Day #3 of Lisa’s diary of our Australian Adventure.
We made it straight to 4:00am! 8 hours of sleep is nothing to complain about, and Tony and I enjoyed a quiet morning while I worked on this little travel blog, and Tony reviewed some of his slides for today’s seminar. We were starving, but forced ourselves to hold on until about 6:30 before venturing out for brekkie.
The very kind lady cleaning up in the hotel lobby notified us, “ummm, Ballina is not an early morning town… so maybe go for a walk until 7 – and then try for some breakfast??”. Good for Ballinanians! We rolled with it, and took an AMAZING walk from the hotel down the river, all the while snapping some photos of the moon:
And the sunrise:
Ballina is beautiful.
And so was our brekkie! The first patrons-of-the-day at The Bean Bank, a coffee shop that came highly recommended by Shan.
We ate like we were heading off to battle. Again, I enjoyed a delicious flat white.
There was plenty of eggs, Turkish bread (which appears to be the “it” bread over here), museli (instead of oats), bacon, fruit, and happiness all around. When Tony’s museli came over he said, “Man, your dad would be all about this brekkie”:
While at brekkie three fit and fabulous Aussie’s came in for breakfast and said, “Hi Tony, see you in a bit!” The ladies had driven about 8 hours yesterday to be here for Tony’s seminar!
Yeah!
We headed back to the hotel so Tony could get ready, and then Shan and his beautiful wife Mady came to retrieve Tony so he could get to work. I on the other hand, have the day off! Given to me by my lovely fiancé, I couldn’t wait to get started doing whatever-the-heck-I-wanted.
This, of course, started with the gym, followed by laundry (did I mention we have our OWN laundry room???), followed by a walk down the river over to the beach.
I walked for awhile and then came to a bridge… it seemed like the ocean was quite a distance away, so I asked a sweet little family walking along the shore of the river. They explained that there were plenty of “beaches” along the river, and a “surfers beach” on the river just there… When I explained I’d like to swim in the ocean the father looked at me like a father does when he knows he’s about to be the bearer of bad news…
Alas, the ocean itself was far, far away. I’d need a car. I took a moment to be sad that I wouldn’t get to jump in the Pacific, and then kept it moving and found a spot right on the “beach” at the river. I’m pretty sure I was the only person without a surfboard, Stand Up Paddle Board, kayak, canoe, or dog. But I had a lovely day, nevertheless. Here is a pic of the river, and the ocean which is just through the opening there and over to the left… maybe I’ll get a chance next time?
After some reading, and a nap, and lots of dog watching, I walked home along the shore. Here are some mamouth pelicans, kickin’ it with some local fishermen.
Back at the room our maid was just wrapping up cleaning. After a little rest and some TV, I walked into town to check out the shops. I grabbed a “detox” fresh juice from this little juice bar along the way:
Then I stopped in “Wooly’s” again for more water and snacks. I asked for some turkey breast at the deli counter, but had no idea how much to order! The lady at the counter was a love, so we talked it out, and I ended up with 300 grams. On the way home I meandered along the water, which reminded me of the Ell river, bordering Germany and Austria, where Leslie and I biked up and down a few summers ago:
Once home and fed, I went back out to the pool for some afternoon sun.
Tony came home around 5:15, tired but enthused. He had a great day and, as usual, didn’t feel he had enough time to get to everything he would have liked to cover. After a shower and change of clothes, we headed out to a local spot for dinner, just a short walk up the river.
The Wharf was delish!
I ordered the mackerel for dinner, and was expecting that oily, small fish I’ve caught back in FLA with my dear friends Lara and Jason in the Indian River… This mackerel was not that mackerel! A pleasant surprise, this was a nice big white fish, almost like a steak.
My surprise lead to a great conversation, and everyone at the table was ready to talk more about Australian animals, food, and jargon. Did you know about Wallabies?! Apparently, it’s a smaller, cuter version of a kangaroo – one of the seminar attendees, Kirby, told us for sure we’d see one in the Hunter Valley… Stay Tuned!! My hopes are high that we’ll get to see a wallaby or two…
Before heading out for ice cream, we were discussing brekkie plans for tomorrow morning. Shannan recommended we go to a different local spot, since he has his “own menu”… What? Yep, Shannan has his own menu. He told us to ask for “The Raw Brekkie” (the name of his gym is Raw Fitness). I’m sure it will be a meathead menu with plenty of protein.
Until then! Tony and I have made it past 9:00pm. Well, I’ve made it; Tony is unconscious, mouth slightly agape, remote in hand.
Lisa Continues her daily dairy of our trip to Australia.
We Made it! Local time 7:05am, out of the plane and hugging our first host, Shannan by 8:00am. (A quick synopsis of who Shannan is: he’s a former distance coaching client of Tony who own his own strength and conditioning facility in Ballina. This trip’s been over a year in the making due to Shannan’s persistence and hard work to help get Tony (us!) down here). Shannan was accompanied by a buddy and personal trainer Matt, equally friendly and fabulous. Here they are with Tony:
Australian lesson #1: Australian’s “Aussies’ like to abrieviate and make cute all kinds of words. Shannan (“Shan”) and Matt (“Mattie”) drove 2 hours from Ballina to come and pick us up, and spent ALL DAY showing us around the area! It was so lovely. Our day moved from Brisbane down the gold coast, to Ballina:
We drove south from Brisbane, down the Gold Coast. Known for its beaches and fabulous surfing, this area is lined with beach towns, resorts, and families and friends on “holiday” (Australian for vacation). I took notice of the big inviting bike lanes throughout the streets and around the roundabouts, and Shan and Matty encouraged us to be on the lookout for “M.A.M.I.L.s” (Middle Aged Men in Lycra). Apparently they’re everywhere, and not afraid to rock their Lycra at coffee shops and all around town.
We stopped at Coolangatta (“Cooly”) for breakfast (“Brekkie”! Who doesn’t love this word? You can also spell it Brekky, but whatever you do, you should start using it immediately). What does every girl need for Brekkie after 20 hours on a plane? An Eenie Menie Greenie Smoothie!
Kale, pear, celery, parsley, ect. Between that and my first (and long anticipated) Australian Flat White, it was just what I needed to recover from our journey and settle in to Aussie life:
We left Cooly and continued down to the coast to Byron Bay. More amazing beaches, more surfers, and lots of gorgeous homes. We stopped a few places to take some photos – Check it! (Please do not judge us for our crusty appearance, and keep in mind we’ve had those clothes on for over 36 hours):
Byron Bay
Rockin our Lulu’s at Byron Bay
Different vantage point at Byron Bay. This is the view some the residents have from their houses.
After Byron Bay we hit up Lennox, another fabulous beach town where many rich and some famous live. Apparently Chris Helmsworth (Thor) has a home around here… but we didn’t spot him.
After Lennox we made our way to Ballina!
One of the beaches in Ballina
In many ways, this area reminds me of home (Jensen Beach, FLA – not Boston, MA). Locals and vacationers, the ocean met up with by the river, relaxed vibe, fantastic air. We are staying at this fantastic Ramada Inn! There was even a bottle of wine waiting for us (me) in the room. Did I mention we love Shan? Please check out our Suite with a view of the Richmond River:
I have to say, Tony and I were champions all day. We felt pretty good, but we knew we would start to fade in the afternoon. It was just after 3pm when we checked in, and once we unpacked, it was time to hit the gym.
It was ugly, but we managed to move around a little bit and sweat out some of the travel funk.
I proceeded to take the most cleansing shower of my life, and then have a glass of wine. After about a half of a glass I felt like I’d just had a “Goonsack” (Australian for the sack inside of a Box-o’-Wine), and I knew Tony and I only had a few hours left before we crashed. We ventured into town and out to Woolworths (“Wooly’s”) for some water and snacks. We were stressed about walking into traffic, which moves in the opposite direction, but luckily, Australians are right on top of trying to keep tourists alive:
Unfortunately, Tony realized he didn’t have his “Dongle”, which is surprisingly not an Australian word, but is an adaptor for Apple computers and projectors. After a mini-panic and a trip to the nearby tech store, Shan made some calls and once again, hooked us up by asking a friend to borrow his dongle.
So we got the dongle, got the snacks, and then went to dinner. We were starting to feel run down, so we decided on the hotel restaurant, The Pointe. It could have easily have been a restaurant at home in Stuart, FL, on the river.
Locals crowded the bar and dining for Happy Hour (Oh how I miss happy hour! An illegal libation celebration in Boston), and we enjoyed watching the river and sitting amongst the local excitement and chitchat of folks just finishing their workweek with a drink and a smile. Here are some pictures of the river and us enjoying dinner:
This pic was taken at 2AM (Boston time), hence Tony look likes he’s falling asleep.
I am proud to say we remained conscious until about 7:58pm. Tony’s excited for day 1 of the seminar, and I’m VERY excited for a day off, by the pool and at the beach. Talk to you then!
Today I have an excellent guest post by CT based strength coach, Erika Hurst, covering a topic I’m very passionate about: Encouraging women to lift heavy things.
Before we jump into the article: We made it safely to Australia, and if you’d like to keep tabs on our trip Lisa is writing a daily blog. You can check out the first entry, Day 1: 20 Hours On a Plane HERE.
Time to Woman Up
In my six years of coaching mostly women, I can count on one hand the number who were able to walk in the gym and mercilessly attack their workout without a hint of self-doubt, protest or fear….along with pure admiration for the amount of Pantera I subject them to, but that’s another story.
Most women are totally unaware of the brute force that exists within them and the extraordinary feats their bodies are capable of. It is completely unknown to them how harnessing their strength can earn them the lean, vibrant bodies they desire and an indestructible mental fortitude that will benefit them far beyond the gym.
From the get go, these things just aren’t appealing. The idea that men and women should train differently is preposterous. Everyone needs to push, pull, squat, lunge and hinge, but women unquestionably approach exercise with different cultural, sociological and psychological motivations.
(Source): Me!
It’s up to you as a coach, mentor or friend to challenge those motivations and provide them with the right tools to develop a mindset powerful enough to propel them forward towards a healthier approach to changing their bodies.
Note that I’m not referring to us broads who already thoroughly enjoy rolling around in a bucket of chalk, covering our shins in bruises and waging personal warfare against heavy shit for fun.
I’m referring to the average female client who just wants to lose fat and gain confidence. Women in this population have been utterly misinformed on how to change their bodies and usually lack belief in their selves.
What holds this population back is what goes on in between their ears.
They’ve been lead to assume all their lives that they can’t be physically and mentally strong. They live an existence of self-loathing because they’ve been heavily influenced by dramatically false photoshopped images, girly fitness mags that treat them like weaklings, and an industry that constantly tells them they should forever be toning, fixing and punishing their bodies.
It’s you, as a coach who trains women, versus all the BS they are inundated with on a daily basis once they step outside of your gym.
Fortunately, the physical strength we gain in the gym expresses itself in other parts of our lives through strength of mind, character and greater sense of self. If we give our female clients the extra tools to really harness that expression we can truly help each of them discover how strong and powerful they are, how to filter through the nonsense and in turn incite some really meaningful, lasting changes in their lives.
Below, I’ve laid out a few of the strategies I use to accomplish this with my female clients.
1. Listen To and Educate Them.
If you are an introvert like me, you probably already have the whole listening thing nailed down. As with any mutual relationship where trust is integral, listen to their concerns, wants and needs. Let them know each is perfectly valid, dispel any nonsensical fitness beliefs they may be attached to and simply educate them.
Knowledge is empowering and the better your female clients understand proper strength training and sensible nutrition, the less inclined they’ll be to fall for quick fixes and other baloney like Piloxing or 30 day squat challenges.
2. Revamp Their Perspective.
The more positive of an existence and mindset one creates, the more power they have over themselves and actualizing their own realities.
Help the women you train understand that a sustainable, effective nutrition and training regimen should add value to their bodies and make them feel good. Chasing fatigue and soreness in the gym, and restricting themselves in the kitchen doesn’t make anyone better and usually backfires.
I have my clients set and strive for realistic strength goals like performing 10 real push-ups or deadlifting 200lbs. This helps them approach their workouts with eagerness and embrace fueling their bodies properly to achieve these goals. Momentum and confidence then builds each time a small strength goal is reached, they feel more energized from eating better and begin to see the physical changes that result from doing both consistently.
3. Believe In Them.
Women have been conditioned by circuit training, wimpy exercise DVDs, and believing they need special exercises. The thought of doing a real chin up or deadlifting 1.5x their body weight has probably never crossed their mind, therefore most have zero confidence in their ability to perform either.
It’s up to you to show them these are not only great endeavors to chase, they are also very attainable and effective ways of reaching their goals. Most women are full of self-doubt and “I can’ts”, so they usually need a subtle push to add an extra 10lbs to the bar, grab a heavier dumbbell or push harder behind the sled.
Let them know you have full confidence in their abilities, provided it’s honest. Their belief in themselves will grow and they will eventually start asking to go heavier.
4. Encourage Self-Awareness.
As a society, it’s of the norm to be constantly rushed and on autopilot. Stopping to think about what you’re doing or why you’re doing it., who has time for that?
It’s pretty obvious how detrimental this can be to any goal.
My female clients are fairly high strung and need encouragement to tap the brakes, introspect and put their conscious brains in charge. This helps them to be more in control of their actions, able to make more informed decisions and realize the power they have over themselves.
Before each session, I do an informal readiness assessment where I ask about soreness, energy, what they ate that day, how they slept, etc. For some of them, this is the only time they’ve paused to really think about any of those things. No matter what, always encourage them to be compassionate and non-judgmental about what they discover about themselves.
5. Motivate Through Self-Love.
It is very important for women to understand that if they are using negative perceptions about their bodies as their sole motivation for wanting to change, their efforts will not be viable or purposeful.
However, it’s not as easy as simply telling them to love their bodies first.
Often, the dislike they have for their body stems from another deeply rooted issue. This is why many women under go phenomenal body transformations, yet are still unhappy with their bodies. What we can do is discourage negative self-talk and self-neglect, help them view setbacks as learning experiences and guide them towards taking care of their bodies rather than fighting against them.
Most importantly, keep them haulin’ iron!
Although most female clients may need convincing otherwise and a slightly more complex approach, they are not delicate flowers. There’s nothing more rewarding than helping women fall in love with discovering their strength and in turn cultivate a sense of empowerment and self-worth through their bodies’ capabilities.
What follows is Lisa’s daily diary of our musings and doings while visiting Australia.
Hello Friends!
Tony and I just spent 6 hours in a plane from Boston to LAX, and then 14 hours from LAX to Brisbane.
The journey has begun. Thanks for joining. Here’s Tony, as excited as can be as we boarded our first flight in Boston.
Two hours into our 6.5 hour flight to LA, Tony and I wondered if we’d gotten in over our heads. Once we felt the full effect of the narrow seat, barely reclining chair, and turbulence, we couldn’t even imagine landing, and then doing it all over again, but for double the amount of time…
But here we are.
At this moment, Tony and I are 34,000 feet over the Pacific, with a little over 3,000 miles and a little less than 6 hours to go – just over half way through our 13.5 hour flight. It sort of feels like traveling through time. When we boarded the plane around 11:00pm (pacific time), we fell right asleep!
Both of us pumped and thinking we’d sleep for 7 or 8 hours, we each discovered the other peeking out from underneath our blindfolds less than 5 hours later (when it was 7:00am, eastern time). Luckily, I sprung for the emergency exit row seats, which actually ended up being right in a break in rows, so there is a good 10 -15 feet of open space in front of us! Here’s the space, with my TV in site:
So much room for activities!
… and then here’s Tony trying to get some sleep:
Tony’s disappointed the Ambien our generous Dr. gave us didn’t put us under for most of the flight – he’s just watched Fury, and I’ve just finished Birdman (What in the heck was that?).
The highlight so far? The international terminal at LAX. At 10pm, that place is Grand Central Station for the Universe! Everyone was going somewhere amazing. It’s hard to be sleepy and calm when we’re in for the trip of our lives!
In a few hours there will be breakfast, and then time to get ready for the day to start. We’ll land in Brisbane at 7:00am and hit the ground running! Breakfast in the city, drive to Ballina, maybe go to the gym, and check in to our hotel.
T-minus eight hours before Lisa and I hop on a plane and make our way to Australia and never come back.
It’s a 20-hour long trip from Boston to Brisbane (where we land), and then a bit of a car ride to Ballina where I’ll be conducting the first of TWO workshops while there.
One 2-day workshop in Ballina.
One 1-day workshop in Sydney.
If you live in Australia and this is the first you’re hearing about this 1) what the hell? and 2) you can go HERE if you’re interested in attending either of the two.
I wanted to thank everyone who chimed in on Facebook for their suggestions on how to best prepare for the marathon flight. You’ll be happy to know that in lieu of the suggestion to “swim in a bottle of Tequila,” I contacted my doctor and I will be sufficiently drugged up to ensure that I get some sleep.
A few housekeeping points to hit before I sign off:
1. While I’ll be trying my best to update the blog while away (Read: pissing Lisa off that I’m on my computer), I’ve lined up several excellent guest authors to fill in during my absence.
2. For those interested – and why wouldn’t you be? – Lisa will be writing a (hope to be) daily diary on this website highlighting our trip. She’ll be sure to include a lot of pictures – especially of me tweaking out every time I see snake or attempt to enter the ocean – in addition to writing about places we eat and stay.
You can keep tabs on us HERE (<— the Miscellany section of this blog).
On that note I’m out. bitches. I’m done with this snow.
Today’s guest post comes to you courtesy of personal trainer, Travis Pollen.
Are You Part of the Resistance (or Assistance)?
Maintaining a website is a big responsibility. That’s why with Tony headed down under for the ‘Because Heavy Things Won’t Lift Themselves 2-Day Workshop,’ I asked him if he needed anyone to website-sit while he was gone.
If you’re not familiar with website-sitting, it’s about as pointless as house-sitting. Basically, the sitter logs onto the traveler’s website each morning while they’re gone and meticulously checks each post to see if any fitness celebrities have left a new comment.
This task is akin to checking for burglars. There’s rarely anything valuable enough in your house or on your website for anyone cool to actually give a crap.
As with house-sitting, the sitter continues to check in on the website periodically throughout the day, though perhaps more frequently when website-sitting, since ‘refresh’ is never more than a few clicks away.
Additional website-sitter duties include removing negative reader feedback (i.e. “whacking the trolls”), sharing recent posts on various social media outlets under assorted aliases to create the illusion of viral content, and obsessively checking the mailing list for new subscribers.
Depending on the sitter’s virtuosity, they may even perform these tasks sporadically over the course of the night, as well. The Internet doesn’t sleep, you know. Tony has fans all over the world, OKAY?!
Unfortunately, when I asked Tony if he would like me to take on this big job, his response was a little disappointing. He replied, “No, Travis… they actually have Internet in Australia, so I’ll be sitting for my own site remotely.”
Not only do they have internet in Australia, they also have censorship
Thinking back now, disappointed, I console myself by remembering that I made this entire interaction up in an attempt to make the guest blogging process sound more exotic.
The boring, naked truth is that Tony once called me a “one-legged pirate,” and for this he owed me an opportunity to share some knowledge bombs on his website.
Note from TG: [jaw drops] I did!?!?! OMG, that’s embarrassing. It had to have been a Halloween joke. Right? RIGHT??
Well, Travis didn’t send me a bomb in the mail so I guess he wasn’t offended….;o)
For those not privy to the inside “joke,” check out Travis’ Facebook Page or watch the videos below and you’ll immediately understand my reaction, which went something like this:
RIP Spock
Lifting Heavy Things with Bands
Just like Tony, I’m a firm believer in the “because heavy things won’t lift themselves” doctrine. As such, we meatheads must do so ourselves.
But not all of us will be doing every gym movement the same way, at least not a first. That is, some of us may require exercise regressions (i.e. lat pull-downs on the way to pull-ups), and others may require progressions (i.e. pull-ups to front levers).
Here I am showing off a pull-up/front lever hybrid I stole from Max Shank:
While every coach has his go-to progressions and regressions, one particularly handy tool is the giant rubber band known to the exercise world as a resistance band. Resistance bands come in all shapes and sizes (and colors!) and have endless applications to both assisting (regressing) and resisting (progressing) movements.
The best part about bands is that they require little to no change to the way in which the exerciser sets up and executes a movement. This feature makes bands highly specific to the target movement — even more so than the above example of lat pull-downs for pull-ups.
A strategically placed band basically works like magic. For a regression, it can provide maximal assistance in the most difficult phase of a lift and decreasing assistance where the lifter is naturally strongest. For a progression, it can add “accommodating resistance,” whereby the tension in the band increases during the phase of the movement that would normally be easier.
This last part is especially good news if you’re cheap like me, since it means I can simply throw a band onto an exercise and avoid having to purchase heavier weights.
Below are some of my all-time favorite band assistance and resistance techniques. The setup can be tricky on some of them, so be sure to pay close attention to the placement of the band.
Goblet Squat
Band-Assisted
Execution tips: Push back into the band as you squat, and strive for an upright torso position.
Band-Resisted
Execution tips: Load the bell into the goblet position at the bottom of the squat, then stand and rep away.
Kettlebell Deadlift
Band-Assisted
Execution tips: Like a rack pull (elevated deadlift) the band-assisted deadlift allows for the use of a heavier than normal load in order to develop lockout strength.
Whereas the rack pull simply eliminates the bottom portion of the deadlift, the band provides just enough help to break the bell off the ground. The lifter then handles progressively more of the load as he or she approaches lockout. The advantage of the band-assist over the rack pull is that it includes the entire range of motion of the hip hinge movement.
Band-Resisted
Execution tips: Like the band-assisted deadlift, the band-resisted deadlift also overloads the top portion of the movement. If the band-resisted deadlift still proves easy, try your hand (and hips) at a band-resisted kettlebell swing:
Barbell Bench Press
Band-Assisted
Execution tips: Double loop the band around your upper arms just above your elbows. If you’re a girl, watch out for the girls. Or just leave these for the men to inflate their egos by using heavier loads than they could otherwise handle.
Band-Resisted
Execution tips: Un-racking the bar tends to be the biggest challenge here. When working with heavy loads, always use a spotter. Alternatively, forget the bar and grab a set of dumbbells instead.
Barbell Overhead Press
Band-Resisted
Execution tips: Due to the longer lever arms, these get challenging in a hurry. Practice with just the bar at first, and leave a little slack in the band in the bottom position.
(Sorry, there’s no band-assisted version of the overhead press. Deal with it!)
Pull-Up
Band-Assisted
Execution tips: Knee or foot in the band will depend on what band thicknesses you have available and which position you find more comfortable. In my experience, knee tends to be easier logistically.
Band-Resisted
Execution tips: Secure the band to a heavy enough dumbbell on the floor that it doesn’t flop around as you pull-up.
For all of the following row and push-up variations, the position of the band (chest/upper back versus hips/lower back) will be a matter of where the assistance or resistance is desired.
Inverted Row
Band-Assisted
Execution tips: Positioning the assistance higher up unloads the upper body to a greater extent. Assistance lower down provides more support for the core but less for the pulling muscles.
Band-Resisted
Execution tips: Place the resistance closer to hip level to challenge the hips to remain in extension. Place it higher up towards the chest to really tax the upper body.
Beware: if your spot pins tend to pop out when an upward force is applied, make sure you secure them down!
Push-Up
Band-Assisted
Execution tips: Feel free to use a thick band and really go to town with these, even going so far as to incorporate a plyometric component (i.e. a clap).
Band-Resisted
Execution tips: Two options are shown for these, depending on where you want the resistance and how crazy you feel like going with the setup. The band-around-the-upper-back option is quicker but does tend to chafe a bit.
As with the resisted inverted row, be very careful if your spot pins pop out when an upward force is applied.
If you’re still looking for additional uses of bands, you can always make a giant ball.
About the Author
Travis Pollen is an NPTI certified personal trainer and American record-holding Paralympic swimmer. He is currently pursuing his Master’s degree in Biomechanics and Movement Science at the University of Delaware. He maintains a fitness blog and posts videos of his “feats of strength” on his website, www.fitnesspollenator.com. Be sure to like him on Facebook at www.facebook.com/fitnesspollenator.
Before I get into this week’s list I wanted to share with everyone a cool event coming up in the very near future that I’ve been invited to participate in. No, it’s not the NorthEast Regional Star Wars Geek Fest Extravaganza.
But it is something just as nerdtastic……..
Movement and Motivation LAB
Let my good friend and MFF coach, Harold Gibbons, explain….
Our take on the fitness conference is a laboratory — one that lets health and fitness professionals like you explore progressive strategies to enhance your life and the lives of your clients.
We’re building a learning experience that’s better for trainers. Long lectures can work for some, but we’d like to try something we think can be more effective.
Instead, we’re focusing on power 30-minute presentation, followed by 45-minute workshops where attendees and presenters work together to build action plans that can be smoothly implemented in their personal practice. It’s the “Monday Morning” take home, with a personal system to make it a success.
You’ll gain insight into just how Mark Fisher Fitness built a multi-million dollar fitness business in less than three years. We’ll be joined by guest star, Jedi Knight and fitness super hero Tony Gentilcore and together we’ll explore strategies to improve your coaching and your business in an innovative format. Each speaker (four total) will offer a 30-minute lecture and a 45-minute interactive work session to allow for a more complete integration of the concepts covered.
You’ll leave with a clear list of actions steps for Monday morning and the M/M LAB effect will lead to immediate positive impact on your clients and your career.
You can learn more at the M/M Lab website, and ENROLL to join us on April 25th for new ideas, new results, and a new you.
NOTE from TG: Early bird registration ends on March 8th, so there’s only a few days left to take advantage of the savings. Not only is it more expensive to wait to sign up, but in order to gain access to the party all non-early bird registrants have to either lip sync a Lady Gaga song (in full, with dancing) or wear a leopard print leotard during my presentation.
Stacie is a local trainer here in Boston who’s about as diverse as they come. She’s has an extensive background in yoga, but is also an accomplished kettlebell instructor and loves to lift heavy stuff.
She and I have crossed paths several times in recent years, and it was recently, at Chad Wesley Smith’s Juggernaut Workshop that we connected and talked some shop.
In short, she’s the shit.
I think many people who read this blog will enjoy Stacie’s work and tone. And I think many people will especially enjoy this article.
Curt trained at Cressey Sports Performance briefly back in 2008 when he was contemplating a comeback. I don’t think I have to tell everyone reading that it was an awesome opportunity and experience.
Yes he’s opinionated, and yes he likes to talk (a lot), but it’s hard not to respect someone who isn’t afraid to stick to his guns and stand by his word.
The story is now national news, but for those unaware Curt shared an experience on his website recently regarding a disturbing “incident” on his Twitter page. In short it goes like this:
1. Like any proud father would do, he posts a congratulatory Tweet about his daughter being accepted to college where she’ll also be an athlete on the softball team.
2. Several young men go on to post vulgar, sexual, abusive, disturbing messages about his daughter.
3. Curt “ousts” the culprits on his website.
I felt it was a VERY well written article by Curt and more than warranted. Kids nowadays have grown up behind a keyboard, and it’s unfortunate that because of this, many have grown up with a sincere lacking of a social filter…to the point where some feel immune to any consequences of their words and actions.
This is a mantra that we try to instill with our own high-school and collegiate athletes at CSP. I can count numerous times where we’ve seen “questionable” posts and Tweets by athletes of ours to the point where we felt it necessary to sit them down and tell them if WE see this, who’s to say that a future coach or employer won’t see it?
In any case, it’s a vital message that needs to relayed to today’s Millennials…their words matter and have consequences whether said to someone’s face (which, not coincidentally, never happens) or on the computer screen.
In anticipation of the release of her updated version of her popular Lift Weights Faster program, appropriately titled Lift Weights Faster 2.0,1 Jen Sinkler is releasing a treasure trove of FREE videos this week to help wet the palette of those looking to, well, lift weights faster.
The title is misleading because it’s NOT about twisting and contorting your lumbar spine with rotational movements like med ball throws and the like. Boooooooooooring.
Rather the video breaks down three baller movements which help improve your hip and t-spine mobility to battle things like back pain and SI joint pain.
You’ll have to provide your email address to watch the video, but 1) it will be worth it and 2) I can vouch for Jen and assure you she’s not an asshole and will up using your email to spam you incessantly.
She’s good people…you should (nay, need) to listen to her.
Many people are familiar with the active straight leg raise. For those who aren’t, it’s exactly as it sounds.
You know how when you look at someone’s last name, it’s spelled weird, and in your head you’re all like “nope, not even going to try to pronounce that,” and then the person looks at you and says, “it sounds exactly how it looks.”
Come on, use your big words, try it. S.M.I.T.H.
That’s the active straight leg raise. Try not to overthink it. You’re actively raising your leg. It’s science.
Conventional wisdom will tell you that the active straight leg raise is a great way to test for hamstring length and to see whether or not someone is stiff or short in that area.
And you’d be correct.
Conventional wisdom will also tell you that sticking your finger in an electrical socket “just to see what happens,” is pretty dumb. And you’d be right in that context too. People still do it, though.
The active straight leg raise IS NOT (technically) a test for hamstring length.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1Y73sPHKxw
While I understand why most people would opt to graze on that side of the fence, it’s overlooking the big picture. That, and as the saying goes…“the grass is always greener on the other side.”
The active straight leg raise is really a way to test one’s ability to control their pelvis. Can they flex one hip (the leg raise) while maintaining hip extension on the non-moving side? And can they do so without any major compensations and/or asymmetrical measurements (I.e., one leg is far better than the other)?
The active straight leg raise is actually one of the “Big 7” of the Functional Movement Screen, and it’s the first one that will be attacked if someone either scores a “1” or an asymmetrical “2/3 – right vs. left” on it.
Long story (20 course hours) short: if you can clean up someone’s ASLR, chances are you’ll be able to clean up many of the prominent movement patterns up the functional chain.
Core Engaged Active Straight Leg Raise
What Does It Do: this is an excellent drill to help “groove” the active straight leg raise and to teach people to extend/flex their hip while simultaneously dissociating hip movement from lumbar movement.
Moreover, adding in the band for additional core engagement helps “stiffen” things up and get the anterior core to fire to better place the body in alignment. This is especially helpful for those who live in a more extended (anterior pelvic tilt) posture.
Key Coaching Cues: lie supine with your feet together and toes pointing up while grabbing a band placed over your head. It’s important to NOT pull the band too far towards the floor. The idea here is to maintain tension and to keep everything “engaged” throughout the set; if you pull the band too far you lose this advantage.
From there it’s all about pacing: pull, leg up, leg down, reset, pull, leg up, leg down, etc. Get the motion through your hips and learn to dissociate from the lumbar spine.
Go SLOW!
This isn’t a race and it’s crucial to do this drill correctly in order to reap the benefits.
This would be an excellent drill to include as part of an extended warm-up prior to training, or as a “filler” exercise within the training session itself.
Reps of 6-8 PER SIDE would suffice.
Now I’m just going to sit back and wait to see how long it takes for someone from CrossFit to put this into some kind of METCON finisher where the active leg is dragging a Prowler or something.
I’ve been lucky to have so many people offering to write stellar content for me lately. Today I have a post by none other than Jon Goodman; friend, colleague, best selling author (Ignite the Fire), and pretty much the Don Corleone of personal training information.
He won’t leave severed horse heads in your bed, but you should listen to what he has to say if you want to do well in this industry as a personal trainer.
Today’s post deals with how you can make any exercise harder or more challenging.
So you wanna change up your routine, bro?
Not a problem and there are many options, but you’ve got to keep your goals in check. There’s wobbly boards, rolly thingies, and rubber whathaveyous that take up space in the gym and really don’t add much to anybody’s program.
Variation can put a hamper on your results if you’re not careful. So today I want to talk about variation done right. Below are 13 ways to alter any exercise; when to use each, and what to be careful of.
Some of these variations make the movement harder, some easier. Others change the purpose of the exercise altogether.
Some of these principles you may have seen before, others maybe not. I hope that, after reading this article, you know how to vary movements and loading schemes to better achieve your goal, whatever that may be.
1. Balance.
The more balanced you are, the more force you’ll be able to produce. Altering your center of mass or putting yourself off-balance changes the challenge of the exercise.
Not only that, but the closer your center of gravity is to the ground, the more balanced you’ll be. Ever take a look at the body composition of top wrestlers or judokas? They’re usually as wide as they are tall and the result is that they’re much more difficult to knock down.
If you want some real-World proof, the next time that you see Tony in-person take out his legs. The first thing that he’ll do is crouch and then probably deadlift you off of the ground and Hulk smash you.
So a few things: First, If you ever want to generate more force on a movement you can either widen your base of support (lowering yourself) or crouch down further. If you want to increase the stability challenge you can do a whole bunch of stuff ranging from standing on one leg to putting your feet together to using a variety of wobbly, bouncy, shaky things you’ll find in most gyms.
This comes with a warning — always keep your goal as the #1 priority. A squat on a Bosu ball makes the exercise harder, but it isn’t going to make you stronger. Always respect the rule of specificity.
Out of all the tools in the gym, the stability ball is Tony’s favourite.
2. Manipulate reps.
Certain exercises can have their reps manipulated more than others.
You would have a hard time performing the lateral raise, for example, in the heavy-weight/low-rep zone. The movement doesn’t allow lifting heavy loads explosively. How much to manipulate reps is contingent on your goal.
One other fun way to manipulate reps is by doing partials. In a conventional rep, tension is relieved before starting the next (i.e. locking your elbows at the top of a bench press to rest for a second before starting the next rep). In a partial, each rep becomes extended for 1 and ½ or more times putting the muscle under more tension.
Here’s Ben Bruno crushing some 1-1/2 rep ring chin-ups
3. Tempo
Tempo is ignored far too often. In order for me to talk about it, you’ve got to understand the nomenclature. Every rep of a lift can be broken up into 4 phases: eccentric, pause, concentric, pause, all measured in seconds.
A bench press with a “41X0” tempo would call for 4 seconds in the down phase; a 1 second-pause at the bottom; an explosive press (denoted by the “X”); and no pause at the top before starting the next rep.
Often when you see a workout printed in a magazine or given to you by a trainer, you’ll see 3 or 4 numbers like what I’ve noted above (sometimes the final rest isn’t listed). A tempo will change dependent on the goal of the exercise.
A blocker on a football team, for example, would do a more explosive version of the bench press – somewhere in the 20X1 range. Somebody looking for max hypertrophy is going to want more time under tension (TUT) and may opt for a 4020 on that same bench press.
4. Weight.
If it’s heavy, it’s hard.
5. Lever length.
The human body is really just a series of levers and, like any lever, the closer the load to the fulcrum the easier it will be. Now that you understand this basic biomechanical principle you know how to make any exercise easier or harder.
Want to increase the difficulty of movement? Move the weight away from the fulcrum. An example of this is performing the plank with straight arms in front of your shoulders.
Want to make an exercise easier, move the weight closer to the fulcrum. This explains, in part, why you can lift more in a bent arm lateral raise than you can with straight arms.
While this principle applies to any exercise, please note that it’s a simplistic approach. There’s some muscle physiology mumbo-jumbo like motor unit size and optimal recruitment patterns that also has an effect. For most it’s a good heuristic to train with.
Watch how Tony makes use of this transmogrification here:
6. Shape of Implement.
While not always commercially available, odd-shaped implements are fun to lift and can add in a new dimension to training. One could argue that it’s also a more functional way to train (although the word “functional” has lost all meaning). Sandbags, for example, have uneven and changing weight distribution. Be creative and you can build some fun equipment pretty cheap.
Perhaps the most common example today is the kettlebell. Because the weight distribution isn’t uniform (the weight is concentrated at the end) the bell generates more inertia farther away from the body. This forces a different muscle engagement pattern than a conventional weight – even swinging a DB is different. The extra inertia caused is the primary reason why it’s such an effective piece of equipment to develop the posterior chain.
For years I organized a get together every Sunday morning in the summer. Along with my kettlebells, my arborist friends brought rope (makeshift battle ropes), and we built tools like slosh pipes from PVC piping bought at Home Depot.
You can have some fun with this. Don’t think that you need to lift perfectly symmetrical DB’s and lubed-up machines to get strong.
The video below shows Tony doing a suitcase carry with a rope slung around a kettlebell. The instability and grip challenge here will definitely be different from anything you’ve done before.
7. Stance.
Despite popular belief, the only way to stand when performing an exercise is not with soft knees and your feet shoulder-width apart. Stance, when manipulated properly, is a powerful variable that can jumpstart your program. Here are my favorite variations:
Split stance. This is easier on the back and allows you to maintain a strong posture. The wider the split, the more balanced you’ll be. Switch the leading leg evenly to get an oblique benefit on each side.
Kneeling. A great way to get the abs firing on a host of upper body exercises is to do them on your knees. Instead of sitting on a bench or ball, do your shoulder presses or biceps curls kneeling maintaining a strong upright posture. This variation is especially good for me because I travel a lot and heavy weights are hard to find. That, and the extra ab work doesn’t hurt, you know, for the beach.
Half-kneeling. This is in-between standing and kneeling. There’s a great core benefit here and the glutes on the side of the resting leg will fire as well. Not only that, but you’ll get a nice stretch in the hip of the trailing leg.
Wide stance. A wide stance makes it easier to balance. It also gives the adductors a stretch, which almost every lifter needs. It’s probably not advantageous for most exercises but works well for things like cable chops.
8. Slow Eccentrics (Negatives).
A “negative” is a very slow, controlled contraction that causes a lot of muscle damage. These should only be used for advanced trainees and definitely only with sets of fewer than 3 to 5 reps. A negative usually lasts around 10 seconds. Use a spotter to assist in the concentric portion of the lift or do an easier variation of the exercise as a “cheat” to get the weight back up.
Negatives will make you very, very sore the next day and are only advised for advanced lifters. They’re especially good for breaking through plateaus.
In the video below, notice how Tony’s client is jumping up, or cheating, and then focusing on the eccentric, or negative, phase of the movement.
9. Rest Time.
Rest between sets is another one of those variables that isn’t used properly often enough. Most people have an idea of how long they should rest but few give it the conscientious attention that it deserves. A basic overview:
0-45 seconds of rest builds endurance.
45 seconds to 90 seconds (1.5 minutes) of rest builds muscle.
1.5 minutes and more of rest is for strength training.
Have a stopwatch with you. Set it to your rest interview. The minute that you finish a set, hit the button. When the timer beeps noting the end of your rest, start right away. Don’t screw around in the gym if you’re serious about your results.
You can vary the rest intervals by decreasing or increasing the time (duh). Decreasing the time will make the exercise more aerobic. You won’t be able to lift as much weight but if you’re looking for fat loss it may be warranted. Increasing the rest period to a maximum of 3 minutes is advised for power training. Higher rep ranges are generally used on large multi-joint exercises like a squat or bench press if the lifter wants to keep the reps low and lift heavy.
10. Loading Schemes.
Loading schemes can add or decrease intensity of a workout, or the challenge to a particular muscle group. I use the term “loading schemes” to describe the order that exercise appear in relation to one another.
There are too many to list here but two favourites are pre-fatigue and post-fatigue.
Pre-fatigue. This is when an exercise is performed that exhausts a single muscle group, immediately followed by a multi-joint exercise using that muscle. This can be dangerous if the lifter isn’t experienced. For example I wouldn’t perform hamstring curls before a deadlift unless the lifter has a couple years of lifting experience.
Post-fatigue. This is when a multi-joint exercise is followed immediately by a single joint movement using one of the main muscles of the multi-joint movement. For example, a deadlift followed by a hamstring curl would be considered post-fatigue. I use this loading scheme often when ramping up intensity and volume in my programming.
What it comes down to is this: Despite what your high school gym teacher told you, there are other ways to build a program than starting with a large multi-joint exercise followed by isolating muscle groups and ending with abs before a slow jog.
11. Pauses.
Pausing could be incorporated into the earlier discussion of tempo but I decided to give it its own category. Momentum is a powerful way to generate force but sometimes it’s not warranted. Pausing can be used for 3 purposes:
Increase intensity – Pauses at various stages of a rep can lengthen the total time under tension (TUT) of a rep, adding to the difficulty of each set.
Improve power generation – Lifting with momentum (like bouncing the weight on a deadlift) can be good or bad. If you’re working on your power then you probably want to avoid it. Additionally, pauses can be good to strengthen weak points of a lift.
Learn form – You cannot unlearn habits. Instead you’ve got to learn a new habit powerful enough to replace the existing one. It follows that the stronger an existing habit, the harder it will be to replace it. When learning a new exercise it’s important to only practice it well. This generally means reducing fatigue in the learning stage. Pauses after each rep to recompose yourself and ensure good form will speed up the learning curve.
The video below shows Tony pauses and resetting himself after each rep of a deadlift to improve the speed of the lift.
12. Range of Motion (“ROM”).
We’re taught to perform full ROM movements all the time and, for the most part, it’s a good idea. There are times when cheat techniques of semi-reps are warranted as long as they’re performed safely.
I always said:
“If the choice is to get 0 percent because you cannot perform a full rep or get 30 percent and perform a partial rep. I would choose the 30 percent.”
Partial reps are also great for keeping constant tension on the muscle. The next time that you do lunges don’t lock out at the top, keep tension on your hammies and glutes the entire set. It’s nasty. You’ll see what I mean.
If you’re already proficient with your form then partial reps can add more intensity into the movement. Especially on arm day. You know, for the pump.
13. Grip.
I saved grip for last because of how strongly I believe every trainee should master it. Different grips force the body into different positions, engage different recruitment patterns, and force the body to use different muscles.
There are countless ways to alter the grip on most major exercises. I’ll use the chin/pull up as an example. You can perform the exercise with your hands wide, medium, or close together. It can be done on a thick bar; a thin bar; rings; or even playground equipment. You can also grip the bar with your palms facing up, down, or each other. These are just some examples.
Note from TG: here’s a video of a former 50+ y/o client of mine performing chin-ups with softball grips. And yes, she’s shrugging a bit on her reps…..relax.
Every major exercise has a host of different grips. These nuances are what makes training fun and interesting. If you’ve been doing a lat pull down or chin up for a while, change your grip to any-or a combination of the options I’ve listed above.
Thank me tomorrow when you have to ask a friend to help you open a door.
I mentioned at the beginning of this article that the human body is relatively simple when you break it down. A muscle only has so many functions. The biceps flexes the elbow and internally rotates; the pec major flexes, internally rotates, and horizontal adducts (think pec fly); the gastrocnemius (calf) points the toe; and so on.
When you consider all the ways to vary an exercise it’s easy to see how diverse your options are. Have fun, but don’t lose sight of your goal.
Also, I made up the word transmogrify and then I found it that it was actually a real word. Guess I did learn something from Calvin and Hobbes, eh?
I wrote it and people loved it. I had no idea so many people would share it.
One of the more comical responses to it was from my boy Dean Somerset:
“If you’re one of those D-bags who bench presses with your feet in the air:
1. Punch yourself in the face. Hard.
2. Read this article and realize that leg drive is necessary (NECCESSARY) to have sufficient stability and neural drive to press up some realistically heavy weights.”
His comment brought up an interesting “debate” (which I don’t really feel is an actual debate; at least to those who put rationale thinking into practice) on the whole “bench pressing with the feet in the air” parade, which led me to write this article for Stack.com that went live yesterday.
It’s a short one (something like 600 words), and may serve as nice ammunition for those reading who have that buddy or friend or colleague or coach from 1985 who’s adamant that doing so is safer or that it isolates the pecs more, and need something to tell them to shut up.
UPDATE: I should mention that there is one thing that’s dumber: bench pressing with a thumbless grip – like THIS. Now THAT’s pretty much like playing with fire.
This is what I looked like last Sunday after spending three days and 20 course hours taking the Functional Movement Screen (FMS) I & II modules.
That’s my face melting.
It sounds (and looks) like a bad thing, but I assure you it’s the exact opposite.
Sitting through 20 hours of anything can be daunting.2
Sitting through 20 hours of non-stop talk on anatomy, assessment, corrective exercise, and how much I suck at the Active Straight Leg Raise can be downright overwhelming. And to be honest there were times I was overwhelmed.
But this was easily one of the best 20 hours I’ve spent doing anything not involving a book, baseball, Star Wars, or chocolate covered strawberries. BOM CHICKA BOM BOM.
Trying to overview the entire experience in one simple blog post isn’t doing it any justice. But I figured I’d try to highlight some “big rock” concepts and tidbits of information I learned while everything was still fresh in my head.
Lets Do This
I’d be remiss not to first give a shout out to both Functional Movement Systems and Perform Better for putting on and running a class-act event. The two together are like peanut butter and jelly or Jordan and Pippen or Batman and Robin (<— without the weird sexual tension).
I’d also be remiss not to lend a huge kudos to the bandleader, Brett Jones, who was the epitome of class and professionalism the entire weekend. He’s like Justin Timberlake, only with kettlebells. And a 500+ lb deadlift.
He along with Mike Perry and Diane Vives did an amazing job coaching all the attendees up and offering their expertise. A slow clap goes out to all of them.
NOTE: From here on out I’m using bullet point format because what follows is going to be a massive brain dump that may or may not make any sense. Good luck.
– The “S” is the most important letter in “FMS.” It’s a (S)creen. Nothing more, nothing less. It’s NOT an end-all-be-all assessment. I’ve always used components of the FMS when assessing my athletes and clients, but always viewed it as the outer layer of an onion. If I need to peel back more layers and dig deeper with other protocols I will.
What does the FMS accomplish? In a nutshell: it ascertains whether or not someone can “access” a pattern.
– Simplifying things even more: the FMS helps to figure out if “you move well enough to do stuff.”
– The FMS can also be seen as a litmus test to see if someone is at risk for injury. Of course a previous injury is going to be the greatest risk factor, but the FMS looks at other things such as asymmetries, mobility, stability, and neuromuscular control.
A great analogy that Brett used to describe the process was to ask the audience whether or not smoking increases the risk of cancer? Yes. Does not smoking protect you from cancer? [Interesting question, right?]
Just because you do or do not do something doesn’t mean anything. The primary goal(s) of the FMS is to set a movement baseline, identify the pain or dysfunction, and set up proper progressions and conditioning to address it.
– Fitness professionals are the worst at testing. We overthink things. There’s no such thing as a “soft” or “hard” 2. There’s no such thing as a 1+ or 1-. The screen is the screen, and it’s important (nay, crucial) to hold yourself to the standards and criteria set forth by the manual.
I’m paraphrasing here, but either shit looks good – and meets the criteria for testing – or it doesn’t.
You can’t overthink things or start doing stuff like, “well, his heel only came up a teeny tiny bit, and only rotated 8.3 degrees. I guess that’s a 3.”
– We can’t feel bad for giving people the score they present with and deserve. It’s doing them a disservice in the long run. It’s just like Brett said and made us pledge as a group before we started testing one another: “I’m still a good person and am not a failure if I score a 1.”
It’s not the end of the world and you won’t be considered the spawn of Satan if scored a “1” on your Deep Squat screen.
Life…will…go…on.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ois60CobLZM
– If pain is present…ALWAYS REFER OUT. If pain is present and persists, don’t just blame the hip flexors. Again, as Brett noted, there’s 32 muscles that act as hip flexors, why is the psoas always the culprit for back pain? If you do the screen, apply the correctives, and pain persists, it’s (probably) something deeper and outside your scope of practice.
Seriously, refer out.
But that doesn’t mean we still can’t train the athlete or client. As coaches we can usually train around any injury; we don’t need to keep everyone in a safe bubble where we just tell them to “rest.” To me that’s unacceptable and not an option.
– Take a gander at the Functional Performance Pyramid. Don’t worry I’ll wait.
If you decrease one’s movement capacity and increase their performance (make the movement block less wide compared to the performance block), that’s bad.
If you increase one’s movement capacity (think: yoga) and decrease their performance, that’s also bad.
We’re really good as coaches and personal trainers at building better engines (improving performance), but neglect to address the brakes and suspension (movement). Hence, people often break down sooner.
This is also another fantastic reason why the FMS is valuable. It’s helps you figure out where people need the most work/attention.
– Raise your hand if you feel the Active Straight Leg Raise is a great screen to test for hamstring length.
It’s not.
If anything it’s more of a screen for the “core,” and how well you’re able to control your pelvis. I.e., can you maintain extension on the down leg as you bring the other into hip flexion (and vice versa).
– The Deep Squat Screen (<—- bolded on purpose) takes place with the toes pointing straight a head. It’s not how we coach the squat in the long run.
1. Toes forward provides some semblance of standardization. It doesn’t make sense to allow people to externally rotate their feet (even a little bit) because that defeats the purpose. You allow someone to rotate 5 degrees, and the next person rotates 15. Like, WTF?
2. Toes forward also makes it easier to see faults and compensations in the pattern.
I literally had a “tense” exchange with a female attendee who gave me push back on making her perform the screen with her toes pointing forward.
Her: “Well I can’t squat if they’re forward!”
Me: “Then you won’t get a 3.”
Her: “Last time I went to this (she attended module I at a previous time), I was told we could point our toes out.3
[Relax, deep breaths]
Me: “Sorry but we were told otherwise yesterday. Toes forward.”
Based off her reaction you would have thought I insulted her yoga pants. With a little bit of a huffy attitude she reluctantly conceded and ended up with a 2.
I guess I’m an asshole.
– Corrective exercise is like boxing. It’s generally accepted that there are four different kinds of punches in boxing: the jab, cross, hook, and uppercut. The Five-Point-Palm-Exploding-Heart-Technique from Kill Bill didn’t make the cut.
You don’t need 500 different correctives to “fix” something. You only need a few and to OWN each one. Don’t overwhelm your clients with 17 different variations of glute bridges to perform before they go to bed. They’re not going to do them. Ever.
I’ve seen magical things happen when you help someone address a faulty breathing pattern. But pigging back off the previous comment about corrective exercise, you don’t need to get all fancy pants on people.
Showing your athletes and clients how to properly perform “crocodile breathing,” where they learn to get 360 degree expansion (and to not rely on their accessory muscles like the upper traps, scalenes, etc) can go a long ways in helping to set the tone on fixing stuff….even a straight leg raise or shoulder mobility.
Dumbledore can’t even do that.
How’s that for a super scientific explanation.
– You need to be RELAXED when you foam roll. We’re not deadifting max effort weight here. Chill out.
– Don’t underestimate the power of grip work (squeezing the handle of a dumbbell or kettlebell) to help improve rotator cuff function as well as shoulder mobility.
– You need a minimum of 30 degrees of ankle dorsiflexion to run well. Just sayin…..
– Here’s one of the best analogies I’ve ever heard with regards to overhead pressing courtesy of Brett Jones. When explaining the path of the DB or KB during an overhead press tell your client to pretend as if there’s a booster rocket underneath the elbow and that it takes the weight to space.
The path should be straight up, not to the side or in a zig-zag fashion. Straight up.
I Could Easily Keep Going
But I think that’s enough.
Needless to say I HIGHLY encourage any and all fitness professionals to attend one (or both!) of these courses if you have the opportunity to do so. I learned a ton and there’s no reason to suspect you wouldn’t either.
