This Is More Amazing Than You Know

​One leg while handling weights will catch your eye. It’s impressive. Dani Montes (@daniele_montes) inspires. Her story and example are powerful. But there’s even more going on here than you know; and it’s absolutely amazing.

Without knowing anything, this video is gripping (video here: https://www.instagram.com/p/CGQPajnHl_S/). Also, we are all confronted with a pretty damning judgment on any excuses we’ve ever given about a bothersome limb, tendinitis, tweaked ankle, or plantar fasciitis preventing us from working out.

But more outstanding than any of that is something which takes a keener and trained eye. Watch her shin. Flawless positioning. The foot/ankle does not collapse at any point of force transfer.

In the average person, even a relatively athletic or strong person, during jumping, catching, and squatting, the knees buckle together, at least a little. The lateral sling is so undertrained in people that it’s a crime. I have worked with many athletes whose shins collapse inward under any impact or load. Look at even pretty good runners from the front or behind and you’ll see disastrous shin angles as the foot hits the ground. Given that Dani has one leg, she does have to keep the hip outside the knee. But otherwise, this technique and form is BETTER than intermediate to elite Crossfitters who have both legs. She shows hardly a balancing wriggle in the whole series.

It’s more than remarkable. It’s admirable. She’s not merely checking us on our excuses. She’s showing exemplary discipline to which we might all aspire.