Sustainable Strength

As covid rears it's had again, I want to reassure everyone that this studio is as safe as it can be. This is a private studio, with only one trainer, (I hear he is great), so the only people that will be sharing your space are the ones that you allow to join you. I am fully vaccinated, as are all of my clients to my knowledge. Covid does not spread rapidly via surfaces, and there is great ventilation in the studio. If you are worried about covid and its new variants, I want to help assuage your fears as best I can. Come workout!

Just a reminder that health and exercise doesn't always equate to the number on the scale, and that weight loss is better with muscle added. (Come workout).

Deadlifts have become a foundational exercise in resistance and strength training, due to the popularity of CrossFit, the (often over) emphasis on glute training and a huge push of pseudo-science driven by influencers and “gym bros”, who will tell you that deadlifts are the best strength building exercise of all time. I find it likely that I will get some pushback for this, but I am going to make the argument that most of us should not be deadlifting.
A simple reality of the deadlift is that our anatomy is poorly designed to deadlift, especially repetitively. You always hear that a deadlift is only dangerous when the back is rounded or the form is poor, and besides the fact that no matter how careful you are, you will experience a break in form, the fact is that the wear and tear from perfect deadlifts is just too costly. All deadlifts, even those that are perfectly performed, put pressure on the disks, (often reaching thousand of pounds per square inch) of the lower spine that are too damaging to ignore. Since every repetition of a deadlift places a strain on the lower back multiple times higher than the lifted load, excessive deterioration is inevitable. And if you break form, you run the risk of serious injury.
You can also question whether or not deadlifts are necessary to the fitness goals that you are after. Deadlifts are touted as an exercise that builds back, glute, hamstring, legs and overall strength gain and development. And while, yes, deadlifts can build strength in those areas, the fact is that there are superior and much more sustainable exercises for each of these muscle groups. If you are a powerlifter or CrossFitter and can wrap your head around the inevitable physical consequences, go ahead. If not, it might behoove you to rotate deadlifts out of your routine.
To build your back, incorporate pulldowns, pullups, pullovers and hyperextensions in an assortment of combinations. For glute and hamstring development, incorporate donkey kicks, fire hydrants, lunges and step ups.

In summary, if you have a specific reason to deadlift, go for it. If not, stop. Now.

I opened my studio here in Missoula in July 2019, and while I refuse to believe 2020 was a real year, I have been lucky to have some devoted and great clients. Here is a testimonial from a new(ish) client.

I am so grateful to have found sustainable strength! Matthew has been an amazing trainer and I cannot say enough good things about him! Love the workouts and feel challenged at each one. Love the progress I am seeing. My body feels stronger every week and that has been such a great confidence booster! I highly recommend Matt, he’s very flexible with scheduling, the workouts are fun, he’s very knowledgeable and practical. Such a great investment!

Thank you for not giving up on me in the beginning :)
Ladea

One of the most important and fundamental keys to sustainable strength training habits is to reduce the stress and load put on your knees, lower back and shoulders. If you do not pay attention to that basic rule, the shelf life of your fitness lifestyle will decrease dramatically.
In many bodybuilding and weight-lifting regiments, your shoulders are viewed as a symbol of your physical strength and treated as such, often with disastrous consequences. Don’t get me wrong, having defined and well-muscled shoulders is appealing, but you do not need to sacrifice your long-term performance for aesthetics. If you are exercising your upper body, whether it is a press motion such as a chest press, or a pull motion such as a pulldown or row, or a biceps or triceps isolating movement, your shoulder is involved, stabilizing and loading during that exercise. You literally cannot take your shoulder out of play during any upper body exercise even if you wanted to. The most common injured location in weightlifters is the shoulder, accounting for 36% of injuries reported. Knowing that, let me ask you a simple question: Why would you further isolate this vulnerable ball and socket joint with load bearing and resistance exercises when they are already worked each time you perform an upper body exercise? There are some good restorative and specific movements to strengthen your shoulder, such as rotator cuff and band work, but as a rule, you can build and strengthen your shoulder simply doing the upper body work, (so long as the correct technique, movement and progression is there), that you are already doing. So, ditch the shoulder presses, front raises and upright rows, and save your shoulder the stress. They will thank you; I guarantee it.
**kupyourshoulders