November Archives

That’s right, it’s the day before my birthday. For the record, I wear a size 10.5 shoe, large t-shirts (okay whatever, smedium), and if you’re looking for any other gift ideas, I’ve been eye-balling the Star Wars collection on blu-ray.

…..I also take gift cards.

Truth be told, I’ve never been much of a birthday person.  I mean, I’m one of seven BILLION people in this world, so who am I to think that November 30th is somehow a bigger deal than any other day throughout the year? Come to think of it, though, I do share a birthday with Bo Jackson – so that’s pretty baller.

Nevertheless, tomorrow I turn 35.  35!  To put that into perspective, 20 years ago Goodfellas came out in theaters (but Silence of the Lambs won Best Picture.  Bullshit!), The Fresh Prince of Bel Air was my favorite television show (Blossom was a close second), and I was totally performing my fair share of bicep curls while listening to Gonna Make You Sweat by C+C Music Factory.

In a way, I guess you could say I was pretty awesome for a 15 year old.

Okay, enough with the walking down memory lane business – I’m sure this is just thrilling to everyone reading. Anyways, here’s some stuff to check out that I felt were fantastic reads from this past week!

Core Power, with a Twist – by Tonge Mccor Erotempo of Econazole

For those wondering who the hell Tonge Mccor Erotempo of Econzole is – that’s me; albeit it’s my Star Wars name. Go a head and click the link.  Don’t pretend you don’t want to know what yours is as well.

If you turn to page 57 of this month’s issue of Men’s Health (the one pictured above), you’ll see a quick 15-Minute workout I wrote.  Sorry there’s no link, so you’ll have to visit your local CVS.  That is all.

The Real Reasons You Should Exercise – by Ericka Hurst

This blog post was sent to me by my internet buddy, Juliet, because she felt it would be something I’d think was pretty badass.  And she was right!

I’ve always been curious as to why, when a woman is seen training her butt off in the gym, she’ll inevitably be approached by someone asking “so, uh, what are you training for, a competition or something?”  My girlfriend gets interrupted all the time during her training sessions by either personal trainers or random gym patrons asking her about her program (which I write). She doesn’t mind or anything, and she’ll answer their questions, but it’s funny to think that just because she’s performing a heavy set of deadlifts followed by kettlebell swings automatically means she’s stepping on stage next week.

Why can’t a woman train just to train?

I love Ericka’s comment:  I workout because being weak and mediocre sucks!

Right on!

New Cholesterol Guidelines:  Utter Madness – by Jonny Bowden

Anyone who’s been reading my blog for a while knows my thoughts on cholesterol. I think it’s been wrongly demonized, and feel that the lay public is woefully misinformed.

Here, Jonny Bowden responds to the news that The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute has issued new guidelines on cholesterol, and now advise screening for all children between the ages of 9-11.

I’ll let Jonny take over from here, but suffice it to say, I couldn’t agree more that this is setting a very, very, very dangerous precedent.

How a Chubby Trainer Became the “Go To” Guy Among Dozens of Hardbodies – by John Izzo

I’ve always appreciated John’s perspective on things, because he doesn’t sugar coat anything. If you’re an upcoming trainer or coach, you’d be remiss not to read this excellent post. At the end of the day, it comes down to something Mike Boyle has stated numerous times:  no one cares how much you know, until they know how much you care.

It’s the Monday after Thanksgiving, and I’m back (and recovered from the 48-hour insulin coma fest I put myself through). What can I say: I’m powerless when it comes to my mom’s homemade apple pie.  And don’t even get me started when it comes to stuffing and pumpkin rolls.

Needless to say, it was great to see my entire family and spend some quality time with them – as it is, I’m only able to make it home once or twice per year. But I’d be lying if I said I didn’t spend the rest of the weekend trying to detox my body. Once we made it back to Boston Saturday night, Lisa and I bee-lined it to Trader Joe’s and bought enough greens to feed an army.

Which serves as a perfect segue to today’s dose of WTF.

Last week I was sent THIS (includes video) story from a local news station about a New England area artist, Bo, who’s also a small biz owner behind the slogan “Eat More Kale.” It’s a labor of love for Bo, who’s been hand making EVERY t-shirt that’s ordered for the past eleven years. He even made mine, which Lisa got for me last year for my birthday.

I love it. I can’t even begin to tell you how many times I’ve been walking around with it on, and some random person approaches me and asks “what the heck is kale?” or comments “your shirt rocks!”  What’s more, one time, I even had someone walk past me and throw me a friendly high-five and say “I eat kale, too!”  As if to imply that we were both part of some secret society.

It’s a conversation stimulator if there ever was one. Plus, the t-shirt clearly increases the gunnage factor of my arms, which is always cool.

Anyways, as I noted above, Bo has been using this slogan for upwards of eleven years and he’s FINALLY reached the point where he’s ready to grow and make this thing go viral. He applied for a federal trademark recently only to receive a document from a lawyer stating that “Eat More Kale” too closely resembled that of the fast food chain Chick-fil-A, who’s slogan “Eat Mor Chikin,” clearly draws from the exact same audience (note sarcasm).

Lets think about this for a second. While I’m a clear exception, I’d have to say 80-90% of the people who purchase an Eat More Kale t-shirt are most likely vegetarian.

Moreover, what’s the likelihood that anyone who goes out of their way to purchase an “Eat More Kale” t-shirt would even step foot in a fast food chain?

Taking it a step further, how can anyone claim the slogan “Eat More…..[insert whatever you want here]” as their own?  So, if I were to make a shirt that said Eat More Diarrhea, would Chick-fil-A come after me?????

According to the lawyer, who’s clearly a douchebag to the douchiest degree, Eat More Kale:

“…….is a clear encroachment upon Chick-fil-A’s prior and superior nationwide trademark rights.”  Furthermore, Chick-fil-A somehow feels that Bo’s one-man show t-shirt company is deluding the profits of their corporation.

I just feel that this is probably the most absurd thing I have ever heard, highlighting corporate bullying at its finest, and just goes to show that big food are a bunch of dicks.

Do me a favor, if this pisses you off just as much as me, go HERE to sign a petition that will demand that Chick-fil-A stop being a bunch of a-holes and prevent them from blocking EAT MORE KALE’s attempt at a federal trademark.

Consider it your good deed for the day.

Thanksgiving is right around the corner!11!1!  I’m excited because out of all the holidays we celebrate throughout the year here in the States – Christmas, Valentine’s Day, my birthday – it’s my favorite because there’s no pretentiousness to it. Sure, it’s getting a bit ridiculous with all of the Black Friday sales now starting on Thursday……

But in the end, Thanksgiving is about family, friends, and of course, FOOD!!!

I’m heading into the facility shortly to coach an abbreviated day, and then tomorrow we’ll open our doors early for our annual Cressey Performance Thanksgiving Morning Lift.

Think of it as our version of a 5K Turkey Trot, except instead of running, we’re lifting heavy things.  For a quick glimpse, check out this video from a few years ago – which may or may not include me flexing my bicep at the 0:33 mark.

HINT:  it totally does.

It’s kind of a big deal, with people signing up to attend weeks (even months) in advance.  You think I’m kidding, but I’m not.

Afterwards, Lisa and I will be heading back to my old stomping grounds in New York to spend a few days at my parents house, so the likelihood that I’ll be posting anything from now until Monday is somewhere between not a chance in hell and probably not. But hey, you never know.

On that note, have a wonderful Thanksgiving everyone. Eat a slice of apple pie for me. Actually, eat two!

Today’s guest post comes from personal trainer Jon Goodman. Jon has asked me to contribute on his site several times, and he offered to return the favor. I thought it was fantastic, and hope you do as well.

Trainees Don’t Know How to Learn

Every once in a while I step out of my boutique studio bubble and enter a big box gym to see how the rest of the World is training.

I know what you’re thinking – this is another rant about the evil empire and we need to burn the owners of big box gyms at the stake. (cue Darth Vader theme)

But hold on for a minute, I’m going to take this article in a different path. I didn’t see a whole bunch of meatheads, idiots, goombas (my personal favourite) lifting improperly. Quite the opposite:

I saw people dedicated to training. I saw people trying to get better. I saw people really trying to train the right way. And you know what? they weren’t doing a bad job. Coaches like Tony are becoming more prevalent and I can say with all honestly that mainstream media is doing a better job in giving the public researched information. I pick up an issue of Men’s Health and can proudly say that not only am I friends with but I also have respect for the majority of the writers in each issue.

So why are People Still Lifting Badly?

The majority of folks in the gym and probably every single person who reads this blog want to lift well. The Goomba squatting 3 plates to a 2.3inch depth doesn’t want to lift poorly, I promise you. In my eyes, the problem is two-fold:

1. Trainees don’t take the time to learn exercises properly before pressing beyond their capabilities (kind of like a fitness Peter Principle)

2. Trainees don’t know how to learn

Tony was nice enough to give me opportunity to help. I’m going to solve both problems for you in one with this short article by teaching you briefly about the physiology of skill acquisition and how you can quickly and effectively use it to learn new exercises fast.

Oligodendrocytes, Astrocytes, and Myelin… oh my

Skill is a cellular insulation that wraps neural circuits and that grows in response to certain signals

Hold your breath – Here comes the science talk. I listed a couple references below but I urge you to check out Daniel Coyle’s brilliant book The Talent Code as well.

I’ll start first by describing an action potential. Without it, movement would never happen. When your brain decides to squat, deadlift, push, pull, lunge, or twist it fires impulses to the muscle. That impulse travels along nerve fibres until it reaches a neuromuscular (joint between the nerve and muscle) junction (NMJ). Once it reaches the NMJ a neurotransmitter is released which crosses the junction to the opened receptors on the other side. Once there, the neurotransmitter enables the Myosin filament to grab onto Actin and BOOM! We have a muscle contraction.

The above is an incredibly simplified version of what actually happens but enough for the scope of this article. What I didn’t mention is that the transmission of the action potential travels along the nerve fibre to the NMJ via voltage gated channels. Speeds vary and the signal can leak out. Our body has developed a system of insulation (called myelin) to conduct the impulse better and avoid leakages.

That much has been understood for years. What wasnít understood was the incredible contribution the myelination system actually does.

In fact, myelination is the key to acquisition of skills and the more myelin you have, the better you are at that skill.  In Daniel Coyleís own words:

The revolution is built on three simple facts. (1) Every human movement, thought, or feeling is a precisely timed electric signal travelling through a chain or neurons ñ a circuit of nerve fibers.† (2) Myelin is the insulation that wraps these nerve fibers and increases signal strength, speed, and accuracy.† (3) The more we fire a particular circuit, the more myelin optimizes that circuit, and the stronger, faster, and more fluent our movements and thoughts become.

The precise mechanism is completed by supporter cells called oligodendroctytes and astrocytes. They sense a nerve firing and wrap more myelin on the fibre that fires.

Preciseness

The beauty of the myelin system is in its simplicity. It makes sense that the more myelination we have, the better insulation our nerve fibers will have and therefore signals will get from one place to the next faster and more efficiently.

The last piece of the puzzle is how unbelievably precise this system is. Oligodendrocytes and astrocytes have no idea what you actually want to accomplish. Their job is to line the nerve that fired. Translation ñ If you fire a nerve fiber improperly, you reinforce that habit. To add to it, in the absence of aging or disease there is no human process to remove myelination. This explains why habits are so hard to break. Your only way to break bad habits is to re-learn new habits stronger.

Since Myelin is a Scienfitic Process How do we Do it Right? … or Better

struggling is not an option, it’s a biological requirement

Before I lay out the steps to better myelinate yourself allow me to drop some numbers on you:

1. Neural traffic that was once travelling at 2mi/hr can accelerate to 200mi/hr
2. The refractory time (wait required between signals) can decrease by a factor of 30

• Together that makes for a 3 000X increase in information processing capability!

Personally, I wouldn’t mind being 3 000X better at something. So here’s how you do it:

1. Have a blueprint. I send my clients videos on new exercises and make sure they watch them before I teach them the movement. The first step in learning a new skill is having the proper form cemented in your brain. You should always be able to close your eyes and visualize what an exercise should look like. Put a video of the exercise on your ipod and watch it before and after each set constantly trying to emulate the form.

The better you get at visualization, the quicker you will learn

2. Fail better. Repeating bad habits is a sure fire way to keep your bad form. The minute form goes awry, stop the set, put the bar down, close your eyes and visualize the step you did wrong. When you pick back up the bar focus on your improper step (if possible only practice the one movement you screwed up).

Try ñ fail ñ fail better

Timing is everything

Consider the unlimited possibilities in movement that our bodies possess. Our neurons are unable to coordinate the timing precisely so myelin has taken on the challenge. Think of how many different movements are involved in a basic squat. If 100 nerves are firing to complete that movement all of the different fibres must be timed perfectly to interact with each other within milliseconds. That’s the power of myelin, it’s the timing mechanism. Visualization and failing with purpose are paramount. Thank me later when you lifts dramatically improve.

References

Yamazaki Y, Hozumi Y, Kaneko K, Sugihara T, Fujii S, Goto K, Kato H. Modulatory effects of oligodendrocytes on the conduction velocity of action potentials along axons in the alveus of the rat hippocampal CA1 region. Neuron Glia Biol. 2007 Nov;3(4):325-34. PubMed PMID:18634564

Fields RD. Imaging learning: the search for a memory trace Neuroscientist.†2011 Apr;17(2):185-96. Epub 2011 Mar 14. PubMed PMID:21403182

The Talent Code – Daniel Coyle

Who’s This Jon Guy?

Jonathan Goodman is a personal trainer out of Toronto on a mission to help as many trainers as possible. In doing so he’s set up a collaborative free resource for personal trainers with some of the brightest minds in the industry called the Personal Trainer Development Center (www.theptdc.com). You can also find him at www.jonathangoodman.ca or on Facebook or Twitter.

 

 

 

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past few days, you’ve undoubtedly seen or heard the news that Congress has passed a bill stating that, as far as children’s school lunches go, pizza is now a vegetable.

Well, to be more precise, the tomato paste on a slice of pizza counts as a vegetable. But WTF, right?

Here are a few links in case you missed it.

NPR

New York Times

Fox News

And the list goes on and on.  Every major news outlet has covered the story one way or another, from the Washington Post to the Chicago Tribune, and regardless of where you heard it, if you’re like me, you’re probably resisting the urge to want to throw face through a window.

Really?  Pizza is going to be counted as a vegetable?

I’m just wondering what’s next:  Pop Tarts being recognized as a fruit?

This is an epic fail by Congress.  And it boggles my mind that, even for a second, this is the type of nonsense they’re concentrating their efforts on.  I mean, it’s not like we have a financial crisis, two wars, skyrocketing unemployment rates, and another Twilight movie to be more concerned about.

It’s pretty pathetic and downright disheartening that our politicians are placing the interests of corporate America a head of that of children.

Is it any wonder, then, why Congress’ approval rating has taken a nosedive in recent months?  After this fiasco,  I wouldn’t be at all surprised if Hepatitis C is ahead of them in the polls.  Ohhhhhhh snap.  Count it!

What gets me, though, is that in one of the stories I read, the main argument against healthier food options in school cafeterias is that the tax payers would bear the burden of the costs.

To quote:

This is an important step for the school districts, parents and taxpayers who would shoulder the burden of U.S.D.A.’s proposed $6.8 billion school meal regulation that will not increase the delivery of key nutrients,” said John Keeling, executive vice president and chief executive of the National Potato Council.

The Agriculture Department had estimated that the proposal would have cost about $6.8 billion over the next five years, adding about 14 cents a meal to the cost of a school lunch.

Okay, so what?  14 cents?  Big deal.

I was having a conversation this weekend with Diana Cutia, the Wheelock College athletic director, and she stated that she attended a meeting last week where it was noted that upwards of 50% of FIRST GRADERS in the city of Boston were considered over-weight.

I don’t know about you, but as a tax payer I’d rather suck it up and spend the additional money now to ensure that kids are indeed getting proper nutrition at school – and education: it would be nice if they could recognize that a carrot is not the same as carrot cake – than pay tenfold the amount later on treating a twelve year old with type II diabetes.

And lest we forget, tomatoes are a fruit and not a vegetable.  God, Congress can’t get anything right!

Two important notes before we get started:

1.  Today is the last day you can purchase the Peak Performance Diet and Training Summit at its sale price.  Once the clock strikes midnight tonight (11/19), Joe and Dr. Mike are increasing the price $100, and you’ll be sad.   And while I’m sure many are balking at the price, if you look at it as more of an investment rather than an expense, you’ll see that it’s definitely worth every cent.

2.  Along the same lines, today is also the last day you can purchase Muscle Imbalances Revealed – Upper Body Re-Loaded at it’s sale price of 47% off.  NINE additions were added on top of the already stellar content, and now it’s available in DVD format, too!  Also, for those who don’t know, MIRU is my very first product and I’m damn proud of it.  So what I’m trying to say is:  if you don’t buy it, you’re banned from this site.  Well, not really.  But kinda.

With that out of the way, lets get to today’s content.

Full disclosure:  I “stole” this blog idea from Mike Reinold.  He wrote a similar post a few weeks ago and I liked it so much I thought I’d use it myself.  Trust me, he won’t mind.  I think.

Whether it’s training, nutrition, how I coach/cue clients, trying to come up with content for blogs and articles, or writing programs, sometimes I just feel stale or otherwise like I’m walking in mud that’s knee deep.

What follows are some things that help me get my mojo back.

1.  Have Tony Time.  Okay, get your mind out of the gutter…(wink).  I’ve mentioned this here before, but I’m an introvert at heart. Don’t get me wrong, I love being sociable, but there comes a time where I reach my threshold and I just need to step away from the chaos and have a little “me” time.

Seemingly, I’m “on” all the time.  There are always programs that need to be written; e-mails that need to be answered; clients that need to be coached; articles that have deadlines; and meatloaf sandwiches that need to be eaten.

We close early on Fridays, and since I get home relatively early, I tend to use Friday night as my wild-card night.  Or Tony Time, as I like to call it. Most often, I use it as a night to head down to my favorite hang-out spot and just catch up on some reading.

I may spend an hour reading some blogs:  Eric Cressey, Mike Robertson, Nia Shanks, John Romaniello, Dean Somerset, Lee Boyce, to name a few.  If anything, reading what other people in the industry are doing or what they’re currently thinking about is an easy way to get my own juices flowing.

Conversely, I may just spend my time reading for the sake of reading. As much as I love reading about strength and conditioning, sometimes it makes my head hurt. There’s this really cool bookstore in my neighborhood that’s like a five-minute walk from my apartment, and it’s not at all uncommon for me to walk in, grab a chair, and spend the next 2-3 hours reading the Kama Sutra or something.

Hahaha. Okay, that doesn’t really happen.** But I do spend a lot of time there reading various books, and I always walk back home feeling re-charged and ready to attack the road a head.

2.  Watch other coaches.  I don’t do this nearly as often I would like, but it stands to reason that one of the easiest ways to get out of a rut is to actually go see what other coaches are doing with their athletes. I’m lucky in that I live in a major city with 50-70 schools in the area. As an example, Mike Boyle is literally right down the street at Boston University where he’s the head strength for the men’s hockey team.

Likewise, I bumped into Art Horne, head athletic trainer and strength coach at Northeastern University, two weeks ago, and he invited me to stop by and observe anytime I wanted.  Given it’s roughly a 10-15 minute walk away, I’m totally going to do it.

The point is, try to make a concerted effort to go see other coaches in action.  Networking is something that’s crucial for professional development, and it’s always cool to talk shop with other coaches and pick their brains.

A small piece of advice, though.  You have two ears, two eyes, and one mouth……….use them in that order.

About a month ago we had a woman come in to OBSERVE and I actually saw her attempt to coach one of our athletes out of the blue.

Unless asked, that’s a big no-no.  Not only that, she was all up in every coach’s grill asking questions and just being annoying when the place was jammed packed with athletes. I was thiiiiiis close to asking her to leave, but didn’t want to make a scene. Thankfully she wasn’t there for too long, but it definitely gave some food for thought with regards to what NOT to do when you go observe at another facility.

Rule of thumb:  don’t suck! Go and watch.  Ask questions when the time is right.  And stay out of the way!

3.  Fajita night.  Sometimes I just need to turn my brain off and sit on a couch with Lisa and eat fajitas.  We like to have “date night” every now and again where we make our own fajitas and then pop whatever came in the mail through Netflix into the DVD player.

Who says romance is dead?

4.  Hill Sprints.  Arguably one of my favorite forms of exercise.  No equipment needed other than a hill and a pair of shoes.  And maybe a pair of pants.  Maybe.

Whenever I have a case of writer’s block or just feel like a pile of poop, I simply walk outside and perform some hill sprints, and instantly feel better.

Just exercise.  Just get up a move for the love of god!  Lift heavy things.  I don’t care: deadlift your couch!  Exercise has been proven to improve cognitive function and one’s sense of badassery.

5.  Write s*** down.  For the past 4-5 weeks, I’ve been in a massive training slump.  In a nutshell, I’d show up to the facility, decide what didn’t hurt, and then toss some weight around.  It sucked donkey balls, and my enthusiasm to train was pretty much non-existent.

Given I had no set plan in place, this shouldn’t come as any surprise.  I know, I know………I’m always preaching the importance of having a plan in place.  What can I say:  I was in a rut.

Last weekend, though, I decided to nip things in the bud and actually write down my next four-weeks of programming.  Wouldn’t you know it:  this week has been a SOLID week of training.

What’s more, there’s an old saying that states the easiest way to increase your wealth by $25,000 is to write down FIVE things you need to do TODAY.  Then, do them.

Easy enough.  Write it down.  It holds you more accountable.

6.  When all else fails – Inject Spike into my left ventricle. 

Works every time.

What do you do when you feel stale?  Share your thoughts below

** or does it?

A few weeks ago, in THIS Miscellaneous Miscellany Monday post, I linked to a random CrossFit video that was sent my way from another reader.  I thought it was funny.  I posted it.  I moved on with my life.

Maybe a day or two later, someone by the name of Pete made the following comment – apparently he wasn’t too happy with my facetiousness:

“Tony Gentilcore on the crossfit slating bandwagon! You do realise that a lot of your websites traffic comes from people who got into the big lifts after being introduced to Crossfit? I am one of many who did Crossfit, fell in love with the big lifts and moved on. Training large multi-joint movements is hugely popular now, thanks to them. Like I said, I don’t do it, but laugh when I hear it mocked because nobody can ever give a genuine reason as to why it’s shit, and usually collapse on their ass if they try it.”

My response (with Rocky music playing in the background):

For the record, Pete, I’ve also put videos on this site that have shown powerlifters spliting their pants during a meet, guys passing out while deadlifting, and people failing on bench press attempts, etc……so I don’t really feel posting a (funny to me) video on Crossfit is anything to get all huffy about.  Funny is funny.  Period.

Are there things about CrossFit I disagree with? Absolutely! I’ve personally trained people who were seriously injured following a WOD – in one instance a female client was hospitalized with Rhabdomyolysis for a week – and subsequently started training at my facility instead.

There’s this weird thing called coaching, and we pride ourselves on the fact that we actually teach our clients how to perform movements correctly and not to kill themselves. More to the point, there’s some semblance of individualization with their programming.

For the most part – and there ARE exceptions – CrossFit’s programming is a joke. There’s no rhyme or reason to what they do.

They have awesome attire, though

Do they make people work hard? Yep. But priding yourself on your ability to make people shit their kidneys doesn’t really impress me.

But, that isn’t to say that there aren’t affiliates who do it right. My friend, Jen Sinkler, has written several times on how her affiliate has more of a strength focus, and actually coaches their clients on how to lift properly. Great!

That’s an exception rather than a rule, though.  It’s unfortunate, but sadly the truth.

In the end, I’m sorry if you took offense to the video. Get over it.

To his credit, Pete did respond back with:  A rational and comprehensive reason as to why Crossfit is no good.

I thought so, too.  But lets not throw the baby out with the bathwater here.  While there certainly are a host of things about CrossFit that I don’t agree with, to say that it’s entirely “no good” is a bit harsh.  They make people work hard, they place an emphasis on compound movements, and you certainly would be hard pressed to find a better environment of teamwork and camaraderie

For a better perspective, though, check out this article.

Inside the Cult of CrossFit – Grant Stoddard

I thought this was an excellent piece of writing that gave some semblance of equal weight to both sides of the coin – although, to be fair, it has a bit more of an anti-CrossFit flavor to it.  Read it, and you can decide for yourself.

How to Improve Your Chin-Ups – Charles Poliquin

While I don’t necessarily agree with Coach’s assertion that any trainer who can’t get his female client to perform twelve unassisted chin-ups doesn’t know training, and is therefore a bad trainer – I can’t say that I disagree with the rest of the article.  Excellent advice!

Muscle Imbalances Revealed – Upper Body RE-LOADED – Myself, Rick Kaselj, Dean Somerset, and Dr. Jeff Cubos

Unlike The Matrix Re-Loaded, this sequel doesn’t suck.  In the few months since we originally released MIRU, we’ve received a ton of positive feedback and we’ve gone a head and added some extra material into the mix.

The coolest addition, though, at least in my eyes, is the fact that MIRU 2.0 is now available in DVD format!  What’s more, it’s on sale for the rest of the week at $70 dollars off the original price.  No diggidy, no doubt!

Don’t miss out on this awesome opportunity, and keep your eyes peeled for an announcement of a possible live event that’s in the works for sometime next summer.  OMGOMGOMG!!  I peed myself a little, I’m so excited.

And finally, I stole this video from the Weighty Matters blog, and thought I’d share it with the rest of you because I thought it was awesome.

If that doesn’t make you appreciate the smaller things in life, I don’t know what will.

Last week, both Joe Dowdell and Dr. Mike Roussell shared some pretty sweet webinars discussing a few of their thoughts and philosophies on topics ranging from career success to fat loss to whether or not Kim Kardashian should give back her wedding ring.

Okay, that last one was thrown in there for comedic effect, but if you’re like me, while you found both presentations very insightful and well worth the time invested, you wanted there to be more.

……….A lot more.

Well, as you might have surmised, there is more.  And not just a lot more, but a boatload more.

Did I mention there’s more?

A few months ago, I had the opportunity to travel down to NYC to attend The PEAK Diet & Training Summit in the flesh.  It was two days of Joe and Dr. Mike dropping knowledge bombs and essentially turning my brain into a bowl of gluten free mush.

For those interested, I actually wrote a recap of my experience HERE.

It was a lot to take in, for sure, but it was easily one of the most comprehensive and thought provoking seminars I had attended in a while.

And now, starting today (Tuesday, 11/15), you can actually watch the entire seminar for yourself, as Joe and Mike have just released their 15 – yes, you read that correctly, 15 – DVD set at a sale price of $100 off.

====> PEAK Diet and Training Summit <====

If the sale price alone doesn’t strike your fancy, how about any of the following:

• Did I mention it includes 15 DVDs, covering eleven presentations in all?

• Kim should totally give back that right, by the way.

• 298 page Training manual & appendix (which includes the 650 exercise database, sample programs, and programming templates)

• 286 page Nutrition manual & appendix (including 37 recipes to use with clients, 21 ways to eat more vegetables special report for clients, and more)

• 2.0 NSCA continuing education credits

I wanted to provide some unique content and showcase just how valuable I think this product is for any coach, trainer, or regular Joe out there reading.  So with that in mind, I asked Joe if he’d be willing to sit down and answer a few questions about it.

Enjoy!

TG:  Okay Joe, first things first, you’ve invited me down to your gym numerous times, and you’ve even let me crash on your couch (sorry about spilling that protein shake all over your kitchen counter!) – so while I know you fairly well, I know there are some people reading who haven’t the faintest idea how awesome you are.  Can you give them the Cliff Notes version?  How did you get started in the industry?  Who were (and currently are) some of your main influences?  Why do you have to be so good looking?

JD:  I sort of backed into the fitness industry via the modeling world. I worked as a model, all over the North America and Europe, for about 10 years. As a result, I was always training in order to stay in shape for work. I was looking to get out of the modeling world and do something different with my life. An ex-girlfriend of mine, at the time, was working with a personal trainer. One day, after one of her training sessions, he and I got to talking about personal training. Up until this point, I didn’t know much about the industry and I didn’t even know it was a viable career option.

After a pretty extensive conversation with him, I decided to do some investigating. I ended up enrolling in the ACE Personal Trainer certification course later within a few days just to see if I liked it. After about a week of reading and studying the materials, I was totally hooked. I decided to completely immerse myself in learning as much information about strength and conditioning as I could possibly cram into my brain.

Over the last 17+ years, I went on to take the NSCA CSCS, NASM CPT, USAW Club Coach and another dozen certifications. I’ve attended multiple internships with Paul Chek, Charles Poliquin, Mark Verstegen, Tom Purvis, PT and I even slept on the late Dr. Mel Siff’s basement floor for four days in order to learn from him.

Some of the weekend seminars that I had the honor of attending were given by people like Dr. Vladimir Zatsiorsky, Dr. Tudor Bompa, Dr. Steven Fleck, Dr. William Kramer, Dr. Fred Hatfield, Dr. Mauro Di Pasquale, Dr. Eric Seranno, Dr. John Berardi, Dr. Perry Nickelston, Dr. Craig Liebenson, Donald Chu, Vern Gambetta, Louis Simmons, Dave Tate, Ian King, Greg Roskoff, Gray Cook, Eric Cressey, Mike Robertson, Robert Dos Remedios, Josh Henkin, Mike Mahler, etc.

I guess the point I’m trying to make is that I made it a point to learn from everyone regardless of their ideological philosophies.

As for my looks, LOL, I have to thank my Mom and Dad.

TG:  I know how well-read you are, and it’s abundantly clear (from the list above) that you don’t corner yourself into any one methodology, which is what I dig most about you.  Having said that, Peak Performance NYC has grown into one of the most successful gyms in the country (if not the world) – yet, despite what many current experts advocate, you still ONLY do one-on-one based training there.  I’ve seen the “system” in action, and it obviously works.  How did you pull it off….what gives?

JD:  Yeah, this is a very hot topic in the industry and I guess I’m a bit of a pariah to the commonly held belief that the one-on-one business model is outdated. The bottom line is I believe wholeheartedly that the highest quality of training is provided when a coach is able to work with a single client at a time.

And, before everyone goes bananas, I’m not saying that you can’t provide quality training in a small group, or perhaps even in a larger group, like a college team, etc. But, if all things are equal, and two coaches have the same abilities, and one coach gets to work with a single client while the other coach has to work with 10 or more, who is going to have the greatest potential to make a greater impact on their client? I believe it’s the guy conducting the one-on-one session. I’ve never wavered from this belief and I made sure that I (and my brand) was the best at delivering that impact. In NYC, we deliver the best training results, bar none.

TG:  You’ve trained a wide variety of clientele – from your regular Joe Schmo’s to numerous professional athletes ranging from NBA players to MMA fighters to Victoria Secret models (I hate you).  Obviously, when dealing with such an eclectic mix of people, training variables and parameters are going to change depending on one’s goals and needs. 

However, personally, I’ve found that there are quite a few commonalities (regardless of who I’m working with) when it comes to program design, and I’d be curious to hear your thoughts on the matter.  Do you agree?  Disagree?  It’s okay, I won’t cry.

JD:  Yup, I agree. It’s funny, Nick Tumminello just wrote an article called, “Here are the results to 90% of Your Functional Movement Assessments… Sight Unseen!” Basically, he outlines many of the commonalities between most clients (and even athletes) and I’d have to agree with him. Specifically, I find that most people have the following issues:

• Weak upper back musculature (Rhomboids and mid & lower Trapezius).

• Weak external shoulder rotators (Teres Minor & Infraspinatus).

• Weak Glutes, especially the Glute Medius and Minimus.

• Weak Core musculature, especially in the frontal and transverse planes.

• A lack of mobility in the T-Spine.

• For males, a lack of hip mobility.

• Women tend to need more stability in their hips.

• Ankle mobility issues especially in females because they tend to wear high heels, but I see it in guys as well.

From a nutritional perspective, I’d say about 80-85% of the general population does not know how to eat properly. And, poor sleep seems to be a universal issue.

TG:  So, you and Dr. Mike (Roussell) have been in cahoots for a while now.  What made you two decide to join forces, and can you go into a little more detail on who the Peak Diet & Training Summit is designed for?

JD:  Well, to be honest Tony, I kind of felt bad for the guy. He lives in the middle of nowhere in Pennsylvania; he’s got three kids; spends his spare time at Home Depot and I just wanted to help him out a bit. You know, drag him out of the boonies (i.e., AAA ball) on occasion and get up to NYC for some excitement. J

No, but seriously, Dr. Mike and I connected via some mutual friends in the industry, he is so well respected, and I really liked his philosophy so we started to work together on some projects. While working on one project, we decided that we wanted to do a seminar together and that led to the development of the PEAK Diet & Training Summit.

And, in reality, it’s designed for anyone who’s interested in learning anything and everything with regards to program design – whether it be on the training side of things, or the nutritional side of things.  We left no stone unturned, and I defy anyone to find a more comprehensive product that covers both ends of the spectrum.

TG:  I certainly can’t argue with that!  Although there were many (believe me, I was there), what do you feel are the Top 5 Knowledge Bombs a fitness professional will take from this product?

JD: It’s hard to narrow it down to just five, given there are 15 DVDs (not that I’m bragging), but here you go

1)    It’s all about the client and their goal(s)!!!

2)    How to properly structure a training session. I travel quite a bit for work and it always amazes me when I go into gyms (sometimes for an entire week) and see what these places and their trainers are trying to pass off as quality training. The lack of structure to the training session; the total randomness of the sequencing of exercises in the sessions and they fact that most of the trainers are not even writing anything down is just mind boggling.

3)    How to properly manipulate all of the different acute training variables in order to safely and effectively help your client or athlete get to their goal.

4)    That you need to meet the client where they are nutritionally and develop their habits from there.

5)    There are a core set of foundational nutrition principles that you need to have mastery over in both communication to and manipulation for your clients.

And, that’s all she wrote folks!

Remember, be sure to click the link below in order to take advantage of the sale price.  Considering the information involved, the knowledge you’re going to gain, and the fact that you’re getting a host of additional bonuses – like 2.0 CEUs through the NSCA, it basically pays for itself!

====> Peak Diet and Training Summit <====

 

 

1.  Two weekends ago I had a photographer come out to the facility to take some action shots, in addition to a few heads shots, for some upgrades I’m going to be making to the site in the near future.  In no uncertain terms, I just feel the site needs some aesthetic spicing up (sorry ladies, no shirtless pics), and I certainly wasn’t going to attempt to do it all myself.  Given I can barely run a toaster without breaking at least 17 fire codes,  I thought it was best to contact a professional to come in and do her thang.

Luckily, I was able to touch base with one of my girlfriend’s past colleagues who happens to own a camera (score!), and who also happens to run her own sports photography business (double score!).

Warning her a head of time that I was pretty much the most un-photogenic person this side of that kid from the movie Mask, Kim showed up with all of her gear and I basically just followed her lead for the next two hours.

I busted out my iPod, flipped to my “When Hip Hop Didn’t Suck” playlist (all 90s rap), and we went to work.  We took several “action” shots of me deadlifting (exhibit A to the left <——-) where she played with various lighting and camera angles.

In addition to that, we also decided to take some shots of me pushing the Prowler, thinking that that may serve as a cool background header for the site.  When Kim sent me some of the principal photography over the weekend, I was floored with the effects she added.

Who’s Faster:  Me or the Millennium Falcon?

All in all, it was an awesome experience.  Kim did an amazing job, and I can’t wait to see everything that she sends me.  So, um, yeah……be on the lookout for some cool changes to the site soon (wink wink, nudge nudge).

2.  Almost without fail, on a weekly basis I’ll have one of our athletes walk up to me and ask how (s)he can go about improving their vertical jump.  It’s a dicey question because, as with most anything, the answer is going to be “it depends.”

Most of the time my answer is simply “get stronger,” as maximal strength is the foundation for every other strength quality imaginable.

In terms of any plyometric and/or jump training – it comes down to strength.  Simply put:  you can’t have things like agility, power, endurance, strength endurance, and the like without first having a base of strength to pull those other qualities from.  Strength is the basis of everything.  Without it, you can perform all the ladder drills, sprinting drills, jumping drills, and agility training you want, it’s really not going to mount to much.

It’s akin to giving your 1994 Honda Civic (as an example) a sweet paint job, some spoilers, Mag tires, and a sound system that makes your ears bleed in the hopes that, by doing so, it will win the Daytona 500.   Unless you actually do something about increasing the horsepower of the car, you can add all the bells and whistles you want, it probably ain’t gonna happen.

Interestingly, Mike Reinold put up a post today that dives a little more into the topic, but addresses it more from a “should we stretch or not stretch?” standpoint.  Not that this will surprise many of the trainers and coaches reading, but it seems that static stretching before attempting an explosive movement is, well, dumb.

Check it out HERE.

3.  I received a question the other day asking me what I felt was the biggest training mistake that intermediate lifters make.  It’s a simple question, for sure, but not an easy one to answer since there are so many variables that come into play.  I’m sure if I put more thought into it, I could up with something more sexy, but at the top of my head here it is:

You’re not that special.

I know that despite what your mom told you, this may come across as a little harsh, but it’s true.  Seriously, you’re not that special.

The thing about intermediate trainees (not all of them, mind you) is that, while they’re past the beginner “why should I deadlift when I can curl in the squat rack” phase, many feel as if they’re more advanced than what they really are.  I’ve had people in the past who couldn’t even squat 1x their body weight for reps proceed to ask me when they could start adding chains into the mix.

Likewise, I’ve had people who couldn’t even perform a proper push-up, approach me to ask whether or not they  should start implementing some Russian sub-prime utilization pseudo wave loading bench specialization program.  You know, to blast their pecs.

This isn’t to say that there aren’t any intermediate trainees out there who could (and maybe should) utilize more advanced protocols.  All I’m saying is that perfecting the basics is almost always the safest – and most effective – course to take.

For beginners it’s about learning the basics.

For intermediates, however, it’s about solidifying the basics.

4.  I’m pretty sure anyone who went and saw Adam Sandler’s new movie this weekend – Jack and Jill – are most likely still dead inside.

0% rating on Rottentomatoes.com.  Just sayin……

Conversely, if you’re looking for a good movie to watch, I’d highly recommend Martha Marcy May Marlene.

I’m not going to lie – it’s DARK and contains some fairly explicit material that might not sit well with a lot people.  But then again, what do you expect from a movie about a cult and the ramifications it has on a young girl’s life?

It’s good, though.  You might be depressed as shit for like ten minutes afterwards, but it’s a movie that makes you think (and I like those kind).  If it’s playing near you, I’d highly recommend it!

5.  And finally, here’s a video of CP athlete, Becca R, who’s been training with us since she was in 8th grade (she’s now a junior), performing supine barbell bridges with 345 lb on the bar for eight reps!!! 

Take that fellas.

Becca trains for two reasons:  1) to prepare for the softball season, and as a result, possess the ability to throw a ball through a cement wall and 2) because she’s absolutely addicted to getting stronger.

I think the ladies over at Girls Gone Strong would be proud.