CategoriesStrength Training

Girl Power: My “Go To” Sources for Female Training

Today I wanted to highlight some of the women in the fitness industry who I feel are the movers and shakers, and those I feel set a great example for other women to follow.  The one’s who “get it,” and don’t pander to the mainstream media.

And, speaking truthfully, the ones who place a premium on strength and could probably kick all our butts….;o)

Admittedly, all of the women listed are ones I know either personally or have interacted with over the years…..so if you want to call me biased, then so be it.

It’s by no means an exhaustive list and I could have easily added more – Sirena Bernal, Joy Victoria, Jen Comas Keck, Lauren Perreault, Christa Vancini Doran, Alli McKee, She-Ra, Xena Warrior Princess – but I wanted to keep this list as succinct as possible and give people (namely, other women) some resources other than Tracy Anderson and some lame Instagram account of a chick showing off her badonkadonk.

NOTE: If you click on each person’s name, you’ll be taken to their respective website.

NOTE II: If you happen to have your own suggestions, PLEASE share them in the comments section below.

NOTE III: I like turtles.

Lets go!

Nia Shanks

Nia and I go way back, and I’ve often referred to her as the ambassador of women’s fitness. It’s hard to argue that point given all she’s done for the industry in helping to empower women and encourage them to strength train.

On top of running her own successful blog/business (link above), producing high-quality products like The Lift Like a Girl Guide, and deadlifitng over 2.5x her own bodyweight, she’s easily one of the most down-to-Earth people I know and someone I have a ton of respect for.

Molly Galbraith

Molly is one of the co-founders of Girls Gone Strong, and not for nothing she’s probably stronger than you.  And by “you” I mean many of the guys reading.

She’s written several guest post here on this site, and most recently released one of THE best resources for women, The Modern Women’s Guide to Strength Training.

Yes, she’s beautiful and has that Southern charm…..but don’t for one second think she’d back down from a squat-off or an arm wrestling match.

Cassandra Forsythe

Out of everyone on this list, I’ve known “Cass” the longest. We first met back in 2004 when a group of random strangers from around North America who were members of a now long defunct fitness website – RuggedMag.com – decided to meet up in NYC for a weekend of protein shakes, fitness gossip, debauchery, and tickle fights.

Kidding on the tickle fights….;o)

As a quick aside, it was that very weekend that Eric Cressey and I met for the first time.  So, yes, as weird as it sounds, Eric and I met on the internet.

Anyways, Cass is one of the smartest and hardest working people I know. She runs her own gym, as authored numerous books – The New Rules of Lifting for Women and The Perfect Body Diet – and is also a renowned international speaker.

And, she has the mouth of sailor….;o) But only when talking face-t0-face.

Artemis Scantalides

All I have to say about Artemis is that my girlfriend, Lisa, loooooooooooooves her.  Actually, I have a lot more to say.

Artemis can kick your ass.  Fact.

Not only does she have a black belt in Kung-freakin-Fu, is both an RKC and Strong First instructor, but she can perform a Turkish get-up with the 28 kg (~62 lbs) kettlebell, which is half her bodyweight.  And she makes it look easy.

She’s also the co-owner, along with her SO (sorry fellas), Eric Gahan, of Iron Body Studios located just outside of Boston.  Lisa and I took several classes there this past winter and loved every second of it (you can read about it HERE), and plan on heading back in the near future.

Artemis isn’t a household name (yet), but she’s going to be.  I LOVE what she has to say concerning women and strength training.  Her recent post, Shoulders Are the New Cleavage – Revisited, is EXACTLY what more women need to hear.

Jen Sinkler

Who doesn’t love Jen Sinkler? She’s probably the happiest person in the history of ever.

A former member of the USA Women’s National Rugby team and fitness editor of Experience Life Magazine, Jen has quickly climbed the ranks as one of the “go to” sources for women’s fitness.

As much as she’s a fitness nerd, what I appreciate most about Jen is that she’s a LIFE nerd.

Name it, and she’s probably tried it. Elite athlete?  Check. CrossFit? Check. Olympic lifting? Check.  Kettlebells? Check. BOSU ball squats?  Lets not get carried away.

Nevertheless, her product, Lift Weights Faster, is an appropriate moniker for her lifestyle, and something I highly recommend checking out.

Kellie Davis

Kellie has a similar background to Jen (Sinkler) in that she too has an extensive history as a fitness writer/editor.  I LOVE her writing, because I feel it speaks to so many people on so many levels.

And, not for nothing, her book, Strong Curves, which she co-wrote with my buddy Bret Contreras, is one of the best mainstream female-specific training manuals written in the past five years.

Neghar Fonooni

What I respect about Neghar – other than her impeccable taste in men (she’s married to John Romaniello) – is that she takes a more holistic approach to health and fitness.  Yes, she advocates women to get strong, and yes, she hates Paleo Nazis like the next person, but she also speaks a lot about life, body image, and acceptance.  It’s a balance of everything that makes someone truly happy, and I dig that.

Julia Ladewski

Strength coach, competitive powerlifter, mom, and most recently, competitive figure competitor, Julia is jack of all trades.

Not only can she talk shop with regards to cleaning up and improving one’s squat technique, but she can also hit a killer lat spread.

Emily Giza Socolinksy

Many who are long-time readers of this blog will be very familiar with Emily because I’ve linked to several of her articles and she’s also written a few for the site.

She’s a former Barre instructor who turned to the dark side and ended up opening her own every successful gym in the Baltimore area (click her name above).

Emily just “gets it,” and she’s a no BS’er if there ever was one.

And there you have it, my list of “go to” female training sources.  Like I mentioned above, this isn’t an exhaustive list – so hopefully I didn’t offend anyone by omitting them – but if you have your own suggestions I’d love to hear them!

Leave them below in the comments section.

CategoriesExercise Technique Product Review

What’s Your Problem?

Don’t worry I’m not trying to be confrontational or anything.

The title of today’s post is actually the same title as a chapter in the book I just finished, Think Like a Freak by Steven Levitt & Stephen Dubner (AKA:  the same guys who wrote Freakonomics and Superfreakonomics, both of which are fantastic as well.)

The premise of the book is this:  to teach us how to think a bit more productively, more creatively, more rationally – to think, that is, like a Freak.

It’s an informative, unconventional, and entertaining look into our psyche which helps to direct us into a more “forward” way of thinking by guiding us (the reader) through a series of steps to think more like a Freak.  Without giving away too much, some of the steps include:

– Putting away your moral compass.

– Learn to say “I don’t know.” (<— this is huge).

– Learn to persuade people who don’t want to be persuaded.

– In addition to learning the upside of quitting.

As I alluded to above, one of the chapters is titled “What’s Your Problem?,” and in it they discuss, of all things, hot dog eating!

Again, without giving away too much, they go into the story of Takeru Kobayashi (Kobi), and how, back in 2001, he came out of complete obscurity and demolished the record for the Coney Island Hot Dog Eating Contest.

At the time the record was 25 1/8 HDB (hot dog & bun) in twelve minutes.

Kobayashi obliterated the record by scarfing down 50! That’s more than four hot dogs and buns per minute for twelve straight minutes.

As the authors noted, to put this number into perspective:

“The 100-meter sprint record is as of this writing held by Usain Bolt, the Jamaican sprinter at 9.58 seconds.

Even in such a brief race, Bolt often beats his rivals by a few strides; he is widely considered te best sprinter in history.  Before Bolt, the record was 9.74 seconds.

So his improvement was 1.6 percent.

If he had treated that record like Kobayashi treated his, Usain Bolt would have run the 100 meters in about 4.87 seconds, for an average speed of roughly 46 MPH.”

So, how did Kobayashi do it?  He asked the right question(s)!  He redefined the problem he was trying to solve!

Rather than take the same approach as his competitors and ask the question How do I eat more hot dogs?, he asked a different question: How do I make hot dogs easier to eat?

Literally he changed the game.  He came up with his own “technique” where, instead of eating the hot dog IN the bun, he was the first to take the hot dog out of the bun, break them in half, which made them easier to eat (he could fit more in his mouth), and then dip the buns in water afterwards and wolf them down.

Brilliant!

All of this serves as an appropriate, albeit unexpected, segue into how this mindset can be applied to your health and fitness goals.

There are thousands if not millions of people out there embarking on specific goals related to their health or fitness. Some people are interested in fat loss or losing a few inches here or there, while others are interested in deadlifting a bulldozer.

Much like the examples given above, more often than not, the reason why most people end up failing or not making the progress they had hoped for is because they’re approaching the “problem” in the wrong fashion or asking the wrong questions.

I’m a strength guy, so lets use that as an example.

Raise your hand if you’ve been stuck – for months, maybe even years – at a certain number with one of the “big 3” lifts (squat, bench press, deadlift)?

No matter how many books you read, YouTube videos you watch, or Unicorns you pet, you can never seem to get over that hump.

The problem is that you’re stuck and seemingly never making progress. What questions are you asking?  If you’re like most it goes something like this:

– Why can’t I bench press more weight?  When you should be asking, “Is my technique on point?  Maybe I’m making it harder for myself because I’m not arching my back enough?”

– Why can’t I deadlift more weight? When you should be asking, “Maybe the deadlift variation I’ve been using all along isn’t suited for my body-type?”

– Why can’t I squat more weight? When you should be asking, “Maybe my hand position sucks?  Or, maybe I should follow something other than a 5×5 for a stretch?”

There’s a lot to think about and consider, and it’s easy to be overwhelmed and paralyzed by analysis.

Let me ask you this. What do you do when your roof has a hole in it?  You call the roofer. What do you do when it’s time do to your taxes?  You call your accountant.  If there’s something weird, and it don’t look good**, who ya gonna call?  Ghostbusters!!!

Why is it, then, when it comes to health and fitness (especially with regards to specific strength goals), do many people think “they know” and are willing to go about it alone?

The hardest person to train is yourself

This can’t be overstated.

Which is why, if getting stronger or improving your technique on the squat, bench press, and deadlift are a goal of yours, I can’t recommend  The Specialization Success Guide enough.

It’s a collaborative effort between my Cressey Sports Performance colleagues Greg Robins and Eric Cressey designed with the sole intention of answering questions and getting people hella strong.

In it, you’ll find specialization programs for the “Big 3” (squat, bench press, and deadlift) – you get to pick your poison – in addition to detailed videos on coaching cues for each, as well as an extensive video library showcasing all the exercises in the program.

I know this program works because I’ve seen it in action with numerous clients at the facility, and the results people have gotten have been amazing.

So how about nipping this “problem” of yours in the bud, stop asking the wrong questions, and let someone do the thinking for you?  The introductory offer is only going to last for a few days, so it’s best to take advantage of it while you can. Click below for more details.

—-> Building the Big 3 <—-

 ** And no, I’m not referring to that bowl of hummus you left in the back of your fridge for six months! Come on dude, that’s just gross.
CategoriesStuff to Read While You're Pretending to Work

Stuff to Read While You’re Pretending to Work: 7/11/14

A New Approach to Density Training – Tyler English

For those who don’t know Tyler or are familiar with his work – shame on you!

Not only is he the author of  Men’s Health Natural Bodybuilding Bible, but he’s also the owner of one of the most kick-ass gyms in the country, Tyler English Fitness.

Needless to say he’s ripped, he’s strong, he knows how to get people into shape, and he’s easily one of my “go to” sources for sound training advice.

I thought this article on density training was on point, and something I’ve been playing around with myself with the programs I write.

Pop Tarts and Beauty Queens: It’s Time for a Reality Check Concerning Fitness Selfies and Food Porn Shared Across Social Media – Scott Tousignant

I linked to this article the other day in my blog, but in case people glossed over it I wanted to highlight it here. It’s excellent.

Everyone knows someone who’s seemingly in love with themselves, and who shares an annoyingly number of “selfies” on social media.  Just take the total number of pictures I’ve shared of my cat on this website, multiply that by number of times Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez have “broken up,” and then multiply that by infinity.  That annoying.

Well, things aren’t always what the seem.

The Not So Ugly Truth About Gluten – TC Luoma

Nowadays if you’re caught eaten gluten you’re basically lumped into Satanism.

Celiac Disease is REAL, it’s something that sucks and affects thousands of people, and it shouldn’t be taken lightly.

That said this was an excellent piece of writing by TC which helps bring the alarmist level back to the middle.  Thank you TC!!!

CategoriesMotivational personal training

What Every Personal Trainer Should Know

Like many of you I’m a member of a few Facebook groups. Some private, and some not so much. There’s a family page, a Cressey Performance page, a page that’s dedicated to my old JUCO baseball team, another one that I frequent which is for movie nerds, and another that may or may not be nothing more than a ode to………..you guessed it…..bacon.

What can I say? I love the stuff.

Another group I’m a member of is one that I was invited into recently – there’s a secret handshake and everything! – run by a group of young fitness professionals on the up and up.

They’re a group of young men and women whom I know and have a personal, if not a more than an informal relationship with, who asked myself and several other colleagues of mine if we’d be willing to participate and to serve as “mentors” so-to-speak.  Nothing fancy or time consuming, but rather just a place where they can ask questions, seek advice or just talk shop.

I said yes, but only under the stipulation that whenever I’m addressed directly they’d have to do this first:

It’s been great so far, and I’ve enjoyed the open dialogue and discourse.

One question in particular caught my attention the other day:

What are subject matters you think every personal trainer must know? And what are some subjects matters personal trainers should know, depending on what kind of niche they want to work with?

It’s a loaded question for sure, right on par with your girlfriend asking “do I look fat in this?” or “wanna talk about our feelings?”

But I felt it was a question that deserved some attention and something I’d attempt to tackle in today’s post.

Upon graduating from school back in 2002, when I first started out as a personal trainer I felt I knew everything.

I had been lifting weights since I was 13, played four years of college baseball, had a six-pack, and had graduated Magna Cum Laude with a degree in Health Education. How hard could it possibly be to train Jim from accounting?

Come on dude…I got this.

Needless to say, out of the gate, it was a rude awakening for me.

It wasn’t easy. It wasn’t a cakewalk. I quickly realized I didn’t know as much as I thought I did. And, to be honest, I considered it a success/borderline miracle if my client happened to finish his or her session with all ten fingers and toes still attached.

Of course the panic button was pushed less often the more experience I got.  After a few weeks I started hyperventilating less and less into a brown paper bag.  After a few months I started hitting my stride and getting more confident in my abilities.  And after a year or two I was basically a personal training Jedi.

Okay not really, but I was far cry from the rookie trainer who was green around the gills not long beforehand.

I can only speak from my own experience, but below are a few candid thoughts which I feel every personal trainer should consider:

1.  Career vs. Hobby

What’s your goal?  Are you doing this “personal training thing” because you see it as a viable, rewarding, long-term career, or something that, because you like to lift weights and stuff, will help you pass time until something better comes along?

Collecting baseball cards is a hobby. World of WarCraft is a hobby.

Taking people’s health and well-being into your hands is NOT a hobby.  At least it shouldn’t be.

I know I could sit here and wax poetic about how the barrier to entry in the personal training field is spotty at best.  At this point it is what it is.  There’s nothing I can do to stop people from getting certified on the internet by paying a random site $79.99.

That said, I truly feel that those trainers who approach this as a CAREER – and not just something to do – are the ones who are going to last the longest and do well for themselves.

2.  Know Anatomy

This seems like an obvious point, but you’d be amazed as to how many seniors in college on the cusp of entering the work force can’t even name all four rotator cuff muscles, let alone each’s function.

Let me ask you this:  shoulder bone connecting to the arm bone jokes aside, how do you expect to train someone’s body if you don’t even know what it is or how it works?

Now, I’m not saying you have to be an anatomy savant like Eric Cressey, Bill Hartman, Mike Robertson, or Bret Contreras – all of whom are on another level if you ask me.

But you should have a basic understanding of how the human body works, and I’m not just referring to insertion points and actions of the muscle.  You need to know FUNCTIONAL anatomy.

Take the glutes for example.  Read any anatomy book and you’ll learn that the glute max extends and abducts the hip, as well as externally rotates.  Cool, we’re all on the same page there.

But it also decelerates hip internal rotation and adduction, as well as pronation of the foot.  All of which are kind of important with regards to non-contact ACL injuries.

Knowing this will undoubtedly help a trainer (hopefully) choose appropriate exercises and movements that train the glutes (and posterior chain) in a more “functional” manner.

That’s a very rudimentary example, but it helps showcase my point.

Check out my Resources Page for recommendations for books, DVDS, and the like.  There are a lot of them.  Then again, I know a lot of smart people.

3.  Know Program Design

This goes hand in hand with anatomy, and is just as much of a learned skill as anything else. I love the analogy that Mike Boyle has routinely used in the past on program design and how it’s like following a recipe.

Some people need are cooks and NEED to follow the recipe as it’s written.

Some people are chefs that can write new recipes.

You can read more HERE (<—- please read it).

Along the same lines, trainers should write programs and NOT workouts.  Programs are planned, well-thought out, structured training plans with a goal or purpose in mind (fat loss, training around an injury, preparing for a competitive season, etc).  Workouts are nothing more than a trainer babysitting.

You’re not a babysitter.

4.  Know Technique

Whenever I train at a commercial gym I can’t help but observe my surroundings. Yes I always see some eye wash like a guy deadlifting with a rounded back or a woman who’s 40 lbs overweight performing DB curls on a BOSU ball.

Part of me wants to walk over, shake the shit out of them, and point them in the right direction. But it’s not my place.  And, to be honest, they don’t know any better.  At least they’re doing something, right?

What really sets me off is when I watch a trainer doing dumb shit with a client. Worse is when I watch the trainer allow poor technique and do nothing to correct it.  That to me is UNACCEPTABLE.

The problem, most of the time, is that the trainer doesn’t know what good technique is.  Well guess what???  It’s your JOB to know what good technique is!!!!!

A little humility goes a long way if you ask me.

If you don’t know how to coach something, don’t put it into a client’s program! Simple as that.

I’m often asked why I never include any of the Olympic lifts into my programming. My answer: I don’t have a lot of experience with them!  Not to mention they’re not a great fit for the population I work with.

Regardless, as a trainer or coach it’s imperative you hold yourself to a standard.  Use the window test.

If you were an outsider looking through a window watching your athletes or clients train, would you be proud of what you see?  Are they squatting to good depth?  Are their knees caving in on each rep? Do their backs round every time they do a 1-arm DB row?  Do their hips sag and elbows flare out when they perform pushups?

If so, why aren’t you fixing it?  Why aren’t you regressing the exercises?

You’re a coach, so coach!

5.  Get Into People’s Heads

One of the comments left in the original discussion was this (which I’m stealing):

For me, client compliance and communication with general pop. If you can’t convey your message and set up systems that your client can find success with then you’re basically a walking overpriced textbook that no none can read.

I read a lot of books on behavioral economics by authors like Malcolm Gladwell, Dan Ariely, the Freakonomics guys, Steven Levitt & Stephen Dubner, as well as others like Robert Cialdini and Chip & Dan Heath.

The reason being, because of the statement above.  It’s important to learn how to communicate with people.  If you’re an uppity a-hole who talks over people’s heads all the time, how do you expect them to follow through with your advice?

Conversely if you’re someone who “just shows up,” counts reps, and does nothing to set people up for success other than charge their credit card each month…..then you’re not doing much.

To understand why people do what they do, and why they think what they think can be an invaluable asset to you as a trainer and coach.

No one is insinuating that you have to sit people on a couch and become a psychologist, but it certainly doesn’t hurt to have a better understanding of what goes on in their head and how you can better motivate them to not hit up McDonald’s on the way home or take their freakin fish oil……..GOSH!!!!!!!

CategoriesExercises You Should Be Doing

Exercises You Should Be Doing: TRX Anti-Rotation Press

Peruse any Facebook wall of someone who’s into fitness and you’re bound to see any number of running themes, status updates, or stories on:

1.  CrossFit, CrossFit, and more CrossFit (and with it endless Paleo recipes).

2.  Intermittent fasting, still (<— that was so 2012).

3.  “Do you even lift?” jokes. LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL.

4.  Non-stop shirtless gym selfies. I get why people do it.  We all want to show-off our hard work. But sometimes I wish people would just get over themselves and understand that just because it was “arms day,” and you happen to be walking past a mirror, and you happen to have your smartphone with you, and you also happen to have an Instagram account, doesn’t mean you have to snap a pic and share it with the world.

I don’t care how your shoulders look in “Hefe” or how your back pops in “Toaster” or how your pecs look so “pecy” in Kelvin.  WHEW. My my my, is it getting hot in here or it just me?

God, your abs, along with that post-workout sweat, just glisten like diamonds when you use the Earlybird filter……..

But, um, yeah, where was I?

Interestingly, I came across THIS article this morning which I felt was a fantastic reality check on the topic of gym selfies.

5.  And then there’s this recent Star Wars footage that was released which basically made me destroy the back of my pants.

Okay, so maybe most people aren’t Star Wars nerds like myself…but you have to admit the guy who made that video is pretty baller.

Anyways, it only makes sense that if someone’s interests gravitate towards fitness that they’ll be inundated with more fitness themed stories on their Wall.

But even if that’s not the case, almost always, the topic of core training is covered by the mainstream media and it stitches itself into our psyche

What are the secrets to a chiseled mid-section?

What exercises are best if someone’s goal is to get a six-pack?

Do “X” to get a beach ready body!

And, almost always, at least when it comes to the actual exercises/movements recommended, we get any number of ab crunches, sit-ups, rotations, leg throws, and infomercials advertising these balls of fail: weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.

I guess you could make a case for all of it.  While none of the above would be my first choice, especially when you consider Dr. Stuart McGill’s research on spine biomechanics and the notion that repeated flexion is the exact mechanism for disc herniation, there are certain situations where they can be a decent fit and I certainly don’t feel anyone will do irreparable harm performing a few crunches or sit-ups here and there.

Having said that….while trunk flexion is one of the functions of the abdominals (along with lateral flexion, contralateral rotation, posterior pelvic tilt, to name the big players), it’s main ROLE is stability.

Stealing a great line from my pal Mike Robertson:  “if the main job of the abdominals was to flex the trunk – bringing the sternum closer to the pelvis – by crunching all the time, they’d be hamstrings.”

In looking at the actual anatomy of the torso you can clearly see varying muscle fiber pennation, as well as a web-like appearance of the connecting tissue.

All of this to suggest that the main role of the abdominals or “core” is to stabilize and help better transfer force from the lower body to the upper body (and vice versa). The better someone is able to stabilize, the less likely they’l have force leaks.

It should come as no surprise, then, that the bulk of the core training I recommend is to prevent motion.  I.e., anti-rotation, anti-extension, anti-flexion.

TRX Anti-Rotation Press

Who Did I Steal it From?: I think I originally saw this exercise performed by strength coach and resident guy “I would never want to fight…..ever,” Dewey Nielsen.

What Does it Do?: Similar to things like Pallof Presses, chops, lifts, loaded carries, and the like, this is an excellent exercise that trains rotary stability.

Key Coaching Cues: You’ll need a TRX or any suspension training tool to perform this exercise.  Assuming a split stance – with the inside foot back – angle yourself at roughly a 45-60 degree angle.

Starting with the handle against your sternum, “press” it away from your body fully extending your arms and come to a slight pause…..all the while resisting the urge to move.  There should be very little movement here, and you’ll need to fight hard not to compensate in the lumbo-pelvic-hip area.

Go slow!  The objective here is controlled movement, so don’t spaz out.

If you need to make it less challenging, use a more conservative body angle.  More challenging = more aggressive angle.

I like to shoot for 3-4 sets of 8-10 reps per side.

Give it a try and let me know what you think!

CategoriesMotivational personal training

How to Get to Where You Want to Be

I was up late this past Saturday night.

Granted, late for me (10 PM) is not late for everyone else, especially on a weekend night. Moreover it’s probably when things are getting started for most people.

Lisa and I had just gotten home from the movies where we saw the new Whitey Bulger documentary Whitey: United States of America vs. James J. Bulger.  As resident pseudo Bostonians (neither of us born here – Lisa: Florida, myself: New York) we both felt obligated to go see it.  And boy oh boy was it a fascinating peek into the story of Whitey Bulger and the “was he or wasn’t he an informant for the FBI?” clusterf*** of a mystery.

If you get the chance, I’d highly recommend it.

Anyways, like I said, it was late. Lisa wasn’t feeling too well, so we decided to get ready for bed. Of course I made the mistake of checking my email just one more time to make sure there wasn’t anything pressing or important to take care of.

And that’s when I read the email.

It’s an email that I get at least once week, if not every couple of days. And while I understand that it comes with good intentions, I sometimes can’t help but feel a sense of wanting to throw my face into an ax.

While they come in a variety of iterations, the theme is generally the same: “Tony, you’re about as close to a real life Han Solo as they get, how did you get to where you are today as a coach?”

I’m often dumbfounded by the question. Sometimes, even at a loss for words. But I wasn’t at precisely 10:07 PM (or thereabouts) when I read the email. Do people really think there’s an easy answer?

I started typing a response, and when I was done, 20-30 minutes later, rather than send it to the person who wrote the email, I posted it on my Facebook Fan Page because I figured it was a message that more than one person needed to hear.

And it’s what that, I felt I’d share it on my blog today.

And Here It Is

How did the Beatles become “the Beatles? How did Steve Jobs build Apple?  How did the Golden Gate Bridge get built? Or, how did Will Hunting solve that seemingly unsolvable, hard as balls formula that Professor Lambeau left on the chalk board in MIT hallway outside his classroom?

HARD WORK, that’s how!!!!

Listen, Dr. Oz likes to propagate false claims and wishful thinking using flashy buzzwords and phrases like “magic pill” and “I’ve got the miracle answer for….”

[Cue hardship here: diabetes/fat loss/heart disease/raging explosive diarrhea/you name it.]

He prays on the notion that there’s an easy fix for “stuff”, an easy route to success, and caters to people’s lack of accountability for their own actions, or lack thereof.

There is no easy fix. It doesn’t exist.

Just like there’s no easy answer I can offer to the above query.

To put things into perspective, I started out as a personal trainer at a small corporate gym back in 2002. N’Sync was Dirty Pop’in, gas prices were $1.43 a gallon, and the iPhone didn’t exist. Not that 2002 is ancient history, but it certainly wasn’t yesterday.

I’ve been doing this for a little over a decade now, it’s only been within the past year, maybe two, where I’ve finally started to feel I kinda-sorta know what the heck I’m doing.

That’s countless client/athlete coaching hours, countless programs written, countless books read, and DVDs watched, and workshops/conferences attended. Not to mention innumerous words written from articles and blog posts. Well, technically, I could probably go back and count, but you get the gist of what I’m trying to say.

I’ve worked my ass off to get where I am. I didn’t get my first article published on T-Nation until 2006 (four years into my career). I didn’t train my first professional athlete until 2007.

And, to speak bluntly, I don’t feel “where I am” is anywhere close to where I’d like to be. I still have soooo much more to learn and understand.

I still feel like a moron whenever I’m in the same room as Eric (Cressey) or Bret (Contreres) or Gray Cook or Mike Boyle or Jim “Smitty” Smith or Dean (Somerset) or Mike (Robertson) or Nick (Tumminello) or Cassandra (Forsythe) or any other countless fitness professionals I look up to.

On a daily basis I’m reminded how much of an idiot I am. This isn’t to say I don’t recognize any of my success or that I de-value myself.  Instead, it’s a subtle reminder that I’m not that special and things don’t just happen.

None of this – whatever this is? – happens overnight. Or in a week. Or in a month. Or in a decade.

It takes however long it takes. No one knows, really.

What I can tell you is that you have to put in the work, you have to have an insatiable appetite to always want to get better and improve, and you sure as hell better be willing to be humbled in the process.

Stop asking how long it will take to be successful or how long before you get your first article published or when you’ll get 1000 “likes” or when you’ll train your first professional athlete or when you’ll whateverthef***.

That’s not the point, and if that’s all you’re concerned with why are you even in this profession?

Instead, ask yourself how are you getting better today? How are you making your clients and athletes better?

That’s the more appropriate question.

Do the work. Consistently give a shit. THAT’s how you get to where you want to be.

CategoriesUncategorized

What I Do on Vacation (Hint: I Don’t Worry About Exercise)

Fitness is a part of my life. It always has been, and it always will be. I’m just as obsessed with the next person about staying on task, being consistent, and not missing any lifts.

I can count on one hand the total number of times I’ve skipped a scheduled training session.  Once was because I felt like I was infected with Ebola. Once was because of a massive snow storm which laid the smack down on us, and forced us to stay home for a few days (which then served as the impetus for me to buy a set of kettlebells).  And once was because a friend of mine dragged me to a second showing of The Two Towers.  Whatever.  Don’t judge me.

As I’m typing these words, I’m overlooking the ocean and beach (see pic to the left), and the last thing I’m worrying about is that I’ve only exercised once in the past four days.  That is, unless you consider walking to and from my beach chair to water to pee as exercise.  If that’s case I’ve been crushing it all week. Like a champ.

You see, I look at vacation as, you know, vacation. Weird, I know.  Sure, Lisa and I try our best to implement and encourage as much “damage control” as possible:

1.  We raided Trader Joe’s before we left and brought a stash of nuts, beef jerky, oatmeal, LaraBars, and a bunch of other things that, I think, are TSA approved.

2.  We’re staying in a room that has a kitchen, and the resort we’re staying at has a fresh market, so we’re more than able to cook our own healthy meals when we want.  We don’t necessarily have to eat out every meal.

3.  Moreover, as any fitness couple would do, we’ve “visited” the gym here at the resort once or twice.  I say “visited” (in quotations) because each time we’ve gone it’s been nothing hardcore or extraordinary. We both move around a little, break a sweat, high-five, and then leave.

Here’s Lisa hitting up some easy deadlifts as part of a circuit we were doing.  And yes, I took over the stereo.  Holla!

By and large, however, our vacation has been more about reading, relaxing, going for a few walks on the beach, and, WARNING TO ALL PALEO NAZIS READING (put on your ear muffs), eating our fair share of fajitas and quesadillas. I.e., gluten!

I’m often asked what my advice would be for people who are traveling and would like to still stay “healthy” and  to workout and stay while away.

For starters, going on vacation IS HEALTHY!!  Just getting out of our monotonous, humdrum, everyday routines, and going away, is one of the best thing we can do for our mental (and physical) health, and I’d encourage people to do it more often.

But more to the point, here’s something I shared on TravelStrong.net recently:

To read the whole article, go HERE.

Depending on the length (lets just say for shits and giggles a week), it may not be a bad idea for most people to view vacation as a “built in” deload week. Chances are most people have been busting their butts in the gym for months on end and haven’t had much of a break anyways.

Who’s to say that vacation can’t be, you know, a freakin vacation! Let loose!

Now, this doesn’t mean you have to live at the all-you-can-eat-buffet the entire time, or that you shouldn’t make an effort to move around just a little bit (even if it’s to move from one side of the pool to the next).

I know when I travel I like to stay at resorts or hotels that have a gym. Of course, this can be hit or miss as some resort’s definition of a gym is a pair of mis-matched dumbbells, a treadmill, a few mats, and a rubber duckey.

For the most part, hotels and resorts recognize that a fair portion of their visitors live a healthy and active lifestyle and most make a concerted effort to provide a reasonably well-stocked gym. If this is the case, great! While you probably won’t be able to deadlift heavy, it stands to reason you will be able move around a little bit.

And even if they don’t have a gym, who’s to say that you can’t do other “active” things: sprint on the beach, play tennis, go hiking, swim, etc.

The point is this: I like to treat vacation as vacation. It’s not the end of the world if you can’t perform your 5/3/1 training session at the spa. Most likely it will be the best thing for your body to take a few days off.

However, I understand that that is a tough pill to swallow for many people – myself included.

I have to move around in some fashion. So try to make plans to stay at a hotel or resort that has access to a gym; or at the very least, try to think outside the box and understand that exercise doesn’t ALWAYS have to be in the gym.

In the end, it’s okay to turn it off.

$10 says taking 3-5 days off and not touching a weight will do your body (particularly your joints) good. Besides, if you take some precautions, maybe purposely overreach (i.e., kick the shit out of yourself) the week before leaving, those few days off from training will serve as a perfect way to supercompensate and come back even stronger.

But what it really comes down to is this…. Relax.  You earned it.

CategoriesExercise Technique

Form Tweaking and Overreaching: Two Ways to Increase Your Squat Numbers

I’m still in Cancun…..nah nah nah nah naaaaaah.

Today’s guest post comes from Justin Kompf, who’s had several articles featured on this site like THIS one and THIS one.

Not only is he a professor at my Alma Mater, SUNY Cortland, but he’s also someone I feel is going to do a lot of cool things in this industry.  He “gets it,” and I hope you take the time to read what he has to say.

I’m actually heading to Warrior Fitness this morning to do a workshop for a group of trainers and fitness enthusiasts here in Cancun, and I don’t speak a lick of Spanish….haha.  This should be interesting. 

Note: please excuse the formatting issues as of late.  I had WordPress updated on my site a few days ago and it seems to have caused a few glitches.  Hopefully the issue will be resolved soon. If not, the internet is sooooo going to be sent to bed with no dinner tonight!!!

Form Tweaking and Overreaching

Early on in my lifting career I quickly excelled at the deadlift. Speaking strictly from an anthropometric point of view, having a shorter torso and longer arms, I’m built for that lift.

However, once I started competing in powerlifting (and wanting to place) I quickly realized my squat needed to catch up to the deadlift. Over the course of the last year I took my squat from 350 pounds to 420 pounds while staying in the 181 pound weight class.

To achieve this I did two simple things that can be easily applied. I switched to a box squat and I planned periods of overreaching in my training prior to competition.

Note from TG:  losing in a Predator hand-shake off didn’t hurt either.

Box Squatting

My biggest problem with the squat was coming out of the hole, (bottom of the squat) I would consistently lean forward when the weight was too heavy. I tried using Olympic shoes which initially helped.

There’s evidence to suggest that wearing shoes with a raised heel can help the lifter stay more upright during the squat with sub max loads which I found to be the case.

Restricting dorsiflexion to keep a vertical shin usually increases forward trunk lean. For example, one study by Fry et. al. did just this, they placed a barrier to restrict dorsiflexion during the squat and found that the subjects who had restricted dorsiflexion leaned forward more (Fry).

Olympic shoes allow you to stay more upright because you are granted more dorsiflexion. However, whenever I would get close to maximal weights I would still lean forward with or without the Olympic shoes on.

In competition there are a large variety of squat variations with different stance widths. For example, lifters performing a traditional squat might only have their feet half as wide as those performing a powerlifting style squat! (Swinton).

 

Typically the lifters with a narrower base end up letting their knees come forward more than those with a wide stance squat. Now, logic would dictate that those lifters with more anterior knee displacement would stay more upright than the powerlifters with the wide stance and near vertical shins, but this just isn’t the case.

Swinton et. al. compared three different squat styles, traditional, powerlifting, and box in twelve male powerlifters. They found that the torso angle of powerlifters is not dependent on the amount of anterior knee displacement. This means that compared to recreational lifters who lean forward more if dorsiflexion is restricted, powerlifters find a way to stay more upright while maximizing posterior displacement of the hips.

That’s where the box squat came in for me. It was a great teaching tool to help me stay more upright. A common misconception  (that I thought for the longest time as well) is that the box squat is building up the posterior chain more. Turns out it might not even be better than the traditional or powerlifting squat for training hip extensors. What the box squat is good for is force development, which you can read more about HERE.

Anyhow, with the box squat I was able to practice keeping a vertical torso with vertical shins as well. For anyone that struggles with staying upright on the squat, I highly recommend the box squat. If you’re competing be sure to do some squats without the box prior to competition though to get used to not having the box underneath you.

Overreaching

Over reaching is simply a planned period of overtraining without any of the detrimental effects of overtraining or the long periods of rest needed to recover from overtraining. I experimented with two different overreaching squat specialization programs for the two meets I competed in over the last year. The first was called smolov jr., a baby form of what I can only imagine to be a terrifying 13 week squat cycle.

Here’s the layout for the smolov jr squat cycle:

Week 1

Day Sets Reps Weight
1 6 6 70%
2 7 5 75%
3 8 4 80%
4 10 3 85%

 Week 2

On week two you add 10-20 more pounds onto the weight you were doing from the given percentages.

Day Sets Reps Weight
1 6 6 70%
2 7 5 75%
3 8 4 80%
4 10 3 85%

 Week 3

On week three you add 15-25 more pounds onto the weight you were doing in week one from the given percentages.

Day Sets Reps Weight
1 6 6 70%
2 7 5 75%
3 8 4 80%
4 10 3 85%

These shouldn’t be performed consecutively, seriouspowerlifting.com recommends, Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday for squat days.

After performing this overreaching cycle I recommend taking a week off so that the strength you gained can come to fruition. If you’re competing I would recommend finishing this cycle 2-3 weeks prior to the competition. If you have three weeks, deload for a week then do a “practice meet” working up to your opener for the squat, deadlift, and bench press and then take it easy for the week prior. If you have two weeks, take your deload week then work up to the openers, saving at least three days of rest before the meet.

This squat overreaching program took my squat from 350 pounds to 380 pounds.

The next overreaching cycle that I did prior to my meet was a 6 week Russian squat cycle.

Week Day 1 Day 2 Day 3
1 80% 6×2 80% 6×3 80% 6×2
2 80% 6×4 80% 6×2 80% 6×5
3 80% 6×2 80% 6×6 80% 6×2
4 85% 5×5 80% 6×2 90% 4×4
5 80% 6×2 95% 3×3 80% 6×2
6 100% 2×2 80% 6×2 105%

This was double the length but I wasn’t squatting four times per week which was nice. With this program you are actually setting a new squat max on the last day which you could take as is, or plan to use that or a weight close to that for an opener. Odds are you’ll be able to squat more than that after your body gets a little rest and recovery. I finally joined the 400 pound squat club (if there is one? I haven’t been formally inducted I assume there’s some sort of ceremony). In the meet I ended up getting a 420 pound squat.

Training over the last year was far from easy but every time I finish a meet I’m dying to get back to it. I love seeing my strength increasing, knowing that I’m better than I was a year ago. Other than a determined mindset all it really takes is attention to detail and form and a systematic plan to get better at whatever your weakness is!

References

Fry AC, Smith JC, and Schilling BK. Effect of knee position on hip and knee torques during the barbell squat. J Strength Cond Res 17: 629-633, 2003.

Swinton PA, Llyod R, Keogh JW, Agouris I, and Stewart AD. A biomechanical comparison of the traditional squat, powerlifting squat, and box squat. J Strength Cond Res26: 1805-1816, 2012.

About the Author

Justin Kompf is the head strength and conditioning coach at SUNY Cortland. He has a powerlifting team comprised of 13 super strong SUNY Cortland students who regularly crush state records in New York within the IPA powerlifting federation. His best lifts are a 540 pound deadlift and a 420 pound squat at the 181 weight class. His website is JustinKompf.com and he can be contacted at [email protected].