Do you want to know a secret?

I'm not a man.

Nope, that honor was taken away from me by a single exercise.

See, this exercise just kicked my butt so ferociously that I couldn't help it...I started to whimper...and then I cried.

They were just too hard, too painful, too...difficult!

The exercise I'm talking about? Do you really want to know?

Front squats.

Now, of course I didn't really cry from front squats, but I can tell you that these are without a doubt the most difficult exercises that I've ever done.

They will BREAK YOU!

Let me walk you through how to do these. You set up by having the bar set up for squats like you normally would, except with a little bit less weight probably. You walk up to the bar, you place your hands just outside shoulder width on the bar. Then you keep your hands on the bar, walk up to the bar so that your elbows are bent and are tucked close in to your body.

The bar should be about at neck level. Now you bring your elbows up so that they're pointing straight out. Your arms will still be on the bar, the bar will still be pressed against your neck, and rested on your upper chest/shoulders. Your palms are facing behind you.

From there it's as simple as unracking the weight, and doing squats just like normal. The difference of course is that the bar is in front of you, which makes it much much more difficult. It's just a lot more difficult to stabalize.

The advantage is that you really really blast your quads, and it really works your core somethin fierce. And you can go a lot deeper because you're not leaning forward.

As much as I hate front squats, as much as I fear front squats, I can't deny that they're one of the best exercises out there for overall strength and conditioning. I hope that you give them a try.