we
1:15 need to stay strong and independent.
1:18 Look at the two sidebyside videos of me
1:20 squatting now. And you can see on the
1:22 left side, my arms are out in front,
1:24 which brings my center of gravity really
1:26 far in front of my body. That makes me
1:28 offbalance. And if I was to take my
1:30 hands away, I would definitely fall
1:32 back. But if you look at the other
1:34 squat, that's me without my arms out in
1:36 front. And I've trained my body to keep
1:39 my center of gravity closer to my body,
1:41 which means I'm much better balanced
1:43 than when my arms are away from my side.
1:45 So, how do we fix it? Well, let's turn
1:48 your squat into something that actually
1:49 works for your body. And I'm going to
1:51 teach you my stability first squat
1:54 method, which is a simple three-step
1:56 technique to transform your squat and
1:59 make it twice as effective as it
2:00 currently is. Now, before I show you it,
2:02 I just need to make you aware it's not
2:03 suitable for everyone, and please avoid
2:05 it if you've got pain. Now, the first
2:06 thing we're going to do is a
2:09 counterweight squat, which I call the
2:11 goblet squat, which is a great
2:13 replacement for having your arms out in
2:15 front. Because if you take your arms
2:17 away straight away, yeah, you're going
2:18 to feel like you're going to fall
2:19 backwards if you're used to doing it
2:21 like this. But there's a way that we can
2:23 get a double benefit whilst fixing the
2:25 problem at the same time. So, for this,
2:27 you're going to need a small weight or a
2:29 bag filled up with books and we're going
2:32 to hold it tight to our chest like this.
2:34 So, going to take my weight, hold it
2:37 with two hands in like this, and instead
2:39 of having my arms out in front, they're
2:41 now here. But because I've got a little
2:44 bit of weight in front of me, now when I
2:46 start to squat down, it's going to
2:48 compensate for the loss of those arms
2:51 out in front by just ever so slightly
2:53 shifting center of gravity forward. And
2:55 that's going to keep me well balanced.
2:57 But the nice part about doing it like
3:00 this is we can also make a squat harder.
3:02 Because for most people when they try
3:04 and progress their squats, they just do
3:06 more reps. But after a certain point,
3:08 that isn't the best approach. The best
3:10 approach is to try and make the movement
3:12 harder. And when you've got a bit more
3:15 weight in your hands, that's an easy way
3:17 to do so. So, the counterweight squat
3:18 looks like this. You're going to do
3:20 exactly what you did before with your
3:21 arms out in front, but you're going to
3:23 hold a weight. And this will a keep you
3:26 stable, but b make the movement more
3:28 challenging, so you'll get stronger as
3:30 well. And by the way, before we move on
3:32 to the next step of the stability first
3:34 method, if you want a step-by-step
3:36 routine that's tailored to your exact
3:39 level of strength and mobility, why not
3:41 check out my free Stronger for Life road
3:43 map. You can find a link to it in the
3:45 description box below this video.
3:46 Anyway, let's have a look at the next
3:48 step now, which is something that almost
3:51 everyone gets wrong when they squat.
3:53 When you squat, your feet are your
3:55 foundation. And one of the reasons
3:57 people feel so poorly balanced when they
3:59 squat is because they put their weight
4:02 through the wrong parts of their foot.
4:04 Too much on your heels and you'll fall
4:06 back and too much on your toes and you
4:09 end up stressing your knees up here.
4:12 Instead, what you need to do is focus on
4:15 pressing your weight into three specific
4:18 points. And we call this the tripod foot
4:21 setup. You want your big toe, your
4:24 little toe, and your heel. This
4:26 instantly improves your balance and
4:29 stops that common wobble when you get to
4:31 the bottom. So, I've got my shoes and
4:33 socks off now to show you the tripod
4:35 setup. What you're going to do is put
4:37 your feet about shoulder width apart.
4:39 And we want to push down with the big
4:42 toe, then push down with the little toe,
4:44 and then make sure our weight is going
4:46 through our heels on both sides. Now,
4:48 this won't feel like that much is
4:50 happening, but it sets you up perfectly
4:52 for the squat. And once you're pressing
4:54 those three points into the floor, you
4:56 can now sit down nice and comfortably
4:58 and then come back up and you'll be
5:00 perfectly balanced right throughout the
5:03 squat. Now, let's look at that final
5:05 element to our stability first squat
5:08 method, which is so simple, yet so many
5:10 people miss it. The final element to a
5:13 proper squat is what you do with your
5:15 posture. And to fix your posture when
5:17 you squat, you need to do something
5:20 called the hip back chest tall
5:22 technique. And here is how it looks. So
5:24 you're going to start off standing tall
5:25 like this. And the first thing you're
5:27 going to do is try and sit back as if
5:30 you're reaching for a chair just behind
5:31 you. So I'll show you that movement
5:33 again. We're not moving anything else.
5:36 Not our knees, not our back, just our
5:39 hips. So pushing the hips back as if
5:41 you're about to reach for a chair.
5:43 They'll stop way before you lose your
5:45 balance. And then the second part of the
5:47 movement is we're going to push our
5:49 chest out at the same time. Okay? So,
5:52 we're going to go hips back, chest out,
5:56 and then we bend the knees. Now, this
5:58 sounds so simple, but it can be
6:00 transformative for people who've never
6:02 done it, just to put it in that
6:05 sequence. So, hips back, chest out, and
6:08 then bend. And that almost magically
6:10 improves your balance when you squat. It
6:13 stops you from tipping back and it stops
6:15 you from doing that rounded kind of
6:18 squat that many people do. That can
6:20 become problematic when we start to add
6:22 weight to the movement. Because if
6:24 you're anything like most people I speak
6:26 to, you want to progress over time. And
6:28 to do that, we eventually have to add
6:30 weight to the squat. And if we can't
6:31 squat without weight, how are we
6:34 supposed to squat with weight? So that
6:37 is how you fix your squat. And when you
6:39 put those three things together, the
6:42 counterbalance, the tripod technique,
6:44 and then the sit back chest up
6:47 technique, you're going to magically fix
6:50 your squat in just a few weeks of
6:52 practice. And if you want to learn what
6:54 might happen to your body if you commit
6:56 to doing the right kind of squat for 30
6:59 days in a row, click the video on the
7:01 screen right now and I'll show you. And
