Ankle mobility is often one of the factors that stops people from getting into efficient position for their squats and deadlifts. It’s also something that rarely gets pointed out to casual gym goers. Hopefully those simple techniques will help your ankles feel and move better.
Quick hip mobility drill to help you squat and deadlift
Very often people find it difficult to open up their hips wide enough to allow for an efficient lifting technique. This quick drill might just be what you need to move your hips more comfortably and perform barbell movements better and safer as a result.
“You became one of those people”
My long-term clients went to visit his friends. He’s been with me for a few years, and it shows – he lost weight, feels a lot better and is really strong, he also looks like he lifts! Subject of his training came up, and him being proud of his achievements showed his friends a video of his particularly impressive deadlift. “Oh, you became one of THOSE people” was the response. He’s still the same guy he was before, with the same friends, same hobbies, same interests. He doesn’t even spend that much time training, barely 2 hours a week! And yet, in the eyes of that person, he’s now “one of those”. We know what they implied – meathead, gym bro, whatever you want to call it with all the negative implications that come with it.
They’ve thrown accusations at somebody who took positive steps towards bettering themselves while simultaneously internalizing their unhealthy lifestyles as a part of their identity. A “true” nerd or an alternative person would never step inside the gym, right!? It’s THOSE other people who do it, the uncool normal ones who look down on them because they’re “different”. It’s ironic how many of those people never realize how “normal” and average they are with their own choices.
Adults, who accuse others of changing into someone they don’t approve of while missing the irony of themselves having the same “edgy” attitude they’ve always had and making it a part of their personality. Adults, who think that not taking care of themselves, their health and their bodies is a badge of honour that somehow makes them special and different.
You will meet people like this too. They might be judgmental parents, unsupportive partners or friends who are trying to sabotage you. Your physical and mental health will not lose importance until the day you die. Those people might not be around you within a couple of years. Getting healthier, more confident, and better looking might change how you perceive yourself and the life around you, but on its own, it’s just an activity that you’re putting a fraction of your week towards.