Nick's Fitness Garage

Anyone who’s been holding out on getting that massage, now is the time! Kinsley Ross is the best!

Promotion time. This special will be available for purchase till next Thursday. Mother’s Day is next month treat your mother with the gift of massage.

We had a little visitor this weekend at the gym...Happy Easter everyone!
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Let's talk barbell military presses! 🏋️‍♀️ In the photo on the left, you can see that the model is allowing his lower back to arch and his rib cage to flare. This is undesirable for two reasons:
1️⃣This posture is not optimal for your spine and as you use more weight, it will become less and less safe for your back.
2️⃣When you're pressing weight overhead, one of the biggest factors in your success is how much you're able to put force down into the ground - a concept called "wedging." As you push the weight overhead, you push yourself under the bar and your feet down into the floor to counter the movement. When you're in an unstacked position like in the photo on the left, this force becomes muted because the path to the floor is curved and less efficient.

In the photo on the right, not only is his spine in a more optimal position, but you can also see that his stacked position allows him to more efficiently and effectively put force down into the ground to help him press the weight overhead!

This is an often misunderstood aspect of the military press, and I hope this diagram helps clear things up!!
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Strength Simplified 💪🤓
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One of the best pieces of advice I ever read on strength training came from Dan John. 👉"Pick five lifts, and do them.” This later went on to form his concept of Easy Strength, his famous 10 reps a day program.
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☝️The idea is so simple, it’s amazing. Strength is a skill. So, if you want to get stronger, practice that skill as often as you can. So you trade density for frequency (somewhat) in order to keep the groove greased, while cycling intensity.
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💪Some days, go heavy (5 sets of 2, or 10 sets of 1), and other days go light (1 set of 10, 2 sets of 5, etc). By waving the load throughout the week you can practice the movements often enough to gain efficiency at them (read: strength) without having to really think about it. Pick five lifts, do ten reps a day. Sometimes add weight.
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🤧The genius of this program is how quickly your gains are made. The strength almost sneaks up on you. And it can really play mind games too in the sense that you’ll often feel like you SHOULD be doing more, since the sessions are so concise. Don’t. Trust the process. This is Dan John, after all. And if there’s one thing I’ve learned after so many years in this industry, it’s that if Dan John provides an approach, you would do well to bear it out.
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Any questions, you know where to leave them. 🤔
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Pull ups are not only a good way to develop upper body strength, but are also demonstrative of your relative level of fitness. Chances are if you're overweight you're not able to do too many pull ups. So being strong is not enough. You also need to be lean.
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How to do more pull ups? That depends on how many you can do now. If you're struggling to get your first rep, I recommend isometrics, eccentrics and partial reps. Pair that with assisted reps using either a band, hands, a stool, or a machine (depending on where your weak point is) and you'll be well on your way. Just remember to practice often. Pull ups respond well to frequency.
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Losing body fat helps, too. That much, I hope, would be obvious. But if you can already do a few reps then consider adding load. Do heavier, weighted chins and pulls. Increasing your limit strength builds the capacity for more reps. I vary my approach between very low rep, heavy sets, moderate weight sets of moderate reps, and bodyweight sets of high reps.
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- Good luck! 🍀 --

THE PROPER TRAP BAR DEADLIFT TECHNIQUE
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• Obtain a trap bar and load it with the desired weight
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• Step into the trap bar and assume a shoulder-width stance with your toes pointing forward
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• Ensure that you are standing in the center of trap bar
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• From this position squeeze your glutes and begin to lower yourself by bending at the hips first and then the knees
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• Grab the handles of the trap bar and ensure that your spine is as neutral/flat as possible
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• Keep your arms completely straight and look forward, approximately 6 feet in front of you
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• If you are in the correct position, you should feel a gentle stretch along your hamstrings
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• Take a big breath, and hold it in. Begin the pull by driving your feet into the ground until your hips and knees are fully extended
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• Squeeze your glutes to stand completely upright
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• Do not let the angle of your back change throughout the movement
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• Reverse the movement the exact same way you came up, by breaking at the hips first and then at the knees
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SQUAT CORRECTIVE💫

Hey! Real talk- squats are tricky when beginning. For many, back squats are more difficult than front squats which are more difficult than goblet squats which are more difficult than body weight squats. Whew! 🏋🏻‍♀️

So for squat beginners OR people looking for a solid 🔥squat mobility drill🔥- my go to is an eccentric goblet squat. .
⚠️When you haven't owned the basics of a squat motion and then load a barbell onto your back, your body is gonna do everything it can to stop from falling backward. This often means ❌ knees shoot out over the feet, ❌heels come up off the ground and ❌your upper body leans forward.

So let's bring it back a step and start here 👉🏻The goblet part of this bad boy gets some weight out on front of you to help counterbalance ⚖️your weight descending. This helps the bod feel a bit safer when lowering and allows people to sink further back into (a more) proper form.

📸To perform- 📍grab a kettlebell or dumbbell 📍 hold center over your chest 📍slowly lower into a squat. For more of a mobility drill make the movement an eccentric drill- 📍slowly lower over the count of 5📍hang out at the bottom for 5-10 seconds while rocking side to side 📍 fire upward making sure to finish the movement at the top.


Questions? Comments? Hit me up! ❤️

The key points of perfect squat form are:

-Straight and strong lumbar back (lower back) 📐
-Crease of hips below top of knees
-Toes pointed slightly outward
-Knees positioned over top of toes (they can extend beyond)
-Weight on heels
-Feet🦶🏻at least shoulder width apart, this will reduce the amount of stress on your shoulders and lower back

Squat Benefits:

-Squatting every day for an increasing amount of time will improve your squat form, core strength, and all of the related leg muscles.
-Improve flexibility and range of motion
-Increase circulation throughout entire body 🔃
-Gain better balance ⚖️
-Prevent injuries 🤕
-Strengthen joints
-Building muscle – this stance will engage all of the muscles used in a full squat💪🏼