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What Christmas Morning Can Tell You About Program Design

I remember it like it was yesterday:  Actually, it was 1986, but the movie-like beginning makes the story sound cooler.   It was Christmas morning.  EARLY Christmas morning.  I’m talking 2 AM Christmas morning.   There I was, sitting in my room, counting down the minutes before I was “allowed” to rush down the hallway into my parents’ bedroom at 6 AM to wake them up so that we could get the show started.

As we – meaning, my brother, sister, and I – waited at the top of the stairs, my mom would walk down, turn on all the lights, and get everything all situated.  My step-dad, on the other hand, would take his time getting out of bed, and after what seemed like an eternity, he’d finally head downstairs, only to set up shop in the bathroom.  It was agonizing, because there was no telling how long he’d be in there.

In his defense, though, now that I’m a full-grown man I can appreciate the significance of the morning visit to the can.  But goddammit!!!  At ten years old – and on Christmas morning no less, it was pure torture.

Anyways, once my mom had the music on, and my step-dad has his coffee in hand, we were ready to roll.

The three of us would sprint downstairs, turn the corner into the living room, and see what Santa had brought us.

To give you more of a visual feel, it kinda looked something like this:

Turning the corner –

OMG, Nintendo!!!!!!!!

Anyways, that particular Christmas I really wanted a Thunder-Punch He-Man.  Who didn’t?  All the cool kids had one, and I had been bugging my parents for one since like August.  What can I say, I was planning a head.

Sadly, while I did get a bunch of cool things, what I didn’t get was He-Man.  As much as I wanted one, what I needed, apparently, was some new underwear.   Thanks Mom.  Thanks a lot!  **slams door**

Anyways, by now you’re probably wondering, “Tony, where are you going with this?” and “what in the hell does this have to do with getting jacked and stuff?”

#1.  Don’t use that tone with me.

#2.  If you’d hold your britches, you’ll soon learn that this was a great segue to explaining the difference between wants vs. needs as it pertains to program design.

As a strength coach, when designing individualized programs I’m always (read:  all…..the……time) balancing the ying and yang between wants and needs.   Using a great example, there are plenty of guys out there who would want nothing more than to bench press every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.  In fact, that’s what many end up doing.  Thing is, though, all that benching isn’t doing their Quasimodo posture any favors, and it isn’t necessarily what they need to be doing.

Similarly, lets take a female whose main goal is to lose fat.   Left to her own vices, she’ll most likely end up doing what she’s good at and what’s easy.  In other words, she’ll end up doing what she wants to do, which is typically spending her afternoon on the elliptical machine and taking a yoga class here and there.  Or worse, listening to anything Tracy Anderson has to say.

In reality, what she NEEDS to be doing is making a more concerted effort to lift some appreciable weight (ah, ah, ah, pastel colored dumbbells don’t count), incorporating some more interval-based training into her repertoire, and stepping away from the post-workout Starbucks.

Again, there’s a huge discrepancy between wants and needs, and the coaches and trainers who are able to bridge that gap are generally the ones who will be the most successful with their clients.

At the end of the day, my job is to get people results in the quickest, most efficient (AND SAFEST) way possible.  Sometimes that involves playing the meanie strength coach and making people do birddogs till their blue in the face –as one of my female clients, who hurt her back about a month ago, recently learned last week.

She walked into the facility on Thursday with a look on her face and asked, “do I HAVE to do birddogs, again????”

I replied with, “is your back feeling better?”

“Yes”

“Do your birddogs.”

Don’t get me wrong, I can appreciate the fact that she wants to work hard and start lifting heavy things again, but that’s just not what she needs at the moment.   Instead, what we’ve been focusing on are Prowler pushes, single leg work, push-ups, Goblet squats, core stability (chops and lifts), and yes, TONS and tons of birddogs.

So, in the end, I guess all I’m really trying to say is that your job as a coach or personal trainer is to take the reigns and inform your clients that, despite their thoughts on the matter, your job is to get them results.  Much like Christmas morning, sometimes, you have to forego what they want (Thunder Punch He-Man/bench press), and give them what they need (underwear/birddogs).

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High Heels, Deadlifts, and Attitude – Oh My! Part II

In case you missed it yesterday, HERE is part I of the interview I did with strength athlete (and resident pink dumbbell poo-poo’er), Molly Galbraith.  If you’re too lazy to click on the link to play catch up, I can give you the Cliff Notes version here:

Figure shows, blah blah blah blah, un-explained weight gain, yada yada yada, diagnosed with rare disease which made competiing in figure no longer feasable, blibbidy blah blibbidy bloo, switched to lifting heavy things, so on and so forth, pulled close to 350 lbs in competition, pissed excellence all over the place, made random guys have to manually unclench their butt cheeks when they watched her train, still looks like a girl, Tony Gentilcore is the greatest thing since sliced bread, and that’s about it!

Okay, there’s definitely a lot more to it than that, but I highly encourage you to click on the link above to get caught up.

So yesterday we ended with Molly telling a story of when she pwned some guy in the weightroom.  I don’t know about you, but I LIVE for stories like that.  It always cracks me up when guys walk around with their chest puffing out as if that 225 lb deadlift they just did for five (atrocious) reps was some kind of big deal; then skoffs when a girl walks into the free weight area – only to be completely dominated.

Anyways, today, we’re going to pick up with Molly going into a little more detail on her training as well as some of her pet peeves when it comes to the stigma of women lifting heavy weight.

BUT – before we begin, here’s an interesting aside.  In case people don’t read all the way to end, I felt it was important to include this part in the beginning:  Below is an email I receieved from Molly yesterday afternoon:

You know what I just thought about and I am actually kind of scared that you’llsay yes… do you want some of my fat pictures?  I have some fatty pictures from 2004 that I took as my “before” pictures.  It might actually help drive home the point that if you lift heavy and watch your diet… you will SHRINK! What do you think?  Maybe have a before and after at the end? Let me know!

Of course, I said yes, and Molly was kind enough to send them along.

Before lifting heavy things off the ground (2004)

185 lbs
approx. 34% body fat
~63 lbs of fat
~122 lbs of lean mass

 After lifting heavy things for 7+ years (2011)

167 lbs
approx. 16.1% body fat (taken via Bod Pod 3 weeks ago)

~27 lbs of fat

~140 lbs of lean mass

So even though the scale shows less than a 20 lb weight loss, Molly actually lost over 35 lbs of fat and added almost 20 lbs of muscle…but completely transformed her body in the process.  Still think scale weight means ANYTHING in terms of progress?  Ladies, throw away your scale!

Okay, enough of the small talk.

TG:  So, I know everyone’s dying to hear what your training looks like nowadays………spill it!

MG:  My schedule is kind of wacky right now so I have to fit my training in when I can, which is typically 3 days a week, occasionally 4 if I’m lucky.  The program Mike [Robertson] has written for me currently is a 4 day split (2 upper body days, 2 lower body days).  Each day starts with one of the following: squat, barbell bench press, deadlift, or dumbbell bench press.  Right now I am training those movements in the 3-8 rep range depending on the week.

After the main movement comes my accessory work.  My glutes, hamstrings, triceps and anterior core are all pretty weak so a lot of my accessory movements focus on bringing those areas up… but it’s nothing magic… just simple stuff that works.  I do good mornings, Romanian deadlifts, lunges, chins, face pulls, glute ham raises, close grip bench press, tricep pressdowns, Pallof presses, band resisted jackknives, GHR, etc.

Sometimes after an upper body day I will throw in some Battling Rope work for 5-10 minutes and after my lower body day I might do some swings or prowler pushes but I don’t do a ton of conditioning.  Maybe 2-3 days a week for 5-10 minutes?  I let my strength training and my diet keep me relatively lean and since I still battle fatigue at times I like to save my energy for throwing around heavy stuff.  Because heavy things aren’t going to lift themselves… right, Tony? 😉

TG:  I’m picking up what you’re putting down.  I get it.  High five!

MG:  Oh, and I guess I should mention that I do quite a bit of foam rolling and mobility work before I lift to help keep me healthy and safe.  In the past I designed a lot of my own training programs, but it’s hard to be objective and make yourself do things you suck at.  That’s one of the reasons that I think having a Coach is so important no matter how much you know about training.

In fact, my friend Jim was interviewing Dan John recently and he was talking about his Coach.  I mean come on!  If Dan John has a freaking Coach, chances are that you need one too!

If for some reason you can’t afford one or there isn’t a good one in your area, there are some great training program templates out there like my own redpointfitness.com, DeFranco’s Westside for Skinny Bastards, Wendler’s 5/3/1, Nia Shanks’ Fat Loss Detour, or Cressey’s Show and Go.  Just make sure you are constantly trying to improve your weaknesses.  It’s hard to go wrong if you do that.  But also throw in some stuff you enjoy and are good at.  Training is supposed to be fun!

TG:  So um, yeah, there are a ton of women out there who are intimidated by lifting heavy weight – for fear of getting “too big a bulky,” and silly stuff like that. Can you share some insights on why you feel this is an absolutely retarded way of thinking?

MG:  Haha!  Well with all due respect Tony, I think the quickest way to get someone to shut you out and quit listening to you completely is to tell them that one of their deepest core beliefs that has been ingrained in them all their life is retarded… BUT it is definitely a major myth that I REALLY want to dispel with women.  =)

TG:  Okay, okay.   To be more politically correct, can you elaborate on why this line of thinking is archaic nonsense aaaaaaaand, dammit, I can’t help it……. it’s retarded!

MG:  There are numerous reasons why women believe this to begin with, which is a whole ‘nother article in itself… but I have found that there are a couple of good ways to help women see the light.  The first is to actually listen to what they have to say.  When they tell you that they are afraid they will get bulky… ask them why.  Often times it’s because they have started weight training in the past without changing their diets (or sometimes eating more because they “deserve” it or they are simply hungrier because of the energy they are expending).  So they may have added muscle without losing any body fat or they may have even gained body fat… so they added something without losing anything.  OF COURSE they got bigger!

They also may have seen images of female bodybuilders on TV or in magazines and they don’t have the reference point to understand that those women are often on LOTS of drugs and have been training for decades to look the way that they look.

Heck, they may have even just read it in silly magazines or heard a ridiculously uninformed “trainer” talk about lifting making you bulky.  The truth is 99.5% of women DO NOT have the genetics to get what most would consider “big” muscles.  If they do, they are probably playing sports at a D1 school or competing in bodybuilding.

If you are a woman who has started lifting weights and you feel like you are getting bulky, your best bet is to examine your diet.  There are VERY, VERY few women that I know who are very lean and still have “big” muscles.  Chances are most of your bulk is coming from the body fat covering your muscles.

If you clean your diet up, do intelligent cardio and keep lifting heavy… chances are you will get smaller and become more and more pleased with your body.  My partner and I have several clients who lift super heavy 2-3 days a week for 45 minutes, do a little bit of conditioning and eat a decent diet and they have done nothing but shrink and get more defined!

Oh, and keep in mind that training for strength and training for size are very different ways of training once you are no longer a beginner.  It is pretty easy for most women to train for pure strength and gain almost no muscular size whatsoever.

Another good way of helping women see the light in regards to strength training is to show them images of women who are strong and athletic.  They are so many fit and sexy females out there who lift heavy things (and have been for years) and have incredibly feminine bodies.  For a few examples check out: Jen Comas Keck, Rachel Cosgrove, Leigh Peele, Cassandra Forsythe, Nia Shanks, Candice Karnes, Rachel Guy, Neghar Fonooni, Jen Grasso, and Olesya Novik.  These women have bodies that most of us would kill for and they all put up impressive numbers in the gym as well.

 

Finally, you have to consider that each woman has their own point of view regarding what they consider to be “bulky.”  Leigh Peele actually did her own research and wrote an article about it HERE.  Of the women she polled, a good chunk of them actually found JESSICA BIEL to be “BULKY!!!!!”

The funniest part is, I would bet that more than 75% of the women who said that about Jessica Biel are actually bigger than her and don’t look NEARLY as good in a bikini.  Unfortunately there are some delusional people out there whose opinions you just won’t change and there is no point in wasting your time on them.

They can continue to dance around in an 80 degree room for 2 hours a day, 6 days a week twirling 3 lbs weights above their heads and doing hundreds of repetitions of weird movements using bands attached to the ceiling and eating baby food… not that I am referencing anyone in particular (::cough cough:: Tracy Anderson ::cough cough::).  I am going to lift 3 days a week for an hour and eat steak and whole eggs and real butter and enjoy my strong bones and my abs. =)

TG:  Now that’s what I’m talking about.  Anyone who goes out of their way to mock Tracy Anderson, is cool in my book.   So, with all that being said, give it to me straight – give me your top 3-5 pieces of advice for women looking to start a strength program

MG:  Oh geez… just 3-5?  Alright here goes nothing!

  • Get assessed by a professional!  So many of us have weaknesses, imbalances, tightness, etc.  You can squat and deadlift and sprint all you want, but if your glutes are shut off because your hip flexors are too tight… your booty won’t look any better no matter what you do!  This also helps prevent injury, improves posture, reduces/eliminates aches and pains, etc.  If you can’t afford an assessment or don’t know of anyone in your area, get the Assess and Correct manual and follow it!  You will be glad you did!

  • Get strong first! Until you can properly squat and deadlift at least your body weight for females and bench press at least half your body weight for females, you have no business doing body part splits or any other training for that matter.  Getting stronger opens up so many doors to so many other types of training, and makes that training infinitely more effective.  Once you have built up a decent strength base, you can try other types of training and reap major results.  I gave some examples of fantastic training templates above.  Grab one today and get started!
  • Challenge yourself!  You should always be progressing no matter what you are doing.  You should challenge yourself to lift more weight, do more reps, complete more sets, do more work in less time, etc.  Your body adapts quickly to stimuli so always challenge yourself and you will keep improving.  Also keep in mind that you are competing against yourself.  Competing against others is fun and it definitely has its place… but you should be striving to be a better YOU every day.
  • Eat REAL food!  Most women think that their diets of Special K bars, fat free yogurt, and 100 calorie packs of wheat thins are “healthy.”  Let me tell you something, if the food is crap to begin with, whether it’s in a 100 calorie pack or not, you are still eating crap!  If you are going to strength train, you must fuel your body properly.  Lucky for you, you can fuel your body and get leaner at the same time.  The best way to do both is to make sure every meal contains a protein source, a fat source, and a vegetable or low-sugar fruit (i.e. berries).  Add in some starchier carbs post-weight training (potatoes, bananas, rice, etc) and you are set.  Also take a couple of meals a week to eat what you want so you don’t go crazy.  Food is meant to be enjoyed… so enjoy it.

Note from TG:  products like Precision Nutrition, or Leigh Peele’s Fat Loss Troubleshoot, and Molly’s own redpointfitness.com would be a great starting points in this regard.

TG:  Molly, that was AWESOME stuff, and I really appreciate you taking the time to do this interview.  I really feel that this may help a lot of women out there better understand that it’s okay to skip yoga class and go lift some “real” weights instead.  Where can my readers learn more about you?

MG:  It was my pleasure, Tony.  For those interested, I am co-owner of Red Point Fitness, co-owner of J&M Strength and Conditioning, Fitness contributor to Kentucky Bride Magazine and I write articles that have been published on sites like www.elitefts.com, www.ironaddicts.com, www.oliciouslife.com, and of course, www.redpointfitness.com.   Phew!  Is that enough information for you?  =)

FB: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=12920360

Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/MollyGalbraith

Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/user/MMG8427?feature=mhsn

 

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High Heels, Deadlifts, and Attitude – Oh My! Part I

I haven’t had a lot of female specific content up as of late, so I figured I’d change gears today (and tomorrow) and post an interview I did recently with personal trainer and competitive powerlifter, Molly Galbraith.

Molly (that’s her squatting to the left) has bursted onto the scene with a vengeance in the past year, and after reading a few of her articles over on elitefts.com not too long ago, I had it in the back of my head to try to get her to come on here ASAP.  You see, much like myself, Molly is constantly fighting the upward battle of trying to convince the vast majority of women out there that it’s perfectly okay to lift something heavier than their purse.

Unfortunately, much of the mainstream media falls under the notion that frailty = femininity.  This was never more evident than a few weeks ago when, under the promise that we would go see Thor afterwards, I was walking around Newbury St in downtown Boston with my girlfriend, walking in and out of various designer stores – handbags, shoes, make-up, you name it, either way, my testosterone levels were non-existant for about three hours.

We’d walk in, I’d make eye contact with a store employee and pretend to shoot myself in the head, and then I’d linger and peruse a few magazines while she went off to do whatever it is that women do when there’s a sale rack.  When flipping through the magazines, however, I couldn’t help but notice a disturbing trend – every…….single…….model looked like a anorexic meth addict.

These are the types of images that women see on a day-to-day basis, and it’s no wonder that many (not all) feel that that is what’s ideal or normal or what society expects of them.  What’s more, you have the likes of People Magazine dicussing someone like actress Kate Hudson’s beauty secrets, and you find out that all she eats is celery sticks and Gogi berry juice, and performs yoga and upwards of two hours of cardio every day.  Lifting appreciable weights, of course, is out of the question!  You’ll end up looking like the Hulk!

No wonder woman are scared to step foot in the weight room.  Well, there’s that, and the fact that most guys walking around the gym floor smell like Old Spice and garlic, and sound like they’re passing a kidney stone every time they grab a barbell.  That certainly doesn’t help matters.

Anyways, like I said, it’s great to have women like Molly out there fighting the good fight, and letting other’s all over the world recognize that it’s okay to lift (heavy) weights and look faaaaaaaaabbbbbuuuuuuuuuulous at the same time.

Without further ado, I’ll shut up now and let Molly take over.  Enjoy.

An Interview with Molly Galbraith

Tony Gentilcore:  Molly, for those who may not be familiar with you and your background, please feel free to brag about yourself here.  More specifically, if you could include the part where you deadlift more than most dudes, that would be awesome.

Molly Galbraith:   First off… thanks for having me!  I am extremely flattered although I have a sneaking suspicion that you just felt obligated to have me on after you stole the Pina Colada protein shake recipe that I wrote for the Get Fit section of Kentucky Bride Magazine last year.  It’s OK… I don’t blame you… it’s a killer recipe! =)  But seriously I am very excited to be doing this interview.  I guess I will start from the beginning.  

Note from TG:  a few weeks ago, I shared what’s pretty much considered the best protein shake recipe ever stolen invented  Thing is, Molly apparently beat me to the punch.  Little does she know, I’m an avid reader of Kentucky Bride Magazine.  Tricks on her!

I was a relatively athletic child, I did gymnastics competitively from the time I was 7 until I was 12.  The following year I started high school and made the cheerleading squad (yes, I started high school the month after I turned 13… I started early and skipped a grade, so that made me EXTRA young).

I cheered for two years and then decided I wanted more of a social life.   After I stopped cheerleading (or being active whatsoever) my terrible diet caught up to me.  By the end of high school I was a little chunky.  I fluctuated throughout college and ended up at an all-time high of 185 my junior year of college in February of 2004.  At this point I was so mad at myself I could hardly see straight.

I had good grades, worked full-time, fully supported myself financially and had most of my life pretty together, but the one thing I could control (my weight) felt so out of control.  At this point, knowing virtually nothing about training, I hired a local trainer.  I couldn’t afford much, but I trained with him off and on for about 4 months.  I saw small changes in my body, but nothing extreme.

Shortly after that I started dating a different trainer at my gym.  He competed in Bodybuilding and Powerlifting and was relatively knowledgeable and I learned some from him, but the best thing he ever did for me was to introduce me to T-Nation and Muscle with Attitude (the female version of T-Nation).  My love affair with strength training began.

FYI to Readers:  for those interested, one of the better articles I have ever written was on Muscle with Attitude:  4 Things Your Girlfriend Should Know.

TG:  Yeah, much in the same way, when I was first introduced to sites like t-nation.com, my world was flipped upside down – “what do you mean to tell me we don’t always have to do 3 sets of 10 on E.V.E.R.Y.T.H.I.N.G???  And, what are these things you call deadlifts?”

Anyways, tell us how you got into competing.  How did you go from figure competitions to powerlifting, of all things?

MG:  Yes, discovering sites like those opened up my eyes to a whole new world regarding training.  I was able to expose myself to the opinions and ideas of men and women who were actually training people and getting REAL results for a living!  It was awesome!  Plus it helped me develop what I like to call a “filter” for new information.  You know, there are amazing strength coaches from all over the world who are extremely successful and have wildly differing opinions on everything from post workout nutrition to de-load weeks to carb intake to cardio to intermittent fasting.

If you never develop that filter, you will run around more confused than ever, spinning your wheels and changing your philosophy with each new article that you read.  When you DO get that filter, you are able to understand where each Coach is coming from, when their information might be applicable, and then you can use and apply new knowledge as you see fit in an intelligent way and keep what works and discard what doesn’t.

This is why great trainers’ methodologies evolve over time.  If you are doing the exact same stuff you were 15 years ago, that’s NOT a good thing.  But I digress…

Over the next several years I read everything I could get my hands on in regards to strength training.  I also spent as much time as I could in the gym and around people who knew what they were talking about.  I was also very active on several forums and even began training some people in person and online.  During this time I did an impromptu push/pull powerlifting meet (only the pull portion and at the suggestion of the trainer boyfriend) and I pulled 285 with less than 2 weeks to prepare for the meet.

I also competed in Figure a few times over the years although I was never hugely successful in competitions as I had a hard time getting extremely lean and there were certain things I wasn’t willing to do to get there, like taking illegal drugs, eating <800 calories a day, and doing 2+ hours of cardio a day.

Something just didn’t feel right about pushing my body that hard in that manner.  Obviously I have incredible respect for people that can and do push their bodies to that limit… but it wasn’t for me (something later confirmed by my Doctor).

It was after my last competition in 2008 that I gained a ton of unexplained weight and began to feel like total crap.  I was gaining weight, feeling foggy headed and fatigued and very out of sorts.  I went to a great Functional Medicine Doctor and she ran numerous tests on me.  Turns out that I have Hashimoto’s (autoimmune hypothyroidism), PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome) and Adrenal Dysfunction… no wonder I struggled to get extremely lean, right?  During this time I wanted to focus on something other than aesthetics so I turned back to Powerlifting.

I spent 4 months getting ready for the NASA KY State meet in May of 2009.  At that meet I lifted raw and benched 148, squatted 237 and pulled 341.  I was pretty pleased overall considering it was my first full meet and for the 4-5 months before the meet I had been battling debilitating fatigue.

EASY!

About six months after the meet was over I realized that if I were going to get any stronger, I would need to fix my weak links and who better to help me do that than Mike Robertson?  I have been working with Mike for 18 months now and I am setting rep PR’s all over the place.  Hopefully when it comes time to max out again, those will be TRUE PR’s that I am setting all over the place (my goal is to pull 405 raw this year =D).

TG:  Whoa!  I know a lot of guys out there who would kill to deadlift that much weight – and they don’t look nearly as good in high heels as you do!  If you don’t mind divulging a few trade secrets, what does a typical training week look like for you?  And, be honest, knowing that you could dominate the guy squatting to half depth with 185 lbs on his back next to you is a pretty cool feeling, right?

MG:  Absolutely!  Especially when the guy thinks that he’s a bad-ass!  I try not to crush too many egos but there was a guy in my gym deadlifting several months ago and I walked over to the platform and started to set my stuff down and wait for him to finish.  He gave me a look like, “what are YOU doing over here?”  After a couple of minutes I asked if I could work in with him (he was only using 135 and his form was HORRIBLE!).  He said “sure,” and started to take the weight off.  I proceeded to tell him, “Oh that’s fine…you can leave that on.  I need to warm-up.”  He looked at me in disbelief and of course I pulled 135 for 10 super-fast and clean reps and asked if he was OK with going up to 185.

He said yes and so we put 185 on.  He did 4-5 hideous reps and I followed him with 6-8 nice clean, easy reps.  Then I asked if we could go up to 225 so I could start my work sets.  He promptly told me he was done and I could just have the platform.  Thanks Man! =)

Like I said, I don’t do that often… but occasionally it’s fun (and necessary) to put a guy in their place.

Note from Tony: And that will do it for today.  Tomorrow, Molly will go into a little more detail on her current training schedule, as well as discuss some of her pet peeves when it comes to women and strength training.  Lets just say that she’s not a fan of the pink dumbbells!

 

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How to Get Ripped Abz – Hollywood Style (

Note:  I tried to embed the video, but for some reason I’m having a brainfart this morning and couldn’t figure it out.  To that end, you’ll have to click on the link to see the video.  Trust me, you won’t be disappointed!

It’s been a while since I’ve done one of these types of blog posts, so I figured I’d revisit my old blogging roots and have a little fun today.

I happened to catch this story on the FRONT freakin page of Yahoo last night, and just had to share it with all of you – mainly because I know many of you would appreciate the absolute redunkulousness of it.

Okay, if you can make it through the entire video without:

1. LMAO

or

2. Resisiting the urge to set your face on fire.

You win!

CLICK ME

For those who couldn’t make it all the way through, let me recap the entire routine for you:

1. Leg raises — 12 reps, 2 sets each
2. Diagonal isometrics — 3 reps per side, 8 seconds each
3. Breathing exercise 1 — Inhale for 5 seconds and slowly exhale, 3 reps
4. Breathing exercise 2 — While taking quick breaths, tighten, inhale, and exhale, 12 reps
5. Ball crunches — 17 reps

For the record, here are my thoughts on ball crunches.

With that out of the way, I almost feel like this is the type of routine that someone would come up with on a whim.  You know, kind of like when you’re trying to stall someone, but you don’t really know what to say or do, so you just start making stuff up as you go:

“Here, grab this! Swing it around for 37 seconds.  Sing Humpy Dumpty while you do it.   Now, uh, come over here.  Put your hands over your head. Jump up and down on this BOSU ball for 13 minutes and seven seconds .  Feel it?  Okay, so now we’re going to, ummmmm, come over here and blow up these balloons while doing crunches on a stability ball.  68 reps. 

I have a pet Unicorn! Weeeeeeeeeee.”

Seriously, there was absolutely no rhyme or reason to that routine what-so-ever.  How in the hell do you differentiate between exhaling 15% of our air as opposed to 22%??  And, I’m pretty sure that somewhere out there, Dr. Stuart McGill just punched a hole through a wall after watching that disaster.  Worse case scenario, a small piece of his soul just died.  I mean, what ab routine wouldn’t be complete with dedicated TA training and spinal flexion galore – two components of ab training that, coincidentally, Dr. McGill completely poo-poo’s on in both of his books Low Back Disorders and Ultimate Back Fitness and Performance?!

Whatever.  To each his own I guess.  Oh, Hollywood, thanks for the entertainment.

CategoriesUncategorized

How to Get Ripped Abz – Hollywood Style (<----Note the Sarcasm)

Note:  I tried to embed the video, but for some reason I’m having a brainfart this morning and couldn’t figure it out.  To that end, you’ll have to click on the link to see the video.  Trust me, you won’t be disappointed!

It’s been a while since I’ve done one of these types of blog posts, so I figured I’d revisit my old blogging roots and have a little fun today.

I happened to catch this story on the FRONT freakin page of Yahoo last night, and just had to share it with all of you – mainly because I know many of you would appreciate the absolute redunkulousness of it.

Okay, if you can make it through the entire video without:

1. LMAO

or

2. Resisiting the urge to set your face on fire.

You win!

CLICK ME

For those who couldn’t make it all the way through, let me recap the entire routine for you:

1. Leg raises — 12 reps, 2 sets each
2. Diagonal isometrics — 3 reps per side, 8 seconds each
3. Breathing exercise 1 — Inhale for 5 seconds and slowly exhale, 3 reps
4. Breathing exercise 2 — While taking quick breaths, tighten, inhale, and exhale, 12 reps
5. Ball crunches — 17 reps

For the record, here are my thoughts on ball crunches.

With that out of the way, I almost feel like this is the type of routine that someone would come up with on a whim.  You know, kind of like when you’re trying to stall someone, but you don’t really know what to say or do, so you just start making stuff up as you go:

“Here, grab this! Swing it around for 37 seconds.  Sing Humpy Dumpty while you do it.   Now, uh, come over here.  Put your hands over your head. Jump up and down on this BOSU ball for 13 minutes and seven seconds .  Feel it?  Okay, so now we’re going to, ummmmm, come over here and blow up these balloons while doing crunches on a stability ball.  68 reps. 

I have a pet Unicorn! Weeeeeeeeeee.”

Seriously, there was absolutely no rhyme or reason to that routine what-so-ever.  How in the hell do you differentiate between exhaling 15% of our air as opposed to 22%??  And, I’m pretty sure that somewhere out there, Dr. Stuart McGill just punched a hole through a wall after watching that disaster.  Worse case scenario, a small piece of his soul just died.  I mean, what ab routine wouldn’t be complete with dedicated TA training and spinal flexion galore – two components of ab training that, coincidentally, Dr. McGill completely poo-poo’s on in both of his books Low Back Disorders and Ultimate Back Fitness and Performance?!

Whatever.  To each his own I guess.  Oh, Hollywood, thanks for the entertainment.

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Top Exercises for the Rotator Cuff

With spring coming to an end, things have been amping up at the facility the past few weeks with many of our college athletes (old and new) starting to make their way back for the summer.   Some are only here for a few weeks before they head off to their designations for summer ball, while others are here for the foreseeable future getting ready for next season.

Nonetheless, to say that we’re expecting to be busy would be an understatement. What’s cool is that we have guys coming in from as far away as Alaska, Colorado, and even Hawaii to spend their summer with us.  With that, however, comes the inevitable conversation explaining why the “band work” routine their coach gave them as their “prehab” mumbo jumbo isn’t necessarily the best option when it comes to rotator cuff work.

In its defense, traditional band work isn’t inherently wrong (or even bad) – it’s just not ideal given that there are far better options in our proverbial “tool box.”

That said, below are a handful of rotator cuff exercises we utilize at Cressey Performance with our baseball guys, and to be perfectly frank, with many of our regular clients as well.  You’re welcome!

Side Lying External Rotation – with arm abducted 30 degrees

Contrary to popular belief, there’s no need to get all fancy with rotator cuff work.   I don’t quite understand where the notion came from, but it seems that there are a lot of coaches and personal trainers who feel that unless there’s a smoke machine or laser show involved, the exercise is useless.

What’s surprising, is that the side lying external rotation – arguably the simplest rotator cuff exercise in existence – is one of the most effective. 

For starters the adducted (arm to the side) position is a far more advantageous since there’s less risk of inducing impingement.  Keep this in mind the next time you’re working with someone coming off a shoulder injury.

Secondly, and most important of all, EMG tests have shown repeatedly that this exercise induces greater activity in the infraspinatus and teres minor, thus demonstrating that keeping it simple can be more effective.  What’s more, with the arm abducted (slightly) – either with a towel or half foam roller – you place even more emphasis on the rotator cuff since you’re taking the deltoids out of the equation.

It’s important to note, though, that you DO NOT need a lot of weight with this exercise – 2-5 lbs will be plenty for most trainees.  More to the point, it’s also crucial that you don’t go to fatigue (not only with this exercise, but ANY rotator cuff exercise), as you’ll often start to use faulty compensation patterns leading to superior migration of the humeral head.  Put another way:  impingement can occur.

So, in short, you’re not going to be using heavy weight with this one.  Sorry.

Standing Shoulder W

Again, keeping with the “simple is better” theme, this is an exercise popularized by physical therapist and Boston Red Sox athletic trainer, Mike Reinold.  Mike has always done a fantastic job of explaining how we’re a very upper-trap dominant society, and as such, are prone to shoulder ouchies. 

The easy fix, then, would be to pay more attention to the LOWER traps, which are woefully weak on most individuals.  In addition to the above, the standing shoulder w exercise provides a lot of bang for our training buck, combining shoulder external rotation, scapular retraction, and posterior tilt, all of which are beneficial for optimal shoulder health.

The video above is pretty self explanatory – the only point I’d like to stress is that you want to make sure you squeeze your glutes during this exercise so as not to compensate with lumbar hyper-extension.

Rhythmic Stabilizations

Lastly, are rhythmic stabilizations.  Many are quick to say that the rotator cuff’s main job is to externally/internally rotate and abduct the shoulder.  While that’s true, unfortunately, we’re not playing Jeopardy, and it’s a bit more complicated than that.

To that end, while the rotator cuff does invariably play a significant role in external/internal rotation, as well as elevation of the arm, you’d be remiss not to recognize that it’s main function is to simply center the humeral head within the glenoid fossa.  Given the more dynamic nature of life (and sport), this makes sense.

Rhythmic stabilizations are a superb rotator cuff exercise to utilize as it forces the muscles of the RC to fire in a more “functional” manner.   You don’t need to go all Mr. Miyagi, either.  Ideally, you’d GENTLY tap the elbow and upper arm for 10-15 seconds per side, and that’s that. 

We like to utilize these as a “filler” exercise during rest intervals.  After performing your main movement, say, deadlifts, kneel down on the floor and have your partner tap each arm for 10-15 seconds.  You COULD do these on your own, but the unpredictive pattern is the key to the exercise.

And I’m Done

And there you have it – a few of the more popular (and effective) exercises we use at Cressey Performance with regards to the rotator cuff.   Again, this isn’t to say that your typical band work is pointless – but rather, it’s just to reiterate that you don’t need high repetition (fatigue inducing) exercises in order to be worthwhile.   Keep it simple, do it RIGHT, and you’re golden. 

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Miscellaneous Miscellany Monday: We’re Still Alive Edition

1.  Well, if you’re reading this right now, you survived the end of the world on Saturday.  High five!  I have to say, even if the world DID end on Saturday, I was going out with a bang.  Eric Cressey’s “surprise” b-day party (I say “surprise” because I almost let the cat out of the bag the day before like an asshat) was Saturday afternoon, complete with great people and of course, copious amounts of dead animal flesh:  including but not limited to, steak tips, chicken breast, and PIG!

Nevertheless, if the world ended right then and there, I would have been happy.

2.  For the past month and a half, two members of the CP staff, Chris Howard and Pete Dupuis, have been grinding their way through Chad Waterbury’s  PLP: 60 Day Challenge.   For those not quite familiar, in a nutshell, you take three movements – the push-up, lunge, and pull-up (PLP) and add ONE rep every day for 60 days.

Assuming you can already perform ten repetitions, you start with ten and then add one rep each day until the challenge ends 60 days later.  So, for those who are mathematically challenged, it will look something like this:

Day #1:  ten reps each (ten push-ups, ten lunges – per leg, and ten pull-ups)

Day #2:  eleven reps each

Day #3: twelve reps each

All the way to day 60, where you’ll end up performing 69 (<===== LOL.  Yep, I’m immature) reps each.

The idea is simple:  improve your work capacity and get jacked, lean, [insert any word from the brosef dictionary of training here]…all while getting girls to want to hang out with you to boot.  You get the idea.  If not, read the freakin article!

Anyways, Chris has one week left, and I think Pete is somewhere between “why the hell did I decide to do this” and 52.   Now, to clarify, all of this is in ADDITION to our regular training sessions – so it’s not like they’re ONLY doing this challenge.  What’s more, I’ve seen firsthand the results they’ve gotten, and I’ve officially thrown myself into the fire as of last week – albeit, I’m only on day four (14 reps each).

I’ve tweaked my plan slightly, however.  I’m still including the pull-ups and push-ups, but have opted instead to do goblet squats instead of lunges.  My knees will thank me in the long run.

Moreover, unlike Chris (who has been doing PLP as a separate workout everyday), I’m just going to intermittently get all my reps in as the day progresses.  A few reps here, a few reps there, shirt optional.

Once I get up to the 40ish range, on my “off” days, I’ll set everything up as a circuit and perform my reps as quickly as I can.  According to Chris, who again, is in the 60s right now, he can do it in about 20 minutes.  So, this will serve as a great conditioning component as well.

Needless to say, it’s going to make for an interesting two months.  Who’s in????

3.  And lastly, my girlfriend and I decided to go see the movie Bridesmaids yesterday.  Now, under normal circumstances, any movie with the word “Bride” in its title would normally make me sprint in the other direction.  But, knowing that the movie was produced by Judd Apatow (Knocked Up, 40 Year Old Virgin), and not to mention has been getting rave reviews, I decided to risk the public scrutiny (hahahahahahaha – Tony’s walking around with a ball and chain around his mancard) and go see it.

All I have to say is that it was hands down THE funniest movie I have seen all year.  While the media will sit here and say that it’s “uncomfortable” to watch women cuss like sailors, fart on camera, talk crudly about sex, and act like dudes – to me, funny is funny.  I honestly haven’t laughed that hard during a movie in a loooooooong time.

Guys, trust me.  Go see it.

CategoriesUncategorized

Do This, Not That

Note:  the post below links to my latest article on livestrong.com.

Whether your goal is to lose a few extra pounds, increase your bench press, train for a marathon, or just look and feel better, the gym — and more specifically, the part that holds all the dumbbells, barbells and other cool, shiny stuff — is a great place to start.

Countless people already hit the weights on a daily basis, though some may be doing more harm than good. There’s no such thing as a contraindicated exercise, just contraindicated exercisers. Put another way, and using a common example, not everyone can or should walk into the gym on day one, put a bar on the floor and deadlift it. Too many factors — training history, injury history, mobility and postural deficits — come into play that can affect the safety of the move, let alone its effectiveness.

Continue reading HERE for more awesomeness….

Also, on a quick aside:  Eric Cressey turns 30 years old today – which means I’m no longer the only staff member who can remember how cool it was, back in the day, to show up on the first day of school dressed up like Don Johnson from Miami Vice.   So money.

Anyways, to celebrate his official entry into male pattern baldness, he’s running a sweet sale on Show and Go:  High Performance Training to Look, Feel, and Move Better this weekend.

 

From NOW until this Sunday (May 22nd) at midnight, you can purchase Show and Go for $50 off the regular price.  And, since the world is apparently ending tomorrow, if you want to get jacked and hella strong, do it quickly.

 

CategoriesUncategorized

Training the Obese or Overweight Client

Every night I come home from work where I usually sit down, make a protein shake of some sort, defrag my brain for 20-30 minutes (ie: put some light jazz or classical music on the radio), and chillax.  Afterwards, I’ll pop open my laptop, procrastinate, read some miscellaneous stuff, and then start sifting through emails and respond to queries from distance coaching clients and such.

After that, I’ll play catch up on any other “project(s)” I have in the works:  articles, programs, or future blog ideas.  Yes, my life is that exciting.

The latter, however, is what got me last night.  Sometimes I’ll think of a good blog idea from a conversation I had at the facility, or I’ll read something in an article or book and want to elucidate my own thoughts on the matter. Or, much like last night, I’ll draw a blank, start hyperventilating into a brown bag, and ask for help on Facebook.  Before I hit the hay last night, here’s what I left as my status update

Quick, give me an idea for a blog post!

I woke up this morning still not really sure what I wanted to write about, but thankfully, a few “friends” came to my rescue.

One idea in particular which a handful of people suggested – and it’s actually something I’ve been meaning to write about, but just never got to it – is the whole concept of how to go about training obese clients.   Given the popularity of shows like The Biggest Loser (and the inevitable face palm I give myself everytime I watch an episode), I thought it would cool to jot down a few ideas.

The Anti-Biggest Loser Approach

Since this is a pretty heavy (ha, no pun intended, sorry) subject, and one that could easily turn into a full-length article, I’m going to instead write this post in list format and use more of a bullet-point approach.  Basically, all I want to do here is

  • The most important thing you need to remember when training an obese client is that you can throw the rules out the window.  I remember an article that Mike Boyle wrote on the topic not too long ago where he stated that, much to my surprise, there are a few things that he WON’T do with an obese client, namely:  foam roll, static stretch, core work, and single training.

What the What???

  • I know it sounds like blasphemy to say the above should be omitted, especially given that they’re pretty much the staples of any well-rounded program, but here’s some rationale.

Foam Roll:  for many, this will be a workout on it’s own, and will undoubtedly affect the rest of the training session moving forward.  Getting up, down, then back up again is going to be cumbersome for the obese client.  Moreover, and this is something I didn’t think of until Mike pointed it out, it could very well be embarrassing for the client – and that’s something you want to avoid at all costs.

Static Stretching:  much like above, stretching can be problematic.  And, to be honest, as much as I feel that tissue quality and health IS important – when you’re dealing with someone who’s upwards of 100+ lbs overweight, there are more pressing issues to be dealt with and prioritized.  You know, stuff like not having a heart attack.

Core Work:  here is where I kinda disagree with Mike (to a degree).  I think much of the “core” work that obese clients will receive will come from the training in general, so there’s no inherent need to include a lot of isolated core work.  That said, I do feel that exercises such as standing band pallof presses (and the like) are a valuable addition, and provide a lot of bang for their buck with regards to training obese clientele.  Planks, on the other hand, not worth it.

Single Leg Work:  under normal circumstances, I’d place single leg work as arguably one the most important components of a well-rounded program.  But here, not so much.  Think about it, if you’re working with an individual who’s 300+ lbs, that’s A LOT of weight to place on the knee joint, and it’s something that’s going to be far too challenging for them to do – maybe even dangerous.

  • Again, and I can’t reiterate this enough, it’s about showing them SUCCESS and not making them feel like a walking ball of fail! The last thing you want to do is have him or her perform exercises that are too hard or just plain impossible to do, because the likelihood they’ll come back is slim to none.
  • On that note, please, for the love of god, stop with this whole “functional training” mumbo-jumbo.  Having a client juggle oranges while standing with one leg on a BOSU is NOT functional.  It’s dumb, and a complete waste of time.

  • In its place, I’d focus more on basic movement patterns.  You know, things that they’ll actually use in every day life:  squat pattern, hip hinge, upper body push, upper body pull, etc.  Too, it probably wouldn’t hurt to include some basic dynamic movement drills into the mix as well.

So, using a few examples, it may look something like this:

Squat Pattern:  Bench of Box Squat using bodyweight only to start.  In addition, don’t be too concerned with attaining proper squat depth here.  Surprisingly, some obese clients will demonstrate great hip mobility with the squat; but for those who have a problem, just use a ROM that they’re able to achieve and work off of that.

***Of note:  I’ve found that the TRX is a FANTASTIC tool to use when teaching an obese client to squat.  By un-loading their bodyweight, you can easily “groove” an almost picture perfect squat pattern with the TRX.

Upper Body Push:  Preferably, I like to use a push-up pattern here where we elevate the client on the pins of a power rack; or by using the wall.  Whatever works

Hip Hinge Pattern:  Depending on how kinesthetically aware they are, you can use an elevated trap bar, or, go straight up dowel rod against their back to groove the proper deadlift pattern.

If the former, again, use an elevated setting with the trap bar.  If the latter, simply place a dowel rod against their backside, and make sure that they maintain all three point of contact (band of their head, middle of shoulder blades, and sacrum) as they practice the hip hinge pattern.

Alternatively, exercises such as pull-throughs and maybe even kettlebell swings – done correctly – would be an ideal option here.

Upper Body Pull:  Again, this is where the TRX becomes a valuable piece of equipment as it uses their own bodyweight as resistance and can easily be adjusted to fit their current strength levels.   And, of course, we could also implement exercises like standing 1-arm cable rows or band rows here as well.

Dynamic Movement:  Here, we can possibly incorporate simple movement drills like high knee walks, or maybe even something like a modified yoga plex.

Also, you can include things that are more metabolic in nature like med ball circuits, or even the airdyne bike depending how much you want them to hate life (and you).

Putting it all together, a workout may look something like this:

Warm-Up:  walk on treadmill for 5-10 minutes

Pre Work:  X-Band Walks 2×10/leg, Band Pull-Aparts 2×10

A1.  Bench Squats x 8
A2.  Push-Up – elevated on pins x 8
A3.  Pull-Through x 10
A4.  TRX STEEP Inverted Row x 10
A5.  Band Pallof Press – alphabet (see video above) x 1/side
A6.  Overhead Med Ball Stomps to Floor x 10

Perform above circuit for 4-5 rounds (taking as much time between exercises as needed), with 90-120 seconds of rest between each round.

Follow this with either a circuit of Kettlebell (of DB) Farmer Carries, Prowler, or airdyne work for 5-10 minutes.

I could easily keep going, but this is already getting long enough.  And all of this isn’t taking into consideration the diet side of things.  That’s a whole nother ball of wax.

In a nutshell, though, it pretty much gives you a basic idea of how I would go about designing a program for an obese or overweight client.  It’s pretty much the polar opposite of what The Biggest Loser portrays – but I’d be willing to bet that my way will yield better long-term success without pounding people into the ground.

Have any of your own nuggets to share?  Feel free to comment below!

CategoriesUncategorized

Book and Street Smarts

I’m going to let you in on a little secret.  But trust me, it’s nothing as profound as the Governator’s recent admission that he fathered a love child with a household staff member more than ten years ago.   Oh man, I did not see that coming.  Although, when you think about it, now we know why he was always smoking cigars; each one could have been celebrating the birth of another secret child.  HA!  Get it?

Anyways, where was I?  Oh yeah, my little secret.  So, uh, yeah here it is:….I was never an avid reader growing up.  See?  I told you it wasn’t anything to write home about.

When I was younger, “reading” to me was anxiously awaiting my Sports Illustrated to arrive in the mail every week, or reading the back of a cereal box as I ate breakfast every morning before school.   That was about the extent of it.

I remember my 11th grade English teacher, Ms. Hurst, making us read Macbeth for a month, and it was absolute torture.   Fast forward to college, in my first semester, I had to take an Introduction to Novels class, and the first book on the list was Madame Bovary.  I never wanted to fall on a chainsaw so much in my life.  How I made it through that class – with a B no less  – was a miracle.

Admittedly, once I started taking courses that were more relevant to my chosen profession, I didn’t consider reading as much of a chore.  Call me crazy, but for a meathead such as myself, reading about the differences between type I and type II muscle fibers was a heckuva lot more entertaining than George Orwell’s 1984.

All the same, it wasn’t until 2003 that I started reading for enjoyment.  Without getting into the particulars (a certain girl essentially took my heart, poured gasoline on it, set it on fire, then proceeded to stab it repeatedly with a steak knife.  I’m over it, though), by happenstance I came across the Modern Library’s list of The Top 100 Novels, and I decided right then and there that I was going to spend my summer putting a dent into it.

And a Nerd is Born

From there, I was hooked.  I’m not exaggerating when I say that I must have read 15-20 novels that year alone.  Vonnegut, Hemmingway, Steinbeck, you name a classic, I probably read it.   I read in my apartment, on random benches throughout my hometown, and I’d even spend my Sunday afternoons at the local Borders reading, oftentimes finishing entire books without paying for them.  You could say I was sticking it to the man.

To this day, I’m still working my way through that same list.  As it stands right now, I’m reading The Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison (# 19 on the list – I’m not reading them in order).  And by now, you may be wondering what any of this has to do with anything related to fitness.

Well, the other day my good friend, Bret Contreras, wrote something on his blog asking the question:  “Why are so many fitness professionals reading books on motivation?”

These days all sorts of coaches are reading motivational and inspirational books. I’m more interested in reading books and journal articles on Strength & Conditioning or Physical Therapy. Don’t trainers and coaches realize how much knowledge is out there and how little the average person knows? Are we so unmotivated that we have to constantly read books to keep us focused?

To his credit, Bret did go on to say that it’s important to be reading two books at once:  one that’s scientific and related to your field (in this case, strength and conditioning), and one that’s for pleasure or personal growth.   And I agree 100%.

Thing is, though, many fitness professionals (especially those just entering the field) miss the boat entirely, and tend to fall into one extreme or the other.

On one hand, you have those who read anything and everything related to strength and conditioning, physical therapy, corrective exercise, nutrition, so on and so forth.  And that’s it.  They read blogs (hopefully this one), articles, watch webinars, and consider Science and Practice of Strength Training their holy bible.

That is all well and good – and I applaud that.  But at the same time, if you have the personality and communication skills of a water heater, and aren’t able to articulate those skills to quantifiable results with a real, live person then what good does it do?  And this isn’t even scratching the surface as far the pyschology of training.  That is, motivating someone to do what you want them to do.

Conversely, there are plenty of internet gurus out there who couldn’t tell you the difference between external and internal impingement of the shoulder; yet, can sell ice to an Eskimo.  Sadly, many coming into the field are far too concerned with making a quick buck than actually putting out quality information, or actually making an effort of knowing what the hell they’re talking about.

And, while it really has nothing to do with the conversation at hand:  I’m always fascinated by these trainers who look like they couldn’t punch their way through a wet paper towel, trying to sell their latest e-book on how to get jacked and swole.

It’s analogous to the health teacher whom you catch lighting up a cigarette in their car, or the accountant who files for bankruptcy.  Integrity has it’s worth.

Anyways, I guess all I’m really trying to say is that 1) I was a complete tool back in 2003, and 2) you need to find a balance of both book smarts and street smarts to be successful in this industry.  For every book you read by Gray Cook or Mike Boyle, pick up another one by Dan Ariely or Malcolm Gladwell

In today’s day and age, learning how to market one’s self is – for better or worse  – a growing requirement in the field.  Learning how to “sell” yourself and attract (and maintain) clients is an integral part of success in today’s digital world.

By the same token, it’s kind of important to know what the hell you’re talking about, too.  And, it probably wouldn’t hurt to read a classic here and there as well.  Just sayin…..