I am an old school gym rat with nearly 30 years of lifting experience under my belt. I have 3 old injuries (one lifting related, the others not) to body parts on my right side which I have rehabbed myself pretty successfully, but my old hip/groin injury reared its ugly head about 6 months ago when I locked out a max deadlift, and although it was feeling pretty good for most lifts shortly thereafter, my squats were limited to THE BAR or I felt some significant discomfort. OK, pain. After several months of frustration, I ran across an ad for the SureSquat on my Facebook feed and gave it a look. I am in no way a gadget/device person, and I'm actually super skeptical, but it seemed like a pretty legit concept and it was on sale with free shipping, so what did I have to lose, really? Did I mention I was frustrated?
My SureSquat arrived earlier than I expected, which is always great. Quality was better than expected as well. I decided to warm up in it on the treadmill first, and within 30 seconds was SHOCKED at all the little gait asymmetries it corrected. I had been totally unaware of how much I hiked my right hip as my leg swung forward, and how much I dropped that same hip as the leg extended. I noticed my base of support narrowing and my walking gait becoming perfectly symmetrical and easy, with no tendency to push side to side, even on a significant incline. Fascinating.
Then I squatted. First some air squats, then the bar. No pain or discomfort whatsoever, even squatting ATG (that's *ss-to-grass, if you don't know.) So I loaded the 25s on each side and repped out 10, then the 45s on each side for another 10, and then with 185 loaded, another 10. Perfectly symmetrical ATG squats, with a huge beaming grin plastered on my face. I was baaaaack!
Then I tried other things in it...sumo deads, conventional deads, rack pulls, RDLs, good mornings, Bulgarian split squats, lunges of every type...and there wasn't an exercise that the SureSquat didn't improve ROM and symmetry. I tried it just for giggles during my upper body days and found it just as beneficial in overhead shoulder press and bench press and bicep curls as it is for lower body work.
Fast forward to today, 2 weeks later. I'm still wearing it six days a week, whatever the split. I love this thing. I've gained a few reps on my max weights in just these couple of weeks, which is significant for an older, experienced, female lifter. Most importantly, I wear it to ensure straightness in every lift and accessory exercise so that I develop symmetrically, thus staving off potential reinjuries and especially new ones.
My gait asymmetries are gone even when I'm not wearing the SureSquat, which I think is THE most significant thing. It doesn't mask my old injuries...it's facilitating the straightness and ROM that is allowing me to function 1) in a corrective, rehabilitative manner and 2) under heavy loads, two things that rarely go together, but should, for maximum benefit.
Long story short: get yourself one. Wear it for a week for not just squats but for warmup, stretching, leg days, back days, chest days, everything. The SureSquat will prove itself. You'll see.
