Are Jefferson curls dangerous? Are they a safe way to train spinal flexion, or does loaded spinal flexion increase the risk of things like a herniated disc?

Jefferson curls have been exploding in popularity over the past couple of years on social media. Some people use their shock factor just to spike engagement, some see genuine uses for the Jefferson curl in strengthening the lower back, and others think it's one of the most dangerous exercises out there.

I had a commenter ask for my thoughts on them, and since I'm new to the exercise, I figured I'd bring in someone with more experience and have a back-and-forth on the matter.

In this discussion, we get into loaded Jefferson curls, spinal flexion more broadly, and the concern around disc herniation and lower-back injury. We also talk about where the fear surrounding loaded spinal flexion comes from and how Alex approaches actually training these movements.

Alex is the cofounder Electrum Performance a gym based out of San Diego, CA that specializes in combat athletes. He himself is a black belt in BJJ and a very decorated strength coach.

I loved hearing Alex's take, and I'm looking forward to having more discussions with him in the future on other topics.

Coaching inquiries email me at randall@alwaysadaptive.com or visit alwaysadaptive.com

I wanted to try something different for this episode. I've selected 3 different health and fitness related clips to review. I'm going to walk through each one using the same evidence-based thought process I always do, separating what's supported by the evidence from what isn't.

The first clip is going over whether or not you should keep your arms straight during a kettlebell swing.

The second clip is Dr. Milo Wolf responding to Dr. Andrew Huberman in regard to whether late day exercise can lead to worse sleep outcomes.

And lastly, we're going over whether a 405lb deadlift is still impressive. In other words, has gymflation ruined our ideas of what normal is.

This was a lot of fun to make so if it does well, I'll likely be doing more of these. If you come across any interesting health and fitness related clips you would like me to respond to, feel free to email them to me. randall@alwaysadaptive.com

Coaching inquiries email me at randall@alwaysadaptive.com or visit alwaysadaptive.com

Dr. Mike reacted to Erling Haaland's hot hypoxic chamber training and made a compelling case for why harder training isn't always better. He's mostly right, but there's an entire field of research that seems to contradict one of his core arguments.

Mike thinks that because hypoxic training is more difficult, we're basically unable to train hard enough to get a proper stimulus therefore you're better off training in a really comfortable environment.

Check out the video to get the full story!

Coaching inquiries email me at randall@alwaysadaptive.com or visit alwaysadaptive.com