As a starting strength coach, I have gradually shared the SSBT methodology with my family and friends. I finally had the opportunity to coach my mom this weekend after asking if she'd be interested in learning how to squat.

A little background. My mom was an athlete for most of her life, competing in swimming and tack & field in the 70's at a collegiate level. As an adult, she taught fitness classes at a racquetball club (all the rage in the 80's) and competed in triathlons, racquets ball, marathons, and other running events. For the last ten years she has battled knee pain from degenerating cartilage and now has bone on bone contact in her knees. The pain and inflammation has been so severe that she's limited to short walks and riding horses for physical activity.

To battle the pain, she has tried a variety of interventions including, most recently, surgery on both knees. She hasn't replaced them yet as she is waiting for a better financial situation. Her physical therapist had her perform squats to a chair, but made her point her toes forward. This caused significant pain just tying to sit down. Almost all of the exercises she does to try to stay in shape cause her to experience an aching pain that lasts for days. For the last few years, she has been resigned to trading off activity and pain.

So as we started working through the squat progression, she was hesitant to squat down to proper depth. In anticipation of the pain she expected, it took several attempts to convince her to squat deeper. Gradually, over a few repetitions, she reached a below parallel squat and stood back up. I was bracing myself to hear about how it hurt and that she didn't want to continue. But to my surprise, her eyes lit up with a mixture of relief, disbelief, and excitement. While she felt like it was challenging, she said that not only didn't hurt her knees, but that it felt good! For the first time in years, I saw a light in her that she felt capable of making progress with something physical again.

In the same session she went on to demonstrate her athleticism; pressing the bar for her working set, and beautifully dead lifting her body weight for 5. By the end of the session she was glowing - obviously excited by the idea of getting stronger.

This is probably just one of my similar stories, but I felt compelled to share it and say thank you. The book, seminar, and program have already transformed my life and it is a gift to be able to share it with those the matter to me and see their lives benefit as well.