CategoriesAssessment Program Design

When To Progress an Exercise: Muscle Confusion is Wack

“How do you know when to progress an exercise whether it be increasing load or implementing a different exercise altogether?”

This is a question I receive a lot from other trainers and coaches, as well as many of the athletes and clients I work with on a daily basis.

And to be honest there’s no one clear-cut answer. As is the case with any question asked the appropriate response is…it depends.

What do you want for dinner tonight? It depends.

Who are you going to vote for in 2016? It depends.

Where should we go on vacation? It depends.

What do you want to watch tonight on tv? It depends. But if it’s Downton Abbey I’d rather swallow live bees.

The above examples aside, when it comes to anything related to fitness, and especially with regards to exercise and weight selection, the default answer is always…it depends.

There’s a cacophony of factors that need to be considered, including but not limited to one’s training history, experience, injury history, training schedule, equipment availability, work ethic, not to mention any number of specific goals and needs that need to be taken into consideration.

All factor in and play an important role in designing a training program.

Speaking from a generic vantage point I do feel there’s an easy answer to the question.

1. How To Progress Load

Lets use an example I think everyone reading can relate to. Have you ever been working with a certain weight on any exercise and crushed it, only to increase the load 5, 10, maybe 15 lbs. and it seems as if gravity increased tenfold? The weight doesn’t budge. Or if it does it’s infinitely more challenging?

What gives?

Simple.

You haven’t “earned” the right to increase load yet. You haven’t performed enough repetitions at “x” to increase to “y”.

I get it: Progressive overload is KING.  It behooves all of us to make a concerted effort to try to increase load (increase sets or reps or both, or decrease rest intervals) – to do more work – each and every week. I think this is a fantastic approach and something many trainees often overlook in lieu of the more sexy or unconventional answer.

It’s not the lack of chains, or bands, or some lost Eastern Bloc Undulated Block Periodization set/rep scheme written in Elvish that’s the reason you’re not getting stronger or making progress.

For whatever reason many people resort to long division or Common Core for the answer when all they needed to do was add 2+2.

Or, in this case…add more weight to the bar.

But even that simple approach will only go so far. And this is what occurs when we add 5-10 lbs. to the bar and it’s as if a giant magnet is underneath the floor.

Stick with the lower weight. Stay there. Own it.

You’re not any less of a human being or the spawn of Satan if you perform an exercise with the same weight for multiple weeks in a row. Life will go on.

For further reading on progressive overload check out my article on BodyBuilding.com on the topic HERE.

2. When to Progress An Exercise?

The answer to this is a little trickier and a bit more murky. Without getting too far into the weeds I find that most trainees (and even worse trainers/coaches) suffer from exercise ADD.

The market is saturated. Walk into any commercial gym and you’re likely to see anywhere from 10-20 head shots of personal trainers near the front desk all highlighting their certifications, education, and how long they’ve been eating Paleo.

Who to choose?

Far be it from me to tell you. While I attempt to answer that question HERE, it’s hard to say with any certainty what you’re getting when you hire a personal trainer. There are plenty who look amazing on paper who end up making people do shit like this:

 

And this is what I mean when I refer to exercise ADD. Because the market is so saturated many trainers resort to gimmicks and smoke & mirrors (and use buzz words like “functional training” and “core” and “balance”) to separate themselves from the masses.

Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.

The more “gimmicky” and against the grain a trainer appears, sadly, the more attention they get. Goblet squats just aren’t as sexy as whateverthef*ck is being demonstrated above is.

Personal training has become more about entertainment and one-upmanship than getting people results and helping them become more autonomous.

READ: the goal of any trainer should be to educate and make it so their client DOESN’T need their services.

I mean, look at a program like High Performance Handbook (which is representative of many of the programs we write at Cressey Sports Performance). There’s not a ton of variety involved. Yet, people get results.

Of course there are outliers and trainers/coaches who don’t fit into this mold. But those are few and far between. In this day in age “success” is defined by Facebook likes and Twitter followers than it is by experience and being able to actually coach someone through a deadlift.

To that end, to answer the question:

1. Read THIS article by CSP coach, Tony Bonvechio, which gives some insight on how to choose the best accessory exercises.

2. I’d argue most people don’t need as much variety as they think they do. The whole notion of muscle confusion and that you have to switch up exercises every few weeks irritates me. For most people this makes no sense because rarely do they allow themselves enough time to learn and “own” the exercise to be able to perform it efficiently.

Alas, they make very little progress.

I’ve used this analogy before, but with program design (especially when the goal is to get stronger) I think of things as a diamond.

At the bottom are your beginners, and at the top are your advanced and high-level competitive clients/athletes. Neither need a ton of variety in their training.

Beginners need to learn and master the basics – squat, hinge, lunge, push, pull, carry, skip, swing, side-shuffle, etc.

Advanced trainees/athletes need to be concerned with their competitive lifts and/or because they’re so strong, don’t require a ton of variety (or stimulus) to maintain that strength.

In the middle, however, are the intermediates. Not coincidentally this is where most of us (even myself) reside.

It’s here where we can be a little more Willy Wonka(ish) and immerse ourselves in the crazy, zany world of variety.

So in many ways how you “progress” an exercise will be dictated by where someone resides in the diamond.

NOTE: I’ll be covering this very topic in more detail at the Elite Training Workshop here in Boston on Saturday, August 1st.

CategoriesMiscellaneous Miscellany

Miscellaneous Miscellany Monday: Perform Better, Strength Pyramids, and Voltron

It’s been a few months since I’ve done one of these so lets jump right to it.

1. If you’re a fitness professional (or someone who likes to geek out and rub elbows with some of the industry’s biggest names and/or stalk Dan John) why haven’t you attended a Perform Better event yet?

This past weekend Perform Better was in Providence, RI hosting their second (of three) weekend Summits.

Note: Chicago and Providence have passed, but there’s still a chance to attend Long Beach on August 7-9th.

I’ve been fortunate enough to attend the Summit almost every year since I’ve lived in Boston (9 years), in addition to a handful of PB’s One-Day Learn By Doing seminars. And it never gets old. I always walk away with numerous new ideas and takeaways. And free samples. What what!!

This year I was only able to make it for one day – the last day, Sunday. As it happened my wife, Lisa, had made plans for us to head out to Brimfield, MA for what’s known as Mordor the largest flea market in North America.

She made the plans a few weeks ago, and being the newly minted husband I am I feigned excitement and agreed to go.

“OMG, are you kidding babe? I’d LOVE to go walk around for an entire day looking at antiques, jewelry, and blankets with flower patterns on them! While we’re at it can we go jump into a live volcano too!?!!”

Giving her credit, Lisa was more than accommodating and compromised with me. In exchange for her being able to take the car for the entire day and spend as much time as she wanted at the flea market, she dropped me off in Providence at 8 AM so I could attend the last day of the Summit.

I dropped in and listened to talks by Michael Mullin, Artemis Scantalides, Brian St. Pierre, Dr. Evan Osar, and Robb Rogers, and also had the chance to catch up with several colleagues and friends.

Special shout-out to Artemis who ROCKED her first speaking appearance for Perform Better. She easily had the best title for her presentation: Toning Is For Printers: I Lift.

One of the highlights from her talk was how empowering it is to help women grasp the concept of STRENGTH TRAINING and how that alone can help them attain their aesthetic goals (something I preach ad nauseam on this site). In particular she spoke to pull-ups and how she goes about progressing and programming them for women. While I wasn’t able to film her talk, many of her same points can be seen in the video below by Karen Smith:

 

I also felt like a pseudo celebrity as numerous people walked up to me to say hello and introduce themselves, and on numerous occasions, in a surreal sort of way, I held open a door for a complete stranger and they’d say “thanks Tony!”

Even more baller was the fact that in a few presentations I sat in on the presenter gave me an unsolicited shoutout. I have to say it’s pretty cool feeling and an honor that I’m recognized by my colleagues.

Nonetheless it was a fantastic day and special thanks to Perform Better for their continued dominance for putting on the best and most professional fitness show on the planet.

2. I originally watched these over on Bret Contreras’ site and figured I’d re-post them here because I really, really1 liked them.

Strength coach and competitive powerlifter and bodybuilder, Eric Helms, did a superb job with this video series and I’d HIGHLY encourage you to watch these if or when you have the time.

I’m only going to link to the first THREE, but there are SIX levels in all.

Muscle and Strength Training Pyramid Level 1: Intro

 

Muscle and Strength Training Pyramid Level 2: Volume, Intensity, Frequency

 

Muscle and Strength Training Pyramid Level 3: Progression

 

3. With the success of this website I often get contacted by various supplement, apparel, and fitness companies asking if I’d be interested in trying their product(s). Some are garbage (especially those that are obviously a canned, arbitrary, altogether impersonal outreach); others just aren’t a good fit for my audience (Hey Tony, ever hear of Blindfolded Yogalates Kick-Boxing?); and others, especially supplements, while I do give them an honest “go,” just end up tasting like sawdust dipped in old people fart.

Not good.

But then again, there are times where I am pleasantly surprised and have no issues spreading the word. One such example is a company called ViewSport.

They use what’s called “sweat activated technology” where an inspirational message appears on your shirt the harder you work. Kind of like how when the ring in Lord of the Rings is put into the fire and a magical message appears, except in this case there’s no ring, no fire, and 100% no magic. Shit.

But it’s still pretty cool.

Both Lisa and I have been wearing our shirts to the gym the past few weeks and love them. They’re super comfy and, while I know better than to think that sweating is an indicator of the effectiveness of a workout, it is pretty satisfying when I get the message to appear.

Check them out. And no, I receive no kick-backs.

4. If you’re not reading Bryan Krahn’s site you should be. His latest article, 10 Reasons It’s Better To Be Lean, Bro is equal parts brotastic and spot on.

5. Based off the recommendation of a friend I just completed reading the novel Ready Player One, written by Ernest Cline.

Anyone who grew up in the 1980’s and 90s will appreciate this book. It’s chock full of pop culture references – Voltron, War Games, Atari, Joust, Adventure, Monty Python, Indiana Jones, Star Wars, Godzilla, cue nerd boner here – from that era as you follow the protagonist, Wade (Parzival), as he navigates through a virtual video game of life and death.

Word on the street is that this book is being adapted by Steven Spielberg as his next film project.

I can’t even begin to tell you how many childhood memories were jolted free from the recesses of my consciousness as I read this book. Sooooo many references that I had completely forgotten about. It actually inspired me to do some YouTube searching and I came across this gem.

Anyone remember these 80’s cartoons?

CategoriesStuff to Read While You're Pretending to Work Uncategorized

Stuff to Read While You’re Pretending to Work: 7/17/15

Only two weeks left until the Elite Training Workshop – Boston is held on Saturday, August 1st.

[Can you believe it’s almost August?]

I’m really excited for this event and think it’s going to be a awesome experience for those who attend. The line-up is pretty rad and the flow of the day is set up in a way where each presenter presents and then immediately follows that up with a hands-on portion.

So it’s less blah-blah-blabidy-blah and more “holys*** did you see Artemis Turkish get-up Tony? That’s badass.”

It’s going to be an awesome day for fitness professionals to learn from some of the best minds in the biz. CEUs are available. And I may or may not wear a movie quality Chewbacca mask.

Click HERE for more information.

ALSO: The Complete Shoulder & Hip Workshop

 

Dean Somerset and I are excited to announce our latest series: The Complete Shoulder & Hip Training Workshop.

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

This time we’re going to place a ton of emphasis on the hips and shoulders. We’ll talk anatomy, assessment, corrective exercise, programming, and we’ll also be doing a fair amount of coaching/hands-on demonstrations. And maybe, just maybe, in honor of Dean’s Canadian heritage, play the entirety of Bryan Adams’ library of songs. So much awesome to be had!

CEU’s will be available for all workshops.

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

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

CHICAGO (in October, it won’t be windy then, right?)

(Just Added) LOS ANGELES (in November, Tony finally does his tour of bars from the movie Swingers).

Now on to this week’s stuff to read.

7 Bad Foods That Are Good For You – TC Luoma

First: TC is an amazing writer, one of my favorites.

Second: bacon.

Third: that is all.

What Being Obsessed With Your Phone Can Teach You About Fitness – Jessi Kneeland

There’s a joke amongst my friends that I’m one of the hardest people to get a hold of because I hate carrying my phone with me everywhere I go.

It’s not uncommon for me to answer text messages 24-48 hours after the fact.

And don’t even get me started on those people who walk down the sidewalk (or worse, across the street) with their head pointed down towards their phone.

I loved this post by Jessi.

Why Do We Give Caffeine a Free Pass? – Eric Cressey

[Ironically, as I type these words I’m pounding a Spike. Oops]

Excellent post by Eric.

CategoriesAssessment Corrective Exercise

Feed the Dysfunction: A Simple Squat Fix

A few months ago I wrote about my experience participating in the Functional Movement Screen. I spent an entire weekend (something like 20 contact hours) completing both module I and II.

I didn’t get a t-shirt2, but it was an awesome learning experience nonetheless.

You can read all about it HERE.

One of the chief messages that stood out to me was the notion of “feeding dysfunction.” It’s a concept I’ve used intermittently throughout the years to help clean up movement, but hearing it described and used in the confines of four walls amongst so many other smart people…it really resonated more with me.

I’m sure it’s a concept that many of you reading have used as well.

One of the more common iterations is when someone’s knees cave in during a squat.

Unfortunately, there are some trainers and coaches out there who would deem this an acceptable squat pattern, and do nothing to correct it. They should be drop kicked in the neck.

The less lazy trainer may fix it by screaming, “knees out, knees out, PUSH YOUR KNEES OUT!”

It’s a step in the right direction, but sometimes it takes more than a verbal cue. For some trainees their nervous system needs a little more “feedback.”

So the more savvy trainer will wrap a band around one’s knees.

The idea is that the band will push the knees in, giving the trainee some proprioceptive feedback to prevent or resist this action. More often that not it works like a charm.

Squat pattern is fixed, all is right in the world, parades are held in your honor.

What About a Weight Shift?

Ever watch someone squat and he or she tends to sway/weight shift to one side or the other?

There can be any number of reasons this happens.

1. Bony Block. Those with Femoral Acetabular Impingement on any given side will block/impinge quicker on that side, often resulting in a weight shift to that very side.

I don’t want to get into a heavy FAI discussion now, but suffice it to say it’s often in this person’s best interest to 1) stop squatting altogether (in lieu of exercises that require less hip flexion, like deadlift variations) or 2) tweak squat height so they don’t enter the “danger zone” (90 degrees or below).

2. If we were to jump down the PRI (Postural Restoration Institute) rabbit hole we could explain things by stating how much of the population tends to weight shift into their right hip.

CSP coach, Greg Robins, PRI Blue Steel pose

In this scenario – which is very common – people are more internally rotated and adducted on the right side (externally rotate, abducted on the left), which then parlays into their squatting pattern. I.e., you’ll see a weight shift to the right.

As I’ve noted in the past: I like PRI, I use PRI, I think there’s a lot of validity to PRI. And, in this scenario I do feel some dedicated positional breathing drills hold weight with helping to “correct” the issue at hand.

If we can encourage more neutral (we’ll never, ever, like, ever be 100% neutral) and help to shift the hips and own our rib position (reduce Zone of Apposition) the likelihood we can fix the faulty pattern is fairly high.

 

All that said, the PRI rabbit hole is a deeeeeeeeeeeep one, and I do find many fitness professionals tend to overstep their scope of practice and forget that, you know, barbells still work and that our jobs are to still give people a training effect. 

I’m sorry but people aren’t going to get fired up spending 30 minutes of their training session practicing their diaphragmatic breathing. In fact I think a recent research study found that incidences of people wanting to stab themselves in the eye with a pen increase by 130% when this is the case.

Don’t get me wrong: PRI drills could very well be a part of the equation and I have used them to fix this very dysfunction, but I try not to get too carried away with it.

3. Lack of kinesthetic awareness. Much like the notion above with placing bands around someone’s knees to prevent them from caving in, we can use the same concept here.

Band Reactive Neuromuscular Training (RNT)

If you find someone exhibits a weight shift during their squat you can use a band to pull them into the weight shift (“feed the dysfunction”), and attempt to fix the faulty pattern. Essentially you use the RNT factor to help turn other stuff on that otherwise would be under-active or not firing efficiently and contributing to wonky movement.

How’s that for science?

Give the video a quick watch.

CategoriesCorrective Exercise Exercise Technique

The Difference Between External and Internal Impingement of the Shoulder

Shoulder impingement.

Not to play the hoity toity Jonny Raincloud card, but the words themselves – shoulder impingement – is a garbage term.

It doesn’t really mean anything.

To one degree or another your shoulder is always being “impinged.” So when you or your trainer or someone with more letters next to their name (or the Easter Bunny) says “you have shoulder impingement” when your shoulder hurts, they’re not really saying anything significant and just playing the Captain Obvious card.

Thank you, that will be $149.99. Cash or credit?

Facetiousness aside, I should backtrack a bit and note that shoulder impingement isn’t a completely useless term – I mean, plenty of people still say anterior knee pain to diagnose, well, anterior knee pain – it’s just, you know, mis-managed.

The thing about shoulder impingement is that it’s very much a real thing. Like I said, everyone lives with it. While it’s a watered down description, when people refer to impingement they’re typically referring to compression of the rotator cuff – usually the supraspinatus, and over time, the infraspinatus and biceps tendon – by the undersurface of the acromion.

[Except for when it’s not and we’re talking about INTERNAL impingement. More on this below.]

This happens all the time – even in quote-on-quote healthy shoulders. It’s inevitable. It’s anatomy.

But the degree of impingement is what we’re really alluding to here.

In other words: the rotator cuff (RC) gets “impinged” by the acromion due to a narrowing of the space between the two.

In (other) other words: you have an ouchie. Or, for the non-PG people in the crowd “your motherfuckin shoulder hurts!”

98% of the time this type of impingement results in bursal-sided rotator cuff tears, and as Eric (Cressey) has noted on numerous occasions “happens more with ordinary weekend warriors and very common in lifters (not to mention much more prevalent in older populations).”

The thing that irritates me is that telling someone they have a shoulder impingement – assuming there’s pain present – doesn’t speak to the root cause of why their shoulder is flaring up in the first place.

Is it structural?

Tissue quality?

Lack of mobility somewhere? Relative stiffness elsewhere?

A programming flaw?

They wore green on a Thursday?

Moreover there are different kinds of impingement (external and internal; and the former has different categories: primary and secondary) which manifest in different ways, in different populations, and will require different approaches.

It’s beyond the scope of a blog post to peel back the onion on everything related to shoulder impingement – for that you may want to check out Eric Cressey and Mike Reinold’s Functional Stability Training series. But I did want to take some time to provide some information and help any trainers or coaches or anyone in the general population reading be able to differentiate between the different types of impingement and the mechanisms behind them.

External Impingement (AKA: Meatheaditis)

This is the one that’s relevant to most people reading, and the one we’re discussing when referring to anything related to the rotator cuff being impinged by the acromion via bursal-sided impingement.

Here someone can usually point to pain on the front of the shoulder and things like overhead pressing, bench pressing, and approximation hurt.

In addition to pain during those activities, another way we can distinguish if it’s (most likely) external impingement – is by implementing two simple screens.

FMS Impingement Clearing Screen

This is the exact screen the FMS uses to “clear” someone for impingement. Place palm of one hand on opposite shoulder and, without allowing your palm to come off the shoulder, lift your elbow.

Empty Can Provocative Screen

Place one arm in scapular plane thumb facing down and gently press down with other hand.

Pain with either of the two?

I’d seek out a reputable health professional to do a little more digging.

Read (NOTE TO PERSONAL TRAINERS AND STRENGTH COACHES): you’re not diagnosing anything. These are screens. Nothing more, nothing less. It’s information.

Also, on more of a side note: the empty can screen should NOT be used as an actual exercise. It’s a provocative test (placing people into impingement), used to ascertain if pain is present. Why anyone would use this as an actual exercise is beyond me.

That’s like saying, “Oh, banging your head against a wall hurts? Lets do more of it!” 

Anyhoo, like I said those are two very easy screens you can add into your arsenal to help gather information.

But this still doesn’t speak to WHY someone may have external impingement. And here’s where things get even more interesting.

Primary External Impingement

This can be considered more of a morphological/structural issue (and as it happens, what we have less control over).

Ever watch some old-timers train and they’re able to perform endless sets of overhead presses, upright rows, and bench pressing without their shoulder(s) ever hurting?

Most likely it’s because they have a Type I acromion.

Then there’s you, who just thinks about upright rows, and your shoulder flips you the middle finger. You may have a Type II acromion (more narrow space).

Outside of an x-ray (and surgery) this is something you’re never really going diagnose and solve. But it can speak to how you’d alter your programming to better fit your anatomy.

Secondary External Impingement

This is where the rest of us live and plays into more lifestyle factors. This is more or less things we have control over.

Things like poor scapular positioning (too depressed, too elevated, too abducted, too adducted, all of which affect upward/downward rotation), poor T-spine mobility, poor tissue quality, poor exercise technique, rotator cuff weakness, unbalanced programming, lack of lumbo-pelvic hip control, stiff/shorts lats, inefficient breathing patterns, and host of other factors can come into play here.

Here’s where it’s the trainer’s or coach’s job to figure out which of these is the culprit (often it’s a number of them).

Internal Impingement

Unless you’re involved in overhead athletics, chances are you don’t have this.

With internal impingement someone with describe it as “inside” the joint and will generally point towards the back of the shoulder. Too, it will typically only hurt when they’re in excessive external rotation (think: cocked back/lay-back position for a pitcher).

As Mike Reinold notes: “as you move into humeral external rotation, the more aggressive it is, the more likelihood one will feel a pinching sensation towards the posterior-superior aspect of the glenoid.”

This basically alludes to the “inside” feeling described above.

Internal impingement deals with more of the ARTICULAR side of the rotator cuff, and specifically refers to the contact between the articular side of the supra/infraspinatus and the posterosuperior rim of the glenoid.

The more external rotation (lay back) one goes into, the more internal impingement will arise

And, as Reinold notes, “we don’t get internal impingement from sitting at our desks. It happens when people use their arms in an extreme abducted & externally rotated position.”

So, in short: unless you’re throwing a baseball during your lunch hour (or fighting centaurs3, you don’t have internal impingement.

Regardless in this scenario we’d want to place a premium on addressing scapular position (improve upward rotation), as well as address any shoulder instability. Overhead athletes are notorious for having super lax shoulders, so anything we can do to improve that – rhythmic stabilizations – would be ideal. That, and make sure they perform exercises like push-ups and row variations correctly.

 

And That’s That

Whew, I hope that all made sense. Like I said this wasn’t meant to be an all-encompassing diatribe on everything shoulder impingement, but I hope I was able to get you out of the weeds a bit on the topic.

Oh, And There’s This

This post is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of all the things I cover as part of mine and Dean Somerset’s Complete Shoulder and Hip Blueprint:

 

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

 

Complete Shoulder & Hip Blueprint HERE.

CategoriesMotivational

Reflecting On Eight Years of Cressey Sports Performance

“Hey dude, wanna open up a gym?”

I had come home from a full day of training clients at SportsClub/LA (a former fancy pants high-end health & fitness club that was bought out by Equinox not too long ago) when Eric peeked his head through the doorway, plate of egg whites in hand, and said those seven words to me.

That’s more or less how Cressey Sports Performance came to exist.

That was roughly eight – eight! – years ago to this day. The two of us, along with Pete Dupuis4, decided to jump head first into gym entrepreneurship. The odds were against us to say the least.

Not that we weren’t confident in our abilities and work ethic, but if you were a betting man (or woman), and based off the somber statistics (8 out of 10 new businesses fail within the first 18 months of operation. A whopping 80% crash and burn.), there was more likelihood [cue Dr. Evil voice] Unicorns would fly out of an erupting volcano attacking us with freakin laser beams from their freakin heads than there would have been any chance in us succeeding.

I mean

1. We were (back then) two 25 year olds and one 30 year old with no track record of business ownership.

2. We were (back then) two 25 year olds and one 30 year old with no track record of business ownership.

3. We were (back then) two 25 year olds and one 30 year old with no track record of business ownership.

4. I was balding. Not that that had anything to do with anything, but I was sad.

The fact I’m writing this post eight years later speaks to the actual outcome.

We Survived. We Made It. We Beat the Odds

 

Make no mistake: the ride hasn’t been all butterfly kisses and rainbows. All three of us can recall very long hours, 6-7 day work weeks, sleep deprivation, limited time with significant others, subsisting on nothing but protein shakes, and any number of growing pains tied with opening a new gym (purchasing & assembling equipment, construction, lease negotiation, lead generation, marketing, payroll, cleaning, not to mention assessments, program writing, coaching, and arguing over what’s being played on the stereo).

Despite it all, we’ve managed to not only not suck…but thrive in the eight years we’ve been in operation.

I’m not going to sit here and blow sunshine up our own asses, but it’s pretty satisfying knowing the three of us have been able to build what started as a 2200 square foot gym located inside an indoor batting cage facility with broken windows and a bathroom which required a tetanus shot to use…

…to a 15,000+ square foot flagship facility that’s often regarded as one of the premier “go to” training facilities in North America (if not the world).

Not too shabby for a place located in little ol’ Hudson, MA.

And yes, I could easily sit here and wax poetic on all the things we did right. Work ethic, having a client roster right out of the gate (because we were both already sorta-kinda established in the area, between Eric and myself we had a list of 40+ clients who were willing to train with us on Day #1), starting small and only building out/expanding when it was appropriate (and fit our needs), only hiring when it was within our means, starting an established internship program, and understanding that by identifying an under serviced demographic (in our case, baseball players) it was more than okay to target – and eventually own – a niche market.

All of it played a role.

I’d also be remiss not to mention how fortunate we’ve been in how are coaching staff has grown throughout the years. Our first hire was Brian St. Pierre who has gone on to a very successful career with Precision Nutrition.

Right now we have eight coaches who, on top of being profound ambassadors of the CSP brand, have also gone on to build their own successful brands within the fitness industry. Something we adamantly encourage. Everyday I feel fortunate that I get to work in a place that’s not only super fun, but challenges me to get better on a consistent basis.

But more importantly, it’s about the people we have the privilege of working with on a day-to-day basis

While I still have to sometimes pinch myself at the shear number of professional athletes I get to interact with – my 13 year old self would flip out and punch my older self in the face in disbelief if he knew how many guys I’ve met whose baseball cards I collected back in the day – it’s everyone who makes CSP such a special place to work and train.

Gerry, a 60+ year old who first came to us after having major heart surgery 4-5 years ago, who’s now hitting the weights 3x per week without fail. And busting my balls every step (and Prowler push) along the way.

Emma, a 20 year old who originally started coming to CSP because her father, Clint, did, who’s now training for her third powerlifting competition. And can do this:

 

Or any number of our Strength Campers – male/female, varying ability levels, varying ages, all shapes and sizes – who come in and get after it week in and week out.

Everyone – athletes and general pop clients combined – buy into the #CSPFamily mindset, and it’s amazing and a testament to the culture we’ve worked so hard to establish, cultivate, and maintain.

And lastly, just to put things into perspective.

Pete and I were having a conversation the other day reflecting on the whole “eight year thing.” Everything I mentioned above (and the dozens, if not hundreds, of things I failed to touch on) could fall under the “why we made it” umbrella.

Pete brought up a good point, though.

Vision vs. Actuality

I find that many coaches, trainers, and people who love the gym (and will end up stabbing their boss in the neck if they have to spend one more day behind a computer) who entertain the idea of starting their own gym, tend to battle a large gap between their vision and what is manageable and realistic.

Pete never had the vision of turning CSP into a 10,000 square foot mecca. The thought never entered his head. Rather, his goal, the thing he day dreamed about, was to have his own office. A place where he could shut his door and not worry about signing people in, answering the phone, and listen to me and Eric bicker about why Tiesto should or shouldn’t be played more often on the gym floor.

He eventually got his office. In year FIVE of our business.

Thank you everyone for your support and patronage throughout the years. And thank you Lisa – my wife – who has always been my biggest cheerleader.5

CategoriesUncategorized

Stuff to Read While You’re Pretending to Work: 7/10/15

I wanted to keep all of you reading abreast on some upcoming events I’m involved in you may be interested in.

First up: I wanted to take a few moments to highlight a few things coming up on my speaking itinerary that many of you may be interested in.

1. Elite Training Workshop – Boston

An entire day hanging with the likes of me, Mike Reinold, Artemis Scantalides, and Ryan Ketchum.

It’s going to be an awesome day for fitness professionals to learn from some of the best minds in the biz. CEUs are available. And I may or may not perform an interpretive dance of “I Believe I Can Fly.”

Click HERE for more information.

2. The Complete Shoulder & Hip Workshop

Dean Somerset and I are excited to announce our end of summer into early fall traveling workshop series: The Complete Shoulder & Hip Training Workshop.

 

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

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

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

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

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

CHICAGO (in October, Wrigley. Nuff said.)

Now on to this week’s stuff to read.

Training Clients Around Pain: A Guide for Personal Trainers – Will Levy

As Will notes in this article: some personal trainers like to play the “corrective exercise” card despite 1) not having any idea what that actually means and 2) not knowing what they’re doing.

BOSU ball + body blade + stand on one leg = Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

With regards to the term itself – corrective exercise – there’s a phrase I often use to help explain things:

“Correct movement is corrective.”

Or in more sassy talk:

“Doing shit right is corrective.”

Taking things a step further, corrective exercise could also mean simply adjusting or regressing a certain exercise to better fit the needs and ability level of the individual.

Deadlifts hurt your back? Try bracing your abs and squeezing your glutes at the top. Doesn’t hurt anymore? We just straight up corrective exercised the shit out of you.

Anterior Pelvic Tilt Influence on Squat Mechanics – Mike Reinold

I’m always amazed when a coach or trainer writes something or or says something to the effect of “everyone needs to squat this one way, and this way only, no deviations, ever, or else you suck at life.”

It could be reference to bar position, foot position, depth, whatever…everyone should squat this one way dammit!

It’s stupid. And Mike addresses why it’s stupid in this excellent video.

The Last Word on Lats – Tony Bonvechio

For some reason, in recent years, the “lats” have gotten a bad reputation. The fitness industry is prone to over exaggerate things. “Dietary fat will make you fat,” or “Deadlifts will make your spine explode,” or “people didn’t eat grains in Paleolithic times”6.

While overactive or short/stiff lats do need to be addressed in certain populations (like overhead athletes), you’re not some walking ball of dysfunction if you happen to turn them on to perform an exercise.

Tony B breaks it down in this excellent article.

CategoriesExercises You Should Be Doing

Exercises You Should Be Doing: Hover Deadlift

Anyone who’s read this site for any length of time knows I have an affinity for several things:

1. Matt Damon7

2. LOLCats8

3. Beef Jerky9

4. Star Wars.10

5. Deadlifts11

With regards to strength and conditioning there’s probably no one topic I’ve written about more than the deadlift.

And, as it happens, I’m currently working on a project for the Personal Trainer Development Center I feel will end up being one of the most thorough (and entertaining) resources on the deadlift ever written.

It’s tentatively titled Deadlift – catchy, right? – and based off my initial draft, looks as though it will run the length of a Dostoyevsky novel. Or a Bret Contreras blog post.

So keep your eyes peeled for it within the next few weeks. Fingers crossed.

And on that note I have a new exercise you should try.

Hover Deadlift

 

Beard!

Who Did I Steal It From: Massachusetts based strength coach, Mike Perry. You should check out his website Skill of Strength. Amazing stuff on there.

This is an excellent drill for newbies learning to deadlift correctly.

What Does It Do: For me the biggest mistake many people make when it comes to performing the deadlift is taking a haphazard approach to their setup. The key is to get (and MAINTAIN) tension throughout the duration of the lift (or set).

Ever watch someone deadlift and immediately see their upper back rounding or the their hips shoot up first? This is usually indicative of lack of tension (or the weight is too heavy, but the sake of brevity lets assume the former).

The Hover Deadlift is a simple (and quite ingenious) way to help teach someone how to get tension in their lats/upper back, and more importantly to MAINTAIN that tension throughout their rep/set.

Key Coaching Cues: I used two kettlebells in the video above, but you could just as easily use one if that’s how you roll.

Stand directly above the bells, push your hips back, knees out, and try to melt the handles in your hand(s). This last cue will help teach you to pack your shoulders.

Instead of standing straight up with the weight, you’ll first “hover” an inch or two above the ground. This will ensure you maintain tension in the lats/upper back to prevent rounding (and so that the bell doesn’t move away from the body).

Lock out at the top, squeezing glutes hard.

Return back to the ground, hovering again 1-2 inches above the floor before coming to a complete stop.

Reset and repeat for 6-8 repetitions.

CategoriesInterview Media

Squeezing Oranges With Tony Gentilcore

I had the pleasure of being invited onto the Side Quest Fitness Podcast (the unofficial podcast of Fitocracy) recently with Rob Farlow, and I wanted to toss the link everyone’s way in case 1) you’re super bored at work today and needed a dose of “Tony Time” to help pass time or 2) you’re not at work, you’re not bored, and you’re just straight up obsessed with me and can’t get enough.

Either way it’s a win-win.

I had blast recording this episode. Rob and I cover everything from my start in the fitness industry and why I feel every young fitness professional should spend time working in a commercial gym setting to other career advice (such as, what’s the deal with squeezing oranges?) and even movies. Read: we geek out about Star Wars for a few minutes.

HERE is the link on the website, or if you prefer you can listen on iTunes HERE.

Enjoy!

Categoriesrant

The 5 Worst Types of Trainers

I’ve been on a bit of a “ranty” mission lately with some of my blog posts and it seems it’s spilled over to my article writing as well.

With my latest article on T-Nation.com I discuss some of the attributes and characteristics I feel make for the worst type of trainer(s).12

Granted, anyone could write a similar article geared towards any profession13 …but it seems the fitness industry has an affinity for attracting some of the worst of the worst.

I had fun writing this one. I hope you enjoy it.

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