The back squat is one of the best total body exercises that can be done. While your quads, glutes, and hamstrings are the primary movers, all the muscles that help keep your spine rigid, especially the spinal extensors in this case, have to be working at full capacity. If these muscles are not strong enough or are not doing their job, your spine will collapse quicker than a stack of Jenga blocks with a 2 year old, and you'll be lucky if you can peel yourself off the ground without a major injury.
MostFit™ SYN Rings take the back squat to a whole new level of intensity. With a regular back squat, your body only has to deal with a load in one direction - down. Throw on the Syn Rings and now your body has to stabilize against forces going in all directions. This ramps up the excitability of the nervous system, which engages more muscle, leading to bigger strength gains, more calories burned, and plateaus crushed. Try a set of these with 50-65% of your 1-rep-max before you lift heavy, and see how much lighter the weights feel once your nervous system has been primed.
Dr. Santo Riva, DPT, OCS, NASM-CPT is a doctor of physical therapy and board certified orthopedic specialist at Evolution Physical Therapy and Fitness in Los Angeles, California. He uses instability training to get his patients and clients back into the game and into the best shape of their lives.
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