There are few things in this world I fear more than bats.  You can blame my irrational fear on their connection to rabies, their nocturnal nature, or the fact that they are essentially glorified mice with wings.  But, if I have ever to build an arc, you can take a pretty good guess at which animal I'd be leaving behind.

That said, there is one exercise that has a loose connection with bats that I just can't get enough of called, you guessed it, "batwings."  What's with the name?  Well, it's because when you're doing them correctly, you look like (*gulp*) a bat. 

If you've been in touch with me over the past week then you probably already know, but....

Lindsay and I got engaged on Saturday night! 

It has been a wonderful whirlwind ever since, as we ended up getting engaged down at The Ritz-Carlton in Naples, Florida.  Yes, you read that correctly.  Don't get me wrong, I'm not a high roller (my favorite beers are Miller High Life and PBR, after all), but I needed to pull out all the stops if I was going to convince Lindsay to say yes.  Suffice to say, it worked!

To answer your question, yes, I'm aware of the arrogant nature of that title.  And yes, I am only talking about facts/issues/questions related to the fitness field.  But, to be totally clear, this blog post is really targeted at my former, office working self.

A few years ago, I thought personal trainers were little more than meatheads who threw weights at people and simply counted the reps.  Every profession has its stereotypes, and with no background in exercise science (besides reading men's health and getting coached a bit in college) I actually thought I knew just as much (if not more!) than many of the trainers in the commercial gym I belonged to.  In fact, I may have even used the dreaded term "muscle confusion," for which I will never forgive my previous self.

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I’ve made it no secret that I favor large, multi-joint exerciseslike pullups, squats and deadlifts.  In fact, if all you ever did in thegym was deadlift and some Turkish Get-ups, you’d be eating a whole, balanceddiet.

However, blame it on the new year,how much I’ve learned the past few months, or even the size of my own arms, butthere’s one exercise I’ve recently added to my own workouts...

The much maligned, and “nonfunctional,” bicep curl.

I'm going to let you in on a secret: I hate squatting. 

Yes, you read that correctly.  

Blame it on the fact that I'm on the taller side (long levers and squatting don't always get along), but the "king of lower body lifts" just doesn't have a special place in my heart anymore.

However, I realize that squatting still has an important place in any program as it's a fundamental human movement.  And even though I may not love to squat, you need to train your weaknesses, along with your strengths.