It's been almost a year since I reviewed the Powertec Power Cage. I love having a power cage in my home gym. The power cage allows me to perform a variety of exercises without the need for a spotter. One of my favorite exercises is the squat exercise. I bought my power cage just so I could safely perform squat exercises in my home gym.
However, the biggest difficulty that I've had with my power cage is performing squat exercises. Proper form for a squat exercise can be challenging and requires coordination with several muscle groups. Doing a squat correctly in an open space is challenging enough. But performing squats in a tight space like a power cage can become almost impossible.
After many months of using my power cage, I discovered that a small change can make a huge difference when it comes to working out in a power cage. And I realized that there's a way to make the most of the power cage interior space.
My Power Cage Mistake:
Originally, I had been facing towards the back of the power cage when I unracked the barbell. Next, I took 1 or 2 step backwards with the weight and then performed the exercise. This turned out to be a terrible idea. My form really suffered from this start position in the cage. My workout space seemed really constrained and I didn't know how far away the barbell and my body were from accidentally hitting the cage bars behind me. No matter what I tried, my squats just didn't feel right.
My Power Cage Fix:
Then I got an idea. What if I faced towards the front of the cage instead? This time I stood in the back of the cage, I faced the front of the cage and unracked the weight. Next I moved forward walking as close to the front of the cage as I could without hitting the cage bars with my barbell. From this position, I was able to perform the exercise with proper form. The whole exercise finally felt right!
Part of the benefit with this position is psychological, but the other benefit is that workout space becomes slightly greater. Because I was able to see outside of the cage this position gave me a feeling of working out in a larger space. Also, I could better judge where to position myself for the maximum amount of workout area.
This change in position might seem obvious but sometimes the obvious is not so obvious and sometimes a slight change can make a big difference when it comes to exercising.
Have Fun, Be Fit!
"Functional Marc"
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