Gotta keep this one short and sweet today. I had the opportunity to appear on the Inside the Athletic Grind Podcast earlier this week as a guest.
Nick Merich, one of the Editors-in-Chief, was a former athlete who trained at Cressey Sports Performance and his experience training with us a few summers ago inspired him to start the Inside the Athletic Grindwebsite (and podcast).
Both are about inspiring the athlete and entrepreneur on their path to greatness. Why do some athletes and entrepreneurs succeed without much effort (or grind for that matter)? Why do others fail? Is failing even that bad of a thing?
I’d argue not.
More often than not it’s our failures in every day life, business, and athletics that help us learn and to come back stronger; to drop kick adversity in the face if you will.
Inside the Athletic Grind encourages self-development, inspires athletes of all levels, and helps them embrace the “grind” we all live by.
This was one my favorite interviews I’ve ever done. It’s more conversational and we hit on a wide variety of topics. Everything from my journey as a lowly college student to recognized strength coach to my own mistakes and walls I had to hurdle to make it to the point where I am today. And I promise, no mentions of my cat. I think.
1. You don’t punch kittens in the face1. That’s just common sense (and really cruel).
2. Guys: you don’t not pay for the first date. And ladies: the fake purse grab at the end of dinner makes us guys feel good, and we appreciate the sentiment; but at some point, say between dates #3-71, you don’t need to continue the charade.
At some point you should eventually actually pay for something.
3. You don’t hang out at Chuck-E-Cheese when you’re an adult. That’s Creepy McCreepypants territory.
5. And, for the love of all that’s holy, you don’t squat the kettlebell swing.
I’d argue it’s the most common mistake that many people make with their swing technique. For starters, it’s wrong. I don’t care who you are or who you were coached by, even if it was Captain America, squatting the KB swing is not correct. It just isn’t.
How’s that for a scientific explanation?
Second, and more importantly, “squatting” the swing (to the point where the KB drops below the knees) increases the lever arm and places much more stress on the lower back. Often, whenever someone complains that KB swings bothers their back the culprit is one of two things: 1) not engaging their glutes enough and 2) not incorporating a hip hinge.
Today I wanted to share a simple tactile cue I learned from Dr. Mark Cheng (Senior Instructor for StrongFirst) you can use to help groove more of a hip hinge/hip snap pattern when swinging. Basically you need to stay upright A LOT longer than you think (and much longer than most are comfortable with) before you break the hips and hinge back.
ADDENDUM: I’ve noticed a few comments on various social media outlets where people have noted there ARE viable reasons to perform a squat swing and that it does have its place. I guess agree. Sorta.
There’s a time and place for everything I suppose. But even for those who DO perform a squat swing, there’s still a significant hip hinge involved. Yeah, yeah, there’s “research” to back up a squat swing and how it can improve “x” factor; but then again, there was research back in the day that said smoking wasn’t carcinogenic.
The eye sores that I see a lot people performing (where it’s entirely a squat) is wrong. You’d have a hard time convincing me there’s a legitimate rationale to do swings that way.
Nevertheless, I guess I should have re-worded things to say this: My main beef are for those people learning the swing in the first place. The hip hinge is such an integral movement which reduces the learning curve when introducing new movements drastically.
Maybe a better way to articulate my thoughts would be this: learn the hip hinge swing first, get really good at it, and THEN you can play around with the squat swing, if that’s what floats your boat. Weeeeeeeeeeeee.
He’s a phenomenal strength coach with a unique perspective and approach that I admire. He’s also a lovely human being. But I still hate him.
Why? Because I’m not him.
He can do cool stuff like deadlift 315 (for reps)….on one leg. He can do handstands, backflips, L-sits, overhead press a human being, squat a metric shit-ton, and probably win a fight against Batman and/or a pack of ninjas. And he’s ripped. What a jerk!
It’s really impressive to watch the things he can do. And it’s even more impressive to watch him coach regular people to do all of the same things (except maybe the whole fighting Batman thing). Which is why I admire his work.
He just released his new resource, Ultimate Athleticism, this week. While I’ve only had the chance to peruse the first few chapters, I can tell you that Max’s approach to training is different compared to anything else you’ve ever come across. While it may seem like the things he can do are superhuman, it’s important to understand that, despite not having a gymnastics background, he taught himself how to do those things through persistence, practice, and implementing the proper progressions.
What’s more, he teaches regular people how to do all the same things….every day! He’s adamant that lifting heavy things is important. But in addition to that he feels building more overall athleticism is the key to help fill in the gaps to better performance and a better body (and one that’s less likely to break down!).
In today’s guest post he discusses a few ways to accomplish this feat. Enjoy! And be sure to check out Ultimate Athleticism HERE.
But Can You Move Your Body?
Smashing weights in the gym makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. I can’t get enough of it.
I feel like the tides are shifting in the sense that more people are sharing that same passion for fitness.
But like everything else, it leads to extremes on both sides. This is especially true with those of us who are smashing weights.
It’s a bit silly how getting winded while walking up the stairs or not being able to squat to full depth without 300lbs on your back can somehow be a badge of honor among heavy lifters.
Some of you are probably thinking, “this guy doesn’t even lift, bro.” Here’s the deal; the pendulum has swung to far to the right. The goal hasn’t become, get stronger, or more athletic–it’s become lift more weights, or do more reps.
Before you excommunicate me from the lifters guild, just hear me out.
I’m still suggesting we all continue to hammer away at heavy deadlifts and throw ridiculous weights overhead, but let’s do just a couple things to make it more well-rounded. Let’s get more athletic for life, not just for gym movements.
So without further ado, here a couple simple things you can do to get more athletic without losing your heavy lifting gainz.
Mobilize
Combining yoga, dance, martial arts–whatever floats your boat–move around and improve your coordination at the same time. Throw this in at the beginning of your session and splice it in to your heavy lifts as an active rest.
Jump/Sprint
Don’t just jump straight up, and don’t just sprint straight ahead. Move in a variety of directions! Jump onto things, off of them. One leg, two legs. Lateral bound, maybe even learn how to do some basic tumbling if you have anyone willing to teach you.
Gymnastics
Upper body strength has, for whatever reason, become very one-dimensional. There are so many gymnastics, or even breakdancing movements with steady progressions starting out at a beginner level that will give you an even greater stimulus, and ultimately more gains than traditional gym movements targeting the upper body.
My two personal favorites are L Sit to Handstands, and Front Levers. If you’re confused, just go balance on your hands and climb stuff–a great substitute for overhead presses and pull-ups, respectively.
If your goal, like mine, is to be able to crush it athletically in any situation I am ever tossed into, you’re going to have to widen your spectrum of athleticism. Keep smashing heavy weights but add in some other movements to fill the gaps in your overall athleticism.
Ultimate Athleticism is on sale NOW through the end of the week. You can check it out HERE.
About the Author
Max is an author, coach, and owner of Ambition Athletics in Encinitas, CA. He also competes in a wide variety of sports ranging from Muay Thai and Jiu Jitsu to Scottish Highland Games.
Max’s desire to constantly improve his knowledge and personal skills has led him to be a sought after international presenter of his unique and pragmatic blend of strength, flexibility, health, and overall athleticism.
The crucial message was to remember it’s important to understand that the body is going to induce “protective tension” when it perceives something as a threat, risky, or un-familiar. It’s just our body’s way of pumping the breaks to make sure we don’t do anything stupid.
It was very well received and it seemed to open many people’s eyes, especially those who tend to gravitate towards traditional stretching as the end-all-be-all answer to everything.
First off: everyone knows that unicorn tears are the cure all for everything. That’s just common knowledge.
Secondly: giving credit where it’s due, my good friend Dean Somerset is the one who originally introduced the concept of REACTIVE STABILITY to me. I don’t want to pawn off the idea as my own. Granted I invented things like electricity, space travel, and Legos…but I draw the line at taking credit for the voodoo magic displayed in yesterday’s post and video.
Dean covers what I covered yesterday and much, MUCH more in his most recent resource Ruthless Mobility.
TODAY (Dec. 12th) is the LASTday to purchase it at a heavily discounted price. The price goes up at midnight.
If you’re a fitness professional looking to take your knowledge base to the next level or just someone who struggles with nagging injuries and/or movement quality this would be an excellent resource to add to your collection. Dean’s one of the guys I trust the most and someone I continuously learn from. You’d be doing yourself a huge favor by listening to what he has to say. Check out Ruthless MobilityHERE.
I’m not a coffee drinker. I’m more of a tea kind of guy. My fiance on the other hand looooves coffee. I honestly believe that if she weren’t marrying me she’d marry her Nespresso machine.
The whole bulletproof coffee craze intrigues me though. I understand that coffee alone has numerous health benefits, but does using Upgraded (trademarked) Coffee and adding grass-fed butter and MCTs to the mix make it that much more superior????
Some people swear by it. Others, like myself, just roll their eyes and turn the page.
Nonetheless, I felt this article was a very fair look at coffee in general, but also felt it was fair with its assessment of Bulletproof Coffee as well.
As someone who’s admittedly an atrocious bench presser, I found this article super helpful. Bench pressing is much more of a FULL-BODY movement than people give it credit for and Adam does a superb job at explaining what, exactly, leg drive is, and a few cues he likes to use at it pertains to bench press performance.
I think it’s great that more and more people like Adam are making it into the mainstream media and attempting to send the right message. And that’s this: use new research to question your approach, not define it!
This won’t come as a newsflash to those who read my blog on a regular basis, but I heart beef jerky, Gandalf, lightsabers, snuggling, butterfly kisses, farmer carries3
As far as exercises which have a lot of carry-over to performance as well as every day life events and doing their part in, pardon my french, “fixing shit,” 4 farmer carries are the bees knees.
In my latest article on MensHealth.com I discuss why farmer carries are worthy of “bees knees” status, in addition to offering up a handful of ways to implement them into a program
Also, I submitted the article before filming the video below. It shows me performing one round of a killer Kettlebell Get-Up, Carry, and Swing finisher that 1) is featured in the article and 2) I think you’ll enjoy. Depending on what your definition of “enjoy” is.
If it means something along the lines of eating a bowl of cookies-n-cream ice cream or getting a foot massage think the opposite of that.
Sometimes I think to myself how much of a moron I am.
And I don’t say that lightly. I’m 100% serious. I’m a moron. Or, to use a more “Tony’esque” term…..an asshat.
Lets rule out the obvious offenses like that time, as a freshman in my first college start, I threw a 3-2 hanging curveball to the clean-up hitter. I still think that ball has yet to land.
Or that other time I thought it would be hiiiiiilarious to sneak up behind my girlfriend in college – whom I knew hated to be scared – and scare her.
Her immediate reaction was to punch me in the mouth and give me a fat lip. Needless to say I learned that night where she stood on the whole fight or flight spectrum.
But at least I’m not as moronic as the guy on a recent episode of Forensic Files I watched who killed a woman and, upon using her credit card at a convenience store, signed his own name on the receipt.
Or this girl who did this……
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y50POlvKRyw
I’ve had my moments, as I’m sure everyone reading can commiserate with, where I demonstrated less than exemplary common sense.
But when I say I’m a moron/asshat/pick chosen adjective here, I’m also referring to my profound inability to think of stuff that many of my esteemed colleagues seem to do with as much ease as breathing.
At least once or twice a week I read something or watch something that makes me have a Homer Simpson moment where I slap myself in the forehead, yell “DOH,” and wonder why it never dawned on me to come up with the same idea or concept.
Ben Bruno gets the most recent tip of the hat.
A Simple Way to Pattern the Hip Hinge
I’ve written on the importance of the hip hinge and some basic drills I like to use to help groove it HERE. The Cliff Notes version goes something like this:
“It’s important because I said so.”
[Drops mic, exits stage left]
Okay, in all seriousness the sooner someone hones their hip hinge the sooner they’ll be putting the leverages and torques they’re placing on the body in a more advantageous or “user friendly” setting. I.e., learning to move through the hips (and greasing hip extension without compensating with lumbar hyperextension) in addition to less stress on the knees and lower back when performing exercises like squats and deadlifts.
Likewise, once the hip hinge is cleaned up it makes the learning curve when introducing new exercises down the road much more expedited.
While out in LA teaching a workshop Ben Bruno stopped by to say hello and was nice enough to take the attendees through a quick 30-minutes session on cool ways to use the landmine. He showed this ingenious way to use it to groove the hip hinge:
The placement and counterbalance of the bar lends itself so that the trainee has no where to go BUT to hip hinge in order to lower the bar. If they don’t they’re going to hit themselves in the boy or girl down there parts.
It’s more or less the most intuitive way I’ve come across to help someone “feel” the hip hinge yet!
Understandably, some people may cry afoul about the hands/arms moving towards the floor, but remember all I’m trying to accomplish is helping someone feel the hip hinge happen in the first place! Once they have that, then I can work on upperback and lat tension when deadlift and squatting.
As an FYI: you don’t necessarily need the landmine apparatus in order to perform this drill. You could just as easily place a barbell up against a wall or kitty corner between two walls and accomplish the same objective.
Give it a try yourself or with your clients struggling to master the hip hinge and let me know how it goes.
I was perusing Netflix yesterday morning trying to find something quick to watch while I ate my eggs when I noticed the show Forensic Files was now available to stream.
Was started off as me thinking “Oh, I’ll watch like one or two episodes” (they’re 20 minutes each), turned into five, and I ended up getting zero work done yesterday.
I then came home from the gym last night and somehow convinced Lisa to watch two more episodes with me. And I just watched four more this morning.
I……..can’t……..look……..away.
I feel like Frank the Tank from the movie Old School – “once it hits your lips, it’s so good!!”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4quisonHOJE
The show is like crack. And, for the record: there are some messed up people out there!! As much as the show is impossible to turn away from, it also makes you want to lock all your doors, screw all your windows shut, turn off the lights, and huddle in the corner of your apartment.
Anyhoo – I managed to turn off the television without going so far as to throw it out the window, and now I’m finally sitting down to write this blog and then spend the rest of the morning writing some programs.
Much like my affinity for dark documentary crime series, when it comes to anything written on deadlifts I’m like a moth drawn to a flame.
In this superb article Dave breaks down a few ways to add bands to your deadlift training, including one INGENIOUS way to implement when you’re stuck traveling and have little access to a gym let alone a barbell to do deadlifts with.
Unlike most other resources Dave’s approach takes a unique perspective in that he incorporates autoregulation, which is just a fancy term used to describe what it means to listen to what your body is telling you.
In addition, in the year since its first release Dave has used feedback to help develop three new programs for the manual as well as add a bunch of other cool stuff, including a little over an hour of new video coaching content.
It’s an excellent resource, I love it, and feel if you’re someone looking to add somer serious progress to your deadlift this is something you can’t pass up!
I saw this article last week and admittedly almost rolled my eyes. But after reading it, I really liked the idea it proposed and am starting to experiment myself.
It’s BRUTAL!!!! So if you’re looking for a change of pace in your program, at the mercy of sounding cliche, this may be exactly what you’re looking for!
Fans of Gray Cook (and Brett Jones) will know this one as it’s an oldie-but-goodie. The Bretzel and Bretzel 2.0 are two drills we’ve been incorporating more and more into our pre-work and “corrective” work with a lot of our athletes and clients at Cressey Sports Performance.
They’re both excellent drills that hammer a lot of stuff at once. Bretzel 1.0 = anterior chain. Bretzel 2.0 = posterior chain.
2. Now that we’re smack dab in the middle of the Holiday season it’s time for the majority of us to start thinking about the inevitable New Year’s resolution to lose some weight or firm up a bit.
Nutrition is generally the one bottleneck for most people because, lets be honest, most of us are stubborn. Everyone is set in the their ways, has their likes and dislikes (I’m sorry but gluten free bread tastes like sawdust sprinkled with sandpaper shavings), and most telling of all, people are confused as f*** as to what they should be eating.
There’s a lot of noise out there, and it’s no surprise that many are paralyzed or overthink what or how they should be eating (no carbs after 7PM!). And well, some people don’t do any thinking at all (chocolate comes from a plant. Plants are green. Chocolate is salad!).
The people over at Precision Nutrition are gearing up for their annual Lean Eating Program, which is pretty much the quintessential coaching-based nutrition support program out there.
I have many of my own clients use their services, and I know many, many fitness professionals who have also used Precision Nutrition to not only act as their coach, but to use it as a learning experience as well.
PN has just released their FREE Starter Kit which as a stand along thing is worth more than what most diet books try to sell you for whatever is they charge for useless (or to be less cynical: regurgitated) information.
Both kits offer their own unique content tailored to both men and women, and like said they’re both FREE. You don’t have much to lose. And hey, they may serve as the impetus to finally hold yourself accountable and make 2015 your most healthy year yet!
Raise your hand if the mere sight of the term “corrective exercise” makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up or results in having to resist the urge to jump through a pane glassed window.
[Raises hand]
Corrective exercise can mean different things to different fitness professionals. For some, like physical therapists, it can mean any number of things including implementing unstable surface training with an injured client coming off a nasty ankle sprain. For others, like personal trainers, it can mean pretty much the same thing, having a healthy client perform all sorts of unstable surface training in the name of optimal core engagement! (whatever that means), and because it helps to separate themselves from the masses and it looks super neato.
WEEEEeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.
Yes, I’m being a bit sensationalistic here. And yes, I’m going out of my way to use extreme examples. Hey, you’re still reading right?
Corrective exercise IS a thing, it DOES have a time and place, and MANY (not all) trainers and coaches need a slight slap upside the head (just a tap!) to help remind them what it is and what it isn’t.
In my latest article on BodyBuilding.com I give some insight on what corrective exercise means to me. Try not too take it too seriously though…I had some fun with it. 5
As a coach I love them in the sense of how much bang-for-my-training-buck they provide. I get asked all the time from my athletes and clients “what the hell do these get-up thingamabobbers do anyways?” To which I respond: what don’t they do?
Dean Somerset wrote an excellent article last week on T-Nation HERE which mirrors many of my own thoughts on the matter.
But to expound a bit more, you can think of get-ups as loaded yoga. Yes, I can use the word “yoga” in a sentence and not throw up a little in my mouth….;o)
Truth be told: 98% of the dynamic warm-up drills that we use on a regular basis at Cressey Sports Performance are derived and have their base in yoga. Likewise, a fair number of basic strength training moves like planks (and all their iterations), yoga push-ups, and certain lunge variations have their ancestry in yoga.
So it’s not like yoga doesn’t deserve some credit!
Taking the thought process a bit further, can you name another exercise which incorporates so many valuable components as the get-up? We have lying, rolling, glute activation, bridging, scapular stability, overhead static hold, core stability/strength, half kneeling, and lunging; and then a reversal of all of that. About the only thing get-ups don’t do is remember to set the DVR to record the latest episode of The Walking Dead, GODDAMMIT!!!!
As a trainee I hate get-ups.
1. No exercise does a better job at highlighting any glaring weaknesses up and down the kinetic chain. Whether it’s limited hip flexor length, having hip mobility that would rival the ROM of a pregnant rhino, poor scapular stability, or weakness in general, get-ups are going to humble you.
2. Using a more personal anecdote, get-ups just take F.O.R.E.V.E.R to perform. Coming from a guy who thinks anything that requires more than five reps is cardio, the fact that it takes upwards of one minute to complete ONE SIDE of a get-up makes me want to punch myself in the neck. It’s so annoying.
The thing is: when performed correctly, that’s how long a get-up should take!
Dr. Mark Cheng was kind enough to make a cameo appearance two weekends ago at mine and Dean’s Excellent Workshop in LA.
He spent a solid 90 minutes taking all the attendees through the kettlebell swing and get-up. I learned more in those 90 minutes than anything I’ve watched or read in the past five years (no offense to those who’s DVDs I watched and books/articles I read!).
Side Note: Mark is the guy James Fell interviewed for THIS article a few years ago that time Jillian Michaels tried to pretend she knew what she was talking about when it came to whatever it is she was trying to demonstrate here.
– For example, why are they called TURKISH get-ups in the first place? Why not Canadian get-ups or Vulcan get-ups? Why do the Turks get all the love?
It seems back in the day, and I assume present day too, the Turks were kind of badass. I forget what term Mark used, but he described the form of grappling they typically trained their warriors in, and how they used to do so all oiled up.
You know how hard it is to grip or grab something that’s all wet or sweaty, right? Well imagine that only 100x more challenging and homoneurotic (depending on what your definition of an ideal Friday night is)6
Anyways, waaaaaaay back in the day, in order to even be considered “man enough” to train and to learn how to fight the Turks made it a prerequisite you had to perform a get-up with close to a 100 lb kettlebell (give or take a few lb’s). While fighting a grizzly with your free hand!
Okay, I made that last part up….but still. WTF!!!!!
Point: Turks. Well played.
– Another tidbit I didn’t realize was that Mark is the guy who implemented the high bridge into the get-up! This isn’t to say he feels this is the correct way to do the get-up, but rather to suggest there’s more than one approach to any given component.
To transition from the seated overhead position to the half kneeling position you can do so in a variety of ways depending on preference and/or limitations. You can use the basic leg sweep, the leg switcharoo (<— where you essentially stay seated the entire time, switch leg positions, then stand up), the two-legged squat approach, or the high bridge.
– According to Mark he was toying around with the high bridge one day (as it emulated a specific move in his favorite form of fighting), and he and Gray Cook had an Ah-HA moment! The high bridge, when you pause to think about it, “clears” people from hip flexor limitations. If they can’t get full hip extension, their hip flexors may be a limitation.
Again, as Mark adamantly noted, the high bridge IS NOT a requirement!!! He’s not married to one way or the other with regards to completing the movement. It just comes down to personal preference.
– The get-up should be a controlled movement! If you have to speed up in order to complete any one step, you lack stability. Speed = instability!!!!
As I alluded to above, when done correctly, the get-up should take upwards of 60s PER SIDE!!!
– Mark prefers to using anywhere from 20-24kg for his get-ups and “grease the groove.” He can go higher – much higher – but that’s not necessarily the point of the exercise. It’s to do shit right (my words, not his. But I know he wouldn’t disagree).
In short: SLOW DOWN!!!!!!
2. Thanks to everyone who went out of their way to send me B-day wishes yesterday. As you can tell I had a rough day.
Lisa snapped this pic in the middle of the afternoon as I was taking a nap. I fell asleep watching The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey for the 17th time.
Don’t worry, though. I recovered nicely, took off my lame hat, and Lisa and I went to an amazing dinner last night with our friends Pat and Brianne.
A quick nod to Sarma (located in Somerville, MA) for an unreal menu and dinner.
3. Deadlifts!!!!
Last year my good friend, Dave Dellanave, released what I felt was one of the best deadlift(centric) resources I had ever come across – Off the Floor.
It just so happens that after receiving feedback and testimonials over the past year, Dave’s fine tuned his program and has added a bunch of new content and add-ons.
As if listening to a guy who has deadlifted 3x bodyweight on three different deadlift variations – not to mention owning a few world records to boot – wasn’t enough, Off the Floor now includes three different programs (beginner, intermediate, and advanced), a slew of new grip challenges, in addition to just under an hour of new video content (including Dave talking about the concept of autoregulation).
It’s off the hook and something I feel would be an excellent addition to anyone interested in improving their deadlift; or just their overall level of badassery in general.
For more info you can go HERE (<—- link to an article, not a sales page).
Only 384 days until Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens opens (Dec 2015). So we’re clear: having a nerd boner for that long is completely healthy, right?
I trust JJ Abrams implicitly. He mentioned in an interview I read not too long ago that he was going to try to not rely on CGI too much and revert back to the look and feel of the first trilogy. Based off this trailer it seems he’s keeping his word.
[watches trailer for 6th time]
Okay, my boner just got a boner. It’s getting weird now.
Max is an author, coach, and owner of Ambition Athletics in Encinitas, CA. He also competes in a wide variety of sports ranging from Muay Thai and Jiu Jitsu to Scottish Highland Games.
