2012 is about thiiiis close to coming to a close, and since we’re all still here (HA!….take that Mayans!) I thought I’d use the last day and highlight the ten most popular posts of the past year based off of the total number of visits/hits each received.
It was the best year yet for TonyGentilcore.com, and I can’t thank everyone enough for their continued readership, and more importantly, support.
If I could give every single one of a hug I would. But not only would that be weird, it’s pretty much impossible. Nevertheless, please know that I am repeatedly grateful to all of you and here’s hoping that 2013 bring us all happiness, love, and PRs!
Fixing the “Tuck Under” When Squatting Parts ONE and TWO
Almost resoundingly, by a few thousand visits, this was a very popular two-part post I wrote on how to fix the tuck under or “butt wink” at the bottom of the squat. I guess people like reading about squats!
I don’t know which is more controversial: CrossFit, the so-called “fiscal cliff” we’re about to nose dive off of, Hitler, or the three weeks worth of facial hair that’s currently on my grill (which is a record for me).
In any case, whenever you mention CrossFit, you can bet that the sirens are blasted, and people are going to come out in droves to express their opinion.
Here I take a firm (albeit fair) take as to why I’m not a fan of kipping pull-ups.
This was a topic of a staff in-service that I did where I discussed some of the (several) intricacies that exist between the box squat and the squat TO box.
As the title suggests, yes, there is a difference.
The impetus behind this post was an email exchange I had with one of my female clients and a discussion we had on the differences between weight loss and fat loss. It’s a topic I feel many people can glue themselves to because we’ve all been there.
The information and logic provides are sound, but if anything else, what’s most impressive of all is my use of the word flummoxed. Seriously, gold star for that one!
I heart deadlifts. So it should come as no surprise that one of the 317 articles (slight exaggeration) I wrote on it should pop up in the top ten. Here I breakdown some common (and uncommon) coaching cues that I often use with my athletes and clients to help improve their technique.
It’s a rhetorical question, because in the grand scheme of things any warm-up is better than no warm-up at all. Although, if I’m going to be a little biased I think this one is pretty money.
I got in a little hot water after posting this article earlier in the year. You would think, after reading some of the comments I received, that I made a case for why women shouldn’t be allowed to vote!
99% of the people “got” the message: how the fitness industry panders to women is a complete joke, and there’s a massive double standard: men should lift weight, women should take yoga class.
In my latest T-Nation article I tackle the often controversial topic of squatting. Why it’s controversial I really have no idea. Squatting is a basic human movement pattern that I feel provides a gulf of benefits – everything from improved performance on the playing field to helping to offset many of the postural imbalances that we get from sitting on our rumps all day long.
The rub is that most people have the movement quality if C3PO on a good day. LOL – see what I just did there? You see, C3PO is a robot and he doesn’t move well and……
…..okay, never mind.
Essentially, when loaded squats start to enter the picture and we start to debate safety, well, that’s just a different conversation altogether.
Moreover, squat depth is a rarely discussed topic. Well, I take that back. People are always arguing over squat depth. On one end of the spectrum you have those who feel if you’re not squatting ass to calves (ass to grass in BroSpeak), you should just go home and watch The Notebook.
At the other end, you have those who have no idea what proper (or even “safe”) squat depth is. Here, I’m referring to all the world renowned squatters on the internet who “claim” to squat 500 lbs. For reps.
With a two inch range of motion.
All kidding aside, all squats aren’t created equal. Likewise, squat depth is going to be a highly individual component depending on one’s training experience, pertinent injury history, so on and so forth.
In this article I discuss why I looooooove squats, but more importantly how to “screen” appropriate squat depth.
Also, just a reminder that the GINORMOUS sale – 60% off – on the Muscle Imbalances Revealed series ends TONIGHT (12/28) at midnight. I don’t want to brag or anything (since I am affiliated with the product), but I feel this is a must have resource for any trainers or coaches looking to take their skill set to the next level. You’d be learning from some of the best in business: Bill Hartman, Mike Robertson, Rick Kaselj, Dean Somerset, Dr. Jeff Cubos and many more!
Today I wanted to share a recent email exchange I had with a friend of mine, Mike Anderson, who’s a local personal trainer and strength coach here in Boston.
Some of you might recognize Mike from the handful of guest posts he’e written on this site – namely HERE, HERE, and HERE.
I’d highly encourage you to check them out if you haven’t already, because Mike’s a really smart guy and offers a lot of insight and wherewithal that I only wish I had when I was his age.
Plus, he’s single. Ladies?
Well, I think he’s single. If not, my bad Mike’s girlfriend!
Anyways, Mike sent me an email last week linking to a post he wrote on the seemingly screaming school girl “OMG-One-Direction-Is-On-the-Cover-of-TigerBeat” overreaction the fitness industry is going through with regards to corrective exercise. And more specifically, to it’s current obsession over breathing patterns.
Including but not limited to:
– What exactly does “breathing patterns” refer to?
– How do we assess it?
– What are we looking at?
– Seriously? What are we looking at?
– Okay, I’m lost.
– Ohhhhhh, the diaphragm! I get it. Most people are woefully horrible breathers and have no idea how to use their diaphragm efficiently!
– Understanding breathing patterns can help “unlock” the key to understanding that symmetry – as much as we try to attain it, and think that it exists – probably ain’t gonna happen.
– Taking even a step further, it’s recognizing that we’re inherently designed in such a way where assymmetry is inevitable, and that how we breath plays a major role in that.
– Taking a brief glimpse into the PRI (Postural Restoration Institute) philosophy, we see that it tries to teach people how to breath more efficiently, which in turn, in conjunction with their corrective modalities, will help attempt to bring people back into a sympathetic state.
– In doing so, with time (and proper programming) we’ll often see improved performance on and off the field – as well as on the gym floor.
– What’s that? Zone of Apposition? Apical expansion? Okay, now I’m lost again.
– I’m hungry.
Appropriately, Mike brought up an interesting conversation:
“Here’s another thing that I’ve been thinking about: why is this all suddenly such a huge concern? People have been strong and healthy for quite a long time without worrying about their breathing patterns. I know the same can be said for things like mobility and soft tissue work, but those things have a readily apparent change on the way someone feels and moves.
Would Bo Jackson had been a better athlete if someone had focused on his left-smaller-diaphragm? Would Arnold have been more symmetrical and better proportioned if he’d be concerned about his Left Posterior Mediastinum Inhibition?
I’m personally having trouble figuring out where all of these other things fall into the role of a strength and conditioning coach. If getting someone’s diaphragmatic rhythm in sync with their scapulothoracic rhythm will get them to a 40″ vertical, a 10.2-second 100-yard dash or a 585 deadlift then I’ll be all about it.
For right now, however, my job is to get people stronger, faster and keep them healthy. I’ll keep doing that.
My Response (along with a massive brain dump/random thoughts)
Well said my man. Well said.
I completely agree (for the most part), and think the whole breathing thing is starting to get out of hand. Not out of hand in the sense that I don’t feel it’s efficacious to look into it, that I don’t feel it’s important 0r that I don’t feel it works.
On the contrary: I think it’s powerful stuff and we’re only just cracking the surface.
I feel things are getting out of hand to the extent that everyone, and I mean everyone (personal trainers, strength coaches, physical therapists, athletic trainers, your Little League coach) are starting to look into this stuff.
And frankly, many have no business doing so. Well, at least in the sense that many are overstepping their bounds and taking it too far.
I think a lot of the problem stems from those who don’t recognize scope of practice. I remember when I first moved to Boston and worked at a swanky commercial gym downtown. I’d watch some of the trainers walk around with Kendall’s Muscles: Testing and Function (a phenomenal book, mind you) as they were training clients.
Basically they carried the book around with them thinking they’d kill two birds with one stone and try to diagnose and train their clients.
Um, no. That’s just asinine, and a lawsuit waiting to happen.
Of course, on one hand I’d commend any trainer to take it upon him or herself to further their knowledge base and to better understand the human body and how it works.
BUT YOUR JOB IS NOT TO DIAGNOSE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Now you have those same trainers walking around thinking they’re on the same level as physical therapists, chiropractors, and manual therapists (people who went through additional schooling to do what they do) because they read a book.
Even worse, they get their hands on some of the PRI literature and now they’re assessing breathing patterns (which is fine, because assessing dysfunction what we do) and before you know it, they’re treating people and performing open heart surgery.
It’s crazy. And pompous. And completely unacceptable.
It hasn’t gotten to pandemic proportions yet, though. Those types of assclowns are few and far between, and there are far more who understand their limits and don’t step outside their scope of practice.
Having said that, I DO feel that looking into breathing patterns is something to consider with most people. But the rub is that we SHOULD NOT be spending an inordinate amount of time on it.
At Cressey Performance, we LOVE the PRI stuff. Eric has been to three or four of their seminars, and Greg Robins recently attended one as well.
Which brings up a valid point: going to an actual seminar and seeing this stuff done firsthand is A LOT different than just reading about it.
Moreover, we’ve had staff in-services on it where PRI practitioners have come in, talked shop and helped us comb through some of the finer points to see how we can implement SOME of their modalities with our clientele.
Here’s the deal: at CP we only use like 6-7 drills, total. And not all of them at the same time.
I like how Mike Robertson discussed it in his recent “Warm-Up” article on his blog. Spend maybe 2-3 minutes on it, and move on.
We take a very similar approach with our athletes and clients. We may (or may not) include specific breathing pattern drills into their warm-up. But if we do it’s like two or three….tops, taking all of 2-3 minutes to complete.
Afterwards we move on to the dynamic warm-up, and then it’s off to go lift heavy things.
I think the point Mike’s making (and it’s an important one at that) is that far too many fitness professionals are going to get carried away and forget that giving people an actual training effect is kind of important too. Even worse, many will forget (or neglect) to get their athletes/clients strong.
Just to reiterate: the why IS IMPORTANT!!!!!!! I think it’s fantastic when people go out of their way to dig deeper, try better themselves, and gain more knowledge. I can’t bemoan that point.
What grinds my gears, though, is when people start to overstep their bounds and don’t understand, appreciate, or respect scope of practice.
Worse still: they neglect to actually train their clients.
What are your thoughts? Agree? Disagree?
On that note, for those trainers or general fitness enthusiasts reading interested in material that’s easily applicable, I’d encourage you to check out the Muscle Imbalances Revealed series, which features a collection of outstanding webinars from a lot of recognizable names in the industry. Rick Kaselj, who organized the series, just put the entire package on sale at a huge discount ($210 off!) through this Friday at midnight. Check it out here.
I don’t know about you, but yesterday FLEW by. I hope everyone reading had an amazing and well-rested Holiday full of family, friends, and fudge.
Lisa and I kept it fairly low-key, which is exactly how we wanted it. We made reservations at Fogo de Chao Christmas Eve night, which was amazing. But really: how can 16 cuts of all-you-can-eat meat NOT be amazing???
We crushed it.
Then, on Christmas morning, we woke up fairly early to open our stockings and exchange gifts. I pretty much rely on her for my wardrobe. As someone who spends his days hanging out in gyms, my attire generally consists of sweatpants and pretty much the most badass t-shirt collection ever. About the only thing I’m capable of doing as it relates to fashion is making sure I don’t commit the ultimate faux pas of wearing black shoes with a brown belt (or vice versa).
Outside of that I’m a lost cause.
Nevertheless I got a bunch of new clothes yesterday that I sorely needed, along with some odds and ends like a new pair of shoes I wanted, an appointment for a deep tissue massage, and a cornucopia of tea that should last me the year.
And then to top everything off, we headed out to catch the new Quentin Taratino flock, Django Unchained, because you know, nothing says “Happy Birthday, Jesus” than a Tarantino inspired Western filled with gratuitous violence, blood, and Samuel L. Jackson.
It……..was……….AWESOME!!!!
But enough of that. Lets move into the meat (and purpose) of today’s post.
2012 is quickly drawing to close. And as such, like many of you reading, I like to reminisce about the successes and failures (but mostly successes) of the past year.
More to the point: I like to harpoon those sentiments from the past year and use all the lesson’s learned to help formulate and congeal my goals and expectations for the upcoming year.
Many of my friends and colleagues in the fitness industry have already done the same with their respective blogs, so to piggy back off of them, here are my goals for 2013 (The I’ve-Finally-Accepted-The-Fact-That-Kate-Beckinsale-Doesn’t-Know-I-Exist Addition)
Speak (Even More)
Last year one of my goals was to attempt to speak more. More specifically it was to step outside my comfort zone and attempt to take on more speaking engagements.
I’ve read that right behind the fear of dying, the next biggest fear on most people’s list is the fear of public speaking (and having a raging case of explosive diarrhea on a first date).
I’m no different. While I’ve done a handful of speaking engagements prior to 2012, I really wanted to test myself and see if:
1. I could do it.
AND
2. Not suck/fail miserably/destroy the back of my pants.
As it happened, I actually wasn’t too shabby.
In early 2012 I spoke to a group of 25-30 BSC (Boston Sports Club) trainers on assessment and corrective exercise to rave reviews and a standing ovation (which is a slight exaggeration).
In early summer I had back-to-back talks in Edmonton and Toronto.
The former was The Spinal Health and Core Training Seminar which I did alongside Dean Somerset, Rick Kaselj, and Dr. Jeff Cubos. More on this below.
The latter was the PTDC Hybrid Training seminar that I did along with Nick Tumminello, Jon Goodman, Dan Trink, Mark Young, and Geoff Girvitz.
And then just a few short months ago, we held our first annual Cressey Performance Fall Seminar, which, outside of Hurricane Sandy raining on our parade, was a huge success.
While I’m still up in the air as to whether or not I see pubic speaking as something I want to pursue to a larger extent, 2013 is already filling up quickly.
I’ve already committed to heading to my alma mater (SUNY Cortland) to speak in March, which is a huge honor. Too, I’ve got several other “gigs” that are in the works, which I don’t want to state just yet in case I jinx it.
Suffice it to say, people want to hear me speak which is surreal, humbling, and terrifying at the same time.
Finally, Like for Real This Time, Deadlift 600
Seemingly, I’ve been blabbering about this goal longer than most politicians have been blabbering about cutting the deficit.
I’ll be the first to admit that 2012 wasn’t exactly an exemplary year for me on the training front. Sure, I still trained – rarely missing a scheduled session – but in many ways I was just spinning my tires and going through the motions.
I wasn’t training with a purpose. Which is ironic given I’m constantly telling other people on this site to get their s*** together and train with a goal in mind.
I guess it was a clear cut case of “do as I say, not as I do.” Which is BS.
I finally hit a tipping point last month, and reached out to fellow CP coach, Greg Robins, to see if he’d be willing to write my programming for the foreseeable future.
Essentially I came to the conclusion that I needed to outsource my own programming.
I’ve long stated that the hardest person to train is yourself. Humans are creatures of habit and we like what we like. I’m no different, and when it comes to writing my own programs, I always put in those exercises which I like or one’s I’m good at.
I’ve been following Greg’s programming for the past 3-4 weeks, and it’s been awesome. I write anywhere from 20-30 programs per week (sometimes more depending on the week/time of year), and it’s been such a relief to NOT have to think about my own training.
Greg tells me what to do, and I do it.
The goal is to go for 600 by March. I’ll keep everyone posted.
Release/Write My Own Product
2012 was a success in a lot of ways.
I actually was able to make some toast without burning down the apartment complex I live in. I stayed up past midnight once. And, I tried my first cup of coffee if you can believe it.
On that front, and as I mentioned above, I went out to Edmonton to speak alongside my MIRU compatriots (Dean Somerset, Rick Kaselj, and Dr. Jeff Kubos) for the Spinal Health and Core Training Seminar, which coincidentally enough will be released as it’s own product in a few short weeks.
So in a way, 2013 will already be off to an awesome start from a product release standpoint.
That said, one of my larger goals is to produce my own product that features Me, Me, and Me.
It’s a daunting thought to say the least. To put yourself out there like that is pretty scary stuff, but I “think” I’m at the point in my career where it’s time. My inner dialogue has been on repeat for years telling me that I’m not ready, and that no one in their right mind would want to buy a product for me.
It’s something I’ve had to work really, really hard to conquer……but I’ve finally reached a point where it’s time I put my big boy pants on and write/produce a product.
I’ve already got the ball rolling, and you should be hearing more about a little sumthin, sumthin sometime in early 2013.
Travel to Europe
Sadly, I’ve never been off the continent. Yeah, I’ve been to Puerto Rico, but that’s sorta cheating since it’s still – technically – considered US soil.
Going to Europe has always been something I’ve wanted to do, and appropriately ties in with my above goal to do more speaking engagements.
Sooooooo, just to throw it out there: if there’s anyone in Europe interested in listening to a bald, kind of diesel, obsessed with Norah Jones strength coach coming to talk about lifting heavy things let me know…….;o)
Get Photoshoot Lean
On par with hitting a 600 lb deadlift, I also want to see what it’s like to get photo shoot lean.
Back in 2009 I did something vaguely similar, which I titled Operation Sexification (sorry Roger Lawson).
I spent six weeks following a rigid training and diet plan to see how lean I could get within that time frame. I got pretty freakin lean. But like an asshat, I didn’t really go out of my way to document it, nor did I take any pictures. Namely because I did it in the dead of winter and was whiter than a Maroon 5 concert.
So, once I hit my 600 lb DL, I figured it would be kind of neat to get photo shoot lean and document that as well.
We’ll see. I’m still up in the air on this one because I wouldn’t want it to come across as some narcissistic endeavor.
Is it me or is it hot in here? *takes off shirt*
Get Alicia Keys to Subscribe to my Newsletter
That would be sweet!
Speaking of Newsletter – Actually Write One!
If you’ll glace to the right of my website you’ll notice an area where you can sign up for updates/newsletter.
This was a feature that I added to the site LAST year, but have yet to actually utilize.
I’m what you would call a technology nincompoop. Meaning, I still don’t have a smart phone, and I still prefer to actually hold a book rather than download one.
While people have been signing up for my newsletter all along, and I have been collecting emails, I’ve failed to actually write one because the software scares the living s*** out of me.
But alas. In 2013 everything is going to change. Rest assured that I WILL start a newsletter and everything will be right in the world.
So stayed tuned for that as well.
And That’s It
While I could go on and list other goals like pass the cinnamon test, buy a new car*, wrestle a grizzly bear, or challenge myself to NOT black out every time I read something from Tracy Anderson, I think the above list is a great starting point.
Now that I’ve written them down, it pretty much means I HAVE to complete them. Right?
I made an executive decision yesterday that with Christmas Eve and Christmas right around the corner (NINTENDO 64!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) I’d treat myself to a little blog-cation.
Now, don’t get me wrong: I love writing this blog. But sometimes I just need to take a break, smell the fudge roses, take a dee breath, and chillax.
So with that said, you won’t be hearing back from me until the day after Christmas (Wednesday). Thankfully my good friend, Sirena Bernal, reached out and wrote this spectacular guest post for the site.
Sirena and I have been chummy for a little over a year now, and we actually live in the same neighborhood, sometimes bumping into one another at the local Panera on a Friday night when we’re both trying to catch up on some writing or reading.
Yeah, we’re cool like that.
Anyways enjoy! And Happy (and safe) Holidays to everyone!
Before we even knew what a calorie was, we survived by relying on instinct, on feeling, and on the wisdom that was passed down to us from our elders – from people like grandma. Meaning, before we started to read labels, we just ate food.
We didn’t rely on measuring, tracking points, or distributing macronutrients, and we certainly didn’t rely on counting calories.
In fact, the idea of the calorie that we are now familiar with, was originally a term derived to describe the combustion energy produced from a steam engine (1), not the metabolism of a homosapien.
Steam engine and human being? Not exactly in the same genus, and thus, in my opinion, one reason why it’s a flawed model to follow in regards to nutrition – for the long term health and well-being. Again, IMHO.
I am not saying that creating a calorie-deficit (expending more energy than you consume) will not lead to weight loss, as it most certainly will. However, I am saying it is not the only way to approach weight loss. And as you will see in a minute, I’m going to share with you 7 others.
Why Calories Don’t Work for Humans
As beautiful and unique individuals as we are, so are our metabolisms and our body’s ability to digest, breakdown and utilize foods.
No two people are the same, and thus no two metabolisms are the same. However, most diet and nutrition literature will lead you to believe that a standard formula can be used to accurately gauge the amount of food we need to consume.
It’s easy to find an online calculator in which you input your weight, height, and activity level and in return get an arbitrary number that doesn’t take some of the most influential factors that affect our metabolism into play.
Factors such as the weather, temperature, stress levels, amount of sleep, hormonal fluctuations, prescription medications, supplements, thought-patterns and travel patterns can all affect our body’s ability to metabolize food, and thus affect the amount of “calories” we need to function at our best.
Thus, focusing on tracking calories without considering the dynamic flux of our metabolism can further create a hypometabolic state (low metabolism), which the majority of our culture suffers with.
You Are Not a Cyborg
Before you whip out the calculator and start crunching numbers, understand that it’s never a clear cut answer.
And for some, that may be frustrating to hear because we all just want to know exactly how much, at what time, and when.
But here’s the thing: life is not exact.
And neither is your schedule, or the weather, or your biology…unless of course you’re a cyborg, which I’m assuming you are not. (But if you are, I need to meet you).
If we allow it, our body will tell us exactly how much food we need, what we need, and when we need it, if we only listen.
Developing this skill does take time and patience but once we learn to listen to our body, we will begin to find the process of losing weight, much much easier than trying to calculate how many calories 30 grams of carbs, 20 grams of protein and 5 grams of fat equal.
There are much easier ways to approach weight loss that does not require counting calories, and here are 7 of them:
1. Eat with smaller plates, bowls and spoons.
Research has shown that the bigger your plate or bowl, the more you end up eating – choose a smaller bowl and you end up eating less. Participants in a study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, served themselves 31 percent more ice cream when they were given a 34-ounce bowl instead of a 17-ounce bowl.
2. When filling your plate fill about 75% of what you would normally fill.
Our eyes are generally bigger than our stomachs, so prevent over eating before you actually eat. The next time you plate your food, take a “normal” scoop, and then put 25% of it back (before you actually put it on your plate, because putting food back once it’s on your plate is just bad manners.)
After you fill your plate, follow the rest of the steps below, and then decide if you’re still hungry before going back for seconds.
3. When eating, stop when you are 2/3 full.
You know that point when you’re so full that your belly is pushing against your belt buckle? Yeah, don’t get to that point.
Before you feel the need to unbuckle your belt, stop yourself when you feel like your 2/3 of the way there, and take a few moments to ask yourself if you are really hungry or if you are just eating to eat.
4. Always eat a protein, a carb and a fat source together.
By combining a protein, fat and carb you optimize your hormonal response to your meal thus keeping your blood sugar levels balanced, which will keep you satiated longer, thus preventing you from snacking after a meal.
5. Eat in peace and not on the run and without the distraction of computers, t.v. or reading which will help slow you down and level up your digestive powers.
Eating on the run is as effective for your digestion as being in 2nd gear on the highway is for your car. Not very.
When your brain and/or body is stimulated while you are eating, like if you are watching t.v. or eating in a rush, you end up activate your sympathetic nervous system which stimulates stress hormones.
However, being relaxed and calm while you eat, activates your parasympathetic nervous system, which, is responsible for digestion and breaking down your food to be absorbed. When you break down food better, you absorb your meal better, and thus get fuller faster.
6. Chew your food thoroughly before swallowing and take your time with eating, putting your fork down between bites.
It doesn’t matter if you count your chews, count seconds, or meditate when you eat. What does matter is that you take your time and actually chew.
Here’s a little challenge: Next time you eat, try to chew long enough until your food is liquefied. $5 if you can eat a whole meal this way.
7. SLOW down (or take your meal on a date.)
This is what I mean by this: when you are on a date, let’s say, a first date, or with someone you’re really into, you’re not gonna be checking your phone, or other people in the area. You’re in the moment, you don’t want to rush.
Now, with that same fervor that you would show your date, show that same attention to your food. Remove distractions, take your time, appreciate the food, and take your time with the food.
The same attention you’d give to a date, give to your food. This will not only allow you to slow down and thus eat less, but you’ll actually enjoy what you’re eating, appreciate your food and the eating process.
Final Pearls of Wisdom
The idea of losing weight without counting calories is clearly not as tangible or concrete, and may take some time to adjust to. However, if you can begin to practice these tips, it’s one of the most liberating and stress-free ways to approach weight loss.
The idea behind this process is to get you to a point where you can begin to listen to your body and just know, like Grandma did, when enough was enough.
This process does take more time and commitment on your part, but is very rewarding when you begin to tune in and know exactly what you need, when you need it, and how much you need.
Sirena is a nutrition and lifestyle expert in Boston, MA, and she holds her B.S. in Kinesiology from UNH. She has been training clients in the fitness industry for over 8 years and runs the Lean Body Challenge, a 28-day nutrition program designed to help women lose weight without dieting and over-exercising.
Her clients consistently lose 8-15 lbs. during the challenge and maintain the weight loss without the need to count calories or rely on cardio. Her work has been featured in PTonTheNET.com, Greatist.com, and she is a regular blogger for BostonMagazine.com
Wait a second – my alarm went off this morning. I don’t think I’m dreaming.
*looks out window*
Volcanoes aren’t erupting, the streets aren’t flooded with molten lava, and from what I can tell, everything seems business as usual.
The Mayanpocalypsearmeggedonacaust didn’t happen. We’re all still here!!!!!!
High Five!
But be weary my friends – we’re still not out of the woods yet. The day is still young, and you never know when s*** is going to hit the fan.
If things do get real, and you’re forced to fight for your life, whether it be killing a grizzly bear with your nunchucks for your next meal, protecting your family from evil doers, or I don’t know, something less “doom and gloom” like clicking “next” whenever your Pandora station plays a Coldplay song……are you prepared?
Are you in enough ass-kicking shape to do what you need to do to get s*** done? Can you – WILL YOU – survive if you had to go all Snake Plissken on people’s asses?
Well just in case, earlier this week my boy, John Romaniello, released his latest training program:
I know some reading are going to dismiss this product due to the “less than serious” premise. To that I say:
1. Relax! Don’t take yourself so seriously.
AND
2. There’s actually a legitimate rationale behind it.
John, along with every other well-known fitness professional I know, routinely gets questions asking his opinion on CrossFit (myself included).
It’s a touchy topic to say the least, and something that has caused a rift between strength coaches, personal trainers, and fitness enthusiasts alike.
On one end of the spectrum you have those who swear by it, and literally eat, drink, breath, and LIVE by CrossFit.
On the other, you have those who loathe it, think it’s a fad, and that it’s hopefully going away. Like, soon.
Well, it’s not going away. And while I’ll be the first to admit that I too have my qualms with CrossFit, I also understand that it’s getting people excited to exercise, and there’s a lot to be said for that. How can I possibly poo-poo on that?
Like John I feel the idea of CrossFit is sound – it’s just that its execution is flawed.
To his credit John has been attending at least one CrossFit class a week for the past few months to try to get a better understanding and feel for what the culture is like.
And, not surprisingly, he’s mentioned several times that there are great coaches and absolutely terrible coaches.
The great coaches – and by extension, the most successful CF boxes – understand that it comes down to sound programming. They take the time to properly coach their clients and use appropriate exercise progressions (and more importantly, regressions) to “guide” them through.
By contrast, the terrible coaches – and unfortunately this seems to be the rule rather than the exception – focus solely on the workouts. How can we completely obliterate our athletes/clients and make them hate life? How can we – fingers crossed! – make them cough up their spleen?
The latter is what I 100% disagree with, and what I feel gives CrossFit its bad rap.
So what did Roman do? He started taking CrossFit classes to see if he could fix it.
To quote the man himself:
“I thought to myself, “what if you took the idea of CrossFit–the idea of non-
specification,the idea of having a high level of general proficiency across the
board, and appliedintelligent programming–with a classic Roman twist–to
that idea…what would you get?”
It’s a good question, and one worth exploring. So that’s what I did.
Because really, when you strip away the fun and silliness, that’s what ZAW really is: my take on CrossFit. It’s CrossFit, Roman style, with all of the issues with programming fixed.”
Fittingly, today is the last day of the sale, so if you’re interested you better hurry. The walking dead could be right around the corner……;o)
Along with Bret Contreras, Ben Bruno, Dean Somerset, Tim Henriques, and Dan Trink, I was asked to contribute to this awesome pull-up article that was put up on T-Nation yesterday.
If we were a boy band, we’d totally be the most diesel boy band ever.
I wrote a blog post a while back titled The Perfect Warm-Up? It was nothing revolutionary, but it cemented my thoughts on what I felt the purpose of a proper warm-up is, and then I offered a different spin on it.
Well, in THIS article – which should be titled The FOR REAL Perfect Warm-Up – Mike breaks everything down from what the warm-up should accomplish for each segment of the body to providing videos of all of his favorite drills. This is a MUST read.
A few months ago Dan John wrote a blog post (or maybe even an article) on his “batwing” principle, which is a subtle exercise tweak one can make to standard rowing variations that aids in “waking-up” the rhomboids and the upper back musculature as a whole.
It was a very simple idea – albeit brilliant, because I had never dawned on me before and it’s something that can easily be assimilated into most programs without much thought or coaching.
I mean, come on, it’s pretty self-explanatory!
After the fact my good buddy, Ben Bruno, went a head and shared with the world a few of his own variations that he implemented with his athletes. And, having been hit by the “Ah HA” fairy myself, I too came up with a cool variation: the Half Kneeling Cable Batwing/Pulldown.
It pretty much changed the world. True story.
Anyways, fast forward to the other day when I received an email from a former distance coaching client of mine , Tom.
We still keep in touch every now and then, and in this particular case he shared a batwing variation that he felt would be a nice fit to the Exercises You Should Be Doing series.
TRX Batwing
NOTE: Before we begin, I recognize that people hate (HATE!) vertical videos. In the ranking of things to hate, a list may look something like this:
1. Hitler.
2. Justin Beiber’s general level of douchebaggery.
3. Rocky V.
4. Vertical videos
5. Cold sores.
In the grande scheme of things you can blame me, because even though Tom sent me the video as is, it’s my fault for forgetting to film one myself when I tried the exercise out at the facility the other day.
My bad. But moving on…….
Who Did (We) Steal It From Him: I stole it from Tom, who stole it from both Dan John and Joe DeFranco.
What Does It Do: Lots and lots of stuff going on here. Tom mentioned that Joe DeFranco discussed a variation where you hold yourself in the push-up position on the TRX (with the arm locked out), and you grab either a kettlebell or dumbbell and perform a standard row. Perform “x” number of reps on one side, switch, and repeat on the other.
However, Tom really liked Dan John’s idea of “reawakening” the rhomboids and instead of performing standard reps up and down, you hold each rep for time.
I agree. Most people have woefully weak posterior chains (this includes the upper back) and IMO there’s really no such thing as too much horizontal rowing.
Too much Santa, yes. Too much horizontal rowing, no.
By that token, this variation provides an incredible anti-rotary component (and anti-extension), as well as rotator cuff activation (because you have to have a death grip on the TRX so that you don’t tip over), and of course, provides a light training effect for the upper back muscles.
You’re not going to be crushing any big weights or breaking any PRs with this exercise, but it’s a nice way to include some LIGHT horizontal pulling while simultaneously getting in some “core” work.
Key Coaching Cues: The most obvious: don’t fall over…..;o)
The wider the stance, the more stable you’re going to be, so depending on your ability level you’re going to have to make a judgement call here. Er on the side of caution, though and start with a slightly wider than hip width stance. Adjust from there.
Also, try to squeeze your glutes as if you’re trying to crack a walnut. The entire backside should be in a relative straight line, so if you’re hiking your hips up in the air, squeeze those bad boys!
Along the same lines, your lower back shouldn’t be dipping.
As I alluded to above, you have two options here:
1. You can perform “x” number of repetitions per side (8-12) using a kettlebell or dumbbell. I’m indifferent either way.
OR (my preference)
2. Hold each “rep” for an allotted time frame. I think a great starting point would be 5x5s holds PER ARM.
Focus on pulling the elbow towards the hip (but don’t go past the hip! You want to try to avoid too much glenohumeral extension), and pausing in the top position for FIVE SECOND count. Perform five reps per side.
Feel that? Yeah, those are your rhomboids working.
Today’s post comes from the one and only Bret Contreras. As he’ll note below, I received an email from a fan of my blog asking me for my opinion on some candid remarks she overheard one of the strength coaches at her university regurgitate to a few other students.
And by using the word regurgitate I’m being really nice.
To say I was shocked at this particular coach’s train of thought would be an understatement, and I had to pinch myself to make sure I didn’t somehow time travel back to 1986.
Which, actually, would be kinda sweet because tv back then was awesome, what with shows like Airwolf, The A-Team, and The Gummi Bears rocking the airwaves.
Nevertheless I was definitely taken for a loop when I read this coach’s comments, and I could think of no one else I’d rather see write an appropriate and thorough response than Bret.
Thankfully he came through with flying colors, and absolutely PWNED the guy. Enjoy!
A Critical Reply to an Uncritical Coach – Bret Contreras
Last month, an avid reader of this blog wrote to Tony requesting expertise. Tony sent it over to me for a good laugh. But I’m always up for a good grilling, so I asked Tony if he’d let me respond. In the past I’ve been disrespectful to those I grill, so I will try my best to remain professional here. The gist is that there’s some strength coach out there (we won’t mention his name) who is simply making a bunch of stuff up. This guy needs to be corrected so his athletes can receive proper training. Below are his comments. In gray is what the reader wrote to Tony, and my responses are in red:
Today I was eavesdropping on a conversation between the head S&C coach and a couple of his practicum students. They were talking about how he teaches the squat to his athletes. The coach said that because so many athletes are stronger in their posterior chain compared to their quads, he strongly discourages his athletes from “sitting back” or having any type of hip hinge movement while squatting to minimize glute and hamstring involvement and target the quads. He said the box squat or squat to a box was a pointless exercise due to the hip hinge requirement and the nearly vertical tibia – he wants his athletes squatting by dropping straight down, staying relatively upright and getting the knees a fair ways beyond the toes. He emphasizes developing quad strength over posterior chain strength in all of his young athletes. Also, he said that prevention of ACL injuries would be enhanced if there was less emphasis on hip hinging and more emphasis on quad strengthening, especially in female athletes.
I pretty much disagree with everything this coach said. I see this all the time, and it’s worth addressing.
Many coaches formulate their methods based on what they think happens and what seems rational in their minds. They don’t read research or utilize the scientific method, and prefer to rely on intuition. They may still achieve good results, as many avenues lead to success. For example, coaches who simply have their athletes full squat and sprint will see improvements in performance. But due to false assumptions and failure to take advantage of the thousands of available prior scientific studies conducted by hardworking sports scientists and strength coaches, their athletes will fail to achieve maximum results, which is unfortunate. At any rate, here is my retort
1. Athletes are supposed to be stronger in their posterior chains compared to their quads. Gluteus maximus plus hamstrings plus adductor magnus should slightly outperform the quadriceps in terms of total muscle force and extension-torque production. If this is the case with athletes (hip extensor dominance), you should be happy and should not try to change the ratio toward quad-dominance. Strong quads are indeed important in sports, but it’s ideal for the hips to stay stronger than the quads.
2. No squat variation is “pointless.” The box squat is a welcome variation as the vertical tibia increases the hip extension moment and decreases the knee extension moment. In other words, more torque is required out of the hips, and less torque is required out of the knees. This is highly beneficial for lifters ranging from newbies, to those prone to experiencing knee pain or injury, to powerlifters. The full squat with an upright stance is also a good variation, especially for Olympic lifters, but not everyone can handle the forces on the knee joint associated with this variation.
3. Actually, quad-dominance increases the risk of ACL injuries, in addition to increasing the risk of hamstring and low back injuries. And actually, youngsters, females, and beginners typically exhibit quad-dominance due to high daily-activation in the quadriceps with concomitant low daily-activation in the glutes. For this reason, hip extension strength, particularly gluteal strength, should be emphasized with these athletes, along with just about every other athlete too.
But wait! There’s more. The reader later sent another email to Tony with more “gems”:
He pretty much had a hate-on for the hip hinge. He said that “vertical displacement” is the key in sprinting and jumping, not the horizontal displacement of the hips moving back and forth. Therefore, the hip hinge should not be emphasized and the quads should. He never tells his athletes to “sit back”. He said that if he had an athlete who was knee-dominant, he would not try to strengthen his/her hips “because then they’ll use their hips for everything.”
Vertical displacement is indeed the key for jumping, but not for sprinting. You do not want to be bouncing up and down excessively when sprinting. The key to sprinting is to produce just enough vertical force to raise the center of mass just enough to cycle the legs back around so they can reproduce horizontal force. Anything greater in terms of vertical force production is wasted energy and will result in slower speeds.
But now I need to address something very alarming.
Nothing we do in the weightroom completely mimics on the field performance.
If resistance training had to exactly mimic sport actions in order to transfer to performance, we would not be able to add resistance, since adding load in any form (bands, vests, sleds, free weights, etc.) immediately changes mechanics.
Squats, RDLs, split squats, hip thrusts, and back extensions would all screw up sprinting and jumping performance. Hell, squats would screw up RDLs and vice-versa, sprints would screw up jumps and vice-versa, etc.
However, we have tons of research showing improved performance and transfer of training from resistance training to sporting actions, from plyometrics to resistance training, and so on and so forth. There is a synergistic effect with the various types of hip extension exercises, and an athlete should be strong in all leg and hip muscles through a full range of motion. This requires multiple exercises.
Of course you don’t want athletes sitting back excessively when they jump, but they can differentiate RDL’s and box squats from jumping performance as they are separate motor qualities.
RDLs and box squats don’t automatically cause athletes to sit back too much when they jump, Oly squats and split squats don’t automatically cause athletes to stay too upright when they jump, and hip thrusts don’t automatically cause athletes to want to lie down on their backs in the middle of a game (note the heavy sarcasm).
As long as there exists a balance in programming, athletic form remains intact. In the weightroom, we strengthen muscles and movement patterns, and the athletes are able to blend the newfound neuromuscular improvements into their jumping and sprinting motor programs.
Last, research shows that the knee extension torque does not increase nearly as much as hip extension torque when transitioning from running to maximal sprinting, submaximal jumping to maximal jumping, and submaximal squats, lunges, and deadlifts to maximal squats, lunges and deadlifts. This is very important as it suggests that continual improvements are reliant upon strengthening the hips!
He thinks “glute activation” is complete BS because there’s no way to “prove” that it works (even using EMG). He said that the simple, low-load, isolated movements that are used to activate the glutes have no transfer to multi-joint movements like the squat or to the performance of the actual sport. I don’t think he believes that the glutes need to be activated in the first place.
There are many ways to show that glute activation works. We can obtain clues by examining the EMG activation, but at the end of the day we need training studies showing significant results. Glute activation is in its infancy in terms of the literature. However, in just the past couple of years, several important studies have emerged:
One showing actual EMG profiles of strongmen performing various strongman exercises. The better performers clearly used their glutes more so than the poorer performers.
One showing increased glute activation with simultaneous decreased hamstring activation during hip extension exercise
One showing increased hip extension strength, decreased hamstring activation during the support phase in running, and cured hamstring cramping in a triathlete
And one showing significantly improved power production during a vertical jump compared to controls and a whole-body vibration warm-up
Considering that many well-respected coaches and rehabilitation specialists such as Tony Gentilcore, Eric Cressey, Mark Verstegen, Michael Boyle, Pavel Tsatsouline, and Stuart McGill have seen good results with glute activation drills, it’s definitely worthy of incorporation until more research emerges. It’s worth mentioning that I am a huge fan of glute activation and believe that research will eventually show its value.
He thinks bracing the core (or whatever you want to call it) is stupid. He said “when would you ever do that when you’re playing your sport? You don’t have time to consciously think about activating your core.” He said that the core had much, much greater activation during the performance of big compound lifts.
I agree with the coach in this situation, aside from when an athlete is about to collide or be struck in the midsection. Sports are markedly different from resistance exercises, both in terms of timing and muscle activation requirements. When you put a heavy bar on your back or in your hands, you place considerably more bending torque on the spine, which requires a much greater amount of spinal stiffening compared to ballistic bodyweight movements.
He doesn’t really like single-leg training, but especially hates the single-leg squat because it “produces too much compensation.” He thinks that training the single-leg squat will only make the athlete better at single-leg squats and won’t transfer to the sport. I have seen him use split squats with his athletes, though.
I’m not sure what he means by “compensation,” but I suspect he’s referring to the oft-seen lumbar flexion and posterior pelvic tilt exhibited in the bottom range of motion during a pistol squat.
It’s worth mentioning that single leg box squats provide a solution for this issue. But the notion that they don’t transfer to performance is absurd.
Take a novice lifter who struggles with a bodyweight squat. Over the course of 12 weeks, utilize progressive overload and get him able to perform five full range pistol squats. Guess what? His barbell squat and vertical jump will have improved along with his pistol squat.
Sure you can argue that the pistol squat isn’t the safest or best way to load the lower body, but it definitely transfers to sport. Everything challenging compound lower body movement does, and the transfer is more pronounced with less experienced lifters.
That’s all for today! Hopefully sports science spreads and coaches are forced to step up their game or be replaced by those who have an appreciation for the scientific method and the literature.
Vacation is over. Sad face. Having spent the past three days in paradise (Captiva Island, Florida) soaking up some good ol’ vitamin D, relaxing, eating my fair share of insulin coma inducing foods, and even catching my very first glimpse of a manatee, it’s time to head back to good ol’ Boston, Massachusetts. I just looked at the local weather there and it’s miserable, rainy, and cold. Like really cold. Like I can’t feel the left side of my face cold.
Awesome!
In fact, as I type this Lisa and I are in the Ft. Myers airport waiting for our flight to depart. Per usual, given my affinity for hating to fly, I’m fighting back the urge to hyperventilate into a brown paper bag, but since we have like an hour to kill before we start boarding, I figured I’d spend the time to my advantage and try to bang out a quick blog post.
I’m a ninja like that.
So as it happened, the resort we stayed at in Captiva Island – the SouthSeas Resort – had a fairly well equipped fitness center that we used each day we were there – except yesterday. HA!
Two out of three days ain’t too shabby, though, right?
Anyways, I wasn’t expecting a Gold’s Gym or anything, but I braced myself for the worst. Typically when a resort or hotel states that they have a “fitness center,” it generally consists of a treadmill (or two), an old school universal gym complete with an antiquated leg press and lat pulldown station, a few med balls (with no wall to throw them to), and if you’re lucky, a pair of matching dumbbells.
It is what it is. When you take a trip to paradise, it only makes sense that they place more emphasis on the all-you-can-eat buffet rather than the the number of barbells available.
I have to say, though, that this particular fitness center served it’s purpose. It had dumbbells (albeit only up to 50 lbs), a full Life Fitness circuit, as well as a baller functional trainer. And yes, they had more than enough cardio equipment.
But I have a confession to make.
*cue Darth Vader theme music*
I used a Smith Machine. To squat in. Ahhhhhhhhhh.
I know, I know. It’s blasphemous – but it’s all I had available to me and I had no other choice than to MacGyver the shiznit out of my workouts.
I mean come on: Give me a Smith Machine, a roll of duct tape, a rubber ducky, and some jelly beans, and I can somehow conjure up a killer program.
Nevertheless, I felt kinda “dirty” afterwards, and to make up for it I felt compelled to write a quick post on box squats (as well as commit myself to 47 Hail Mary’s for committing such a sin).
How to “Stick” the Box Squat
I think the box squat is an invaluable tool. Not only is it a superb way to groove rock-solid squatting technique, it also serves as an excellent exercise that adds unparalleled muscle mass (specifically to the posterior chain: hamstrings, glutes, mid & upper back), not to mention helps get people uber strong. If that’s your bag, which it should be.
Unfortunately a lot of things can go wrong when box squatting – knees caving in, upper back rounding, not maintaining more of a vertical shin angle, not sitting back (hip hinging) enough, poor lat (and subsequent thoraco-lumbar) activation, poor bracing, and you even run the risk of splitting your pants wide open in the middle of a set, which actually happened to one of my female clients a few years ago.
It was awesome. It didn’t even phase her. She finished the rest of her sets like a rock star.
Needless to say, there’s a lot to think about!
Squatting in general is a fairly technique heavy movement, and if someone isn’t careful to learn proper technique (or doesn’t take the time to properly progress), they run the risk of seriously hurting themselves.
I’m not going to go into too much depth on ALL the intricacies of the squat with this post, but I do want to hammer on one point that I feel doesn’t get enough recognition.
One common mistake I see a lot of people make when BOX squatting is how they “stick” the landing. Many times it looks something like this:
As you can see in this example, there’s really nothing “technical” about it. I just plop onto the box.
This is cringe-worthy for two reasons:
1. You lose ALL tension on the box when doing this. I’m not a huge fan of the “rocking” variation that some coaches like to teach off the box. For more advanced lifters this may be appropriate (as they’ve accumulated enough time under the bar to stay out of spinal end ranges of motion), but for the beginner or intermediate lifter, this could spell disaster.
I much prefer trainees to STICK the landing, pause for a second, and try to maintain as much tension as possible when sitting onto the box.
2. The second and probably most pertinent point to the post: Your spine will hate you squatting in this manner.
To clarify – the spine can handle compressive loading pretty efficiently and can take care of itself, thank you very much.
I don’t want to cause mass hysteria here.
But when you just plop onto the box like a dead fish, you run the risk of increasing compressive loading twofold. Actually, a lot more than that, but who’s counting? This becomes even more worrisome when you combine this with losing tension on the box, as one will definitely increase the risk of the spine buckling.
Instead, I like to coach people to “land softly” onto the box. I want to see them initiate the descent by hip hinging like a bastard (read: hip hinge correctly) while simultaneously pushing their knees out, and as they inch closer to the box, I want them to pretend as if they’re sitting on broken glass. DO NOT PLOP onto the box.
It looks something like this:
God, that’s sexy.
Hopefully that helps shed some light on one of the lesser known intricacies of proper box squatting. It’s a minor detail I know, but something I feel a lot of people dismiss.
As this post goes live I’m most likely confined in an airplane on my way to Florida with Lisa for her cousin’s wedding.
We’re actually head to Captiva Island for three days and it’s going to be glorious. I haven’t had any direct sunlight in like two months, and I can’t even remember the last time I had a tan. 1994 maybe?
Plus, things are going to be getting uber busy at the facility within the next week or two with all of our college guys coming home for Christmas break, contributing more or less, to a “perfect storm” of pro baseball players, college baseball players, and high-school baseball players….
…..so this short getaway will serve as a welcome length of quiet before the storm.
That said, as you’re reading this, I’m sitting in a plane (clenching my butt cheeks like you wouldn’t believe), which isn’t one of my more favorite things to do.
Given a choice between lighting my face on fire or flying, lets just say I’d have to think about it.
So of course what did I do all this morning? Like an asshat I watched videos of plane crashes, of course!
I just want to make sure I’m prepared. You know, just in case.
I respect the hell out of Coach Rip, and it’s hard not to love anything the man’s written given his remarkable career and experience.
This article is no different.
Funnily enough, just yesterday I was joking with a few of the guys after performing a high-rep set of deadlifts (405×12), bent over and panting trying to catch my breath, that anyone who thinks strength training can’t count as “cardio” or that it can’t improve your conditioning is crazy.
You don’t need to bring your body to the brink of shitting a kidney in order to improve your conditioning. No kidding!
In the last installment of “stuff to read,” I linked to the Matt and Chad’s awesome review of the CP seminar from a few weeks ago. Here’s part II where they cover both Eric Schoenberg’s and Chris Howard’s topics.
Those who are familiar with John’s writing will eat this post up. Those who aren’t familiar – well, you’re welcome. Your world just got a little more awesome
I know half my audience will balk at the title (and yes, it’s about EXACTLY what you think it is) but this was an absolute knowledge bomb of an article that I feel should get more attention.
On that note, I’m out! See everyone when I get back!
