As I type this, my niece and nephew are taking naps. Not gonna lie, Aunt Kimmie had a nap too.

In fact, I think Aunt Kimmie probably needed the nap more than they did. 

Ho ho ho my goodness. 

So far today we've played hot potato, made ginger bread houses (so sticky), and played football in the back yard.

Before I get back to to "Despicable Me," I thought I'd throw out a couple of last minute gift ideas for the fitness enthusiast in your life. Or the person who is planning to become a fitness enthusiast in the new year. 

1. The New Rules of Lifting books

If you can get to your local Barnes and Nobles, pick up one any one of Lou Schuler's New Rules of Lifting books. I got my first start with fitness by using The New Rules of Lifting for Women - it was both an education on lifting and also included six months worth of programming from Alwyn Cosgrove and some great recipes from Cassandra Forsythe. It's the best 15 bucks you can spend.

Though I haven't had a chance to read it yet, Lou and Alwyn recently updated the original book with "Strong," which includes nine workout programs. They have several books in the series, and any one of them would be a great pick up for someone wanting to get fit.

2. A heart rate strap

While there are plenty of fitness devices out there that will track your heart rate, I've found that the straps you wear around your chest work best. To date, I've tried out three different brands, including Polar, Wahoo, and MyZone. The MyZone straps are often sold and used at certain gyms (we use them at Spurling), but both Polar and Wahoo can be found on Amazon or at Best Buy. 

If your recipient is a smart phone user, the Polar H7 Bluetooth Heart Rate Sensor or the Wahoo Tickr Heart Rate Monitor both work with smart phones or Apple Watches. Either option will cost you around 50 bucks. Though I haven't done my own review on this site, I'd rank them, in order of performance, just the way they are here. The MyZone has worked best for me, followed by the Polar and then the Wahoo.

If you'd like to read a more thorough review, check out this recent article from ware.com.

3. Fitness E-books

If you're looking for something a little more advanced and you don't have time to actually go anywhere, there are some fantastic e-products out there, including Eric Cressey's High Performance Handbook which is the closest thing you can find to working out at Cressey Sports Performance. This program is perfect for anyone who is looking for some guidance on strength training - and Eric has broken the programming down into either two days, three days, or four days. 

You could also hop on over to Nia Shanks website (check it out even if you don't need gifts) and purchase the Lift Like a Girl Fat Loss program, or check out the Modern Women's Guide to Strength Training from the ladies over at Girls Gone Strong. 

Ok, the kids are awake and we're about to get our Minions on. 

For some clients, that question is akin to:

Does a bear.....?

Is the pope....?

And I get it. Somewhere along the way, our knees become cranky from years of abuse; playing football, field hockey, or running away from cops at keg parties in the corn field.

Not you? Um...well, there's not a lot to do in Western PA. 

We try squats as part of a workout routine, discover they hurt our knees, and so we quit squatting. 

It’s like the old joke.

Do jumping jacks make you pee your pants?

Yes.

Then you can be sure they'll be in your next program.

I kid, I kid. Kind of. 

Here's the thing: you can avoid jumping jacks, but you can't avoid squatting. 

Sure you can avoid doing squats with your training, but you can’t avoid them in your day-to-day life. You squat to get into a chair, out of a chair, into your car, into bed etc. etc. etc. 

Squatting is your independence, especially as you age. Incorporating squats into your training helps build strength in the legs and hips, and stronger muscles mean more stable joints. (For those of you reading this who work out with my parents, please tell Rita to start doing them.) 

If squatting is this important to your daily life, why on earth would you not make it a priority in the gym? Well, probably because the movement caused too much pain, you felt like you’d never get back up again if you tried it, or, and I’ve heard this one several times, you’re afraid that actively squatting will make your thighs hyooooge.*(Hint - It won't.)

My dad is 70 years old, golfs every day, and has cranky, arthritic knees. He’s spent the last two weeks doing three sets of 15 bodyweight squats every day, and reported Sunday during our weekly FaceTime chat that, shocker of all shockers, his knees feel better.  

I'm not suggesting that you go all willy nilly with the squatting game here and load 200 pounds on your back, but below are some tips to get your squatting game on and, hopefully, avoid any discomfort in the process.  

1. Limit your range of motion

There is no need to squat ass to grass the way my nephew does when he's looking intently at a bug in the yard. He can do it because he's four years old. For the rest of us, poor ankle mobility, core strength and glute strength make it really difficult to get that low. The good news is unless your competing in a powerlifting competition, there's no need to go below parallel. 

So in the beginning, limit your range of motion and stop before you feel the pain.   

Begin by squatting to a high box. In the video above, I'm using a dumbbell held vertically to load the movement and squatting to an 18 inch box. Start with a 10 or 12 lb weight held tight to your chest, and tap the box, don't sit on it, before standing back up.

If squatting to this level still causes pain, raise the box a little higher with the addition of a plate or a few mats. 

The use of the box helps ensure that you can get to the desired depth, and can also help with technique. Speaking of which...

2. Concentrate on technique

One reason squatting may cause discomfort is that you end up too far over your toes. For a dumbbell goblet squat, think of touching your elbows to the inside of your knees and sitting straight down into your heels. You can also use a kettlebell or, if you have one, a sandbag. Keep your eyes straight forward and imagine putting your shoulder blades into your back pockets. Once you tap the box, push up through your heels to stand up. 

Pay attention to the movement of your knees - if your gym has a mirror, do the squats in front of it and make sure your knees aren't caving in. Think of pushing your knees out throughout the movement. You don't want it to look like this:

Make sure your heels are not coming off of the ground during the movement. For some people with poor ankle mobility, sitting back into the heels can make them feel like they're going to lose their balance and fall, as one client said yesterday, 'ass over teakettle'. If that's the case, try placing the box against a wall, or use a TRX:

Not sure what kind of ankle mobility you have?

Try this trick. Put your arms up over your head, and perform a deep squat. Then, raise your heels up on an inch-high plate or board and perform the same movement. Is it easier to squat with your heels raised? If so, you may have poor mobility in your ankles. 

3. Build the muscles around your knees. 

Strengthening your quadriceps (front of your thigh) and hamstrings (back of your thigh) can help decrease pain and help you better tolerate arthritis. Perform other exercises that will help strengthen these muscles as well.

Some of the exercises that can help with that are split squat, the bowler squat, the step up, or the TRX with knee drive. 

A suspension trainer like the TRX can be a great tool for those who are working on leg strength and balance. In this exercise, use the TRX as little as possible to steady yourself until you can do the movement without any assistance at all.

I could, and probably will, do an entire series on suspension training systems like the one seen in the video above (also called a TRX, which is a brand). These rings are incredibly useful for strengthening a movement - in the video above, I'm lightly holding onto the rings. Use the handles as little as necessary, until you work your way up to performing the exercise without requiring any assistance at all. 

If that movement feels too easy, graduate to using a box step up with a knee drive. (I like to call these Jane Fonda's, because it looks to me like something she would have done in one of her videos.)

In summary:

Squat. It's important. Limit your range of motion, work on your technique, and incorporate other exercises to strengthen those muscles around the legs. 

If you're not sure about your technique, film yourself from the front and the side and send the video to kim@kimlloydfitness.com. I'd be happy to take a look. 

* Some women are concerned especially that squatting will give them thunder thighs and for the most part, that's not the case. 

**Everyone’s hips sit in the joints differently, so while one person may squat comfortable with a wider stance, others may be more comfortable with a narrower stance. 

AND....

Have you signed up for my newsletter? No? Well now you get a free guide to surviving the holidays when you sign up below. 

I know what you're thinking.

No one puts Baby in the corner.

If you're not thinking that, then chances are you're under 35 years old and never saw the wonder that was Patrick Swayze on the big screen.

I’ve been fortunate in my athletic career to avoid major injuries (knocking wood as we speak here), and one of my only surgeries to date was an arthroscopic procedure on my knee known as IT band lateral release surgery.

As the doctor put it a few days after the surgery, “I always like to take a healthy person and make her limp.”

I was a 25 years old avid runner. At the time, I’d been training for the Cleveland Marathon when I started to feel like Joe Pesci had taken a baseball bat to the outside of my knee. Eventually, I was diagnosed with IT Band Syndrome or runner's knee.

When I started exploring options for treatment, the overwhelming recommendation was to take time off from running and cross train.

And, stubborn 25 year old that I was, I refused to do either. When the doctor proposed the IT band lateral release surgery, (which I don’t think they do anymore), I jumped at it.  

Running wasn't just my form of exercise, it was my identity.

I see a lot of this thinking in the fitness world. Someone is a yogi, a cyclist, a power lifter, or a runner, and, much like I was, resistant to try other things. We know we "should." We know it would be good for us. 

I did myself no favors that summer, and while I returned to running a few months after the surgery, chances are I’d have been able to do so anyway with just rest and…drum roll please…some cross training.

It's great to find an identity through fitness (we'll avoid the deeper questions of who am I for now), but sometimes limiting yourself from other activities can cause more harm than good.

Also...

Yesterday I experimented with Facebook Live. If you can ignore the weird thing I'm doing with my hands (air piano maybe?), you might be actually find something useful to do with that fitness equipment that's been sitting in your spare room since last year :)

Click here to watch yesterday's video on stability balls.

But wait - there's more :)

Because last week was Thanksgiving and we're in the thick of the holiday season, sign up for my newsletter below to get a free guide on keeping a toe in the fitness water during the holiday season.