{"id":135112,"date":"2016-12-01T10:10:25","date_gmt":"2016-12-01T10:10:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/i-took-squat-breaks-at-work-every-day-for-a-month-and-heres-what-happened\/"},"modified":"2016-12-01T10:10:25","modified_gmt":"2016-12-01T10:10:25","slug":"i-took-squat-breaks-at-work-every-day-for-a-month-and-heres-what-happened","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/i-took-squat-breaks-at-work-every-day-for-a-month-and-heres-what-happened\/","title":{"rendered":"‘I Took Squat Breaks At Work Every Day For A Month, And Here’s What Happened’"},"content":{"rendered":"
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When I recently came down with my first-ever case of\u00a0runner’s knee<\/a>, though, I learned that\u00a0muscle weaknesses in the hips and glutes<\/a>\u00a0could be partly to blame for the nagging pain. This forced running hiatus seemed like the perfect time to try another workday\u00a0workout<\/a>\u00a0experiment (I recently took on plank breaks for a month<\/a>). What would happen if I did sets of\u00a0bodyweight squats<\/a>\u00a0twice a day, Monday through Friday, for four weeks straight? Would I botch my knee even more with improper form, or would I gradually remedy it? Would I eventually be able to “bounce a quarter off my butt,” as Jillian always shouts at me from my TV screen?<\/p>\n

RELATED:\u00a0The Squat That Works Your Triceps, Too<\/a><\/h3>\n

So, amid the Great Peach Emoji Crisis of 2016, I set out to strengthen my derriere desk-side. (Thankfully, Apple has restored the\u00a0peach emoji to its plump posterior glory<\/a>, making it far easier to discuss my squat challenge with friends via text.) Here is the plan I devised:<\/p>\n

Week 1:<\/strong> 20 squats, 2x a day
Week 2:<\/strong> 25 squats, 2x a day
Week 3:<\/strong> 30 squats, 2x a day
Week 4:<\/strong> 35 squats, 2x a day<\/p>\n

\"I

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With daily reminders set for 10:30 AM and 3:30 PM, I got down to it\u2014literally. Here’s what happened during my month of squats.<\/p>\n

I tried a few new variations.<\/h2>\n

Regular bodyweight squats and sumo squats<\/a>\u00a0I had down, but beyond that I felt pretty clueless, not to mention afraid of doing bodily damage. After one boring week of the same-old squats, I searched for fresh moves to round out my routine. I learned that single-leg (or pistol) squats are really difficult to bend deeply into, that rear foot elevated split squats with a rolling desk\u00a0chair\u00a0aren’t wise, and that jump squats are super fun but a little awkward to do in an office when you’re worried about coworkers peering in.<\/p>\n

I discovered my weak spots.<\/h2>\n

Sure, I expected\u00a0my rear and maybe my quads<\/a>\u00a0to be sore, but I was surprised by other muscle groups the squats awakened.\u00a0Sumo squats<\/a>\u00a0in particular pointed out how weak and inflexible my inner thighs and hip flexors are. My tight adductors made it challenging to lower into parallel with the floor from sumo, and I got used to a comfortable soreness in my hips throughout the course of this challenge. In contrast, regular squats felt considerably easier for me because my quads, calves, and glutes did the brunt of the work\u2014and my running had already conditioned those muscles well.\u00a0<\/p>\n

I pushed myself to go lower.<\/h2>\n

\"I

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Even more anxiety-inducing than the fear of being seen doing squats\u00a0in my office was the fear of being seen\u00a0taking pictures\u00a0of myself doing squats in my office (with the help of a spare\u00a0office chair, a shoe box, and my iPhone’s camera timer, if you were wondering). That said, I totally recommend photographing your squats sometime because it gives you a closer look at your form, and you can analyze it even better than when you’re in motion in front of a mirror at the gym. My photos showed me that I needed to bend deeper into my squats, and as soon as I did, I reaped greater benefits from them.<\/p>\n

RELATED:\u00a010 Squats That Tone Every Trouble Spot<\/a><\/h3>\n

I took it one squat at a time.<\/h2>\n

Doing 20 squats per break of Week 1 didn’t feel so repetitive, but doing 35 per break of Week 4 (70 a day!) sure did. To beat the boredom, I split those 35 into smaller sets of different variations\u2014there are only so many\u00a0single-leg squats<\/a>\u00a0I can do anyway, and that is to say, very few. I also counted aloud quietly, which not only kept my mind from wandering but reminded me that each squat was an accomplishment, like a checked box on a to-do list. And I really love to-do lists.<\/p>\n

I gained confidence and felt stronger.<\/h2>\n

By the final week, I didn’t worry so much about my form because I finally had the hang of things. I began toying with the idea of going to a gym and adding weights, something I’d never considered before because gyms make me extremely self-conscious. Although my runner’s knee pain persists, it did lessen up a bit\u2014possibly just from a few weeks of rest, but a part of me thinks the squats helped.<\/p>\n

But I know what you’re\u00a0really\u00a0dying to know is whether or not I can bounce a quarter off my butt yet. That’s one experiment I likely won’t try, but I will say that by the end of this self-imposed squat challenge, my backside did indeed feel noticeably stronger and\u00a0firmer. (Insert peach emoji here.)<\/p>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When I recently came down with my first-ever case of\u00a0runner’s knee, though, I learned that\u00a0muscle weaknesses in the hips and glutes\u00a0could be partly to blame for the nagging pain. This forced running hiatus seemed like the perfect time to try another workday\u00a0workout\u00a0experiment (I recently took on plank breaks for a month). What would happen if Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-135112","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135112","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=135112"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135112\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=135112"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=135112"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=135112"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}