With it being Veteran’s Day today, I just wanted to give a heartfelt THANK YOU to any current (or past) servicemen or servicewomen who may be reading this. Your courage, bravery, and dedication to keeping us safe is unparalleled – again, thank you!!!!
I don’t really have any content planned for today since a bunch of the CP crew have a shortened day today and we’re all heading down to the South Shore for a client’s wedding. And yes, in case you’re wondering, that totally means I’m busting out my robot on the dance floor.
Luckily, though, my good friend Dr. Mike Roussell just released a FREE webinar yesterday titled,7 Fat Loss Essentials. Now, if that title doesn’t pique your interest, I don’t know what will. Well, okay, it could have said something like 7 Reasons Why Kate Beckinsale Should Challenge Jessica Alba to a Mud Wrestling Fight, but that’s just crazy talk and totally not even relevant.
……but I digress.
I’ve known Dr. Mike for a few years now, and have grown to really appreciate his approach to nutrition. In fact, not too long ago I asked if he’d write up a personalized nutrition plan for my girlfriend before we headed down to Florida for vacation. Not only did he write it, but he aptly titled it The She-Ra Diet Plan. Awesome.
Anyways, Dr. Mike knows a thing or two about fat loss, and I think he provides some useful information that can help a lot of people and provide some great insight as to why many never get the results they want. Check out the link below (dude, it’s free).
I had an interesting conversation with one of our female clients the other day. No, it had nothing to do with why women have such an affinity for Grey’s Anatomy; or better yet, why women tend to do that weird squinty thing with their face when applying mascara. Seriously, I don’t get it. In actuality, it had everything to do with a conversation she (Chris) had with an acquaintance of hers (another woman) a few days ago.
A little back story first, however. Chris started training with us about a year and a half ago. Ironically, she never knew Cressey Performance existed – despite literally living a hop-skip-and-jump away – until one Mr. and Mrs. Eric Cressey moved in across the street from her. After making nicey-nice and presumably borrowing a few cups of sugar from one another, Eric and his wife (Anna) eventually talked Chris into stopping by the facility to check it out.
Like I said, it’s right across the street.
A long-time fitness enthusiast – having been an avid biker for years as well as having hired numerous personal trainers in the past – Chris reluctantly showed up.
I did her initial assessment, and to say she was a little overwhelmed and little out of her element would be an understatement. First off, I don’t think she had ever stepped foot in a facility where there were more squat racks than treadmills. Secondly, it didn’t help matters that there were a bunch of dudes walking around lifting weights with chains attached and stuff, pushing sleds, throwing med balls, grunting, and doing manly things like re-enacting the This is Sparta Kick.
Then, to top it off, here was this big, beefy, obviously way intelligent guy (my words, not hers) telling her that she should nix all the steady state cardio she had been performing for years on end, drop the pink dumbbells, and start training with some intensity and purpose. In short, I told her she would essentially have to do a complete 180 in terms of how she trained.
I remember it vividly. “Give me three months,” I said. “Do what I say for three months, give it your all, and if you don’t see a change in your body, you can punch me in the face…..like, really hard.”
She was down with that.
…….and she did it (not punch me in the face, though. She just did what I told her to do). And has never looked back since.
I know my friend, Nia Shanks, will nod her head in agreement when I say this, but a funny (albeit predictable) thing happened with Chris. Once she started training at the facility and I started stressing to her the importance of getting stronger and how she shouldn’t equate “success” or even progress by what the scale told her, good things started to happen.
Once Chris started noticing incremental improvements in the amount of weight she was lifting, and proved to herself that she could do it, it was like a switch was turned on.
In a way, she was addicted to getting stronger. Every week she would come in and want to put more weight on the deadlift bar, try to eek out one more rep on the bench press, or try to push the Prowler with just a little more gusto. And you know what? She got leaner!
She had done every fad diet, tried every fitness gimmick, hired numerous trainers, and none of them could trump simply telling her to knock it off, put down the yoga mat, and focus on getting stronger.
Sure, we had to make some dietary changes here and there, toss in some metabolic ass-kickery from time to time, but really, she just needed to take a step outside her comfort zone and lift heavy shit.
And, to her credit, ever since, she’s accomplished every goal she’s set out to do.
Deadlift her body weight for reps? Check (and then some).
Perform an unassisted chin-up? Check (and then some).
Be able to fit back into her “butt jeans”? Ladies, you know what I’m talking about. Check (yeah baby!!!!!).
Which brings us to that conversation I alluded to above. The abbreviated version is this: the woman, whom Chris hadn’t seen in a while, and after a few minutes of casual talk, basically came straight out and said this:
Don’t you think you look tiny?
As if, in her own backhanded way, to imply Chris didn’t look normal or somehow unhealthy.
I think Chris would have arm wrestled her right there to prove a point, but she didn’t.
Now, comparatively speaking, given that a vast number of Americans are walking around looking rather rotund (to put it lightly), I guess one’s perspective of what looks “normal” is a little skewed. I’ll give her the benefit of the doubt there.
But I don’t think that was the case. I kind of think the comment – in a way – was a dis towards Chris. Sort of like this acquaintance was a little jealous and was attempting to bring Chris down a peg or two.
All told, Chris has lost 20 (net) lbs and seemingly looks like a different person compared to when she first walked into the facility a year and a half ago. But she’s NOT tiny. She looks, well, normal. At least to me, anyways. She has shape. She has contour. She has freakin muscles!
Moreover, she’s worked her ass off to get the body she’s always wanted, and I kind of feel like this other woman was somehow intimidated – if that’s even the right word – by Chris.
I don’t know, maybe I’m reading a little too much into it, but I’d definitely be curious to hear from any other women who may be reading and get their thoughts on this. So, what’s the dealo? Am I off-base, or did I hit the nail on the head?
I’m going to keep this one as succinct and “to-the-point” as possible today, because well, I believe the information that follows will speak for itself. Two guys whom I respect a ton in this industry – Dr. Mike Roussell and Joe Dowdell – will be releasing FREE webinars this week.
Yesterday, Joe Dowdell, author of the best selling book Ultimate You and owner of one of the most successful gyms in the country (Peak Performance NYC – twice voted one of the top ten gyms in America by Mens Health), not to mention one of the prettiest men I know, released his webinar which goes into detail on how he went about growing Peak into what it is today.
I’ve been there numerous times, and trust me when I say this: Peak Performance is like catnip for trainers. Anything and everything you could ever want – from equipment to camaraderie to atmosphere to Victoria Secret models (totally not kidding) – is there. They’re obviously doing something right!
The kicker? He’s done all of this without offering semi-private training. To learn more, click the link below to watch Joe’s webinar. I promise it’s worth your time!
Okay, I have some pretty cool news to report before I kick things off. Starting next week – November 14th to be exact – we’re going to be re-launching Muscle Imbalances Revealed – Upper Body. I know what you’re thinking: What could possibly be different this time around?
A few things, actually:
New content! Nothing major, but we’re going to be adding a few goodies here and there to up the badass factor of the product.
You’ll now be able to attain continuing education credits for purchasing the product. How G6 is that? I know as a CSCS, I’m due to re-up my certification through the NSCA within the next few months, so anyone looking for CEU’s for whatever certification they have, MIRU can help in that regard.
Lastly, and I think this is the coolest part, you’ll now be able to purchase MIRU in DVD format (picture to the left). In a nutshell, as Dean (Somerset) noted, not only will you be able to listen to my voice in full surround sound, but you’ll also be able to watch me in high def. Maybe even 3D! No diggidy, no doubt!
To help raise a little excitement for the re-launch (again, it starts NEXT week, 11/14), and to show my appreciated for all the support with the product with the original launch, I’d like to give away a free DVD copy. So, for those interested, leave a comment below – with your email address – and at the end of the week, I’ll do a random drawing. Yeah, I’m pretty awesome.
It takes a lot of balls – or in this case, fallopian tubes (?) – to delve into past personal battles, and I give Nia all the credit in the world for throwing something so intimate out there to share with the rest of the world. Many are quick to point the finger at “regular” people, but as Nia poignantly describes, this condition can affect fitness professionals too. Well done Nia. You’re awesome.
Still benching the same weight as you were two years ago? Still only able to see an ab (okay two….with proper lighting) after “dieting” for what seems like forever? Knee still hurts? Are you still wondering why your +1 Shield BoE can’t be traded for an Invisible Cloak spell in World of Warcraft? I mean, WTF, right?
Okay, Mike can’t help you on that last point (nerd), but he does have a thing or two to say about why you’re not progressing in the gym, whatever your goal(s) may be. As always, he hits the nail on the head.
Okay I know the title is blasphemous to say the least, but after you’re done hyperventilating into a brown paper bag, just sit down and read the article and let Dave explain. It’s actually one of the more comprehensive articles I’ve ever read on deadlifting, containing TONS of useful cues and tips on how to improve one’s deadlift technique.
And that’s it for today, folks!
Remember, if you’d like to be entered in a drawing for a FREE dvd copy of Muscle Imbalances Revealed – Upper Body, leave a comment below with your email address.
This past Saturday night marked the end of “daylight savings,” which meant we had to turn our clocks back an hour, and in the process, gain an hour of sleep on Sunday (score!). Although, subsequently, it also means it will start getting dark by 4:30 in the afternoon (bummer).
Anyways, Lisa and I are huge fans of getting up early(ish) on Sunday so that we can get a head start on “life” and all the fun activities we have in store: namely – laundry and grocery shopping. But, just so we’re clear, “fun activities” can be interpreted in any number ways, because doing laundry is about as fun as knitting a sweater or passing a kidney stone in my book. Nevertheless, it’s stuff that needs to get done, and I’d rather do it early and get it over with than procrastinate and wait until later in the day.
You know, when football is on. And naps need to be taken.
So, I turn over on Sunday morning and look at the clock and it says 7 AM, which is really 6 AM because like an asshat, I forgot to set my clock before I fell asleep.
We’re awake, give each other a high five, and with that we both get out of bed, and decide to strip it and gather up all the laundry and trudge down the street to the coin-operated laundry mat.
We have it down to a science, and it’s really impressive when you think about it. While I still haven’t quite grasped on to the whole concept of separating the colors from the whites, Lisa and I are able to load the machines and are out the door within five minutes. Knowing that the timers are set for 25-30 minutes, we hop in the car and drive to Whole Foods, which is roughly a mile away.
There, we like to buy some of our high(er) commodity items, or stuff that we only have to purchase once a month, or maybe every other week. Things like: chia seeds, cacao nibs, ginger, various spices, soy and/or coconut milk, unsweetened coconut, Larabars (when on sale), or various fruits and vegges that are in season (yet on sale). And, too, Sundays tend to be sampler days, so if I’m lucky there are several platters of free cheese out in the open. #Winning!!!
Once we leave the Whole Foods parking lot, it’s back to the laundry mat to switch the clothes from the washing machines to the dryers. I slowly approach the building, Lisa sniper rolls out of the car, and I wait as she does her thing. We have thirty minutes until the clothes are dry.
……and then it’s off the Trader Joe’s to do the bulk of our weekly grocery shopping.
The doors open at 8 AM, and I think we were there by 8:45.
I won’t bore you with the details, but suffice it to say, we heart Trader Joe’s, and we’re lucky to live in a neighborhood which has one within such a short distance of our apartment.
We head back to the laundry mat, pick up the clothes, and we’re back inside our building by 9:30 AM – laundry AND grocery shopping done. What’s up!?!
I say all of this, because we’ve made it a routine. It’s part of what we do. Laundry aside – seriously, I’d rather drink battery acid – getting the grocery shopping done for the week is important to both of us, and it’s something I feel more people need to try to make a habit of doing.
I mean, if’ the (right) food is there to eat, you’re less likely to be tempted to eat for convenience, or worse, order out.
Of course, you then have to take the time to prepare those foods – which is exactly what we do for the next 2-3 hours once we’re home.
I made some homemade apple-cinnamon protein bars from the Gourmet Nutrition cookbook.
Lisa went for broke and made spaghetti squash, roasted butternut squash, apricot squash soup, delicata squash (I guess someone likes squash), roasted carrots, brussel sprouts, and sweet potatoes, and roasted chicken to last us the week.
She then prepared meals for the week and placed all the containers in the fridge.
In fact, I’m pretty sure we have the most diesel fridge in Boston right now:
So, I ask, what does your fridge look like? Is it full with fresh produce (eggs, yogurt, milk), veggies, fruits, and meat? Yes, there’s some bad stuff in there, too – I just made sure to place it in the back (HA!). Or, is it filled with nothing but processed crap?
I say all of this not to showcase my laundry doer prowess (although, it served as a nice segue)….
…..but rather to demonstrate that food prep is kind of a big deal.
Taking the time to buy and prepare foods a head of time speaks volumes for setting yourself up for success throughout the week.
The inside of one’s fridge says a lot. What does yours say?
Yesterday, in Part I, I started things off with some basic spinal anatomy (nerd alert) and then discussed how imperative it was to hone in on any postural deficiencies or imbalances that may be present in order to teach someone to get into a more neutral (ie: normal) spinal position when training.
Today, I want to delve a little more into the coaching side of things, and offer a few ideas/thoughts/suggestions that you may be able to either use yourself or with your clients and athletes.
Before we begin, however, I just have to get one teeny-tiny thing off my chest. No one has perfect posture – ever. Not even RoboCop.
Although, I have to say, after seeing this picture of myself from this past summer (where I was part of the “Expert Panel” at the Peak Performance Program Design Seminar), I come pretty darn close.
Not to brag or anything, but my posture is straight-up PWNING.
Anyhoo, with regards to perfect posture, one of my biggest pet peeves is when trainers spend an inordinate amount of time in “corrective” mode. And what I mean by this is that they’ll take a client through an assessment, whatever that may be, and then proceed to spend 45 minutes trying to correct the fact that their right big toe doesn’t dorsiflex three degrees.
Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s admirable that there are trainers out there who care THAT much to want to fix everything, and they they’re willing to actually assess people beforehand. But, lets not get too carried away here.
At the end of the day people also need a training effect, and in my experience, I can get much more done from an assessment standpoint getting people out on the floor moving around a bit. Seemingly, things tend to “shake free,” and I can better ascertain one’s overall movement quality when I have him or her out on the floor “doing stuff” than just having them lying down on a table for an hour bored out of their mind.
*steps off soap box*
Okay, with that out of the way , lets get started!
When I’m working with an athlete or even a general population client, I’m a pretty hands-on coach. I call it Play-Doh coaching, and all it basically means is that I’m not hesitant to place my hands on people and poke and prod (sometimes drop kick) to get them into the positions I want them to get into. This is especially true when trying to teach neutral spine to someone.
Take the prone plank, for example. Everyone knows what a prone plank is, and everyone does them at some point or another. Thing is, many trainees tend to epically fail when trying to perform it.
That’s intern Kyle you see up there in the picture. I asked him to drop down and get into a plank position that would make me cry. Fantastic job on his end, but truth be told, that’s what many people look like when they perform the exercise. Not pretty! In a perfect world the dowel rod would have three points of contact: the sacrum, the middle of the back, as well as the back of the head.
As you can see, that ain’t happening.
The dowel rod is a great tool because it provides fantastic kinesthetic feedback to the client so that they can “feel” where I want them to be.
Now as a coach, to start, I’d use my hands to “mold” him into the position I’d want. I’d tell him to widen his feet to give him more of a base of support. I’d tap his glutes to get them to fire, as well as his stomach to engage his core more. I’d gently push down on his upper back to get it into the proper position, and then I’d take my hands and place his head where I wanted it to be.
Ideally, it would end up looking something like this:
Much better. Again, the dowel rod is key here because it’s providing all the feedback Kyle needs to feel that he’s in the proper position and to maintain more of a neutral spine.
So, if you’re not quite picking up what I’m putting down, head down to your local Home Depot and purchase a dowel rod.
But what happens if we’re trying to teach something a bit more complicated – like the deadlift? It’s no surprise that I’m a huge fan of deadlifts, as I feel it’s a valuable exercise to learn no matter what one’s goals are.
As such, the dowel rod can be a useful tool in helping to groove proper hip hinge mechanics while simultaneously teaching trainees to pattern the deadlift with a neutral spine.
In much the same way, I’ll have the client place the dowel rod behind their back making sure to maintain three points of contact (sacrum, mid-back, and back of the head). From there, I’ll simply have him or her perform a hip hinge, like so:
Darth Maul re-enactments aside (you’ll have to watch the video to see what I mean. Unfortunately it was cut-off early), if at any point they lose contact with the rod, they know they’re not maintaining a neutral spine. To that end, this is a fantastic drill in of itself, and is something that can be used as part of a general warm-up or even as a filler exercise in between sets.
Taking it a step further, sometimes, and this doesn’t happen often, someone will smoke the dowel rod patterning drill, but when I have them attempt an actual deadlift, they turn right back into Quasimodo. When in the bottom position, they just can’t seem to differentiate between a neutral spine and what they’re back is actually doing.
In this instance I’ll use something as simple as the Cat-Camel drill.
Normally used as a t-spine mobility exercise, I’ve actually used it as a teaching tool to help people understand what it is I want them to do.
Literally I’ll have someone drop down into the quadruped position and have them purposely round their back (like a scared cat). I’ll have them note how that feels and say something along the lines of “feel that? Yeah? Well, stop it.”
Then, I’ll have them arch their back into a more neutral position (camel). Similarly, I’ll have them note how that feels, and tell them that I want them to repeat that same feeling when they set up t0 deadlift. For many, it works like a charm.
For those wondering: sexy tiger is optional.
Lastly, another simple drill that I’ve utilized in the past to help teach someone neutral spine, is to have them place their hands on their knees – kind of like what I basketball player does when he’s tired.
You’ll note that most will automatically maintain perfect spinal alignment. KA-CHING!!! From there, just have them inch down a bit further to grab the bar.
No one said we’re doing long division here, so there’s no need to make it more complicated than it has to be. It’s brutally simple drill, but it works.
And that’s about it. Of course, if you’re a trainer or coach, coaching your ass off is part of the equation. All of this is fine and dandy, but if you’re allowing sloppy form on everything, then it’s a complete waste of time (and you suck at life).
Collectively, between the drills I highlighted in part one, in addition to the drills discussed above, teaching someone how to attain a neutral spine should be within the realm of possibility.
I’d love to hear your thoughts on the matter. And ladies, for the record, Kyle is single. MEOW!
The spine contains over 120 individual muscles, 220 specialized ligaments and over 100 joints.
Cartilage makes up roughly 25% of the spine’s total length.
It can be sub-divided into three main “sections,” the cervical spine (neck), thoracic spine (mid-back), and lumbar spine (lower back).
The lumbar spine consists of five vertebrae (L1-L5), and each one elites roughly 1-2 degrees of total rotation, for a total of 10-13 degrees of total motion. Conversely, the thoracic spine consists of twelve vertebrae (T1-T12) that can elicit 7-9 degrees per segment. Rounding up the numbers, our t-spine accounts for roughly 70 degrees of spinal rotation.
In terms of the lay population: men have roughly 3-5 degrees of anterior pelvic tilt (APT), whereas women generally hang out at around 5-7 degrees of APT.
Sorry to jump straight into hard-core spinal biomechanics talk without buying you dinner first. But there’s a lot of “stuff” going on in our back and this serves as a great primer for today’s topic, which is: how to teach trainees to achieve (and maintain) a neutral spine.
So, what the heck is neutral spine anyways? Well, it’s a bit of a misnomer, because many people believe that a neutral spine means that it’s completely straight, which couldn’t be further from the truth. As alluded to above, the spine has an acceptable range of anterior pelvic tilt; or lordotic curve. Similarly, it also has an acceptable range of kyphosis (or rounding) in the upper back. And, of course, the cervical spine also has a certain degree of lordosis as well.
So, in essence, a more appropriate term might be to say “normal” spine rather than neutral spine, but you get the idea.
Unfortunately due to the fact that we’re a much more sedentary society compared to just a generation ago – it’s not uncommon to hear about people spending 15-18 hours per day sitting in front of a computer – it’s often a challenge for someone to actually attain (let alone maintain) a neutral spinal position. What’s more, it could stem from a multitude of reasons, ranging from either a structural abnormality (scoliosis), a functional abnormality (hyper-lordosis or hyper-kyphosis), or even from a lack of kinesthetic awareness.
My job as a strength coach is to figure out the root cause, and fix it. Like a ninja. Here’s how.
Disclaimer: I’m going to skip over the whole structural abnormality business (scoliosis) because it’s a fairly deep topic and something that deserves much more than just one simple blog post. That said, with scoliosis, almost always, it really comes down to managing the issue at hand and trying not to make it worse. Some can handle spinal loading, some can’t. Some need a little more TLC, others don’t. Single leg work will obviously be prioritized, as will core stability. Moreover, we’re most likely going to be aggressive on the manual therapy side of things which is outside of my scope, and why I refer out to people smarter than myself.
Either way, much of what we do is still going to be covered in the pointers below.
Functional Faux Pas
In this category will be those with just plain bad posture – plain and simple. Here, in order to teach neutral spine, it’s imperative to hammer away at the root cause, which for many, will consist of trying to improve either their hyper-kyphotic upper back, hyper-lordotic lower back, or both! In the end: unless you take strides to improve their posture, neutral spine ain’t gonna happen.
Oh, before I continue on, it’s important to note that the spine is going to compensate. Meaning, for those who have significant kyphosis in their upper back, the spine will often compensate by going into more lordosis in the lumbar spine; and vice versa. So, much of the time, by addressing one aspect, you’ll invariably address the other as well. But, just to cover our own basis, lets go over a few drills for each.
Kyphosis – Upper Back
It goes without saying that some aggressive foam rolling is in order. Mike Reinold actually put up a video the other day which demonstrates how to go about doing this, so I’ll defer to him here:
Once you’ve broken up any trigger points or grimy tissue that exists, it’s crucial to mobilize that area in both extension AND rotation.
In terms of drills that promote t-spine extension, I love the Bench T-Spine Extension Mobilization:
Note: you don’t necessarily need the dowel rod in order to do this drill. I just wanted to show off the guns, I suppose (shrugs).
As far as rotational type drills, the possibilities at endless. Some of my favs include:
Those should be a good place to start for many. And, as a corollary, not only will will most see vast improvements in their posture implementing these drills into their repertoire, but they also see marked improvements in scapular kinematics which will pay huge dividends in terms of their ability to perform any overhead pressing without making my eyes bleed. It’s a win-win, really.
Lordosis – Lower Back
While I should have mentioned this above in the upper back section, I’d be remiss not to comment on Janda’s Upper/Lower Cross Syndrome to some capacity.
Cliff Notes Version? You stretch what’s tight; or, more appropriately, what’s stiff or short – in this case the hip flexors for the lower body. Likewise, you also strengthen/activate what’s weak or inhibited – in this case the glutes and anterior core.
While some dedicated stretching and activation work is in order in the hip flexors (stretch) and glutes (strengthen) respectively, I do feel there’s an often vastly overlooked area that many trainees (and coaches) tend to dismiss altogether.
In terms of dealing with a hyper-lordotic back, I like to take the same path as Mike Robertson and use more of a bottoms-up approach, where I try to teach improved pelvic control through diaphragmatic breathing techniques, as well as hammering the external/internal obliques.
It’s true, one of the main roles of the rectus abdominus is to posteriorly tilt the pelvis, but it does so at the expense of pulling the sternum closer to the pelvis, which, as we all know, is a big no-no (most of the time). In that vein, things like crunches and sit-ups are probably the last thing I’d do with a client.
Instead, and this is something we’ve been using more and more with our athletes at Cressey Performance, you can hammer the external/internal obliques (which also posteriorly tilt the pelvis) with reverse crunches.
Again, here, we can still get all the benefits of trying to bring someone back to “neutral,” albeit without all the drawbacks of performing a traditional crunch or sit-up.
In addition to those, we can still utilize many of the exercises I’ve highlighted here in the past.
And even things like Slideboard Bodysaws would be fantastic options (although, this one can be considered fairly advanced)
And that covers at least some of the things we can do from the functional side of things that will help teach someone how to get to a neutral spinal position. I’ll be the first to admit that it’s not an all encompassing list, and it definitely doesn’t cover all the bases, but it definitely gets the ball rolling. Not bad for under 1300 words.
Tomorrow, in part II, I’m going to cover the coachification (made up word) side of things. Or, to put it another way: sometimes it’s not one’s posture that’s the issue, but rather they just have poor kinesthetic awareness (body control) and are unable get into proper position in the first place.
Check back tomorrow. Until then, feel free to comment below and let me know if this was helpful!
I took the day off from CP yesterday, and had a pretty productive day if I do say so myself. I started things off by sleeping in. It was glorious, and something I need to do more often. I then wrote some programs, answered some emails, got a decent training session in, started a new article for Livestrong.com (on benching!), figured out how many licks it takes to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop (37), contemplated Swiffing the dining room (didn’t happen), helped prepare “fajita night” with Lisa, and then dove into the book I’m currently reading, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. It’s freaking fascinating.
Nevertheless, as is the case most of the time, I’m swamped with things I need to get done before I head to the facility, so you’re stuck with some things to read on your own time. Tomorrow, however, I’ll have some new content for you.
TEASER ALERT: it entails how to coach someone into neutral spinal position. Not only is it fresh content, it’s so clean, too!
This is an on-going series that Nia’s been doing on her site which highlights women in the industry who are well, kind of badass.
Not to slight any of the other women whom Nia has profiled in the past, but this is without question my favorite one of the bunch. I’ve worked with Jen on several projects with Experience Life Magazine (where she currently serves as the senior fitness editor), and have exchanged numerous emails and phone conversations with her as well, so I know first-hand how passionate she is about fitness. She’s legit. And, she’s a FANTASTIC writer.
While not the sexiest topic to write about, Dean does an amazing job of relaying some quality content in a way that’s not only informative, but entertaining to boot.
Note: the link above links to part II of the post – I HIGHLY suggest you click on part I which is linked to in the first sentence.
Here, Brian does an excellent job at helping people step away from the stupid and understand that carbohydrates aren’t necessarily as evil as everyone makes them out to be. As he notes, lumping potatoes in the same category as soda is a bit shortsighted at best. Potato chips and French fries, sure. But potatoes themselves? Heresy!
Sometimes, even coaches need to get coached. This is an awesome summary of Steve and Kelsey’s trip that they made up to Boston for their honeymoon last week. Thanks for the kind words you two!
Note from TG: Some of you might remember a post I wrote not too long – HERE – where I went on a tirade about how a chain in NYC apparently was banning squat racks in their gym. After writing the piece – and punching a wall or two – I was glad to see that there were plenty of people out there who agreed with me, and were just as dumbfounded by something so absurd.
The thing about blog posts, though, is that they’re limited. In reality, their real purpose is to provide a brief, albeit current, snippet (or picture) on any particular topic, idea, or concept that’s rolling around in my brain at that moment in time.
Not surprisingly, I had more to say on the topic, and today’s post links to my current article that just went live on t-nation.com today. It has the same title (what can I say: it’s a killer title), but delves a little deeper, as well as discusses some of the squatting variations we incorporate at Cressey Performance.
