CategoriesMotivational psychology

Find Your Flow With Metacognition

My wife, Lisa, is taking the reigns today. She’s teaming with Artemis Scantalides for the I Am Not Afraid To Lift workshop at Iron Body Studios this November, and will speak to more of the psychological barriers that exist which often stagnate people’s progress in the gym.

We’re often our own worst enemy, and our inner dialogue can play tricky – sometimes harmful – games with our mind(s).

Lisa’s a psychologist (pretty much the best one in the world)[footnote]Admittedly I’m a little biased.[/footnote], leads an active lifestyle (she lifts heavy things and teaches several spin classes a week. So, you could say she’s a doctor who actually lifts), and sees a ton of value in combining both the power of the mind and the power of the barbell and using them in a synergistic manner.

In today’s post she discusses the concept of Metacognition, which sounds like an X-Men character but it’s not. It’s still cool though. You should totes read about it below.

Enjoy,.

Find Your “Flow” With Metacognition

Think about your thinking. Right at this moment.

What’s running through your mind right now? In that last minute? In the last hour? Sure, you’re reading these sentences, and maybe thinking about them, but you’re probably also thinking about one, or two, or seven other things, right now.

Before you continue reading, take a minute to observe your thoughts. If that’s too long, shoot for 30 seconds – you can set a timer. Don’t change them, just notice. Eyes open or closed, being still or moving… listen to your inner monologue…

What did you notice? Positive thoughts? Negative thoughts? Worries? Day dreams? Shoulds? To-Do’s? Hopes? Judgments?

Your thoughts are layered.

Your thoughts are constant.

Your thoughts influence your feelings and shape your behavior.

The exciting part is, you can control your very own thoughts and use them to improve every aspect of your life: work, relationships, and your training. You can learn what thoughts are helpful, and which aren’t, and then you can use them, shape them, change and augment them, to enhance your performance and your passion for your goals.

Thinking about thinking, or metacognition, is one of the nifty skills that set us humans apart from the rest of the animal kingdom. Not only can we be aware of our thoughts and reflect on them, but we can consciously change them.

When your thoughts are connected to the present moment, your emotions and behaviors will be as well. When your thoughts align with your goals, you are at your best; in your Zone! In other words, 100% percent of your thoughts are focused on your training. What do you do, or what can you do, to get yourself 100% present and focused on your workout?

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, one of my favorite psychologists, studied being in the zone, or what he calls “Flow” (1990). I’ve heard athletes and clients call it their “vibe”, or “space”, but whatever you call it, that’s the place you want to be when you train. Being in flow means that your mindset contains only constructive thoughts about the present moment. It means you and your thoughts are fully engaged in a goal-directed activity. Csikszentmihalyi explains:

“The optimal state of inner experience is one in which there is order in consciousness. This happens when psychic energy – or attention – is invested in realistic goals, and when skills match the opportunities for action. The pursuit of a goal brings order in awareness because a person must concentrate attention on the task at hand and momentarily forget everything else… By stretching skills, by reaching toward higher challenges, a person becomes an increasingly extraordinary individual” (p. 6).

When you train, what is the content of your thoughts?

One way I ask clients about this is by asking them to visualize their own mental pie chart.

If you can imagine a pie chart that represents all the various thoughts and appraisals you have during your training sessions, what are the slices inside the pie? How much space does each slice take up?

Are your thoughts unified and present, or are they splintered and disconnected from your workout?

Are you squatting while wondering about your email?

Swinging a kettlebell and taking an inventory of what’s in the fridge to whip up for dinner later on?

Thinking of some moron who never texted you back, or that tricky situation with your boss, and feeling angry or badly about yourself while trying to bench press?

Being one place in your mind and another with your body can impair performance and suck all the fun out of your training. When you are in the present moment, and your thoughts, feelings, and actions are lined up, fired up, and rolling along in your zone, you love it! It helps you, it changes you. It creates an opportunity for you to become better than you are.

The benefits to being in the zone, or flow, are both physical and psychological.

Your performance is maximized when you are present and focused on your training, which means you can train harder and progress more efficiently toward your goal. In addition, being in flow while training improves well-being, enjoyment of a goal directed activity, and leads to happiness, both in and out of the gym.

So, how about thinking about your thinking, and making some changes, in the name of better workouts?

Increased happiness? Bigger lifts?

To do this, you want to:

1. Minimize unrelated and distracting thoughts during your workout (those would be about errands, emails, relationships, and on and on) and,

2. Negative thoughts about your self, or negative self talk (“What if I can’t do the pull up and people at the gym see me look ridiculous?” or “I’ll never be able to deadlift 2x body weight.”).

Instead, your mental pie chart should be comprised of:

1. Task oriented thoughts and goals (“Inhale, hinge, sit back, drive, follow through!”), and

2. Positive self talk (“I can push myself and progress my training to do a pull up… I love to deadlift and know I can keep working hard and improve my PR!”)

Your prefrontal cortex is a highly evolved, super-fast, multitasking mammajamma, that communicates with your body, your awareness, and your emotions, to push you, drive you, and propel you toward your goals.

You may not be able to control your feelings, but you can control your thoughts. Then thoughts shape feelings. And feelings shape behavior. Your behavior will then impact your thoughts, and the cycle can either be facilitative or detrimental to your performance, your goals, and your enjoyment of your pursuits.

You can improve your training by honing your mental skills.

You can progress your mental fitness, or mental toughness, by creating a mindset that is 100% focused on your goals and fully present during your workout.

I hope thinking about your thinking can help you with your very next workout!

Just begin by noticing the content of your thoughts.

Visualize your mental pie chart, and take a look at what’s inside.

Then identify useful cues and positive statements about yourself and your training to facilitate your goals. Finally, practice! The same way you practice your physical skills, being 100% present and mentally tough means that you practice positive self talk over, and over, and over again. Thank you for reading.

I Am Not Afraid to Lift Workshop

Still interested in learning more?

I’ll be joining Artemis on November 7th  at Iron Body Studios just outside of Boston to provide psychological consultation at the I Am Not Afraid To Lift workshop!

Mental skills including positive self talk and goal setting techniques will be reviewed in conjunction with physical skills. If you’re interested, hope to see you there!

Learn more and register for I Am Not Afraid To Lift below…

Early bird ends on October 11, 2015.

Learn more about the workshop HERE.

Register for the workshop HERE under the “Events” tab.

About the Author

Dr. Lisa Lewis is a licensed psychologist with a passion for wellness and fitness. She earned her doctorate in counseling psychology with a specialization in sport psychology at Boston University, and her doctoral research focused on exercise motivation. She uses a strength-based, solution-focused approach and most enjoys working with athletes and athletically-minded clients who are working toward a specific goal or achievement.

Lisa is also a certified drug and alcohol counselor, and has taught undergraduate courses as an adjunct professor at Salem University, Wheelock College, and Northeastern University in courses including exercise psychology, developmental psychology, and abnormal psychology. Lisa currently works as the assistant director of a college counseling center in Boston, MA, and she has a small private practice in the nearby town of Brookline.

As a new addition to the “I Am Not Afraid To Lift” workshop, Lisa will integrate mental skills into the physical skills training of the day. Mental skills can enhance performance, maximize motivation and prevent barriers like negative thinking, fear, and self-doubt from interfering with goals.

CategoriesMotivational rant

The Law of Repeated Exposures and How It Can Help You Master Any Topic

As most who read this site know I spent this past weekend in St. Louis with Dean Somerset teaching our Complete Shoulder & Hip Workshop[footnote]We’ll be in Chicago the weekend of October 17th and LA the weekend of November 13th. For more details shoot me an email.[/footnote] to a group of 25 personal trainers, coaches, and PTs at Blue Ocean Fitness located just outside of the city itself, in Chesterfield (if you’re in the area, give John Farkas a call. Great coach and amazing staff). In addition, I spent the last few days eating a fair amount of dead animal flesh.

For as much as Kansas City gets all the BBQ hype (and with good reason, it’s delicious), I have to say…St. Louis ranks right up there too.

Pulled pork aside, the entire weekend was a success – no one left early or asked for their money back. And from what I could tell everyone who attended walked away with a number of ah-HA moments.

A few “big rock” examples:

1. Shoulder assessment is much more in depth than only paying attention to anterior-posterior imbalances (rounded back). It’s crucial to pay close attention to superior-inferior imbalances as well; the ability to upwardly rotate the scapulae and control, eccentrically, downward rotation.

2. If someone lacks the ability to achieve ample shoulder flexion, they probably shouldn’t be performing overhead pressing, snatches for AMRAP, or kipping pull-ups. Ever.

3. The term “shoulder stability” is kind of a misnomer. Stability suggests broad bony structures and ligamentous attachments. This has nothing to do with the scapulae. Instead, a better term – I stole from Sue Falsone – is controlled scapular mobility.

4. The “anti-flexion” movement has given rise to a host of other equally deleterious imbalances to shoulder (and spinal) health; namely those “stuck” in gross extension, and subsequently depressed/low shoulder girdles and downwardly rotated scapulae.

This is important because how you go about “treating” and programming for these individuals will often be in stark contrast to the likes of computer guy (and zombies), who are stuck in flexion. For instance, for those in a more extended posture it’s not uncommon to hammer upper trap activation to help improve scapular upward rotation.

Something most “computer guys” won’t need. They may need to improve upward rotation, but NOT by means of MORE upper trap activation.

5. Not everyone is meant – or designed (we need to appreciate and respect people’s anatomy and bony limitations) – to squat ass-to-grass. The internet disagrees and it can go fuck itself.

6. Perceived mobility restrictions could very well be lack of motor control and/or instability. Don’t assume limited ROM in any movement means you need to stretch for endless hours or “smash” a muscle with a foam roller, lacrosse ball, barbell, or for the more hardcore SMR types, a live grenade.

Aggressive soft tissue work has a time and place, but I do feel many take it too far.

7. Along those same lines, improving proximal stability with things like plank variations and rolling patterns – to help aid core firing and stability – will result in improved distal mobility.

Dean and I didn’t film our lecture(s), but I encourage you to watch the video below of Dr. Perry Nickelston discussing the soft roll.

 

Also here’s an older video of Dean going all Gandalf on people, showcasing the power of planks at improving hip range of motion.

 

And here’s a video of me stabbing a SWISS ball. Because, corrective exercise.

 

And now it’s all over.

As the case is every time I complete a workshop, I did what any self-proclaimed introvert would do: collapsed on my hotel bed, vegged out, and binge watched HGTV.

What can I say: Nothing says I live life dangerously more than House Hunters and Property Brothers.

It was an early wake-up call this morning, and as I type these words on my keyboard I’m sitting here in the airport waiting for my flight to Cincinnati where I’ll connect back to Boston.

I didn’t have anything concrete to write about today, but then I remembered a question one of the attendees of the workshop this past weekend asked me prior to starting on Saturday:

“How did you get so good with shoulder stuff? Where did you learn it from?”

It was a huge compliment. It made me feel good. But it also caught me a little off guard, because I don’t consider myself anything special with regards to shoulder knowledge.

If we’re discussing the ability to quote the movie GoodFellas, regurgitate random Mark McGwire baseball statistics, and list, alphabetically, the name of each character to die in Game of Thrones…then I’m the shit.

But shoulders? I guess I’m okay. I’m also my own worst critic. I know I know a thing or two.

However, I think anyone would feel inferior in this department if one of their best friends was Eric Cressey.

Then again, that’s part of the reason I’m comfortable with the topic.

That and what I wanted to briefly discuss today:

The Law of Repeated Exposure(s)

Mind you, I don’t believe this is a real thing, much less a law. Not like The Law of Thermodynamics or The Law of Gravity or The Law of Paula Patton’s hotness.

This “law” is more or less something I made up, but nonetheless pertinent to the conversation.

Simply stated: the more you immerse or “expose” yourself to any given topic or thing (<- how’s that for science), the more likely you are to have some degree of mastery in it.

As an example Dean and I were discussing the Strong First certification this past weekend with the attendees, and he mentioned to everyone that when he took the course last year he performed roughly 3000 kettlebell swings in two days.

He got really good at swings.

Likewise, how does someone get better at deadlifting, squatting, or chin-ups?

They do them. A lot.

I work with a lot of women, and one of the common themes I notice is their apprehension or reluctance at their ability to perform a strict, full-ROM chin-up.

Whether it’s via negative self-talk (“I’ll never be able to do that!”) or the fact much of the mainstream media channels them into believing they’re these delicate flowers that can’t (or worse, shouldn’t) train with appreciable weight or intensity…many (not all) have waived the white flag before having tried.

And even if they do try, it’s less a real, valiant attempt than it is a whimper. Training the chin-up once – maybe twice – per week isn’t going to cut it.

I often defer to my good friend, Artemis Scantalides, who, is not only an outstanding coach, a Strong First instructor, one of only a handful of women to complete the Iron Maiden Challenge, and a black belt in Kung-Fu, but also champions the idea of training the chin-up in some way or fashion – varying set/rep schemes, accessory movements, etc – 4-6x per week.

That’s how you get better and more proficient with it.

Taking the “law” outside of the realm of health and fitness, it’s still every bit as efficacious.

What do writers do to get better at writing? They write.

It’s every bit as much of a learned skill as acting, throwing a baseball, learning to play guitar, or finally beating Mike Tyson in Mike Tyson’s Punch Out.

I’ve written well over 1,800 blog posts on this site, and cringe at some of my early work. I still cringe and struggle with the bulk of my writing today (I have yet to meet anyone who does a fair bit of writing and believes he or she is a “good” writer). But I know I’m better than I was 2006.

Chefs get better the more they cook. Dancers get better the more they dance. Nerds get better at not getting laid the more Star Trek conventions they go to.[footnote]I’m a Star Wars nerd. Star Trek is totally nerdier.[/footnote]

It all falls under the same umbrella.

The more you do something and the more you expose yourself to the material, the more confident you are in your abilities to master it.

Coming back full circle to shoulders: I still don’t consider myself an expert. But there’s a lot to be said from all the assessments I’ve done in the past eight years, the sheer number of overhead athletes I’ve worked with, programs I’ve written, the countless articles and books I’ve read, DVDs I’ve watched, and seminars/workshops I’ve attended.

Too, I understand that having access to someone like Eric Cressey and the amazing group of coaches I’m surrounded by on a daily basis puts me at a slight advantage.

But that’s also because I’ve worked hard to put myself if in that situation. Doing so has allowed me opportunities I otherwise couldn’t have fathomed ever happening.

Like teaching at this past weekend’s workshop.

Here’s the Lesson

Regardless of what you want to get better at: Shoulder anatomy, assessment, biceps, Scrabble, posting cute cat pictures on the internet, whatever. There is no one correct way or answer. The onus is on YOU.

Ask questions and be inquisitive. That goes without saying. But also do whatever it takes to get as many repeat exposures to the material as possible.

And then don’t stop.

CategoriesStuff to Read While You're Pretending to Work

Stuff To Read While You’re Pretending To Work: 9/25/15

I’m on my way to St. Louis this weekend to spend a few days coaching up a small group of fitness professionals for mine and Dean Somerset’s Complete Shoulder & Hip Workshop we’re holding at Blue Ocean Fitness.

While there I’m hoping to head to a Cards game, not get beat up for wearing a RedSox hat, and meet up with long-time CSP athlete and St. Louis relief pitcher, Steve Cishek.

Oh, and eat tons of BBQ. If St. Louis is anything close to Kansas City on that front, I can’t wait!

Just as an FYI: Dean and I will also be hitting up both Chicago and LA in the near future:

CEU’s will be available for all workshops.

CHICAGO (October 17-18th).

LOS ANGELES (November 14-15th)

Hope you see you there!

6 Bad Arguments That Make the GMO Debate Look Stupid – Go Kaleo

This is an argument that can get heated. Both sides of the fence are pretty adamant and steadfast in their beliefs. On one side you have those who feel ingesting genetically engineered food is akin to napalming an orphanage of kittens, while on the other you have those who feel it’s no big deal.

I like Go Kaleo’s stance to be “cautiously pro-GMO.” She’s not all in, but understands that many of those who argue against it use really, really, REALLY dumb logic.

Increasing Velocity Through More Efficient Landing Positions – Matt Blake

CSP Pitching Coordinator, Matt Blake, knows a thing or two when it comes to breaking down pitching mechanics. Wish I would have had someone like him in my corner when I played ball. I totally would have learned how to throw a curve ball.

Advance Training: Max-Growth Cluster Sets – Christian Thibaudeau

I looooooooove cluster training. And this was an excellent article by Coach Thibs describing their efficacy for building monsters, as well as showcasing a “new” way to implement them for maximal muscle stimulation.

Brutal.

And that’s it. Enjoy the weekend everyone.

Categoriesmuscle growth

A Quick and Dirty Way To Add Muscle

I’ve spent the first part of this week writing about action heroes and poking a little fun at CrossFit, so I felt it was only fair to write something actually useful to those of you heading to the gym today.

Most everyone reading this blog is interested in getting stronger and/or adding muscle (usually both). Well there’s also my uncanny wittiness, good looks, and pop cultural references. But mostly it’s the getting strong and muscles part.

Both endeavors are relatively simple to do (but not easy to accomplish).

Getting stronger entails picking (heavy) things up and putting them down…repeatedly. Progressive overload is the term most commonly used. Do a little more work today than you did the last time out, stay consistent, and good things will happen.

There’s more “stuff” that comes into the conversation of course – maximal effort, dynamic effort, repeated effort, speed strength, strength speed, absolute strength, rate coding, intra/intermuscular coordination, Batman – but I don’t want to deal with all the mental and intellectual gymnastics involved.

To keep things simple: do more work today than you did last.

Muscle building very much mirrors everything above. Progressive overload is kind of a big deal, in addition to all those fancy terms from above. I mean come on: someone with a 500 lb deadlift is usually not a small human being.

Then again there’s this video which has been making its rounds on social media the past few days of a 16 year-old girl deadlifting 418 lbs (at a bodyweight of just under 150 lbs):

 

Training for strength doesn’t always equate to big muscles – especially when someone competes in a sport where weight class comes into play and relative strength (strength as it relates to their bodyweight) is more of the goal.

That said, getting bigger almost always comes down to total volume. Most people who’s goal it is to add muscle don’t do enough of it.

They perform their 3 sets of 10 for a particular muscle group and move on. Unless it’s biceps than it’s more like 17 sets of 10.

And while counting total sets/reps (and hence total tonnage) is a fool proof way to attack things, we also can’t neglect the innumerable ways to illicit mechanical stress and muscle damage (all of which break down muscle and stimulate it to grow.[footnote]Of note, nothing is going to grow if you’re not eating enough calories. Eat. EAT I SAY![/footnote]

To quote the great Zatsiorsky:

“A muscle fiber that is recruited but not fatigued is not trained.”

Constant Tension Sets

A key component to muscle growth is time under tension, and one “trick” I’ve been using lately in my training (thanks to Greg Robins) is the notion of constant tension sets.

As an example lets take your standard flat bench DB press.

You’d set up like you normally would, but the idea is to maintain constant tension on the pecs by not locking out your elbows.

You’d lower the weights to get a nice stretch in the pecs, and then press making sure to stop just short of locking out. Moreover, instead of focusing on a specific number of repetitions you’d shoot for a time.

It may look something like this:

Week 1: 3 sets of 40s
Week 2: 3 sets of 45s
Week 3: 3 sets of 50s
Week 4: 3 sets of 60s

It can be brutal. 40s never felt so long.

These have been a great addition to my upper body days as an accessory movement after I perform a (heavy) bench press variation.

And you don’t have to limit yourself to DB presses, either. You can be inventive. I’ve used the same method with Goblet squats, front squats, RDLs, shoulder presses, and you can bet your ass I’ve used it as a killer finisher for bi’s and tri’s. Yeah buddy!

It’s nothing fancy, but the method is effective.

Hopefully it’s something you can implement and try for yourself soon. If so, let me know what you think.

Categoriespersonal training rant

Gym Etiquette 201

A friend of mine and amazing writer, James Fell, wrote a clever piece recently titled Gym Etiquette 101 highligting some of the not-so-etiquette-like shenanigans many gym goers are violators of.

Give it a read. It’s hilarious.

After reading it myself I was inspired to shell out my own list of Gym Etiquette rules.

Admittedly I sort of live in a gym etiquette bubble at Cressey Sports Performance. We have the luxury of setting the standard, frowning upon, and “policing” many of the things that would otherwise be par-for-the-course at your typical commercial gym.

Case in point: here’s the sign that greeted all of our athletes and (non-athlete) clients when they passed through our doors circa 2008-2010.

We’ve since rescinding from making the sign public – we felt it didn’t bode well giving off a good first impression with parents – but the “rule” still exists.

Whenever I see a young athlete stopping a session to walk over to check his phone I’ll follow suite and say something to the effect of “unless you’re texting with Emma Watson about your plans for dinner tonight, get back over to the squat rack.”

Likewise you won’t see anyone at CSP get all huffy about sharing a piece of equipment. Yelling or grunting during a set is encouraged. If you’re not using chalk (and wearing lifting gloves instead) you’re a tool. And you can’t load up the leg press machine and then leave all your weights because we don’t have a leg press machine to begin with.

Nah-na-na-na-nah.

Similarly there are a handful of implied “un-written” rules as well. Like:

  1. Thurdays are generally reserved for Tony’s Techno Thurdays.[footnote]Also known as Tony’s Techno Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday[/footnote]
  2. Eric will inevitably throw his hands in the air, say something along the lines of “this music is making my ears bleed,” and then put on Linkin Park radio.
  3. No direct arm work until you’re able to perform one strict, bodyweight chin-up (women) or five chin-ups (men).
  4. Tony has to coach with his shirt on. Which is BS.
  5. Don’t feed Tank! He’s like a Gremlin.

Pretty simple, right?

However, all of this isn’t to say I never have the opportunity to venture outside my little bubble and train at a commercial gym. I like visiting different gyms now and again, if for nothing else to have a change of scenery (and for the entertainment value).

When this happens I’m always amused as to some of the things that transpire and some of the etiquette rules that are broken.

It’s as if people’s social filter is somehow blocked when they’re surrounded by barbells and dumbbells. Or maybe it’s the plume of Axe Body Spray rendering people inert from giving a shit.

Either way here are some of my own thoughts.

Gym Etiquette 201

1. I can’t reiterate enough how annoying it is when people offer unsolicited advice. I’ve never done it personally, but have been approached by random people in the past who asked me a question or two. That’s different. If someone goes out of their way to ask you your advice or opinion on something, have at it.

If someone is minding their own business (especially if they’re wearing headphones) – and even if the exercise they’re doing resembles more of a mating dance than an actual exercise – keep your yapper shut. Move along with your life. No one cares.

2. However, for many new personal trainers who have to log “floor hours”[footnote]Code speak for: pick up after people.[/footnote] at the start of their employment, offering unsolicited advice is kinda what you have to do to “recruit” potential clients.

Tread lightly.

Don’t he the guy or girl who approaches everyone within a two-mile radius to correct their technique. It’s one thing to offer some words of insight or encouragement to someone who’s obviously struggling or runs the risk of injuring themselves. It’s another thing to interrupt the guy deadlifting 400+ lbs (for reps) that he may be lacking some left hip internal rotation which may be affecting his Zone of Apposition.

“Here’s my card, we should talk.”

Have some “feel” and know when to pick your battles.

When I worked in commercial gyms I always found success showing people new exercises or a slight tweak to one they’re already doing, and then moved on. I didn’t linger like a creepoid and proceed to the awkward, “soooo, are you looking for a personal trainer” conversation.

They way I saw it: if I offered a quick ah-HA moment to a few people per day – which was no biggie since I was being paid for my time anyways – and didn’t make things awkward, at some point the law averages would dictate someone would bite and seek me out for my services.

I also offered “free” 15-30 minute tutorials where I broke down technique on a specific movement (squat, KB swing) or maybe gave a quick-n-dirty core training class and introduced people to deadbugs, Pallof Presses, or not sit-ups.

3. Another thing to consider – if you are an uppity douche and always insisting on giving people unsolicited advice – is to know what you’re talking about. This is especially true if you’re a personal trainer.

I once had a trainer come up to me at a commercial gym to inform me I wasn’t going down low enough on my squats and that I was leaning too far forward.

I had just completed a set of good mornings.

 

4. Hey guy who can’t walk past a mirror without doing one of those fake I-have-sweat-on-my-forehead-and-need-to-wipe-it-off-with-my-shirt-but-what-I’m-really-doing-is-checking-out-my-abs moves.

Once or twice you get a mulligan.

After that, stop it. You’re abs didn’t disappear. They’re still there.

5. I actually don’t care if someone makes noise when training. It’s a gym not a library. In a commercial gym, though, it can get a little controversial because some people take it a little too far.

I won’t name the actor, but I remember a few years ago I was training at a reputable high-end gym when, after a set of deadlifts, I heard the most audacious roaring coming from around the corner.

I had to go take a peek.

I was expecting to see some ginormous human being lifting a bulldozer. What I found instead was said actor finishing a set of DB presses with 50 lbs.

YEAH! You’re the man.

6. Like everyone else I Earth, I have a particular affinity towards water. And, I think it’s awesome you’re someone who takes their hydration so seriously that you carry around a gallon jug to ensure you’re hydrated to the best of your ability.

But do you have to fill up the entire jug at the gym when five other people are waiting in line at the water fountain?

7. I’m all for pumping yourself up prior to a big lift. But spare everyone the HEY EVERYONE LOOK AT ME WWE worthy entrance before every set.

Trust me: you’re not the Ultimate Warrior. And a 225 lb quarter squat isn’t impressing anyone.

 

8. Guys: just because a woman is in the free-weight area doesn’t mean she needs you to come “rescue” her and offer a spot with every single lift. She’s good.

9. Everyone (men and women): just because a woman is squatting or deadlifting doesn’t mean she’s automatically an athlete or is training for some sort of competition.

My wife has the best response whenever someone asks her “Whoa. You’re really getting after it. What are you training for?”

“Life. I’m training for life.”

10. We all have our biases and what we like to do. Meatheads like to lift. Yogis like to yoga. Pilates people like to pilaticize. Runners like to run. CrossFitters like to to perform scoliosis for AMRAP.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T74Xek-pDLM

 

Just kidding CrossFit. Kinda….;o)

It’s all good. Whatever makes people happy and gets them moving is a win. Lets stop being so judgmental towards one another, attempting to prove one way is inferior to YOUR way, and trying to “one-up” everyone else.

It’s one thing if someone is paying you for your advise and expertise and have hired you to help them achieve a specific goal. If that’s the case you use whatever modality is the best fit for them, their goals, their ability level, and what you’re comfortable coaching.

Outside of that, mind your own business.

CategoriesOff Topic

Movie Review: Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation

Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation wastes little time jumping straight into the action. Well, there’s also jumping, and running, and a sniper roll tossed in for good measure. All of which culminates with Tom Cruise’s character, IMF agent, Ethan Hunt, grabbing onto the side of an airplane as it takes off with a payload of nerve gas along with the terrorists hell bent on using it to do bad things.

You know, cause they’re a-holes.

It was an awesome opening scene and set the stage for an awesome, action-packed two hours.

Lets talk about Tom Cruise for a second.

That’s actually him dangling from the side of the airplane as it takes off[footnote]Apparently it took ten days and eight attempts to shoot this scene – and the plane, at times, reached as high as 5000 feet.[/footnote] No stunt double or special effects needed.

As is the case with every movie he does, Cruise is hell bent on performing all his own stunts. He famously hung from the side of a cliff in the opening scene of Mission Impossible II. Not to be outdone he upped the ante in Ghost Protocol (movie #4 in the series) and dangled from the side of the tallest building in the world, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai.

I think it’s safe to say Cruise isn’t scared of heights.

And while guys like Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Ahnuld, Vin Diesel, Sylvester Stallone, and Jason Statham get all the love for being the A-list action heroes at present – punching, kicking, shooting, and flexing their way to box office domination – no one ever mentions Cruise.

And yet there he is climbing buildings, hanging off planes, doing all of his own stunt driving, not to mention all his own fight stunts, including stuff like this:

It’s rather impressive to watch him do the things he does. At age 50. Motherfucker better get an invite to be in the next Expendables movie.

Personal life aside – trying really hard not to insert Scientology joke here – it’s perplexing to me that Cruise isn’t considered an action star, much less a “good” actor. True, outside of some of his earlier movies (Top Gun, The Firm) none of his movies outside of the MI franchise have been huge successes domestically.

It was announced recently that plans are in the works to make a Jack Reacher 2. 17 people saw that movie here in the States. I was one of them. It wasn’t a bad movie. Certainly not great. But a decent action thriller, and Cruise did his fair share of busting up some faces. It didn’t make a lot of money here in the U.S, but internationally it made a metric shit-ton (which, FYI, is a little more than a metric boat-load).

No question Cruise is a bonafide star in America. But he’s box office royalty around the world. Hence why movies like Jack Reacher 2 get green lit.

Personally I’m not one who places a lot of weight on how “good” or “bad” a movie is on how much money it makes at the box office. I mean, Paul Blart: Mall Cop hit #1 and made over $100 million back in the day. Movie studios keep allowing Adam Sandler to make movies. So, it’s clear we don’t give a fuck.

Box office notwithstanding, I find it odd more people haven’t watched Cruise’s performance in Magnolia (a role that won him a Golden Globe) and given him more props as a dramatic actor.

Or watched him in Tropic Thunder (that’s him playing the ostentatious movie exec, Less Grossman, another supporting role he was nominated a Golden Globe for) and were in awe of his comedic talent.

I feel Vanilla Sky is one of the most UNDER-rated movies he’s ever made. The same with Collateral. Both are amazing performances by Cruise. And, whatever, Eyes Wide Shut is good too. Because, boobies.

Which bring us, finally, to Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation. The 5th iteration in the series, and frankly, going in, I felt it wouldn’t hold a candle to Ghost Protocol.

It did.

Written and directed by the series’ 5th director, Christopher McQuarrie[footnote]McQuarrie also wrote The Usual Suspects, so he’s is already the shit in my book.[/footnote], who has an extensive history with Cruise having written Edge of Tomorrow (another VASTLY underrated movie), Valkyrie, and Jack Reacher (of which he also directed), Rogue Nation follows Ethan Hunt and his freshly minted disbanded team of IMF agents Benji Dunn (Simon Pegg), William Brandt (Jeremy Renner), and Luther Stickell (Ving Rhames) as they try to identify and destroy the evil rogue organization, the Syndicate, lead by disavowed former MI6 agent, Solomon Lane (played by Sean Harris, pictured below).

To compound things, the CIA (led by Alec Baldwin) is after Ethan and his team to bring them in – shoot to kill! – to put a halt to their shenanigans and to answer for all the destruction they’ve caused. Moreover Ethan himself has to figure out whether or not he can trust double agent, Isla Faust (played by relative newcomer, badass, and scene stealer, Rebecca Ferguson) who, even though has helped save Ethan’s life multiple times, may or may not be in cahoots with the Syndicate.

Anyone who’s a fan of the franchise will appreciate the various locations (London, Morocco, Vienna, to name a few), the technology and gadgets (clarinets turned into guns), the smart dialogue, the impossibleness made possible, and of course the action.

In a more “realistic” nod to common sense, there’s a point in the movie where Hunt and Faust are trying to escape a precarious situation and are being chased by the police. She stops and takes off her high heels.

[Anyone who saw Jurassic World this past summer will note a point of contention and high ridicule when Bryce Dallas Howard’s character spent half the movie running away from T-Rex’s in high heels.]

Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation is everything who’d expect in a summer blockbuster. It’s smart, it’s sexy, and while there aren’t any zombies, there’s enough action to keep any action junky satisfied. More importantly the franchise itself doesn’t seem to be losing any ground or steam in terms of delivering. See you when round six comes out.

CategoriesStuff to Read While You're Pretending to Work

Stuff To Read While You’re Pretending To Work: 9/18/15

Before we jump into this week’s list, as a reminder: Dean Somerset and I kicked off our Complete Shoulder & Hip Training Workshop a few weekends ago up in Edmonton, Alberta and have several stops across North America lined up over the next several weeks.

It’s like a traveling Cirque du Soleil show, except with no tents, flashy acrobatics, animals, or ripped half- naked dudes contorting themselves into pretzels.

So it’s really nothing like that.

We teamed up last year for a handful of workshops that were successful – London, DC, LA –  and didn’t want to kill each other, so we figured we’d do it again this year

This time around we’re going to place a ton of emphasis on the hips and shoulders. One day will be entirely dedicated to the shoulders (me), and the other hips (Dean). We’ll talk anatomy, assessment, corrective exercise, programming, and we’ll also be doing a fair amount of coaching/hands-on demonstrations.

Here’s a nice testimonial we received from the Edmonton workshop:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b78JdzzvARg

CEU’s will be available for all workshops.

ST. LOUIS (next weekend, September 26-27th. A few spots are still available).

CHICAGO (October 17-18th).

LOS ANGELES (November 14-15th)

Hope you see you there!

Effective Warm-Ups to Improve Your Squat, Deadlift, and Bench Numbers – Ryan Wood

Everyone is pressed for time nowadays, and as such…the warm-up often gets the shaft and is axed from most training routines. Or, at the very least is drastically reduced to a few arm circles here and some high knee lunges there and we’re off to the races.

I know I’m a culprit of doing it sometimes.

Ryan offers some quick and efficient warm-up exercises to help prime the body for lifting heavy things.

Understanding and Developing Starting Strength – Bryan Mann

This is a somewhat older article (March 2015), but after listening to Bryan’s interview on Mike Robertson’s podcast (FYI: you should subscribe to it HERE) and getting my face melted with some of the knowledge he was sharing I had to seek out more of his work.

I think many trainers and coaches – myself included- have a (false) idea of what “starting strength” actually is and how to train for it.

This article clears it up.

Strength Training Tricks: What Works? – Travis Pollen

I had the pleasure of helping to contribute to this article expounding on some of the more common coaching cues and methodologies that are tossed around.

Drop down fast (in the squat) to come up fast?

Don’t stretch your pecs before benching?

Touch the tongue on the roof your mouth (while deadlifting)?

Which ones stick and which ones are rubbish? An awesome clan of coaches offer their insights.

CategoriesExercise Technique

A Common Dumbbell Row Mistake: Let the Shoulder Blade Move!

I love training the back. To me nothing sends the message of “I lift weights” more so than someone who has an impressive looking backside.

And one of my favorite exercises to train the back is the 1-arm DB Row.

young woman flexing muscles with dumbbell in gym

 

That said, most people don’t perform it correctly. In fact, I’d bunch both the 1-arm DB row and push-up together as two exercises most people roll their eyes at and think are easy, but fall woefully short in terms of passing the eyeball test.

You know the saying: if it looks like crap….

I’m not going to belabor the obvious talking points here. Most people understand that a good DB Row is performed with:

  1. An anatomically “neutral” spine position: the upper doesn’t round, and the head doesn’t protract forward.
  2. The elbow not going too far back (to the point where there’s excessive glenohumeral extension, and subsequent anterior laxity of the shoulder).
  3. To the point above, the arm should move in more of an “arc” movement (forward to back) rather than straight up and down. While there is scapular retraction happening (more on this below), I feel the 1-arm DB row is more of a lat exercise than it is an upper back exercise. I like to cue people to think about bringing their elbow toward their hip rather than straight up and down.

However, none of this matters if your name is Matt Kroczaleski and you’re a beast:

 

NOTE: don’t hate on me for the music. Chris Howard had control of the stereo during CSP after hours.

As noted above I do feel the 1-arm DB row is a fantastic upper back builder, but that it’s more suited for lat development than it is building superior scapular retractors. This isn’t to say it can’t (or shouldn’t be used) in that fashion, it can! But if we can appreciate the fiber orientation of the lats in conjunction with the actual arm (arc) action being performed with the exercise, we can then better appreciate why it shouldn’t be at the top of the exercise hierarchy with regards to training scapular retraction.

But lets discuss scapular retraction.

A common cue used with the 1-arm DB Row is to retract (adduct) the scapulae (shoulder blade) and then to “pin” it there throughout the duration of the set. Like this:

 

I believe this is wrong and goes against common shoulder joint mechanics. By pinning the shoulder blade in place you’re essentially forcing yourself to gain the brunt of motion through the glenohumeral joint, which can lead to more anterior (forward) translation of the joint itself; causing more anterior laxity.

In addition, keeping the shoulder blade retracted the entire time can lead to rhomboid dominance, which in turn can (not always) result in muscular imbalances such as downward rotation syndrome; a term popularized by physical therapist Shirley Sahrmann in her book Diagnosis and Treatment of Movement Impairment Syndromes.

And as we all know, downward rotation syndrome kills kittens. True story.

You don’t want to kill kittens do you?

Instead I prefer to coach people to allow their shoulder blade to move; or breath. Like this:

The shoulder blade should move around the rib cage.

So instead of gluing it in place, the shoulder blade has room to breath – can move – and can work in a more synergistic fashion with GH joint. You work the scapula both concentrically and eccentrically.

NOTE: you still want to avoid end-range on the way down and control the load. You should feel a nice “stretch” in the bottom position – not to the point where you’re “hanging” on passive restraints – and then return back.

It’s a subtle tweak, but has a profound influence on the efficacy of the exercise and shoulder health in general.[footnote]Where it may not be a good fit is if someone has an already overly abducted shoulder blade. Aggressive protraction won’t be a good idea[/footnote] Give it a try the next time you perform the 1-arm DB row and notice if you feel a difference.

Categoriescoaching

How To Get the Best Out of Your Athletes and Clients: 4 Points For Better Coaching

Today’s guest post comes courtesy of my good friend and phenomenal strength coach, Todd Bumgardner.

Enjoy!

A few moons ago I was a promising high school football player. Quarterback offensively and a defensive utility man. I was good enough to get recruited by schools from D3 to the lower D1 levels—eventually settling on a tiny speck in Williamsport, PA named Lycoming College.

Don’t worry, ladies and gents —this article isn’t going to be a metaphorical showing of my letterman jacket patches. I’m just setting the stage.

I played football, and attended college, in rural, Central Pennsylvania—one of the greatest places on earth. Humbly stated, of course. But for its beautiful ridges, rivers and creeks, it’s also backwards in its ways. People that didn’t grow up here are often thought of as “strangers”, and good coaching often means simply being hard on someone until they rise to an occasion.

In the late 90’s and early 00’s it wasn’t strange to see a kid get ripped around by his facemask after a practice blunder. A few times, after royally fucking up, I was taken on the facemask merri-go-round. I usually responded.

Being hard on me worked.

During my junior year I was the personal protector on the punt team—a position reserved for linebacker/safety types. One particular fall day I didn’t have my shit together, and the 230 pound maniac I was responsible for blocking kept whooping my ass—he nearly drove me into the punter 4 or 5 times.

My coach gripped my facemask, brought his person a few inches from mine, and gave me the business in all kinds of ways. I’m pretty sure I just finished washing his spit out of my eyes. I’m 29 years of age.

But I stepped up.

During the next snap I sprinted at the line like a man on fire and planted my facemask in my foe’s solar plexus. I figured it’d be tough for him to block a punt if he didn’t have any air in his lungs. I was right. I also earned pat on the back and what I’m pretty sure was a concussion. And though I responded, it doesn’t mean his approach was optimal.

Tough Love Isn’t For Everyone

Not every kid handled that type of coaching. My team was loaded with kids that were physically tough. They busted their asses in practice and in the weight-room. They played with zealot enthusiasm on Friday nights. But screaming at them was counterproductive. It either evoked contention or shut them down. Neither reaction was productive for the team, nor the individual.

These kids were often labeled “pussies.” Being the ever-aware and observant youth, I noticed it—but it didn’t seem like a good enough explanation to me. I didn’t know what to do; hell, there wasn’t anything I could do. Besides I was still trying to figure out what to do with all the boners I was getting.

The past ten years of coaching experience, as a strength coach and a sport coach, along with multitudes of continuing education has taught me what to do.

It’s helped me develop a coaching paradigm that I use daily and speak about regularly. It comes in four parts and will profoundly impact the way you interact with your clients. It starts with finding the bright spots and ends in celebration.

Find the Bright Spots

90% of the coaching battle is keeping people open and receptive to what we have to say. But, unfortunately, trainer and coach behavior doesn’t always reflect that.

Show of hands:

How many of you have heard someone immediately begin coaching someone by saying something to the tune of:

“No, no, no. Stop. That’s not it.”

You know, or something corrosively negative.

Second show of hands:

How many of you have done it?

I have.

Guilty. As. Charged.

Note From TG: Yep, me too.

What happens? People clam up.

Immediately finding fault puts someone on the defensive.

We know this, and have known this, for a long time. It’s in the first chapter of How to Win Friends and Influence People. But, as coaches, we’re the punishing hammer that buries the nail. Our job is to find, and correct, fault—so we hop to it.

Here’s the bright reality—it’s rare that someone is performing every part of an exercise incorrectly. They are doing something right. Find that something and tell them about it.

Let’s pose a hypothetical.

Your client/athlete/boyfriend/girlfriend/boyfriend’s girlfriend just finished a set of goblet squats. Their foot position blew, but they did a great job creating upper-body tension. Try saying something like this:

“I loved your upper-body tension, that was great, keep it up! But we need to work on your foot positioning…”

It shows that you want to level with them, that they’re not fucking everything up, that your relationship doesn’t hang on the contingency of them doing everything right. This makes them willing to listen to you.

Find the Bright Spots First

Clearly Identify, Succinctly Communicate

Clearly Identify

Clear identification starts with knowing what you’re looking for. I can’t teach you that in a blog article—it comes from experience. From squatting a lot of times and from watching other people squat that many times. Extrapolate those numbers to every other major exercise and technique you use.

But to effectively, and succinctly, communicate what you want, you have to know what you’re looking for. Learn the patterns and learn how to identify issues.

I can, however, tell you that it helps to work from big to small. See a pattern, then break down the idiosyncratic deficiencies.

Succinctly Communicate

Say as little as possible. If you don’t have to talk, don’t.

Let’s consider what’s happening in the world of the trainee while a coach is watching.

They’re feeling the social pressure of wanting to please you.

They’re telling their body to do something.

They’re body is telling them what is actually happening.

There are noises.

They could potentially have a bathroom emergency.

That’s a lot of info to deal with at once. Dashing a bunch of your sentences into that cognitive soup does more harm than good.

Time for another hypothetical—you’re coaching someone intra-set and need to make a correction. What do you do?

First, try to find a solution that doesn’t involve your words.

Nick Winkelman talks about creating an environment in which the athlete coaches themself. Do you have RNT (reactive neuromuscular training) techniques that can fix the problem? Can you alter the environment safely so the client automatically responds and “coaches” themselves into correction?

If you have to use words, keep the count down. And base those words off of simple cues you introduced early in the training process. One or two words based on information they already relate to make coaching effective. If you don’t have a list of common cues that you teach people immediately, get that list started, fool.

Clearly Identify, Succinctly Communicate

Cue Externally

When I was in college there was a local “speed coach” that screen printed “Fire Your Glutes!” across the back of his promotional t-shirts.

He was creepy.

Not only was he creepy; he was doing it wrong. Body party cueing, in a performance situation, is a bad move. This is another Nick Winkelman gem.

Cueing: Lats! Glutes!—whatever body part you so choose—during an exercise creates cognitive dissonance that decreases performance. The result is more confusion, less force.

The reasoning follows suit for that of succinct communication: load the processor with too much info and you get diminishing returns. Folks spend time trying to identify the muscle that they want to perform rather than performing the exercise.

Direct your cues to objects outside the body like the floor, the implement they’re lifting, the finishing position.

Cue Externally

Dramatically Reinforce Success

We claim stoicism, but we’re all emotional. We learn, change and grow mostly because of emotion, not logic.

Successful coaching relationships also require some kind of attachment. This means people that we influence have to like us in some way, shape or form.

Team sport coaches get results with the respect and not like paradigm, but that doesn’t work as well for personal coaches. People don’t have to spend money with us. Besides…no one ever said that the respect without like paradigm was optimal.

How do we make use of this knowledge? We emphatically celebrate client success.

One of your clients, let’s call her Rhonda, just nailed the rack pull for the first time. Put on your party pants and celebrate! Ladle excitement into your voice. Jump like a Rhesus monkey. Fist bump. Slap hands. Do something emphatic.

Creating an emotional event helps Rhonda remember what she did—emotion imprints the cerebellum with info. She’ll be a better rack puller from now on. The event also strengthens the bond between you because she sees how authentically you care about her. Get ready to be happy, because compliance just jumped through the roof.

Beyond those two points, aren’t we in this to help people realize awesome shit about themselves?

Dramatically Reinforce Success

Four Simple Things

Tomorrow, when you coach, be aware of your coaching in relation to these four simple points and lay this paradigm over your current practice. Keep the expectations high, people will rise to them, but there’s no need to grab a facemask.

About the Author

Visit his website HERE.
CategoriesStuff to Read While You're Pretending to Work

Stuff To Read While You’re Pretending To Work: 9/11/15

I’d like to first take a moment to express my condolences to those people who lost friends, family, colleagues, and loved ones fourteen years ago today, and were most affected by the events of September 11th. I’d also like to extend my sincerest gratefulness to those who didn’t blink an eye to risk their own lives to help others.

Thank you.

Here’s this week’s list of stuff to read while you’re pretending to work….

Fixing Women’s Fitness: Strength Training For a Healthier Body Image – Dana Santas

When it comes to fitness, women don’t need to be “fixed!” The fitness media needs fixing!

Was honored to be asked by Dana Santas to help contribute to this article she wrote on CNN Health on empowering women to have a healthier body image. Women being told that weight training is “bad” or that it’s something they should avoid bothers me.

It should bother you too.

I’m always grateful when I have the opportunity to help spread this message on a much larger platform. Please give it a read, and if you like it please help spread the word.

Complete Program Design – Robert dos Remedios

There’s no ONE right way to write training programs. However, you can bet I’m going to sit down and take notes from someone who has close to 30 years of coaching experience.

‘Coach Dos’ is one of the best, and this is a fantastic resource for any fitness professional looking to add to their programming (and exercise) library.

It’s on sale, too. But it ends this weekend.

The Difference Between Gaining Muscle, Losing Fat, and Toning – Harold Gibbons

They’re all more the same than they are different.

Discuss.

Bonus: Excursions by Mick Boogie

Because, you’re welcome.