I’m in a bit of a rush this morning because like an idiot I waited until the last minute to pack. A bunch of us guys are heading up to Maine for the weekend for Pete’s bachelor party where the plan is to go white water rafting, eat copious amounts of dead animal flesh, and arm wrestle a grizzly bear (or two).
It’s going to be an awesome time for sure, and given I’ve never gone rafting before, it should be pretty entertaining too.
Here’s some stuff to check out I think you’ll enjoy.
Gluten free is all rage lately. I even saw a commercial on television the other day
where Kellogs (the food conglomerate) were bragging about their “gluten free” cereal line.
You know, as if eating gluten free Apple Cinnamon Chex (with 13 grams of sugar per serving) was somehow magically healthier for you.
In this article, Dr. Brooke breaks it down to common sense as to why gluten free isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Well, more specifically, the food industry is just shady.
Here’s a fantastic article by current CP intern, Sohee Lee, on anything and everything that is the hip hinge: why it’s important, how to “groove” it, and why it will not only save your back, but increase your overall level of awesomeness by like ten points, too. Who knew!?!?!
I know I said I was going to review ALL the presentations this week, but with Lisa coming home from Europe I kinda slacked in that department. SORRY!!!!!!!
Nevertheless, I did watch the entire thing and was blown away with the amount of information that all the presenters gave. And, not to play favorites, Anthony Mychal’s presentation was probably my favorite – especially the whole part on the importance of training the foot tripod.
Anyways, today is the last day to purchase the latest installment for the sick introductory price of $37. Trust me, that’s a steal.
Okay, I’m out. Wish me luck that I don’t fall out of the raft.
My girlfriend has been away for a month travelling Europe, and after putting my HAZMAT suit on and cleaning the hell out of our apartment I picked her up last night at the airport.
I’m taking today off from work (and blogging) so that she and I can, “reunite.”
BOM CHICKA CHICKA BOM WOW.
[Lucky for you I was fairly productive while she was away, and today I have another article I wrote, this time for T-Nation, about a couple of my favorite “glue” exercises. What are “glue” exercises. Click HERE to find out.]
I don’t consider myself a “fat loss” guy per se. I spend the majority of my days working with athletes ranging from high school all the way to the professional ranks helping them move better, run faster, lift more weight, throw harder, or whatever their respective sport may be, I just try to help them become a little bit more awesome compared to when they first walk through our doors at Cressey Performance.
This isn’t to say that some of the athletes that show up don’t need to get rid of that spare tire around their waist. But in the grand scheme of things, when it comes to fat loss, the only time I really place an emphasis on it – or at least go out of my way to make it a priority – is when I work with general population clients who come to the facility to get their ass kicked to get their sexy on.
It’s with that in mind that I recently wrote an article for Livestrong.com which sheds light on two forgotten components of fat loss – directed specifically to those people who are frustrated that, despite being inundated with a literal avalanche of information on the topic, are still fighting the battle of the bulge.
2. Once you read it, and if you thought it was pretty baller, please “Like” it on Livestrong’s page. Or Tweet it. Or better yet, do both! I want to send a message to them that the TonyG.com empire are a loyal bunch.
If you don’t like it, that’s cool. I’ll just remember that the next time you need help moving into your new apartment.
Or the next time you need to borrow some money because you happened to “forget your wallet.”
Or the next time you need affirmation that the girl you’re currently dating isn’t some uppity skank who thinks she’s better than everyone else.
I DIDN’T WANT YOU TO READ IT ANYWAYS!!!! YOU’RE RUINING MY LIFE!!!!!! AHHHHHHH.
*slams bedroom door*
3. In all seriousness, though, I’d appreciate any feedback or insight or opinions on the article. Thanks everyone!
Trilogies usually suck. Sure we have the golden standards like Lord of the Rings, Star Wars (the first one, don’t even get me started on that piece of crap Phantom Menace that Lucas tried to pawn off on us), The Godfather, and The Dark Knight. But for every one that raises the bar, we have ten “sequels” that are just absolute garbage: Police Academy V, anyone?????
So what the heck does this have to do with anything?
Well, as far as fitness info products are concerned, you’d be hard pressed to find any series more impressive than the Muscle Imbalances Revealed franchise. Having been a part of the last installment – Muscle Imbalances Revealed – Upper Body – I can attest that the information routinely provided is top notch and will undoubtedly help any professional take his or her “game” to the next level.
I mean, if you want to become the best, you need to learn from the best. Right?
Today, as well as sporadically throughout the rest of the week, I’m going to be discussing the latest in the series (the third, in fact), Muscle Imbalances Revealed – Assessment & Exercise, which includes presentations from the likes of Rick Kaselj, Anthony Mychal, John Izzo, and Nick Rosencutter.
Assessment and Exercise for Knee Injury Recovery – Rick Kaselj
Since Rick is the “Oz” behind the Muscle Imbalances Revealed curtain, doing all of the behind the scenes work that never gets recognized (as well as serving as the figurehead of the series) I figured it only made sense to start here.
Before I begin, though, I just have to say that Rick is probably one of the most genuine and jovial human beings I’ve ever met, and his thirst for knowledge (and spreading it to others) is unparalleled.
As such, Rick has a lot of experience working with injured people (and healthy ones, too) and he’s recognized as one of the “go to” professionals with regards to assessment and rehabilitation. For those who aren’t familiar with Rick’s work, you can check out his website HERE.
Rick’s presentation spoke volumes to me personally because I’ve had a history of knee issues for the better part of the past decade, and he has an uncanny ability to break things down into manageable, “why the hell didn’t I ever think of that!?,” nuggets of information that can easily be implemented on day one
After giving a brief overview of general knee anatomy, here are a few bits of awesome that Rick provided:
1. When it comes to assessment, it’s important to test the knee in both PASSIVE and ACTIVE ranges of motion.
Passive = gravity or someone else is doing the movement.
Active = the individual themselves is doing the movement.
2. In terms of general ROM guidelines, we’re typically looking at an individual to be able to get to -5 degrees of knee extension, and around 140 degrees of knee flexion.
This is important because we need anywhere from 2-70 degrees of flexion in order to walk, and a loss of around ten degrees of extension can result in a limp, which, not surprisingly, will place a lot of undue stress on the ligaments and muscles. Not to mention put a damper on your ultimate frisbee plans this weekend.
Rick also noted we need 93 degrees of flexion to get out of chair, 106 degrees to tie shoe, 136 degrees to take bath, and 141 degrees to swift kick someone in the face.
I made that last one up, but the key point is that having full knee ROM is important for every day activities.
3. Speaking in more specific terms, Rick noted that a lack of knee extension also results in loss of what he referred to as the “screw home mechanism,” which serves its purpose by reducing stress on the quads and placing more on the passive restraints (cartilage, menisci, and bones).
This seems counterintuitive, and when I first heard Rick say this I tilted my head to one side and was like “what the what!?!?!?”
But once he explained his rationale in more detail, I was picking up what he was putting down.
In short, in stealing a line from Mike Roberston: stacked joints, are happy joints.
4. As far as the actual assessments are concerned, I like Rick’s approach because he takes more of a simpleton approach, which I dig. A lot.
There’s no smoke machines, or laser show,or any theatrics for that matter. I think a lot of fitness professionals fall into the trap that the more advanced or seemingly “cool” the assessment looks, the better it must be. I disagree.
Using one example from Rick’s presentation (and there are several): he likes to incorporate a bilateral standing calf raise into the mix to see whether or not someone can get onto their toes and attain knee extension.
For the record: When Rick demonstrated this, I couldn’t help but notice that basketballs he has for calves. Well played, sir. Well played. I hate you.
5. Rick then goes into several common exercises to regain ROM, and then progressing depending on how the knee responds.
I’ve poo-pooed on Terminal Knee Extensions (TKEs) is the past – namely because I feel they’re woefully OVERemphasized in knee rehab – but Rick does a good job of demonstrating several variations progressing from unloaded (d0ne actively) to loaded, to adding resistance.
On top of that, he even demonstrated several Terminal Knee FLEXION exercises using a towel that I thought were pretty neat.
If anything what I took most from Rick’s presentation is that we can’t always be meatheaded with our rehab. It’s REHAB for crying out loud!!! But there’s also a lot to be said about not treating our clients and athletes like they’re patients, and giving them a training effect.
As much as we want to think that squats cure everything from global warming to cancer, when it comes to knee pain and fixing it, that’s not necessarily the case.
More often than not, we must take it down a notch (or 20) to re-teach the body proper motor learning engrams, to teach it which muscles actually need to fire, and to prevent someone from overreaching their pain threshold.
Muscle Imbalances Revealed: Assessment and Exercise is on sale starting TODAY (Tuesday, August 14th) until this Friday for a redunkulous introductory price of $37. Considering you can get your learnification on from some of the industry’s best, all in the comfort of your own home, without having to spend an inordinate amount of money travelling, and you’ll simultaneously earn some CECs in doing so, well, that’s a bargain if there ever was one.
It’s no secret that I like to deadlift. Outside of sleep, going to a Sunday matinee, omeletes, Chipotle, and nunchucks, it’s probably my most favoritest thing in the world.
There’s certainly no shortage of quality articles out there breaking down the deadlift and offering suggestions on how to increase your overall sense of badassery.
Likewise, there’s rarely (if ever) anything new to say – as it’s already been said in some fashion elsewhere in magazines, in books, in DVDs, and various blog posts.
Nevertheless, here are five quick and easy-to-implement tips that will definitely help improve your pulling prowess.
1. Save Your Hardest Workout for Early in the Week, But Not Too Early
It stands to reason that if you have a weak link or are trying to “bring up” one particular lift, you should reserve the hardest training session of the week for Monday when you’re the most fresh and and presumably, the most recovered.
Seemingly most people spend their weekends chillaxing watching sports, eating good food, having a few beers, taking power naps, throwing the frisbee around, playing with the dogs, or maybe, if your’re lucky, spending a few hours at the beach soaking up some vitamin D.
Come Monday you’re recharged and ready to tackle the upcoming week. It makes sense, then, to head to the gym on Monday and absolutely throw yourself to the wolves and make yourself hate life to the point where you can barely walk by the end and you can’t feel the left side of your face.
Mmmmmm, maybe not the best idea.
Raise your hand if Mondays are typically your best day at work? Hahahahaha, yeah that’s what I thought.
Nada.
We’ve all heard the lame statement “looks like (s0 and so) has the case of the Mondays,” and for good reason. Mondays suck! For a reference point, watch the movie Office Space (and thank me later).
After two days (or three, for the lucky few who get the extended weekend) of laying low and living the lazy life, effectively placing your body in an extended “hover” mode, you can’t expect it to rebound efficiently and go right into breaking PRs on Monday.
For some it will work, and they can bounce back and feel like a superhero. For many, however, it won’t be nearly as “superheroish,” and it won’t be a pretty site.
I’m a rare example and use Mondays as my main deadlift day, but that’s because I work at a gym and I’m able to use Saturday (and sometimes Sunday) as an actual training day, mostly as a GPP or movement based day, but training nonetheless. Most people don’t have this luxury and opt to forego the weights for pina coladas instead. And more power to them!
What I propose is to hold off, and save your main deadlift session for Tuesday or better yet, Wednesday.
Instead go to the gym on Monday and train, but don’t necessarily go balls to the wall. Most of you are going to go and blast your pecs anyways – Monday IS National Bench Press Day – so go right a head and do it. Or, just think of it as a “medium” intensity day
By the time Tuesday or Wednesday rolls around, your nervous system will be a little more “primed” and less lethargic and I’m willing to bet you’ll find your DL numbers improve.
2. Get More Lifts Above 90%
I’m a bit reticent to openly state that more people should add more lifts at or above 90% (as a percentage of their one rep max) into their repertoire because, well, you need to know what the heck you’re doing!
To that end, I have two prerequisites:
1. You MUST have technical proficiency in the lift. If my eyes will perpetually start bleeding from watching you lift a weight that’s only 50% of your 1RM, then I certainly don’t want to know what will happen if you go any heavier.
<—– Like this
2. You should already be able to lift at least 2x (I may even lower this to 1.5x) your bodyweight before utilizing 90% lifts. As an example, this would mean that a 175 lb person should be clearing a 350 lb pull. Not too shabby, but certainly not earth shattering.
I understand this is a a blanket statement, and there are plenty of people who incorporate heavier loads into the mix that aren’t that strong (and do so safely), but this is just for my own edification and peace of mind.
Rather than re-invent the wheel, I’m going to cut/paste a portion of an article I wrote for T-Nation a few years ago titled Limiting Factors:
When a more “advanced” trainee approaches me and mentions that he’s stuck on a certain weight with a particular lift, I can almost guarantee his limiting factor is that he hasn’t been incorporating more lifts above 90%.
(Side Note: For beginner trainees, I’d be more inclined to check their food intake and/or overall programming. Most just need to eat more and shy away from the bodybuilding/body-part split routines.)
To recap, lifts above 90%…
1. Increase total muscle fiber recruitment.
2. Increase recruitment of higher threshold motor units (which have a greater propensity for growth).
3. Increase rate coding (rate at which motor units fire).
4. Increase synchronization between muscles (improved inter and intra-muscular coordination).
5. Make girls want to hang out with you.
Maybe even girls who actually deadlift will want to hang out with you, too:
All of the above help to improve one’s neural efficiency. Getting stronger is all about making the central nervous system (CNS) more efficient at allowing the brain and spinal cord to better communicate with motor units/muscle fibers to get the job done. In short, improved neural efficiency allows you to lift more weight, which last time I checked, is a pretty cool thing.
For the advanced lifter, each session is an opportunity to maybe hit a new PR (personal record), but really it’s just about lifting heavy things off the ground.
Using the DL as an example, lets assume one’s original PR is 400 pounds, the goal for this training session is to get FIVE lifts at 90% and above:
135×5
225×3
275×1
315×1
365×1
405×1 (PR!!! But it was a grinder and you’re pretty sure you blacked out for like three seconds and saw pink unicorns as you locked it out)
At this point the trainee has already gotten two lifts above 90% (365, 405), which would mean he needs to get three more lifts in to get to the goal of five. The objective now is to stay at or slightly above 90% (usually in the 90-92% range) and focus on bar speed and actually not miss any lifts.
360×1,1,1
From there, the trainee will continue on with his accessory work depending on his needs and goals.
3. Oh Yeah, Hammer Your Accessory Work
For me I like to use what I call “marker” exercises, which are those exercises I know have a a huge carry over to the deadlift, and also allow me to gauge progress. In short, I know that if I improve on a particular marker exercise, chances are my DL is going to improve as well.
One such example are goodmornings.
Everyone is different, and I’m not saying you should go start playing around with goodmornings today. But it stands to reason that if you want to improve your deadlift, you need to hammer your posterior chain and place a premium on those exercises which strengthen the glutes and hamstrings.
Another exercise to consider would be something like Deadstart/Andeson Squats.
What I love about these is that they emulate the exact hip/torso positioning I use when I setup to deadlift. I’m woefully slow off the floor when I pull (and I have weak quads), so this is an exercise I try to incorporate a lot when I’m trying to ramp up my deadlift numbers.
Again, that’s just me. What works for me may not work for you, but if I had to make a short list of exercises that people should focus on in terms of accessory work:
– RDLs
– Goodmornings
– Partial ROM squats
– Pull-Throughs
– GHR
– KB Swings
– Barbell Hip Thrusters
– Leg Press**
4. Focus on the 70-80% (But More Around 70%).
Admittedly this is something that I’ve pretty much ignored up until recently, and it wasn’t until diving into the phenomenal book Easy Strength by Dan John and Pavel (as well as taking the advice of other coaches like Bret Contreras and Todd Bumgardner) that I began to see the error of my ways.
This sorta flies in the face of what I was saying above with regards to utilizing lifts above 90%, but I really feel that this is a woefully under-utilized method of improving one’s deadlift.
I understand that many strength coaches are adamantly opposed to anything that isn’t either “speed” work (40-60%) or max effort work (90%+), and that anything in the middle is a complete waste of time.
But I feel there’s something to be said about honing technique, solidifying one’s exercise proficiency (and being able to repeat it), and seeing how that parlays into bigger pulling numbers.
In looking at my training past, whenever I’d make a run for 600 lbs, I’d inevitably approach the 550ish mark, attempt to get my 90% lifts in week in and week out, for weeks on end, and eventually my spine would be like “that’s it Gentilcore. I’m done!”
My back would end up feeling like shredded up salami, my CNS would be fried, and I’d have to take a hiatus from pulling heavy.
I think once you start approaching 2.75-3x bodyweight pulls, the body can only take so much on a repeated basis. Lately, I’ve been focusing more on getting fast, QUALITY reps at a lower percentage and I feel amazing.
I’m still doing my speed work on separate days, but instead of hitting multiple lifts at 90% or above, I’ve been taking it down a notch and performing repeated lifts at 70% (with limited rest) and then hitting a “sorta” max every other week.
So, for example:
6×2 @ 315 lbs (with 20-30s rest between sets)
Then I’ll work up to a 500+ pull. Last week I ended up working up to 520 lbs, and felt great.
You’re always going to have ebbs and flows with training, but I really feel that this approach is going keep me fresh longer and not beat me to a pulp.
5. Use Straps
No, seriously, I’m not kidding….use them!
Listen, most commercial gyms have really crappy bars with no knurling and you’re relegated to wearing a Scarlet letter if you have the audacity to bring chalk onto the gym floor.
It’s almost impossible to lift any appreciable weight when the bar keeps slipping out of your hands.
Back in the day I totally used wrist straps to help bring up my deadlift. Granted, I tried to sneak in chalk whenever I could (even going so far as to make sure I wiped down the bars when I was done), but I didn’t think any less of myself.
Grip strength is going to be a limiting factor for a lot of peeps, and I posit that so long as you go out of your way to NOT be the dork who uses straps for everything from seated lat pulldowns to bicep curls, your grip strength will automatically improve given you’re using various dumbbells and barbells in your training.
I won’t judge you for using straps. If it allows you to use more weight and overload the exercise, great! That’s the point. If you use gloves on the other hand………
Got any tips of your own to share? I’d love to hear them below
** Come on. You didn’t think I was serious did you?
Raise your hand if you’ve spent the better part of this past week driving with reckless abandon down various side streets, looking over your shoulder around every corner, and/or jumping down the sides of buildings in anticipation of The Bourne Legacy coming out this weekend!
I totally have. Amongst other things – like this exchange I had with a cashier yesterday.
Cashier: “Excuse me sir, will that be paper or plastic?”
Me: “Who’s running Treadstone now?
Cashier: “Tread wha? What are you talking about? Will that be cash or credit?
Me: “I SAID WHO’S RUNNING TREADSTONE!?!??! DON’T MAKE ME PUT YOU IN A CHOKEHOLD!!!!”
“By the way, Greek yogurt is buy one get one free, right?”
While the new installment is Damonless (nooooo), and Paul Greengrass isn’t directing, I have full confidence that Tony Gilroy (who actually wrote the screenplays for all the previous films) will do a great job taking the reigns, and that Jeremy Renner (who’s not playing Jason Bourne but another super agent, Aaron Cross) will nail it.
I thought this was a fantastic post written by Jen, and something that more fitness professionals need to read. I’ll be the first to admit that there have been times in the past where I’ve been a fitness bully myself.
I’d scoff and judge and stick my nose up in the air if someone wasn’t going out of their way to lift heavy stuff.
But then I came to the realization that that was kind of a douchy way to approach things. If someone is exercising – even if it is super-duper-red-hot-naked-metabolic-yoga-insanity-pilates-extreme – isn’t that a good thing?
Martin always has a knack for keeping it real and lighting a fire underneath people’s asses when it comes to training. I LOVE his stories, and I especially like some of the brutal circuits he outlines in this one.
Kyle’s a current intern here at Cressey Performance and he wrote this guest post over on Ben Bruno’s site that I felt hit the nail on the head. I’m constantly getting emails from people asking what it’s like to intern at CP (it’s kind of like watching The Dark Knight Rises while driving a tank, only a little less awesome) and questions on what we look for in prospective interns. This post elucidates on both fronts.
Affectionately referred to as GWODs, these are workouts designed by both myself and strength coach Dan Trink that will give people a firsthand look as to what a well structured, properly progressed fitness routine should look like.
Taken from the Greatist.com website:
“….these are high-quality, comprehensive strength and conditioning programs anyone can use. GWODs were created after Greatist.com readers expressed their frustration at a lack of quality fitness programming accessible to the average gym goer — not just the most “elite” or “hardcore” individuals among us. So we partnered with some of the best minds in the health and fitness industry to create killer workouts we could give our readers — for free (we think you’ll agree that’s a good price).”
You read that correctly: FREE. As in F to the R.E.E.
A few things to note:
1. It’s purely coincidental that both Dan and I could pass for a Mr. Clean impersonator.
2. We recognize that there are limitations to this program. I think I speak for both of us when I say nothing will trump working with a reputable trainer on a face-to-face basis. But that’s the thing: there are a lot of crap trainers out there writing crap programming which are woefully craptastic at best, and flat out dangerous at their worst.
That said, everyone is unique with their own set of weaknesses, strengths, imbalances, injuries, and experience level and I’d be remiss not to recognize that following a program written for the masses will address every issue for every person in every circumstance.
It ain’t gonna happen.
You’re your own unique flower, and we understand (and appreciate) that.
However, we feel confident that the programming we’ve outlined will be a welcome breath of fresh air for the Greatist community (and the rest of the interwebz for that matter).
3. We’ve covered all the bases from the warm-up (it’s a lot more than just doing some cute arm circles and hopping on the elliptical for five minutes) to laying out, set by set, rep by rep, a well organized, structured, and progressive workout plan (2x, 3x, and 4x per week) that will help people move better, get stronger, and feel like a million bucks.
4. We’re not saying it’s perfect, and we’ll be the first to say that it’s still a work in progress. We’re still very much at the “grassroots” level with this shindig, and we’ll undoubtedly have a few kinks to iron out as the upcoming weeks/months progress.
But we’re really excited that we have the opportunity to help a lot of people and hopefully assist them (and more importantly, YOU) take their fitness and well-being to the next level.
I had the pleasure of doing an interview for Jon-Erik Kawamoto’s site last week, and without tooting my own horn, I have to say it’s arguably one of my best ones, like, ever.
But since I know a lot of people never click on the links (jerks), I wanted to post one of the questions – and my answer – here because I think it’s a message that a lot of people need to hear.
JK: From stalking you on Facebook and your blog, I know there is nothing more important in your life than deadlifting and bacon (and your new cat). There are a kagillion articles on deadlifting out there. In your expert opinion, what’s the best method/program to deadlift two ton Tessie?
TG: That is true, I do love bacon. And, it’s funny: if you would have told me five years ago that I’d eventually own a cat, I probably would have 1) laughed in your face, and 2) make some kind of joke that I was more likely to listen to John Mayer while eating tofu in my Prius on my way to a yoga class.
But it’s true, my name is Tony Gentilcore, and I own a cat (Dagny).
Who’s the most beautifulest pretty Princess on the planet???? You are, that’s who.
So bringing this to a more manly discussion, lets talk about deadlifts! What’s the best method/program to pull over two ton Tessie?
1. For starters, I really wish people would just get off the freakin internet, go to the gym, and actually lift some heavy shit. There are countless “internet warriors” out there that all they do is talk and talk and talk, and speculate, and argue, and brag about how many posts they have on any given forum, and any number of other things equally as dumb, and yet forget one key component: you need to actually lift some damn weight!
Stop talking, get your ass to the gym, place some weight on the bar, get angry, and then lift it……sometimes repeatedly.
2. Speaking more colloquially, it really comes down to one simple concept:
PROGRESSIVE OVERLOAD
Here’s a personal reference. I didn’t start deadlifting until 2004. I shit you not, you can probably find posts on T-Nation where I’m asking people “what are these deadlifts you speak of?”
Like a lot of people I started out lifting weight at a young age and followed more of a body part per day split. Chest day, back day, blah blah blah. Trust me, a little piece of my soul dies just thinking about it. I can’t even begin to tell you how much I cringe looking back at how I trained as a high school and even collegiate athlete. If I ever had the chance to take a time machine back to 1994, I’d totally go back and Sparta kick myself in the face.
While I laugh and make fun of it, you know what? I always, and I mean ALWAYS had it in my mind to consistently try to lift heavier loads – whether it was adding a rep here and there, or incrementally increasing the load. That just made sense, ya know? I didn’t need anyone to tell me otherwise.
Anyways, so I started reading a few things here and there and slowly but surely started to understand that, for lack of a better term, I was training like a moron. I started incorporating deadlifts into my weekly training. I nixed the leg press, and started learning to squat to depth (a very humbling experience I might add).
One day I decided to test my 1RM deadlift. Mind you, I had NEVER tested my 1RM before. On day one I hit a 420 lb lift. Not too shabby. The kicker? I didn’t even train for it. All I did was focus on progressive overload. I wasn’t on internet forums arguing about foot placement or set/rep schemes or whether or not Han shot before Greedo (token Star Wars reference there). I was in the gym. Training.
Shut up, and train. It’s that simple. If more people did that…….they’d see marked improvements in their lifts.
I know that that wasn’t the “x’s and o’s” answer you were looking for, but I just feel that we’re living in an age where people are so inundated with information, that they’ve become paralyzed. It’s literally gotten to the point where people over-think things so much – should I do 5×5 or 4×4; So and so said I should wait 47 seconds between sets in order to elicit optimal growth hormone elevation; For max strength, this article said to use a 212 tempo, but my best friend’s brother’s second cousin’s Little League coach said to use a 311 tempo – that they forget one crucial thing.
Fucking lift!!!!!!
To read the rest of the interview (it’s pretty awesome) go HERE.
1. I firmly believe that one of the best ways to bring up any lift is repeated exposures to that lift. One major mistake I see a lot of trainees make – particularly intermediate and advanced lifters (beginners can do ANYTHING and get stronger, and we all hate you for it) – is assuming that training a lift or movement once a week, even if they’re going at it hard, is enough.
For example, I train a fair number of females and one major goal that many of them aspire for is that Brad Pitt stars in the movie adaptation of 50 Shades of Grey to be able to perform a strict, un-assisted chin-up.
For those who missed it the first time around, you can check out my three -part article Chin-Up Progressions For Women- The One Rep Hump: Part I, Part II, and Part III.
One general theme I hit on throughout is repeated exposures. Namely, if you want to get better at chin-ups, you need to do chin-ups. And a lot of them. Why anyone would think that performing “x” number of reps on ONE day is going to get them anywhere is beyond me.
That said, if I were to do little role reversal and point the spotlight on all the guys reading, I think it’s fair to assume that many want a big bench press. Thing is, many go to the gym on Monday (National Bench Press Day), perform their three sets of ten, and that’s it. Yeah yeah, they’ll throw in some incline presses, decline presses, and some pec flies for good measure, but the point I’m trying to make is that it’s that ONE day, and that’s generally it.
Having read Easy Strength recently – and loving EVERY page – both Dan John and Pavel hit on this notion of LADDERS, and how they can be used to help bring up one’s bench.
To give the Cliff Notes version:
You’re going to bench three, maybe even four times per week. Heresy, I know.
Each “session” you’ll perform three bench press ladders of 1,2, and 3 repetitions, using a weight that you know you can handle for 6-8 reps.
From there you rest 3-5 minutes and repeat the awesome two more times.
To give you an idea of what ONE week looks like:
Session 1: THREE ladders: 1,2,3 reps
Session 2: TWO ladders: 1st ladder (1,2,3), 2nd ladder (1,2)
Session 3: TWO ladders: 1,2,3 reps
You want to stick with the SAME weight throughout until you hit every rep of EVERY ladder.
Meaning if you start with 200 lbs, you’ll stick with that weight until you hit every rep during any given session. If you do, you can increase the weight 5-10 lbs on the next session and repeat the same process, only increasing the weight when you hit every rep. Did I mention you need to hit every rep? You need to hit EVERY rep!
I just had one of my distance coaching clients do this for a month and he had amazing results. At the beginning he was using 240 lbs for his ladder sets. Four weeks later, he was hitting ladders using 280 lbs!
We just tested his 1RM, and he hit a solid 315 lbs – a 15 lb PR.
Now, you tell me that repeated exposures don’t work!
Granted, this isn’t something you’ll want to utilize indefinitely, as it’s pretty CNS intensive. But for a dedicated 4-5 week block, it’s a sure fire way to take your bench press to new levels!
2. Since I’m the one who opened up the can of worms and exposed the world to my recent back issues, I’ve been getting a lot of emails from readers asking how things have been coming along.
Swell, actually!
For the last few weeks I had been ramping up the intensity of my deadlifts performing a lot of pulls with chains as accommodating resistance (lighter at the bottom, heavier at the top). About a month ago I hit a 555 lb pull (405 lbs of bar weight with 150 lbs of chains at the top). It felt good, not great…..and Dean Somerset (who was writing my programming) just about blew a gasket when he saw that I did that.
In hindsight it was dumb, and I really lucked out that I didn’t reverse all the progress I had made up until that point.
Fast forward a few weeks – and roughly 12,686 deadbugs – Dean gave me the green light to start pulling heavy again.
I was on that like a CrossFitter on a gluten free PopTart!
Not wanting to be too aggressive, last week, I decided I’d do me speed work and then, depending on how I felt, I’d work up to a sorta-kinda heavy single.
I felt goooooooooood. And when I was done with my speed work, I told Greg (Robins) that under no circumstances was he to allow me to go any heavier than 500 lbs. If I attempted to go any higher, he’d have my permission to Sparta kick me in the groin.
Here’s what 500 looked like (wearing a Dragon tee courtesy of one Jon-Erik Kawamoto)
Not too shabby. Today, I’m going to shoot for 520 ish.
600 lbs by the end of the year. Fingers crossed.
3. I came across this quote the other day and I really have no recollection of where I saw it or who said it, but I thought it was awesome and whoever said it deserves a meatloaf sandwich:
The reality is if you are lifting a weight ten times, numbers nine and ten should be difficult. If you can lift a weight 20 times but choose to do only ten, you are wasting your time. Period.
4. This past weekend I went to the theater to see the remake of Total Recall:
Here’s my one-sentence review: it should have been called Total Regurgitate In My Mouth. HA, see what I just did there? I took the title of the movie and then re-worded it so that you’d get the impression that it sucked, and, well, you get the idea.
5. Lastly, I wanted to give you all a heads up on a really cool site I’ve been using for the past week called RebelMouse.com.
In short, it’s a site that takes all of your social media – Facebook and Twitter – and conjoins everything under one umbrella into your very own social front page. It’s pretty freakin sweet. Check out my page HERE.
It’s currently in Beta, and there’s a waiting list to join, but it might be something worth checking out.
The other day while walking around on the gym floor, I ended up having a small chat with one of our current interns, Doug, on the education system. Random topic I know, and I honestly have no recollection as to how we even got there, but it definitely was something that got the two of us fired up. While I won’t bore everyone with the details, I will say we both came to the conclusion that we can’t believe how ass-backwards everything has gotten.
Maybe it has something to do with reading several books on how higher education isn’t necessarily all it’s cracked up to be – The Education of Millionaires and most recently, Chris Guillebeau’s The $100 Startup – or maybe it’s because I’ve been getting some emails as of late from undergraduates asking me if they should pursue their Masters Degree (in and effort to gain a few more letters next to their name and hopefully have a leg up on their competition), or maybe it’s because I have a sister who’s a teacher.
Either way, the “system” is broken. In today’s society we’re basically programmed right from the get go to think that higher education is the key to being successful, and as a result we have more and more people going into disheartening amounts of debt.
Although, to be fair: no one is pointing a gun at someone’s head that they HAVE to go to a $40,000/per year school….to major in Humanities.
Now, I am in no way saying that going to college is a bad thing or is something that shouldn’t be strived for. But it’s gotten to the point now where 3rd graders aren’t even allowed to go outside and play and have upwards of 2-3 hours of homework per night.
3rd graders!!!!!!
I don’t know about you, but when I was in 3rd grade I was pimpin it on the kick-ball field and figuring out whether or not red Play-Doh tasted any differently than blue Play-Doh.
FYI: it totally doesn’t.
I certainly wasn’t memorizing my multiplication tables.
Anyways, in light of our conversation Doug sent me this TED Talk by Sir Ken Robinson that I thought was amazing, and totally worth 20 minutes of your time.
Last week I posted on how we go about teaching (and implementing) the Turkish Get-Up and kettlebell swing at Cressey Performance (HERE).
From what I could tell it was received well (no hate mail), and at the end of the post I opened it up to the masses to go a head and give ME feedback on how I could go about improving my technique and coaching cues.
Wouldn’t you know it – someone did just that.
Here, Troy Pesola throws me under the microscope and breaks down my KB swing.
This post is a blast from the past that I randomly came across while searching for something else. I re-read it, thought it didn’t suck, and figured that since I wrote it over two years ago and there’s a lot more people reading the site now, it wouldn’t hurt to re-post it again.
On that note, Enjoy the weekend!
Who’s going to see Kate Beckinsale be Kate BeckinsaleTotal Recall?
body part per day split. Chest day, back day, blah blah blah. Trust me, a little piece of my soul dies just thinking about it. I can’t even begin to tell you how much I cringe looking back at how I trained as a high school and even collegiate athlete. If I ever had the chance to take a time machine back to 1994, I’d totally go back and Sparta kick myself in the face.
