The Dirty Toilet Exercise

Have you ever been on a long car ride and need to find a bathroom? And, of course, you're on an interstate where the only public rest rooms are in gas stations – and look like they haven't seen Lysol in months! What do you do?

If you're a guy, it's easy unless…well, let's not get too graphic, but if you're female, you've got to sit, yet there's no way you're going to put any part of your body on that dirty seat.  Hopefully, you have enough muscular strength to manage a squat. Though, as we age, that strength diminishes. So, as Carolyn, the protagonist in my novel, The Disharmony of Silence, which will be available on-line and in book stores in March, says: “Remember, press your buttocks back…Just don’t go down too far…Hey…There’s no way you’re gonna sit on it, right?"

To be more specific, stand with your feet separated and press your buttocks back. You can't help but go into a squat position. Then lower yourself a bit more, but stay comfortable. Put your weight on your heels and make sure your knees are directly over your ankles.  If they're peeking over your toes, press your seat back a little farther. This will protect your knees and keep them happy.  Then stand up and squat again. Repeat 8x, more if you can. You'll be strengthening your glutteal muscles as well as the hamstrings which, in turn, will help you not only squat at a gas station on I 95, but get you off a chair on your own when your ninety! Independence is the real goal.