My traditional “power coaching” consists of half-heartedly doing crunches after a simple run or hauling a dangerously full basket of groceries across the retailer as a result of I refuse to push a cart. It isn’t that I am lazy—I ran a marathon this fall, and I make some extent to train often even after I’m not coaching for a race—it is simply that I desire altering surroundings with my exercise. Solely when winter descends do I hunker down for front room periods with Jillian Michaels, whose body weight exercises are my most popular different to the gymnasium. (Acquired 10 minutes? Then you definitely’ve acquired time to lose the burden for good with Prevention’s new 10-minute exercises and 10-minute meals. Get Slot in 10: Slim and Robust for Life now!)

After I lately got here down with my first-ever case of runner’s knee, although, I discovered that muscle weaknesses within the hips and glutes might be partly accountable for the nagging ache. This pressured operating hiatus appeared like the proper time to attempt one other workday exercise experiment (I lately took on plank breaks for a month). What would occur if I did units of body weight squats twice a day, Monday via Friday, for 4 weeks straight? Would I botch my knee much more with improper kind, or would I step by step treatment it? Would I ultimately be capable to “bounce 1 / 4 off my butt,” as Jillian at all times shouts at me from my TV display screen?

MORE: The Squat That Works Your Triceps, Too

So, amid the Nice Peach Emoji Disaster of 2016, I got down to strengthen my derriere desk-side. (Fortunately, Apple has restored the peach emoji to its plump posterior glory, making it far simpler to debate my squat problem with buddies through textual content.) Right here is the plan I devised:

Week 1: 20 squats, 2x a day
Week 2: 25 squats, 2x a day
Week 3: 30 squats, 2x a day
Week 4: 35 squats, 2x a day

Leah Wynalek

With day by day reminders set for 10:30 AM and three:30 PM, I acquired all the way down to it—actually. Here is what occurred throughout my month of squats.

I attempted a number of new variations.
Common body weight squats and sumo squats I had down, however past that I felt fairly clueless, to not point out afraid of doing bodily harm. After one boring week of the identical previous squats, I looked for contemporary strikes to spherical out my routine. I discovered that single-leg (or pistol) squats are actually troublesome to bend deeply into, that rear foot elevated cut up squats with a rolling desk chair aren’t sensible, and that soar squats are tremendous enjoyable however slightly awkward to do in an workplace while you’re anxious about coworkers peering in.

I found my weak spots.
Positive, I anticipated my rear and perhaps my quads to be sore, however I used to be stunned by different muscle teams the squats woke up. Sumo squats particularly identified how weak and rigid my interior thighs and hip flexors are. My tight adductors made it difficult to decrease into parallel with the ground from sumo, and I acquired used to a snug soreness in my hips all through the course of this problem. In distinction, common squats felt significantly simpler for me as a result of my quads, calves, and glutes did the brunt of the work—and my operating had already conditioned these muscle tissues effectively. 

I pushed myself to go decrease.

Leah Wynalek

Much more anxiety-inducing than the concern of being seen doing squats in my workplace was the concern of being seen taking photos of myself doing squats in my workplace (with the assistance of a spare workplace chair, a shoe field, and my iPhone’s digital camera timer, if you happen to have been questioning). That stated, I completely suggest photographing your squats someday as a result of it provides you a better have a look at your kind, and you’ll analyze it even higher than while you’re in movement in entrance of a mirror on the gymnasium. My photographs confirmed me that I wanted to bend deeper into my squats, and as quickly as I did, I reaped higher advantages from them.

MORE: 10 Squats That Tone Each Bother Spot

I took it one squat at a time.
Doing 20 squats per break of Week 1 did not really feel so repetitive, however doing 35 per break of Week 4 (70 a day!) certain did. To beat the boredom, I cut up these 35 into smaller units of various variations—there are solely so many single-leg squats I can do anyway, and that’s to say, only a few. I additionally counted aloud quietly, which not solely stored my thoughts from wandering however jogged my memory that every squat was an accomplishment, like a checked field on a to-do checklist. And I actually love to-do lists.

I gained confidence and felt stronger.
By the ultimate week, I did not fear a lot about my kind as a result of I lastly had the dangle of issues. I started toying with the concept of going to a gymnasium and including weights, one thing I would by no means thought-about earlier than as a result of gyms make me extraordinarily self-conscious. Though my runner’s knee ache persists, it did reduce up a bit—presumably simply from a number of weeks of relaxation, however part of me thinks the squats helped.

However I do know what you are actually dying to know is whether or not or not I can bounce 1 / 4 off my butt but. That is one experiment I probably will not attempt, however I’ll say that by the tip of this self-imposed squat problem, my bottom did certainly really feel noticeably stronger and firmer. (Insert peach emoji right here.)