Squatting

Did you know your ankle muscles can get sore?

I didn't even know I had muscles on my ankles. And I say this as someone who's had weak ankles and wrists all their life. At 14 I was flexible enough to bend and do the bridge in Gymnastics while the teacher held me in place, but I could never hold it. Forearms were too weak and my wrists always collapsed. And let's not even go to running.

Recently due to playing the piano, I've noticed an increased strength in my forearms, and some new biceps I had not before noticed I'd got.

Anyway. After talking about squatting with my dear sister, and falling on my flat on my butt while amateurishly attempting it, I thought I'd look up proper technique and try *really* doing it.

So currently after trying to squat for less than 10 minutes, the muscles around my ankles and calves are stretched and sore. So are some muscles on the front part of my lower leg (no idea what they're called), my inner thigh muscles, hamstrings and quadriceps. I love it. It feels like extreme workout for your legs. I did manage to squat all the way to a 60 degree angle between my thighs and calves and for a first day, I feel pretty proud. Of course the point is to eventually have the hips well lower than the knees for a full squat, and mine are still at level.

And then, my hands were getting all that work out from trying to keep myself balanced whenever gravity interferes and I start falling back on my butt. Thankfully I have soft carpeting.

How to squat:

• Stand straight with feet slightly wider apart than shoulder width. Toes point out a little out.
• It's good to have a light object and hold it with both hands: a bar, a ball.
• Push your hands forward, and lower yourself by having your hips go back like you're sitting back.
• Keep your shoulders aligned vertically with your ankles and your feet flat on the ground.