1. how to squat: find a chair that when you sit down it keeps you high enough that your knees are parallel or higher than your hips. just practice slowly sitting down and standing up. it is harder than it seems ... if you have to 'launch' or bend at the waist or your back to stand you are cheating your way up and can injure yourself if you add weights.Ingrid said:
when you can sit and stand a 100 times (very slowly) you can try adding some weights.
2. lunges ... never let your knee cover your foot when you go into the lunge ... that is stressing the knee ligaments ... you want to lunge so that your knee does not go past 90 degrees ... again, much harder than it looks if you are not cheating. when you do lunges correctly your quads will pump with a few reps ... if you see people doing dozens with weights they are often cheating and using some momentum.
the 'secret' to free weights is do the movement with no weight but very slowly ... like a tai chi class ... and then gradually add weights.
too many people hit the weights without good form and posture and cheat to get the big reps ... and the big injuries.
no workout should ever hurt.
