I just received this picture of a guy busting his ass to push out a 60kg squat on a swiss ball! Its a pretty impressive feat. But what I find more striking is just how un-lean and un-muscled both the squatter and his trainer are!
Developing the ability to squat 60kg on a Swiss Ball would take quite some time and effort - probably more time and effort than developing a nicely lean and muscular body by doing real squats. And for all of that time and effort taken to squat on a swiss ball, you'd still find that you couldn't actually do a normal squat with anything approaching a heavy weight! You would have neither the core strength nor the leg and back strength to do it! Nor would you have any sort of athletic looking physique to show for all your effort.
Which begs the question: why on earth would anyone waste their time???
I do squats to build my leg muscles. I have a squatted a validated 300kg, well below parallel, in competition. And I have the reasonably muscular legs to show for it.
I can't balance on a ball. And I don't care! The reason I can't balance on a ball is not that I have a weak 'core'. My 300kg squat gives me a stronger 'core', and legs, and back than any idiot who can balance on a ball! I can't balance on a ball simply because I haven't practiced balancing on a ball!!! Its a skill I just don't see the need for; especially when it doesn't help my physique in any way, shape or form!
The best way to build your squat is: do squats! If you need to build your leg strength: do squats! If you want a the best physique you can possibly have: do squats! If your 'core strength' happens to be the limiting factor on your squat: do squats!
The only time you should EVER do squats on a ball is when, for some reason, you need the ability to squat on a ball! Like, if you want to join the elephants at the circus. Otherwise, like the t-shirt says: shut up and squat!
3 comments:
I see people doing odd things like this at my gym all the time - but this has to be the stupidest thing ever.
Bahaha, awesome pic. Wonder how many times he fell with a loaded bar off the ball.
If I wanted to learn to type and I also wanted to learn to serve a tennis ball, I wouldn't train the two skills simultaneously. Trying to do so would impair the efficacy of both training stimuli.
If you want to get strong, squat.
If you want to train your balance, hop on a Bosu ball (if you must).
If you want to do both at the same time, can I borrow one of the rocks from your head?
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