CategoriesMotivational

Six Tips To Make You a Better Trainer

Today’s guest post comes from personal trainer (and friend) Mike Anderson.  Enjoy!

I mentally wrote most of this post while sitting in attendance at the First Annual Cressey Performance Fall Seminar. I couldn’t help but notice that quite a few of the people in attendance were personal trainers, not strength coaches.

Those of us who are personal trainers, and not strength coaches, are the red-headed step children of the fitness industry. I often read things on T-Nation (even here on Tony’s blog) about “pencil-necked personal trainers” who couldn’t train their way out of a paper bag and who constantly do stupid things with their clients.

Note from TG:  That is true, I’m a culprit of that.  My bad!  But in my defense, how else am I supposed to react when I see a trainer take his overweight, woefully deconditioned client through a circuit of BOSU ball squats, standing on one leg while hoisting pink dumbbells over their head?

This is understandable; the personal training industry is very misunderstood. It has long been filled with random people who simply put clients on machines and count reps for them. While there ARE exceptions to the rule, much of the time there’s very little thought given to proper programming and helping clients get results in the most time efficient (and safe) manner possible, and more thought put into what arm-band to wear, which sneakers to pimp, and trying to figure out the best way to “swindle” a client into purchasing the next big batch of training sessions to meet their monthly sales quota.

Nowadays, though, we have a new breed of trainer. There are more and more of us who base our clients training on current science and research rather than on bro-science.

In order to help people fix the misconception of what a personal trainer is I wanted to give you all a few tips that helped make me a better trainer, and it’s my hope that these tiny bits of perspective can help you too!

1) Find a Mentor

Whether he knows it or not, Tony has had a huge impact on my career so far.

Note from TG:  Dude, I’m a freakin Jedi.  I know everything…..;o)

In fact, I’d go so far as to say that he has helped mentor me through the first few years of my career. I’d been reading his blog for about a year before I first contacted him with some questions, he responded quickly and went out of his way to help me.

Every subsequent email was answered with promptness and full attention to my queries.  I finally met him in person and he continued to be a huge help to me whenever I had a problem or question. He has also provided me with this forum several times to help kickstart (what I hope to be) a writing career  and to get my name out in the world.

Considering he is one of the “celebrities” of our industry, this really meant a lot to me.

I’m lucky to live in an area that is dense with quality strength coaches who are pretty accessible: Tony, Eric, Greg and Chris out at CP; Mike Boyle and Ben Bruno up at MBSC; Jeremy Frisch at Achieve Performance; the guys at Total Performance Sports, and a ton of really great coaches at Boston University and Northeastern University.

Even if you don’t live near a great coach, you can find a way to get in contact with them. Most people in this industry are more than willing to pass on some of their knowledge to the next generation. Find someone who is smarter than you and learn something!

Note fron TG:  I get this question a lot from other trainers in the industry asking me how they can go about getting better.  Mike hit the nail on the head in this regard:  try to reach out to any local trainers or coaches.  Whether it’s a reputable trainer at a commercial gym or an area strength coach at a college or university, most will be more than willing to allow you to come in and observe and talk some shop.  

Just remember one very important rule:  you have two eyes, two ears, and one mouth.  Use them in that order.

2) Find your Style

This is something that I see a lot of new trainers lacking. They start training and will adapt every session to what the client likes or feels like doing.  They have no particular style to their sessions.

Everyone who trains with me knows they are going to spend some time on mobility, then get their hands on some heavy compound lifts. Is my style unique? Not at all.  Is it effective? Sure is.  Do I stay true to it regardless of who I’m training? For sure.

3) Don’t Stop Learning

It’s pretty easy to get comfortable in your job and stop trying to get better; that’s your death sentence.

There is so much new information that comes out on a regular basis in this industry that you need to keep up. Not only that, but so much of this information is FREE! There’s a ton of great blogs and articles out there written by very knowledgeable coaches; take advantage of this!

If you can read these articles and attend a seminar every once in a while, you’ll gain enough tidbits of information to keep yourself current.  Don’t be the trainer telling your clients that eggs are bad for them or that squats will hurt your knees.

4) Keep it Simple

Very few general population clients out there need anything besides the basics and their variations. Stick to these and stay away from progressing clients too fast and they will see results.

The fanciest exercise I do did with my clients are sled drags (unfortunately I was recently banned from doing these.) I stick to the 5 basic human movement patterns (as described by Dan John): squat, hinge, push, pull and carry.

Use variants of these with your clients, inform them about eating a diet full of real, quality foods and they will be better off in the long run.

5) Sell the “long term”

What I mean by this is; don’t sell a session to a client, sell your program.

Rather than treating each session as an independent hour, every session should be an hour spent working towards the client goal through the use of a program. If possible, you should be writing a full-length program (at least one month) for your clients and using it.

At the very least, you should have a template that you stick to. One of the most frustrating things that I see is when a trainer goes into a session with a client with no plan; you’re not getting results, you’re just getting them tired.

I mean, really:  anybody can do that.

6) Get with the right people

This refers to your clients and the people you work for/with. Having clients who are ready and willing to work hard and put forth the effort makes all the difference in the world; unfortunately this is something you don’t have a ton of control over. (Especially at the beginning of your career).

As you establish yourself more, it’ll become possible for you to become a little more selective in whom you work with.

Working with/for like-minded people will make a huge difference in how you approach work. Having good co-workers gives you the opportunity bounce ideas off of people and find out what other people are having success with. It also gives you the chance to run your programs by someone else to get a second opinion.

Working for a gym where the management is on the same page as you will also make a huge difference. It’s difficult to get results and keep clients happy if your management doesn’t support you in your quest to make clients fit, healthy and happy.

If any of you can take even one new tip from this article, then I did my job. Have a great day, and go lift something heavy!

Author Bio:  Mike is a Boston area personal trainer and currently interning with Boston University Strength and Conditioning. Mike is also finishing his degree in Exercise and Health Science at the University of Massachusetts Boston. He loves bacon, beer and his 7 year old pit bull Lexi. You can reach him with any questions, comments or notes of affection at [email protected]. You can also visit his website:  http://commercialgymtrainer.blogspot.com/

CategoriesMiscellaneous Miscellany

Miscellaneous Miscellany Monday: Deadlift Battle Final, Deadlift Dynamite, and Speed Work

1.  First things first: I just want to take a few words to say THANK YOU to any servicemen or servicewomen (past or current) who may be sitting there reading this. I think we take A LOT for granted in this country, and it’s my hope that EVERYONE reading will take a  moment to recognize the incredible, invaluable, and downright courageous job that our troops contribute to this country, not to mention those who served in years past.

My grandfather was at Pearl Harbor when it was bombed back in 1941, and while I never got a chance to really know him (he passed away when I was very young), I was always amazed and dumbfounded whenever I read or heard stories of his service time.  The man was a straight-up, certifiable, badass.

And that applies to anyone who goes out of their way to risk so much and not really receive much back in terms of reward or notoriety.

They all truly deserve our respect and gratitude.  Without question they have mine.

2.  I also want to thank everyone who participated in last week’s Deadlift Battle over on WeightTraining.com. To say that it got a little heated and that people got just a teeny-tiny bit competitive would be a drastic understatement.

Lets just put it this way, the top two participants combined – CoachA and BrandonKW – deadlifted over 1,000,000 lbs by themselves!!!

That’s a one with six zeroes after it.  Or roughly the total number of times I asked Nicole Kot out in high school and she said no.

To his credit, the good Coach edged out Brandon 563,555 lbs to 532,535 lbs and gets the title for most masochistic son-of-a-bitch in existence.

If anyone deserves a slow clap, it’s you.   This one is dedicate to you, sir.  Enjoy it.

This isn’t to belittle everyone else who participated, of course.  We had over 60 people make a conscientious decision that this would actually be a good idea, and in order to even crack the top 10 you had to deadlift a minimum of 120,000 lbs.

I sucked and ended up in 12th place with only 105.115 lbs.

Needless to say, it was a blast, I’m probably going to take a week off from lifting anything heavy off the floor, and we’ll be letting everyone know who the GRAND PRIZE winner is shortly.

3.  Speaking of deadlifts, two legends in the strength and conditioning community – Pavel (of RKC fame) and Andy Bolton (of he can deadlift a metric shit-ton fame) – have collaborated on what I feel is going to be a game changing, holy-shit-I-think-I-just-peed-myself-a-little-I’m-so-excited manual:

—> Deadlift Dynamite <—

A short while ago, John DuCane, CEO of Dragon Door Publications (which is releasing the manual), reached out to me and asked if I’d be interested in receiving an advance copy to check out.  I responded back with, “you had me at deadlift.”

I don’t think I have to tell you that it’s awwwwwwwwwwesome, and today, just to serve as a slight appetizer, both Pavel and Andy have released three FREE videos that  will undoubtedly make people’s faces melt from all the deadlifting knowledge bombs being dropped.

Go HERE.

You’ve been warned.

4.  Serving as an adjunct to the article I posted last week on Tips for a Badass Bench Press, I also wanted to note that as much as lifting big weights will make you stronger, we also can’t turn our heads on bar speed.

I certainly can’t take credit for it, as many, many coaches much smarter (and stronger) than myself have stated it before:

Getting faster will make you stronger

Bar speed is an often overlooked component of bench pressing. More specifically, developing power – or the ability to generate force quickly and increase your rate of force development – is an often overlooked component of bench pressing.

In a nutshell: you can’t just rely on “muscling” the weight all the time, grinding out reps on a weekly basis. That’s only going to take you so far. However, developing more bar speed will undoubtedly go a long ways in helping improve your bench press.

* Photo courtesy of elitefts.com

In looking at what’s called the Force-Velocity Curve, which is dictated by load and speed, one would find the following variants to be true:

Loads between 30-50% of a trainee’s one-rep max typically focuses more on power.

Loads between 75-95% of a trainee’s one-rep max typically places an emphasis more on maximum strength.

Loads between 50-60% of a trainee’s one-rep max, done ballistically, is the sweet spot for developing power output – where force AND velocity are maximized.

This last point is where focusing on bar speed comes into play. Getting faster will help you get stronger. Popularized by Louie Simmons and the guys over at Westside Barbell, incorporating more of a “dynamic effort” day is a fantastic way to help increase your numbers in the bench press.

Not coincidentally, it’s also a fantastic way to hone in on technique which can be argued is where the real benefit lies.

Basically, all you would do is take 50-60% of your current one-rep max – and perform the reps as quickly as you can for something like 6 sets of 3 repetitions, with 30-45s rest between sets.

There’s obviously a bit more to it than that, but in many ways there isn’t.

Now, if you’ve only been training for like a year or your current 1RM is something like 185 lbs, I don’t feel dedicated speed work is going to be an efficient use of your time.  But, for those who have a little more experience “under the bar,” and have been in a benching rut, this might be exactly what you need to get over that hump.

Speaking a little more ubiquitously, and even taking speed work out of the equation, what’s important – on EVERY rep, no matter the exercise – is that the INTENT to be fast is there.

This is a mistake that I find a lot of people make – that they have to grind out, or “muscle” all their reps.

While heavy is heavy, and you can’t expect to make every rep look like a paperweight, so long as you tell yourself to be fast – and the INTENT to move that bar quickly is there – that’s definitely a step in the right direction.

So, from now on, tell yourself BAR SPEED is the key.

5.  So a little movie came out this weekend, you might have heard about it: Skyfall.

Giving full disclosure, up until Daniel Craig took over as James Bond and Casino Royale came out in 2006, I had never been a fan of the franchise.

Ever since then, however, I’ve anticipated each and every installment – and Skyfall was no different.

What intrigued me the most was that Sam Mendes who directed classics like American Beauty and Road to Perdition (which, for those looking for some cool movie trivia, was where he first directed Craig) was taking the helm and directing this edition.

I LOVE Sam Mendes, and was really looking forward in seeing what he could do to spice things up after the somewhat disappointing Quantum of Solace.

Without giving away everything, I really, really liked Skyfall (but still feel Casino Royale takes the cake).

Javier Bardem evokes crazy like no-one else, playing the cyber terrorist Silva (I’d even go so far as to say he should at least be considered for a Best Supporting Actor nomination), and like with any Bond movie, the chase scenes, one-liners, and gadgets are epic.

Oh, and the women aren’t too shabby either.

I’d give it a solid B+

CategoriesMotivational

Small Wins, Big Rewards

To some degree, I’m the sort of person people hate.

Although, hate IS a strong word.

I mean it would be one thing if I cut you off in traffic, insulted your mom, borrowed money from you and never paid it back, or worse, drop kicked a puppy in the face.  Then, by all means, you’d have every reason to hate away.

Maybe “mildly irritated” would be a more appropriate phrase to use here.

You see I’m one of those guys who’s always been lean. As a kid growing up in MiddleOfNoWhereAndTheClosestGroceryStoreIsTenMilesAway, NY, I was very active. What else was there to do?

It’s not a fabrication or a stretch of the truth when I say I literally spent the majority of my time outside playing every sport imaginable.  From sun up to sun down – especially during the summer months – I was outside riding my bike, shooting hoops, playing baseball, wiffle ball, kickball, or any other sport you can name that ends with the word “ball” in it.

I’d go swimming, play catch, toss the football around, go exploring with my dog, Daisy, and sometimes, if was feeling really dangerous, stay up past midnight.

Furthermore, like any other kid, I drank my fair share of Kool-Aid growing up (looking back, I shutter at the amount of sugar I drank back then) and I can’t even begin to tell you how many boxes of cold cereal I dominated – Fruit Loops, Frosted Flakes, Apples Jacks – you name it, I crushed it.

Even still, sugar and all, I was skinny bastard!  In large part, and I’m very thankful for this, I didn’t grow up in the digital/technology age. Sure, things like VCRs were a big deal back in the day.  I can remember one weekend when my mom rented (yes, rented) a VCR player and I watched Return of the Jedi in my living room with while wearing my Jabba the Hut pajamas.

Awwwwwwwww.

It was pretty much the best day of my life.

“Stuff” existed back then – cd players, walkmans, microwaves, Thunderpunch He-Man, etc., but no where to the degree that things exist now.

Today, you’re more apt to find groups of kids spending more time texting or huddled around a tv screen playing Halo against other kids from the next state over or even from across the globe, than you are finding those same kids outside on the baseball diamond.

It’s sad, and a discussion that can be saved for another day – I’m getting way too long winded with this intro.  What the hell was I talking about again?

That’s right:  how skinny I was.

Yeah, I’ve always had “abs,”  but when you’re as skinny as I was growing up, it pretty much defeated the purpose.  Abs on a skinnu guy don’t count!!!

Even as my athletic career took off through high school and onto college, I was always on the skinny side.  I graduated high school weighing like 155-160 lbs, and even as I entered my senior year in college, I was only 175 or so lbs at six foot one.  Not a ladies man by any means.

I had abs, but you know, they were “skinny guy” abs.

It wasn’t until I stopped playing baseball, finished my degree in health education at SUNY Cortland, and got my first job in corporate fitness (this would have been 2002) that things started to click.

To make a long story short, I was sick of being skinny.  At that stage in my life, I had been a gym rat for a looooooong time, and to my credit, built a decent physique. But I was still doing stupid things like “arms day,” not eating egg yolks, and even more heart wrenching, averaging like 15-20 miles per week of running.

Yes, my name is Tony Gentilcore and I used to be a…..I used to be a…………

Runner.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1Y73sPHKxw

 

Dramatic chipmunks aside, it was something I actually enjoyed doing, but there came a point where I had to come to the realization that doing that much running wasn’t helping me attain my goals.

In the summer of 2003 I decided I was going nip things in the bud and attempt to get to a bodyweight of 200 lbs  – a seemingly insurmountable number in my head, especially given my struggles to hover anywhere in the vicinity of 180.

It’s that word insurmountable that really toyed with my head, though.  In the past, whenever I tried to gain weight, it’s like I had already programmed myself to fail from the get go, thinking I could never reach that mark of 200 lbs.

But I decided to chip away at it nonetheless.  My first order of business was changing my training from a body-part-per-day split to more of a full-body approach.  As weird as it sounds, and as shocking as it may seem, I didn’t perform my first deadlift until 2003 (when I was 26).

Once I got the hang of that, and realized it was’t that hard to make subtle changes, I started tweaking other things in my life.  I started eating more whole eggs.  Glorious, delicious, cholesteroly, whole eggs.  I also realized the world wouldn’t collapse in an Apocalypic hellfire if I ate a carb past 7 PM.

Moreover, as the months passed and I started gaining momentum, I made other changes.  I decreased my distance running drastically and opted for more sprinting type work; I started prepping my meals a head of time; hell, I even said hi to a girl once.

All told, within a 10-11 month span, I put on a solid 25-30 lbs and actually got up to 210 lbs.  And ever since, I’ve rarely dipped below 200.

And yes, I’m still lean thank you very much.

So, what does all of this have to do with you?  Well, I recently finished reading a phenomenal book by Charles Duhigg titled The Power of Habit:  Why We Do What We Do In Life and Business.

Not to throw a spoiler in your face or anything, but the book is about habits – what they are, how they form, and what we can do to set new ones.

In one section, the author describes what he refers to has Small Wins that I felt carried a lot of weight in terms of one of the book’s main messages.

To quote, from page 112:

Small wins are exactly what they sound like, and are part of how keystone habits create widespread changes.  A huge body of research has shown that small wins have enormous power, and influence disproportionate to the accomplishments of the victories themselves.  “Small wins are a steady application of a small advantage,” one Cornell professor wrote in 1984. “Once a small win has been accomplished, forces are set in motion that favor another small win.” 

Small wins fuel transformative changes by leveraging tiny advantages into patterns that convince people that bigger achievements are within reach.

Small Wins reap Big Rewards

Using a more universal example, lets say someone wants to lose weight.  They walk into their local bookstore and mozy over to the diet/nutriton section and choose from the cornucopia of diet books available.  In it the book suggest that they need to drink more water, eat more vegetables, and fruit, include more protein, take their fish oil supplement, exercise more, avoid carbs at all costs, except for post-training (or if it happens to be an even numbered day in a leap year), oh and by the way, you should only buy organic foods.

Capiche?  Good.  Now get to it!

It’s A LOT to take in, and to say that it can feel pretty freaking overwhelming would be an understatement akin to saying the Grand Canyon is kinda big.

Many will reluctantly make an effort to change (I CAN do this, easy peezy), but while intentions are good, it’s only so long before said person feels lost and reverts back to old habits.

It’s just too much to take on so many things at once – and it’s a mistake that everyone (myself included) makes.

Instead, start small.  Start with ONE habit – say, eat one more serving of greens per day.

Once you master that, and it becomes a habit, you can move onto something else like getting a gym membership and starting with making an effort to go twice per week.

Once you know you can do that, you can up that number to three, maybe four times per week.

It’s all about those small wins – and this can be applied to anything, really.

Quitting smoking.

Getting out of credit card debt.

Losing/Gaining Weight.

Increasing your bench press.

Training for a marathon.

Making a movie quality Iron Man suit.

Anything!!!!

The key is to not fall into the trap that you have to tackle everything at once. It doesn’t matter how trivial or minute the small win is…..any win is a step in the right direction.

CategoriesProgram Design Strength Training

The Squat 4x Per Week Experiment

I’ve been alluding to this “experiment” for quite some time now – and I wouldn’t be surprised given how long it’s taken me to actually hunker down and write about it, if some of you felt I was just making it up and blowing out a bunch of hot air.

It’s kind of like that one time your best friend said he’s dating a lingerie model that he met online.

Riiiiigggghhhhttttt.

And I actually spend my nights fighting crime as a ninja.  No, really, I’m not kidding!

Anyhoo, for those who need a quick refresher:  I’ve been experimenting with a high(er) frequency squatting protocol that’s been in the mix for the past 6-8 weeks.  I love it, and feel it’s something I may implement long-term.

The article just went live today on T-Nation and you can read it HERE.

I’d be curious to hear your thoughts after you read it.  Something you feel you’d try?  Think it’s crap?  Don’t worry, you can be honest. I won’t cry……….

That much.

 

CategoriesProgram Design Strength Training

Tips For a Badass Bench Press

I’ve told this story numerous times via email exchanges and presentations I’ve given, so please forgive me if you’ve heard this one before.

Awhile back I wrote an article on T-Nation titled My Shoulder Hurts: The Finest Whine, and in it I detailed, among other things, some of the more common reasons why someone’s shoulder may hate them in addition to outlining some strategies to help alleviate said shoulder from hating them.

I thought it was a pretty baller article, and it helped a lot of people. At one point I made mention that my best bench press is 315 lbs (raw, no gear) and that one of the reasons why I feel myself – as well as most of my athletes and clients I train – rarely suffer from shoulder pain is because I place a premium on balancing my pressing numbers with my pulling numbers.

Speaking more precisely, in an ideal world, I like to see a healthy “balance” between one’s 1RM bench press and his or her’s 3RM chin-up.

Using myself as an example, my best bench press is 315 lbs, and my best 3RM chin-up is 301 lbs.  Not too shabby if I say so.

Almost predictably, some asshat made a comment in the LiveSpill that he stopped reading the article after he saw that I owned up to only bench pressing 315 lbs – insinuating that that was a piss-poor number and that I couldn’t possibly know what I was talking about.

I guess in order for it to count and for him to be impressed, I had to perform that for reps.  With my feet in the air.  And with Kate Beckinsale feeding me grapes.

Rather than get into some arcane pissing match with someone I didn’t even know (or had the inclination to use his real name), I made a snide comment back that: “yeah, well, my internet max is like 405 lbs, so that has to count for something.”

Suffice it to say, I recognize that a 315 lb bench press isn’t THAT big of a deal, and certainly doesn’t give me any bragging rights – especially considering some of the insane weights that guys like Vinny DiCenzo, Rock Lewis, and countless other raw and powerlifters put up on a regular basis.

That said, I still know how to COACH the bench press, and below is an article that I wrote last year that sorta got lost in the shuffle and never made it to print.

Lucky for you I happened to find it and decided I post up here.  Enjoy!

Tips For a Badass Bench Press

In the realm of fitness, deadlifts and Shake Weights* aside, no other exercise exhibits as much machismo and general “badassery” as the bench press. Like a moth to a flame, it’s the first thing that most trainees (especially newbies) gravitate toward when they embark on a fitness routine, or, you know, if it’s Monday.

It’s no secret that attaining an impressive bench press – whatever that number may be – is kind of a big deal in fitness circles, allowing one a certain degree of bragging rights; it’s something that many trainees strive for on a weekly, sometimes yearly, basis.

However, not everyone makes significant progress with the bench press and even worse, many often end up hurt in the process — which is ironic, given its overwhelming popularity. It doesn’t have to be this way. A few simple tips can help your bench press soar.

But First, Lets Address the Stuff You’re Probably Going to Skip Anyways

While addressing posture may seem trivial and mundane, and yes, you may prefer to swallow a live grenade, it’s critical to discuss. So deal with it.

Let’s face it, there are a lot of people walking around with less than stellar posture. With many spending upwards of 8 to 12 hours per day sitting in front of a computer at work, not to mention the endless hours commuting, and/or hunching over their iPhone it’s no surprise.

Exhibiting a kyphotic posture – rounded shoulders and upper back, or what I like to call the Mr. Burns effect – will absolutely affect rotator cuff mobility, as well as general joint function, which in turn will affect overall performance and how much weight one will be able to bench press.

Interestingly, it’s often popular for fitness professionals to prescribe copious amounts of direct rotator cuff work to help fix one’s posture in addition to providing more “stability” to the joint – with the idea being that the more stable the joint is, the more proficient it will be at transferring force.

This is true, to a degree.

However, rarely, if ever, is the rotator cuff the issue when referring to bench press performance. Rather, what you need to be more cognizant of is thoracic spine mobility and scapular stability.

As my good buddy, Dean Somerset, CSCS, notes, “while the rotator cuff’s function is undoubtedly one of providing stability to the glenohumeral joint and allowing it to have a pivot rotation versus a gliding within the capsule, it doesn’t need a lot of direct work when training for the bench press, even if the problem is a rotator cuff tear.”

In other words, if you’re walking around with a Quasimodo posture, all the rotator cuff work in the world isn’t going to improve your bench press.

Instead by addressing the real issues — improving t-spine mobility and targeting the scapular stabilizers like the serratus anterior and lower traps, which tend to be woefully weak in many trainees — you’ll improve overall shoulder function and help place the scapulae in an optimal position to transfer force.

Using a great analogy that pretty much everyone uses and I’m no different, it’s sort of like shooting a cannon from a canoe; it’s not necessarily a good idea, nor optimal. Shoot it from solid ground, however, and it’s a different result altogether.

For many trainees, they’re so unstable – due to poor positioning – that they never see any improvements in their bench press. Make the joint more stable – again, by improving t-spine mobility and scapular stability – and good things will happen.

While there are certain scenarios where dedicated rotator cuff work might be warranted – they’re few and far between. Instead, focus on thoracic mobility (rotation as well as extension) and improving scapular function, to set yourself up for success.

Here are a few drills that might help and provide some insight:

Quadruped Extension-Rotation

Bench T-Spine Mobilization

Forearm Wall Slides – 135 Degrees with OH Shrug & Lift Off

https://youtube.com/watch?v=7QVMrFDQ0FI

Side Lying Windmill

Those are just a few, of course, but should get the ball rolling in the right direction for most people reading.

For Those That Skipped the Nerdy Stuff, You Can Start Reading Here

It All Starts With the Set-Up: Part I

How you set up for the bench press can make or break your performance, and subsequently, long-term progress to boot. While conventional wisdom will dictate that the bench press is a fairly innocuous exercise that anyone can just show up and perform (kind of like pooping), it’s actually a bit more complicated.

Firstly, rule number one of bench pressing — especially if you’re looking to push some respectable weight – is to never, ever, under any circumstance bench press with your feet up in the air. Unless, of course, you’re actually trying to make people laugh at you and/or want to be weak.

If that’s the case – have at it!

Think about it: By placing your feet up in the air, you’re making yourself more unstable, and in turn, less capable of transferring force efficiently. Resultantly, this will affect how much weight you’re able to use, which defeats the purpose if you’re looking to improve your bench pressing “badasstitude.”

It also looks dumb — really dumb. And no one wants to look dumb.

With that out of way, you need to understand some very basic set-up parameters that will undoubtedly help clean up your bench technique and lead to more weight on the bar.

Step 1: Set your Feet. Dig your feet into the ground!

Don’t just haphazardly flop them out in front of you like a pair of dead fish. Literally, corkscrew those mofo’s into the ground – to the side and underneath you — and use them to push your back into the bench. This is called leg drive, and it’s a trick that many powerlifters utilize to help engage more of the entire body into the movement.

That’s because the bench press is more of a full-body movement than one might think, and by incorporating more leg drive, it’s not uncommon to see an instant increase in the amount of weight used.

Step 2: Grab the bar as if you want to choke it to death.

Too often, trainees gingerly grab the bar as if they’re scared they’re going to hurt it. Grab it and strangle it! By doing so, you’ll force the rotator cuff to fire and provide more stability throughout the shoulders.

Step 3: Place your shoulder blades in your back pocket.

As Mike Robertson, CSCS and co-owner of IFAST training facility located in Indianapolis, IN, notes, “The more stable you are through your upper back, the more strength you’ll be able to display and the less likely you are to strain a pec while benching.”

Grab the bar with your hands – remember, crush it! – lift yourself off the bench slightly and try to pinch your shoulder blades together and depress them by visualizing placing them in your back pocket.

For the visual learners in the crowd, you can always just watch this superb video by Dave Tate.

It All Starts with the Set-Up: Part II

In case you haven’t picked up on it yet, placing a little more of an emphasis on technique very well may be the missing ingredient to a badass bench.

Still reading? Well, you made it this far, you might as well keep going!

Step 4: It’s okay to arch your lower back.

There’s a major misconception in the fitness community that it’s somehow detrimental to arch one’s lumbar spine while benching. While this practice may be problematic for some individuals, it’s a bit remiss to make such broad generalizations.

For starters, the lumbar spine already has a natural lordotic arch to it anyway, so why would maintaining that arch be dangerous? In fact, increasing one’s arch is another useful trick many powerlifters advocate because it helps shorten the distance the bar has to travel.

Secondly, and more to the point, Craig Rasmussen, CSCS and one of the program designers at Results Fitness located in Santa Clarita, CA, says, “I believe that many people simply confuse the (correct) advice of keeping your butt on the bench with the bogus advice of keeping the lumbar spine on the bench. This will entail having a curve in your lumbar spine. You don’t need to press your lumbar spine into the bench as you perform a bench press, but you do need to keep your butt on the bench or you’re changing the movement into an unsupported decline bench press, which is not a good idea.”

Step 5: Get a hand-off.

It sounds borderline trivial, but it’s anything but. Getting a hand-off – as opposed to a “spot” – is an often overlooked component to the bench press.

Remember all that talk above about proper upper back positioning when you bench, and how, if it’s not optimal, it can drastically affect how much weight you’re actually able to lift?

No? What the F, dude?  It was like 30 seconds ago!  Go back and read it again!

Well, when you don’t ask for a proper hand-off, you’re essentially setting yourself up for failure. Think about what you have to do to unrack the bar on your own: “press” the bar by protracting your shoulders and allowing them to anteriorly tilt – losing any semblance of upper back tightness in the process.

Conversely, by getting a proper hand-off, you’re able to keep the upper back compact and “tight.”

In reality, a hand-off should assist you only in the sense of “gliding” the bar over the j-hooks – the hand-off(er) should not lift the bar out of the hooks for you.

Also, just to throw it out there:  every time you yell out “it’s all you, it’s all you, it’s all you” when spotting, a dolphin gets punched in the face.  Stop it!

Step 6: Keep your elbows from flaring out.

Watch any elite powerlifter bench and what do you see? Well for starters, you won’t see them with their feet in the air. Seriously, stop it! Secondly, you’ll probably notice how they tend to keep their elbows from flaring out. Why? Namely, it prevents your shoulders from hating you.

Allowing the elbows to flare out – while true, does place more emphasis on the pecs – places infinitely more stress on the shoulders, and you want to protect them as much as possible.

Instead, when lowering the bar, try to keep the elbows at a 45-degree angle from the torso. In other words, if taking a bird-eye view, your arms should make more of a “W” shape than a “T” throughout the duration of the movement

It may be awkward at first, and it will definitely take some practice, but it will keep your shoulders healthier in the long run. And that’s a huge step in the right direction for long-term bench pressing success.

And that’s it!

*Yes, I’m kidding.

**Top Photo courtesy of BodyBuilding.com

CategoriesMiscellaneous Miscellany Uncategorized

Miscellaneous Miscellany Monday: Flight, Deadlift Battle Reminder, and Yoga Isn’t For Everyone

1. Hope everyone had an awesome weekend (and remembered to turn their clocks back one hour before going to bed Saturday night).

Not surprisingly, like an idiot, I forgot to turn mine back and as a result got up earlier than I needed to do the weekly grocery shopping.  It wasn’t until I logged onto my computer to check emails really quick that I realized I was an hour early.  DOH!!!!

Nevertheless, once we were properly aligned with time, Lisa and I had the epitome of a “chill” day.  As is the case most Sundays, we use it to catch up on life, but also to do a little window shopping, too.  And by “window shopping” what I really mean is, “I follow Lisa around like an obedient puppy.”

At the start everything is rainbows and roses.  You want to walk into Marshall’s?  Sure, lets do it?!  Target?  Rock on.  I love me some Target!

By the time stores like Bebe or Sephora start entering the picture, I’m pretty much a walking zombie and have to fight off the urge to hurl my body in front of a moving bus.

Thankfully we were in a part of the city that not only had a Chipotle, but also had a movie theater nearby – so we decided to go see the new Denzel Washington flick, Flight.

A few candid thoughts:

  • If you’re someone who’s even remotely scared of flying, don’t go see this!  I for one am not a huge fan of flying, and basically had to manually unclench my butt cheeks after watching the entire 10+ minute sequence of the plane crashing. Not cool.
  • I love movies that revolve around actual dialogue, superb acting, crisp story telling (and show boobies) – and this film had it all!

Denzel will undoubtedly get a nomination for his role as a man who struggles with drug and alcohol abuse. Granted it’s a topic that Hollywood has seemingly squeezed dry time and time again, but if it’s any consolation, Lisa, a mental health therapist who has extensive experience working with people who suffer from substance abuse, was hit like a ton of bricks from Denzel’s extraordinary performance.

The last 10-15 minutes of the film were pretty powerful and left both of us speechless for a decent amount of time.  Later on last night, even as we were crushing filet mignon at a Morton’s, Lisa randomly said, “I’m still thinking of that movie.”

It was a good one people.

I know many will go into it thinking that the movie is about how Whip (Denzel’s character) lands the plane and h0w much of a miracle it was – and that’s not far from the truth.  But in reality, it’s a movie about a man’s inner demons and how he just can’t seem to get out of his own way.

Highly recommended.

B+

2.  Just a friendly reminder:  I’m challenging everyone to a DEADLIFT BATTLE starting TODAY (Monday, Nov. 5th), and I’m hoping more will join in on the madness.

There will be daily giveaways as well as a randomly selected grand prize winner at the end of the week.  What’s more, and maybe even more pertinent, it gives you a perfectly good reason to deadlift your face off this week and earn some bragging rights.

Of course, it’s all in good fun, but I’m going to kick all your asses.

LOL – just kidding.

No, but seriously, my competitive juices are overflowing right now, and I can’t take responsibility for any hurtful words that come out of my mouth this week. Which is to say I’m pretty certain all of you were adopted.

Good luck!

3. A lot people on this site are familiar with my friend, Sirena Bernal, who’s a fantastic personal trainer/pilates instructor/nutrition coach/overall kickass human being here in Boston.

Sirena and I have been chummy for the past year or so exchanging numerous emails, bumping into one another at the local Panera (where we both do a lot of writing and people watching), and she also came to one of my lectures earlier this year that I gave to a group of Boston based trainers.

In addition I’ve highlighted a handful of her articles in my Stuff You Should Read While Pretending to Work series – which I like to think is sort of a big deal for those who make it on.

Anyways, Sirena is a well of information and she’s really good at what she does.  So good in fact that she’s built a very successful online business that allows her the freedom to work where she wants, when she wants (hence what we always seem to bump into one another at Panera).

Currently, she’s in the process of putting together a FREE webinar titled Top 10 Weight Loss Foods to Get at Trader Joe’s, which for anyone who registers, will receive $50 off her next Lean Body Challenge in January along with a free TJ’s downloadable cookbook she’s putting together.

Even if you’re not located near a Trader Joe’s Sirena will be providing a bunch of useful information that could be applied to any grocery chain – plus, as I noted, you’ll get a hefty discount off her next challenge just for attending.  What’s not to like?

4.  My thoughts towards yoga have definitely skewed a little more towards the “it’s a tool in the toolbox” way of thinking in recent years.  In the past, if many recall, I’d adamantly be opposed to it because I often felt it was marketed in a way that made people think it was some sort of health and well-being panacea where everyone who did it would be magically have six pack abs, be able to jump over mack trucks, have clear skin, and shit diamonds.

I still think it’s marketed in a way that can be shady, but I also understand that there is a time a place for it – Heck, I even took a class and blogged about my experience HERE and HERE.

Anyways, one of my readers sent me THIS blog post which sorta feeds into the whole “yoga isn’t necessarily all it’s cracked up to be” mindset.

I think many of you will enjoy it.

PS:  I still need to write my review of the CP seminar from last weekend, and will hopefully get that up at some point this week.  Sorry!!!!!!!!

CategoriesStuff to Read While You're Pretending to Work

Stuff to Read While You’re Pretending to Work: Women CAN Do Pull-Ups, Make a Difference, and Programming Order

Okay before we get to this week’s list of stuff you should be reading, I have a few minor house cleaning tasks to take care of.

First: for those who missed it, yesterday I challenged everyone and their mom to a deadlifting battle, and so far the turn out has been awesome.  My goal was to get at least 100 people signed up, and as of the writing of this blog post (9:13 AM) there are a total of 45.  Sooooo, we’re almost half way there.  Not bad considering it’s only been one day – but I feel we can do better.

Much, much better.

Come on people this is for bragging rights, not to mention FREE swag and delicious dead animal flesh.  Or, to put it more succinctly……….

STEAKS!!!!

If nothing else, you can look at it as a new challenge or as something different to do for a week.  Or, for some, at least temporarily, just another way to make your spine flip you the bird.

Whatever the case may be, it’s going to be a epic.  For more info (including rules, etc) go HERE.  Pretty please, with dark chocolate covered (organic) cherries on top???????

Secondly:  who else is pumped to go see Flight this weekend????? I for one, cannot wait. Denzel’s the man, and I’m really excited to finally see director, Robert Zemeckis, make his way back to live action film.  After directing hits like Forrest Gump and Cast Away, he ventured into live-action animation  – The Polar Express, Beowulf, A Christmal Carol – and while they were all stellar in their own right (except maybe for The Polar Express – the animation was kind of creepy) I’m still excited to see what the end result will be from him and Denzel teaming up.

Anyways, I’ll be sure to give a quick review on Monday.

Make a Difference – Dan John

I’d argue that no one in the fitness industry – or anywhere, for that matter – has a way with words and can make any topic a “life lesson” more so than Dan John.

This was an absolutely phenomenal article and I encourage EVERYONE to read it.

If you don’t a kitten will die.

Can Women Pull Their Own Weight – Pete McCall

Last week an article written by worst reporter ever Tara Parker-Pope in the NY Times titled Why Women Can’t Do Pull-Ups (link to the original article appears in the link above) made huge tidal waves in the fitness community for its woefully generalistic, chastising, and downright faulty conclusive remarks concerning a recent research study looking into women’s ability to perform pull-ups.

My boy Dean Somerset also wrote a “Tara Parker-Pope just got PWNED” recant HERE, but I thought this piece also hit the nail on the head.

Strength and Aerobic Training in the Same Session – Does the Order Matter – Patrick Ward

Which comes first:  the chicken or the egg?  Me vomiting a little bit in my mouth or listening to anything Tracy Anderson has to say?  Lifting heavy things or performing conditioning or aerobic work?

With regards to the latter, as is the case most of the time, it’s going to depend. But if you’re going to do both in one session, Patrick Ward has some interesting (and enlightening) things to say.

CategoriesStrength Training

I’m Challenging YOU to a Deadlift Battle

Yeah that’s right – I’m talking to YOU.

Imagine for a second that it’s like 1801, and for some reason you irritated me  – whether it was because you built a fence on my property, stole one of my cattle, didn’t tip your hat back at me when I said “good day,” or I just felt your mustache was way cooler than mine – what would be the standard protocol to resolving the issue?

I’d walk over to where you were standing and slap you square in the face with a pair of white gloves and say something like, “dude, WTF????” and then challenge you to a dual to the death.”

Or something like that.**

Either way, it would have been on like Donkey Kong.

Thankfully it’s not 1801 and we’re a little more civil today, so there won’t be any sword or gun fights in the public garden in the near future.

But I’m still challenging you to a battle.

A Deadlift Battle!!!!!!

……..not because anyone pissed me off or anything, but rather just because I can.

Everyone who reads this site knows I love me some deadlifts – so I’ve teamed up with the peeps over at WeightTraining.com and we’ve organized a fun week-long event where we’re going to see who can deadlift the most amount of weight in seven days.

Everybody likes a challenge, right?  Well, this one is going to be a doozy.

The party starts THIS Monday, November 5th and will run all of next week.

As if participating in such a badass event wasn’t incentive enough, we’ll be giving away daily WT.com t-shirts and wrist bands, and we’ll also have a GRAND PRIZE giveaway that includes a Cressey Performance t-shirt, a free copy of Muscle Imbalances Revealed – Upper Body, one year of WeightTraining.com PRO, and steaks from US Wellness Meats.

That’s right: dead animal flesh for deadlifting heavy stuff.  Seems appropriate.

And it’s all for FREE!

It’s my goal to get at least 100 people to participate, so please GO HERE to sign up and then do me a favor and spread the word on Facebook, Twitter, and every social media outlet you can think of.

Send invites to your friends, ex-girlfriends, parents, siblings, ex-Little League baseball coach, the cute Barista you have a crush on at Starbucks, everyone!!!!

This is going to be awesome – lets get it on!!!!!!!!

Tony Gentilcore Deadlift Battle