Dr Neha Chawla || FreeGym
@thestrongdoc • 13,874 subscribers
Founder https://t.co/jWjzodWgl3 Read my articles https://t.co/SQZnqpPnkw Coaching: training, nutrition & biomarkers | Consult ↓ Building https://t.co/yK66rcKgq3
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Bulgarian split squat is the most avoided lift in any gym. Not because it's technical, because it's unpleasant. It has no ego payoff. The weight is embarrassing compared to your back squat. You're breathing hard by the 6th rep. Not even a gram-worthy lift. Except you get stronger. That's the thing about hard stuff. It's uncomfortable to even think about. But it switches on your brain's anterior mid-cingulate cortex. The part that does nothing when things are easy and comes on the moment you want to stop and don't. Some of the strongest brain-ageing research finds it larger in people who kept doing hard things. I've had a few of my own. Walking away from a comfortable life most people would have stayed in. Starting again with nothing behind me. Building something the safe version of me wouldn't have started. Learning a physical skill at an age where you're bad at it in public. Everything worth having is on the other side of something you don't want to do. Remember that.
Dr Neha Chawla || FreeGym51,121 görüntüleme • 26 gün önce
The single-leg RDL is a seriously underrated exercise for single-leg strength, hamstring resilience, and real hip stability. But it also humbles you. If your balance falls apart the moment you send your hips back, the issue is not balance. It means your glutes and hamstrings aren't controlling the hip, so your body goes looking for stability everywhere else. That’s why you wobble. Focus on these: - Tripod foot. Weight spread across big toe, little toe, and heel. Steady base, steady everything above it. - Slight, fixed knee bend. A small bend in the standing knee, held the whole rep. Hinge, not squat. - Straight rear leg. Keep it long and in line with your torso so it moves as one with you. - Level pelvis. Both hip bones facing the floor. Let it rotate open and your glute medius quits. Drive the hip straight back, feel the hamstring lengthen and take the load, then stand tall. If you get that right, the balance will be sorted.
Dr Neha Chawla || FreeGym39,271 görüntüleme • 1 ay önce
You won't believe why this ortho surgeon hid my comment😂 He posted a reel "rating" exercises, gave box jumps & deadlifts 0/10. Misinformation from start to finish, zero grasp of biomechanics or exercise physiology. I called it out. His reply? "Display your credentials," then promptly hid my comment🧵
Dr Neha Chawla || FreeGym33,555 görüntüleme • 1 ay önce
Do one thing for me this year. Train explosively before you lose the ability to. Muscle power fades about twice as fast as your strength, and far faster than your size. So you can stay ‘strong’ on paper and still lose the one thing that actually saves you. Power. The ability to produce force fast. That's your fast-twitch fibres - the fibre that catches you mid-stumble instead of letting you hit the floor. Slow, grinding reps protect your size, not your power. You have to train the intent to move fast. That's what the Pendlay row teaches: dead stop, then explode. Strength keeps you capable. Power keeps you safe.
Dr Neha Chawla || FreeGym17,171 görüntüleme • 1 ay önce
The pull-up is the one exercise I see people quit on the fastest. They try a few, can't do them, decide they're just "not a pull-up person," and move on. But the thing is, strength is a skill. A lot of it is just your nervous system learning the exact movement, and your body only gets good at what you actually practise. That's why you can lift heavy on a barbell and still struggle to pull your own bodyweight up. It's a different skill, and it takes time. So no, you're not bad at pull-ups. You just haven't trained them yet. Start with regressions like slow negatives or banded reps, and try grease the groove method (thread below). That's exactly how a skill gets built. One day the bodyweight that felt impossible starts moving. Genuinely one of the best feelings in the gym.
Dr Neha Chawla || FreeGym24,318 görüntüleme • 2 ay önce
RDL at 70kg today. Nothing crazy, I've lifted more before. But no belt. No straps. First time ever. That's the part I'm happy about. Especially with my cranky lower back history. All the core and grip work finally paying off🥹 In my last video, where I broke down the hinge, some pushback showed up in the replies. Light weight is easy to make look clean. Fair. So here it is. Same lift, heavy for me. Yet the same control as always. Nothing about the pattern changed. Hips still travel back, spine stays long, the bar follows my legs because my hips moved, not because I bent toward the floor. Heavy weight doesn't break a good hinge, it just exposes a bad one. If the load rounds your back or your hands start pulling the bar up, you're not ready for that number yet. Simple. And it works the other way too. Never learned to hinge? Going light won't save you. Your lower back takes it at 10kg the same as it does at 70. You just feel it a bit later. Sort the pattern first. Then load it.
Dr Neha Chawla || FreeGym17,831 görüntüleme • 2 ay önce
I turned 40 recently. They say this is the age where metabolism slows down and you start becoming 'fragile.' I say: Watch me bench 50kg for 10 reps. Moved like air. Almost like an empty bar. Age related decline is a choice, not a destiny. Your muscle is the organ of longevity. If you aren't lifting, you aren't preparing for the second half of your life. Every rep here is improving my insulin sensitivity and bone density. Stop fearing heavy weights. Fear the frailty that comes from avoiding them.
Dr Neha Chawla || FreeGym41,826 görüntüleme • 6 ay önce
Most people think they have a strong back because they can move big weight on barbell rows. But in reality? They are just efficient at cheating. And the barbell row is arguably the easiest exercise to fake. You can add a little hip swing, use a bit of momentum, and suddenly you’re moving heavy weight. You feel strong, but your lats are barely working. That’s why I program technique refinement phases like this one to force a reality check. I’m not interested in just moving weight from A to B. I want maximum efficiency per rep. So, I swap the heavy loads for this variation: Iso-Hold Rows. The concept is simple: Pull and hold for 2-3 seconds. When you introduce that pause, momentum dies. You can’t bounce the weight. You have to physically own it at the hardest part of the movement. It’s the ultimate quality control for your back training. If you can’t hold the squeeze for 2 seconds, you aren’t controlling the weight. The momentum is. Control first. Load second.
Dr Neha Chawla || FreeGym41,578 görüntüleme • 6 ay önce
The strength of your grip is one of the clearest signs of how long, and how well, you'll live. In some studies, a better predictor than your blood pressure. This is a suitcase hold. Pick up anything heavy, hold it on one side, and stand dead straight. Don't lean, don't tip. It's testing two things at once. Your grip, and your core fighting to stop you folding toward the weight. That core strength is what saves your back when you carry things in real life. No machine, no setup. You can do it anywhere. So how long can you hold it?
Dr Neha Chawla || FreeGym15,555 görüntüleme • 2 ay önce
Rest doesn't heal tendons. Load does. When your knee is compromised, the worst thing you can do is stop moving entirely. You have to find the pain-free angle to keep the muscles firing. Spanish Squat Holds. I’ve been spending a lot of time here lately for my own rehab. The band pulls the tibia forward, letting you sit back and cook the quads isometrically without pissing off the joint. It’s pure medicine for patellar pain. Rehab isn’t about doing nothing. It’s about finding what you can do.
Dr Neha Chawla || FreeGym12,667 görüntüleme • 5 ay önce
Daha fazla içerik yok.