The Squat Solution

It is great to meet new people, especially when they share a common interest. Even better when they are into a part of the industry that you don’t get to spend as much time in. That is why we recently had dinner with the department chairman of a university kinesiology department, I have to admit I was a bit intimidated. After all, it has been scary enough, almost 20 years since I was in the exercise science labs of any sort. Plus, I have to admit, I wasn’t the most enthusiastic student at the time. I just wanted to get coaching as soon as possible, but now I regret not having been more into the sciences of exercise. 

During dinner, you get the inevitable, “so, what do you do?” conversation. He knew I was in fitness, but to explain what we do with DVRT Ultimate Sandbag Training can be a bit tough at times. However, I have had some practice so I went into our seven second elevator speech….”We run a fitness educational company that is dedicated to providing real life solutions based on the most current science.” 

Okay, I may have had a moment like I was Wil Ferrell in “Old School” when he was debating…

You might be surprised that I didn’t mention ANYTHING about our Ultimate Sandbag there. That is because I really don’t consider us a “sandbag company”, we try to provide better solutions. Of course spent over a decade engineering the Ultimate Sandbag so why would we downplay its importance?! 

The answer lies in the fact that the Ultimate Sandbag is only valuable if you know what you are specifically trying to achieve with its use. In over 10 years of blogging, over 700 Youtube videos, and many articles in various formats, I hope we have tried to demonstrate that point over and over again. In fact, I told this professor that if there is a better way of doing something you should do it! If that means NOT using the Ultimate Sandbag, by all means. 

Of course, I believe that more times than not DVRT Ultimate Sandbag Training IS the answer. That is because when you identify the problem, then you see how easy creating effective solutions can be. 

This is reflected in how many times I have heard successful people talk about Simon Sinek’s book, “Start With Why”.

Much of what we do with DVRT Ultimate Sandbag Training starts with this concept. That is why when people say, “hey, what is the best DVRT drill?” I simply can not answer. Sure, you might think that is the self-righteous thing to do, but really I can’t. It is impossible to answer such a question until you know what is the problem we are trying to solve. 

Unfortunately, so much of fitness is based around “how’s” far more than “why’s”. That leads us to falling prey to bad information and outdated ways of thinking. 

What is the best DVRT Ultimate Sandbag Training exercise? The one that solves a specific problem for you the best! That is why I love this video that DVRT coach, Ian Vaughn, created in solving how to teach people to squat better. Even though I posted an article earlier (HERE), that doesn’t mean everything works for everyone. Ian looks at another way you can build progression and more importantly solve the needs of your client. 

What Ian shows here is what Steve Jobs would have seen as innovation. Why? Ian didn’t re-invent the squat, he did find a way to connect the dots, or the concepts, of the squat in a way that would make more sense for more people. That is problem solving and innovation at its best. These are the types of questions we should be asking ourselves. Can we create better programs and exercises that solve our specific needs and problems? If so, then we have something really special and sophisticated in fitness!