157 Outsmarting Heart Disease

The Squat
The rst exercise is the Squat. Stand with your feet shoulder width apart. Bend your
knees as if you are going to sit in a chair and reach back with your buttocks while
keeping your chest lifted. This may feel a bit awkward, but if you keep your back-
side reaching back, your knees will be better protected against undue stress. You do
not want your knees to protrude past your toes. Bend only as far as you can safely
and with good form. Return to the start position. Do two sets of 15 repetitions. This
exercise strengthens the most important muscle in your legs, the quadriceps. The
quadriceps is the big muscle in the front of your thigh that is responsible for lifting
your body up and lowering it down. A strong quadriceps muscle can help keep your
knees and hips healthy, as well as prevent lower-back pain by allowing you to bend
from your knees when you need to lift anything.
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158 T HE P R OGR AM
Modified Lunge
The next exercise works the quadriceps, but it also works the back side of your
legthe gluteal and hamstring muscles. In addition to improving your strength,
it improves your balancean important skill that we dont work on enough as
we get older. Its called the Modied Lunge. Stand with your feet in a stride-step
position. Lower your back knee toward the oor, keeping your chest lifted. Your
back heel should automatically lift off the oor. Do not lunge forward over your
front foot, and keep your abdomen pulled in. Return to the start position. Do two
sets of 15 repetitions for each leg. Its important to keep the gluteal and ham-
string muscles strong. They help with posture by supporting the weight you carry
in front of your body. The hamstring muscle is also responsible for bending the
knee, and general knee movement is important to the knees overall health.
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