by PFT Adriana Allison

When you think of power do you think of big beefy guys with lots of muscles lifting heavy weight over their head? I'm sure picking up your baby off the floor isn't the first thing that comes to mind. Or picking up your box of old books off the bottom shelf of the closet and moving them up onto your desktop. But it's all the same.

What is power? By definition power is "ability to act or produce an effect." But what is power when considering exercising? When you think of a movement from a standing position all of your power starts from your feet up. Standing up is your body's power to fight gravity. Walking is your body’s ability to work with, and against gravity, using power. But for the full body movement from floor to top the best example is picking something up off the floor and moving it overhead. This can be in relation to that old box of books previously mentioned or in relation to doing a squat combined with an overhead shoulder press (one of my favorite exercises).

When you stand up out of your squat, everything begins from the soles of your shoes and their push off the floor. The pressure from pushing your feet into the floor and opening up your knee angle and hips is the first step to power. As you move up the kinetic chain of your squat, your knees come from a 90 degree bend (or more if you can get deeper than that) to a more open angle. As your knees open more the chain reaction moves into your hips. Now we are really talking power. The knee opening up into your hips is huge but can't be fully utilized until the hips are FULLY opened (this does not mean that you over open which can be pretty common (when the hips fully open and the body then moves into a back extension). As your hips open the momentum has now moved all the way from the floor up through your knees, into your hips and now has traveled up your core (which of course is nice and tight) into your upper body, mainly your shoulders (with a few specific lifting exceptions such as if you were doing a squat with a bicep curl). As your shoulders begin to accept the acceleration and power from your lower body the arms move up into an overhead position. When your shoulders raise up into your ears and your elbows lock out and you finish your shoulder press you have just experienced the awesomeness of power.

This is most useful when lifting heavy weight, an odd shaped object, or for throwing something in the air, or if you feel like saving your upper body strength and utilizing full body movement. The next time you do a shoulder press add in the squat to experience your own power. You will find you are more efficient, can lift more weight (but you don't have to), and your heart rate will skyrocket thus increasing your calorie burning.

Welcome to power!