What to do when an exercise doesn’t feel right

What to do when an exercise doesn’t feel right

  June 25, 2025    Pratik Bandagale

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You’re mid-workout, feeling good… and then something tweaks.

A shoulder twinge. A weird pinch in your hip. A move that suddenly feels off.

Now you’re stuck in the moment we all dread:

“Should I push through this… or stop?”

As a coach (and someone who used to ignore those signals way too often), I can tell you—how you respond here makes all the difference.

Push blindly and risk a setback… or make one smart adjustment and keep moving forward.

Let’s talk about how to do the second one.

1. Don’t push through pain

Strength training can be uncomfortable—that’s normal. But pain is different.

If discomfort gets worse as you warm up or increase weight, that’s your sign to back off immediately and proceed to the next step.

2. Re-evaluate your warm-up

If you’re feeling those little “tweaks” as you work out, make sure you have these elements in your warm up!

• Light general activity (3–5 min to elevate your heart rate)
• 1 to 3 warm-up sets for your main strength exercises using lighter weights that progressively get a bit more challenging. (For specifics, check out our ​free Warm Up guide​!).

If you’ve been skipping this, or rushing through it, tightness or discomfort could just be your body saying, “I’m not ready yet.”

3. Check your technique

Film yourself or have someone else watch your form.

Sometimes discomfort comes from a technique breakdown you don’t realize is happening, especially as fatigue or weight increases.

​Check out this guide​ on how to perform the major strength training lifts like squats, deadlifts, and presses!

4. Try these quick adjustments

If you’ve warmed up properly and your form looks decent, try this checklist:

Decrease the weight – Does that reduce the discomfort?

Adjust the angle – Change your grip, handle, or cable setup

Change tempo or range – Slightly shorten the movement or slow it down

If none of those are working, it’s time to make a smart swap.

5. Swap movements strategically

If it still feels off, here’s how we think about substitutions:

1. Find a similar (but different) movement pattern → Bench press bothering your shoulder? Try an incline dumbbell press or push-up.
2. Target the same general muscles, but use a different movement → Lat pulldown not working? Try a row instead.
3. Switch muscle groups altogether → Upper body not cooperating? Focus on legs or core that day.

In other words: Don’t force it. Find a nearby alternative. And if nothing feels good, it may be time to go home and get some extra rest and recovery!

6. Reassess the next day

Once things calm down, test the area with:

• Controlled joint circles or range-of-motion drills
• Light corrective movements (band work, activation drills)
• Careful reintroduction of movements with low to zero load

You’re not trying to “fix it” immediately. You’re gathering feedback and giving your body space to adapt.

A Real-Life Example: Meet Vaughn

I want to tell you about one of my long-term clients, Vaughn.

Vaughn is one of the nicest guys I know – and one of the strongest!

But here’s what really stuck with me about Vaughn after working with him for years:

Every once in a while, something would just feel off during his workout. His form looked great. Nothing had changed. But he could tell something wasn’t right.

So he did exactly what we just talked about:

• He’d test his warm-up
• Try backing off the weight
• Reassess how things felt

And if it still didn’t feel right?

He’d say, “You know what, I’m going to call it for today. I’ll be back tomorrow.”

And he was.

That ability to listen to his body without ego made him one of the most consistent people in the gym. He rarely got injured. He kept showing up. And he stayed strong because of it.

Vaughn taught me that knowing when to back off is just as important as knowing when to push.

Final Thought

One of the best things you can do for long-term training?

Learn to listen to your body (without panicking).

Not every tweak is an injury. But every tweak deserves a bit more investigation and attention.

And if you ever need help figuring out what to sub, tweak, or focus on, I’m here to help!

– Coach Matt  

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Are you working out hard enough?

Are you working out hard enough?

  June 12, 2025    Pratik Bandagale

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A reader recently sent me a great question:

“I’m always wondering if I’m pushing hard enough during strength training. My goals are to build strength and muscle—and not be a fragile old lady.”

This kind of question is more common than you might think! It’s something almost everyone wonders at some point: “How hard should I be working when I lift?”

Let’s break it down.

1. Do your muscles feel used during and after your workout?

You don’t need to destroy yourself to make progress, but you should feel like your muscles did some meaningful work.

That might show up as:

• Feeling tension and “work” in your muscles as you lift
• Feeling the weight start to unintentionally slow down as you fatigue in the middle of your set
• A light muscle “pump” post-workout
• Slight muscle soreness the next day (but nothing brutal)
• Feeling like you challenged yourself by the end of each set

If you finish your workout and feel like you could do the whole thing again immediately… that might be a sign it’s time to increase reps, weight, or sets.

2. What kind of soreness do you get (if any)?

Contrary to popular belief, soreness isn’t the only sign of progress, but it can give us clues.

Here’s what I look for:

• Mild soreness for 1–2 days? Great! You’re likely getting enough work in.
• Extreme soreness that lasts 4–5 days or more? That’s too much. Dial it back.
• Never sore at all? It might be time to push things a bit more intentionally, or switch up exercises.

Again, soreness is a signal, not a scorecard. It’s not something to chase NO MATTER WHAT, but it’s another piece of the puzzle in understanding what’s working and not working for you.

3. Are you seeing progression over time?

Strength training is about challenging your body and then ​gradually increasing that challenge over time​.

• Are you lifting heavier weights than you were 4–6 weeks ago?
• Are you doing more reps or more sets with the same weight?
• Are your movements feeling more stable, confident, or controlled?

If the answer is yes, you’re getting stronger. And that’s exactly what we want.

If not, it might be time to shift into a more structured plan, like a ​periodized program​ that gradually increases volume (sets and reps) or intensity (amount of weight lifted) over 6–12 weeks.

Note: as we age, we will naturally lose some amount of muscle and strength. This is totally normal! However, we can help reduce that loss with smart strength training.

Even though you may be lifting less in your 70s than you were in your 30s, you can still progress WITHIN a workout program to gradually increase the challenge. The principle of progressive overload still applies, you just adjust your starting point to whatever your body is capable of right now.

Want to test your strength in a safe way?

Another way to check if you’re working hard enough?

Try what I call a litmus set.

Here’s how it works:

1. Pick an exercise you’ve been doing consistently—something like bodyweight squats, push-ups, dumbbell rows, or a machine press.
2. Do a solid warm-up. Get your body moving and your joints feeling good.
3. Then go all out: Do as many quality reps as you can with good form. Stop when you know you can’t complete another clean rep.

This is easiest (and safest) with:

• Machines (you’re already “spotted”)
• Bodyweight movements (you can just stop without risk)

Less ideal:

• Free weight movements like barbell back squats or heavy bench press (unless you’ve got a spotter and plenty of experience)

What are we looking for?

Compare your litmus set to your usual working sets.

Example:

• If you usually do 3 sets of 10 reps and your litmus set gets you 12–13 reps, you’re right in that sweet spot within a few reps of failure.
• If you hit 20+ reps, on the other hand, you’re leaving 10+ reps in the tank during your normal workouts. That means it’s time to increase weight or reps to keep progressing.

Most muscle-building happens when you’re within ​1–4 reps of failure​ on a working set. But if you don’t know what failure feels like, it’s easy to stop short.

A litmus set helps recalibrate your effort and builds confidence that you can push harder (safely) when it makes sense to.

The Bottom Line

You don’t need to crush yourself to get stronger. But you do want your workouts to be purposeful and challenging enough to require your body to adapt.

Look for:

• Muscle tension (during the set)
• Muscle fatigue (after your workout)
• Mild soreness (especially at the beginning of a new workout program)
• Progress over time (reps, weight, technique)
• …and the occasional litmus set for clarity

And if you’re not seeing those? Let’s tweak your approach and help you find that sweet spot.

And remember! If you’re asking this question, that means you are already working out which is AMAZING!

You’ve got this.

– Coach Matt P.S. Need help finding the next step to progress in your workouts? Shoot me an email and I’ll see how I can help!   

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The beginner-friendly guide we wish we had

The beginner-friendly guide we wish we had

  June 04, 2025    Pratik Bandagale

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Have you downloaded your free Nerd Fitness Starter Guide yet? I put it together a few months ago, and it’s one of my favorite things we’ve created.
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I wrote this guide to answer one question I hear all the time:

“There’s so much conflicting information out there. Can you just tell me what ACTUALLY matters when I’m getting started?”

Challenge accepted!

If you’ve already got it, awesome! This email is your reminder to actually crack it open. If not, you can grab your copy here:

​Download the Free Starter Guide​

I took 15+ years of Nerd Fitness research combined with 15+ years of coaching experience and smashed them together in the Hadron Collider.

There’s no fluff. No gimmicks. Just the essentials that help people make progress, even with a busy schedule, fleeting motivation, or years of false starts behind them.

Inside, you’ll learn:

Why weight loss isn’t magic (and what it actually takes)

How to build better nutrition habits step-by-step

The easiest way to get started with strength training

Why all movement counts (yes, even a 10-minute walk)

How to make changes that actually stick this time

I’ve also linked to a bunch of done-for-you templates, resources, and workout routines that we’ve put together over the years.

These are the exact same principles we’ve used to help thousands of coaching clients lose weight, build strength, create lasting habits, and feel good in their bodies again.

If you’ve struggled to stick with fitness before, consider this guide your reset button.

And it’s totally free.

​Grab your Starter Guide​

I hope you get as much out of it as I enjoyed making it.

– Coach Matt
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P.S. What questions do you have about fitness, nutrition, and making it all stick? I read and respond to every message personally, and I’d love to hear from you. 

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