CategoriesCorrective Exercise Motivational

Injuries Happen. Here’s How To Deal With It

Today’s guest post comes courtesy of Dallas based personal trainer, Shane McLean. Shane’s an avid commenter on this website and passionate coach. Today he discusses injuries and how to best deal with them.

Enjoy!

Shit Injuries Happen. Here’s How To Deal With It

Ever played Whack-A-Mole?

Those smiling, annoying critters pop up faster than you can smack them down. How I love to thump them into the middle of next week.

Sometimes, don’t you feel the same way about those niggling injuries that hinder your progress in the gym? After one heals, another one rears its ugly head. Then it’s the never-ending story of rest, rehab and training around your current niggle.

Since I started taking this exercise thing seriously, I’ve trained around and rehabbed through several injuries (some have been my own fault) including:

  • Torn quadriceps X 3
  • Strained hamstrings
  • Knee and ankle tendonitis
  • Sprained triceps tendon
  • Tennis and golfer’s elbow
  • Right A/C joint inflammation
  • 3 herniated disks and several back spasms

Before you start rubbing your two fingers together to make the world’s smallest violin and tell me to “suck it up, wuss bag,” there’s a point to all this.

I’ve learned along this exercise journey that yes, shit happens, but it’s how you deal with it that counts. Trust me, I’ve found this out the hard way.

So next time you suffer a setback whether it’s your fault or not (I’m not here to judge) use one or all of the following strategies to get back on your feet sooner after the injury bug knocks you down.

Some may seem obvious, but it’s always good to be reminded. Well, that’s what my mother always said, anyway.

1. Lean On Your Network

With the advent of social media, it’s super easy to make nice with health and fitness professionals around the world, and personal trainers/strength coaches are just friendly guys all round, right Tony?

[Note From TG: Unless you attack one with a kettlebell.]

With direct messaging function on sites like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, it’s easy to reach out and ask questions about your current predicament.

When you’re asking, make sure your questions are as concise as possible to avoid possible confusion and wasting their time.

[Note From TG: Best piece of advice I can give anyone reaching out to a fitness professional for advice?: don’t write a dissertation. Nothing irritates me more then when I open an email and it looks like a Dickens novel.

I’ll take one glance and often archive those emails for a later time (which could be multiple weeks). It just reeks of the sentiment that “my time is more valuable than yours,” and comes across as woefully inconsiderate.]

While it’s almost impossible to diagnose over the internet, they can offer suggestions on what to do because they may have encountered a client with a similar injury.

At worst, they will completely ignore your question or offer a suggestion on who else to contact.

Either way nothing ventured, nothing gained. It never hurts to ask.

2. Learn Perspective

On my way to yet another physical therapy appointment, I was having a “woe is me moment.” My back was killing me, and I didn’t see any light at the end of the tunnel.

Okay, you can cue those violins again?

At that very moment I walked past two guys on their way to PT. One was in a wheelchair with no legs, the other had an amputated leg below the knee, walking with the aid of a walker.

I felt like complete idiot.

When my therapist Regan Wong asked me how I was feeling, I had a response all cued and ready to go.

“Regan I was going to tell you I felt like shit. But then I walked past two guys in the car park without the use of their legs. I’m good, Mate, so let’s get to work.”

No matter how bad you’re feeling, someone has it much worse than you.

So stop complaining. Stop telling everyone within ear shot at the gym that you’re hurt. That guy in the wheelchair doesn’t give a crap. Get back to rehab. Do the work.

“I don’t wanna go to rehab, no, no, no, no” 

3. Keep Your Eyes On the Prize

While others are hoisting weights around, you’re in the corner with your light dumbbells, stability ball and bands doing an exercise to activate your serratus anterior.

Boring.

Rehab is long, tedious and time consuming. I get that. After you’ve finished, there’s barely enough time to do your mindless cardio and bicep curls. Then it’s time to hit the showers and punch the clock.

There’s always a temptation to leave a few exercises out to get to the fun stuff sooner, or to totally skip the exercises your Trainer/Physical Therapist/ Chiropractor gave you so you can join your friends under the bar.

That’s a big mistake.

In my experience, that only leads to more heartache and pain. You end up on a merry-go-round, and not the fun kind with fairy floss and unicorns.

Keep the eye on the prize, which is your health and lifting heavy. Keep repeating the mantra “every little bit helps.”

Every rep, every set of rehab exercises will get you closer to getting healthy

Take yourself away from the iron, just for a little while, it isn’t going anywhere. Your body will end up thanking you in the long run.

4. Stay Positive, It Doesn’t Last Forever

When you’re hurt and you’re limited in what you can do, it’s very easy to get down on yourself. You may think you’re getting weaker and smaller by the second when lifting those pink dumbbells.

Breaking news flash……….you’re not.

While addressing muscle imbalances that you never knew you had (besides traumatic/chronic injuries) that may have led to getting hurt in the first place, you’re actually getting stronger.

Think about it.

Strengthening your weakness while maintaining a training effect for the rest of your body will help you come back stronger when you eventually hit the weights/playing field again.

[Note From TG: As a quick aside, no, you won’t develop an imbalance because you happen to train one side of the body or limb over the other. In fact, there’s a lot of research to indicate that training the NON-injured area or limb will result in a “feed-forward” or neural effect to the INJURED area/side which will make healing faster!

Besides, as noted earlier, it’s only temporary. What’s the alternative, don’t train at all because you’re scared one bicep or pec muscle will look bigger than the other? Come on.

Another quick aside: bacon is delicious.]

All those professional athletes that come back from serious injuries cannot be wrong. How often have you heard injured athletes say they will come back bigger and stronger than ever?

They’re usually right.

Maintaining this positive attitude throughout your injury rehab will benefit you because nothing is forever, including being hurt.

Wrapping Up

No one likes being hurt, but unfortunately it’s a part of our gym lives. However, there’s always light at the end of the tunnel. Keep your head up, stay positive and stay on the rehab path.

You’ll be back crushing weights in no time.

About the Author

Shane “The Balance Guy” McLean is a Certified Personal Trainer who works deep in the heart of Dallas, Texas. No, Shane doesn’t wear a cowboy hat to work. After being told his posture blows by Eric Cressey, he has made it his mission to rid the world of desk jockeys one person at a time.  

Shane loves coffee and deadlifts and always has a huge coffee mug by his side.
 
CategoriesProgram Design Strength Training

A Day With Alex Viada: And How To Feel Like the Weakest, Slowest, and Smallest Human Being Ever

We had the pleasure of hosting Alex Viada, owner and President of Complete Human Performance and author of The Hybrid Athlete – this past weekend at Cressey Sports Performance.

You’ve seen his name pop up here and there on this site – most notably in an article I wrote recently titled You Down With GPP? – and you may be familiar with some of his work on other sites as well.

Alex is a beast (not to mention one of the nicest, most humble, and generous coaches I’ve met in recent years). To give some perspective on how much of a beast he is, Alex is an elite level powerlifter with PRs of 705 (squat), 465 (bench press) and 700 (DL) raw w/ wraps in the 220 class, but also competes in triathlons and ULTRA marathons (100+ miles). He’s also posted a best mile time of 4:32.

So much for the notion that endurance activities steal gainz.

Oh, and he also dabbles in bodybuilding. And arm wrestles grizzly bears. In fact, he’s the guy The Avengers call when they need help.

Adding to his legend, Alex has also, literally, I’m being 100% serious here, squatted so much weight he made his face bleed. I’m not referring to getting a bloody nose or popping a blood vessel in one of his eyes. I mean, who hasn’t done that?

He literally bled through the pores on his face.1

I’d like to see Chuck Norris or Jack Bauer do that!

He’s an impressive human being and someone who challenges people to push their bodies to levels and places they never thought possible. He works with many different clientele – powerlifters, ultramarathoners, triathletes, Strongman competitors, CrossFit, in addition to many different divisions of the military.

He specializes in what he refers to as “Hybrid Training,” or:

“The concurrent training of different athletic disciplines that do not explicitly support one another, and whose disparate components are not essential to success at any one sport.”

In short: someone may want to train for two goals – competing in a marathon as well as improving their deadlift numbers – that don’t necessarily support one another.

Listening to Alex speak was engrossing, and it was hard for me to put my pen down for more than ten seconds during his entire lecture. Below are a few highlights I wanted to share from the day.

An Introduction to Applied Hybrid Training Methodology

*** Or, if I were in charge of giving a title, “How To Run a 50K and Deadlift a Bulldozer, Like a Boss”

1. People fail to realize that the “system” Alex has developed is the result of years of trial and error (he’d argue mostly error). The key behind everything is to learn to be lazy. Or a better way to put things would be to say “learn to minimize stress/overuse while maximizing progress.” It’s important to understand that, when dealing with such extremes and goals that are at opposite ends of the endurance-strength spectrum, everything is a precious commodity and it’s crucial to learn how to condense training stressors.

To summarize:

“What is critically important to do the LEAST AMOUNT OF VOLUME to improve performance.”

2. For the hybrid athlete, he or she needs to recognize where the overlap is in their training and OMIT the superfluous modalities that waste time and energy.

For example:

Does one really need to include a bevy of “speed & power” work on the track if he or she is including speed & power training in the weight room? In some cases, maybe. But more often than not, the additional running volume becomes redundant.

Also, as Alex noted: what’s generally the purpose of long runs? To learn to train and perform through fatigue.

If someone is lifting through fatigue in the weight room, then, again, many of the endless miles on the road become redundant.

3. Much of the challenge when working with strength athletes is teaching them to SLOW DOWN. Zone 2 work (loosely defined as 65-70% of max heart rate, generally 120-140 BPM) is where the magic happens.

Alex mentioned that the key for many strength-based athletes is to teach them to be slow before they become fast.

When told to train in Zone 2, many will be weirded out about just how slow that really is. For some it won’t take much to get there. A brisk walk may do it. But as a frame of reference that’s akin to telling an elite marathoner (who averages 4:42 miles for 26 miles, which, I couldn’t sustain with a freakin moped) to sustain an eight minute mile pace.

It feels, well, slow!

But it’s “the slow” that’s so CRUCIAL for the hybrid athlete. Many will want to “power” through their Zone 2 work and speed things up, which will only impede things down the road.

The strength athlete needs to get married to the idea that training at 100% effort all the time IS NOT going to help them succeed.

Managing fatigue and optimizing recovery is key.

4. The other advantage of Zone 2 work is the added benefit of increased capillary density and venous return.

Think of it this way: the more muscle or cross-sectional area someone has (or adds), the more potential there is for waste product. If an athlete doesn’t take the time to build the appropriate “support network” to transport/filter said waste product (via capillary density, improved venous return, etc), there won’t be any improvement(s) in performance.

5. ANOTHER advantage of Zone 2 work are the improved adaptations one gets on their GENERAL work capacity.

General Work Capacity = ability to produce more work over time.

A nice example Alex gave was with a powerlifter he’s currently working with who wants to get his deadlift up to 400 kg’s (<– a lot more in pounds) while improving his general conditioning for health reasons.

[Being able to see your kids graduate high-school is a nice benefit of improved cardiovascular conditioning].

In the beginning the lifter noted he was only able to get three work sets (with wraps) in before he’d be absolutely wiped out.

After only a few months of dedicated GENERAL Zone 2 work (non-specific: bike, elliptical, brisk walk, etc), the same lifter was now able to get SIX work sets in.

He essentially was able to DOUBLE his volume (and thus, work capacity). Not too shabby.

6. Attachment points matter. No matter how much muscle you add, it’s hard to overcome attachments points of the muscle. This is why you’ll (probably) never see a world-class Kenyan squatter.

Basically it’s important to “vet” predetermined ranges of a lot of things – attachments points, one’s natural propensity to increase cross-sectional area, etc) to see where an athlete will be most successful.

7. Want to sell the importance of strength training to an endurance athlete? Have him or her place a barbell on their back for the first time and see what happens.

No disrespect, because you could say the same thing for anyone who places a barbell on their back for the first time, but you’ll often see something that resembles a giraffe walking for the first time.

It can’t be stressed enough how much strength training improves balance and proprioception. Reiterate to an endurance athlete how it can improve body awareness and stability – and they’ll be putty in your hands.

8. Specific Work Capacity = athlete’s ability to perform specific movements at a given frequency/repetition (without unacceptable performance decrease).

If you want to get better at cycling you need to cycle. If you want to get better at bench pressing you need to bench press.

Remember: General work capacity is the foundation for Specific work capacity.

Need to be selective on what you choose, too.

Many would deem Prowler work as applicable “specific work capacity” for a powerlifter. But is it?

Look at foot placement (on the toes). How much knee bend is there? Very little. So, how does this help a powerlifter with their squat?

Prowler work for a sprinter, now we’re talking.

9. No one should listen to ANYONE – coach, writer, Jedi Master – who says everyone should run a certain way. This disrespects the notion that everyone has different attachments points, leverages, and anthropometry.

We wouldn’t tell everyone to squat the same way, so why does this notion that everyone needs to run the same way apply to running?

By that token, everyone should wear skinny jeans!2

Remember a few years ago when the book Born to Run came out? I read it, and loved it. It was entertaining and a well-written book.

However, this book basically bred the movement of minimalist or barefoot running in no small part to it highlighting the running prowess of the Tarahumara Tribe.

The Tarahumara run with minimalist footwear and they run on their forefoot. And they never get hurt. Soooooo, that means everyone should do the same, right?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ytCEuuW2_A

 

Some people perform better and their running technique cleans up significantly when they heel strike first. Telling them to put on a pair of Vibrams and run on their toes is going to be the worst thing for them.

There are a lot of physical therapists out there who are now driving Maseratis3 due to that book. You’re welcome.

CategoriesStuff to Read While You're Pretending to Work

Stuff To Read While You’re Pretending To Work: 6/26/15

Just like last week, I wanted to take a few moments to highlight a few things coming up on my itinerary that many of you may be interested in.

First up: the official “first look” wedding picture from mine and Lisa’s wedding.

I’m a little biased, but that’s pretty much the best wedding picture ever taken in the history of ever. Look at Lisa’s dress, her back!, the fact I wore matching colored shoes and belt (trust me, the belt matched).

If anyone’s thinking about getting married in southern Florida, I can’t recommend Michael & Josephine Photography enough.

1. Elite Training Workshop – Boston

There’s less than a week left for early bird registration for the Elite Training Workshop here in Boston featuring myself, Mike Reinold (his facility, Champion Physical Therapy & Performance is hosting), Artemis Scantalides, and Ryan Ketchum.

It’s going to be an awesome day for fitness professionals to learn from some of the best minds in the biz and CEUs are available. Click HERE for more information.

2. The Complete Shoulder & Hip Workshop

My brotha from another motha, Dean Somerset, and I are excited to announce our end of summer into early fall series: The Complete Shoulder & Hip Training Workshop.

 

The idea is to discuss and breakdown anything and everything as it relates to shoulders and hips, obviously. Including but not limited to anatomy, assessment, corrective exercise, performance training, programming, etc, in addition to analyzing World of Warcraft strategies. Because, why not?

Like I said, we’re excited about it and we feel everyone who attends will be excited too.

CEU’s will be available for all workshops as well.

EDMONTON (in August, so it won’t be cold as balls).

ST. LOUIS (in September, maybe catch a Cards game?)

CHICAGO (in October, Wrigley. Nuff said.)

Now on to this week’s stuff to read.

Improving Foot Speed & Agility – Mike Boyle

I “think” this is an older post from Mike, but it’s relevant nonetheless. The article can be summed up best by this line:

“The best solution to slow feet is to get stronger legs. Feet don’t matter. Legs matter.”

Another line I liked:

“The reality is that a quick first step is actually the result of a powerful first push. We should change the buzzwords and start to say “that kid has a great first push.”

Yes, agility drills and “foot speed” drills have their place – but much like Coach Boyle, I find they’re woefully overemphasized in today’s youth athletics.

PRI – A Continued Conversation – Ben House

I first came across this article because I noticed there were a few trackbacks to my site (What can I say: Ben has excellent taste in the blogs he reads), but felt it was an excellent read either way.

Ben brings to light the idea that maybe the PEC (overly extended) postural pattern may be WHY some athletes are successful; and that trying to correct it may not necessarily be the avenue to walk down.

Hmmm…..

Why Third Place Is the New First – Pete Dupuis

Pete’s been killing it lately with awesome content on his new website. For all you current or prospective gym owners, you should bookmark Pete’s site.

Categoriespersonal training

The Trainer-Client Relationship

Q: Hey TG- I’ll keep this short and sweet.

So I’ve got a couple clients that have asked the awkward question “will I ever be able to do a pullup?” I really don’t like telling people what they can’t do. They come to me for solutions, ya know? Anyways, how do you approach the question and a)maintain their respect and b)let them know it’s not likely they’ll be able to anytime soon for valid reasons (or if at all) without damaging their psyche.

Thanks brotha! Donovan.

A: That’s an excellent question, and something I elected to answer here on the website (rather than email) as it’s something I feel a lot of personal trainers and coaches struggle with:

The Client/Athlete-Coach Relationship

I’ve always said that being a great fitness professional comes down to 50% great coaching and 50% not being an a-hole.

Lets break it down like this.

1. It’s implied that having book smarts – understanding anatomy, program design, assessment, nutrition, biomechanics, physiology, etc – is the foundation for any level of success as a fitness professional.

The other layer that many tend to gloss over, though, is the practical application of said book smarts.

Yelling isn’t coaching

In short: despite popular belief, you can’t just read about “stuff” and expect to be an expert or an authority on any given topic.

You actually have to have the ability to learn and absorb what you read, and then possess the ability to apply it into real-life situations.

This is why internet warriors are a dime a dozen. [Note: I’m not referring to you, Donovan].

Many can brag about all the books they’ve read, DVDs they’ve watched, and how many gold stars are next to their name – or, if we’re referring to the upper echelon of nerdom, weapons their Avatar has collected over the years – because they’ve accumulated 20,000 posts in some random fitness forum.1

Yet, most would fail miserably when plopped onto a gym floor and asked to coach someone through their first squat or deadlift session.

2. The other part is not being an a-hole. I think Mike Boyle was the first to crack the whip on this component of coaching – and he’s 100% spot on.

You can be the second coming of Mel Siff and sleep with a copy of SuperTraining underneath your pillow (which is weird), but if you speak down to people, make them feel stupid or inferior, and just act like a jerk all the time…no one is going to want to train with you.

Much less pay you money to do so.

Well, there’s that and some people just have no feel or are socially awkward. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. I mean, I’ve been known to choreograph at least 17 lightsaber battles per day at work; and yes, there was that one time I showed up with no pants on. But it was just once. Okay, twice.2 No biggie.

Being quirky or silly or different from time to time is one thing. That’s part of what makes different people different, and sometimes charming.

Quoting Wes Anderson movies = quirky, charming, and totally not socially awkward.

Quoting Wes Anderson movies (to a room of your invisible friends) = we need to talk.

I’ve been around some trainers and coaches who, when a 15-year old athlete does something wrong on his or her’s squat, will go off on some biomechanical diatribe on knee-valgus, Q-angle, external rotation torque, etc, and then look at the athlete afterwards as if to say “DUH, didn’t you know that?”

That’s one approach – which isn’t wrong per se. Or you could just say something like “push your knees out.”

That’s what I’m referring to when I say “having a lack of feel.”

And that’s what happens, often, when (some) trainers and coaches rely on their book smarts.

 

So this is a perfect scenario where both sides of the coin collide. You need to be a coach, but also a good “people person” as well.

So Here’s My Actual Answer to the Question

They hired you to be their coach, not their best friend.

This is NOT to insinuate you have to play the evil, diabolical, I have no feelings, and I-take-myself-way-too-seriously strength coach card. That’s just silly.

As you and I both know, we often develop meaningful, long-lasting relationships with many of our clients, some of which end up becoming close friends.

However, I’m not sure that “sugar-coating” things is the best approach here. Saying something along the lines of “there, there, we’ll get there soon,” won’t really accomplish anything in the long run.

It’s what I like to call this Expectation Management. 

A perfect example?

I’d like to drive a tank to work everyday, but that’s probably not going to happen.

Will your clients be able to perform a pull-up today, next week, a month from now? Probably not. And I think it behooves you to tell them that. Be honest. Take the time to explain to them why. If it’s because of a handful of postural issues, tell them. If it’s due to a past injury, tell them. If it’s because they’re just too weak and they’re just not quite at that level (yet!), tell them.

But as their coach you can re-assure them that, while you can’t promise anything, you’re going to work to the best of your ability to help them achieve their goal. And that if they follow your lead, listen to what you have to say, recognize that it’s going to require work, and stay consistent along the way, they’ll be proud of themselves no matter what the result is.

[And, most likely, they will succeed].

This way some of (if not the majority of) the onus is on them. Hopefully they’ll adopt a degree of accountability on their end and take ownership of their own actions.

In Summary

1. You’re the man (or girl). They hired YOU.

2. Don’t be an a-hole.

3. Tanks are awesome.

4. Be honest.

CategoriesAssessment

Assessing Our Assessments: Shoulder Flexion

Assessment.

It’s a powerful word. A daunting word. A ten letter word. A word that means different things to different people.

But the word itself implies you’re assessing something.

So, what is it?

Well, given this is a fitness website it stands to reason that when I say the word “assessment” I’m not referring to one’s ability to color between the lines, write sick computer codes, or, I don’t know, how to say “excuse me, but can you tell me where the library is?” in Spanish1

No, in this context, when referring to the word assessment…I’m alluding to one’s ability to do “stuff.”

Particularly with their body. Most often in the weight room and/or within the confines of their respective sport(s).

But also their ability to perform every day life tasks – bending over to pick something up off the floor, reaching for something, carrying things, fighting crime, walking down a flight of stairs without snapping their hip in half – pain free.

The other day I said something halfway smart on Twitter:

I approach assessment with every person with a blank slate. While I’d be remiss not to mention we do have a “protocol” we prefer to follow at Cressey Sports Performance – namely because of the unique population we overwhelming work with on a daily basis, overhead athletes – it’s not uncommon for me to go off the beaten track when it’s called for.

Put another way…..

No two assessments are the same.

It’s outside the scope of this article to discuss the entire assessment process. Rest assured I’m asking all the pertinent questions: training history, injury history, goals, favorite Mighty Morphin Power Ranger, you know, the important stuff.

While every assessment is different, there is a go to “algorithm” that exists which helps guide the process and keeps this succinct and organized.

We generally start static to dynamic; proximal to distal; and seated/lying/ground-based to moving.

All that said, under the umbrella of assessment, there are certain protocols or screens I use with just about every client or athlete I work with – no matter what sport he or she plays or what their background is. There are some screens too valuable to omit.

Not only that, we have to be able to look at what the assessment is looking at, whether it’s looking at what we think it’s looking at, and whether or not it’s telling us as much information as we think we’re getting from it.

I don’t even know if that makes any sense, but I’m going with it.

Basically all I’m saying is that, while assessment is cool and all, a lot of fitness professionals really suck at it and have no clue what they’re looking for.

Lets take a look at the standing shoulder flexion screen.

To the casual fitness professional this screen tests one’s ability to get their arms over their head.

It goes like this:

Trainer to Client: “So, like, stand there and lift your arms over your head.”

Client to Trainer: “Like this?” [Cue picture pictured below, the one on the left].

Trainer to Client: “Yes! You did it! Well done. Lets go kip.”

Client to Trainer: “Right on. Weeeeeeeeeeee”

To the untrained eye (again, looking at the picture to the left), and to someone who doesn’t know what to look for, things look a-okay.

Arms + Overhead = Able to train.

But to me it looks like a nightmare. There’s significant forward head posture in conjunction with a massive rib flair and hyperextension through the lumbar spine.

[Not coincidentally, lack of shoulder flexion could easily explain why someone has chronic lower back issues. Look at what happens every time they do anything overhead. They crank through their lumbar spine. Just sayin…..]

When corrected – picture to the right – total ROM (shoulder flexion) is reduced because compensation patterns are corrected (no head protraction, rib flair, and pelvis is more posteriorly tilted). And this isn’t even half bad. I’ve seen way worse. Some people I’ve worked with couldn’t get their shoulders past 75 degrees of shoulder flexion when I made sure they weren’t allowed to compensate!

Candidly: if someone can’t pass this simple screen they really have no business doing anything over their head in the weight room, kipping pull-ups included.

So this begs the question: What prevents someone from getting full shoulder flexion in the first place?

It could be any number of things:

1. Shoulder Capsule, osseous changes (which, admittedly, aren’t very common).

2. Soft tissue restrictions – subscapularis, lats, teres minor, traps, etc. (much more common).

3 Lack of scapular upward rotation (instead of upwardly rotating scapulae, they shrug).

4. Thoracic spine mobility.

5. And lastly, and something Mike Reinold speaks to quite often, lack of lumbo-pelvic hip control.

I’m not going to hit on every point above today. I’d encourage you to check out Mike Reinold’s site and/or look into his and Eric Cressey’s Functional Stability Training series (which goes into the geeky stuff in MUCH more detail).

What I will delve into is how, when someone does present with a lack of shoulder flexion, you can differentiate between whether you’re dealing with a lat length/soft tissue restriction or if it’s a anterior core/pelvic control issue.

Easy – test their PASSIVE range of motion.

Like this.

Have them lie on their back (making sure to bend their knees to flatten out the lumbar spine and to account for any excessive rib flair). If their upper arms don’t touch the table….you’re most likely dealing with a soft-tissue restriction (lats, teres minor, traps, rhomboids, etc).

Hammer the lats with some t-spine mobility drills like this one:

 

And you can hit the rhomboids and traps using this drill:

 

And you can get the teres minor using this drill (thank you Mike Reinold).


If you test someone on their back and they pass with flying colors (I.e., their arms touch the table), then it stands to reason you’re probably dealing with a lumbo-pelvic control issue and a weak anterior core.

In that case my go to is coaching someone through deadbug variations.

Standard Deadbug – with emphasis on exhale

 

Note: these can be regressed to include arms only or legs only (or even legs bent so ROM is decreased).

Stability Ball Deadbug

 

Note: placing the stability ball between contralateral elbow and knee forces the trainee to squeeze the ball, thus activating the anterior core to a more effective degree.

Core Activated Deadbug w/ KB

 

People will often roll their eyes at deadbugs – deeming them too easy. That is until they do them correctly.

As well we can’t discount other exercises and drills that challenge the anterior core and pelvic control. Push-ups (and their infinite variations), birddogs, bear crawls, chops, lifts, Farmer carries, Pallof Presses, asymmetrical loaded lifts….all are fair game in my book.

The bigger picture, however, is to pay closer attention to what you’re actually assessing. Does the assessment itself assess what you think it’s assessing? Moreover, are you able to interpret what it’s telling you correctly?

If yes, awesome. You win the internet today.

If no, WTF are you doing???

CategoriesNutrition

Glutton Free: No, That’s Not a Typo

Today’s guest post comes courtesy of San Antonio based personal trainer, Jonathan Acosta. Some of you may remember a previous post Jonathan wrote for this site – Carbohydrate Rotation Revamped – which was big hit.

Today he covers gluten. But not in a way that’s going to wave his uppity, yoga class going, Prius driving, Whole Foods shopping, I-made-these-delish-gluten-free-chocolate-peanut-butter-brownies-sprinkled -with-fat-free-fairy-dust-that-you-just-have-to-try finger at us.

He understands that Celiac Disease and gluten intolerance does exists, and that for some, avoiding gluten at all costs is kind of important.

However, he also recognizes that for most people, like 99% of us, gluten is not the evil stepchild it’s made out to be…and that there are other, more incendiary culprits in play when it comes to our growing waistlines.

In short: just a little tough love. Enjoy!

Glutton Free

Have you seen the movie This Is the End? You know the one with all the funny comedians and the end of the world.

If you haven’t, there’s a part in the beginning where Seth Rogan is explaining to Jay Baruchel about how he’s eating better and they can’t go to Carl’s Jr because he’s staying away from gluten. Jay then proceeds to make fun of him because of how ill informed he is of gluten and they end up at Carls Jr.

Why am I telling you this?

Because,

1 – EVERYONE needs to see that movie.

2 – Most people are ill informed about gluten and automatically assume they are allergic to gluten and think its clean eating. Even most docs are ill informed about it.

People going on a “health kick” assume that this is it. This is the magic piece they’ve been missing in order to reach their goals.

Eureka! Its gluten!

Im gonna go gluten free and get so (ripped, toned, sexy, insert any diet-related adjective here) because Dr. Oz said so.

The problem is most people don’t even know what gluten is. I really don’t want to go too in depth with gluten because its not the main topic of this post, and a simple google search can explain it better than I can.

 

In a nutshell a gluten is a protein that’s naturally found in wheat and other grains. Not every grain has it (quinoa and rice are the first two that come to mind).

People with Celiac disease are the main population that should be avoiding these as they cause a whole heap of health problems including low immune system, pain and bloating, fatigue ect. I’ll admit that some people who don’t have celiac disease can also benefit with removing gluten from their diet as well.

But those are few and far in between.

Note from TG: For those interested in reading more about gluten – what it is, what it isn’t, who should avoid it, what effects it may have, etc – I’d encourage you to read THIS article from Precision Nutrition.

Disclaimer: Im not a doctor nor do I pretend to be. But in my opinion, unless you have legit, genuine, and aggressive celiac disease, I see no need to be anal (A friend dared me $5 that I couldn’t use this word in a post, cha ching!) and go through the trouble of removing gluten from their diet.

Will it help a bit if you feel bloated and have some G.I. issues? Maybe. Will it help you get amazing fat loss or muscle building results? Not likely. You see gluten isn’t the really the culprit.

Even gluten free foods can be “bad”.

Contrary to popular belief many food items that are “gluten free” are still processed and refined.

Not to mention that gluten free doesn’t automatically mean healthy for you. Just the other day my wife and I were at a restaurant when I overheard the table next to us tell the waitress “let me get the gluten free pizza, I’m eating healthy and that’s the only gluten free item on the menu”.

I glanced at the menu and saw tons of lean protein and veggie options that would’ve been a better replacement for her goals.

Here’s the thing and my point of all this: Gluten isn’t the problem. The problem is it’s homonym. The problem is glutton.

Glutton – To over indulge, over eat, over drink, or too much wealth to the point of extravagance or waste.

Maybe we got it wrong. Maybe when the nutrition gods sent down the Seven Deadly Nutrition Sins we misinterpreted them.

Maybe we were like “What does that say? Gluten? Oh I get it, thou shall not eat gluten duh!”

I’m no expert, but maybe you shouldn’t be getting on a gluten free diet and get on a glutton free diet instead.

Maybe the real problem is the over indulging.

Food portions have become so crazy and well, disproportionate, that what was once considered one serving in any typical restaurant can now, technically, feed two (sometimes more) people.

Without realizing it, you’ve doubled your serving size every time you eat out. Pay attention to what you’re eating. Be mindful of the portion size you’re eating. You don’t have to eat like a baby bird, but you don’t have to eat like a gluttonous T-rex either.

This is why one of my favorite go to tips to revamp results with my clients is to have them weigh and measure their food.

I get it, its all the rage right now to revolt against weighing and measuring and counting macros and calories. It sucks, and it sucks the enjoyment out of eating food. But the truth is…even if you don’t weigh or measure food, your body does.

Here’s what I propose: For 99% of people, 99% of the time, including YOU, all you really need to do is pay more attention to what and how much you’re eating vs. if it has gluten.

What would be a better choice for your fat loss or muscle building goals? A steak, jasmine rice, and veggies? Or a gluten free pizza?

Yeah, yeah, yeah….calories in vs. calories out (and portion sizes) matter – so you technically could make a case for both – but lets cut through the BS and act like adults here.

Change gluten free to glutton free and watch things change.

CategoriesStuff to Read While You're Pretending to Work

Stuff to Read While You’re Pretending to Work: 6/19/15

Okay, so, before we get to this week’s list of stuff to read I wanted to address some housekeeping items first.

1. Elite Training Workshop – Boston

There’s less than two weeks left for early bird registration for the Elite Training Workshop here in Boston featuring myself, Mike Reinold (his facility, Champion Physical Therapy & Performance is hosting), Artemis Scantalides, and Ryan Ketchum.

It’s going to be an awesome day for fitness professionals to learn from some of the best minds in the biz and CEUs are available. Click HERE for more information.

2. The Complete Shoulder & Hip Workshop

My brother from another mother, Dean Somerset, and I are excited to announce our end of summer into early fall series: The Complete Shoulder & Hip Training Workshop.

 

The idea is to discuss and breakdown anything and everything as it relates to shoulders and hips, obviously. Including but not limited to Anatomy, assessment, corrective exercise, performance, programming, etc, in addition to analyzing World of Warcraft strategies. Because, why not?

Like I said, we’re excited about it and we feel everyone who attends will be excited too. Like this excited:

CEU’s will be available for all workshops here as well.

EDMONTON (in August, so it won’t be cold as balls).

ST. LOUIS (in September, maybe catch a Cards game?)

CHICAGO (in October, Wrigley. Nuff said.)

Lastly, promise.

3. The SUMMER SALE ($40 off regular price) for Lift Weights Faster 2.o ends TODAY.

This is a resource I use often, and my wife Lisa LOVES it. Whether I need something quick for us to do on the weekends or if I’m scratching my head trying to figure out a 10-30 minute “finisher” for a client, LWF2 is always there in the clutch.

With hundreds of exercises, dozens and dozens of workouts, and some pretty stellar videos and photography you can’t go wrong. Check it out HERE.

Disordered Eating and The Rise Of the Competitive Fitness Model – Nardia Norman

This article brought up a handful of tough questions as to the REASON why some women opt to participate in fitness modeling, figure competitions, etc.

What I do have a concern with is when the “wrong” type of woman decides to participate and is given the wrong advice by a misinformed PT/Coach who still relies on out dated methodologies (low calorie diets, cutting of macronutrient groups, and excessive training).

So what constitutes a “wrong” woman for competition? The word wrong probably isn’t the best description, as that implies that this situation is black and white (which it isn’t), so a better word to use would be “qualified.”

An important article to check out if you or someone you know is thinking about stepping on stage.

4 Exercises to Eliminate Back Pain – Matthew Ibrahim

Matt does a good job of highlighting some basic, simple, actionable items that anyone can implement TODAY who may be dealing with a cranky lower back or any form of long-term back pain.

The 10 Most Underrated Exercises From 10 Different Coaches – Nate Palmer (& Company)

I helped contribute to this article alongside many other excellent coaches you’ve all probably heard of.

CategoriesMotivational

I Encourage You To Fail

I’m going to fill you in on a little TG trivia from back in the day. And it’s something I’m not too proud of.

I failed my driver’s license exam…twice.

Yeah, yeah…..ha, ha, ha. Laugh it up.

I deserve it.

I didn’t get my license until I was 18. Which, in hindsight, wasn’t the end of the world because there wasn’t much to do in my hometown in the first place, in good ol’ Groton, NY. Driving down Main St. took all of about 30 seconds, and outside of the local bowling alley the “hang out” spots were the parking lot of the local Sunoco station or any number of various corn fields.

There’s that, and I was pretty much a tool of teenager anyways. My idea of fun was staying at home lifting weights, thumbing through my baseball card collection, or watching 90210.

Chicks loved me.

And it’s not like I was in any hurry to be seen driving around in my parent’s car. Because nothing says “sexy mofo” than a 1992 Chevy minivan. With wood paneling on the side. Holla!

But yeah, I failed my driver’s exam twice. The first time was because, after successfully parallel parking the car (which was/is every teenager’s Mt. Everest), I was then asked to perform a 3-point turn. I put the car in reverse, and then kept it in reverse…and nailed the curb.

Oops. Mulligan?

I don’t even remember what happened the second time. I think it had something to do with failing to use the blinker, following the speed limit, not hitting pedestrians, whatevs.

The third time was the charm, though. I passed with flying colors, and no civil lawsuits were filed.

I’ll tell you what: I prepped my ass off for that third test. I was determined to pass, and I made it my mission to bug my mom every chance I got to let me drive to the store with her. I’d pop in my Tribe Called Quest cassette tape, and off my mom and I went…in the minivan. Like two bosses.

I practiced my parallel parking, made sure my 3-point turns didn’t involve any roadside curbs, and kept my hands on the steering wheel at ten and two o’clock at all times.

I used my past failures as a woefully inept driver to get better and to help prepare myself for future success.

And not to brag or anything, fast forward 20 years later, I can say I’ve never been issued a major traffic ticket (parking tickets don’t count, especially when you live in a large city) or have been in any major accidents1

Moreover, my wife – Lisa – and I survived driving in Australia back in March where everything is ass-backwards.

So What Does Any Of This Have To Do With Anything?

A lot, actually.

Not long ago I read a fantastic book titled The Up Side of Down: Why Failing Well Is the Key to Success.

In it, the author, Megan McArdle, discusses why we shouldn’t fear failure or think of it as our enemy. More specifically she describes the concept of “normalcy bias,” which explains why so many people freeze when confronted with a crisis or why once successful companies like General Motors find it so hard to get out of their own way and learn from past mistakes.

Failing, in her opinion, and I agree, is the only way to get better.

Leaving alone the current debate over youth athletics and the “no one gets cut from a team, and everyone gets a trophy” mentality (which is grossly absurd, and a discussion for another time), people often forget that failing is what often builds resiliency.

If everyone wins all the time, or never faces adversity, or always gets the girl…how does that help better prepare him or her to change their ways, adapt, or grow?

It’s doesn’t. It leads to stagnancy, narrow-mindedness, and an inability to not stop sucking.

And that’s unfortunate, because there’s a lot everyone can learn from failing, and learning to fail well. Better yet: there’s a lot everyone can learn from understanding that failing is normal. It’s going to happen. How you interpret and handle it is going to be what helps separate you from the masses.

Take the fitness industry for example.

I can go back and look at programs I’ve written five years ago and chuckle. Actually, cringe. They’re that bad.

I can remember a time when we used the Sleeper Stretch on every baseball player that walked into our facility. We’d test them for GIRD (Glenohumeral Internal Rotation Deficit), and if we saw they presented with it (generally: a lack of internal rotation range of motion), we’d have the athlete implement more Sleeper Stretches into their arm-care routines.

Fast forward a year or two later and we soon came to realize that GIRD was, holy shit balls, a normal adaptation of the throwing shoulder! It’s when there’s a lack of IR in conjunction with a lack of TOTAL ROM where more of a red flag exists.

All those Sleeper Stretches we’d been programming were probably making the issue(s) worse, not better.

We learned from our “failure,” and subsequently overhauled or approach to not only assessing the throwing shoulder, but how we went about programming for our overhead athletes in general.

And this speaks to writing training programs as a whole. I don’t think I’ve ever written a “perfect” program.

I’ll assess someone both statically and dynamically (watching your clients MOVE will give a gulf of information), ask all the relevant questions with regards to training history, injury history, favorite Mutant Ninja Turtle, and then write a program I feel will be the most efficient, effective, and safest way to get them from Point A (sucky) to Point B (less sucky).

Almost always I’ll have to re-arrange stuff, cross things out, or scratch certain drills or exercises from their program altogether. Sometimes stuff works, and sometimes it doesn’t.

Basically, I fail all the time.

But I use those failures to “correct my wrongs,” to learn, to get better, and to hopefully not make those mistakes again down the road.

So, what about you?  How “well” do you fail?

CategoriesFemale Training speed training

4 Strength Goals For a Beautiful Body

I make no secret my disdain towards the mainstream media (magazines, newscasts, infomercials, pop culture, fads) and how it relays fitness information to women.

Wait, what? You mean women can lift weights heavier than 3 lbs????

Most of it – mind you, not all of it – is predicated on the notion that women are these delicate flowers who shouldn’t (or worse, can’t!) lift appreciable weights, and that their fitness needs are better aligned with cardiocentric modalities and/or buzz words like “toned,” “sleek,” and “sexy.”

You know, cause deadlifts will make you grow an Adam’s Apple overnight.

The tone (<- forgive the pun) has changed in the past five years or so with the growing popularity of CrossFit. Women, now more than ever, of all shapes and sizes, backgrounds, and ability-level are hitting the weights and recognizing (and reaping) the advantages of setting performance based goals.

There’s still a lot of work to be done, though.

It’s a never ending upward battle to change the mindset of a society that places more “value” in something as arbitrary as what the scale reads in lieu of someone’s push-up prowess.

In my latest article on BodyBuilding.com I discuss why strength is the key to pretty much everything, including aesthetics.

Continue Reading……..

ALSO

Since we’re on the topic of performance, one of my all-time favorite resources for conditioning and general badassery – Lift Weights Faster 2 – is currently in the midst of a stellar summer SALE.

Not only do you get to learn from one of the best coaches I know, Jen Sinkler, and get bombarded with literally hundreds of different circuits and finishers ranging from 10-30 minutes, but you’ll also have the opportunity to follow workouts written by guest coaches such as myself, John Romaniello, Jill Coleman, Ben Bruno, Bret Contreras, Molly Galbraith, and a host of others.

Frankly, LWF2 is my default resource whenever I need a quick circuit to use myself or with any number of my own clients.

And you can get it for $40 off the regular price the rest of this week.

Check it out HERE.

CategoriesStuff to Read While You're Pretending to Work

Stuff to Read While You’re Pretending to Work

I’m getting braces today. I don’t want to talk about it (except, you know, for blabbering on about it on the internet).

But this is pretty much what I feel like is going to happen.

Lisa had hers put on a little less than a year and a half ago, and had them taken off a week before our wedding. I elected to wait until AFTER our wedding (for obvious reasons).

And now it’s game time. In less than an hour. Shit.

Anyways, I’m sure I’ll be in a better mood about them at some point…but as of right now I feel like a pouty 13-year old kid who wants nothing more than to stomp his feet up and down.

No, no, no, no, NO!

Strength First: Ditch the BOSU Ball For the Barbell – Charles Staley

In this article, Coach Staley breaks down why unstable surface training make about as much sense as a poop flavored lolly pop (for NON-INJURED individuals).

I Went Paleo and Now I Hate Everything – The Everywhereist

This was, no shit, the funniest blog I’ve read on Paleo ever.

[Note to Self]: Lisa and I should quit our jobs and start a travel blog like this one. We could totally make it work. And, probably win a Pulitzer.

How To Do Anything (even the hard stuff) – Krista Scott Dixon

Whether it’s anything fitness related or trying not to make fun of a 38-year old grown ass man getting braces in front of his face, the reason most people fail is because they miss certain steps.

Here Krista tells you how not to do that.

FYI

Only two weeks left for early bird registration for mine an Dean Somerset’s Complete Shoulder & Hip Training Workshop in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada this August.

 

For more information, including itinerary, location, price, and reference to my favorite Arnold Schwartzenegger movie, you can go HERE.

ALSO:

We’re doing the same workshop in St. Louis (HERE), and Chicago (HERE).

Hope to see you at one of them. It’s going to be amazeballs.