Stretching is Dangerous?! (Why You Should NOT do Mobility Work)

Make no mistake - stretching is dangerous. However, it’s probably not for the reasons you’re imagining.

Is Stretching Ever a Good Thing?
Before we talk about why stretching is generally a bad idea, it’s useful to cover a few instances wherein stretching might actually be a smart move.

In general, if there is a position you cannot achieve without a typical warm-up - e.g., squatting is the warm-up for squatting - then you might benefit from some stretching. Using the squat as an example, if you can’t get the barbell into that nice, low bar position on your back due to tight shoulders, then you may benefit from simply stretching out your shoulders. This shouldn’t take more than a few minutes each training session, and over time, your shoulder flexibility will improve. We’ve got a video below that covers the stretch to perform as well as the process, so be sure to check it out if you struggle to achieve the low bar position.

As an another example, if you perform cleans and front squats and the act of cleaning and front squatting is not sufficient to improve and maintain your front rack position (the position wherein the bar sits on your delts in front of your throat) - this could be due to inflexibility or long forearms - then you may need to spend some time actively stretching to improve this position. Again, this shouldn’t take a lot of time, and we also have a video that covers this process (see below).

How Do I Know if I Should Stretch?
The key in both of the aforementioned cases is that you are stretching because you can’t hit the positions you need to in order to successfully execute the lift (i.e., the squat, clean, or front squat).

With this in mind, if that situation describes you, then go ahead and stretch. However, if you can already achieve the proper positioning for a lift, then I would not recommend stretching.

But What About . . . ?
Some people might complain that they can’t hit proper squat depth when warming up with the empty bar. This is not a problem. The squat is an excellent warm-up and stretch for - not surprisingly - the squat, so it’s not unusual to squat a bit high for your first empty bar set, and then you squat a bit lower on each subsequent warm-up set so that you are achieving depth by the time your reach your work sets (and typically well before that point).

Squatting to depth isn’t an issue of flexibility - it’s simply an issue of sufficient strength and efficient technique.

Don’t complicate your training. In most cases, the lift you’re performing provides all the stretching you need to perform that lift, so your training already provides all the stretching you need for training.

Why You Shouldn’t Stretch
Remember, you stretch to increase your range of motion (ROM), and if you already have sufficient flexibility to go through your daily activities as well as your training, then you certainly don’t need to stretch.

If you enjoy stretching, feel free to do so, but since stretching is not necessary, I recommend avoiding it sheerly because it is a time suck on your life. For most people, stretching is a waste of time.

Most people need to get into the gym, train, and then get out of the gym in a reasonable amount of time because they have other things that they either need to do or they want to do. If you have all the time in the world to train, more power to you, but you are a unicorn. Additionally, even if you do have a lot of time, there are other things to do in life far more interesting and enjoyable than barbell training (remember - this is coming from a guy who promotes barbell training), so let’s be efficient.

Stretching is dangerous (I’ll cop to using that word liberally) because it wastes precious training time, so ditch the time suck that stretching represents, warm-up using the lift itself (gradually and progressively loaded), train hard, and then get out of the gym and move on with your life.

As always, we hope this helps you get stronger and live better.

-Phil

PS: Whenever you want even more Testify in your life, here are some free resources:

• Book a free intro and strategy session with us HERE.

• Pick up a free copy of Testify’s Squat Guide: 12 Tips to Improve Your Squat Now HERE.

• Get our free weekly email - containing useful videos, articles, and training tips - HERE.

• Follow Testify on Instagram HERE.

• Subscribe to Testify’s YouTube channel HERE.

(Some links may be affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, Testify earns from qualifying purchases.)

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At Testify, we offer small group training, private coaching (in-person or remotely via Zoom), online coaching, and form checks. Interested in getting stronger, looking better, and having more energy?

It Doesn't Get Easier - But Everything Else Does

(A Blast from the Past article originally posted on 02/05/21)

A while back, one of our younger lifters - we’ll call him Mike - finished a set of 5 reps at 275 lb on the deadlift. Mike thought this was a pretty tough set, and upon lowering the barbell to the floor after the last rep, he stood up, turned to me, and we had the following conversation:

Mike: Phil - that was awful.

Me: The funny thing is, as you get stronger, someday you’re going to pull 315 lb for that same set of 5 reps, and it will be just as “awful,” but by the time you can do that, then doing what you did today - pulling 275 for 5 reps - will no longer be terribly difficult.

Mike: So . . . it’s kind of like eating really terrible food so that other food won’t taste as bad.

Me: Sure.

While this definitely made me chuckle, Mike actually understood the point quite well: Training doesn’t get easier, but everything else does.

When a lifter is new at Testify, it’s pretty common to get some version of this question at the end of a set: “This Weight was pretty heavy - I should probably just stick with This Weight next time, right?”

While this is an understandable line of thinking, it misses out on a key concept, which is that only when you force yourself to lift The Next Weight and The Weight After That does lifting This Weight become easier. If squatting 135 lb is difficult right now, don’t worry - it will become easier after you’ve squatted 140 lb, 145 lb, and so on. Squatting 135 lb until the end of time doesn’t work.

In school, when you pass 6th grade, you move on to 7th grade, and then to 8th grade. By the time you’re in 8th grade, your 8th grade homework might be challenging, but the work you did back in 6th grade is easy by comparison. . . because you’re now in 8th grade.

Not only do previous work weights become easier to lift as you get stronger - other physical tasks in your life become easier as well. You become stronger, but the driveway doesn’t get any longer, and snow doesn’t get any heavier, so shoveling the driveway becomes easier. You become stronger, but gravity doesn’t become more powerful, so keeping your balance becomes easier.

Training will always be challenging, but the fact that you continue to step up to that challenge means you become stronger and more capable. So keep eating that terrible food. You’ll be better for it.

As always, we hope this helps you get stronger and live better.

-Phil

PS: Whenever you want even more Testify in your life, here are some free resources:

• Book a free intro and strategy session with us HERE.

• Pick up a free copy of Testify’s Squat Guide: 12 Tips to Improve Your Squat Now HERE.

• Get our free weekly email - containing useful videos, articles, and training tips - HERE.

• Follow Testify on Instagram HERE.

• Subscribe to Testify’s YouTube channel HERE.

(Some links may be affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, Testify earns from qualifying purchases.)

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At Testify, we offer small group training, private coaching (in-person or remotely via Zoom), online coaching, and form checks. Interested in getting stronger, looking better, and having more energy?

The Best Way to Warm Up for Lifting (do not do this...)

Never use 2.5 lb plates . . .

Specifically, never use 2.5 lb plates in your warm-ups . . . mostly . . . kind of.

using 2.5 lb plates in your warm-up? Let’s not be crazy here, folks.

Some elaboration is warranted here, but we’ll keep this short and quick.

The Three Criteria for a Good Warm-up
Remember that there are three criteria for a good warm-up. First, the warm-up needs to prepare you for your work sets, so the weight needs to get heavier throughout the warm-up, and this will typically be done in roughly equal increments.

Second, the warm-up should not exhaust you by the time you get to your work weight, so you’re typically going to taper your warm-up reps from one set to the next. Once you’ve put weight on the bar, something like 5-3-2-1 works pretty well as you’ll see in the example below (with 225 lb as the work weight):

45 lb x 5 x 2 (empty barbell)
95 lb x 5
135 lb x 3
185 lb x 2
205 lb x 1
—————
225 lb x 5 x 3 (work sets)

Could Julie do 90b for a warm-up? sure, but it takes two 10 lb plates and one 2.5 lb plate per side. 95 lb (i.e., one 25 lb plate per side) is far simpler.

Third - and this is what we’re talking about today with the absence of 2.5 lb plates - the warm-up should bow to convenience whenever it’s possible and reasonable to do so. It’s very convenient to choose your warm-up weights so that they end with the number five, e.g., 85 lb, 95 lb, 105 lb, etc., and if you do this, you don’t need to use 2.5 lb plates when warming up (if you use 2.5 lb plates, your weight selection will end with a zero such as 90 lb, 100 lb, 110 lb, etc.).

“Are You Sure This is OK?”
This works well because, in general, you don’t need to be nitpicky with your warm-up weight selections, and by avoiding 2.5 lb plates, we’ve now simplified the process by reasonably reducing the options we choose from when warming up.

Two Exceptions
This is a general recommendation, and as such, there are some exceptions.

First, you might want to be slightly more picky with your last warm-up set, and if that’s the case, you might choose to use 2.5 lb plates so that your last warm-up weight can end with a zero.

Second, if your work weight is less than 100 lb, you might need to use 2.5 lb plates in some of your warm-ups. For example, if you’re pressing 87.5 lb for the work weight, your warm-up might contain some weights ending in the number zero such as 70 lb or 80 lb, and you’ll need 2.5 lb plates to load those weights. However, if your work weight is 100 lb or more, most or all of your warm-up weights can end with a five, and thus you can skip the 2.5 lb plates.

Keep it simple, ditch the 2.5 lb plates in your warm-ups (with an exception here and there), and as always, we hope this helps you get stronger and live better . . . and train more efficiently.

-Phil

PS: Whenever you want even more Testify in your life, here are some free resources:

• Book a free intro and strategy session with us HERE.

• Pick up a free copy of Testify’s Squat Guide: 12 Tips to Improve Your Squat Now HERE.

• Get our free weekly email - containing useful videos, articles, and training tips - HERE.

• Follow Testify on Instagram HERE.

• Subscribe to Testify’s YouTube channel HERE.

(Some links may be affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, Testify earns from qualifying purchases.)

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At Testify, we offer small group training, private coaching (in-person or remotely via Zoom), online coaching, and form checks. Interested in getting stronger, looking better, and having more energy?

Fix Your Press - Part 3: TWO Ways to Fix Your Stance

(A Blast from the Past article originally posted on 02/10/23)

This is the third article in our series on helping you improve your press. Today’s topic - the correct stance. In this article, you’ll also find a couple of videos related to this issue.

Since the press is performed while standing, the stance is rather important, so let’s quickly fix two aspects of your stance.

First, when you unrack the barbell to start pressing, take two small steps back from the rack. There is no need to back up a long way from the rack, and indeed, it’s a waste of energy to do so. “Two half steps” is a solid way to think of the situation - a half step with the right foot, then a half step with the left foot - and you’re good to go. Stay close to the rack, and watch the included video (“Fix Your Stance…”) for a quick demonstration.

Second, take a relatively wide stance when pressing, and in fact, your squat stance serves pretty well for a pressing stance. If you’d like to go a bit wider than your squat stance, that’s fine too, but don’t take a narrow stance - again, watch the video above for a demonstration of what to do as well as what not to do. Remember, the press already starts a long way from your balance point (i.e., the middle of your foot), and it finishes even further from the balance point (i.e., up over your head), and as a result, the press is very susceptible to deviations in the bar path. It behaves almost like an Olympic lift (i.e., the snatch or clean-and-jerk) in this respect, and indeed, the press actually used to be part of Olympic weightlifting.

Because it’s so sensitive to bar path deviations, taking a wider stance (as compared to a narrower one) gives you a more stable base from which to press. Full disclosure - the wider stance doesn’t do a lot to help with front-to-back balance, but it at least helps eliminate any side-to-side balance issues, and every little bit helps in the press.

The toe angle of the stance is not as big of a deal as the width of the stance - again, your squat stance will serve pretty well. Some lifters will point their toes out a bit more than that as this can help reduce the likelihood of knee bend in the press, and this is fine. However, it’s a game of trade-offs here - remember that if you point your toes much further out than you do in your squat stance, you’ve started to effectively shorten the length of your feet from front-to-back, and this can negatively affect your balance.

In summary, stay close to the rack, and take a relatively wide stance. As always, we hope this helps you get stronger and live better.

-Phil

PS: Whenever you want even more Testify in your life, here are some free resources:

• Book a free intro and strategy session with us HERE.

• Pick up a free copy of Testify’s Squat Guide: 12 Tips to Improve Your Squat Now HERE.

• Get our free weekly email - containing useful videos, articles, and training tips - HERE.

• Follow Testify on Instagram HERE.

• Subscribe to Testify’s YouTube channel HERE.

(Some links may be affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, Testify earns from qualifying purchases.)

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At Testify, we offer small group training, private coaching (in-person or remotely via Zoom), online coaching, and form checks. Interested in getting stronger, looking better, and having more energy?

"Go Home, Get Weak, and Die" | Why Your Doctor is Wrong about Lifting Weights

“Sally” is one of our members and has been training with us for a number of years. Sally is 70 years old, she’s a grandmother several times over, and to be frank, Sally is fairly awesome. (Please don’t tell her that - she’ll be unbearable.) Over the years, she’s gotten quite strong - she regularly squats 200 lb, she’s deadlifted 300 lb, and she continues to train hard in the weight room.

Sally also goes to her primary physician every year for her checkup, and the topic of her strength training inevitably comes up. Sally knows the conversation is coming, she tells her doc about what she does - squatting, pressing, deadlifting, benching, etc. - and her doc always has the same response, which is something along the lines of “Why are you doing this? What are you trying to prove?”

This type of response drives me fairly nuts because what this doctor is really telling Sally - in no uncertain terms - is “Sally, just go home, get weaker, and die.” Of course, he’s not saying this out loud, and he doesn’t mean to tell Sally this, but it’s the message he’s preaching nonetheless.

Go home, get weaker, and die.

Fortunately, Sally is rather stubborn and doesn’t listen to her doc when he says such things. She returns to the gym, she continues to train, and she keeps striving to get stronger because she understands that strength is independence.

Strength is important at all ages of life, of course, but the older we get, the more important strength becomes. Strength is independence, it’s the ability to play with your kids, it’s the ability to pick up your grandkids, it’s the ability to get up off the toilet by yourself.

If you’re in your 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, or older (and if you’re not, you know someone dear to you who is) and you strength train, you too may have been told something like what Sally’s been told. It might not be your doc; instead, it might be one of your family members - one of the people that love and care for you. Yet, unfortunately, they say things like, “Why are you doing that? You don’t need to be lifting those heavy weights. Just lift some lighter weights, or maybe don’t lift at all - you don’t need to be doing that kind of thing. What are you trying to prove? Who are you trying to impress?”

Again, and although they don’t mean it, they’re simply saying, “Just go home, get weaker, and die.”

I challenge you - do not listen to them.

You know more about getting stronger than they do. Strength is not their specialty - it’s not their field of expertise, nor have they tried to learn about it like you have.

There are only two options - stronger and weaker. I exhort you to choose the former - get stronger. It’s good for your muscles, it’s good for your bones, it’s good for your tendons and ligaments.

We’re not talking about the sports of powerlifting, weightlifting, strengthlifting, or anything like that. Sure, many of our members have participated in those because they are fun ways to motivate one’s training, but most of our members didn’t start training with that in mind. Sally has done many lifting competitions, but she will be the first to tell you that she never thought she would do something like that when she started training with a light, empty barbell years ago. To this day, competitions are still not the reason she trains (although they do provide some fun and motivation!).

Sally and her friends at Testify train to get stronger. They know that stronger and weaker are the only options. Endeavor to get stronger so you can live better.

-Phil

PS: Whenever you want even more Testify in your life, here are some free resources:

• Book a free intro and strategy session with us HERE.

• Pick up a free copy of Testify’s Squat Guide: 12 Tips to Improve Your Squat Now HERE.

• Get our free weekly email - containing useful videos, articles, and training tips - HERE.

• Follow Testify on Instagram HERE.

• Subscribe to Testify’s YouTube channel HERE.

(Some links may be affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, Testify earns from qualifying purchases.)

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At Testify, we offer small group training, private coaching (in-person or remotely via Zoom), online coaching, and form checks. Interested in getting stronger, looking better, and having more energy?

Fix Your Press - Part 2: Your Hideous Wrists

(A Blast from the Past article originally posted on 02/03/23)

This is the second article in our series on helping you improve your press. Today’s topic - the correct positioning of the wrists. In this article, you’ll also find a couple of videos related to this issue.

You’ve read the book, you’ve watched the videos, and you’re ready to press. You walk up to the bar and take a nice narrow grip - you’ve even pronated your hands slightly to make sure that the barbell is being supported on the base of the palms (i.e., over the bones of the forearm). On top of this, you’ve got relatively neutral wrists - roughly 10-15 degrees of extension - which is great.

And then it happens. You rotate your elbows forward and under the bar, and somehow, you end up with your wrists bent backward in extreme extension or, on the opposite end of things, you try unracking the bar with your wrists flexed over the top of the bar (watch the “Fix your Weak Wrists…” video to see examples of each error). Both are inefficient positions from which to press, and the latter position makes it practically impossible to even support the bar.

Let’s fix this.

The first solution is to remember that once you’ve grabbed the bar with neutral wrists, you must make your wrists behave as if they’re in a cast. Don’t let them change shape after this point - treat them as if they don’t exist anymore - that joint has been permanently fused into its current shape, and you’re going to hold that shape as you unrack the bar and while you press.

The second solution is to allow the bar to rotate when you bring your elbows forward and under the bar. You’re rotating your elbows forward, so be sure to let the bar rotate in the rack as well - the bar should rotate with you as you prepare to unrack it. Dip down with your legs as low as you need to so that you’ve got room to rotate your elbows forward and under the bar while maintaining those “frozen” wrists (again, watch the video above to see these solutions in action).

If you notice that you’ve still allowed your wrists to change shape, don’t unrack the bar. Fix the wrist position now - before you’ve unracked it - because fixing it while supporting a heavy bar in your hands is much tougher to accomplish. Once the wrists are correctly positioned, you can then stand the bar up and back out from the rack to begin pressing.

As always, we hope this helps you get stronger and live better.

-Phil

PS: Whenever you want even more Testify in your life, here are some free resources:

• Book a free intro and strategy session with us HERE.

• Pick up a free copy of Testify’s Squat Guide: 12 Tips to Improve Your Squat Now HERE.

• Get our free weekly email - containing useful videos, articles, and training tips - HERE.

• Follow Testify on Instagram HERE.

• Subscribe to Testify’s YouTube channel HERE.

(Some links may be affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, Testify earns from qualifying purchases.)

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At Testify, we offer small group training, private coaching (in-person or remotely via Zoom), online coaching, and form checks. Interested in getting stronger, looking better, and having more energy?