Newsletter 2025-1-12
Topics Covered:
I hurt my back. Here’s what I learned.
Healthy Breathing 101
Yep, that's right. The guy who teaches people how to prevent chronic, recurring injuries had a low back issue.
There aren't any trap bars at my gym in Tangier. But there are at the gym in my hometown, where I was for November and December.
So I loaded that baby up and did some heavy-ish OKF deadlifts for the first time in ages. The following few days, my low back was painful to the point where I was having trouble walking.
And as with any hardship, if you take it as a learning opportunity, it makes you better. That's just what happened here.
So here are some insights that were reinforced for me from this experience:
No matter how well your execution, don't do too much too soon. Remember that new movements require the tissue and nervous system to adapt. Your body doesn't care how fast your mind wants to progress, so stay humble as you get used to novel activities.
Breathing will always be the foundation. When I started reverse engineering my approach, it became clear to me that I was losing focus on my breathing, causing me to leak a bit of internal pressure. No matter how experienced you are, always prioritize your breathing mechanics, especially when working with heavier loads.
Feet matter. I've been revisiting the role the foot plays in lower body stability, and once I redistributed pressure throughout the foot, my glutes felt like they were supercharged, and my pelvis and low back felt super stable.
Injury prevention is never 100%. While I sincerely believe in preventing chronic and recurring injuries with movement and breathing, there's simply no preventing every single injury. Being active comes with inherent risk, and hurting yourself once in a while can be considered an invitation to slow down, to recover, and (most importantly) to learn.
Curious about the feet and/or the breathing part? Let's dive a little deeper into each one below 👇
Could your big toe be causing your hip, knee, or low back problems?
This past week, I posted a quick reel on Instagram about how to tell if your big toe is causing your low body issues. Then I followed it up with this YouTube video that explains it in a bit more detail.
But how to do you fix it?
Structural changes are hard, and they need to accompany behavior changes. This means reminding yourself to use your toe more AND doing a bit of daily work to help reposition the toe more permanently.
Single most helpful exercise: Single leg balance with toe spread.
Choose a foot to start with. Using your hands or your other foot, spread the big toe as wide toward the inside of the foot as comfortably possible.
Take a couple of seconds to play around with putting some pressure into the pad of that big toe (right between the knuckle and the ball of the foot).
Pick up the other foot so that you're balancing on the foot whose toe you moved. If balance is an issue, place your fingertips on a nearby surface to help.
Try to keep the tension spread between the big toe pad, little toe pad, and heel. Avoid placing too much weight in any one area.
Optional: Play around with putting more pressure into the big toe while bending a bit more at the knee.
Take a break when the muscles start to fatigue, noting how long you were able to go for, and aiming to go a little longer each day.
Additional considerations:
Avoid painful ranges of motion. Stop if it hurts in a bad way.
Try not to let the big toe lose contact or come back in towards the other toes. If this happens, just reset it and continue.
Set a long-term goal of 5 consecutive minutes.
Remember that change is gradual. Have patience, and you will go far.
Lastly, keep in mind that there are tons of foot and toe mobilizations and stability drills that can help this issue. I'm simply giving you the one I find to give the most bang for your buck.
If you're interested in checking out more resources, The Foot Collective has an excellent YouTube channel that dives nice and deep.
Additionally, we have an exercise at One of a Kind Fitness called meta spacing, whichhelps with structural changes in toe spread as well, and can be used with any/all toes.
Healthy Breathing 101
When you think of breathing "right," what do you think of?
Words like "belly" and "diaphragm" probably come to mind. You can also probably picture the way you don't want to breathe pretty easily.
But healthy breathing is more than just the mechanics of the body.
Yes, they are the foundation. And yes, we pay extra attention to them when force is involved.
But the speed and size of your breath deeply affect:
✔️Sleep
✔️Mood
✔️Brain function
✔️Endurance
✔️Recovery
✔️Stress & anxiety levels
When in doubt, remember that a healthy resting breath follows the N.G.S.E. principle. And if that's hard to remember, picture the word "NOSE" but the O had an identity crisis or something.
N.G.S.E. -- The Healthy Resting Breath
Nasal -- In and out through the nose.
Gentle -- You shouldn't be able to hear yourself breathing. This helps maintain proper CO2 levels in the blood, which keep blood flowing well and O2 available for tissues.
Slow -- If you can comfortably slow your breath down, you should. This sends a message to the brain that you're safe (i.e. there's no need to breathe fast). Slower breathing is also correlated with better vagal tone and higher HRV.
Expansive -- This is where the mechanics come in. The more efficiently we can use the right breathing muscles, the less taxing breathing is on the body and on the nervous system.
Want some real-time guidance on applying the NGSE principle? Happy to help!
Track 1 of my Guided Breathwork Collection is all about layering on each one of these crucial breath qualities in an easy-to-follow way.
You can access this foundational track for free on YouTube here or by clicking on the video below.
And if you enjoy the above recording, you might want to check out the entire collection.
It's 12 downloadable audio tracks (yours to keep) with my voice guiding you through 12 unique scenarios, including:
Getting to sleep
Detailed breathing mechanics
Calming a racing mind
Pre-exercise warm-up
Mental focus
Emotional processing
Post-exercise recovery
Building stress tolerance
Deep relaxation
It's huge value at an affordable price, but don't take my word for it. Check out what others are saying on my testimonials highlights.
Let's just say the reaction has been positive 😉
Wishing you a peaceful Sunday and a great week ahead!
-Griffin
P.S. Stress and recurring injuries keeping you from the active life you want to be living? No time like the New Year to fix what's holding you back.
Apply for 1:1 coaching here.
