A man wrote me yesterday to ask for a bit of guidance on his Hindu squats. He’s 65 and his hamstrings tighten up when he tries to go as low as I am doing in my Combat Conditioning book and DVDs.

If I were working with this man in person, I would first ask to see him do the squats slowly. Regardless of how deep he can go and how tight his hamstrings are, show me your slowest version of the exercise. If you cannot bend your legs and come up slowly, you lack motor control, and this leads to tightness in the muscles.

So let’s slow this train down and see what happens.

Move slowly, get smooth and an increase in range of motion will be a natural byproduct; so will speed.

As you begin exercising, recall the saying, “Slow is smooth and smooth is fast.”

In the morning, when you first get out of bed, the time for moving quickly and pushing for a maximum range of motion has not yet arrived. You are far better off beginning with micro movements. Instead of doing a bunch of repetitions, do partial reps. Instead of moving quickly, challenge yourself to go slower… and slower.

Once your body is sufficiently warmed up and your movements are “second-nature,” speed and flexibility will occur without effort or strain. If you push yourself before all systems are GO, you may get away with it for awhile, but eventually pain and injury will come for a visit.

Start slowly – and soon you’ll surprise yourself with your newly acquired speed.

Kick ass – take names.

Matt Furey

By the way: We’re down to our final stack of autographed Combat Conditioning books. Make sure you get one before they are completely gone. An autographed copy of Grappling from 2002, when I was on the cover, comes with each order as well. YES!!!