October Archives

With the extended holiday weekend upon us, I’m copping out today and keeping this post short and sweet. But lets be honest, no one is at work today anyways, so the likelihood that anyone other than my mother will read this before Tuesday is slim to none.

Also, before I go, I just wanted to relay a HUGE congratulations to CP’s own Brian St. Pierre who happens to be why why why whyyyyyyyyyyyy getting married this weekend. The entire CP staff is heading up to Maine tomorrow and looking forward to the festivities. Which is to say, I swear to god there will be murders if anyone starts the Macarena.

1. Broscience, Volume 1– Mike Robertson

In the first installment of a really great idea, Mike discusses the difference between “short” (tight) muscles and “stiff” muscles.

2. Program Design For Dummies– Me

Bringing back a blast from the past- this was my first article ever published on t-nation. As it is, to this day, I probably get more e-mails regarding this article than any of my other ones. Granted there are a few things I would change from a programming standpoint, but I think as a whole, the article serves a great starting point for those looking to design their own programs.

3. Nudge– by Richard Thayler and Cass Sunstein

I actually remember seeing this book a while ago when it first came out, but only picked it up recently after having several people recommend it to me. Have you ever wondered why we make the choices we make? Surprisingly, we’re often “nudged” into making certain choices without even knowing it. For instance, a school cafeteria might “nudge” a kid into eating a healthier diet just by placing the healthier foods first.

I’m only about 1/4 of the way through this book, but it’s been absolutely amazing thus far. Highly recommend this one to anyone.

4. A Realistic Look at Goal Setting: Fat Loss– Leigh Peele

Everyone wants to look better naked. Thing is, most people have no clue how to establish realistic, sustainable goals, let alone realize that it isn’t so much about “doing a fat loss stage,” as it is making long-term, concrete lifestyle changes. Great insight from Leigh here.

I’m out.

First off, I love this comment left this morning by “Orthorexic” in my original post from the other day:

yeah! No carbZ and tonZ of vegetables. Oh, actually some carbZ but only from an insanely obscure ancient, secrect, lost grain that won’t make teh insulinZ spike and make you fat.

Jonny Bowden is a supplement pushing quack.

But each to his own, if you dig that stuff keep doing it.

1. I find it comical that someone can judge my entire diet and think they have a general grasp of how I eat, when I only posted ONE meal for the day.

2. Too, I also find it comical that people who have nothing better to do than talk shit over the interwebZ never seem to use their real name. Weird how that works.

Nevertheless, moving on, lets see what the rest of my day looks like. As I noted previously, I typically wake up around 7AM and not too long thereafter, am dominating breakfast.

9:30-10 ish

We typically don’t start training clients till 1PM at CP. As such, we generally like to get a lift in around 11. At this point, I’m still fairly full from breakfast, but will eat a small meal an hour or so beforehand. Today it was:

1 Metabolic Drive Bar- Chocolate Chunk.

Again, I usually train like an hour after this, so I don’t want to eat anything too big that will bog me down or upset my stomach. Other options here would be a protein shake with a banana or maybe a small piece of fruit with a handful of almonds.

11:30 to 1- Lift heavy stuff. Today (which was two days ago technically), Eric and I continued this deadlift specialization routine that he devised.

A. Conventional Deadlifts, 10×1 @ 500 lbs

B1. Barbell Reverse Lunge w/Front Squat Grip, 3×8/leg

B2. TRX Fall-Outs, 3×10

C1. Glute Ham Raise, 3×6

C2. Seated Cable Row, 3×10

D. Prowler Sled Push, 3×1

Post-Training Meal (1-1:30 ish):

1 cup cottage cheese

1/2-1 cup canned pumpkin

1/4-1/2 cup rolled oats

1 tbsp ground flax seeds

1 scoop vanilla Metabolic Drive (protein powder)

A dash of nutmeg and cinnamon

1/2-1 cup frozen mixed berries

1/4 cup chopped walnuts

Optional: 1 scoop Creatine, 1 scoop Biotest SuperFood

Basically I take all the ingredients listed above and mix them in a bowl. I know it sounds gross (and it looks gross), but it’s delicious. This meal is not only packed with lots of protein, but tons of quality carbs and healthy fats to boot.

2:30 ish

This meal is kind of a “wild card” on certain days. Most days, I’ll have a small Chobani yogurt with some almonds and added blueberries.

However, since we have a cafeteria right down the hall from our facility, I’ll often purchase something from there depending on what Rosemary made that day. Today, I went with the latter option:

Chicken/Taco meat psuedo whole wheat wrap doohickey with guacomole, onions, tomatoes, and salsa.

4-4:30 ish

1 bag (5 oz) baby arugula/baby spinach

Various amounts of mixed veggies (from container in fridge)

1 apple

2 small chicken breasts

Olive oil/balsamic vinegar spray using my Misto Gourmet Sprayer

Guacomole

7PM ish

3 whole Omega-3 eggs

Handful of almonds

10PM ish

16 oz container of Chobani yogurt

1 tbsp Chia Seeds

1 tbsp Cacao Nibs

1 scoop Biotest SuperFood

Just a liiiiiitle bit of chocolate protein powder for a little sweetness

4 capsules Flame Out

3 capsules ZMA

A Few Side Notes:

1. You’re really dumb if you don’t eat breakfast everyday. No seriously, you’re pretty dumb. It’s been well established in the literature that people who consistently eat breakfast are leaner than those who don’t. What’s more, those who eat breakfast tend to eat LESS later on in the day- hence the whole “people who eat breakfast tend to be leaner” part. And while I don’t have any scientific research to back this up, I’m pretty sure there’s a direct correlation between my girlfriend having breakfast and whether or not I’ll be hanging out with Hitler later on in the day.

2. My intestinal flora can kick your intestinal flora’s ass.

3. You’re correct “Orthorexic,” I don’t have a lot of sugar and/or processed carbs in my diet. Then again, I’m certainly not scared to take my shirt off at the beach, and I don’t live in my mom’s basement. That counts for something

4. I’m a firm believer in fluctuating one’s caloric intake based off activity level. Training days are a little different compared to non-training days, obviously, On non-training days, I’ll typically have one less meal during the day, as well as ingest the bulk of my carbohydrates earlier in the day.

5. While I know it seems like I have an exemplary diet, I’m certainly not scared to let loose from time to time. I’ll usually go out for a nice dinner on the weekends, and am not scared to order dessert or a quesadilla (or two) as well.

6. I’m generally drinking nothing but water and/or green tea during the day. Sometimes I forget to drink while I’m coaching athletes, but I usually try to get at least a gallon everyday.

So there you have it. A typical day in the life of my gastrointestinal tract. If people are interested, I could always show what a non-training day looks like, but I don’t know if I want to bore you that much.

What Is It: 1-Legged Hip Thruster

Who Did I Steal It From: I noticed Eric had the First Lady of Cressey Performance, Anna, perform this exercise the other day, so I figured what the heck- I have the day off, it’s beautiful outside, I just got off the phone with Tracie* and saved $200 switching to a new car insurance provider (not Geico), and I need a quick blog post because I don’t want to be sitting in front of my computer at the moment. I’ll run with this.

What Does It Do: Awesome exercise for glute activation.

Key Coaching Cues: Maintain a neutral spine throughout the duration of the set- you don’t want to go into lumbar HYPER-extension at the top, nor fall into lumbar flexion at the bottom (although you really have to go out of your way to butcher this exercise enough to do either of the two). Also, be sure to drive through the heel, and finish the movement by squeezing the glute at the top.

Furthermore, while this is probably just stating the obvious, I feel it has to be said nonetheless- whatever you do, DO NOT make grunting noises while doing this exercise. No one wants to hear that. No, seriously- it’s gross. Likewise, if you happen to have a penis and perform this exercise while wearing spandex shorts (or any exercise for that matter), I swear to god I will throw up all over your shoes.

Include this as part of a dynamic warm-up, or ideally, as a “filler” between sets of squats or deadlifts.

* Man-o-man she sounded hot, and it’s readily apparent we had a connection. I mean, she didn’t offer me renters insurance for nothin. And correct me if I’m wrong, but I’m pretty sure “would you like to increase your deductible on compulsory personal injury protection,” is insurance speak for “I want to have your baby.”