CategoriesExercises You Should Be Doing

Exercises You Should Be Doing: Bulgarian Split Squat to RDL

I’m always intrigued on why certain exercises are called what they’re called. Take the Turkish get-up for example.

I understand there’s a bit more panache in naming the Turkish get-up the Turkish get-up than say, “hold a cannonball looking thingamajig in your hand and stand up,” but seriously: why is it called the Turkish get-up and not the Cambodian get-up or Floridian get-up or the Elvish get-up?

Okay, elves don’t exist. You got there.

There’s actually an answer to this question (and is something I’ve written on before), courtesy of Dr. Mark Cheng:

It seems back in the day, and I assume present day too, the Turks were kind of badass. I forget what term Mark used, but he described the form of grappling they typically trained their warriors in, and how they used to do so all oiled up.

You know how hard it is to grip or grab something that’s all wet or sweaty, right? Well imagine that, only 100x more challenging and 1000x more filled will sexual innuendo.

Anyways, waaaaaaay back in the day, in order to even be considered “man enough” to train and to learn how to fight the Turks made it a prerequisite you had to perform a get-up with close to a 100 lb kettlebell (give or take a few lb’s). While fighting a grizzly with your free hand!

Okay, I made that last part up….but still. WTF!!!!!

And that’s more or less the back story of the Turkish get-up.

So what’s the deal with Bulgarian split squats?

I’m sure there’s some legit reason with a very rationale and simple explanation, but my suspicion is that the reason why Bulgarian split squats are called what they’re called is because your mom doesn’t love you.

Or, I don’t know, maybe some meanie head Bulgarian was a bully and not only stole the lunch money from the person who actually invented the exercise – most likely from a neighboring country like Macedonia, Greece, or, in the ironies of all ironies, TURKEY – but stole the exercise too!

Whatever the case, while there’s the Rear Foot Elevated Split Squat camp (doesn’t roll off the tongue so easily), most people refer to the exercise as Bulgarian split squats. It is what it is.

Which brings us to today’s Exercise You Should Be Doing.

Bulgarian Split Squat to RDL

 

Who Did I Steal It From: renowned coach and fitness educator, Nick Tumminello. I “stole” this exercise during his presentation at the SUNY Cortland Strength & Conditioning Symposium this past March.

What Does It Do: This is a “hybrid” exercise which combines two exercises into one and makes you hate life 4x as much.

I like to use this exercise with clients who are in more of a “time crunch” with their training sessions or for those who just want to perform something challenging and smoke their legs.

Key Coaching Cues: As is the case with any single-legged exercise, I operate under the assumption that most trainees go too heavy and sacrifice quality for quantity.

While quality of movement should always be stressed, with single leg work in particular I find many people go too heavy and fail to reap any real benefit from the exercise other than to say “wow, that was really, really, really hard.”

I could wax poetic and bullet point any number of benefits to single leg work: hip stability, pelvic control, core stability/strength, addressing strength deficit between limbs, “sport specificity,” so on and so forth.

But lets just assume I’m preaching to the choir.

Because this is a 2 for 1 type of exercise you’ll need to go lighter than you think. You’ll want to stay cognizant of rib position during the set (limit rib flair, maybe a slight forward lean on the split squat portion), and the torso should stay as rigid as possible (no leaning to one side or the other).

Perform a standard BSS where the anterior surface of the thigh dips below knee level, and when you return back to the top position perform an RDL, where you hip hinge into the standing leg. The RDL portion will feel a little wonky to start, but with some practice you’ll get the hang of it.

I prefer to keep repetitions fairly low, in the range of 4-6 reps PER SIDE (which is really 8-12 reps because you’re performing two exercises).

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

CategoriesOff Topic rant

Twitter Math

People on the internet crack me up. Trolls in particular.

Everyone is a tough guy (or girl) on the internet. The total lack of social filter or any semblance of decency seems to be non-existent when a select few sit behind their computer screens.

It can best be exemplified in this example.

Random guy to Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson on Twitter:

“Dude, my cat’s vomit could have made a better movie than San Andreas. It was that bad. Plus, your mom’s a whore. #smallbiceps.”

This behavior is analogous to the phenomenon of road rage (not so much the busting a cap in someone’s ass because they cut you off on I-95 type of road rage, which is a tad excessive to say the least; but more so the type of “rage” people project when they flip someone off in their car or yell any number of expletives through their car window and then immediately drive off.)

There’s no urgency to “get away” in a car, because, well, they’re in a car.

Someone can tell someone else to fuck off and before the recipient of said “fuck offedness” can respond (with a fist in the other person’s eye) the culprit is either two stop lights a head or illegally swerved into the car pool lane and high-tailed it out of there.

It’s a whole nother ball of wax when there’s less of a barrier.

People react and act much differently when the other person is face-t0-face.

Lets re-visit our random Twitter guy from before, but this time put him face-to-face with Dwayne.

“OMG, dude, I loooooooved your last movie. The way the lighting in the background made the sweat on your biceps glisten was amazeballs. Can I touch them?

No homo.”

When left with the alternative…a six foot, five inch, 270+ lb behemoth of a human being standing right smack dab in front of him, our internet tough guy changes his tune and turns into a giddy school girl at a One Direction concert.

I had a interaction with a troll recently, on Twitter.

The story begins with a completely random, inert, ho-hum, not-so-very-special Tweet on my end.

All I was trying to convey was that, for most trainees, there’s no need to worry about muscle fiber type, rate coding, neural firing patterns, inter and intramuscular coordination, or anything of that nature in order to get strong. While all enter the conversation, the ONE thing that’s most in our control is the size of our muscles.

A larger muscle with more cross-sectional area has a greater ability to produce more force.

KISS – Keep It Simple, Stupid.

See, nothing special. But, you know, train-of-thought information.

Not long after I received a response from someone on Twitter. To the effect of:

“Do u actually train people or just tweet? Most guys I know who are any good, don’t have time for this. Just curious.”

[NOTE: I’d link to the actual response, but in the aftermath, the person BLOCKED ME from following HIM, which is funny, because, I’d rather masturbate with sandpaper than follow this jackass. But anyways].

In Fairness: he did catch me on a rather “aggressive” day with regards to my Tweeting prowess. I think it was my tenth of the day.

So I chimed back, rather innocuously, with:

His response (again, I can’t re-post verbatim):

“LOL, exactly. Tony, stop writing about stuff you never do. Must be in between clients, right? Time waster.”

What I wanted to do was respond with something like this:

And then reiterate to him that, “no, I wasn’t in between clients because…I WASN’T AT THE FACILITY IN THE FIRST PLACE!”

Side Note: Did I mention it was my day off and that I wasn’t training people?1

But I didn’t. I resisted the urge to get into an internet dick measuring contest.

Rather than play into what he inevitably wanted me to do – engage – I just shot back with:

And that’s when he blocked me (which, for the record, I’m not complaining about).

Which begs the question:

If I wasn’t “any good” or he saw no value in the information I provide, why was he following me in the first place?

Which also begs the question:

Why even write this post in the first place?

1. Understandably it serves no real purpose, and I could have just as easily spent this same time writing a training program for a client.

However, writing about it is cathartic in a way and makes it less likely I’ll want to stab someone in the throat.

2. I just wanted to write this afternoon.

Something fun.

Furthermore

Lets do some Twitter math.

According to my profile, I joined Twitter in December of 2010. That’s ~1,580 days. Up until the writing of this post I’ve Tweeted a total of 5,351 Tweets.

That’s an average of 3.3 Tweets per day (95% of which are either links to my own posts or various articles I come across I feel would benefit my followers). Only like 0.8% are LOLCat videos.

Lets say it takes 20 seconds to write each Tweet. That’s a total of 60 seconds out of my day spent Tweeting.

Clearly I need to re-evaluate my time management skills.

Categoriespersonal training Program Design

Bootcamps: Not Just For Crushing People (and doing “stuff”)

Today’s guest post comes courtesy of Cressey Sports Performance’s group fitness coordinator, George Kalantzis.

Enjoy!

Group training is becoming a staple in the fitness industry and people are trying all sorts of group classes to get their exercise fix in.

People want and love group training, and when you can combine a great atmosphere with properly coached exercise that not only produce a training effect, but also address individual limitations/ability level/postural deficiencies/weaknesses/and strengths; it’s a win-win for everyone.

At Cressey Sports Performance (CSP), our strength camps run 3x’s a week, with four classes a day.

Exercise selection is based upon how easily it can be regressed (or progressed). Essentially we don’t dig too deep into our exercise tool box for the sole purpose of “doing stuff,” but rather choose exercises and drills which can easily be “ramped” to one’s individual needs and ability level. For us, it’s all about whether the exercise is coachable, and which can help the client move better as we go along.

Changing too much and making exercises “exciting” for the sake of exciting is a way to keep people from mastering the basics.

Basics are boring, but they work.

And the sooner someone can get a handle on the basics, the sooner their exercise rolodex (which don’t even exist anymore) can be expanded.

Below are some “big rock” themes to how we run our strength camps at CSP.

Density Training Days

Monday is density day. We tend to keep things relatively simple. Meaning, the circuit designed is based upon the time frame allotted. After warm-ups and explanation, we tend to have around 40 minutes to get some work done.

Typically, circuits will range from 10-20 minutes, which allows for a decent amount of work to be done. For the smaller time frame we might use 2-3 exercises in a block, and for the larger time frame we will have anywhere from4-6 exercises in a circuit.

The order of exercise chosen should depict the flow of your gym and the number of clients in a class. Anything from 2-6 exercises with 8-12 reps works best for density training along .

Example Density Day with TWO larger circuits and Finisher:

Circuit #1

A1: Barbell Reverse Lunge 10/leg
A2: Barbell Push Press x10
A3: KB Swing x 10
A4: Pushup x 10
A5: Medicine Ball Stomps to Floor x 10

 

Circuit #2

B1: Dumbbell Front Squat x 8
B2: Renegade Rows 4/side
B3: Prowler Push 40 yards
B4: 1 Arm Farmers Walks 20 yards/side
B5: KB Clean x 8

Finisher:

KB Clean and Squat Ladder

1 Clean, 1 Squat, 2 cleans, 2 squats, 3 cleans, 3 squats. 4 cleans, 4 squats 5 cleans, 5 squats and back down.

Metabolic Conditioning Day

This day is the most popular among clients and runs on Wednesdays. It tends to attract the largest groups and gets the best feedback.

I think clients like the idea that they never know what they are going to get that day. It could be a ten exercise circuit, or four mini circuits of 3-4 exercises. It all depends on the cycle of the program that week.

Here is an example of FOUR mini circuits, with rounds of 35s/15s, 25s/10s, and 20s/10s

Round 1 = 35s work, 15s rest, Round 2 = 25s work, 10s rest, Round 3 = 20s work, 10s rest, Round 4 = death stares from clients

Circuit #1

A1: Donkey Kong Slam Battle Ropes A2: Kneeling to standing Battle Ropes

A3: Sitting Battle Ropes                       A4: Plank Battle Ropes

Circuit #2

B1: Single Leg Hip Thrust Off Bench – Right       B2: Single Leg Hip Thrust Off Bench –  Left

B3: Standing Pallof Press – Right                          B4: Standing Pallof Press – Left

Circuit #3

C1: TRX Rows           C2: TRX Pushups

C3: KB Squats           C4: KB Cleans

Circuit #4

D1: Prowler Push    D2: Sledge Hammer to Tire

D3: Sprints               D4: Airdyne Bike

Check out footage from a METCON day

 

Strength Day

These are designed much like density days, except we tend to keep the reps lower and allow clients to lift a bit heavier.

It’s not uncommon to see women deadlift twice their body weight on a Friday morning session.

It is very important to note not everyone will trap bar deadlift.

We have a solid structure in place that allows us to individualize all workouts. There are examples of clients in their late 60’s that require modifications of all sorts and clients who are in top shape that require more advance workouts. What’s great about strength days is that it allows us a better opportunity to customize the flow of the day for anyone who needs it, which gives a sense of “velvet rope customer service.”

People feel they’re being taken care of (which they are).

Here is an example of strength day.

Station # 1 : 15 Minutes

A1: Deadlift Variation x5
A2: Hollow Body 5 Reps
A3: Pull-up Variation 5 Reps
A4: Reverse Sled Drag x 5

 

Station # 2 : 15 Minutes

B1: Dumbbell RDL x 8
B2: Dumbbell Bent Over Row x 8
B3: Dumbbell Single Leg Deadlift x 8/leg
B4: Pushups x 8
B5: KB Swings x 8

Finisher: Break Into TWO Groups

Group #1

Complete every rep/movement on the minute for FIVE minutes

A1. KB Squats
A2. Med Ball Floor Stomps x 5

Group #2

½ the group does prowler sprints for 30 seconds, the other half holds a front plank for 30 seconds Total of 10 rounds for 5 minutes

This is not a see-all be- all approach to group training, but it does produce results and clients keep coming back for more.

I hope this can help you think outside the box when it comes to group training.

Note From TG: a few resources that may help on the topic and that I’d encourage you to check out are Bootcamp in a Box and Group Training Playbook

About the Author

George began his time at Cressey Sports Performance as an intern in the fall of 2013, and returned in 2014 as CSP’s Group Fitness Coordinator, overseeing all Strength Camp coaching and programming responsibilities.

George is a veteran of the United States Marine Corps and was awarded an honorary discharge after eight years of service. He possesses an MBA from Southern New Hampshire University and is currently attending massage school to become a licensed massage therapist.

Outside of CSP, George maintains a fitness-related blog that can be found at www.sgtkfitness.com.

He and his wife Shawna reside in Manchester, NH, with their fur-baby Lola the dog.

CategoriesProgram Design

You Down With GPP?

Everyone together: “Yeah you know me!”

For those of you who picked up on the 90s hip-hop reference with today’s blog post, congrats…you’re cool. For those of you who have no idea, well, I encourage you to open up Pandora, Spotify, Slacker, or whatever your music streaming service of choice and look up Naughty by Nature.

Replace GPP with OPP and set on repeat.

You’re welcome.

Not that I wouldn’t want to take a trip down nostalgia lane and partake in any candid discussion around 90s hip-hop and some of my favorite songs and artists/groups from back in the day2, but we’d be sitting here for awhile if we did and I know you have things to do.

So I’ll get right to the point. The catchy title 1) was a sneaky way to lure you in (gotcha) because, as it happens, 2) I’m going to be talking about steady state cardio today.

“Are you down with steady state cardio?” didn’t have quite the same vibe and pizzaz as the OPP reference. And besides, if I had started with that as my title most of you would have told me to GFY and clicked away.

I promise no more three-letter abbreviations from here on out.

All of this to say……

I’ve Been Re-Thinking My Stance on Steady State Cardio.

As in: I’m starting to include more of it into my own training (and I’m liking it).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1Y73sPHKxw

 

I’m sorry, but Dramatic Chipmunk never gets old.

Okay, “liking it” is a bit of a stretch. I like pizza. I like deadlifts. And hell, on occasion, I like getting a pedicure3 I don’t necessarily “like” doing steady state cardio, and often times would rather throw my face into a brick wall out of sheer boredom.

But I like what it’s been doing to my training as of late – especially in the weight room.

Funnily enough there was a time in my life where I averaged upwards of 15-20 miles PER WEEK of running. Not knowing any better I did it as a way to “build my legs” for baseball. All through high-school and college it wasn’t uncommon for me to go for 5-7 mile runs a handful of times per week to “flush the lactic acid out of my muscles”4 or to punish myself for a bad outing.

Baseball and performance aside, not surprisingly, I was always a skinny kid/athlete. I started lifting weights at a young age to help build my body. However that often played second fiddle to the amount of running I did. I even ran Cross Country one year in high school. I don’t like to talk about it. It was a dark time in my life.

Once I was done playing (competitive) baseball and my career in the fitness industry started to manifest, my goal(s) then switched to getting my bodyweight up to 200 lbs (from 170-175, 180 tops). It was around 2002 when I first started reading the likes of T-Nation and other various websites.

I started nixing the isolation, body-part splits, I started deadlifting and squatting more, I ate whole eggs, and I cut-down the amount of steady state cardio I performed.

Low and behold I gained 30 lbs in less than a year and hit the 200 lb mark.

The internet told me that if I wanted to get jacked I shouldn’t perform any steady state cardio. All I had to do was toss in some sprints here and there, maybe do a few Tabata’s (which weren’t really Tabata’s, mind you), and I’d get all the aerobic conditioning I’d ever need. And besides: who needs aerobic conditioning when all you want to do is lift some heavy ass weights!

It not so many words: you’d lose all your gainz if you even thought about going for a light jog. And you’d lose your dignity if you were caught wearing jogger shorts. It’s science.

It’s a trend we see often in the fitness industry. The pendulum on any given topic – whether it’s debating the efficacy and usefulness of steady state cardio, high-fat vs. low-fat diets, carbohydrates, CrossFit, high-bar vs. low-bar squatting, Paleo, gluten, full-body vs. body-part splits, or whether or not Tracy Anderson is more intelligent than a ham sandwich (<– she isn’t) – swings either too far to the left or too far to the right.

There never seems to be a lack of extremism. You’re either in or you’re out, there’s no middle ground.

Sadly, I’m not immune to falling into the same trap.

It’s been well over a decade since I’ve included any semblance of long(er) duration, steady-state cardio (which can be characterized as a form of GPP – General Physical Preparedness) into the mix. Partly due to personal preferences, and partly due to my own naivete (but really I can chalk it up to 100% stubbornness. I’ve always known better).

So by now you may be asking yourself “Seriously Tony, pedicures? Why the change of heart, Tony?”

The impetus came from two sources.

1. Alex Viada (and by extension his phenomenal book, The Hybrid Athlete).

2. The guy who writes my programs, Greg Robins, told me I have to do it.

To put it lightly, Alex Viada is a freak of nature. The man can deadlift AND squat over 700 lbs, AND he runs a sub five-minute mile, AND he competes in Ironman and Ultra Marathons.

I once parked in the furthest spot possible in a Trader Joe’s parking lot and thought I was the man.

Alex has spent years via trial and error (and even he’d admit it’s been mostly error) in honing the most ideal formula to be able to maintain (and even gain) strength while concurrently improving endurance capacity. Being a “Hybrid Athlete” is all about working hard, but being lazy.

“In other words, do as little as possible to attain the necessary result. Lift less often than a powerlifter, run less than a runner, bike less than a cyclist, swim less than a swimmer… the body has limited recovery, and will quickly become overwhelmed.

Isolate what is truly important in each type of training, focus on those areas, and do them well. Cut out the junk miles, cut out the gym pissing contests, be draconian in how you approach routines – take those articles with the “ten exercises you should be doing” and toss them in the trash. The more you want to do, the less you should be doing.”

To be fair: not everyone wants to do both. For most – myself included – I have NO desire to run a marathon or even a 5K for that matter.

But in recent months I have changed my tune with regards to how incorporating more steady state cardio can help in the weight room and improve my recovery and performance.

To quote Alex:

“Endurance exercise improves energy substrate utilization – being able to more efficiently mobilize and burn fat and glucose will of course improve performance over time (due to more economical usage of glucose and a greater amount of essentially unlimited fat stores to burn). In addition, improved perfusion not only aids in getting oxygen to the cells, but also improves the body’s ability to both buffer acid buildup from lactate metabolism.”

A less charitable explanation of things would be to say “stronger heart = better endurance = better blood flow = more efficient muscles = better utilization of fat and glucose for fuel.”

Also – and this can be considered the Coup de gras of the entire article – steady state cardio (GPP) can help improve recovery!

The key here is to NOT overdo it in terms of volume and to NOT be an asshat and turn something that’s supposed to be low-intensity endeavor into loaded Prowler sprints for AMRAP (or something equally as asshatedness).

If the goal is to improve work capacity (ability to do more work in a given time) it’s crucial to employ modalities that aid and promote general recovery which, as Alex notes, also create positive adaptations in “durability, energy stores, cardiac output and cardiac perfusion, and other general components of overall endurance that essentially provide the foundation for an athlete to train and compete for longer while recovering better.”

Long story short: going for an easy (heart rate of 120-140 BPM) 20-30 minute jog 1-3x per week isn’t going to negate your gainz. I’d make the argument it may help!

And this isn’t relegated to just jogging (something of which I’ve been doing lately). As an example Lisa and I went to Harvard Stadium yesterday to walk up and down the stairs. Nice and easy, nothing hardcore, and just enough to elevate my heart rate into “Zone 2.”

I got a good workout, and I know it’s not going to have any detrimental affects on my squat and deadlift session today.

Elliptical machine, rowing machine, Prowler, bike, a pool, it’s all fair game. Just don’t overdo it.

I implore you to not be so “shallow” in your thinking to OMIT an entire way of training – and something that could very well have a positive net effect on your overall performance in the weightroom and physique – just because some brocentric article told you that running is for pussies.

It took me a while to turn off the noise on my end, but I’m glad I finally did. In the long run (<– LOL, pun intended) it’s going to be for the best.

As an FYI

Alex Viada will be speaking at Cressey Sports Performance on Sunday, June 28th for a one-day workshop. Spots are still available and you can find out more information HERE.

CategoriesStuff to Read While You're Pretending to Work

Stuff to Read While You’re Pretending to Work: 6/5/15

 

Physical Preparation 101 – Mike Robertson

The best coaches are the most efficient coaches. They’re able to assess their athletes/clients and “streamline” the program writing process.

It doesn’t have to be like rocket science or solving long division.

TODAY (6/5) is the last day to purchase this fantastic resource at a significant discount ($100 off the regular price), and learn from one of the best coaches I know.

In addition, there is a 2-pay option, so that’s something to consider for those who are a bit more price sensitive.

That said, I can pretty much guarantee PP 101 will pay for itself 10x over from all the things you’ll learn, not to mention be able to immediately apply on Day #1.

This is not a cost, it’s an investment…….in yourself.

Todd Bumgardner’s New Site – Todd Bumgardner

I’ve featured many of Todd’s articles on this site in the past, so for some of you he’s nothing new. He’s the awesome.

But for the many of you who are new to the site, Todd’s someone whom I respect a ton and he’s someone I feel you should be listening to and reading.

I mean, he’s bald, he likes to lift heavy things, what’s not to like?

He just made his brand spankin new site live and it’s the shiz. I encourage you to check it out and bookmark it, cause you’re going to learn.

Pete Dupuis’ New Site – Pete Dupuis

Cressey Sports Performance’s business director and Vice President, Pete Dupuis, has finally stepped into the 21st century and started his own website.

You won’t find articles on the best set/rep schemes or how to measure glenohumeral internal rotation deficit or anything of that nature here.

What you will find is real advice and logic on how to run a fitness business, sans the cheesy buzz words (TOP SECRETS!!!!) that many internet gurus like to use.

If you’re a current business owner or an aspiring one, I’d bookmark Pete’s site too if I were you.

CategoriesCorrective Exercise Exercise Technique

Rotation Helps Improve SI Joint Pain: A Doctor Even Says So!

Today’s guest post comes courtesy of Dr. Erika Mundinger5, who’s presentation on how to deal with SI joint pain (specifically how ROTATION can help!) at The Fitness Summit a few weeks ago really impressed me.

I asked if she’d be willing to help me out while I was away, and she was more than happy to oblige. 

Enjoy!

A couple of years ago, a fellow physical therapist at the clinic where I work asked with a quizzical and concerned look, “What do you think of that Jefferson deadlift everyone is doing at your gym? Lifting and twisting?” My response evoked an even more quizzical look — that in my four years coaching the Jefferson deadlift, I had yet to see someone get hurt.

Now I know that a PT saying it’s OK to lift and twist is bold and brazen. But lets be clear, I’m NOT saying this:

 

What I am saying is that I’ve seen rotational movements, when trained properly, actually help clients and spine patients get out of pain.

When I see clients and patients with a back injury that results from twisting it’s not necessarily because they were twisting in the first place. Often it’s because they were trying to twist, bend, or reach into a range of motion not available to them.

In layman’s terms, they were trying to move beyond their limits. So, my contention is that instead of avoiding rotation in training, we can find safe ways to use rotation to help get people out of back pain — and potentially prevent back pain at all.

So since we naturally move in to rotation why would we not want to train rotation?

One clear answer is because if we lack mobility we could get hurt lifting in to rotation. But does that mean we should NEVER place a client or ourselves in to these positions? Or should we start training rotation so that when they find themselves in this position again the chance of getting hurt is minimized?

I vote for the latter.

Lets back up for a moment and take a look at how the spine and pelvis move together. When you move for day-to-day functional activities, are you moving in singular, robotic motions? When you squat down to pick up something off the floor are you assuming the same back squat position you do at the gym? Typically one foot is slightly forward, one foot back, the front foot may be more flat on the floor with the other foot raised on to a toe, and there’s a slight twist in the spine and pelvis. In fact our pelvis twists with every single motion we do.

Take a look at walking, for example, as one foot is forward and one foot backward the pelvis sits forward and down on one side and up and back on the other.

The hips, pelvis, and spine move together in a three-dimensional pattern. And as a result we have a three-dimensional system that stabilizes our pelvis as our joints bend and rotate.

Posterior Sling

The posterior sling involves the erector spinae, multifidi, and thoraco lumbar fascia. As they contract, they tilts the sacrum forward and pull upward, locking the SI joints in to place with a vertical force vector.

Posterior Oblique Sling

The posterior oblique sling involves the glute max, glute med, biceps femoris combined with the opposite lat create a diagonal force compressing the SI joint together.

Anterior Oblique Sling

The anterior oblique sling involves the external oblique, internal oblique and transverse abdominis with the oppsite adductors compress the pubic symphysis and stabilize the anterior pelvis.

If we lack mobility, or if we have a muscle imbalance in one or more of these slings, the stabilizing force of our pelvis can neither allow for mobility when we need it, nor stabilize where we need it. This causes more load to be placed on the spine and SI joints, possibly leading to injury.

Now let’s be clear about one thing: If there is a lack of mobility at the pelvis and spine, there is also most likely a lack of mobility at the hips. It would certainly be irresponsible of us to address one area without addressing the other.

However, the beauty of training rotation is that we get to address many of the sticky spots because in a 3-D system, we can’t move one without the other.

As always, if the exercise is uncomfortable, don’t do it. Furthermore, if the exercise feels great on one side but not so great on the other — don’t be afraid to train only one side. Forcing a motion on a side that feels uncomfortable will also cause injury.

Typical question: “But won’t I be uneven?” My typical response, “You’re already uneven, which is why we are now having this little chat.”

Here is an example of someone who trained Jeffersons with the intent of improving motion. Upon first attempting Jeffersons, one side felt great while the other side, well, not so much.

When looking at spine, pelvic, and hip motion we could see that an underlying scoliosis was one contributor to the problem. So he trained Jeffersons on just the side that felt comfortable. With time, as motion started to improve on that side, so did motion on the other and gradually he was able to perform the movement on both sides. The results were very impressive.

Not only did his general strength in rotational patterns improved, but so did the position of his spine. (photo reprinted curtesy https://www.dellanave.com/follow-your-body-to-better/)

So how do we do this?

Obviously if there is an imbalance, and certainly if there is a pre-existing injury, the last thing we are going to do is perform a loaded rotational movement. It is no secret that rotation places more load on the facet joints and requires more work from muscles increasing torque. But if we start with the motion itself, unloaded, or lightly loaded, with modifications were necessary, we build a solid platform on which progression can occur.

More Rotational Deadlifting

 

As Tony mentioned in a previous post, rotational deadlifts challenge the transverse plane of mobility, not to mention help fire up those oblique slings we use for diagonal stability. But what if it hurts to this, or you don’t have mobility to do this?

The above video is a great modification for beginners of this motion or those who have some trepidation in approaching this movement.

Valslide Curtsy Lunges

 

Don’t feel limited to rotational picking-up of things. Rotational lunges also provide a great opportunity to gain motion, not to mention they are a good butt burner.

After I taught this exercise at the Fitness Summit, a comment I received a lot via email/text/twitter from the attending trainers was “My clients love to hate this motion.” They love it because it feels so good, but hate it because the glutes are on fire, but then love it again because the glutes are on fire.

I have seen those with SI dysfunction quickly relieve symptoms performing this movement, even unloaded.

And Of Course the Jefferson

This is such a great exercise because it really caters to where our asymmetries in the pelvis may be.

You can stagger your stance if deadlifting with an even stance is hard. You can reduce shearing forces on the SI joint that can occur with single plane deadlifts because ALL three slings are engaging. And it reduces torque on the spine that a conventional deadlift can create because the load is directly under your center of mass, not in front of it.

David Dellanave of the Movement Minneapolis has great coaching and training tips HERE.

Summary

Ready to start twisting?

The first step is: Don’t be afraid to play around with rotational movements. Pick some exercises you already know and like, then start by staggering the stance a bit, or add even a few degrees of rotation. Follow what feels good.

Disclaimer: These are not exercises to push through, and this is not the time to pick the heaviest weight so you can look strong or boost your ego. That will lead to trouble — trust me. There are very safe ways to do this. If done mindfully, clients can gain not only improved mobility, but overall strength within that mobility. As always, listen to pain, don’t push past your current range of motion, and start where you are, and not where you want to be.

About the Author

Erika Mundinger is a licensed Physical Therapist and a board-certified orthopedic specialist working in the Twin Cities area. She practices orthopedics and sports medicine with advanced training and practice in manual therapies, corrective and functional exercises, and treatment of spinal disorders. She works at TRIA Orthopedic Center, the Twin Cities’ premier ortho clinic, treating athletes from professional to “weekend warrior” levels as well as general orthopedics and is a member of the clinic’s Spine Team, helping to better advance patient access to professionals specialized to manage care of spinal disorders and injury.

In 2002 she received her B.S. in Exercise Science from Montana State where she was involved in exercise physiology research and outdoor sports. In 2007 she received her Clinical Doctorate in Physical Therapy at the Mayo Clinic. She will receive a board certification as an Orthopedic Specialist in March 2015.

Mundinger is also an active member, coach, and physical therapist at the Movement Minneapolis and is trained in the Gym Movement Protocol. She actively applies this biofeedback training with clients and her own patients. She also works with several trainers outside of the Movement to help bridge the gap between physical rehabilitation and returning to fitness and recreation.

CategoriesExercise Technique

How to Fix Back Rounding When Deadlifting

My latest article via Stack.com discusses something very close and dear to my heart. My cat. I mean, deadlifts6

It was the best of spines, it was the worse of spines.

Forgive the literary pun, but when it comes to the action of deadlifting there’s no denying the fitting nature of the phrase.

Although there are unique circumstances where rounding of the spine is warranted and sometimes encouraged, save for the most elite lifters—who have spent years honing their craft and perfecting technique—for most people, most of the time, including you, rounding your back when performing a Deadlift is, well . . . not a good idea.

Continue reading on Stack.com….

CategoriesProgram Design

3 Program Design Failures Young Coaches Make

As you’re reading this I’m either lying out on the beach reading a book, crushing the all-you-can-eat ice cream bar, or not swimming in the ocean.

I hate getting wet. I know, I’m weird.

In any case, I’m in beautiful Nassau, Bahamas, enjoying my honeymoon.

Which is to say: Naaah, nah, nah, nah, naaaaaaaaah.

However, I prepared a head of time (you didn’t think I was going to go a week straight without posting anything did you?) and today I have guest post from my good friend and superhero strength coach, Mike Robertson. His latest DVD set, Physical Preparation 101, was released today (at an unreal discount), and he was kind enough to help fill in for me this week and offer some insight on the concept of program design.

More specifically, some common mistakes many young coaches tend to make.

To give a quick plug: the 12-DVD set is baller, and goes into great detail on Mike’s overall approach to program design. One day covers program design. And another day covers coaching. No shadow puppets.

It’s an amazing resource and something that would be an excellent addition to any coach or trainer looking to take their program design/coaching skills to ninja, nay, Jedi level status.

Enjoy Mikes wisdom!

Writing your first program may be one of the most challenging things you ever do.

The first program I ever wrote was for myself. I’d been training for powerlifting for about a year, and I figured that if I was going to be a great coach (someday!) that I needed to start writing my own programs.

Needless to say, it was quite the experience.

In 17 years of playing organized sports leading up to this point, I had never thrown up in a practice or conditioning practice.

But when you’re banging out four sets of ten squats with a minute rest, and then moving immediately to Bulgarian split-squats right after that, well, things get real – fast!

Over the years, I’ve learned a ton about programming. And while I’ve been fortunate to learn a ton from books, seminars and DVD’s, one of the best things you can do once you have that programming knowledge is to go out and actually fail.

That’s right – you need to make mistakes to get better.

With that being said, here are three common fails I see when coaches first start writing programs.

Programming Fail #1 – Trying to be too “cute”

When you first start writing programs, it’s easy fall into the trap of being “cute.”

You’re throwing in all these random exercises that no one has ever seen before, but hey, it’s on the Internetz so it must be legit!

Instead of being cute, focus on the 80/20 principle, and realize that 80 percent of your training results come from 20 percent of your actual programming.

Dan John uses the analogy of being in prison. If you only had 15-20 minutes to work out each day and wanted to get bigger and stronger, would you spend that time curling your arms into oblivion, or doing something big and basic like bench presses or chin-ups?

So being cute and pulling random exercises and set/rep schemes is obviously a problem. But there’s an even bigger problem that I see now, which leads me to my next point…

Programming Fail #2 – Being too complex with your programming

One of the arts of program design is finding the appropriate program for the person in front of you.

Appropriate is the key word here – when someone is just getting started, you can do just about anything and help him or her get stronger.

Simple programs like 5×5 or 5-3-1 have done this for years. By waving volume and intensity, throwing in deload weeks, and promoting high quality technique, beginning lifters can see gains on programs like these for years.

The goal is to match the program to the lifter. A beginning lifter should follow a beginners program.

An intermediate lifter should follow a more intermediate program.

And an elite lifter needs to bring out the big guns to continue to see success.

I hate to break it to you, but unless your male clients are squatting and deadlifting 2.5x bodyweight, or bench pressing 1.5x their body weight, they’re not advanced.

Part of the problem is that deep down, everyone wants to think they’re advanced.

But really – they’re not.

So why on Earth should they following a triple block, Russian super squat specialization program to take them from 180 to 200?

Go back to basics here. Find the least advanced program you can have them follow, which still creates a positive adaptation.

Doing this not only ensures that they see success now, but for years to come as well.

Programming Fail #3 – Making every program a Mona Lisa

There’s definitely an art and science when it comes to program design.

You need to know the science to write a program that will give the desired training effect, but at the same time, there’s an art in figuring out how to shape and mold the program to the client or athlete standing in front of you.

If you’ve been writing programs for a few years, after a while all your programs start to look very similar.

Maybe there are subtle differences between variables (sets, reps, exercise selection, etc.), but there is a lot of similarity in the bulk of your programs.

Why do you think that is?

Hint: Because a lot of our clients move similarly, and have the same underlying issues!

Furthermore, if you’re writing programs that are rooted in the basics, then you don’t need a ton of variability in a program (especially early-on) to see success.

The analogy that I always use is this: New trainers and coaches want every program to be a Mona Lisa.

They agonize over it, labor over it, and ultimately, what should be a very simple program quickly becomes far too advanced or complex.

Instead, remember that the goal isn’t to spend oodles of time writing a program – but rather, to simply ensure that the program elicits the desired adaptation.

In other words, don’t make a basic fat loss program a Mona Lisa, when it should really be paint-by-numbers!

I think there’s wisdom in making something as simple as possible, but no simpler.

Do what you need to do to get your clients and athletes the results they want, while helping them move and feel better along the way.

At its root, what we do really is that simple.

Summary

As a young or new coach, I made more mistakes in my programming then I care to remember.

However, with trial and error, plus a ton of learning along the way, I’d like to think that what was once a weakness is now one of my ultimate strengths.

If you take nothing else away from this post, do your best to simply make your programs as simple and easy to use as possible.

By doing so, chances are you’ll strip away a lot of the fluff, and end up with a program that’s razor sharp in the results it delivers.

All the best.

Again, Mike’s newest product, Physical Preparation 101, is on SALE ($100 off the regular price) starting TODAY (6/2) and will run through Friday. He’s a coach that even I still learn from and someone I respect a ton, and if you found yourself nodding your head in agreement from reading above, this may be something worth investing in.