Detail Work

Most everyone has got a little something here or there that causes discomfort or limits their abilities during exercise. This could be muscle tightness, lacking grip strength, joint discomfort, an old injury, not enough experience with a movement; the list goes on. As much as I love efficiency and compound movements sometimes we have to focus on the details that make those big movements possible.

Let us begin by changing the way we view the “warm up” portion of the workout. Personally, I call it “movement prep”. This is a time where we are technically getting the body warm. Not to waste valuable time, rather to prepare for the exercise or activity to come. So please, do not skip it. This is also time to evaluate, see how our body feels and see what might require some extra preparation. On upper body days I focus more on my shoulders. (With movements such as Ext rotation)** Hamstrings and hips get more attention on my lower body days. Listen to your body to give it what it needs.

If you are dealing with pain or tightness, the foam roller or lacrosse ball may be the tools of choice. Releasing muscles like the shoulders, traps, lats, quads etc. with 5 min of rolling could be all it takes to have a pain free workout.

The foam roller is an effective tool for getting muscles ready for exercise.

When learning a technical compound movement, like a deadlift, you might incorporate drills that breakdown the movement into segments or perform a high volume of reps with very light weight. This might look like executing reps with an empty barbell or even a PVC pipe. This way you can practice the movement without wearing the body down.

Sometimes we have movement proficiency but lack the strength in a certain area. The first thing that comes to mind is grip strength. Often times on heavy movements (like a deadlift) with weight in our hands it is our grip that goes first, not the legs or back. 2-3 sets of some wrist flexion and extension may be all you need to improve grip strength.

Accessory and detail work like this can be factored into your workout but it can also be done outside the gym when you have a few spare moments. A few minutes of stretching can be done in the shower, grip strength could happen while at your child’s practice with a single 5lb dumbbell, you could foam roll a couple minutes when the oven is preheating. One does not need a lot of time for this work, but the discipline to fit it in when you can.