Modified Squat With a Balance Aid
Leah ZahnerDescription
Every bowler needs balance and stability on the approach and squats are an excellent exercise for bowlers to achieve it. On the way down your knees and hips flex, and on the way up your knees and hips extend.
Be it age or injury, squats can be too difficult for some to accomplish. In this free video, Leah Zahner, Certified Personal Trainer (NASM), walks through modifying the traditional squat with a balance aid, such as a stool or box. The balance aid gives you something to hold on to throughout this exercise, making the squat easier. Choose a balance aid with an appropriate height for your range of motion.
Step 1
Position yourself behind your balance aid allowing for enough room to accomplish the squat.
Step 2
Reach your arms out in front of you. They should be wide enough to allow you to stabilize yourself with your balance aid on the way down.
Step 3
Begin the squat. Allow your hands to reach forward and rest on your balance aid. This provides an option for additional support at the bottom of the squat.
Variation
You can walk your hands forward as you squat down on the balance aid and walk them back before returning to the starting position. The pause in this variation helps to avoid rushing back up into the standing position allowing for an optimal stretch.
Check out “Finish Position: Training with Slider Exercises” and “Completing a Barbell Lunge” for more instruction on bettering your balance.
For this exercise, we'll be using a box. You can use a stool at home or anything that is stable, to provide a modification for the squat exercise. If you're finding it particularly difficult to balance when you are doing a squat, this is a great way to still get the benefits of a squat with a little bit of help for that balance. You'll stand behind whatever it is that you're supporting yourself with. I'm going to use this box. You can choose a height that is appropriate for you. As soon as you reach your arms forward, you'll sink down into your squat, letting your hands reach forward to the stool or the box for balance, fingertips as light as possible before lifting back up. You can walk your hands forward as you sink low, walk them back as you lift up, or you can keep them stationary, holding a little bit more tightly, whatever you need to help you balance as you work on your squat.
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