CategoriesUncategorized

Miscellaneous Miscellany Monday: The New Rules of Lifting for Life, Bully, Are (Some) Doctors Shady?

1.  A few weeks ago while Lisa and I were doing out grocery shopping in Trader Joe’s, one of their employees – a cool dude – approached me and asked a few questions on working out. It was a small chat, really, but at the same time he was genuinely interested to hear what it is that I do to look the way I do.

Note:  I’m not saying this to sound conceited, so hope it doesn’t come across as such.  My GF will the first one to tell you that I’m always embarrassed whenever this happens, and that I’m probably the worst person when it comes to accepting compliments.

“I’ve been working out for a while, but I’m just not seeing the results I want,” he noted.

“Well, what do you do?” I replied.

“You know, I run a little, do some yoga, and I have a few dumbbells at home I use throughout the week.”

“Do you lift anything heavy?” I said.

“I read Men’s Health, and I do a few of their ab routines.”

“Okay cool, but do you lift anything heavy?”

[Crickets Chirping]

This is where I want take the time to thank both Lou Schuler and Alwyn Cosgrove and possibly name my first born after them, because their New Rules of Lifting series has literally saved me countless hours of talking over people’s heads.

New Rules of Lifting

New Rules of Lifting for Women

New Rules of Lifting for Abs

Rather than stand there and try to explain to people why performing endless hours of steady state cardio may be making them fatter, I can just tell them to go buy the book.

Don’t believe me that crunches are probably the least effective ab exercise?  Go buy the book.

Still think you’re going to get big and bulky if you lift anything over 10 lbs?  Get the book.

You’re lost when it comes to setting up a beginner workout routine?  Get the book.

Need a can opener in a pinch?  Get the book!

These books have done more for fitness and have helped improve the quality of information available to the lay public more than anything I can think of at the moment.

And with that, in case you missed it last week, their new book in the series, The New Rules of Lifting for Life is now available, and it’s awesome.

THANK YOU LOU AND ALWYN!!!

2.  I’m a huge fan of documentaries.  Recently, I’ve been streaming The War, Ken Burn’s opus to the greatest generation, on Netflix, and it’s absolutely fascinating.  My grandfather – who sadly died when I was young – was at Pearl Harbor when it was bombed back in 1941.  I remember my mother showing me old pictures of him in uniform, and just being in awe that someone who played a role in making me was involved in such an historic event, and was a hero.

I’ve always been drawn to WWII.  In fact, I was a history major at one point in college and took classes like Hitler and Nazi Germany. Totally not kidding.  As you can imagine, I was a major hit with the ladies. Don’t even ask me what would happen when I started talking about the Maginot Line.

Anyways, I’m getting off track. Suffice it to say, I like documentaries because I feel it’s an opportunity to learn something I otherwise never would have in the first place.

I mean, who knew penguins marched!?!

Recently I’ve been reading a lot about the documentary, Bully –

I have to say, this one really hit home for me.  Not that I was bullied back in the day or anything, but it definitely resonated with me in the sense that it was heart wrenching to watch. If it were up to me, Bully would be required viewing for any kid in middle and high school.  Do yourself a favor and go see it.

3.  My buddy Sirena Birnal – a fantastic personal trainer here in Boston – recently wrote about the merits of sprinting and badonkadonk shaping (my words, not hers). Check it out HERE.

Feeling motivated after reading it, Lisa and I returned to our hold stomping grounds – Harvard stadium – to do some sprinting ourselves.  We kept it simple yesterday, only performing 10 total sprints with about 60 seconds rest in between, but it was awesome to get outside and move around a little.

I’ve been feeling pretty frustrated with my training as of late, and I chalk it up to the fact that I’m just not moving as much as I used to.  Sure, I’m still training upwards of four times per week, and I’m on my feet most days coaching clients, but I’m definitely not as active as I used to be, which is completely my fault

It’s something I want to discuss more down the road – even I’m not impervious to getting into a training rut – but for now, it’s a great feeling to have a fire under my ass again.  Literally and figuratively.

4.  A few weeks ago, Adam Bornstein wrote an eye-opener titled The Most Dangerous Diets Ever.  Predictably, it caused quite a stir and some people went out of their way to defend specific ones that he threw under the bus. One diet in particular – the HCG Diet – was of particular interest and seemed to get the most play.

Now, I’ve noted in the past how I’m not a fan of this diet.  Call me crazy, but I find it ludicrous that anyone would think that injecting themselves with hormones (very expensive hormones, no less) while following a 500-800 kcal per day regimen – even if it’s under the supervision of a physician – is a “healthy” endeavor.

What I found interesting was that there were several people who claimed it was perfectly healthy because their doctor said it was.

This prompted me to post a Tweet where I said, “I’m sorry, but just because ‘your doctor said so’ doesn’t mean you’re right.”

I mean, there was a time where doctors advocated that people smoke for the health benefits.  True story.

I’m not saying that ALL fall under this umbrella – there are undoubtedly many superb primary care personnel out there – but I find it hard to believe that any doctor would advocate this diet without some monetary kickback or incentive.  It’s a lot easier to tell someone to drop $1500 on hormone injections than teach them proper eating and lifestyle habits, I suppose.

Then again, doctors don’t necessarily practice health and wellness, they practice medicine. If you present with a symptom, they’re going to treat that symptom with medicine. So, I guess I can’t fault those who do advocate this diet. Most get two weeks of course work in nutrition – max – during medical school.  Many think apple juice is the same thing as an apple!

So, just to throw a “feeler” out there: what does everyone else think on this matter?  Am I off base?

Waits for the hate mail……..

CategoriesUncategorized

Stuff to Read While You’re Pretending to Work: 4/27/12

The Pitfalls of Progressive Overload – Bret Contreras

I love articles that are straight to the point and offer personal perspective from the author. This was a fantastic article by Bret showcasing that you don’t HAVE to go on the “all you can eat” diet in order to get stronger.

“Pick your ideal weight and try to be as strong as possible at that weight”

Words of wisdom from my boy Bret.

If nothing else, read the article to see a picture of Bret when he was fat. Classic (and an awesome way to make a point).

Q and A: How to Write Resistance Training Programs, Part 2: Coaching – Steve Reed

The key word in that title?  COACHING!!!!!!

The only way to get good at something – anything! – is to actually do it. A lot.

Like, all the time.

I’m reading a fantastic book right now called Bounce: Mozart, Federer, Picasso, Beckham, and the Science of Success, which, much like it’s predecessors Outliers and Talent is Overrated, hammers the point that PURPOSEFUL practice (10,000 + hours to be exact) is the key to success.

The Beatles didn’t become THE Beatles overnight.  Likewise, Bill Gates certainly didn’t become a kazillion-bajillionaire in a week.  In both scenarios, it came down to unique circumstances, and PRACTICE!

More to the point, in this post Steve notes that the reason he’s able to write such effective programs is because he’s failed numerous times in the past, but consistently continued to PRACTICE writing more of them and then applying them to real people.  In a sense:  he’s learned to coach his ass off, which is something I wish more trainers and coaches would learn to grasp.

Why Women SHOULD Lift Like a Man: Part I – Al Painter

As the titles implies, ladies:  there’s no reason why you can’t train “like a man.”  Here Al does a fantastic job dispelling some of the common myths that women tend to fall prey to:

– You have to do more cardio to burn fat

– Crunches flatten the abs

– You can spot reduce

– It’s impossible to spend less than 30 minutes in the bathroom when getting ready for A.N.Y.T.H.I.N.G

Okay, that last one was an LOL added in by me. But nonetheless, the overall message is something that I feel is important to highlight, and needs to spread like wildfire.

Ladies:  it’s okay to lift (heavy) weights and to step away from the Pilates class/not buy those pair of shoes that you can’t afford even though they’re on sale.

CategoriesUncategorized

Lessons From Mike Boyle

I remember when I first met Mike Boyle back in the fall of 2005.  Eric Cressey and I drove to New Haven, CT to meet up with Alwyn Cosgrove who was in town speaking at some conference that weekend. Having been following Alwyn for a few years up to that point, I was pretty excited to finally meet him in person, shake his hand, and introduce myself.

Funnily enough, I had just started getting my name out there with a few articles I had written (I think I had like three or four making their way around the internet.  Don’t look for them.  They suck.), and as it happened, during that time I was OBSESSED with the show Alias, and subsequently it’s star, Jennifer Garner.

One of my “trademarks” with every article I wrote back then was to somehow incorporate a picture of Jennifer\ Garner in all of her Jennifer Garnerness.

Yeah, I was cool like that.

Keep that in your back pocket.  It will all make sense in a minute.

Anyways, Eric and I walk into the pub (I know weird:  Alwyn Cosgrove in a pub of all places) to meet up with the man himself. Now, mind you, I had never met Alwyn in person and he was kind of a big deal, even back then. I was just a teeny, tiny bit nervous.

We walk in and Alwyn was standing there with two other people.  One a strikingly attractive blonde woman, and the other, some bald dude with glasses.

I shook Alwyn’s hand and introduced myself as Tony Gentilcore.

Alwyn looked at me inquisitively, like he recognized my name, tilted his head and said, “aren’t you the guy who’s like obsessed with Jennifer Garner?”

My first thought was, “holy shit, Alwyn Cosgrove has read some of my articles!!!!!”

He then pointed to the blonde woman and said, “this is Valerie Waters, Jennifer’s trainer.”  My jaw dropped.

Alwyn then turned to me, right in front of Valerie, and said: “just an FYI:, you’ll never, ever, ever, never, ever have a shot in hell with Jennifer Garner.”

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

And that’s how I met Alwyn Cosgrove.

Oh, and about that other guy who was standing there. The bald guy with glasses?  That was Mike Boyle.

I’m embarrassed to say that at the time, I had no idea who he was.  Epic fail on my part, I know.  What can I say?  I was wet underneath the ears, and didn’t know any better.

On the way home, Eric quickly pointed out that Mike was also kind of a big deal. Suffice it to say, later on, I looked him up, ordered his book Functional Training for Sport…………..and the rest, as they say, is history.

In the years since, like many other fitness professionals out there, Mike has been a huge influence on me as a coach (and as a person). I’ve read just about everything he’s ever written, watched every DVD he’s produced, and I’ve listened to him speak countless times.  And no matter what:  I ALWAYS learn something that makes me better.

That said, with the release of Functional Strength Coach 4.0, I thought I’d pay homage to someone who’s undoubtedly been a huge mentor to me. Of course, trying to narrow this list down to a select few nuggets of awesome is like trying to narrow down all the reasons why I love Star Wars, boxed cereal, or even the smell of gasoline (don’t judge).

Regardless, I’m going to give it a go anyways.

No one cares how much you know, until they know how much you care

Coach Boyle is the king of one-liner knowledge bombs, and this one pretty much takes the cake.

When I first started out this industry, I made it my mission to demonstrate to potential clients how smart I was.  To do so, my objective was to prove to each and every one of them why what they were doing was completely wrong, and why I was right.

Me, me, me, and me.  You’re wrong, I’m right.  End of story.

I’d go into detail on why scapulohumeral rhythm was effecting their shoulder; why preventing shear load on the spine was important; and maybe even go as far as to say how lack of pinky-toe dorsiflexion was effecting their gait.

Wanna know what happened?  I lost clients.  They didn’t give a rats ass how much I knew, because I didn’t make a concerted effort to LISTEN TO THEM and to show them that I actually cared about them as a human being.

Ask your clients how their day was. Ask then how their kids are doing in their respective sports.  Send them articles you read that you feel applies to them and their specific needs (this is huge!), send them a “Happy B-day” message on Facebook, send them an email to touch base when they haven’t been in to train in a while.

Once you demonstrate that you actually care, you’ll have clients for life.

That Joint by Joint “Thing”

I’d argue that no one concept as infiltrated the industry – and revolutionized it –  more so in the past 5-10 years than the Joint-by-Joint Approach to Training popularized by both Coach Boyle and Gray Cook.

Stated simply: some joints generally need to be trained with stability in mind (knee, lumbar spine, etc), while conversely some joints generally need to be trained with mobility in mind (ankle, hips, t-spine, etc).

While straightforward in nature – that the body is just a stack of joints – it’s important because it feeds very well into many of the imbalances and dysfunctions that we see in our athletes and clients and how we’ll go about addressing (and correcting) those issues.

As Boyle notes himself:  “I think the injuries we see and technical problems we encounter with many lifters relate closely to proper joint function or more appropriately to joint dysfunction.”

Take the knee for example.  Almost always, whenever someone walks in with a history of chronic knee pain, I will undoubtedly look at both the ankle and hip region first.  When we lack ankle dorsiflexion, and likewise, have hips that require a crowbar to un-glue – both joints that require mobility – the knee(s) are going to be like “WTF.” Definitely not an ideal scenario for a joint that wants to be stable.

In short:  when we lack gross mobility in one particular area, the body is going to seek it elsewhere – oftentimes resulting in an ouchie.

Moreover, it forces people to think of the body as more of a kinetic component, rather than JUST individual “muscles.”

The Joint-by-Joint approach – while not absolute – has definitely help pave the way for how we as professionals approach program design, as well as address many postural issues and asymmetries.

I know it’s helped me tremendously.

Integrity

I had the opportunity to hear Martin Rooney speak a few years ago. He talked briefly about integrity, and how many of us in the fitness industry have no clue what that entails.

To prove his point, he told a quick story involving a wise man, a little boy, and his mother. (Stick with me here, I promise this isn’t some cheesy joke.)

“I can’t get my little boy to stop eating sugar,” the mother said to the wise man. “Please help me.”

“Come back and see me in two weeks,” the wise man said.

With a quizzical look on her face, the mother reluctantly walked away. Two weeks later, she brought her son to see the wise man.

“Stop eating sugar,” he said to the little boy.

“Why did we have to wait two weeks for that?”

“Because,” the wise man said, “I myself had to stop eating sugar.”

That’s integrity. You can’t ask your clients to follow your advice if you don’t follow it yourself.

A few years ago Mike made a splash in the industry when he noted that he no longer includes (bilateral) squats in his programming.

I was there, in the flesh, while he was filming Functional Strength Coach 3.0, when he said that he was contemplating omitting squats, entirely, from his programs.  All I could think about when he said that was……..Oh no he didn’t!?!?!

The seemingly apocalyptic tenor that followed, from strength coaches, personal trainers, and various other fitness professionals alike was almost deafening.

How could Mike state something so ludicrous!  So insane!  No squats? Like, ever?  What’s next…….kicking a baby seal in the face?

The thing is:  he backed it up with a clear, concise, and rationale explanation as to why he was doing it.  What’s more, his athletes still got bigger, faster, and stronger……with minimal games missed due to injury.

You can’t really argue with that.

Did I agree about the whole not squatting thing?  Not necessarily.  But I have to respect his integrity and the fact that he stuck to his guns and proved many naysayers wrong.

I know a lot of professionals who write e-books, yet don’t even follow their own advice. Heck, I know some trainers who train people but don’t even workout themselves! Some don’t even have any clients!

I can’t fault anyone for wanting to make money, but when one’s integrity is compromised, is it really worth it?

While I could sit here and come up with 101 more ways why Mike Boyle has been such an influence on me, I think those are three that stand out the most.

If you’ve never read or watched anything from Mike – or even if you have – I’d highly recommend checking out Functional Strength Coach 4.0, which is Mike’s latest installment in his on-going FSC series.  It’s over TEN hours of his most recent thoughts and opinions on programming, facility design, and professional development, to name a few.

In all, it’s an inside look at what he’s doing – TODAY – with his own athletes and clients.  If you’re a personal trainer or strength coach, or just someone who likes to lift heavy things, this would be an excellent addition to your S&C library.

NOTE:  Coach Boyle has offered to host a live online ‘no holds barred’ Q&A for *everyone*
who purchases FSC4 by Friday April 27. If you’re the kind of coach who is always learning then you probably don’t need the extra motivation, but it’s still a nice addition to an excellent program!

—-> Functional Strength Coach 4.0 <—-

CategoriesStrength Training

Big Without Strong is Nothing

In keeping with the “back to basics” theme from yesterday, here’s my latest article published on T-nation.com which served as more of “rant” piece than anything else.

It’s pretty awesome.  You should check it out.

I’m a strength coach. I spend much of my day making people bigger, faster, and stronger – with a heavy emphasis on the latter.

I love the effect something as simple as getting stronger has on the human body. Performance improves while imbalances fade, and with time a slow, brittle physique is replaced by something stronger, faster, more athletic, and seemingly forged from titanium alloy.

Not to mention, more muscular – which is why a small piece of my soul dies every time I hear something like, “Getting strong isn’t really important to me, I’d rather just look strong.”

I understand the aesthetic bias we have as a society, and that having a six-pack is higher on many trainee’s priority list than how much weight they can deadlift.

But one of the things I take pride in as a coach is my ability to keep things simple, so for all you lifters with iPhones filled with shirtless bathroom pictures, let me state this as simply as I can:

It’s imperative to build a solid base of strength in order to build mass. And if you train for strength – and don’t eat like a moron – the aesthetics you crave will undoubtedly follow.

I doubt you’ve seen many guys who bench 405 or squat 500 that are small. On the other hand, walk into just about any commercial gym and you’ll see loads of 150-pound dudes running the rack on curls and performing drop sets of triceps pushdowns.

What good is a six-pack and veiny 14-inch arms if you can’t deadlift your way out of a wet paper bag and your waif-like body resembles something that would get crushed against the wall by a surging crowd of angst-filled teenaged girls at an Avril Lavigne mall appearance?

If you’re a newbie (or even someone who’s been training for a few years and just not happy with the end results), this article will serve as a reminder to focus on the basics, get strong, and steal a page from Ms. Lavigne and stop making things so complicated!

Continue Reading….. (<—– 8/10 dentist recommend it)

CategoriesStrength Training

The Reasons You’re Not Getting Stronger

Today I’d like to share a guest post I wrote for a really cool website….Greatist.com. As the name suggests, it’s a site dedicated to helping people become “great” by providing some of the best health and fitness information on the internet.  I was contacted by one of their higher ups a few weeks ago asking if I’d be interested in writing a little sumthin sumthin, and this is what I came up with. 

It was an absolute honor and I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it!

NOTE:  I’d love to show the peeps at Greatist.com that my army of Gentilcorians is a loyal bunch.  Once you visit the site and read the actual article, please, please, please share it with your friends by clicking the “Share” button or re-Tweeting it.  I’ll love you, like forever if you do.

If I had to make a list of things that really annoy me, it would be as follows:

1. “Twilight.”
2. People who don’t turn right on red.
3. People who don’t prioritize getting stronger.

As a strength coach this last one is what really gets me irritated, and for good reason. To be blunt: Strength is kind of a big deal. It’s what allows us to pick up that bag of groceries off the floor without blowing our back out; it’s what keeps us from getting injured on the playing field (whether a professional athlete or weekend warrior); and it’s undoubtedly the foundation behind many of the “qualities” we’re chasing in the weight room (be it speed, agility, power, or just looking good with our clothes off).

Unfortunately for some, despite knowing better, and despite their best efforts, they’re just not getting stronger. No matter what routine they follow or how many days per week they hit the iron, they’re just not getting any results — frustrated they’re still using the same weight now as they were weeks (if not months) prior.

Click to continue reading……

CategoriesUncategorized

Mark Your Calander: PTDC Hybrid Training Seminar!!

June is looking to be an epic month.  For starters, as mentioned a few weeks ago, I’m going to be heading to Edmonton, Canada on the weekend of June 2nd to join the rest of the Muscle Imbalances Revealed – Upper Body crew for the Spinal Health and Core Training Seminar.

We’re looking to keep this to more of an “intimate” setting – I’m bringing the wine and Best of Sade cd – in an effort to give all the attendees first-hand access to all the coaches speaking…so spots are VERY limited. Even still, we’re going to be offering a gulf of information with regards to anything and everything dealing with core training and spinal health: a topic that pretty much appeals to any fitness professional out there.

For more information, click HERE (<— that tickles!). And, just to throw it out there, May 1st is the last deadline to save yourself $100 off the initial registration fee.

Secondly, Prometheus – Ridley Scott’s return to the genre he essentially revolutionized (Alien, Blade Runner, etc) – opens on June 8th.

Seriously, I just peed myself a little bit watching that again.

Finally, and something that only came to fruition within the last few days, I’m proud to announce:

The PTDC Hybrid Training Seminar, June 16-17th!!!

I’ll be making another trip up to Canada, this time to Toronto, to participate in what’s shaping up to be a really cool weekend.

Both Nick Tumminello and I will be hosting a PRE-SEMINAR event on June 16th titled The Ultimate Coressessment.

When Jon Goodman approached us to see if we’d be interested, both Nick and I came to the (no-brainer) conclusion that there are essentially two topics that are like catnip for trainers and coaches: core and assessment.

Hence, this day-long workshop will cover assessment (both upper and lower extremity), as well as many of the core training concepts and exercises we use with our own athletes and clients.

The following day, however, is the main event:  The Hybrid Training Seminar.

Featuring FIVE presenters (one-hour talk each, followed by a roundtable discussion):  Jon Goodman, Nick Tumminello, Mark Young, Dan Trink, Geoff Girvitz, and some schmuck named Gentilcore.

This should prove to be one of the more anticipated “fitness” events in Canada all year, so don’t miss out.

For more information pertaining to topics and registration costs, go HERE.

 

CategoriesUncategorized

Functional Stability Training for the Core

When I imagine some of the more popular pairings in our pop culture, those pairings that, when I think of one I automatically think of the other, a few instantly come to mind:

 

 

 

Peanut butter and jelly

Scorsese and DeNiro

Ross and Rachel

DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince

Jersey Shore and vomiting in my mouth

Of course, that’s just a short list and by no means exhaustive…..but you get the idea.

In much the same way, with regards to the fitness industry, we can come up with a few similar pairings: Westside Barbell and powerlifting; Pavel and kettlebells; Mondays and bench press; and lastly, Satan and Tracy Anderson.

All kidding aside, when I think of one of the more “dynamic” duos in the industry – not to mention two guys who put out a TON of quality content – it’s hard not to think of Eric Cressey and Mike Reinold.

Coincidentally enough, earlier this week the two of them released their latest product together, Functional Stability Training for the Core, which is the first module in an on-going “system” that I feel is really going to change the game and raise the bar in the industry.

Now, I know what some of you may be thinking:  the industry needs another core product like we need another Kardashian spin-off.  To that I say….touche!

But today, rather than just say “hey buy this!”(which you totally should), I’d like to shed a little more light on why I feel this product is worth a look.  I was there when it was filmed, and I’d like to showcase some major take away points I walked away with.

What separates this product from the masses?  Read on, and find out.

1.  I guess the most obvious starting point would be to define what the term Functional Stability Training actually is.  Are we talking about BOSU ball hell here?  Um, no.  Not even close.  In fact, you’re getting a 10-minute time out for even thinking that would be case!

In simplest terms (using Mike’s own words) Functional Stability Training is the integration of physical therapy and performance enhancement training, the integration of exercises and manual techniques, and the integration between mobility, strengthening, and dynamic stabilization.

In short: it’s an attempt to bridge the gap between the manual therapy side of things and the strength and conditioning side of things.  Both are separate entities, of course. But it’s important to note they DO work synergistically to (hopefully) reach the same goal, and it behooves many fitness professionals not to recognize that.  We’re all on the same team here, people!

2. Low back injuries suck (no surprise there), and contrary to popular belief, we typically can’t link one specific incident (lifting a box), but rather a history of excessive loading as a culprit. The lumbar spine will buckle at 20 pounds with no muscular contribution.  Hence, to prevent this, it’s crucial to increase spinal stiffness – 360 degrees – through muscular contraction.

As Reinold puts it:

  • De-emphasize lumbar mobility
  • Increase muscular stiffness to protect the spine
  • EMPHASIZE NEUTRAL SPINE
  • Emphasize endurance, and not strength

3. Think you’re doing your birddogs and deadbugs correctly?

Chances are, you’re not. You’re actually butchering them. No, really.  Stop it.  Just stop.

Mike made it abundantly clear that one of the best ways to “progress” people is through addition by subtraction.

In case you weren’t picking up what I was putting down above, it’s imperative to TRAIN NEUTRAL SPINE.  Like, all the time.

Learn to train abdominal bracing, and to teach the proper muscle firing patterns when coaching the birddog, deadbug, etc. As an example, many trainees will compensate lumbar extension for hip extension, and it’s important to stop any aberrant motor patterns before they start.

Mike goes through a plethora of  cool progressions with the birddog, deadbug, front plank, chop and lift, as well as many others.

In addition, he also dives into lateral chain progressions (side plank, anti-sidebending holds), as well as rotary chain progressions.

4.  Eric made an awesome analogy and referred to spondylolysis as the new ACL epidemic. For those wondering what the hell “spondy” is – it’s essentially a fracture in the pars interarticularis. A spinal “ouchie” using the non-technical term.

I can tell you first hand that we’re seeing more and more younger athletes walk into our facility (Cressey Performance) with “spondy”, and it’s rather disconcerting to say the least.  As Eric noted (citing a study from Soler and Colderon 2000):

  • high prevalence in extension rotation sports:  baseball, track and field throws, etc.
  • L5 is most common (84%) followed by L4 (12%)
  • Bilteral 78% of the time.
  • Only 50-60% of those diagnosed actually reported low back pain

Like whoa! Think about that for a second. Flipping the numbers, that means 40-50% of those with spondy report NO pain and are asymptomatic!  Just because a new client walks in with no discernible “issues,” and says they’re pain free, doesn’t mean squat!

In a way, it stands to reason that you kinda have to assume that everyone you work with is walking in with some sort of back shenanigans going on. Chances are, you’re already working with plenty of clients around disc injuries in the first place.

Well, maybe that’s a little drastic – but you DO need to be aware of the statistics and how they may play into how you go about initiating your clients into strength training. Just sayin….

That said, when you KNOW you’re dealing with a case of spondy, are you prepared? Do you know what red flags to look for during an assessment?  How will you go about structuring a training program?  More specifically, now that back bracing is standard procedure, how would you go about developing a program with an athlete or client who has to wear for weeks (even months) on end?

HINT:  you’ll want to avoid pronounced axial loading (trap bar is an excellent choice here), there should be no rotational training for the duration of the bracing; all plyos and med ball work should be linear, you’ll stress anti-rotation training.

5.  The question, then, becomes:  if “x” number of people are walking around with backs that look like they’ve been through a meat grinder, how do we prevent disc issues from becoming symptomatic in the first place?

For the short course, Eric notes:

  • Avoid lumbar flexion, especially with rotation and compression by increasing ankle mobility, increasing thoracic mobility, increasing hip mobility.

  • Stabilize the lumbar spine within a ROM it already has.  Meaning, don’t be an a-hole trainer and think that EVERYONE has to squat “ass to grass.”  Some people just don’t have the mobility (yet) to get there, so if that means utilizing box squats, so be it.  The important thing to remember is to squat in ROM where they’re successful and work from there.
  • Deload the spine.
  • HAMMER NEUTRAL SPINE!!!!!!!!!
  • Be careful with early morning training.

And that’s really just the tip of the iceberg to be honest.  Mike and Eric leave no stone unturned with this product – other topics covered include:

– how to handle and deal with sports hernias

– the dealo behind “anterior knee pain”

– how to handle EXTENSION in athletes

– how to assess core movement quality (in this section, Mike offers a TON of progressions)

This would be a SOLID addition to any fitness professional’s library.

Functional Stability Training for the Core is on sale for the introductory price of $77 from now (4/19) until this Sunday (4/22). After that, the price increases to the regular price of $97.  Even then, considering the over SIX hours of content you’re getting, it’s still a steal.

====> Functional Stability Training <====

 

 

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Exercises You Should Be Doing: Half Kneeling Cable Batwing/Pulldown

Every so often (read: all….the….time) I come across an exercise or exercise variation that someone else made up or invented and the first thing that crosses my mind is how brilliant that person is for thinking up something so spectaculous.*

Not surprisingly, soon thereafter the second thought that hits me like a ton of bricks is how much of an numbskull I am for never having thought of it myself.

One such moment came about a year ago when I read something from Dan John about “batwing” rows (see picture just above). For those unfamiliar, basically you perform a standard chest supported row and then HOLD the retracted position for a certain amount of time.  The idea is to increase time under tension and to strengthen the scapular retractors – something most trainees can never get enough of anyways.

It was a fantastic concept, and something I implemented with a few of my own clients almost immediately.

Fast forward to within the last few weeks where Ben Bruno has taken the same concept and added his own spin to it, which, of course, made me feel like an idiot (seriously, why can’t I ever think of something so cool?).

…..but unlike times past, Ben’s thinking outside of the box prowess, gave me an idea:

Half Kneeling Cable Batwing/Pulldown

Who Did I Steal It From:  I’d like to take full credit for this one, but again, I have to give props to Ben for giving me the idea for the exercise.  Too, giving added credit where it’s due:  Mike Boyle wrote a fantastic article last week on t-nation where he expanded on a few similar variations, which served as a precursor to this blog post.

What Does It Do:  This is an excellent exercise which trains the middle and lower traps, as well as the rhomboids and lats (of course).  As a nice corollary, by doing this in a half-kneeling position, you also get the side benefit of performing a active stretch on hip flexors of the trailing leg.  In short, while it may look like a simple exercise – and it is – you get a lot of bang for your training buck.

Key Coaching Cues:  As far as the “batwing” portion is concerned, whichever leg is UP is the side you’ll pull to and hold.  Here, you want to focus on pushing your chest forward and holding that scapulae in a retracted position.

With the opposite arm, you’ll perform the allotted repetitions focusing on keeping the shoulder blade depressed the entire time – do not go into scapular anterior tilt!  In addition, you’ll also want to “dig” the toes of the trailing leg into the ground and squeeze the same side glute – HARD – to get more of a co-contraction in the hip flexor.

Perform 8-10 repetitions, then switch sides and repeat the same process on the opposite side.

* = HA!  I just made up a word.  Take that people who are smarter than me!

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I Love Internet Warriors

Two weekends ago, on Easter, while eating steak with Lisa at fancy schmancy restaurant, an idea suddenly popped into my head for a blog post. A blog idea can manifest itself at any given moment – during my commute to work, as I’m watching a movie, etc – but on that particular day, as I bit down on my succulent piece of dead animal flesh, two things came to mind:  1) that my steak was freaking delicious, and 2) why not write a post on the deadlift and describe some of the more common cues I use when coaching it?

Now I expect you are wondering…

“How in the heck did you come up with an idea like that while eating steak?

Don’t ask me how I know you wondering this.** I JUST KNOW!11!!1!

** (Hint:  I am inside your house.)

But though I appreciate your skepticism, truth be told, it was as good of a time as any to come up with a brilliant idea, so I ran with it. Once we got home, after a pit-stop for dessert no less, I jotted down a few notes on a couple of index cards, and a few days later, I wrote 5 Coaching Cues: Deadlift.

On a personal note I felt it was one of the better blog post I had written as of late, and moving forward I have every intention of expanding on the concept and delving into the other big lifts as well – like squats and the bench press.

All told, the post was received well.  There was quite a bit of traffic to the site, and I had a lot of people leave comments saying that they enjoyed it and that it really helped shed some light on a complex topic.

And, as is the case some of the time, there were a few haters, which is all fine and dandy.  I’m used to it, and have long come to the conclusion that you can’t please everyone.  What’s more, I don’t expect everyone to always agree with me, and I actually welcome people to chime in and offer their own perspective on things.  I mean, I’m not that much of a pompous ass to think I’m never wrong.

Cutting the suspense short, I had one reader leave the following knowledge bomb in the comments section in response to my suggestion to “stiffen the upper back” when pulling:

Good luck pulling a deadlift with any sort of real weight without rounding your upper back. Also, pulling back your shoulders? What’s that about?

Normally I just pass off said comments as someone being “kind of douchy,” and I continue on with my life.  But this (callous) comment by some dude who, presumably has never trained a person in his life (since he never offered any explanation or has ever commented on my website prior), rubbed me the wrong way, and really got me fired up.  I just couldn’t ignore it.

First, lets clear the air on the whole “pulling back the shoulders” comment:

Here’s an excerpt from my Much Ado About Deadlifting article from t-nation.com:

“On several occasions I’ve noted that one should retract (pull together) their shoulder blades when setting up for the pull. This stiffens the mid-back, engages the lats (which in turn provides more spinal stability), and activates the thoraco-lumbar fascia, which helps to better transfer force from the lower body to the upper body.

Based on feedback in the LiveSpill as well as various emails I’ve received, this whole “retraction” thing has confused more people than Chaz Bono in a men’s room.

As such, while I still feel that stiffening the upper back and activating the lats is integral for improving the deadlift, I’ve modified my approach. Slightly.

Trying to actively pinch the shoulder blades together while deadlifting just feels awkward. But when I use the phrase, “lock your shoulder blades into place and think about putting them in your back pocket,” it’s like magic, and people get it.

As a result, many of the benefits that I described above come into play. You shorten the lever arm length from the shoulder to the lumbar spine, and you also engage the lats to help protect the lumbar spine and the SI joint. But as a general observation, the pull just “feels” stronger.

Try it out on your next deadlifting day. I can almost guarantee you’ll notice an improvement.”

To summarize the whole shebang:  by “setting” the shoulders and “stiffening” the upper back, one will activate the lats and thoraco-lumbar fascia, which in turn will provide A LOT more stability and help to resist shearing load on the spine.

This isn’t to say, of course, that the upper back won’t round AT ALL during ME lifts – that’s just looney talk.

I’ve said it once, and I’ve said it numerous times – lifting heavy ain’t always going to look pretty. But I sure as hell ain’t gonna coach someone to (purposely) round their back when coaching them through the lift – especially beginner and intermediate lifters.

Advanced lifters get a little more leeway as they’ve trained themselves to stay out of those last 2-3 degrees of end-range motion when lifting with maximal (and sub-maximal) weight.

BUT, for brevity’s sake, lets show that it IS possible.

Here’s CP athlete and Stanford University pitcher, Sahil Bloom, pulling 405 for 10 reps:

David Stanton, another CP athlete and collegiate baseball player, pulling 515×5:

Yet another CP athlete, AJ Wnukowski, repping out 465 lbs plus four chains (which adds an additional 60 lbs at the top):

Here’s female athlete, Becca R (15 when this video was taken), pulling 255 for an easy single:

And while we can sit here and nit pick each of these lifts on a few minor technical aspects like bouncing the weight, not getting the hip through enough, or whatever, not one of them rounded their upper back.

Putting a nail in the coffin (and demonstrating that I practice what I preach), here’s me pulling a PR of 570 lbs:

But the jokes on me, I guess.  You can’t pull “any real weight” without rounding your upper back, right?

I WIN!!!

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Stuff to Read While You’re Pretending to Work: 4/13/12

I’ve got a pretty cool day lined up.  I’m going to spend the rest of the morning catching up on some work:  I’ve got a few programs to write, and then I’m submitting an article titled 5 Reasons Why You’re Not Getting Stronger to Greatist.com. Then, I’m heading over to Boston University to get my dieselfication on with my boy Dave Rak.  I believe the agenda calls for squatting until we can’t feel the right side of our face followed by “curling everything.”  Awesome.

And then…….I’m heading over to Fenway Park for the Red Sox season opener!  Granted, they’re playing like complete dog dunk right now, but I’ve never been to opening day before, so it should be a pretty badass.

Warning:  Do This & You Will Get Fat – Jason Ferruggia

Jason has a reputation for not blowing sunshine up anyone’s ass, and this post fits that bill to a “t.”  There are a lot of guys out there who want to build muscle and gain weight, yet tend to follow AWFUL advice.

Moreover, many have unrealistic expectations of what’s actually possible thinking that they’re going to transform themselves into The Rock in a matter of four months.

The final line says it all:  “It’s not a sprint, it’s a marathon. Just remain consistent, stay lean and healthy, train hard and enjoy the journey my friends.”

I wish more would heed that advice.

Is Sugar Toxic?!?! – Mark Young

A non-bullshitter himself, in this post Mark sheds some light on the notion that sugar is the sum total of everything that’s evil this world – from global warming to circus clowns.

I appreciate pieces like this because, while sugar is by no means something we should go out of our way to include more of in our diets, a little bit isn’t going to put you in a diabetic coma tomorrow.

Thanks Mark for bringing the pendulum back to the middle!  Someone deserves a slow clap!

9 Things I Have Changed My Mind About: Part 4 – Molly Galbraith

Leave it to Molly to start with one installment only to inevitably make it into a 47 part PBS special.  You know what, though…I dig it.  It’s refreshing to see someone take an objective look at past mistakes and demonstrate how they’ve grown as a coach and individual. I particularly love Molly’s insight on controlling training stress, and how important it is to NOT think that more is better.