Posted October 6, 2010

The Best Exercises You Will Ever Do: 1-leg Cable Squat & Row

What the hell happened in the NFL today!!?! Randy Moss was traded to the Vikings for a 3rd round draft pick!??! Now all the Vikings need is some O-line presence to stop Favre from breaking his hip on the Minnesota turf and they may actually make the playoffs this year!!

Todays Best Exercise Ever is one I’ve been using for a few years, and the more I use it, the more I like it. Observe:

Cable 1-leg squat & contralateral row

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This exercise is a fantastic way to get hip mobility to increase without letting the spine go into flexion, as the leg in the air can actually have a big role in maintaining spinal alignment. The leg you’re standing on gets a good sizzle from the foot all the way to the butt, and the back gets stronger through activation of the thoracolumbar fascia into the lat muscle on the opposite side. Wicked, ain’t it?? On top of that, it can be a part of a dead lift progression for anyone with low back pain or weakness and increase unilateral leg power if done quickly. Cuz let’s face it, everyone wants more unilateral leg power.

By doing this simple exercise every day with as much weight as possible, I officially guarantee (Note: not a real guarantee) that you will be able to go from this:

to this:

 

Maybe I’m exaggerating a little bit, ut who knows? You may want to stand up to a military Junta without your shirt on doing a lat spread for all to see. And you might be a 5-year-old asian boy. I’m not here to judge.

With Thanksgiving coming up in Canada, The Future’s parents and my parents will fianlly be in the same city at the same time, and will finally meet each other. My parents are coming up to attend my cousin Erin’s wedding in Stony Plain, and The Future’s parents are coming up for Thanksgiving weekend. We’re planning to take them all out for a dinner on Friday, as it’s the only night they will all be here without any other family plans or obligations. Even though they are already Facebook  friends (how wierd is that!?!?), I still can’t help but feel like a match maker waiting to hear about the blind date I set up. **Will they like each other? Will they get along and want to be best friends? Or will it break down into yelling and screaming matches with tears and ambulances and what not?** Let’s all just hope for the best and that no one takes a drumstick to the eye. Those don’t heal all that well.