Squats for better Stair Climbers

Good Day Stair Climbing Fans.

One of the best way to improve your stair climbing is not climbing more stairs! Many people think that the way to improving in their sport is to play the sport more and more.

To some degree this is true. Obviously to be as great as Andre Agassi in tennis you need to spend many hours on the court. However he also had to work hard off the court as well.

Therefore to be a great stairclimber requires time spent away from the stairs and at the gym.

Did you know the best way to improve your stairclimbing is to squat? Squatting develops overall power and endurance in the quadriceps, hamstrings, butt and core.

However most people do not squat correctly and therefore do not get the full benefits of squatting properly.

Another mistake people make when squatting is to load too much weight on the bar and only do half or quarter squats. While your ego will get a stroking, your body will not.

I found the best way to develop explosive muscles from squats is full depth squats with your ass to the grass!

Many people have a fear of squatting low because they think it will hurt their knees or low back. Nothing could be further from the truth.

The opposite is true. doing half squats with too much weight will actually cause more damage to the knees and low back then full range of motion squats with the correct weight.

Here is the best way to do squats:

First you need to elevate your heels on a board. The idea behind elevating your heels on a board is to increase the range of motion in th squat.

Now the number one reason why most people cannot get perform full range squats is their hip flexors are so tight that the muscles prevent them from going down to the floor. If this is you, you need to stretch more!

If you do have the range of motion that allows you to go down to the floor then thats great!

Make sure tokeep your toes slightly pointed out so that you can really hit your Vastus Medialis (tear drop muscle)


Now go all the way down. Do not use any weight at this point. Make sure that you slowly start to lower yourself down using a 4 count. Pause at the bottom for one second and the drive yourself back up for one second.

Make sure your back is straight and your chest is up, never look down in the movement as you will round out your back.

Really make sure you go down to the bottom slowly and pause! After four reps your quads should be on fire!!

Start to add wait by holding dumbbells in your hands. This is safer and more effective then a barbell on your back.

Try this squatting technique for a month and your stair climbing times will get faster and faster!

Yeah!

Trevor Folgering
Founder
The Canada StairClimbing Association
1-877-51-CLIMB