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The $25,000 Piece of Advice

This past weekend, along wirh EC, I ventured to Providence, RI for the Perform Better Summit.  Having missed it last year for the first time since 2007, I was undoubtedly pumped to have the oppotunity to meet up with old colleagues whom I hadn’t seen in a while to, you know, break bread, eat lots of dead animal flesh, maybe arm wrestle, exchange ideas, talk some shop, and most important of all, listen to Alwyn Cosgrove swear like a sailor.

Oh, and of course there was some learning to do.

While I wasn’t able to make it on Friday for the start of the Summit (thank you entrepreneurship), both Eric and I drove in early Saturday afternoon so that we could spend both Saturday and Sunday getting our learn on.

With close to 950 participants attending, this was probably the biggest event Perform Better has ever hosted.  It was great to have the opportunity to talk to people who read my blog and articles, and I can’t thank everyone enough for all the kind words.  Really. I know I joke about it all the time, but it’s really cool knowing that there are people out there who don’t feel I suck.  And if you do, that’s fine too.  I can take it.   I just won’t send you a Christmas card.

Seriously, though, for all those people who came up to me and introduced themselves, again, thank you.

More to the point, as awesome as the lineup of presenters were – what was equally as impressive was the quality of attendees.

I bumped into Lou Schuler.  Actually he approached me!  Lou freakin Schuler initiated a conversation with me! Granted I’ve met Lou in the past, but still.  It’s cool as shit.  Additionally, I finally had the opportunity to meet Nick Tumminello in person.  Great guy, and I’m not kidding when I say he’s constantly thinking of new ideas.  The guy is just “on” all the time.  Likewise, I bumped into Kevin Neeld, BJ Baker, Dave Jack, Dewey Nielsen, Anthony Renna, Joe Dowdell, and a host of other people in the biz that I admire and respect.

Nevertheless it was a fantastic time, and I can’t stress enough how much of an idiot you are if you’re a fitness professional and you have yet to attend one of these events.  Seriously.

That said, while I had every intention of writing up a complete summary of the presentations I saw, I decided to focus on one.

Todd Durkin:  Creating Maximum I.M.P.A.C.T in the Fitness Field

For those not familiar with him, Todd is a strength coached based out of San Diego and is arguably the most energetic person this side of the Energizer Bunny.  The man is a machine, and it’s no wonder why he runs one of the most successful training facilities in the country; and why numerous NFL, MLB, and various other professional athletes flock to him every off-season.

Todd’s presentation wasn’t so mucn about the perfect program, how many sets and reps to do, which exercise to do in what order, or had anything to do with some unknown Eastern European quasi-isometric, undulated system that would get you results 158% faster.

Instead, his presentation was all about how to step-up your game as a coach.  We don’t realize this, but as fitness professionals, we’re often the highlight of client’s days, if not week.  For many trainees, they sit at work all day, filling out their TPS reports, hating life, and more often than not, their time in the gym is their only time to “get away.”

How much would it suck if they arrived and you’re just being a Jonny Raincloud and there’s no energy behind their session? You just take them through the motions (or worse, the Cybex circuit), and there’s no spirit or purpose to their workout, all the while checking your messages on your phone and just being overly disinterested.  In short:  you suck.

As coaches and trainers, we need to make a concerted effort to be on our “A” game………always.  We owe that to our clients.  Now, I’m not saying I’m perfect.  I certainly have days where I feel less than stellar, and would rather jump into a shark’s mouth than teach little Danny Snowflake how to Goblet squat – but thankfully, those days are few and far between.

Even still, while I can look myself in the mirror and say that I love my job and that I’m passionate about what I do on a daily basis, after listening and watching Todd, I recognize that I can step up my game to a degree.

As can you, I’m sure.

One nugget that hit me like a ton of bricks was something that Todd refered to as the $25,000 piece of advice.  Basically Todd told the story of how, back in the day, JP Morgan was approached by some gentleman who propositioned him with the following:

[Cue 19th Century British voice – I have no idea of the guy was British, but for the sake of argument, lets say he was]

“Good day kind sir.  If you would be so inclined, may I bother you for a spot?  In no uncertain terms, I am quite sure that if you heed my advice that I hold here in my hand – you sir, will be more successful than you could ever imagine.

The only caveat, if I may be so humbly bequeathed?  If you like my advice, you shall pay me $25,000.  Hfff hfff hfff hfff hfff.”

Being a man of his word, JP Morgan assured the stranger that if he in fact did find the piece of advice valuable, he’d pay the man right then and there.

After reading the piece of paper, indeed, JP paid up.  What did it say?  Two things:

1.  Write down FIVE things you need to do today.

2.  Do them.

That’s some Jedi mind s**t right there.  Think about it.  How often do you say you’re going to do something, only to put it off because you ended up updated your Facebook status for the 37th time, or decided it was more important to watch the season finale fo American Idol instead?

Think about how much more organized and productive you’d be if you just sat down for 5-10 minutes every day, wrote down the five most important things you NEED to get done, and then, you know, did them!

I don’t know about you, but I couldn’t believe how something so simple and subtle could seemingly be so profound.

So, here’s the deal:  try it!  Starting today, I want you grab a piece of paper and write down five things you need to do.  I don’t care what they are.  It could be something as simple as “pick up milk at the store,” to something more specific and goal oriented like “not skipping the gym today.”  Heck, it could be something like taking the time to call your mother; or, maybe buying some flowers for your girlfriend on your way to pick her up at the airport.

Note to Self:  pick up flowers for Lisa before heading out to pick her up at the airport today.

The point is, writing them down on a piece of paper makes it real – makes it more concrete.  Even more important, it holds you more accountable.  Using myself as an example, here’s my list for today:

1.  Pick up flowers for Lisa before heading out to pick her up at the airport today.  Seriously dude, don’t forget.

2.  Write all Cressey Performance related programs that are due for today – three, in all.

3.  Write the “body” of my next Livestrong.com article.  SPOILER ALERT:  it’s going to be titled, Your Shoulder Hurts?  Here’s Why.

4.  Buy a new pair of Rehbands.  The one’s I have now (which are 3-4 years old, mind you) are starting to smell like eggs boiled in the bath water of a prostitute.

5.  Lift heavy things.  Which, I need to go do now.

So, what are YOU going to do today.  Lets hear it!

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A Rant on Chicken Leg Syndrome

Note:  I got this question via email the other day, and once I started writing my response, it got so long that I just figured I’d use it as a blog post.  Take it for what you will – if anything, I was just writing off the top of my head, so feel free to chime in below.

Q:  This is a totally random question but one that (a) I wouldn’t mind seeing you tackle in your blog at some point and (b) has been on my mind for quite a while now.

Here goes: Why don’t we see more emphasis on great (not necessarily big, but defined) legs instead of JUST big arms and a hyooge chest? I’m all for the latter (to a point), but I find it rather odd that so many guys have guns and pecs but their legs are toothpicks. We always talk about single-leg training, squats and deads, but in my gym and everywhere else, I see no guys sans bodybuilders focusing on their wheels.

This has always been an issue for me because a great pair of wheels on a guy ALWAYS yields attention.

It’s true even of many trainers. I remember commenting to my wife that a trainer she once hired had “no legs.” She responded, “He has a nice upper body.” Then, when he finally showed up in shorts, she said “I wanted to throw up at seeing his chicken legs.”

Just a little rant, but each time I’m lunging with 110s or deadlifting 8 plates, a few of the guys with the best upper bodies always comment that they wish they had my legs and/or leg strength. I always think, “You could, if you stopped benching three days a week.”

Just wondering if there was some memo I missed.

A:  Well, I’ll be the first to admit that I have the worst calf genetics known to man, so this may come across as the teapot calling the kettle black, but I’ll bite.  I mean, I’ve pulled close to 3x my bodyweight off the ground, so that gives me some street cred.

I’m very similar to you in that I can look at a dude’s physique (no homo), and tell if he’s put his work in.  For instance, if I look at a guy and see a thick, wide back, he’s obviously put his time in.  I mean, any tool wearing a fanny pack and a cut-off shirt can have biceps and abs.  However, not every guy is walking around with a back that looks like the Grand Canyon.

Similarly, we can think along the same lines with the lower body.  Now, speaking from a personal standpoint, I have one goal and one goal only in life:  and that’s to have a big ass.

So big in fact, that when I walk past J-Lo, all she can say is “damn!”

Nonetheless, I’m a bit skewed in my perspective since I see guys walking around with tree trunks all the time at CP; but I can definitely see your point when referring to the typical commercial gym scenario where a “leg day” usually entails some quarter squats in the Smith machine, a few leg extensions and curls here and there, and, of course, some leg presses for good measure – sometimes while reading the newspaper.  Believe it or not, I once saw a gentleman doing that at a gym I used to work at.  Unbelievable.

I think in the end, it comes down to a few factors:

1.  Guys like training what they can see.  Until the day comes where it’s socially accepted to walk around with our pants off (fingers crossed), most dudes are going to hit the push-ups and curls before they go clubbing.  That’s just the way it is, and the it’s always going to be.

2. Training upper body is easier than training lower body.  It’s akin to asking someone whether they’d rather go for a two mile “jog,” or go to the local track and do a few rounds of 400M tempo runs or sprints.  The less masochistic in the crowd will more often than not pick the former over the latter.  Similarly, what sounds more appetizing to Joe Inflated Lat Syndrome:  front squats or concentration curls?

3.  Training the upper body, at least in my humble opinion, lends itself to be a little more “volume friendly.”  In other words, 70% of our muscle mass is below the waist line (I’ll refrain from using an obvious joke here).  We have the glute max, hamstring group, adductor group, and obviously our thigh muscles, too (rectus femoris, etc).  These are big freaking muscles – and when we train them (hard) it takes them a little longer to fully recover.  Anyone who’s ever done a set of breathing squats for 20 reps or broken a deadlift PR can attest that you essentially feel like you got hit by a Mack truck for the next three days afterwards.

Tricep kickbacks?  Not so much.

On the flip side, however, our pecs (as bulletproof as they are), are a relatively small muscle (comparatively speaking) and can be trained a bit more frequently, and can handle a bit more volume.  In much the same light, we can say the same for our triceps, deltards, abs, you name it.  Training our upper body generally isn’t quite a taxing on the body (especially from a CNS standpoint) as the lower body.  This isn’t to say that training upper body is always a cake walk, but lets be honest, chest flies aren’t nearly as “vomit in my mouthish” as say, barbell bulgarian split squats.

As such, most (not all) guys will automatically gravitate towards training their upper body more.  Heck, just look at most body building splits:

Mon:  Chest and Back

Tue:  Bi’s and Tri’s

Wed: Legs (again, this can vary between being a raging vagina (leg extensions) or actually putting some effort in – deadlifts, squats to actual depth, single leg work, GHRs, Prowler, etc).

Thu:  Shoulders

Fri:  Chest (again) and Fist Pumps

Weekend:  eat dead animal flesh

By that token, dudes are hitting their upper body four times per week, and their lower, once.  Giving credit where credit is due, as I alluded to above, if you train your legs right, sometimes once a week is plenty.  But, given the likelihood that most guys (again, not all) have no idea what it’s like to use a squat rack for its intended purpose, this is a non-issue.

Anyways, to make a long rant short, I feel your pain.  I think if more dudes spent more time training their lower body, they’d see marked improvements in their overall physique.  But until the day comes where girls compliment a guy’s quad sweep as much as his biceps (or all these same guys actually start training in a “real” gym), it probably isn’t going to happen anytime soon.

I’d love to hear everyone else’s thoughts on this.

 

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Execises You Should Be Doing: Pallof Press – Alphabet

Before I get into today’s post, I first wanted to “touch base” with everyone to fill them in on a few things going on in my life: both personal and professional.

1.  Both Eric Cressey and myself will be heading to Providence, RI this weekend for the Perform Better Functional Training Summit.  Last year was the first time I hadn’t attended since 2006, so it will be great to head down and talk shop with a bunch of very smart people.  The line-up is redunkulous.  Pretty much everyone who’s anyone in this industry will be speaking:  Dr. Stuart McGill, Mike Boyle, Professor Dumbledore, Gray Cook, Lee Burton, Alwyn Cosrove, Gandalf, Rachel Cosgrove, Martin Rooney, Dan John, Thomas Myers, Thomas Plummer, Lee Taft, and Mark Verstegen to name a few. 

And that’s just the speakers.  I know there are going to be many, many other high quality people in attendence as well.  For example, I know Joe Dowdell and a few members of his staff from Peak Performance, NYC will be there.  Too, I think I heard through the grapevine that Anthony Renna, Kevin Larrabee, and Dewey Nielsen will be making cameo appearances, too.  In all, it’s going to be an awesome weekend, I can’t wait.

2.  The highlight, though, might be the fact that Charlie Weingroff (of Training=Rehab, Rehab=Training fame) will be stopping by the facility TODAY to talk some shop.

Coincidentally, the Northeastern Sports Medicine and Sports conference is this weekend as well, and Charlie is one of the main speakers attending.  As a result, he’ll be stopping by at some point to today to play with Tank.

3.  As many of you may be aware, I’ve been toying around with the idea of producing a fitness product for a while now, and admittedly, I’ve been dragging my heels.  Part of me recognizes that it’s “time” and I need to put my big boy pants on and do something.  The other part, however, is a bit intimidated.  It’s a big leap to come up with a product, and if I’m going to do it, I’d want to do it right.

That said, it seems I’ve come up with the perfect solution – collaborating! 

Martin Scorcese and Robert DeNiro did it (many times); Eminem and Elton John did it; hell, even Optimus Prime and Megatron did it once!

It’s still in the early stages, but it seems I’m going to be one of the featured presenters in Rick Kaselj’s follow-up to the widely popular Muscles Imbalances Revealed – Lower Body.

This time around, Rick will be focusing on the logical sequel – Muscles Imbalances Revealed – Upper Body.  Needless to say, I’m humbled that he would ask me to participate, and I’m really looking forward to the opportunity.  Stay tuned for updates…….I may or may not doing the powerpoint presentation shirtless.

Kidding.

Kinda.

4.  Oh, and t-minus ten days before my girlfriend and I move in together.  Which means only ten more days left of throwing my underwear on the floor, leaving dishes in the sink, not putting the cap back on the toothpaste, and Die Hard Tuesdays. 

Soon I’ll be separating my colors from the whites, offering to wash the dishes, wiping tooth paste of the mirror, and watching Notting Hill.  An Era is ending, folks.  But I can’t wait!

Alright, lets get into the meat and pototoes of today’s post.  It’s no secret I’m a huge fan of the Pallof Press.  Not only is it a fantastic exercise to promote core stability, but it’s arguably one of the more versatile core exercises out there.  Today, I’d like to share yet another variation I came across that I think may be my favorite thus far.

What Is it:  Pallof Press – Alphabet

What Does It Do: Much like the regular pallof press, this variation trains core stability – albeit with a little twist.  Here, you’ll use a Jump Stretch band and write the alphabet with your arms straight out in front of you.  Trust me, this is harder than it looks.

Key Coaching Cues:  I’d recommend starting with a 1/2 inch band to test the waters first, but feel free to use a one-inch band if that’s too easy.  From there, simply assume an athletic stance and “press” your arms straight out in front of you making sure to keep your elbows locked out the entire time.  Draw the alphabet from A to Z.  Start with small letters, and progress to larger letters if need be.  Perform a set on one side, then switch and do the other.

That’s pretty much it.  Try it out today, and let me know what you think!

 

 

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Stuff to Read While You’re Pretending to Work: 6/1/2011

The Power of You – Roger Lawson

For those who didn’t know, Roger interned with us at Cressey Performance a little over two-years ago now, essentially ignoring his degree in literature to pursue a career in strength and condtioning.

Having little to no experience, I’d be lying if I said we weren’t just a teeny tiny bit hesitant to bring him on at the time.  He was a persistant bastard, though, and eventually we decided to give him a shot; afterall, he drove all the way from Detroit to “meet” the staff at Mike Boyle’s Winter Seminar in 2008.  What’s more, it was clear he had an unsatiable desire to learn.

And the rest, as they say, is history.  He rocked it.  Even to this day, Roger is still one of our more popular interns we’ve ever had.

This post shows why.  Great guy.

What We All Can Learn From a Barbershop – Mike Reinold

For anyone who currently owns a fitness facilty, or even thinking about owning one – you NEED to read this.  Fantastic post by Mike on what separates good facilties from those that just want your money.

Do We Focus Too Much on the Sagittal Plane? – Craig Liebenson, DC

And, for those who are looking for something with a bit more of a nerd-factor, I came across this post by Craig discussing why focusing solely on cosmetics (looking good on the beach) may be hurting you more than helping you.  Here, he shares some insight from several top dogs in the industry.  How can you not listen?

SPOILER ALERT: I couldn’t help but show this here.  I normally hate cats with a passion, but the following video may just be the cutest thing I’ve seen since that little kid from Jerry Maguire.  Not even kidding.  Now, if you excuse me, I have to skip under a rainbow.

 

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What Christmas Morning Can Tell You About Program Design

I remember it like it was yesterday:  Actually, it was 1986, but the movie-like beginning makes the story sound cooler.   It was Christmas morning.  EARLY Christmas morning.  I’m talking 2 AM Christmas morning.   There I was, sitting in my room, counting down the minutes before I was “allowed” to rush down the hallway into my parents’ bedroom at 6 AM to wake them up so that we could get the show started.

As we – meaning, my brother, sister, and I – waited at the top of the stairs, my mom would walk down, turn on all the lights, and get everything all situated.  My step-dad, on the other hand, would take his time getting out of bed, and after what seemed like an eternity, he’d finally head downstairs, only to set up shop in the bathroom.  It was agonizing, because there was no telling how long he’d be in there.

In his defense, though, now that I’m a full-grown man I can appreciate the significance of the morning visit to the can.  But goddammit!!!  At ten years old – and on Christmas morning no less, it was pure torture.

Anyways, once my mom had the music on, and my step-dad has his coffee in hand, we were ready to roll.

The three of us would sprint downstairs, turn the corner into the living room, and see what Santa had brought us.

To give you more of a visual feel, it kinda looked something like this:

Turning the corner –

OMG, Nintendo!!!!!!!!

Anyways, that particular Christmas I really wanted a Thunder-Punch He-Man.  Who didn’t?  All the cool kids had one, and I had been bugging my parents for one since like August.  What can I say, I was planning a head.

Sadly, while I did get a bunch of cool things, what I didn’t get was He-Man.  As much as I wanted one, what I needed, apparently, was some new underwear.   Thanks Mom.  Thanks a lot!  **slams door**

Anyways, by now you’re probably wondering, “Tony, where are you going with this?” and “what in the hell does this have to do with getting jacked and stuff?”

#1.  Don’t use that tone with me.

#2.  If you’d hold your britches, you’ll soon learn that this was a great segue to explaining the difference between wants vs. needs as it pertains to program design.

As a strength coach, when designing individualized programs I’m always (read:  all…..the……time) balancing the ying and yang between wants and needs.   Using a great example, there are plenty of guys out there who would want nothing more than to bench press every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.  In fact, that’s what many end up doing.  Thing is, though, all that benching isn’t doing their Quasimodo posture any favors, and it isn’t necessarily what they need to be doing.

Similarly, lets take a female whose main goal is to lose fat.   Left to her own vices, she’ll most likely end up doing what she’s good at and what’s easy.  In other words, she’ll end up doing what she wants to do, which is typically spending her afternoon on the elliptical machine and taking a yoga class here and there.  Or worse, listening to anything Tracy Anderson has to say.

In reality, what she NEEDS to be doing is making a more concerted effort to lift some appreciable weight (ah, ah, ah, pastel colored dumbbells don’t count), incorporating some more interval-based training into her repertoire, and stepping away from the post-workout Starbucks.

Again, there’s a huge discrepancy between wants and needs, and the coaches and trainers who are able to bridge that gap are generally the ones who will be the most successful with their clients.

At the end of the day, my job is to get people results in the quickest, most efficient (AND SAFEST) way possible.  Sometimes that involves playing the meanie strength coach and making people do birddogs till their blue in the face –as one of my female clients, who hurt her back about a month ago, recently learned last week.

She walked into the facility on Thursday with a look on her face and asked, “do I HAVE to do birddogs, again????”

I replied with, “is your back feeling better?”

“Yes”

“Do your birddogs.”

Don’t get me wrong, I can appreciate the fact that she wants to work hard and start lifting heavy things again, but that’s just not what she needs at the moment.   Instead, what we’ve been focusing on are Prowler pushes, single leg work, push-ups, Goblet squats, core stability (chops and lifts), and yes, TONS and tons of birddogs.

So, in the end, I guess all I’m really trying to say is that your job as a coach or personal trainer is to take the reigns and inform your clients that, despite their thoughts on the matter, your job is to get them results.  Much like Christmas morning, sometimes, you have to forego what they want (Thunder Punch He-Man/bench press), and give them what they need (underwear/birddogs).

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High Heels, Deadlifts, and Attitude – Oh My! Part II

In case you missed it yesterday, HERE is part I of the interview I did with strength athlete (and resident pink dumbbell poo-poo’er), Molly Galbraith.  If you’re too lazy to click on the link to play catch up, I can give you the Cliff Notes version here:

Figure shows, blah blah blah blah, un-explained weight gain, yada yada yada, diagnosed with rare disease which made competiing in figure no longer feasable, blibbidy blah blibbidy bloo, switched to lifting heavy things, so on and so forth, pulled close to 350 lbs in competition, pissed excellence all over the place, made random guys have to manually unclench their butt cheeks when they watched her train, still looks like a girl, Tony Gentilcore is the greatest thing since sliced bread, and that’s about it!

Okay, there’s definitely a lot more to it than that, but I highly encourage you to click on the link above to get caught up.

So yesterday we ended with Molly telling a story of when she pwned some guy in the weightroom.  I don’t know about you, but I LIVE for stories like that.  It always cracks me up when guys walk around with their chest puffing out as if that 225 lb deadlift they just did for five (atrocious) reps was some kind of big deal; then skoffs when a girl walks into the free weight area – only to be completely dominated.

Anyways, today, we’re going to pick up with Molly going into a little more detail on her training as well as some of her pet peeves when it comes to the stigma of women lifting heavy weight.

BUT – before we begin, here’s an interesting aside.  In case people don’t read all the way to end, I felt it was important to include this part in the beginning:  Below is an email I receieved from Molly yesterday afternoon:

You know what I just thought about and I am actually kind of scared that you’llsay yes… do you want some of my fat pictures?  I have some fatty pictures from 2004 that I took as my “before” pictures.  It might actually help drive home the point that if you lift heavy and watch your diet… you will SHRINK! What do you think?  Maybe have a before and after at the end? Let me know!

Of course, I said yes, and Molly was kind enough to send them along.

Before lifting heavy things off the ground (2004)

185 lbs
approx. 34% body fat
~63 lbs of fat
~122 lbs of lean mass

 After lifting heavy things for 7+ years (2011)

167 lbs
approx. 16.1% body fat (taken via Bod Pod 3 weeks ago)

~27 lbs of fat

~140 lbs of lean mass

So even though the scale shows less than a 20 lb weight loss, Molly actually lost over 35 lbs of fat and added almost 20 lbs of muscle…but completely transformed her body in the process.  Still think scale weight means ANYTHING in terms of progress?  Ladies, throw away your scale!

Okay, enough of the small talk.

TG:  So, I know everyone’s dying to hear what your training looks like nowadays………spill it!

MG:  My schedule is kind of wacky right now so I have to fit my training in when I can, which is typically 3 days a week, occasionally 4 if I’m lucky.  The program Mike [Robertson] has written for me currently is a 4 day split (2 upper body days, 2 lower body days).  Each day starts with one of the following: squat, barbell bench press, deadlift, or dumbbell bench press.  Right now I am training those movements in the 3-8 rep range depending on the week.

After the main movement comes my accessory work.  My glutes, hamstrings, triceps and anterior core are all pretty weak so a lot of my accessory movements focus on bringing those areas up… but it’s nothing magic… just simple stuff that works.  I do good mornings, Romanian deadlifts, lunges, chins, face pulls, glute ham raises, close grip bench press, tricep pressdowns, Pallof presses, band resisted jackknives, GHR, etc.

Sometimes after an upper body day I will throw in some Battling Rope work for 5-10 minutes and after my lower body day I might do some swings or prowler pushes but I don’t do a ton of conditioning.  Maybe 2-3 days a week for 5-10 minutes?  I let my strength training and my diet keep me relatively lean and since I still battle fatigue at times I like to save my energy for throwing around heavy stuff.  Because heavy things aren’t going to lift themselves… right, Tony? 😉

TG:  I’m picking up what you’re putting down.  I get it.  High five!

MG:  Oh, and I guess I should mention that I do quite a bit of foam rolling and mobility work before I lift to help keep me healthy and safe.  In the past I designed a lot of my own training programs, but it’s hard to be objective and make yourself do things you suck at.  That’s one of the reasons that I think having a Coach is so important no matter how much you know about training.

In fact, my friend Jim was interviewing Dan John recently and he was talking about his Coach.  I mean come on!  If Dan John has a freaking Coach, chances are that you need one too!

If for some reason you can’t afford one or there isn’t a good one in your area, there are some great training program templates out there like my own redpointfitness.com, DeFranco’s Westside for Skinny Bastards, Wendler’s 5/3/1, Nia Shanks’ Fat Loss Detour, or Cressey’s Show and Go.  Just make sure you are constantly trying to improve your weaknesses.  It’s hard to go wrong if you do that.  But also throw in some stuff you enjoy and are good at.  Training is supposed to be fun!

TG:  So um, yeah, there are a ton of women out there who are intimidated by lifting heavy weight – for fear of getting “too big a bulky,” and silly stuff like that. Can you share some insights on why you feel this is an absolutely retarded way of thinking?

MG:  Haha!  Well with all due respect Tony, I think the quickest way to get someone to shut you out and quit listening to you completely is to tell them that one of their deepest core beliefs that has been ingrained in them all their life is retarded… BUT it is definitely a major myth that I REALLY want to dispel with women.  =)

TG:  Okay, okay.   To be more politically correct, can you elaborate on why this line of thinking is archaic nonsense aaaaaaaand, dammit, I can’t help it……. it’s retarded!

MG:  There are numerous reasons why women believe this to begin with, which is a whole ‘nother article in itself… but I have found that there are a couple of good ways to help women see the light.  The first is to actually listen to what they have to say.  When they tell you that they are afraid they will get bulky… ask them why.  Often times it’s because they have started weight training in the past without changing their diets (or sometimes eating more because they “deserve” it or they are simply hungrier because of the energy they are expending).  So they may have added muscle without losing any body fat or they may have even gained body fat… so they added something without losing anything.  OF COURSE they got bigger!

They also may have seen images of female bodybuilders on TV or in magazines and they don’t have the reference point to understand that those women are often on LOTS of drugs and have been training for decades to look the way that they look.

Heck, they may have even just read it in silly magazines or heard a ridiculously uninformed “trainer” talk about lifting making you bulky.  The truth is 99.5% of women DO NOT have the genetics to get what most would consider “big” muscles.  If they do, they are probably playing sports at a D1 school or competing in bodybuilding.

If you are a woman who has started lifting weights and you feel like you are getting bulky, your best bet is to examine your diet.  There are VERY, VERY few women that I know who are very lean and still have “big” muscles.  Chances are most of your bulk is coming from the body fat covering your muscles.

If you clean your diet up, do intelligent cardio and keep lifting heavy… chances are you will get smaller and become more and more pleased with your body.  My partner and I have several clients who lift super heavy 2-3 days a week for 45 minutes, do a little bit of conditioning and eat a decent diet and they have done nothing but shrink and get more defined!

Oh, and keep in mind that training for strength and training for size are very different ways of training once you are no longer a beginner.  It is pretty easy for most women to train for pure strength and gain almost no muscular size whatsoever.

Another good way of helping women see the light in regards to strength training is to show them images of women who are strong and athletic.  They are so many fit and sexy females out there who lift heavy things (and have been for years) and have incredibly feminine bodies.  For a few examples check out: Jen Comas Keck, Rachel Cosgrove, Leigh Peele, Cassandra Forsythe, Nia Shanks, Candice Karnes, Rachel Guy, Neghar Fonooni, Jen Grasso, and Olesya Novik.  These women have bodies that most of us would kill for and they all put up impressive numbers in the gym as well.

 

Finally, you have to consider that each woman has their own point of view regarding what they consider to be “bulky.”  Leigh Peele actually did her own research and wrote an article about it HERE.  Of the women she polled, a good chunk of them actually found JESSICA BIEL to be “BULKY!!!!!”

The funniest part is, I would bet that more than 75% of the women who said that about Jessica Biel are actually bigger than her and don’t look NEARLY as good in a bikini.  Unfortunately there are some delusional people out there whose opinions you just won’t change and there is no point in wasting your time on them.

They can continue to dance around in an 80 degree room for 2 hours a day, 6 days a week twirling 3 lbs weights above their heads and doing hundreds of repetitions of weird movements using bands attached to the ceiling and eating baby food… not that I am referencing anyone in particular (::cough cough:: Tracy Anderson ::cough cough::).  I am going to lift 3 days a week for an hour and eat steak and whole eggs and real butter and enjoy my strong bones and my abs. =)

TG:  Now that’s what I’m talking about.  Anyone who goes out of their way to mock Tracy Anderson, is cool in my book.   So, with all that being said, give it to me straight – give me your top 3-5 pieces of advice for women looking to start a strength program

MG:  Oh geez… just 3-5?  Alright here goes nothing!

  • Get assessed by a professional!  So many of us have weaknesses, imbalances, tightness, etc.  You can squat and deadlift and sprint all you want, but if your glutes are shut off because your hip flexors are too tight… your booty won’t look any better no matter what you do!  This also helps prevent injury, improves posture, reduces/eliminates aches and pains, etc.  If you can’t afford an assessment or don’t know of anyone in your area, get the Assess and Correct manual and follow it!  You will be glad you did!

  • Get strong first! Until you can properly squat and deadlift at least your body weight for females and bench press at least half your body weight for females, you have no business doing body part splits or any other training for that matter.  Getting stronger opens up so many doors to so many other types of training, and makes that training infinitely more effective.  Once you have built up a decent strength base, you can try other types of training and reap major results.  I gave some examples of fantastic training templates above.  Grab one today and get started!
  • Challenge yourself!  You should always be progressing no matter what you are doing.  You should challenge yourself to lift more weight, do more reps, complete more sets, do more work in less time, etc.  Your body adapts quickly to stimuli so always challenge yourself and you will keep improving.  Also keep in mind that you are competing against yourself.  Competing against others is fun and it definitely has its place… but you should be striving to be a better YOU every day.
  • Eat REAL food!  Most women think that their diets of Special K bars, fat free yogurt, and 100 calorie packs of wheat thins are “healthy.”  Let me tell you something, if the food is crap to begin with, whether it’s in a 100 calorie pack or not, you are still eating crap!  If you are going to strength train, you must fuel your body properly.  Lucky for you, you can fuel your body and get leaner at the same time.  The best way to do both is to make sure every meal contains a protein source, a fat source, and a vegetable or low-sugar fruit (i.e. berries).  Add in some starchier carbs post-weight training (potatoes, bananas, rice, etc) and you are set.  Also take a couple of meals a week to eat what you want so you don’t go crazy.  Food is meant to be enjoyed… so enjoy it.

Note from TG:  products like Precision Nutrition, or Leigh Peele’s Fat Loss Troubleshoot, and Molly’s own redpointfitness.com would be a great starting points in this regard.

TG:  Molly, that was AWESOME stuff, and I really appreciate you taking the time to do this interview.  I really feel that this may help a lot of women out there better understand that it’s okay to skip yoga class and go lift some “real” weights instead.  Where can my readers learn more about you?

MG:  It was my pleasure, Tony.  For those interested, I am co-owner of Red Point Fitness, co-owner of J&M Strength and Conditioning, Fitness contributor to Kentucky Bride Magazine and I write articles that have been published on sites like www.elitefts.com, www.ironaddicts.com, www.oliciouslife.com, and of course, www.redpointfitness.com.   Phew!  Is that enough information for you?  =)

FB: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=12920360

Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/MollyGalbraith

Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/user/MMG8427?feature=mhsn

 

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High Heels, Deadlifts, and Attitude – Oh My! Part I

I haven’t had a lot of female specific content up as of late, so I figured I’d change gears today (and tomorrow) and post an interview I did recently with personal trainer and competitive powerlifter, Molly Galbraith.

Molly (that’s her squatting to the left) has bursted onto the scene with a vengeance in the past year, and after reading a few of her articles over on elitefts.com not too long ago, I had it in the back of my head to try to get her to come on here ASAP.  You see, much like myself, Molly is constantly fighting the upward battle of trying to convince the vast majority of women out there that it’s perfectly okay to lift something heavier than their purse.

Unfortunately, much of the mainstream media falls under the notion that frailty = femininity.  This was never more evident than a few weeks ago when, under the promise that we would go see Thor afterwards, I was walking around Newbury St in downtown Boston with my girlfriend, walking in and out of various designer stores – handbags, shoes, make-up, you name it, either way, my testosterone levels were non-existant for about three hours.

We’d walk in, I’d make eye contact with a store employee and pretend to shoot myself in the head, and then I’d linger and peruse a few magazines while she went off to do whatever it is that women do when there’s a sale rack.  When flipping through the magazines, however, I couldn’t help but notice a disturbing trend – every…….single…….model looked like a anorexic meth addict.

These are the types of images that women see on a day-to-day basis, and it’s no wonder that many (not all) feel that that is what’s ideal or normal or what society expects of them.  What’s more, you have the likes of People Magazine dicussing someone like actress Kate Hudson’s beauty secrets, and you find out that all she eats is celery sticks and Gogi berry juice, and performs yoga and upwards of two hours of cardio every day.  Lifting appreciable weights, of course, is out of the question!  You’ll end up looking like the Hulk!

No wonder woman are scared to step foot in the weight room.  Well, there’s that, and the fact that most guys walking around the gym floor smell like Old Spice and garlic, and sound like they’re passing a kidney stone every time they grab a barbell.  That certainly doesn’t help matters.

Anyways, like I said, it’s great to have women like Molly out there fighting the good fight, and letting other’s all over the world recognize that it’s okay to lift (heavy) weights and look faaaaaaaaabbbbbuuuuuuuuuulous at the same time.

Without further ado, I’ll shut up now and let Molly take over.  Enjoy.

An Interview with Molly Galbraith

Tony Gentilcore:  Molly, for those who may not be familiar with you and your background, please feel free to brag about yourself here.  More specifically, if you could include the part where you deadlift more than most dudes, that would be awesome.

Molly Galbraith:   First off… thanks for having me!  I am extremely flattered although I have a sneaking suspicion that you just felt obligated to have me on after you stole the Pina Colada protein shake recipe that I wrote for the Get Fit section of Kentucky Bride Magazine last year.  It’s OK… I don’t blame you… it’s a killer recipe! =)  But seriously I am very excited to be doing this interview.  I guess I will start from the beginning.  

Note from TG:  a few weeks ago, I shared what’s pretty much considered the best protein shake recipe ever stolen invented  Thing is, Molly apparently beat me to the punch.  Little does she know, I’m an avid reader of Kentucky Bride Magazine.  Tricks on her!

I was a relatively athletic child, I did gymnastics competitively from the time I was 7 until I was 12.  The following year I started high school and made the cheerleading squad (yes, I started high school the month after I turned 13… I started early and skipped a grade, so that made me EXTRA young).

I cheered for two years and then decided I wanted more of a social life.   After I stopped cheerleading (or being active whatsoever) my terrible diet caught up to me.  By the end of high school I was a little chunky.  I fluctuated throughout college and ended up at an all-time high of 185 my junior year of college in February of 2004.  At this point I was so mad at myself I could hardly see straight.

I had good grades, worked full-time, fully supported myself financially and had most of my life pretty together, but the one thing I could control (my weight) felt so out of control.  At this point, knowing virtually nothing about training, I hired a local trainer.  I couldn’t afford much, but I trained with him off and on for about 4 months.  I saw small changes in my body, but nothing extreme.

Shortly after that I started dating a different trainer at my gym.  He competed in Bodybuilding and Powerlifting and was relatively knowledgeable and I learned some from him, but the best thing he ever did for me was to introduce me to T-Nation and Muscle with Attitude (the female version of T-Nation).  My love affair with strength training began.

FYI to Readers:  for those interested, one of the better articles I have ever written was on Muscle with Attitude:  4 Things Your Girlfriend Should Know.

TG:  Yeah, much in the same way, when I was first introduced to sites like t-nation.com, my world was flipped upside down – “what do you mean to tell me we don’t always have to do 3 sets of 10 on E.V.E.R.Y.T.H.I.N.G???  And, what are these things you call deadlifts?”

Anyways, tell us how you got into competing.  How did you go from figure competitions to powerlifting, of all things?

MG:  Yes, discovering sites like those opened up my eyes to a whole new world regarding training.  I was able to expose myself to the opinions and ideas of men and women who were actually training people and getting REAL results for a living!  It was awesome!  Plus it helped me develop what I like to call a “filter” for new information.  You know, there are amazing strength coaches from all over the world who are extremely successful and have wildly differing opinions on everything from post workout nutrition to de-load weeks to carb intake to cardio to intermittent fasting.

If you never develop that filter, you will run around more confused than ever, spinning your wheels and changing your philosophy with each new article that you read.  When you DO get that filter, you are able to understand where each Coach is coming from, when their information might be applicable, and then you can use and apply new knowledge as you see fit in an intelligent way and keep what works and discard what doesn’t.

This is why great trainers’ methodologies evolve over time.  If you are doing the exact same stuff you were 15 years ago, that’s NOT a good thing.  But I digress…

Over the next several years I read everything I could get my hands on in regards to strength training.  I also spent as much time as I could in the gym and around people who knew what they were talking about.  I was also very active on several forums and even began training some people in person and online.  During this time I did an impromptu push/pull powerlifting meet (only the pull portion and at the suggestion of the trainer boyfriend) and I pulled 285 with less than 2 weeks to prepare for the meet.

I also competed in Figure a few times over the years although I was never hugely successful in competitions as I had a hard time getting extremely lean and there were certain things I wasn’t willing to do to get there, like taking illegal drugs, eating <800 calories a day, and doing 2+ hours of cardio a day.

Something just didn’t feel right about pushing my body that hard in that manner.  Obviously I have incredible respect for people that can and do push their bodies to that limit… but it wasn’t for me (something later confirmed by my Doctor).

It was after my last competition in 2008 that I gained a ton of unexplained weight and began to feel like total crap.  I was gaining weight, feeling foggy headed and fatigued and very out of sorts.  I went to a great Functional Medicine Doctor and she ran numerous tests on me.  Turns out that I have Hashimoto’s (autoimmune hypothyroidism), PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome) and Adrenal Dysfunction… no wonder I struggled to get extremely lean, right?  During this time I wanted to focus on something other than aesthetics so I turned back to Powerlifting.

I spent 4 months getting ready for the NASA KY State meet in May of 2009.  At that meet I lifted raw and benched 148, squatted 237 and pulled 341.  I was pretty pleased overall considering it was my first full meet and for the 4-5 months before the meet I had been battling debilitating fatigue.

EASY!

About six months after the meet was over I realized that if I were going to get any stronger, I would need to fix my weak links and who better to help me do that than Mike Robertson?  I have been working with Mike for 18 months now and I am setting rep PR’s all over the place.  Hopefully when it comes time to max out again, those will be TRUE PR’s that I am setting all over the place (my goal is to pull 405 raw this year =D).

TG:  Whoa!  I know a lot of guys out there who would kill to deadlift that much weight – and they don’t look nearly as good in high heels as you do!  If you don’t mind divulging a few trade secrets, what does a typical training week look like for you?  And, be honest, knowing that you could dominate the guy squatting to half depth with 185 lbs on his back next to you is a pretty cool feeling, right?

MG:  Absolutely!  Especially when the guy thinks that he’s a bad-ass!  I try not to crush too many egos but there was a guy in my gym deadlifting several months ago and I walked over to the platform and started to set my stuff down and wait for him to finish.  He gave me a look like, “what are YOU doing over here?”  After a couple of minutes I asked if I could work in with him (he was only using 135 and his form was HORRIBLE!).  He said “sure,” and started to take the weight off.  I proceeded to tell him, “Oh that’s fine…you can leave that on.  I need to warm-up.”  He looked at me in disbelief and of course I pulled 135 for 10 super-fast and clean reps and asked if he was OK with going up to 185.

He said yes and so we put 185 on.  He did 4-5 hideous reps and I followed him with 6-8 nice clean, easy reps.  Then I asked if we could go up to 225 so I could start my work sets.  He promptly told me he was done and I could just have the platform.  Thanks Man! =)

Like I said, I don’t do that often… but occasionally it’s fun (and necessary) to put a guy in their place.

Note from Tony: And that will do it for today.  Tomorrow, Molly will go into a little more detail on her current training schedule, as well as discuss some of her pet peeves when it comes to women and strength training.  Lets just say that she’s not a fan of the pink dumbbells!

 

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How to Get Ripped Abz – Hollywood Style (<----Note the Sarcasm)

Note:  I tried to embed the video, but for some reason I’m having a brainfart this morning and couldn’t figure it out.  To that end, you’ll have to click on the link to see the video.  Trust me, you won’t be disappointed!

It’s been a while since I’ve done one of these types of blog posts, so I figured I’d revisit my old blogging roots and have a little fun today.

I happened to catch this story on the FRONT freakin page of Yahoo last night, and just had to share it with all of you – mainly because I know many of you would appreciate the absolute redunkulousness of it.

Okay, if you can make it through the entire video without:

1. LMAO

or

2. Resisiting the urge to set your face on fire.

You win!

CLICK ME

For those who couldn’t make it all the way through, let me recap the entire routine for you:

1. Leg raises — 12 reps, 2 sets each
2. Diagonal isometrics — 3 reps per side, 8 seconds each
3. Breathing exercise 1 — Inhale for 5 seconds and slowly exhale, 3 reps
4. Breathing exercise 2 — While taking quick breaths, tighten, inhale, and exhale, 12 reps
5. Ball crunches — 17 reps

For the record, here are my thoughts on ball crunches.

With that out of the way, I almost feel like this is the type of routine that someone would come up with on a whim.  You know, kind of like when you’re trying to stall someone, but you don’t really know what to say or do, so you just start making stuff up as you go:

“Here, grab this! Swing it around for 37 seconds.  Sing Humpy Dumpty while you do it.   Now, uh, come over here.  Put your hands over your head. Jump up and down on this BOSU ball for 13 minutes and seven seconds .  Feel it?  Okay, so now we’re going to, ummmmm, come over here and blow up these balloons while doing crunches on a stability ball.  68 reps. 

I have a pet Unicorn! Weeeeeeeeeee.”

Seriously, there was absolutely no rhyme or reason to that routine what-so-ever.  How in the hell do you differentiate between exhaling 15% of our air as opposed to 22%??  And, I’m pretty sure that somewhere out there, Dr. Stuart McGill just punched a hole through a wall after watching that disaster.  Worse case scenario, a small piece of his soul just died.  I mean, what ab routine wouldn’t be complete with dedicated TA training and spinal flexion galore – two components of ab training that, coincidentally, Dr. McGill completely poo-poo’s on in both of his books Low Back Disorders and Ultimate Back Fitness and Performance?!

Whatever.  To each his own I guess.  Oh, Hollywood, thanks for the entertainment.

CategoriesUncategorized

How to Get Ripped Abz – Hollywood Style (

Note:  I tried to embed the video, but for some reason I’m having a brainfart this morning and couldn’t figure it out.  To that end, you’ll have to click on the link to see the video.  Trust me, you won’t be disappointed!

It’s been a while since I’ve done one of these types of blog posts, so I figured I’d revisit my old blogging roots and have a little fun today.

I happened to catch this story on the FRONT freakin page of Yahoo last night, and just had to share it with all of you – mainly because I know many of you would appreciate the absolute redunkulousness of it.

Okay, if you can make it through the entire video without:

1. LMAO

or

2. Resisiting the urge to set your face on fire.

You win!

CLICK ME

For those who couldn’t make it all the way through, let me recap the entire routine for you:

1. Leg raises — 12 reps, 2 sets each
2. Diagonal isometrics — 3 reps per side, 8 seconds each
3. Breathing exercise 1 — Inhale for 5 seconds and slowly exhale, 3 reps
4. Breathing exercise 2 — While taking quick breaths, tighten, inhale, and exhale, 12 reps
5. Ball crunches — 17 reps

For the record, here are my thoughts on ball crunches.

With that out of the way, I almost feel like this is the type of routine that someone would come up with on a whim.  You know, kind of like when you’re trying to stall someone, but you don’t really know what to say or do, so you just start making stuff up as you go:

“Here, grab this! Swing it around for 37 seconds.  Sing Humpy Dumpty while you do it.   Now, uh, come over here.  Put your hands over your head. Jump up and down on this BOSU ball for 13 minutes and seven seconds .  Feel it?  Okay, so now we’re going to, ummmmm, come over here and blow up these balloons while doing crunches on a stability ball.  68 reps. 

I have a pet Unicorn! Weeeeeeeeeee.”

Seriously, there was absolutely no rhyme or reason to that routine what-so-ever.  How in the hell do you differentiate between exhaling 15% of our air as opposed to 22%??  And, I’m pretty sure that somewhere out there, Dr. Stuart McGill just punched a hole through a wall after watching that disaster.  Worse case scenario, a small piece of his soul just died.  I mean, what ab routine wouldn’t be complete with dedicated TA training and spinal flexion galore – two components of ab training that, coincidentally, Dr. McGill completely poo-poo’s on in both of his books Low Back Disorders and Ultimate Back Fitness and Performance?!

Whatever.  To each his own I guess.  Oh, Hollywood, thanks for the entertainment.

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Top Exercises for the Rotator Cuff

With spring coming to an end, things have been amping up at the facility the past few weeks with many of our college athletes (old and new) starting to make their way back for the summer.   Some are only here for a few weeks before they head off to their designations for summer ball, while others are here for the foreseeable future getting ready for next season.

Nonetheless, to say that we’re expecting to be busy would be an understatement. What’s cool is that we have guys coming in from as far away as Alaska, Colorado, and even Hawaii to spend their summer with us.  With that, however, comes the inevitable conversation explaining why the “band work” routine their coach gave them as their “prehab” mumbo jumbo isn’t necessarily the best option when it comes to rotator cuff work.

In its defense, traditional band work isn’t inherently wrong (or even bad) – it’s just not ideal given that there are far better options in our proverbial “tool box.”

That said, below are a handful of rotator cuff exercises we utilize at Cressey Performance with our baseball guys, and to be perfectly frank, with many of our regular clients as well.  You’re welcome!

Side Lying External Rotation – with arm abducted 30 degrees

Contrary to popular belief, there’s no need to get all fancy with rotator cuff work.   I don’t quite understand where the notion came from, but it seems that there are a lot of coaches and personal trainers who feel that unless there’s a smoke machine or laser show involved, the exercise is useless.

What’s surprising, is that the side lying external rotation – arguably the simplest rotator cuff exercise in existence – is one of the most effective. 

For starters the adducted (arm to the side) position is a far more advantageous since there’s less risk of inducing impingement.  Keep this in mind the next time you’re working with someone coming off a shoulder injury.

Secondly, and most important of all, EMG tests have shown repeatedly that this exercise induces greater activity in the infraspinatus and teres minor, thus demonstrating that keeping it simple can be more effective.  What’s more, with the arm abducted (slightly) – either with a towel or half foam roller – you place even more emphasis on the rotator cuff since you’re taking the deltoids out of the equation.

It’s important to note, though, that you DO NOT need a lot of weight with this exercise – 2-5 lbs will be plenty for most trainees.  More to the point, it’s also crucial that you don’t go to fatigue (not only with this exercise, but ANY rotator cuff exercise), as you’ll often start to use faulty compensation patterns leading to superior migration of the humeral head.  Put another way:  impingement can occur.

So, in short, you’re not going to be using heavy weight with this one.  Sorry.

Standing Shoulder W

Again, keeping with the “simple is better” theme, this is an exercise popularized by physical therapist and Boston Red Sox athletic trainer, Mike Reinold.  Mike has always done a fantastic job of explaining how we’re a very upper-trap dominant society, and as such, are prone to shoulder ouchies. 

The easy fix, then, would be to pay more attention to the LOWER traps, which are woefully weak on most individuals.  In addition to the above, the standing shoulder w exercise provides a lot of bang for our training buck, combining shoulder external rotation, scapular retraction, and posterior tilt, all of which are beneficial for optimal shoulder health.

The video above is pretty self explanatory – the only point I’d like to stress is that you want to make sure you squeeze your glutes during this exercise so as not to compensate with lumbar hyper-extension.

Rhythmic Stabilizations

Lastly, are rhythmic stabilizations.  Many are quick to say that the rotator cuff’s main job is to externally/internally rotate and abduct the shoulder.  While that’s true, unfortunately, we’re not playing Jeopardy, and it’s a bit more complicated than that.

To that end, while the rotator cuff does invariably play a significant role in external/internal rotation, as well as elevation of the arm, you’d be remiss not to recognize that it’s main function is to simply center the humeral head within the glenoid fossa.  Given the more dynamic nature of life (and sport), this makes sense.

Rhythmic stabilizations are a superb rotator cuff exercise to utilize as it forces the muscles of the RC to fire in a more “functional” manner.   You don’t need to go all Mr. Miyagi, either.  Ideally, you’d GENTLY tap the elbow and upper arm for 10-15 seconds per side, and that’s that. 

We like to utilize these as a “filler” exercise during rest intervals.  After performing your main movement, say, deadlifts, kneel down on the floor and have your partner tap each arm for 10-15 seconds.  You COULD do these on your own, but the unpredictive pattern is the key to the exercise.

And I’m Done

And there you have it – a few of the more popular (and effective) exercises we use at Cressey Performance with regards to the rotator cuff.   Again, this isn’t to say that your typical band work is pointless – but rather, it’s just to reiterate that you don’t need high repetition (fatigue inducing) exercises in order to be worthwhile.   Keep it simple, do it RIGHT, and you’re golden.