CategoriesUncategorized

Stuff to Read While You’re Pretending to Work: Get-Ups, Conditioning, and Becoming the Expert

WIth Lisa starting the process of studying for her licensure exam on a nightly basis (she’s currently on the home stretch of her post-doctorate Fellowship), it’s given me the opportunity to catch up on some much needed reading.

Of course, like an asstard I made the mistake of starting season three of The Walking Dead the other day which has totally derailed any semblance of productivity during the past 72 hours of my life. While I’ve gotten some reading in (see below), most of my time has been spent doing nothing but watching zombies getting beheaded, blown up, shot, and otherwise pwned in every way possible.

And it’s been glorious.

I’m trying to place a finger on why it is we as a society are so obsessed with zombies. Much like the teenage vampire phase that’s dominated our pop-culture the past five years (Twilight, The Vampire Diaries, Let Me In*), it seems like zombies are enjoying a fair share of the spotlight as well.

Although the “trend” has been around for a lot longer than people think.  Anyone who hasn’t watched Zack Snyder’s Dawn of the Dead or Danny Boyle’s 28 Days Later (and the equally impressive, albeit lesser known sequel, 28 Weeks Later starring a pre-Hurt Locker Jeremy Renner) are missing out.

Not to mention we could go waaaaaay back to George Romero’s 1968 classic, Night of the Living Dead, which in many respects was the influence behind Michael Jackson’s seminal 1980’s zombie-fest video Thriller.  Talk about a pop-culture phenomena!

And that’s not it, either.  Right around the corner is Brad Pitt’s long awaited movie, World War Z:

Annnnnnnd, I just destroyed the back of my pants.

That’s going to be awesome!!!!

Whatever it is, I hope the current zombie love-fest doesn’t stop because I’m digging it.

Anyways, you didn’t log on today to talk about zombies.  But if you did, you and I need to hang out more often.  Here’s some stuff to read.

5 Reasons to Love the Turkish Get-Up – Dave Hedges

I’ve been featuring a lot od Dave’s stuff in recent editions of Stuff to Read, and with good reason: the man just makes sense! Like him I won’t sit here and say that the Turkish Get-Up is the end-all/be-all of exercises; it’s not going to make you bulletproof, it (probably) won’t add 100 lbs to your deadlift, and it certainly won’t fix your bed-head (would it hurt to grab a comb by the way, sheesh!).  But there are a bevy of good things that arise from incorporating more get-ups into your life.

Here Dave lists a few which I couldn’t agree more with – especially #2

Conditioning:  You’re Doing It Wrong – Molly Galbraith

The fitness industry is funny – it’s always shifting from one extreme to the other.

1.  One day spinal flexion is okay, the next everyone is shitting a pink dumbbell if someone even mutters the word. For the record:  I used to be one of those people who poo-pood on flexion no matter what, but soon realized that it’s a bit sensationalistic to demonize it entirely.  I mean, it’s part of normal human movement to be able to bend your spine. LOADED flexion is another story entirely.  That’s just dumb.  Stop it.  Stop it right now!  I swear to god I’ll turn this car around!

2. More to the point, back in the 1980’s aerobic training was the flavor of choice.  Everyone was quick to grab their leotard, leggings, and head bands and high-tail it to the next step class faster than Olivia Newtown John could say Lets Get Physical.

Then, somewhere in the mid-90’s, you were given the Scarlet Letter if you were caught running for more than 20 seconds because HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) was the new popular kid in town.  For fat-loss and conditioning, doing more short bursts of work was the key.

While not technically wrong – and definitely a step in the right direction – again, it’s a bit overkill.  It IS still important, even for more explosive based sports like football, track and field, baseball, etc – to have an aerobic base.

In Part One of this article, Molly sheds light on why we shouldn’t turn our backs on aerobic training altogether

Becoming the Expert – Jon Goodman, John Romaniello, Dean Somerset (and Company)

There’s only another few days (till the end of this week, 4/14) to take advantage of the reduced sale price and world wide FREE shipping offer on this superb DVD set.

In a time where becoming a “successful” fitness professional is equal parts knowing your shit and more importantly, being really good at what you do, having an internet presence and possessing the ability to articulate yourself through the written word is climbing the ladder of importance as well.

If you’re a personal trainer or coach and struggling to drum up business or just clueless when it comes to this whole interwebz thing, then this DVD set may be right up your alley.

And did I mentioned there’s free shipping throughout the world?

Note:  there’s free shipping.

* = while this one is good, it’s actually a remake from the 2008 film, Let the Right One In, which I felt was much better.  Just sayin…..

CategoriesMotivational

The End Is Near: (Wo)Man Up!

Today’s guest post comes from Justin Kompf who’s a fellow Cortland State Red Dragon and the man responsible for organizing my little homecoming a few weeks ago. At 23 Justin is already doing big things.  Not only is he making waves in the fitness industry, but he’s already teaching COLLEGE courses as an adjunct professor at Cortland.  I think back to when I was 23 and all I remember doing is crushing Beverly Hills 90210 re-runs and bicep curls in the squat rack. 

Suffice it to say, everyone, meet Justin. He’s gonna be someone you should remember.  Good things are a head.  

The world is coming to an end, or at least it must be. I have my bachelors of science in kinesiology – key word science. Not to say I’m in love with the whole cellular function of microbes or what Van Der Waals forces are, or even if I spelled that right, but I am keen enough to make observations and make fairly educated conclusions.

For example, if I pick up this weight and move it around I get bigger and I get stronger. Or how about this: people who don’t lift weights actually progressively get weaker until they have legs the size of toothpicks and need a machine to get from A to B.

Another mind blowing (yes sarcasm) discovery I’ve made is that if I eat crappy food my body feels and looks like crap.  On the other side of the equation, if I eat lean proteins, fill my plate with vegetables, and sweet potatoes somehow I feel satisfied, don’t get sick, increase strength, and look pretty darn good too. As a scientist I have come to this radical conclusion that if I eat well and exercise well I feel and look good.

It doesn’t take a white coat, nerdy glasses and beakers to be a scientist. I just proved it. Science is the intellectual and practical activity of gaining knowledge through systematic observation. Pay attention, observe outcome. We learned the principle in elementary school Aà B. If Christina picks on me she totally digs me right?

One more time AàB

So wait this isn’t anything new? Eating healthy and exercising are healthy habits that everyone should be doing?!?!?!? I didn’t need to go to school for four years to make this discovery?

This is the reason why I have concluded that the world must be coming to an end.

Humans are logical, intelligent creatures. If the general population was forced to be honest, they would admit that they know what it takes to get healthy or at least healthier, but instead they continue to fuel the cyclic, destructive habits that have made them obese, sedentary and sick. Trips to the grocery store are always pleasant reminders of why the world is coming to an end. People who are obese continue to load their shopping carts up with processed foods, carbohydrates, lunch meats, microwaveable dinners, sodas, and candies.

They bring these foods home to their kids who then begin the pathway towards obesity. They don’t know any better, you’d have a better chance of convincing Charlie Sheen to keep his eyes closed in a strip club than you’d have convincing a kid who’s been shoveled processed, sugary foods on a daily basis to voluntarily put down the candy, ice cream or soda.

On another note…We live in a society that rewards people who don’t work hard. Sure, if you don’t want to work that’s fine. Just rest on your laurels! Nobody works hard these days anyways, right? Being successful and getting rich is all pure luck. Just put your feet up and wait for your pot of gold. Don’t want to work, that’s fine the government will pay you not to work.

Nate Green had a tremendous article on his scrawny to brawny website called the “SB2 Manifesto: Rules For Living a Bigger Life”. In the first rule he talked about how there are two versions of us, our ideal selves and our shadow selves. Our shadow self is the guy in our head saying, “it’s okay to sit on the couch for four hours a day watching TV, its okay for us to wear our pajamas the whole day and not learn anything new”. It’s the version of us that thinks that success can be put on the back burner. The shadow self – the procrastinating, lazy, undisciplined self is kicking millions of ideal selves’ asses all across America. Yes, it’s possible to kick your own ass.

We’re on the brink of the end of the world, maybe I’m being a little dramatic here but there is an unavoidable devolution of the mindfulness and work ethic occurring all across the country.

If you’re on this site and you’ve gotten this far in my article I’ll confidently assume two things about you.

First: You’re a meat head; you like to push your body to its limits to see what it’s capable of.

Secondly:  You possess a mind that wants to expand.

Note from TG:  I’ll also add a third:  You obviously have great taste in which blogs you read. Well done.

If you’re nodding yes and yes to each of those, you’ve got a deadly combination of being a meathead with a brain. You not only want to be big, healthy, and strong but you want to be educated about it, too.

You’re not one of those guys questioning why you’re not getting bigger when your program consists of preacher curls, smith machine upright rows, and cable flys and a pre workout big gulp (not the bigger you wanted).

You squat and you deadlift and you read a lot.

Anyways, while we’re low in numbers I feel that guys like us hold some of the last hope the world has.

So let me personally welcome you to the remaining population of mindful, driven men left in the world. Tragically, our species is nearly extinct.

We are a club that defies boundaries, pushes limits in and out of the gym, and observes with the intention of asking why, learning something and applying it to our own lives, thoughts and habits for self-improvement and the betterment of the lives of those around us. Sure, for the most part we keep to ourselves and if you’re like me do a lot of observation on the current state of the world. I believe this is a good thing, we think before we talk and try not to spew out BS like most people out there.

So without further delay, I’ll share a few things I believe us men with active minds and active bodies can do to stave off, and maybe even prevent, the end of the world.

Train for at least one physical event a year.

I’m in the last week before my very first powerlifting meet. I look forward to learning from more experienced people but the last four months of serious training and following Jim Wendler’s 5/3/1 program have been great.

I’ve hit rep records on just about every lift while making it to the 181 weight class. I usually weigh about 195 pounds. I’ve learned a lot about pushing my body in the gym in combination with smart dieting. My friend recently asked me if I would be interested in doing a tough mudder in October.

Sure why not, it’s certainly not what I am built for but let’s do it. Training for an event creates concrete goals. Also, if you’re not exploring your body’s capabilities then what the heck are you doing? Another benefit of training is that it helps to clear up a lot of other things in your life. I make sure my diet is spot on when training and I make sure I get the appropriate amount of sleep when training. It helps clear up stress and basically acts as your own personal therapist if you need it.

*here is the end result of the competition- 510 deadlift ohhh yeaa!

Read, read, read

Yes I said it three times and there’s a reason. Here’s my three reads:

Read 1: Personal pleasure. E.g. I’m reading Howl’s Moving Castle. Before you Google this I’ll give you the heads up that it’s a movie and it’s a cartoon. So what – don’t judge – I wanted to read the book.  I’m also getting a little into The Red Badge of Courage.

Read 2: Business Development or Self Improvement. E.g. Right now I’m reading Crucial Conversations by Kerry Patterson.

Read 3: Career related book: Orthopedic Knowledge Update: Shoulder and Elbow second edition.

Try to read every single day. If we get in the habit of letting our shadow self win day in and day out he’s going to get stronger making it more and more difficult for our ideal self to win. I’ve been through periods of stagnation where my shadow self put a beating on my ideal self. Believe me it’s best to keep your shadow self’s victories to a minimum.

Create forward progress every single day

There’s a wise proverb that says “Without vision [man] perishes”.

Set goals, daily goals, weekly goals, monthly goals, career goals and get on a path towards success. I doubt anyone can say for certain what they want to do with their life. For example, my dad who has been an accountant for about 30 years has been talking about getting into training people who are older when he retires. You can be in your mid fifties and still not know what you want to do for sure.

I’ve gone from everything from wanting to be a personal trainer, to strength and conditioning coach, to a nutritionist and now onto a physical therapist. Mind’s change, luckily I didn’t have a dramatic career change of heart so just about everything I’ve done so far is applicable.

Even if you’re not positive where life is taking you that’s no excuse for stagnation. In fact you’re in a beautiful position to explore all of your interest to find what suits you. Hop on some kind of path, you don’t have to know where it’s heading, just know you’re moving forward.

Your weekly, monthly, and yearly goals should match up to career goals. My long term career goal is to become a physical therapist. On my path towards that some things have pleasantly popped up that gave me opportunities to do what I love doing while getting paid for it.

What am I doing to make this career goal happen?

Daily: Reading my current career book as well as peer reviewed articles

Weekly: Shadowing a physical therapist every Wednesday

Monthly: Working on prerequisites for school. I am currently taking chemistry

Yearly: continuing with prerequisites and everything else necessary to get into school

Pleasant surprises that have popped up along this path: I’ve had the opportunity to teach personal training and strength and conditioning classes at my college. I’ve gotten to work with athletes at Syracuse University which has given me the credentials to teach these strength and conditioning classes at my college. The coach I work with at Syracuse gave me a recommendation to teach another class at a community college as well.

Now all I need is a fedora and a whip and I’ll be a full on professor!

The sooner you realize getting drunk isn’t cool the better your life will be

I’m 23 years young, so I still live in that time period where a lot of people my age think staying up until 3 am and getting drunk is still awesome.

Sad thing is that I see people ten years my senior still trying to live the college dream. How productive are you the day after drinking? Not at all. Do you get good quality sleep? Nope. Is it possible to train like a man when you drink two or three times a week? No way. That’s not to say I don’t enjoy a beer or two. I do, but it’s not a keystone coming firing at me out of funnel anymore.

Now, small huddle of mindful, hard-working, meatheads – break! Go keep doing what you’re doing, do it better, and convince some other men out there to help push back on the end of the world while you’re at it.

Thanks for reading; I believe there is still some hope left in this world as long as we all set positive examples by respecting our minds, bodies, and of course others. Try to train for something at least once a year, read, read, read, set goals, and try to behave yourself at bars.

Author’s Bio

Justin is a  certified personal trainer and certified strength and conditioning specialist through the National Strength and Conditioning Association. He  holds  a bachelors degree in Kinesiology from the State University of New York at Cortland where he graduated magna cum laude. He has worked with a wide variety of clients and has spent time at two division one Universities, Syracuse University and the University of California Riverside. He currently assist at Syracuse under Veronica Dyer, the head strength coach in the Olympic sports room. Justin teaches a personal training class at the State University of New York at Cortland and will be teaching two strength and conditioning classes along with an intro to kinesiology course next fall. He likes deadlifting, the shoulder, almond butter, dragon ball z, and Zooey Deschanel. He dislikes bench pressing and people that say YOLO. His website is cortlandfit.com and he can be contacted at [email protected]

CategoriesUncategorized

5 Mistakes I Made as a Trainer and Coach That You Should Avoid

Here’s a little TG trivia for all of you: it was never my intention to become a personal trainer or strength coach. That wasn’t my game plan at least.  Nope, my game plan, and what I went to school for, was to become a health teacher.

Bachelor’s degree in Health Education, thank you very much.

Well, actually, my real game plan all along was to become a professional baseball player, sign on with the Oakland Athletics, and become an honorary member of The Bash Brothers alongside Mark McGwire and Jose Canseco.

Growing up I had the exact same poster you see to the left hanging on my wall in my bedroom, and I can’t even begin to tell you how many hours I spent outside in my side yard hitting a baseball back and forth pretending to be a Major Leaguer hitting a 3-2 fastball to win game 7 of the World Series.

By my count I think I won roughly 5,974 Game 7s. Not too shabby!

Moreover there wasn’t any point throughout the year where I wasn’t playing a sport or game of some sort.  Wiffleball, basketball, kickball, football, tennis, swimming, cops and robbers, duck-duck-goose, you name it, I played it.

All of this to say I was a very active kid growing up.  “Fitness,” even though I didn’t know any better back then, was always a part of my life.

I got my first weight training set when I was 13 or 14 (Santa dropped it off one Christmas), and I remember setting up shop downstairs in my parent’s basement, slapping the poster on a wooden beam, and religiously following the diagrams with the muscly dude (who wore really short shorts) to a “T” every other day until I entered high school and had access to a real weight room.

All throughout my high school career, I’d stay after school to lift weights for 45-60 minutes and then take the “late” bus home which ended up being another 45-60 minute bus ride.  During that time I’d sit there, usually alone, and day dream about playing college baseball while jamming a softball between my fingers which I ascertained would make it easier to grip a baseball to throw a forkball (which, coincidentally enough, was the go to pitch of Oakland A’s ace, Dave Stewart).

I could easily sit here and go on and on about my high school (and college!) baseball playing days, but I’ll spare you all the details because I don’t want to bore you to tears

Although, there was this one time, at baseball camp……….

KIDDING.

Long story short, I had a few professional tryouts but nothing panned out.  Apparently there wasn’t much of a demand for a 6-1 right-handed pitcher with a mid 80s fastball.  Go figure!

That’s me my senior year at Mercyhurst College (home team) pitching the first game of a double header. And let me just say I looked gooooooood in baseball pants…..;o)

With my playing days caput, I moved back to my homestate of New York and transferred to SUNY Cortland to pursue my degree in Health Education.

I figured that as much as health and fitness was a part of my life, I might as well make it a career.

I did all the course work, even did my student teaching in both a high school and middle school placement.  If you can believe it I actually had to teach Sex Education to a bunch of 7th graders.  I challenge anyone to say the word penis to a group of 13 year olds and not participate in all the giggling.

To this day I’m still amazed that I was able to make it through alive.

Ironically enough, academia wasn’t the road I ended up travelling down. As part of my concentration (Health and Wellness Promotion) I also had to complete an internship that following summer, and luckily for me I found one at a corporate gym just outside Syracuse, NY.

After three months, I had to make a decision:  I could either wear a suit and tie everyday…..or sweatpants.

It was a no-brainer.

That was a little over ten years ago.  Looking back I can tell you I made a crap ton of mistakes when I entered this field. While I thought I was the bees knees and that I knew everything there was to know, I can tell you from experience I was a walking ball of fail.

Don’t get me wrong, I feel I was better than the average trainer, but I’d ve lying if I said I was anything to brag about.  I had my fair share of ups and downs, and if I had to pick which were some of my major mistakes

1.  Trying to Prove to Everyone How Smart I Was

In an effort to showcase to every new (or prospective) client how smart I was, I used every opportunity I could to use big words and talk over them – as if that was going to be the “x-factor” in winning them over.

Reciprocal Inhibition

Synergistic Dominance

Active/Passive Restraints

Accomodating Resistance

Onomatopoeia

Blah blah blah. While I thought I was wowing them with my knowledge base and extensive vocabulary, looking back, all that really happened, much of the time, was coming across douchier than a Jersey Shore reject.

Listen, if you’re working with someone who’s coming to you with chronic low back pain, they could care less about what Dr. McGill says about compressive loading, force vectors, and biomechanical breakdowns.  Well, some may care and actually be interested. And if so, I want to hang out with them.

But 95% of the time, they do not care in the least.  All they care about is whether or not you can help them get out of pain.  Or lose 15 lbs.  Or help them increase their bench press.  Whatever the case may be.

One piece of advice that I’ve always relayed to other trainers (and I only say this through experience) is that if you can’t explain something to a cocktail waitress on a napkin, you’re making it too complicated.

2.  Being Scared S***less to Ask for People’s Money

To be honest: this is still something I struggle with, but through the years I’ve gotten much better at it.

As a new trainer, and especially when I moved to Boston, this was something I really had to work to get better on.  It’s never easy to ask someone for their money, but when you consider that you’re offering a service, and you’re damn good at what you do, you need to recognize that you should be compensated accordingly for your time.

More or less I feel that if you’re a good person, demonstrate that you actually care and are invested in helping someone, and act professional (and don’t try every trick in the book to swindle them), people will more than likely commit.

It’s just the whole conversation of asking for money that I’ve always had a hard time with – especially when I first started out. I’d have 1-2 comped sessions with a new member, and then after their last session the crickets would start chirping, a few tumbleweeds would blow through, and I’d be like, “soooooo, uh, wanna train with me?”

Of course my delivery improved throughout the years as I gained confidence in my abilities, but time and time again, if there’s ONE trait that upcoming trainers say they need to work on, it’s learning to ask for money.

3.  Training People the Way I Wanted to Train Them (Emphasis On “I”)

There’s no secret that I have an affinity for lifting heavy stuff.  I think everyone should place an emphasis on strength and getting stronger, and good things will happen.

Thing is, as a trainer, sometimes, begrudgingly, you have to remember that not everyone’s goal is to deadlift a mack truck.

If someone is paying you good money as their trainer, you have to realize it’s a bit of give and take.  On one end you’re the trainer, the expert, the guy (or girl) who knows WTF they’re talking about.  It’s your job to dictate to your clients what they need to do, not necessarily what they want to do given their goals, health history, and ability level.

Powerlifters like to train people like powerlifters.  Bodybuilders like bodybuilders. Jedis like Jedis.  So on and so forth.  And that’s okay.  In my younger years I used to gravitate towards telling people that they have to get strong, they have to squat, and that they have to avoid body part splits at all costs.

While I still feel that’s the case much of the time, I also know that I turned off a lot of clients back in the day for being so pigheaded.

Just remember:  Yes, you’re the professional.  People are paying YOU for your expertise.  But it’s also important to understand that your goals aren’t necessarily their’s.

4.  Not Networking Sooner

Establishing a close-knitted network of other professionals that you can exchange ideas with, talk shop, and learn from is CRUCIAL.  This is something I completely ignored my first 1-2 years in the industry.

It wasn’t until I started reaching out to other people via email and asked for their advice I certain thing that I felt I was making strides in my career.

Many people don’t know this, but Eric Cressey and I met through the internet.

Now, it’s not like we met on BestFriendStrengthCoachFinder.com or anything, but we always seemed to cross paths on various fitness websites and what not. Before long we corresponded through email, met in person at a group gathering in NYC in 2004, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Going out of your way to reach out to other trainers or coaches or practitioners is a big deal. Asking a local coach if you can stop by to observe one day is pretty much standard practice nowadays.  Most are more than willing to help out, and chances are it’s going to lead to other potential networking opportunities down the road.

Hey, you never know what it could lead to!

5.  Continuing Education Is Kind of a Big Deal

This is something that took me a while to grab onto back in the day.  To me, because I wasn’t making much money out of the gate (and trust me, most trainers don’t), I felt everything was a cost.

Whether it was a book, a DVD, or heading to a seminar or conference, my immediate thought process was “how much is this going to set me back?”

And then I heard Mike Boyle speak on the topic, and he changed my mindset entirely. Instead of viewing things like books and seminars as a cost, you need to view them as an investment!

You’re investing in yourself – and more often than not, what you pick up or learn will end up paying for itself (and then some).  I remember going to see Dr. McGill speak once to the tune of a few hundred dollars, and upon heading back to work, easily picked up 2-3 clients because I was able to articulate some knowledge bombs I learned regarding managing lower back pain.

And since I’m on the topic of continuing education, as it happens, my good friends Jon Goodman, Dean Somerset, and John Romaniello released their killer Becoming the Expert DVD set today.

It stands to reason that a vast majority of people who read this site on a daily basis are trainers or coaches and are either trying to pick up more personal training clients (and struggling to do so) or trying to build their business or brand (and struggling to do so).

Becoming the expert today is more than just book smarts, training knowledge, and good looks (although, that doesn’t hurt….wink).

Having a repertoire of unique skill-sets like the ability to write, creating a reputation online, and finding a niche market are huge selling points and serve as fantastic ways to separate yourself from the masses.

Any edge you can gain is a good thing, and these guys went out of their way to divulge some of the things that helped them succeed in their respective careers.

Jonathan Goodman – Social Media Domination for Fitness Professionals (2hrs)

John Romaniello – Fuck Mediocrity: Kick-Ass, Take Names and Make Money Your Way to World Domination (3hrs)

Dean Somerset – Specialization and the Expert Experience (1hr)

What’s more, there are several 20-30 minute BONUS videos from the likes of Lou Schuler, Neghar Fonooni, and Mark Young, to name a few.

The whole set is on sale for $87 through this week, and that includes FREE SHIPPING anywhere throughout the world.  It doesn’t matter if you live in England or Botswana – there’s no additional cost with shipping.

But that only lasts for THIS WEEK only (ending 4/13).

I don’t think I need to tell you that the information provided is solid, and I really feel this is something that will help a lot of upcoming (and veteran) trainers out there take their business to the next level.

===> Becoming the Expert <=== (Click Me)

CategoriesFemale Training Miscellaneous Miscellany Nutrition Product Review

Miscellaneous Miscellany Monday: Lots of Catching Up to Do Edition

1. Another busy weekend in the books!  Yesterday I had the pleasure of being invited to speak at the New Hampshire Athletic Trainer’s Association annual symposium.

A few year’s back I remember attending a similar function with Eric at Northeastern University and walking in with jeans on and feeling completely out of place.  Apparently I missed the memo (and it’s an unspoken rule) that athletic trainers have a tendency of wearing nothing but tan khaki pants!  LOLz.

Not that I would ever consider speaking in a pair of jeans (unless I was speaking at Google), but I did make it a point of wearing tan khaki pants yesterday so that I wouldn’t stick out like a sore thumb. Success!

And speaking of success, yesterday was awesome.  First on the docket was Dr. Eric. Berkson (Director, MGH Sports Performance Center, Instructor in Orthopaedic Surgery at Harvard Medical School and team physician to the Boston Red Sox and New England Patriots), who talked at length about common shoulder and elbow injuries seen in pitchers. Many of his thoughts, not surprisingly, mirrored that of ours at Cressey Performance – especially with regards to placing more credence in symmetry of TOTAL range of motion between (IR + ER) between the dominant and non-throwing shoulder.

Expectantly, lack of IR, commonly referred to at GIRD (Glenohumeral Internal Rotation Deficit), is predictive and not quite the “red flag” it was 2-3 years ago.

Additionally he stressed that many of the throwing injuries we see in young(er) baseball players is due to overuse, misuse, and not paying attention to pitch counts.

And then there was me, Tony Gentilcore (who has no affiliation with Harvard what-so-ever other than having a teeny-tiny man crush on one of their alumni, Matt Damon) who spoke more on the performance side of things.  I delved into how we go about managing our overhead athletes, discussed some of the assessment process, spoke to the intricacies of dealing with a population that, unlike everyone else, lives in extension for a good portion of the year, gave the Cliff Notes version to breathing patterns and how we implement them, and maybe had a tip or two on how to improve one’s spin on their curveball….;o)

All in all it was an awesome afternoon and it was truly an honor to be involved in it.

2.  Just a quick reminder that slots are still open for the Elite Training Workshop at Cressey Performance the weekend of April 20th.  The line-up is BALLER, with the likes of Eric Cressey, Mike Roberson, Mike Reinold, Dave Schmitz, myself, Greg Long, and Jared Woolever slated to speak.

For $99 you can’t beat the price.

Go HERE for more details.

3. Last week I wrote a little sumthin sunthin on Strong Curves, the new book by my good friends Bret Contreras and Kellie Davis that I feel is going to be a game changer in the realm of women and fitness.

I won’t continue to sing its praises here (you can read my review HERE), but I do want to give everyone a heads up on another fantastic product by another good friend of mine, Nia Shanks.

Nia has openly discussed her (past) battle with disordered eating routinely on her blog, and I can’t tell you how much I respect her for not only showing how human she is, but that she’s so willing to help others in the process.

I don’t think I have to tell everyone reading that it takes a lot of guts to open yourself up like that to the masses.

Myself, many of my colleagues, as well as Nia have noticed an unfortunate trend in the nutrition world where things have gotten so convoluted and complicated that people have no idea what the hell they should be eating!  This phenomena – thanks in no small part to the likes of the mainstream media and gossip magazines – seems to be hitting its tipping point in the female demographic.

To the point where I overhead a woman talking to her friend not too long ago in Panera explaining that she wasn’t sure if she should have an apple included with her lunch because of the carbs.  Mind you, she was crushing a massive sandwich.

Anyways, Nia felt it was high-time to put an end to the madness so she developed her own answer to the problem.

===> Sane and Simple Nutrition <===

Cue slow cap here.

It’s an ebook, it’s nothing fancy (it doesn’t have to be), but the information is SOLID.  I (along with Nia) don’t ever claim to have all the answers, but sometimes we just need to filter through the stupid and come back to common sense.  And that is exactly what I wholeheartedly encourage anyone interested to check it our for themselves.

This ain’t NASA.  Eat the apple!

4.  Speaking of nutriton, I’m really, really fascinated by the food industry.  More to the point, I’m almost at awe at the food industry’s Jedi-like “mind trick” powers at convincing people that certain foods are “healthy” when they’re clearly anything but.  ORGANIC Toaster Pastries anyone???

Lisa dragged me into a Target yesterday (don’t judge me!), and we happened to walk through the food section and I couldn’t help but drown in the bullshit.  I noticed that General Mills has a new variation of Cheerios out called Multi-Grain Cheerios w/ Peanut Butter!

The kicker is the advertising and how they gloat that the first ingredient is WHOLE GRAIN!!!!!  Like whoa! I should be doing cartwheels down the aisle and kissing every baby I see within a mile radius.

Upon further inspection, the “whole grain” they’re referring to is none other than whole grain corn, followed by sugar. Naturally.

Sigh.

While it’s technically not wrong of them to say the first ingredient is a “whole grain,” I think it’s fairly egregious of them to use that as a selling point of tactic.

Now if you excuse me I need to go throw my face on an ax.

NOTE:  for those interested in food industry shenanigans I’d highly recommend becoming a regular reader of Dr. Yoni Freedhoff’s blog Weighty Matters.

Awesome stuff.

5.  For those looking to kill roughly five minutes, HERE’s a radio interview I did while I was back in my hometown last week prior to speaking at my Alma Mater.

The guy doing the interview LOVED my “abs are made in the kitchen” comment.

6.  If you ever would have told me at some point in my life that I’d see my name in the likes of Forbes, I would have laughed. While I didn’t make the any list such as Most Powerful or Top Five People Most Likely to Be Issued a Restraining Order From Kate Beckinsale World’s Richest People, it was still pretty neat to see my name in print on their site.

Thanks for Greatest.com’s Chief Research Officer and Editor, David Tao, for asking me contribute on THIS article on Interval (or HIIT) training has changed the industry – for better or worse.

7.  In other cameo appearance news, I also helped contribute to another article titled 16 Exercises from the World’s Best Trainers collected by Jon-Erik Kawamoto on Livestrong.com.

And that’s that.

CategoriesUncategorized

I Can’t Gain Weight – Help!

Oh boy. I can only imagine how some people who, upon reading the headline to this post (and are feverishly trying to lose weight), already dislike the person who submitted this question.

Waaaaaaa, poor you!  You have to eat more food. I haven’t eaten a carb since Christmas……cry me a river! 

As a strength coach, however, and someone who works with high-school and college athletes on a daily basis, I can tell you that struggling to gain weight (in an effort to improve performance on the field) is an all too common dilemma, and something that can just be as hard to resolve.

Which is why I felt I’d spend a little time addressing the topic here after receiving the following email in the Cressey Performance account recently.

Q: I’m 5’11 and weigh 150lbs. Last season I weighed 175 and then lost all of it because we ran so much, and ended the season weighing 135 lbs. That was a crisis for me. I have done the same exact thing as I did before but can’t seem to gain the weight back! Help me dude it’s killing me!

But I also have another question, and that is, would it hurt me to take half doses of creatine just to get a little bit bigger? 

A: Wow, that’s a pretty drastic drop in weight! First off, every time I hear a story of a baseball coach running his players into the ground I want to set my face on fire.

What’s the rationale?  What’s the longest distance that a baseball player will need to run?  It’s 90 feet from home plate to first base.  If someone rounded the bases that’s 360 feet.  Where does a 3-5 mile jog fit into the picture?  How does that prepare a player for the more explosive nature of the sport?

HINT:  it doesn’t!

Eric Cressey already chastised this sacred cow and explained why distance running really has no place in the sport HERE and HERE, so I won’t kick a horse when it’s down.

That said:

1.  Two points for Gryffindor for including not one, but two idioms in one sentence!

2.  Please stop running (for distance, anyways), if you haven’t already.

3. Maybe show the above articles to your coach, and he’ll have a change of heart….;o)

Looking at the positives, you’re already 15 lbs up, so you’re obviously doing something right.  But if there’s one piece of advice I can give you, it’s this:

You Need To Eat More

I know, I know – you eat, like, all the time.  And you couldn’t possibly eat any more.  I’ve heard that same excuse a few thousand times, and I’m sure I’ll hear it a thousand more.

Take my word for it: you’re not eating enough.

But before we get into that, lets address the more pertinent question: Creatine isn’t dangerous.  It’s the most researched supplement in human history, it works, there’s a ton of efficacy towards its use, and I’d highly encourage you to check out THIS review by the guys over at Examine.com for all the information you’ll ever need on the topic.

But, it’s not what you need nor should it be at the top of your list of priorties.  Not even close.

I’ve trumpeted this sentiment before, and I might as well say it again:

Supplements are progress enhancers, not progress starters.

If your current training and nutrition plan(s) aren’t yielding the results you want, than a supplement isn’t really the right approach. More to the point, the word supplement shouldn’t even reach the tip of your tongue until you have your nutrition in order.

You need CALORIES to grow.  If you’re not providing the body the ample nutrients it needs to not only grow, but recover, you’re just going to be spinning your wheels and wondering why you look like that skinny dude from Road Trip – and you’re certainly not going to be hitting any 400 ft bombs over the centerfield fence.

[Giving credit where credit is due, at least he’s pwning some pancakes in that picture].

Here’s a quick quiz, and one of the first questions I’ll always ask an athlete who’s trying to put on weight:

What did you have for breakfast this morning?

9 times out of 10 I get a stammering answer that consists of a lot of “um’s” and uh’s” and every excuse in the book as to why they never have time to eat in the morning.

If you’re not eating breakfast, then again, you have no business asking about creatine, and you sure as heck-fire better start setting your alarm ten minutes earlier in the morning to MAKE TIME to eat breakfast.

As an example, here’s my typical breakfast that I eat every morning.

5 whole egg omelet with goat cheese and tons of cut up veggies (onion, broccoli, and sun-dried tomato) sprinkled with garlic powder, pepper, turmeric, and oregano.

1 cup oatmeal plue a scoop of Biotest Grow with a banana and cinnamon.

Save for maybe your post-training meal, breakfast should be your largest meal of the day.  But you can’t stop there!  One of the biggest mistakes I see guys make is that if they do eat breakfast (high five!), they’ll maybe nibble at lunch, and won’t eat another decent meal again until mom plops something on the dinner table.

If you can, try to stash some extra calories in your locker like beef jerky, nuts, fruit, or even better – and an idea I stole from John Berardi – several bagels with some peanut butter slapped between each side which you can easily crush while walking to your next class.

Some other food for thought (pun completely intended):

1.  Try your best to focus on whole, natural, un-processed foods like rice, potatoes (sweet and white), oatmeal, veggies, fruit, beef, chicken, fish, cheese, milk, various nuts, unicorn tears, you name it.

Of course if you have good allergies you have to take that into consideration, but don’t use the excuse of “dude, I’m bulking” as a free-pass to eat shitty food like pizza, chips, and Pop-Tarts on a regular basis.

Be a teenager, I’m not saying to avoid those types of foods at all costs, but at the same time need to take it upon yourself to provide you body with QUALITY nutrients.  In short:  eat like a grown-up.

2.  Stay hydrated!!!!!  Drink water, and lots of it.   A good rule of thumb I like to follow is to take half our bodyweight and drink that amount in ounces.  So, if you weight 150 lbs, you should strive for roughly 75 ounces of water per day.  And that’s just the minimum!  More active people should drink more.

Oh, and Red Bull isn’t water.

3.  While it sounds hypocritical given my speech above, it might not be a bad idea to look into getting a protein powder to include in the mix.  Hard gainers often have a hard time EATING their calories, and it’s sometimes easier to drink them.  Don’t worry about getting Ultra Mass Gainer 3000 or anything like that.  Just look for your typical whey protein blend, and you’re fine.

4.  In the weight room, you need to make sure you’re focusing on those movements which will force you to grow!  Drop the leg extensions and bicep curls and opt for deadlifts, squats, chin-ups, rows, etc. Focus on getting stronger and not training like a bodybuilder.

5.  Additionally, it’s important that you don’t go too crazy with the volume.  You need to save your calories.  While I can respect those who want to get after it on a daily basis, heading to the gym to perform those two hour marathon sessions isn’t doing you any favors.  For guys who are looking to add weight I generally opt for LESS volume and strive for three, full-body weight training sessions per week.

6.  In terms of an actual caloric number to shoot for, it’s anyone’s guess as to where the magic number is for you.  For simplicity’s sake I like to tell guys to start with 20% ABOVE maintenance levels.

To find maintenance, take your current bodyweight and multiply by 15.  So, for a 150 lb person, they’d want to strive for 20% ABOVE 2,250 kcals per day – which would be +450 kcals above maintenance.

Just so we’re clear:  this is a GENERAL number to hit and only serves as a starting point.

7. Likewise, keep calories up even on “off” days. Another mistake a lot of guys when trying to gain weight is lowering caloric intake on non-training days.  DON’T DO THIS!!!!!  Keep calories on par with your training days, and if by some chance you notice you’re putting on a little too much fat for your liking, just lower intake slightly – by like 10%.

8.  Did I mention you need to eat a lot?

9.  You need to eat a lot.

I know you (and many others) are trying to look for the magic pill and that my advice isn’t remotely sexy or mind-blowing.  It doesn’t have to be.

Oftentimes keeping things simple is the better way to go.

Now go eat!

CategoriesUncategorized

Strong Review for Strong Curves

I think it’s safe to assume that I tend to reverberate some of the same messages over and over on this site, and I’m sure for those who routinely visit on a day to day basis, you probably recognize a few long-standing trends.

For example:

1.  I have a strong affinity for deadlifts (and Matt Damon).

2.  I pity those who don’t eat dead animal flesh (but respect their choice(s) not to do so).

3.  For the love of god, is it really that much of a hassle to take 5-10 minutes to warm-up properly?

4.  And at the top of mountain, if there’s one message I’ve routinely championed it’s this:  women should lift heavy things.

Unfortunately it’s been a tough battle to say the least, and it’s mind-numbing having to constantly deal with (and debunk) much of the archaic nonsense and jibberish that’s spewed out by the mainstream media as it relates to women and fitness. I’d even go so far as to say much of the information that’s regurgitated by the likes of US Weekly, Oprah, The Biggest Loser, Tracy Anderson (and a whole harem of other so-called celebrity trainers), and many (not all) of the books you peruse in the health and fitness section at your local Barnes and Nobles serves more as a form of scare tactics than anything else.

Strong Review for Strong Curves

Women shouldn’t lift a weight above three lbs!

Lifting appreciate weight will make you big and bulky and give you an Adam’s apple!

Yoga is all you need to yield toned and lean muscles!

Long-duration, steady-state cardio is the key to losing fat!

Don’t you dare touch that carrot – it contains (GASP) carbs!!!!

To say it’s gotten a bit confusing and sensationalistic would be an understatement. It’s no wonder why so many women (hell, guys too) don’t know who’s right or who’s wrong and are left spinning their wheels.  So and so said I should forego lifting weights and go to Zumba class instead. If I just stand in this 100 degree room and stretch, I’ll be bikini ready in no time, right?  I just read the Don’t Eat Food Diet, and now I’m wondering if it’s okay to drink water!

All of this, seemingly, to imply that women are these delicate flowers that shouldn’t (or can’t??) hold their own in the weight room, and that we should just roll them in bubble wrap and send them on their way.

Words like “tone,” and “lengthen” and “pink dumbbells” get thrown around like candy at a parade and it’s almost as if once we combine the words women and fitness, and toss them into a caldron and stir them together, what’s left is a big, messy concoction of bullshit.

And that’s, well, bullshit!

Thankfully I have some really smart friends who feel the exact same way as I do and they actually did something about it.

Yesterday my good friends, Bret Contreras and Kellie Davis, released their new book, Strong Curves, to the masses and I couldn’t be more pumped!

As if the title didn’t give it away, this book is all about two things:  getting strong and building some feminine curves – particularly the butt.

Sadly, many women are under the impression that grabbing a barbell and lifting it off the ground will turn them into He-Man overnight, when in fact the opposite is true.  Lifting weights will build a strong, lean, curvaceous body, not to mention offer a plethora of other benefits like an increased metabolism, more energy, more sex drive, decreased risk of osteoporosis, and an unlimited sense of self-assurance and confidence.

There’s no one in the world that knows the butt better than Bret.  The man has literally spent years reading research, hooking himself (and others) up to EMGs, and basically training hundreds, if not thousands, of people.

I often joke that I sit in my evil strength coach lair, stroke my evil beard, and conjure up exercises and programs that will make people hate life.  In Bret’s case, I think he actually does it!  I don’t know many people (let alone coaches) who are more dedicated to their craft and contain as much of an insatiable desire to make people better than Bret.

Likewise, Kellie, a fitness enthusiast, writer, and competitor herself (and a client of Bret’s) not only talks the talk, but walks it.  I mean there’s a reason why she served as the cover model, contributor, and exercise demonstrator for the book!

Combined, the two have produced an outstanding book that I feel is a MUST read for any woman looking to take her health and physique to the next level.

Granted it’s called Strong Curves for a Better Butt, but in every sense it’s a routine that focuses on the ENTIRE body.

What I love most about the book is that it’s not full of fluff and fillers.  In every sense, they get right to the point and EDUCATE the reader on why the glutes are such a big deal. Maybe even more importantly, they do a fantastic job of empowering women and giving them the nudge some may need to take the reigns and actually grab a barbell.

Thankfully, it’s not like Bret and Kellie just tell women to go lift weights, but they SHOW them how to do so in a safe, effective, and time efficient manner.  The entire book is filled with lovely (again, thank you Kellie Davis) pictures and exercise demonstrations, as well as detailed instructions on how to do everything from a glute bridge to a deadlift correctly.

What’s more, no stone is left un-turned.  There are sections on how to warm-up properly, nutrition, some anatomy talk for the uber nerds out there who like that sort of thing, and even a section for expectant mothers who are interested in doing the program as well.

Speaking of which, another major perk of the book is the programming itself.  It’s spectacular. Bret and Kellie came through BIG-TIME here.  In all there are four programs included such as the Twelve Week Booty-Ful Beginners Program, the Twelve Week Gluteal Goddess Program for the Advanced Lifters, and even two programs that can be modified to do at home for those who don’t have access to gym equipment.

All told, when you look at the entire package, you’re getting top-notch information (HINT:  stop listening to Tracy Anderson), coaching on exercise technique, and detailed programs all for what it would cost to go see a double viewing of a Twilight movie.  If that’s your thing.  Which I hope it isn’t.

I can’t recommend Strong Curves enough.  Of course I’m excited for Bret and Kellie because they worked their tails off writing this book and they deserve all the praise and accolades they receive, but I think I’m even more excited to see more and more women jump on the “lets lift heavy stuff” train. I can’t wait to see the results that women are going to get on this program.

It’s going to be fantastic.

CategoriesMotivational Program Design

So You Want To Be a Fitness Professional?

Greetings from Cortland, NY!

It’s freaking snowing (not that that’s any big surprise)!  That would be like saying,”the sky is blue,” or “water is wet,” or “Justin Beiber is a no-talent ass hat!”

I left Boston yesterday under blue skies and 60 degree weather (which feels like summer this time of year), only to arrive in central NY five hours later to overcast gloom and nothing but rain and snow.

Welcome home, Tony!

Despite the really crappy weather, it is nice to be “home.”  I placed home in quotations because the college is literally ten minutes from my home town, and part of the impetus for making the trip – other than the non-stop adulation, praise, and ticker tape parade that may or may not happen in my honor – was to be here for Easter and take advantage of Mama Gentilcore’s home cooking.

Which is to say:  I absolutely crushed some apple pie yesterday.

Nevertheless, to say it was an honor to be asked to come back and speak would be an understatement.

Note:  for those out of loop: I was invited back to my alma mater to speak to some of the Exercise Science, Kinesiology, and Fitness Development majors; as well as any graduate students or general public you didn’t want to watch Dancing With the Stars and come listen to me speak instead.

In fact, it’s been kind of a surreal experience.

I mean, back in the day, when I was an undergrad myself, I was about as nondescript of a student as they come.  And now, I’m expecting upwards of 50+ people to show up just to listen to me speak.  Unreal.

Everything started to kick into high-gear when, last week, THIS short write up popped up on the school’s homepage detailing (the Cliff Notes version anyways), what I’ve been up to in the year’s since I graduated, as well as giving people a sneak peak into the topic of my presentation, which I’ll be throwing down later today.

From there it’s been an avalanche of local media exposure.  I got a call from the school newspaper asking if we could set up a time for some photo ops, and then a local news talk radio station (in Ithaca) contacted me and wanted to do a 5-10 minute interview LIVE for their morning show.

And when I say live, I mean literally – LIVE.  I called in and the guy was like, “we’re on in 30 seconds!”  Thankfully everything went smoothy and I didn’t drop an f-bomb. Woo-hoo!

Afterwards I got in my car to make the quick trip to the main campus where the game plan was to speak to a Kinesiology class (the class of the professor who set this whole shindig up).  The vast majority of the kids in the class were aspiring personal trainers, coaches, and future business owners, so rather than stand there and bore them to tears talking about insertions and origins and blah blah blah, I wanted to take the time to impress upon them some of the traits and characteristics that I feel every fitness professional should strive for.

Namely, that success in this industry isn’t so much dictated by book smarts or just showing up to class – but rather, it’s about having an insatiable drive to always make yourself better, and that at the end of the day it’s important to understand that you’re not that big of a deal and that you need to put your work in just like everyone else.

Here are some of the main bullet points I hammered (within 50 minutes):

1.  Do you see this as a career or a hobby?  First and foremost you need to get comfortable feeling uncomfortable, because you’re not going to know the answer to everything.  But those who deem this more of a career, and something that they see as their future, will always try to find the answer and get better.

2.  Understand that you (probably) won’t make a lot of money right out of the gate. Visions of a six-figure salary and having a ton of disposable income is wishful thinking.  Statistically speaking most trainers burn out within two years, which isn’t surprising when you factor in 10-14 hour work day, 6-7 days per week.  Likewise, most trainers are NOT financially independent, work pay check to pay check, and often have to get a second job to make ends meet.

The point isn’t to be a Debbie Downer or to say that it isn’t possible to do very well for yourself.  But, if we’re going to be honest, and if we’re really going to prepare people for the “read world,” then this is the kind of stuff upcoming trainers and coaches need to hear.

3.  Don’t have more degrees than a thermometer.  HA – get it!?!?!?  Degrees?  Thermometer?  Okay, I’ll shut up.

An example would be Joe Schmo, MSc, CSCS, CPT, LMT, Who gives a s***.

Point blank, no one cares how many letters you have next to your name.  It doesn’t really mean anything.  Sure it looks cool and it will undoubtedly help open the doors to a few more opportunities, but it always comes down to a quote I’ve heard Mike Boyls state time and time again:

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

 

4.  I gave a quick quiz to the students, and asked how many could:

– Name all four muscles of the rotator cuff.  Which ones are external rotators?

– What’s the main function of the rotator cuff?

– Name 8 out of 17 muscles that attach to the scapulae?

– Name the only hip flexor which acts above 90 degrees of hip flexion?

– Explain the difference between a short and stiff muscle?

– Coach someone how to deadlift properly?

– Explain to a normal person why there’s no such thing as a “Fat Burning Zone?”

– Draw the Kreb’s Cycle. Blindfolded.

Okay, kidding on that last one.

But the point was – can they actually explain these basic things?  If not, well………..what does that say about this being a hobby or a career?

5.  Learn functional anatomy.  Not everyone is going to be an anatomy cyborg like Eric Cressey, Mike Robertson, or Bret Contreras. But it stands to reason that knowing your way around the human body is kind of an important trait to have as a fitness professional.

Admittedly, while I can get by and I can hold my own, anatomy is NOT one of my strong suits.  What’s important, and something I stressed to the students, is that it comes down to repeated exposures.  You’re not going to learn everything overnight, and if you hang out  around the likes of Bill Hartman you can’t help but feel stupid at times.

The omohyoid thingamjiggy does what now?

Read blogs, articles, and books.  Watch DVDs.  The more repeated exposures you give yourself to any given topic, the more likely, someday, the light bulb will go off.

Trust me:  it happens.

6. Be PROACTIVE as a coach!  Actually look like you give a shit!  Don’t just stand there and look like a zombie and count reps.  COACH your clients.

7.  But at the same time, don’t overcoach.  Someone’s squat may look like a train wreck waiting to happen and you may very well want to throw your face into a wall, but it’s important not to overwhelm someone and to learn to focus on 1-2 major things rathe than trying to perform a miracle.

8.  Try not to fall into being part of the status quo.  Don’t throw in all the “smoke and mirrors” into your programming for the sole purpose of looking different than everyone else.  Get people results, get them feeling better and moving more efficiently, and you’ll be doing your job.

9.  I feel EVERY upcoming trainer should spend at least 1-3 years working in a commercial gym setting.  Sure you’re going to have to fight the urge to pour battery acid in your eyes or to swallow live bees from all the asinine things you’ll see……but it’s one of the best ways to get better.  In what other setting will you have access to such a wide variety of clientele?  If you can teach a 45 year old CEO with the movement quality of an iceberg how to deadlift, you can teach anyone how to deadlift.

Sure you’re going to have life-sucking clients that will zap all your energy, but those are few and far between.  Having the opportunity to work with such a wide variety of backgrounds, goals, needs, injuries, etc will speak volumes as far as making you a better coach.

10.  Watch your social networking.  As a potential future employer, I can guarantee you that if you apply for an internship or job, we’re checking your Facebook and/or Twitter accounts.

You know all those pictures you have up from when you won that Beer Pong championship back in 2012?  Or all those posts where you called your ex-girlfriend every colorful name under the sun?  Yeah, you should probably take those down.

And those were just the tip of the iceberg.  I had a few other points that I made, but I feel like I’m just blabbering on now.

Anyhoo, the main show starts at 5 PM where I’m going to speak to a much larger crowd on things like assessment, program design, the season finale of The Walking Dead, and I’m sure I’ll go on a few rants or two.  Or three.

Until then I need to get rid of some pent up nervousness and go lift some heavy things.  Might as well go deadlift – of course!

Wish me luck……;o)