lifehackerinternational
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Is It Really Safe to Lift Barefoot?
Years ago, the idea that you could run barefoot, instead of in running shoes, shook the running community. (The ultimate result: The market exploded with expensive shoes meant to mimic barefoot running, met by a backlash of expensive shoes with as much cushioning and structure as possible.) A similar debate is now simmering in the…
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Do Bubble Machines Really Repel Mosquitoes?
Eleven years ago, we published a brief report of a quirky hack: Turning on a kids’ bubble machine is said to keep mosquitoes at bay. And this weekend, I saw the same idea going viral on TikTok. But does it really work?
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When You Should (and Shouldn’t) Squeeze Your Shoulder Blades Together
Our shoulder blades can move in multiple directions. They can slide up and down, toward each other or apart from each other, and they can rotate clockwise and counterclockwise. When you’re doing an exercise that involves your upper back, instructors will sometimes boil down all this complexity to “squeezing” or “retracting” your shoulder blades. And…
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How (and Why) to ‘Pull the Slack Out of the Bar’ When You Deadlift
Deadlifts can be intimidating. If you’re the type to overthink the details when you’re anxious, then, you’ve probably studied everything about the deadlift — except for one technique that you can’t see so much as feel. That is: pulling the slack out of the bar.