CategoriesCorrective Exercise Product Review Program Design Rehab/Prehab Strength Training

Introducing Spinal Health and Core Training

For those familiar, Muscle Imbalances Revealed has slowly engrained itself as one of the more sought after, consistent, and continuously revered fitness product series out there.

Seemingly, every year (give or take a few months) the man and mastermind behind the scenes, Rick Kaselj, is releasing a new version to the masses.

If I had to equate it to anything, it’s basically like the Fast and Furious franchise where we can expect a new(er) and more badass upgrade of some sorts every so often. Except in this case there’s no tricked up cars, high-speed chases, hot chicks (bummer), or cheesy Vin Diesel dialogue (even more of a bummer).

High-octane gear head talk aside, some of you may recall a little trip I took to Canada last summer where I went alllllllllllll the way up to Edmonton to “party” with my Muscle Imbalances Revealed Upper Body alumni Rick Kaselj, Dean Somerset, and Dr. Jeff Cubos.

And by “party” what I really mean is the four of us decided to combine our collective minds, go all Professor X on the world, and set up an epic 2-day seminar all dedicated to a multi-disciplinary approach to core training and keeping spines bullet proof.

We video’d the entire thing in all of our high-definition glory (I even shaved!) and have finally made it available for everyone.

===> Spinal Health and Core Training Seminar <===

Outside of being completely freaked out by the fact that it was still daylight at ten o’clock at night, it was an awesome two days where everyone involved – the presenters as well as the 15+ attendees – had the rare opportunity of learning from four high-quality, uber smart, and unwittingly handsome professionals with varying backgrounds and expertise.

Rick has extensive experience working with and dealing with a wide array of injured clientele, and is a straight up Jedi when it comes to assessment and understanding how to program around injury.

Dean, too, has a plethora of knowledge with regards to rehab, assessment, and working with the general public. He also broke a deadlifting PR that weekend with me just standing in his presence.  True story.

Dr. Jeff is a chiropractor and manual therapist with tons of experience working with elite athletes. His knowledge base with regards to corrective exercise, posture, and the newly minted “it topic” in the industry, breathing patterns, is second to none.

And then, you know, there’s me.

Because I don’t want to leave anyone hanging, I felt it only fair to give a sneak peak into each person’s presentation so that everyone on the fence would have a general idea of the material and topics covered:

Me Discussing Assessment

Dean Discussing Assessment as Well

Dr. Jeff Discussing the Importance of Self Mobilizations Drills

Note:  This is a clip from the actual finalized product!  HD baby!!!!

Rick Discussing Parameters Writing Programs Around Pain

And there you have it!  That should give everyone a sense of what to expect.  And remember, there’s roughly TWELVE hours worth of this stuff – including more “hands-on” lecture, some talk on breathing patterns and how that effects core function as well as posture, exercise technique, programming, and there may even be some shadow puppets thrown in the mix for good measure.

Okay, I’m kidding on that last one. Needless to say there was no stone left un-turned, and I really feel this is something that can (and will) help a lot of trainers and coaches out there stay on top of their game.

And the general public shouldn’t feel left out in the cold either.  This is a very “user friendly” product for all the general fitness enthusiasts who may be reading as well.

I’ll finish by saying that I’m often asked what I feel differentiates the “good” trainers and coaches from the bad ones, and what – if anything – I feel separates the masses.

While I could sit here and come up with some arbitrary rationale as to why bald trainers and coaches are far superior compared to those who are more “follicly” endowed (you know, cause I’m kinda bald), the real truth is that those who tend to be more successful and have a long shelf-life are those who don’t view continuing education as burden, or more to the point……as a “cost.”

I’ve always used the mantra that even if I only learn ONE thing from any DVD or book, and it leads to me picking up ONE client, it essentially paid for itself.

It was a goal of ours to make this product as easily “accessible” as possible (while still being profitable enough to satiate my impending beef jerky addiction).  To that end, Spinal Health and Core Training is on sale NOW (2/12) through this Friday (2/15) for $97 (. Which is a steal given the amount of information provided, and the fact that you’ll see videos of me from when I had hair.  I mean come on: That’s worth the price alone.

After this week the price climbs to it’s regular price of $197. So get it while the gettin is good….;o)

===> Spinal Health and Core Training <===

CategoriesFemale Training Motivational

Want To Really Earn Your Cake?

My sincerest thoughts go out to all of those who live in the NorthEast (particularly New England), and it’s my hope everyone made it through Snowmeggedon 2013 safely and without much incident.

I’m not going to sugarcoat anything: Boston got its butt handed to it, with roughly 30+ inches of snow. We woke up Saturday morning, looked outside, and both Lisa and I were like “whoa!”  After a few cups of tea, about a lb of bacon, a pep talk, and Lisa dressing me up like the little brother from A Christmas Story (I can’t move my arms!!!), I eventually made the trek out to do my fair share of the shoveling.

But being a central New Yorker at heart, and having grown up in the lake effect snow capital of the world, the storm paled in comparison to some of the doozies I experiences growing up.

However, just to give a bit more scope of how much snow we actually got, here’s a picture we snapped of someone’s car completely buried.

I spent a good hour digging out my car, and also did the good samaritan thing and shoveled out the two cars parked next to me as well.  It never hurts to earn some quality karma points in my book!

Anyways, the city was pretty much shut down for two days – no public transportation as well as a ban on driving (and parking) – while plans were made to remove all the snow.

By late yesterday morning (Sunday), all the main roads were cleared, or at least drivable, and most of the side streets were passable (albeit most were one-lane only), which is a testament to the city and all the folks who worked tirelessly to clean things up.

Well done, everyone.  Well done.

My only point of contention – and I realize I’m setting myself up as the ornery jerk here – is that I really wish the recreational runners of Boston would have some freakin common sense.

Now, I have absolutely nothing against runners, and I think any form exercise is better than nothing.

Having said that, while driving to work yesterday, on more than one occasion, I had to swerve to avoid someone running IN THE MIDDLE OF THE STEEET!!!!

As it was, the roads were narrow enough due to the mountains of snow everywhere. And it certainly didn’t make things easier to have to maneuver my car Jason Bourne style around human beings.

What really irked me was the borderline cavalier attitude many (not all) of them had. As if it was perfectly normal to be running in the middle of the street the day after one of the biggest winter storms in more than 20 years.

Okay, more power to them. And I respect anyone who will still go out of their way to not skip a workout.

But have a little feel!

La-la-la-la-la-dee-de-dum-la-la. Oh look!  I-95 is clear!!!  Fartleks!!!!!!!!!!

Likewise, the sidewalks weren’t much better.  Most were very narrow and very icy, yet when walking to the store to get some needed items, both Lisa and I (as well as all the other pedestrians out) had to dodge all the various runners zipping past as if they were getting any benefit for being out there in the first place.  I mean, it seemed like most were attempting to NOT break an ankle rather than trying to maintain a specific tempo.

Would it have killed them to skip one day, or, if they really needed to get their heart rate up, to I don’t know, shovel a sidewalk???

Okay, I’ll step off my soapbox now. Just talking about it makes me want to jump through a window.

Switching gears, the snowstorm served as an impetus for something else, too. Something a little less irritating.  It gave me the opportunity to catch up on some much needed reading.

I was sent a copy of Dan John’s latest book, Intervention, a few weeks ago and unfortunately it was relegated to my “to read later when I have time” pile.

Since I wasn’t going anywhere for the foreseeable future, I decided to hunker down and read a few chapters.

Not surprisingly, I loved it!  I pretty much love anything Dan John writes, and this was no different. And why not:  he has over 30+ year of coaching experience.

While I still have a ways to go before I finish it, there was one passage I wanted to share that really resonated with me and helped feed into my incessant campaign on why I continue to encourage women to turn to strength training in lieu of those lame cardio-pump classes.

And yes, sometimes even running.

Here’s the passage:

Recently, a woman told me her friends can’t make a mistake.

What? Well, what she told me was this: Since they were attacking fat loss with aerobic work and strict dieting, they didn’t have any wiggle room. The woman, who holds herself nearly year-round at a very impressive 19% bodyfat, told me she enjoys desserts, cocktails, BBQs and fine food. But, and this is a big but, she can also do 10 pullups. She is very strong in the weightroom. In other words, her glass is so big, she can afford to cheat a little here and there.

That made no sense to me. Then I watched her train and thought about some other women I work with. When she presses an impressive kettlebell overhead (half her bodyweight with one hand!), her entire system has to gather up resources, and then adapt and recover from the effort. When little Edna at my gym thinks the five-pound dumbbell is heavy, she isn’t going to tax her body very hard.

Edna can’t eat cake.

Ladies: read that again and let it sink in. I’ll explain a few things in a second.

I’m not kidding, read it again.

Now for most, you may be wondering what the whole ” her glass is so big, she can afford to cheat a little hear and there” means.

What kind of glass are we talking about here?  A standard 8 oz glass?  A wine glass?  An Optimus Prime collectors mug I got in a Happy Meal circa 1985?

Well, any glass really. The idea, though, is to make the glass bigger!

This is an analogy I first heard from Eric Cressey in his Ultimate Off-Season Training Manual, and again later on from Master RKC instructor, Brett Jones.

Think of strength as a glass, and the water inside the glass as all the “qualities” we train for:  endurance, strength-endurance, power, agility, speed strength, strength speed, having the ability to somehow take F.O.R.E.V.E.R in the bathroom getting ready, you know, those types of things.

The smaller your glass, the less “qualities” you’re able to express, let alone at a high level.  That said…..

Strength is the basis for everything. 

You can’t be “fast” without having some semblance of strength (or horsepower) in reserve.  You can’t improve your timed mile, or taking a bit further, your marathon time if you can’t generate more force into the ground to propel yourself forward.

The larger you make your glass, the more liquid your’re able to place inside said glass, and the likelihood your performance improves.  Whatever your endeavors may be.

If you’re weak, the glass is almost filled to the brim, and there’s little room for improvement.  And, I’d even argue for those more aesthetically minded:  you can’t even come close to getting as lean as you’d like if you’re weak in the first place.

If you’re someone who’s idea of “working out” is performing endless repetitions of arm circles, curls, and extensions with those cute, 5 lb pink dumbbells – and it’s hard – guess what?

You can’t have cake.

And that sucks.

Conversely, if you’re someone who places a premium on getting stronger (maybe working towards being able to perform ten solid push-ups, or one dead hang bodyweight pull-up, or maybe 1.5x bodyweight deadlift, or something as simple as learning how to squat properly), and you actually place a stress upon your body and force it to, you know, do something…… and do it hard……

……the more “wiggle room” you have when it comes to your nutrition.

While not a concrete train of thought, I think most people reading can appreciate the general tone I’m getting at here.

For example here’s Lisa this past Saturday afternoon while we were snowed in.  While she could have just as easily watched The Notebook or forced me to watch a Julia Roberts marathon, she didn’t.  Instead she spent part of the afternoon randomly walking up to the chin-up bar and busting out some reps.  Here’s her third set of five:

 

Not to brag, but I don’t think there are many women out there who could just casually walk up to a chin-up bar and start busting out reps.

Wanna know what else she can do:

– Bench press 160 lbs.

– Deadlift 225+ lbs for reps.

– Perform 10+ flawless push-ups.

– Teach 4 spin classes per week.

– Read the Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy in one week (true story).

– Leap tall buildings in a single bound (less true, but I wouldn’t be surprised if she could actually do it).

Wanna know what else she does:

She feels no remorse when we go out to eat on the weekends and orders a steak (with potatoes) and dessert afterwards.

She also eats out of the bread bowl.  GASP!!!!!!!!!

To her credit:  she works her ass off, and has put in A LOT of hours in the gym to look how she looks.

As Coach John alluded to:  she doesn’t necessarily have to be as “on point” with her nutrition (even though she is) and can get away with a few cheats here and there because she’s STRONG!

This isn’t to suggest that every female reading needs to rush out to their nearest gym and commandeer the squat rack (although, that would be pretty cool).  All I’m suggesting is that it wouldn’t hurt to turn the page, turn off the Tracy Anderson DVD, and start lifting some appreciable weight.

I’m not saying all of this to be snarky, and I hope it’s not coming across as such.  In every sense, I’m saying all of this to EMPOWER you.

For some this should read as a profound epiphany.

At least, I hope it is.

CategoriesStuff to Read While You're Pretending to Work

Stuff to Read While You’re Pretending to Work: 2/7/13

Okay, before I jump into this week’s list of stuff to read, I had to share THIS video I came across on the homepage of Yahoo! this morning.

Basically it’s a video of a Miami based teenager – who’s incarcerated for drug possession – acting very flippant (in every sense of the word) with the judge sentencing her.

Not amused with her shenanigans, the judge hands her the smack-down and doubles her fine (the reaction is priceless), and then, sentences her to 30-days in county jail.  BOOM!

I think Miami should give this guy a ticker-tape parade, the key to the city, or name a street after him or something. A free ticket to an all-you-can-eat-buffet?  Anything!

The man is a hero.

You Have To Workout To Get a Workout – Hamilton Nolan

Those who enjoy my writing style and sometimes “tough love” approach will appreciate this article by Hamilton.

I’m sorry, but “going for a walk” is not working out.  Nor is going to the gym to casually putter away on the elliptical while watching The Real Housewives of Whogivesashit (or where ever the current season is filming).

You actually have to strain a little bit, and maybe even break a sweat!  I know, weird.

But trust me:  it’s for you’re own good.  If you need a little motivation, this column may be exactly what you (or a friend, or a family member, or a colleague) needs.

Stretching Doesn’t Work – Dean Somerset

You know those cute hamstring or hip flexor stretches you do prior to each training session (and sometimes afterwards too)?

Yeah, they’re probably a waste of time.

In fact, if I had to make a list of things that are more worth your time, I’d go with (in no particular order):

– Talking about your feelings with your significant other.

– Watching the Lord of the Rings Trilogy (while standing on a BOSU ball).

– Watching a Tracy Anderson interview and then spontaneously throwing up a little bit in your mouth.

– Watching this video of a monkey eating its own poo

Initiating the Squat: Making the Distinction Between Hip Flexion and Lumbar Hyper-extension – Jordan Syatt

I thought this was a bang-on job by former CP intern/coach, Jordan Syatt, explaining this often confusing concept on cleaning up one’s squatting technique.

It’s a very subtle differentiation, but something that many people make the mistake of doing, oftentimes leading to injury.

Check it out and show Jordan some love!

The guys owns a 3x bodyweight deadlift, so he knows what he’s talking about.

CategoriesNutrition

Slim Is Simple

On any given day when I wake up and turn on my laptop to check my email, what I see on my screen can run the gamut:

Ranging from emails by people asking me any number of fitness and health questions; editors reaching out wondering 1) if I’d be interested in contributing to their magazine/website, or what’s usually the case 2) asking whether or not I’m going to make their deadline (haven’t missed one yet); distance coaching clients writing to say how much of an a-hole I am for programming eight sets of squats on a Monday; annoying SEO representatives asking me if I’m interested in their services; and, of course, emails from the even more annoying Saudi Princes willing to hand over a small fortune purely out of the kindness of their heart……

…….if I’m willing to provide my credit card number.

And, admittedly, I also get a fair share of people who contact me asking me to pimp their new ebook or product (even though I’ve never heard of them or know them for a hole in the wall).

Needless to say I get a lot of mail that goes directly into my spam folder or I just delete altogether. And then I move on with my life.

Last week I received an email through my website that, upon initial viewing, felt a little suspect:

Hi Tony Gentilcore – I hope your 2013 is off to a great start!

We start this year fortunate enough to have received VC funding to start up a non-profit nutrition educational organization we’re calling Slim is Simple. SIS is working to provide compelling multimedia resources—free of charge—that the educational and health communities can leverage to help share the simple science you and I know can help so many people live so much better. We’re working to get this “curriculum” into schools, churches, and etc.

Wanted to give you a quick sneak peak of our first full-length animated educational piece at (see below) with the hopes that we can collaborate on giving this non-profit educational effort the legs it needs to make a difference in the mainstream. The official launch of SIS is Tuesday.

I’m not going to lie – once I read that initial paragraph the theme music from Jaws was running on repeat in my head.

Da-DUM.  Da-DUM. Da-DUM…….

I had never heard of Jonathan Bailor, much less read anything he’s written. But I saw in his byline that he has a book titled The Calorie Myth coming out through Harper Collins in 2014, and too, I’d like to think that I’m not that much of a jerk where I can’t give a few minutes of my time to check out a video.

I mean, I’m all about simplifying things – especially when it comes to nutrition. Given most people equate nutrition to rocket science, or quantum physics, or, if you’re me circa 1995, trying to unclasp your first bra (how the hell does this thing work!!!!!), anything that provides information which helps people sift through the BS and make things easier is cool in my book.

So, long story short I was intrigued and took the bait.

And you know what:  it was really, really good. It’s twelve minutes that’s definitely worth your time.

Slim is Simple

I know there will be some detractors out there who will nitpick a few things and most likely provide some long-winded diatribe on why Jonathan’s approach contains faulty logic, and that’s cool – you can go about hating your life.  And no one will probably listen to you anyways.

I can nitpick as well, but all told, I feel the overall message is awesome, and feel it’s something that’s going to be very beneficial to the general public and (hopefully) sway the tide towards a more sensible weight control approach.

I don’t know about you, but I’m so tired of people reading US Magazine, thinking that starving themselves – and being afraid of eating an apple because it contains carbs (but not think twice about crushing a double latte) – and then gaining their nutritional advice from Paris Hilton is a smart approach.

Likewise, I don’t necessarily feel that people have to be “slim” in order to be healthy or be comfortable with their bodies (not that that was what Jonathan was insinuating in the first place).  But I do feel we’ve done an awesome job of overcomplicating things, and many people out there have gotten to the point where they have no idea what to eat!  Which is absurd.

To that end, anything I can point in YOUR direction that leads YOU to common sense advice is a-okay with me.

So watch the video above and let me know what you think!

For more information on Jonathan and his initiative, check out the Slim is Simple website HERE, as well as his personal website HERE.

CategoriesExercises You Should Be Doing

Exercises You Should Be Doing (Better): Box Jumps

Today’s guest post is brought to you courtesy of Michael Anderson: friend, strength coach, and fellow lover of dead animal flesh (and Alicia Keys).

I felt this was an outstanding post and something I’m hoping people will take to heart.  As Mike notes below:  box jumps, while considered “easy” and much of the time haphazardly tossed into programs without much thought, are actually a lot more complicated (and coaching intensive) than people give them credit for.

In this post Mike discusses some common mistakes as well as offers a few coaching cues to help set the record straight.

Enjoy!

Note from TG:  apparently the videos are a little wacky for some people. Depending on the browser you’re using, you’re either going to get the appropriate box jump videos (Chrome, IE) or the same squat video for every video except for the last one (Firefox).

I have no idea how to fix the issue, so I apologize in advance for those who aren’t able to watch the actual videos.

Hey, it could be worse:  they could have linked to a whale giving birth instead.  Either way, the internet is stupid!

There are a ton of new exercises that you should be mixing into your training, but today I want to show you how to get the most out of an old favorite: box jumps.

Everybody and their mother has been doing box jumps for ages; it’s almost always the first plyometric exercise that is taught to young athletes and thus people continue to keep them in their routine for years and years. It’s simple right? Set up a box and jump onto it. So easy a caveman could do it. Well, not quite.

There’s a bunch of ways to screw up this seemingly simple exercise.

First off, let me show you what a good box jump looks like.

The big thing to notice here is the vertical displacement of my hips (Thanks to Chad Wesley Smith for  confirming the use of that phrase. It’s something I’ve been using for a while now).

I’ve created a line for the lowest point of my hips and the highest point, and the space between them is significant. This is caused by full triple extension and the intention of jumping as high as I can. You can see that I’m jumping straight up and landing softly on the box. This is the reason we do the exercise; it allows the athlete to jump as high as they can without having to experience the eccentric stress caused by the landing of the jump.  

Without really exploding through your hips, you’ll be missing a lot of the benefits of this exercise.  This is what a box jump with incomplete hip extension looks like:

You’ll notice that when compared to the other video, all I’m really doing is moving my feet from the ground to the box as quickly as possible.

My hips don’t move very high when compared to the jump with complete extension. When left to their own devices, a lot of athletes will revert to this because it feels faster, so it must be better…right?

Wrong, these athletes aren’t even actually jumping! They’re just efficiently moving their feet from point A to point B. Cue these athletes to get tall during the jump or to try jumping over the box.

Another common fault is the rebound jump; this often happens for a variety of reasons. One is that it’s a faster way to do box jumps if you happen to be doing them for a timed event. Another reason is that coaches feel that it’s more plyometric in nature so that’s how they coach the exercise.

Still, other coaches feel that linking jumps together like this allows for the use of higher boxes and is more “sport specific”…because jumping on a box repeatedly happens all the time during sports.

This action actually places a ton of stress on the body and has recently resulted in a slew of Achilles tendon tears. And trust me, you don’t want to tear your Achilles tendon.

Landing loudly is something that a lot of athletes will do with this exercise because it’s not something they think about.

A jump is a jump, right?

It’s up to the coaches to catch them landing loudly and to fix the problem. I like to tell my athletes to land like a ninja. Have you ever heard a ninja land? Hell no!

Note:   while doing the stomp for this video, I was reminded of why to not do it, because it hurt so damn badly!

Lastly, another common fault with the box jump is very specific to female clients and athletes; landing with your knees together.

Concurrently, this also happens quite often during the takeoff portion of the jump – many athletes (female AND male) will initiate the movement by allowing their knees to cave in.

Teaching athletes to both start and land with the knees out will do a ton in regards to ACL care/prevention.

The stress placed upon the knees when they are allowed to cave or drift in – as demonstrated in the video above – is huge. Preventing ACL injuries in female athletes is one of the hallmarks of a good strength and conditioning program, so please make sure that this simple drill doesn’t work against your overall goals.

If the athlete’s can’t keep their knees out, either lower the height of the box or work on a different drill.

And for my own edification (and because I feel it should be common sense): please don’t do box jumps onto absurdly high boxes.

This isn’t an expression of your ability to produce power so much as an expression of your hip mobility. The box jump isn’t an e-penis measuring contest, so please keep the boxes at a safe height.

To the best of my knowledge box jumps aren’t a contested event, they are just a training drill. Keep them as such, and don’t end up like this guy:

Note:  As a final note, I’d like ask everyone to please check out this great cause and consider donating!

I hope everyone found this useful! Have a great day, and go lift something heavy!

Author’s 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 Uncategorized

Miscellaneous Miscellany Monday: Superbowl Commercials, Paco Pena, Cholesterol Myth, and Other Stuff

1. Okay, I hope everyone is starting to recover from their insulin-coma they put themselves into last night. Even more importantly, I hope everyone is fully recovered from that full on make-out session between super model Bar Refaeli and G0 Daddy.com’s resident nerd Walter (who, lets be honest: is officially every guy’s hero today).

While there was a huge public backlash to the commercial due to its “eww factor,” especially with the additional sound effects (which sounded like a five year old eating a peanut butter sandwich – I didn’t mind it so much, and just chalked it up to the  overthetopness of the Super Bowl in general.

That’s what the Super Bowl is all about, right?

All in all (and I don’t know how everyone else feels) but no commercial really stood out in my book.  Like, nada.

Whatever happened to the good ol’ days when we had Spud McKenzie, The Budweiser Frogs, the Waaaaaaaaasup Guys, or Ali Landry eating Doritos?

Speaking of Doritos, both Lisa and I kept it pretty gluttony-free yesterday during the game.  Okay, while I still had my fair share of pizza (and okay, yes, ice cream), we made some fajitas using homemade fajita mix, grass-fed beef, and lettuce wraps instead of regular wraps.

Also, Lisa made some crispy (baked, not fried) buffalo chicken wings that were Paleo friendly.  She’s a ginormous chicken wing fan and pretty finicky when it comes to giving any recipe a thumbs up, but this one was a definite homerun.

For those interested, here’s the recipe she followed:

2. Prior to the festivities yesterday, Lisa and I got all “cultural” and had an afternoon date where we  headed into the city to see a flamenco show featuring the Paco Pena Flamenco Company.

Now, before I met Lisa the only iota of “culture” in my life was eating out at Applebees and going to the occasional foreign film.

You know, for the art (Read:  boobies).

Anyways, Lisa takes all the credit for introducing me to flamenco.  She dragged me (kicking and screaming) to a show when we first started dating, and reminiscing back I had every intention of sitting there with my arms folded hating life for an hour and a half.

Truth be told:  I absolutely LOVED it!  For those unfamiliar there’s a lot going on on stage with all the clapping, dancing, and singing. And it’s beautiful to listen to.

While there is some semblance of choreography between the percussionist(s), guitarist(s) and the dancers, no performance is the same as there’s always a degree of improvisation…..which makes all the more interesting to watch.

Yesterday marked the fourth or fifth show we’ve gone to see together, and the third time we’ve seen Paco Pena.  If you ever get the chance to see him in person, I’d HIGHLY suggest it.

3.  Heads up!  I’ll be submitting my next T-Nation article in the next day or two, so keep your eyes peeled for that.  It’s going to focus on what else:  the deadlift.  While some may be rolling their eyes at the thought of another deadlifting article:

  • It’s not like I’m forcing you to sit at the table until you finish all your vegetables.  You’ll read this article when it comes out, and like it!
  • I’ll be covering some less known coaching cues that I feel helps a lot of people hone in on their technique.

4. I purposely try to avoid talking politics on this blog for obvious reasons, but for those looking for a good book to read (or just something that will make you angry enough to punch a dolphin in the face), I just completed a doozy called Predator Nation. Written by Charles Ferguson – the guy who wrote and directed the documentary Inside Job – it basically details just how shady and corrupt many of our financial institutions, CEOs, politicians, and (unfortunately)peeps in higher academia are.

It’s pretty sickening, when given an opportunity to actually witness what goes on behind the scenes and to see the man behind the curtain, what these people have been (and currently are) getting away with.

I’m no financial savant, and I’d be the last one to be able to break down the inner workings of what a credit default swap is, let alone what it does – but this book does a bang-up job of laying out the pieces and making us think:  why the hell has no one gone to jail for any of this?

What’s more – and this is something that really appealed to me as I was reading it – the book points the blame to all recent administrations – Bush, Obama, Clinton, Reagan, Bush II, and even (Star Wars reference!) the Galactic Federation of Free Alliances.

Okay, obviously not the last one, but no one can wipe their hands clean here.

For those looking for something to better explain why it is where spiraling into more and more debt and continually digging ourselves into a deeper hole, I’d give this book a try.

5.  On a less “I-want-to-throw-my-face-through-a-wall” note, another book to check out is Jonny Bowden’s The Great Ch0lesterol Myth: Why Lowering Your Cholesterol Won’t Prevent Heart Disease and the Statin Free Plan That Will.

Giving full disclosure I have yet to open it up, but I’ve always been a fan of Dr. Bowden’s stuff, and I’m always game for pointing people in the direction of why tossing out egg yolks is a dumb idea.

More to the point, I’m always disheartened when people are automatically encouraged (but usually shoved) down the path of reactionary protocols like statin drugs – mostly because there’s a financial incentive to those physicians who do so – and given archaic and ill advice on nutrition and exercise.

It’s high-time that we change our attitudes towards this epidemic and start taking more preventative measures.  And this book is (presumably) a step in the right direction.

6.  Check out this hilarious video.  The girl’s reaction is awesome!

It’s a shark!  It’s a big-ass shark!

7.  And finally, for all those movie buffs out there: fellow CP coach Brett Kokorunda and I have been debating these two “best of” lists from the 90’s and 2000’s.

50 Best Films of the 1990’s

50 Best Films of the 2000’s

While I could sit and talk about/debate movies all day, I have to say I was really impressed with both lists.

They included lesser known gems like Out of Sight, Talk to Her, Rushmore, Mulholland Drive, and Children of Men; as well as the obvious choices like Pulp Fiction, GoodFellas, Boogie Nights (my personal fav), Schindler’s List and Terminator 2.

Although, I’m calling BS that Saving Private Ryan or Swingers wasn’t included in the 90’s list.

UPDATE:  and upon second glance, The Shawshank Redemption, too.  WTF!!!!!! I’ve yet to meet one single person who’s ever said a bad thing about that movie.

Not including that movie on a “best of” list is like not including The Beatles on a Best of Rock-n-Roll list.

I still have to sift though and read all the entries, but I’d love to hear your thoughts and opinions!  Agree with the list?  Disagree?

Wait, what was that? You never saw Boogie Nights!?!!??!!?

You’re officially banned from this blog until you do.

No, seriously, get out.

CategoriesUncategorized

5 Reasons Your Shoulder Is Jacked-Up and Not Jacked – Part II

Welcome back!

For those who missed it, yesterday I posted PART ONE (Newsflash: you’re reading part II) of some of the reasons why your shoulder is most likely jacked-up and not jacked.

If you’re too lazy to click the link above, here’s the dealsky:

1.  Your technique on just about everything is, for lack of a better terms, is god-awful.

2.  The program you’re following, while written with good intentions and attention to detail, may in fact be feeding into your issues and causing more harm than good.

And that’s all I’m gonna say on that front. If you want to dive in and a get a litte more detail you’re just going to have to click on the link and read part one.

Hint: You should read part one.

Moving things along, lets go a head and get the most obvious one out of the way first.  And while it’s the most obvious, I’d argue that it’s still something that many people disregard altogether and shove into some back room like a red-headed stepchild.

Not Addressing Tissue Quality

Much like taking your car in to get its oil changed, or going to dentist every six months for a cleaning, or clipping your nose hairs before a big date, addressing tissue quality should be considered preventative maintenance.  Or, at the very least – especially with regards to the latter – set you up for long-term success.  Maybe even second base if you play your cards right!

Either way, it still dumbfounds me that people (especially those in pain) refuse to put two and two together and aren’t more proactive on this front.

It’s not a sexy topic, which is probably why so many people turn their backs on it.  But watering things waaaaay down:  when you palpate tissue, it shouldn’t hurt.  Conversely, if you palpate your pec (and if you’re really talented, your pec minor) and it makes you jump off your chair, then that should tell you something.

Almost always, the pec (and by association, the pec minor) is going to enter the equation when the discussion of shoulder pain comes up.  Think about what I mentioned yesterday and how most programs are aligned:  there’s a heavy emphasis towards pushing movements compared to pulling.  As such, it’s not uncommon to observe many people with rounded, abducted shoulders – kind of like this poor guy here who I found on Google images:

Putting my Captain Obvious hat on for a second, it stands to reason that this said random guy should become BFFs with a foam roller, and spend a lot of time rolling his upper/mid back, as well as his lats (which is an area that many people neglect).

But that’s just half the equation. Anteriorly speaking, what do you think is pulling is scapulae into a more abducted position?

His pecs!

Taking the time to perform some dedicated self myofascial release on the pecs, and as a result working to get into a more optimal alignment, can pay huge dividends when you’re dealing with a cranky shoulder.

Doing your part to help release built up scar tissue, adhesions, and trigger points is a step in the right direction, but you also need to understand that it’s just as important to lengthen that tissue after the fact and then “cement” that new length with proper strength training.

Stealing a popular phrase from physical therapist, Charlie Weingroff, we need to “get long, and get strong.”

You can’t make the mistake of JUST foam rolling or whatever and then just going about your business.  You also need to lengthen that tissue and strengthen it within that new length.

It’s actually a profound litmus test if you’re someone who’s going to a physical therapist or manual therapist.  Are they just treating the symptoms with whatever modality they prefer (Graston, ART, dry needling, deer antler spray, Unicorn tears) and kicking you out the door, or are they following treatment with appropriate stretching and strength training?

If the former, I’d be reticent to continue with said therapist.

Doing Too Much Band Work

I’ve mentioned this in the past, but it bears repeating.

If I were to ask you what is the function of the rotator cuff, what would you say? If I were a betting man, I’d garner that the vast majority of people reading would say one of three things:

  • External/Internal rotation of the arm (glenohumeral joint).
  • Elevates the arm in the scapular plane.
  • Where the hell’s the rotator cuff? Isn’t this the part of the post where you post a picture of a scantily clad hot chic

If you mentioned either of the two former options- congratulations you’ve obviously read an anatomy book within the past 25 years. And, while you’re technically not wrong, you’re not entirely correct either.

With regards to the latter option, I’d would post a picture of the rotator cuff to help clear the air but THIS is actually the point where I post a picture of a scantily clad hot chick.

For the record, her rotator cuff would be approximately 2 o’clock from her cleavage. How that’s for functional anatomy….;o)

Okay back on track: While the rotator cuff does invariably play a significant role in external/internal rotation, as well as elevation of the arm, you’d be remiss not to recognize that it’s main function is to simply center the humeral head within the glenoid fossa.

Unfortunately, if you were to take a peek into what most people’s shoulder “rehab” programs look like it would most likely resemble a hodge-podge collection of rotator cuff band exercises done ad nauseam.

Now I’m NOT suggesting that band exercises are a waste of time or that dedicated RC exercises like the side lying external rotation shouldn’t be performed.

Far from it.  In fact, side lying external rotations (with the arm abducted slightly) have been shown to have the greatest EMG activation of the rotator cuff – when done correctly.

I think my main beef – especially when it comes to band work – is that people are under the assumption that more is better.

The above couldn’t be further from the truth. Training the rotator cuff to fatigue increases superior humeral head migration, and makes about as much sense as making another Sex in the City movie.

Put another way, when the rotator cuff is fatigued, the humeral head will shift superiorly towards the acromion process, effectively increasing the likelihood of shoulder impingement.

So, contrary to popular belief, all of those 50-100 rep sets of band or side lying DB external rotations you’re doing to keep your shoulder “healthy” isn’t doing your shoulder any favors.

I’m not saying it’s wrong to do them.  I just think it’s wrong to do them until you’re blue in the face.

Your Shoulder Probably Isn’t Even the Issue!

Let me clarify before I proceed, because I know I’m getting some people scratching their heads at that last comment.

Looking directly at the shoulder does make sense – especially if 80-90% of your clientele make their living throwing a baseball.

As an example if we get a pitcher walking through our doors who complains of shoulder pain, it only makes sense to look at the shoulder and check out things like total ROM (glenohumeral internal + external rotation), upward/downward rotation, so on and so forth.

But when working with the general population, it’s often advantageous to dig a little deeper.

This isn’t to say that the shoulder ISN’T the problem, it very well could be.  But it’s been my experience that it’s usually not.

I just find it comical whenever I read a random article or blog where someone starts throwing out things like “check for big toe dorsiflexion” or “can they recite the alphabet backwards in less than 17 seconds?” as if any of that really matters.

Sure, I guess we could make a valid (albiet far reaching) case that limited big toe dorsiflexion can effect things up the kinetic chain, but more often than not I just feel people start throwing out that kind of verbiage as a way to make themselves sound smarter than they really are.

Nevertheless, there are a multitude of factors that we have to take into consideration as to why someone’s shoulder is flipping them the bird that may or may not have anything to do with the shoulder.

At CP we take the following into consideration that may have nothing to do with the shoulder:

– Overuse

– Scapular instability

– Poor glenohumeral ROM

– Rotator cuff weakness

– Soft tissue restrictions

– Poor thoracic spine mobility

– Acromion type

– Poor exercise technique (seriously, read yesterday’s post)

– Poor cervical spine function

– Poor programming balance

– Faulty breathing patterns

– And yes, opposite hip/ankle restriction

A handful or maybe all factors above may need some attention and have their share of the limelight, but the real take home message is that you need to think outside the box.  Just because your shoulder hurts doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a shoulder issue.

And that’s that!  Hopefully I was able to shed some light on an often murky and confusing topic.  If you liked this, please do me a favor and “Like” it, as well as share on as many social media outlets as possible.  I’ll give you a hug if you do.