Feeling tightness or tension in your low back after deadlifts yesterday?

That is pretty normal! It can feel a little scary when our low back locks up after lifting heavy. It makes us think that we must have been doing something wrong, but that’s not true at all!

Tightness in the hamstrings, glutes, hips, quads, etc can often make our low back go into overdrive and create tightness or tension. Not to mention, it is OKAY to work the muscles in your low back! Therefore, it’s ok to feeling sore or tight when they get worked.

Structural pain (sharp pain, stabbing pain or pain that shoots down your leg) not cool. Muscular tension, tightness or soreness- normal!

Here’s two ways to loosen up!

 Doubtful. 

“We need to more core work”

“We never do crunches”

“I want to work my abs”

Excellent. We do work and strengthen the core every time you come through the doors of Get Fit NH.

News flash: Crunches will never be a thing in my gym. I can’t think of a better way to crank on your c-spine and flex in a way that is not conducive to an aging body (which is all of us, you’re welcome )

But I’m not getting on that soap box. We are just talking about core right now.

Every single time you lift - deadlift, squat, push, press, pull you are working your core. Think about that the next time you set up for a goblet squat! Are you bracing?

What is bracing? Here’s my favorite explanation…if I were to come over and punch you in the stomach, I should break my hand because you are so locked in.

Is that not working the core??? Of course it is.

As we head into warmer temps we hear clients asking for more ab work. If you’re looking to create more definition, you ain’t gonna find it at the end of 100 crunches or even 1000. You’ll find it in the refrigerator, the cabinets, your water bottle AND lifting heavy. Let me know if I can help you!

Tune in next time for, “I want to lose weight. I need more cardio”

Thank you 1997 for fueling the world with misinformation.

Get your kids moving early! Here’s a few fun exercises you can do with them to help them feel included starring the one and only, Coach Chloe

• Partner Plank Patty Cake
• Get ups with a high five
• Squat, clap
• Partner push ups....not so much 😉 

Help your kids enjoy exercise early on! It will serve them the rest of their life!

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Welcome to the club! Let's talk about a few ways we can make that happen..

• Hanging on the bar! Legit... just hang. Shoot for 30 seconds every day and choose 1 or 2 days to hang as long as you can! We have to build confidence on the bar and strength to hang from the bar, so start there!
• Shrug pull: 15 reps of these will help build to the skill to PULL the bar to you and engage the lats. I placed an arrow to show where your lats are. Pulling from the bottom of the pull up/chin up is going to be the hardest part so learning how to turn the lats on and teaching them how to pull is crucial to pull ups success.
• Eccentric lowering from bar or TRX: We worked on the hang, we worked on the pull, now let's work from the top down!  Use assistance to help you get up and over the bar and fight like crazy to lower yourself to the fully extended position. When you get to the bottom give yourself another shrug pull and then reset. 

Band assisted chins are great for training the pattern and building strength and confidence, HOWEVER, if you have a goal to get a full chin up or pull up then you have to do the work outside of the band too! 

The major difference between the pull up and chin up is your hand positioning. Pull ups hands are facing away and chin ups palms are facing toward you. Neither are wrong! It is more likely that you will get a chin up "easier" than a pull up. If you are just hanging then go palms away, if you are doing an eccentric then start palms facing you. 

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Ever hit a plateau on a bench press or a deadlift? 

It can be so frustrating to feel stuck at the same weight week after week. Or maybe you don't want to lift heavier weights, we get that too! There are definitely ways to improve your strength while sticking with a weight you're stuck on or a weight you feel comfortable with.

Check out the demonstration video below for 3 ways you can improve your strength without increasing your weights! This can be applied to any lift! Let me know how it goes!

1. 3 second eccentric 
2. 3 second eccentric and 3 second concentric 
3. Controlled movement with one one thousand pause at the bottom

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If you have a sore or tight back try these three stretches to help alleviate some tension!

• Side lying thoracic windmill

 3 x 8-10 reps on each side

• Cat-camel stretch

- 3 x 30 seconds

• Deep squat with thoracic reach

- 3 x 8-10 reps on each side

The key with all of these stretches is to keep them controlled and focus on your breathing.

Improve your single leg deadlift with these three tips

  Tripod foot: Make sure you feel all 5 toes and your heel on the floor to initiate balance and control through the movement. We often see clients roll onto the side of their foot or lift the big toe and that makes it really hard to balance as you can see

  Finger tips in line: keep your middle fingers in line with each other as you go through the movement. This will help your hips and shoulders stay squared up to the wall. If you’re holding a weight, keep it CLOSE to your body. Both hands should be moving in line with each other for the same reason above

  Kick your heel straight back! This will help you improve your hinge pattern so that you’re not throwing yourself into extension by kick your heel up or bending at the waistThe single leg deadlift is one of the hardest exercises to master, but it’s SO important for single leg strength and balance. You’re much better off going slow and controlled with a lighter weight than trying to blast through with a heavier weight and get crappy reps in

Ever wonder how the heck it is possible to eat healthy with so many mouths to feed who won't eat the same way you do?

Ya, welcome to the club! Check out my grocery list staples and a quick video on how I make things quick and simple. If you are limited on time, energy and patience then we are the same! 

I am here to help you cut all the time saving corners while keeping it tasty!

If you want to see more things like this make sure you follow us on social media where we hammer this topic over and over.

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Shoulders locked up?

Stress in your life?

Sit all day?

Regular tension headaches?

Grab a lacrosse ball and get to work! Number 3 is everyone’s favorite and of course, check out the bonus stretch. It’s obviously a coach favorite because we have all shown it the last few weeks.