Randys Ramblings #1
Randy is a CrossFit Level 1 Coach and Personal Trainer here at Anchored Athletics
The information this week may or may not be above-average content.
I had a moment of clarity, a rare occurrence for me lately. I am finding myself in a moment where I question everything I think I know. I have to say, being in this questioning stage of my life is frustrating at times, and sometimes, I just want to be the grumpy guy on the porch, blaming things outside of my control, like the government and aging, for all my woes.
Okay, here is the moment of clarity; it feels good to feel good, and we are all pursuing feeling good. Hah, save your praises for my poetry, but you know that proclamation is true. I first heard the phrase "it feels good to feel good" from a movement course offered by coach Tim Anderson. Tim was the first coach to expose me to regulating the nervous system through movements akin to those we did or were supposed to do while developing as little peanut humans, i.e. tummy time, rolling, crawling, etc.
Anyway, back to my moment of clarity and how I may have a solution for feeling good in your workouts. Notice I said "may have"? See, I am telling you that this willingness to admit "I don't know" or "Ah, maybe I know a little, but not everything" is not as appealing as "3 ways to feel better while working out." Ah, maybe I should have hired that marketing guy or asked Chat GPT version 69 to write this newsletter for me.
Rambling on this fine Friday. Here are some ways to feel good while working out. Maybe.
Possible way to feel good #1: do timed sets
A lot of workouts call for a certain number of sets and reps. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that, and it is probably something we should all do to track progress in the gym or at least have an idea of what we are capable of.
The timed sets fit well into a training program during warmups or after the main movements of your workout. Let's say you did squats for a main movement, and you still have another 10-15 minutes left before you have to get back to life. Load up a sled and start pushing and pulling. I feel good doing continuous work with the sled. I load it up, usually strap myself in with a belt around the waist and then pull forwards, backwards and laterally. It is best to do the sled work barefoot, but I have been going outside on asphalt recently, so I have kept the runners on. If you are tight on space or at a gym that doesn't have sleds, choose a machine you like or simple movement like goblet squats. On squat days, finish your workout on the leg press machine. Do 3 minutes straight of controlled reps. Timed sets work well if you have access to machines. Pick a weight and try to keep working for the entire time. Try not to go fast. Control every rep. The slower, the better.
BONUS: Try Spanish squats for 3 minutes before or after your next squat day
Possible way to feel good #2: alter your typical stance for movements like squats and deadlifts
Let's say you are feeling low back pain during deadlifts. Have you ever tried taking a wider stance or staggering the stance with one foot slightly in front of the other? Or what about deadlifting without your shoes on? What about squats? You feel knee pain when you squat. Have you ever tried elevating the heels or widening or narrowing your stance? What about pointing the toes out? There are countless ways to change your stance with lower body exercises, and I strongly suggest you try as many as possible.
Contrary to a specific or "optimal" movement model, the only optimal movement model is the one that works best for a person's structure and past movement history. If you have broken your ankles multiple times, the chances of making your squat look like an Olympic Weightlifter are unrealistic—at least initially.
I encourage everyone to explore their bodies through varied movements. After ten years of playing tackle football, my ankles and knees had been through some s***. Initially after hanging up my cleats, my squat was doo-doo. I felt tight and as if I was going to fall backwards because I could not load into my ankles and knees. How did I improve my squat? By squatting every day and changing my stance. I would put a dowel overhead, squat, then take a few steps, and repeat this sequence for a few minutes before and after every workout. Dang, I should get back to doing that. It felt good.
Possible way to feel good #3: change your grips
love getting a pump on. It feels good to pump the muscles, especially on Fridays. The issue we can run into with repetitive work in the gym is overuse injuries. By changing our grips, we can avoid overuse aches and pains, especially with upper body movements. For instance, instead of doing a dumbbell press with hands pronated (think thumb down), we can try a more neutral grip (think thumbs in). Or if you like arm curls, how about trying the curls with thumbs down, like a reverse curl or a set where you try thumbs up, thumbs down and thumbs in all in one set?
Lastly, regarding hand grips, I enjoy finishing most workouts with some sort of weighted carry. Some days, I do a traditional farmer's carry; other days, I scoop up a sandbag, and other days, I load up a trap bar. Recently, I have explored using different grips you can put on barbells and dumbbells. These particular grips you put on barbells and dumbbells make it harder to hold the weight, but more importantly, they expose your grip strength to a slightly different hand position than you would use to grab a barbell or pair of dumbbells.
So there you have it: three ways that might help you feel good while working out. I hope this sparked some ideas for you to pursue in the gym. If you want more ideas like this, I can assure you of one thing at least: there are many creative ways to get after it in the gym and feel mighty good while doing it.
