Stuff to Read While You’re Pretending to Work: Haters Gonna Hate

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Ever notice that when it’s cold outside – for the record:  yesterday and today are the first two days of legitimate snow here in Boston – people bitch and whine about how cold it is?

By that same token, when it’s too hot – people bitch and whine about how hot it is!

I don’t get it.

Then again – these are the same people who will find any excuse to complain about something. It’s too windy; the Dew Point is f’ed up; ObamaCare is the next Death Star; the barista at StarBucks put too much cream in my latte; I can’t believe “so and so” is on the new season of Dancing With the Stars; the checkout person didn’t ask me if I wanted my receipt, bitch; that rainbow is too “raibowey;” for the love of god, people, HAN SHOT FIRST!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anyways I have no other reason behind this keen observation other than it’s something I noticed today while standing in line at Panera while someone complained that the line was moving too slow.

People complain way too much.

Now if you excuse me, someone just looked at me wrong and I have to go scissor kick them in the pancreas.

If You Are Not Sore, You Are Not Working Hard Enough…Or Are You – Kyle Arsenault

It’s a common fallacy people make.  If they’re not drowning in a pool of their own sweat or don’t feel like they’re on the verge of an epileptic seizure after a training session, it obviously was a waste of their time.

This is a battle I have fight all the time and my retort is usually saying something along the lines of “any tool with a certification can make you tired and sore.  But it takes a COACH and someone who actually know what they’re talking about to be able to tweak programming to garner a desired effect – whatever it may be.

Making someone tired for the sake of feeling tired is a pointless endeavor and rarely yields positive results in the long run. Likewise soreness doesn’t mean much either

On one hand, especially with newbies, it’s a matter of teaching them the difference between sore and hurt.

On the other, especially with those who are more advanced, it’s a matter of teaching them that fatigue will always mask one’s true level of fitness.

Yes, soreness is okay and it’s perfectly fine to want to kick yourself in the ass sometimes so that you ARE sore the next day.

But it’s certainly not the “x-factor” when it comes to long-standing results, and it’s certainly not something that should be strived for on a consistent basis.

Supple Leopard vs. The World – Dr. Quinn Henoch

It’s the fitness industry’s latest version of the classic West Side Story rivalry between the Jets and the Sharks.

On one side you have those who lean towards the CrossFit mentality – in particular, Dr. Kelly Starrett – and advocate pushing the knees out when squatting or deadlifting in an effort to create more torque and not to allow any torsion stress on the body.

On the flip side, you have those who have a little bit of an issue with this mindset.

I thought this was a fantastic (and fair) discussion which lends the opportunity for the reader to make up his or her own mind on the topic.

My thoughts?  I think much of the controversy is lost in translation.  I’ve heard Kelly talk about this and from what I can gather – and I could be wrong on this – he never really states that he wants people to excessively push their knees out.  Rather, it’s more of a cue so that people don’t go into knee valgus (which I agree with, 100%).

I know I’d never go out of my way to allow someone to squat with excessive knee valgus. And I think by that logic it makes sense that letting the pendulum glide too far to the other side – where people are going into excessive knee varus – doesn’t do them any favors either.

What are people arguing about again?

Take the Lunge – Lee Boyce

Lee’s been on a writing tear lately, and with this gem he touches on the intricacies of the one of the more overlooked movement patterns – the lunge.

Did what you just read make your day? Ruin it? Either way, you should share it with your friends and/or comment below.

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Comments for This Entry

  • Tavis Bruce

    Thanks for the article from Dr. Henoch. I've had a couple of buddies (who take Supple Leopard a bit too seriously) present with multiple knee and hip issues that I think is a direct cause of this excessive "knee-out" behaviour. I wholeheartedly agree with you; what Kelly is getting at makes a tonne of sense but is super easy for informed meatheads to take a little too far. You end up with guys without adequate adductor or hip flexor length going into excessive external rotation (or into new ranges where they have no stability) and creating all kinds of problems at the hip (I have seen FAI- and AIS-like symptoms). "Knees-out" is a great cue, however it should not be a quality that squatters should be trying to maximize. Thanks Tony!

    December 10, 2013 at 2:38 pm | Reply to this comment

    • JOB

      Ye know, I've read supple leopard and love Starrett's work, and I can't recall it being much more than a cue either. I tend to agree that to the extent this debate exists, it's between people misunderstanding on both sides. When he talks about the squat setup, he talks about "screwing the feet into the ground" and creating an external rotation force, not actually externally rotating the femur to any extent. I think people who are shoving their knees way out (doesn't he say they should still track over the toes?) probably have just enough knowledge to be dangerous.

      December 10, 2013 at 5:15 pm | Reply to this comment

      • TonyGentilcore

        That's exactly what I'm getting at. I don't recall him ever stating to excessively push the knees out and it's just more of a cue. How else are we supposed to cue the knees from NOT going into valgus??? "Hey, hey, HEY, stop doing that thing you're doing! STOP IT!!!"

        December 12, 2013 at 8:41 am | Reply to this comment

    • TonyGentilcore

      Right on Tavis! Hope all is well in your neck of the woods.

      December 12, 2013 at 8:39 am | Reply to this comment

  • Alex

    Why push your knees out? If you want a hip hinge squat, push them out. Otherwise don't worry about it.

    December 10, 2013 at 11:30 pm | Reply to this comment

  • Will

    Again, Tony is the badass willing to be the voice of reason--thanks! Sheesh, I read Supple Leopard twice all the way through, and love all the material, and never once interpreted it to mean "shove your knees into varus 'cause I said so." Also, KStar has a nice response to all the hubub here: http://www.mobilitywod.com/2013/11/community-mwod-video-the-knees-in-squat/ Keep keepin it real, Tony.

    December 12, 2013 at 6:01 pm | Reply to this comment

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