EP30, Perfecting the Push Up and Air Squat

In this episode of Unstoppable By Design, host Matt Terry dives into two fundamental movements: the pushup and the air squat. Despite their simplicity, performing these exercises with perfect form is often challenging. Matt identifies common mistakes, such as the 'chicken wing' in push-ups and the loss of the 'tripod foot' in squats, and offers practical fixes to boost strength and stability immediately. He encourages listeners to practice 10 perfect reps of each movement to solidify these techniques during their workouts.

Transcript

Matt: Let's go. Welcome to Unstoppable By Design, where we talk all things fitness, mindset and what it means to truly be unstoppable inside and outside the gym. I'm Matt Terry, and in the next few minutes we're gonna get high level on two movements. You probably do more than anything else. We're gonna talk about the pushup in the air squat.

Now these are the basics, but here's the thing. Just because they're basic doesn't mean they're easy to do perfectly. Most athletes I see are actually leaking power because of one or two small set of errors. So today I'm gonna give you two quick tuneups to plug those leaks and make you stronger instantly.

So let's start with the pushup. The most common mistake, we call it the chicken wing. This is where your elbows flare out wide towards the sides. Not only does it put your shoulders in a more vulnerable spot, but it also disconnects your chest from your biggest back muscles. So we're gonna talk about the fix.

What I want you to think about doing is screw your hands into the floor. So imagine you're trying to tear a piece of paper in half between your palms, or you're trying to turn in two light bulbs at the same time. Your right hand turns clockwise. Your left hand turns counterclockwise. You won't actually move your hands.

They stay flat on the floor, but you'll feel your elbow pits rotate forward. This screwing motion engages your lats and creates a stable shelf for your shoulders. When you lower down, your elbows should stay tucked at about 45 degrees. With the angle you'll feel tighter, more stable, and way more powerful.

Don't let those elbows go way out to the side. Next, let's talk about the air squat. I want you to think about, uh, something called the tripod foot. So if you feel like you're falling forward and your heels are lifting, then this could be something like you've lost your root. Think of your foot as a tripod with three points of contact.

We have the base of your big toe, we have the base of your pinky toe, and we have your heel. Before you even start your descent, I want you to grab the floor with your toes and feel the weight evenly distributed across those three points. If you lose one, the tripod tips. When you keep that tripod rooted, your knees naturally track better over your toes and you can drive out of the hole with a hundred percent power.

Now I know for me, the one thing that I was lacking and feeling was the base of my pinky toe. That's a weird one. We don't really talk too much about it. We talk about as we squat, you know, maybe we feel it in the, the bigger ball of our foot or the big toe and our heel, but we don't really talk about the pinky toe too much.

So let's try to get that involved. So these small details, when you're trying to chase down a workout with 50 or a hundred reps, these tuneups are the difference between a PR and a sore joint. Being unstoppable means being the master of the basics. So for your unstoppable challenge this week, in your very next warmup, whether that's here at Jugg or not, or in your living room, I want you to perform 10 perfect reps of each 10 pushups with your hands screwed in, and 10 air squats with that tripod foot.

Don't rush them. Feel the tension. Then carry that stability into your actual workout. Give that a shot. I want to hear if those pushups feel a little snappier this week. So remember, new episodes of Unstoppable By Design Land every Tuesday to keep your training and your mindset on point. Until then, be well be unstoppable.