Four months ago, I became a new father. Needless to say, any sort of training went pretty much out the window at that time. I’m trying to get back into it, but find time hard to come by these days. I’m wondering if there’s a handful of key exercises to focus on to maintain strength or possibly get some gains, no matter how minor.
For instance, in terms of getting the best benefit out of my time, I was thinking push-ups into side planks and squats; since both work multiple large muscle groups. Another thing I’ve considered is throwing throwing together exercises that can be done at home with a basic set of weights, rather than requiring a trip to the gym (additional time needed in travel).
There are two factors that I recognize from reading your blog regularly that you might take issue with, so hopefully I can clear those up in advance.
A) I’m not one of the people watching TV for an hour or two a night and saying I don’t have time to work out. Any time the TV is on at our house these days, it’s in conjunction with something else (meal prep, putting away laundry, chores, etc).
B) Part of the reason I don’t have a ton of time for strength training is that I do try to get some cardio in on a regular basis. Primarily I row, bike, or rollerblade in order to keep up my endurance. I play hockey year-round and find that if I slack off on cardio, my play suffers greatly. Similar to the time-efficient exercises I’m proposing, I try to get the most out of my cardio by keeping my heart rate up (with use of monitor), setting a fast cadence, and including sprints/intervals, as opposed to jumping on a treadmill and go one pace for an hour, which I know gets you going.
A: First and foremost, congratulations on the new baby and becoming a father! Truth be told, I’ve often contemplated whether or not I’d like to have one of those myself in the future, but then I realize that A). I actually like sleeping, and B). unless I can name my kid Rambo, it’s probably not worth it. What’s more, I just referred to your new born child as “one of those,” which probably tells you something about my parenting skills.
Seriously though, congratulations!
With regards to your question, it sounds like you’ve got the right mindset. As you noted, time efficiency is key here. And, given that you’re a regular reader of my blog, it should come as no surprise that I’d recommend exercises/movements that will give you the best “bang for your training buck.” If your time is limited as it is, it only makes sense to focus on the “money” exercises such as squats, deadlifts, pull-ups, row variations, push-ups, etc.
That said, here’s how I would approach things:
1. If you can, try to get to the gym at least once per week. Granted, you may have to pull off some covert operation and tell the wife you’re going to the store to pick up some diapers in order to do it. I don’t care, get it done. When she asks why it took you 45 minutes. Run.
2. While you’ll have more exercise options at the gym, that doesn’t mean you still can’t get after it at home as well- even with limited equipment (barbells, dumbbells, pull-up bar, med balls, etc). I’d recommend setting up circuits:
A1. DB Suitcase Deadlift
A2. Renegade Rows w/Push-Up
A3. DB Split Squat (per leg)
A4. Med Ball Floor Slams
A5. Barbell Roll-Outs
OR
A1. Front Squats
A2. Pull-Ups
A3. DB Reverse Lunge (per leg)
A4. DB Row (per arm)
A5. Burpees
You can do these routines in A-B-A fashion, performing each exercise for 8-10 repetitions each with no rest (A1-A5). Once you’ve completed at entire circuit, rest for 60-90 seconds, then repeat for a total of 3-5 circuits. You could easily get this done within 20 minutes- if you’re crunched for time.
With this kind of pairing, not only do you incorporate your strength training, but you also get a metabolic effect as well. It’s a win-win.
SIDE NOTE: I’d be remiss not to mention that you wouldn’t follow this format forever. There’s obviously a plethora of different things you can do here. Don’t be scared to switch up the exercises, set/rep schemes, etc every so often. Likewise, each session should start with a proper dynamic warm-up, and don’t forget your foam rolling!
Remember too, that strength training CAN be considered “cardio” as well. Anything that elevates your heart rate is technically cardiovascular in nature. I’d challenge anyone to go through the above workout and tell me their heart rate isn’t elevated. Many people mistakenly use cardio and aerobic training interchangeably. Cardio is an elevated heart rate. Aerobic is a sustained elevated heart rate for a specific duration of time.
As it is, I think the fact you’re including more interval type training is perfect. Again, it comes down to time efficiency. It still amazes me that given the resounding amount of research backing the efficacy of interval training towards improvements in VO2 max and fat loss, that people still feel that steady state work is more beneficial. If I told you that you could get the same results (sometimes twice the results) in half the time, why wouldn’t you do it? To each his own I guess.
Last week, I showcased an exercise we’ve been using exclusively with our baseball guys as well as clients with banged up shoulders. Similarly, this week, I’d like to show you yet another exercise we’ve implemented with many of our clients that’s great for overall shoulder health.
What Is It: Standing Retraction to Low Row
Who Did I Steal It From: I don’t remember, but I just found out that Norah Jones is coming to Boston in March. Of course, I’m only saying this because uh, my girlfriend really likes her music. Yeah, that’s it. She loves that stuff.
Me on the other hand, would rather listen to whales raping each other. Either way, I guess this means I should suck it up and buy a few tick………hey, what are you doing with my iPod? Dammit, give that back! Listen, I have no idea who put that “I love Norah Jones. So much in fact, that I have all her cd’s and went to her concert the last time she came to Boston” playlist on there. Hahahaha, that Lisa is such a card. She must have put that on there. She’s so funny/I just got my man card revoked didn’t I?
What Does It Do: As I mentioned above, this exercise is fantastic for overall shoulder health, and really targets the scapular stabilizers, which is never a bad thing given that 99% of shoulder pathologies can be attributed to poor scapular kinematics.
Coaching Cues: First and foremost, you don’t need to stand there like a dumbass for eight seconds before you start the exercise. I forgot to edit the video before I downloaded it onto my laptop, and was too lazy to go back and do it over again.
Nevertheless, keeping a “stiff” arm throughout the duration of the movement, retract your shoulder blade (making sure not to shrug)- if possible, use non-working hand to feel scapular movement. Doing so will give you instant feedback on whether or not you’re doing it correctly.
From there, you’ll simply pull/row the pulley towards your knee, making sure to avoid humeral extension (don’t go past the knee). Return back to starting position, and repeat for desired amount of repetitions.
Of note, this isn’t the type of exercise where I’m too concerned about loading. Rather, I’m more interested in ensuring perfect technique with every rep. That being said, I’d recommend 2-3 sets of 8-12 repetitions (per side) if you’re going to include this in a program, which you should. Because I said so.
Who Did I Steal It From: This is one of those exercises where when I originally saw it, I immediately thought to myself “huh, why didn’t I think of that?”
As it is, Mike Reinoldis a helluva lot smarter than I am. And while the word “steal” is a bit of a misnomer given that there were 40+ other people in attendance when I saw it demonstrated a few weekends ago, nonetheless, I still need to give credit where credit is due.
What Does It Do: Before I get into that, lets take a few steps back and get a little geeky for a moment. If I were to ask you what is the function of the rotator cuff, what would you say? If I were a betting man, I’d garner that the vast majority of people reading would say one of three things:
External/Internal rotation of the arm (glenohumeral joint).
Elevates the arm in the scapular plane.
(crickets chirping) ummm, uhhhh, (crickets chirping) Throw me a freakin bone dude. Isn’t this the part of the post where you post a picture of a scantily clad hot chick?
If you mentioned either of the two former options- congratulations you’ve obviously read an anatomy book within the past 25 years. As such, while you’re technically not wrong, you’re not entirely correct either. But more on this in a bit. In regards to the latter option, THIS is actually the point where I post a picture of a scantily clad hot chick:
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.
That said, with respects to rotator cuff rehab (as well as preventative maintenance in general), Mike Reinold has noted on several occasions that one of the most important aspects is dynamic stability. This is particularly true when dealing with athletes, which makes a lot of sense given the more dynamic nature of sports.
As a general rule of thumb, athletes (specifically overhead athletes) inherently have poor static stability and require precise interaction of the dynamic stabilizers, which coincidentally, is exactly what the above exercise accomplishes.
Key Coaching Cues: Placing a medicine ball on the floor, simply have the athlete place his/her palm on the ball and assume the quadruped position- locking their scapulae back (pack the shoulder). The coach will then GENTLY perturb the athlete’s arm, which in turn, will force him or her to dynamically stabilize the joint.
Just to be clear, let me reiterate that there is absolutely no need to go crazy. You don’t need to have an epileptic seizure here and try to knock the person off the ball. Rather, you’re just going to gently tap the upper arm and elbow for 5-10 seconds, and then switch to the opposite side.
Of note, I’ve placed this exercise at the beginning of a training session (as part of a warm-up/activation circuit), as well as at the tail end of a session (as part of a rotator cuff rehab/prehab/whatever you want to call it finisher). It’s not an overly taxing exercise, so I’d leave it to personal preference with regards to where to place it in a program.
This week’s interviewee certainly doesn’t need much of an introduction from me. Throughout my years in the industry, I’ve been fortunate enough to surround myself with some really smart people, and Mike is certainly no exception. Not only do I consider him a good friend, but he’s undoubtedly someone who’s had a huge impact on me as a coach, and whom I have the utmost respect for (even if he is a Peyton Manning fan).
Nevertheless, Mike was kind enough to take some time out of his busy schedule to talk some shop. Enjoy!
TG: Lets cut to the chase. People know you’re kind of a big deal. That being said, looking back, what (if anything) would you do differently with regards to making a name for yourself in the fitness industry? I get e-mails all the time from up and coming trainers asking me for advice on this matter, and I’d be curious what your thoughts are.
MR: When I first came up, I had no interest in making big bucks. I easily spent eight hours in the gym training clients, even while taking Masters level courses and spending a good deal of time in the biomechanics lab. Quite simply, I realized I knew nothing and needed to spend as much time around clients and athletes as possible to get better at my craft.
I’m not sure I would do a ton differently, even if I had the chance. I never wrote an article until I’d been training clients for four years or so – and while that might not be acceptable to everyone, it all depends on who your target audience is. There’s a definite cycle when it comes to learning – if you simply learn and keep it all to yourself, it’s not the same.
When you learn something, you need to pass it on. Coach somebody, write an article or blog, I don’t care. But once you think you understand something you need to pass that information on to others.
Just because you “think” you know something doesn’t mean jack -when you can teach someone else that same concept and help them understand it, then you’re starting to wrap your head around things.
TG: Well said. As an adjunct to the previous question; personally, I think the vast majority of new trainers have an overwhelming sense of entitlement to begin with. Many (not all) are so focused on making the quick buck and marketing themselves as some internet guru (e-books, etc), that they often fail to see the big picture. Like, you know, actually making an effort to get better. What’s more, these same trainers often have trouble naming the four rotator cuff muscles, let alone write a coherent program. If they spent more time actually training people, rather than Twittering on their Twitter, they may find that they’ll be more successful. But I digress. Your thoughts?
MR: I’m in total agreement with you here, Tony.
It wasn’t until I’d been in the business six or seven years that I realized I didn’t know jack about business. Now this was relevant to me because I wanted to open a gym someday, and lack of business knowledge would certainly lead to an epic failure.
The problem now is that many trainers come out and think, “I need to learn the business side of the industry,” before they understand the training side of the industry!
The best basic business advice I can give you is that if you get really good at training clients and delivering results, it will cure a lot of ills when it comes to your business. Bill and I are growing each and every day as businessman, but we’re able to get by just fine right now because we’re pretty decent at training clients.
TG:Speaking of your business with Bill (Hartman),last year Men’s Health Magazine named I-FAST one of the Top 10 Gyms in America. Congrats! I made a little cameo appearance earlier in the year, and I can say first hand that you and Bill have done an amazing job with your facility. How’s life as an entrepreneur treating you?
MR: Already, Tony? More business talk?
In all seriousness, the gym is going great. We actually just hired our first full-time trainer this past week, and I’m very excited to have Wayne on board.
So since you asked about the entrepreneurial side of things, here goes – it’s hard. Definitely harder than I would’ve expected. If we’re going all E-Myth on things, I’m definitely a better technician right now than an entrepreneur (or manager).
When it comes to coaching and working with clients, that’s where I thrive. Marketing, creating systems, and the other entrepreneurial stuff definitely isn’t as easy for me just yet. But I’m working hard at it, because I believe 110% in what we’re doing at IFAST. I see it day in and day out with people losing fat, getting stronger, or building muscle. But not enough people know about us right now, and that’s where I’ve got to step up and make a difference.
My goal right now is to really focus on the entrepreneurial side of the equation – I will still coach six or so hours per day, but it’s not going to be the 12, 13 or 14 hour days that I’ve done over the past year and a half. I need to better divide my time between being a technician, and being an entrepreneur if I want IFAST to be as successful as I’ve envisioned it being.
I expect massive business growth in the 2010, but we’ll have to wait and see how that works out!
TG:I have no doubts you’ll be kicking ass and taking names in 2010. Speaking of which, I know you and Bill train a ton of athletes, as well as your fair share of weekend warriors. However, I also know that you recently trained a few figure competitors too. That doesn’t suck! What was that like?
MR: It’s a little known secret that I do, in fact, train physique athletes – not a ton, but I’ve probably worked with a half dozen figure girls over the years.
Side Note: Mike’s being modest here. He recently trained two figure competitors; Brandi, who took 3rd in the Masters division, as well as Alonia, who took 1st place overall, and is currently the reigning Miss Indianapolis.
One thing I’m consistently shocked by is how hard these girls work. I’ve worked with Division-1 athletes, and many of them didn’t have half the work ethic that these girls have.
I’m not sure if it’s something in their DNA or what; they’ve all had a little bit of neurotic, obsessive-compulsiveness that makes them successful. Or, it could always be the simple fact that they have to stand on stage in a skimpy bikini in front of complete strangers!
What most people don’t consider is the rigidity that it takes to be successful in physique sports. Now to a degree I’m talking out my ass here, as I’ve never dieted down and competed in a physique sport myself, but I think I have at least a rudimentary understanding of what it takes.
Imagine eating the same low calorie diet day-in and day-out for weeks. You’re tired, probably a little malnourished, and not feeling all that hot.
In this already fatigued state, imagine training 2, 3 or even 4 hours every day. You’re probably going to have to get up at the crack of dawn (or earlier) to get in an AM cardio session. At some point in the day, you’re going to lift, and at night you’re probably going to get in another cardio session.
You’re not giving your body the energy it needs to recover, and training your ass off, so you fill in the gaps with stimulants.
Basically, you feel like shit every day. Sounds like a good time, right?
Let’s be honest here – this kind of training is brutally hard. Many people I know get worn down by the grind; the same routine, day-in and day-out for months at a time, can test anyone’s mettle.
But if you’re man (or woman) enough to subject yourself to this, then you can bet that you’re someone I want to train. That kind of diligence and work ethic doesn’t grow on trees, making these girls an absolute blast to train.
TG: Great stuff! Moving on, it’s been two years since you released your Bulletproof Knees Manual. As such, it’s no secret that you’re the guy to talk to when people bang up their knees. Lets talk programming. Top 3-5 common mistakes most trainees make with regards to their knee health?
MR:
1 – Not foam rolling
I can’t fathom people who still don’t foam roll, but it’s still the exception versus the rule.
While I wouldn’t ever test this theory in real life, I would imagine I could clear up a lot of cases of minor knee pain by simply having people foam roll. It’s amazing what happens when you improve that tissue quality even a little bit.
2 – Failing to understand that everyday postures add up
Believe it or not, that sitting you do all day really does add up. You lose length in your hip flexors, putting you in a constant position of hip flexion.
This sets off a cascade of events – your femurs internally rotate, your tibiae internally rotate, and your foot sits in pronation far too long.
Then, to make it worse, you take this flawed posture and try to lift heavy shit, play sports, etc. You have to rebuild that foundation first – stretching, foam rolling, mobility work, changing your behavioral habits, it’s all important. Acting like your strength training program design is the only important factor is retarded.
3 – Horrible program design
However, program design is still important 😉
Ian King was talking about balancing hip and quad-dominant lifts years ago. But, yet again, there are still tons of trainers who are oblivious to this basic concept. It’s a little bit more complex than that, but this is a great starting point.
Early on in a program, I’ll often massively skew things in the opposite direction – tons of hip dominant work, and very little quad-dominant work, until structural balance is restored (or at least moving in the right direction).
TG: Lets talk Assess and Correct, the dvd you just released alongside Eric Cressey and Bill Hartman. Why do so many people fail to recognize the importance of an assessment to begin with? It often amazes me how people will just haphazardly follow some program they find in a magazine, and then wonder why they’re jacked up five weeks later. Furthermore, who is this product targeted for, and how can it help people?
MR: I think a lot of people fail to recognize the importance because they’ve never been exposed to the concept. It’s not so much ignorance on the client/trainees part as it is lack of education.
When you tell someone, “Hey, we should see where you’re strong, weak, flexible, inflexible, etc. before we start training you” it makes sense to them immediately. Most people will buy in simple because they’ve never done anything like this before!
Assess and Correctis built for the end-user, or a trainer who is new to assessments in general. It will give you a great foundation for figuring out what’s working well, what’s’ not working well, and how to develop warm-ups that improve your movement foundation.
On the other hand if you’re a high-level physical therapist, orthopod, etc., you’re probably not going to get a ton out of the product. It’s not geared towards the high-level practitioner. At some point in time Bill and I would love to present our entire assessment process as a three-day seminar, but we’ve got a few more projects to tackle first and foremost.
TG:Oh snap, that’s a tease if I ever heard one! Finishing up, lets have a little fun:
1. Favorite movie in the past year?
I’m woefully behind on my movies, but I would have to say The Hangover was pretty damn funny.
If you’re into Michael Jackson, This Is It was pretty good too – dude could still sing, and his movement was effortless. Crazy.
Finally, I just saw The Shawshank Redemption all the way through for the first time this past month. It’s fantastic.
TG: What in the what!?!?! Jesus Mike, that movie is shown like every 17 seconds on TBS for crying out loud. What’s next, admitting you’ve never seen GoodFellas?
2. Who originally gave you the nickname the ass-master? On that note, who has the best badonkadonk out there?
You know, I’m not sure who originally gave me that title – I think it was someone over at T-Nation, probably either Chris Shugart or TC.
As far as booties go, I’ve got a pregnant wife sitting next to me as I write this; do I look like a man with a death wish? Although you typically have some pretty good selections on your blog….not that I look at them or anything.
3. Most overrated exercise?
MR: Anything on a Bosu, but that’s too easy of a target.
I know I’ll probably catch some heat for this next one, but here goes – I think TRX training is a little over-rated. Don’t get me wrong it can be quality, when performed as part of a properly thought-out progression, but I see too many people incorporating it with the wrong people, or at the wrong times. Let me expand a little bit here.
I realize that TRX trainng does an amazing job of hitting the core – that’s one of the inherent benefits. But when you see somebody with horrible core/lumbar stability, and then you use a compound exercise such as push-ups where the core ends up being the limiting factor in exercise performance/technique, you have a hot mess on your hands.
You have to bring that core/lumbar stability up within an easier progression, or using a more stable variation, before getting to the cool/sexy stuff.
4. Who would win in a fight- a ninja or Bill Hartman (who I’m convinced is a cyborg)?
MR: Obviously the ninja – he would realize that Bill is a cyborg and use that information against him.
5. When will Kevin Larrabee realize that in order to bench press 300 lbs, you can’t miss a lift every……..single………session?
MR: On the same day Lance and Kyle (two 20-something powerlifters at IFAST), realize that a 7 RPE doesn’t correlate with max-effort, missed lifts!
BTW – did you know that Lance and KevLar actually have a running bet on who will hit 275 first? Lance did hit a 275 bench in a raw powerlifting meet in November, so as soon as Kev get’s done with Project Abzhe may want to get his strength back up before he gets beat!
TG: Hahahahaha. To be continued, I suppose. Anyways, thanks for your time Mike. How can people find out more about you and your products?
MR: The best place to find me on the web is my site, RobertsonTrainingSystems.com. That’s where you’ll find my blog, newsletter, articles, and my podcasts. The best part, all of that stuff is FREE!
Thanks again for having me Tony – it’s always a pleasure!
I didn’t even know the bench press needed to be defended. I mean, it’s not like guys don’t already bench press every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday (and every other Thursday) as it is. This is tantamount to Tiger Woods writing an article called Defending Chlamydia: GET SOME.
*swish, count it*
All kidding aside, here, the ass-master himself discusses the ins and outs surrounding why so many people often get jacked up bench pressing (and not in a good way). Furthermore, he also discusses what can be done to alleviate the problem(s).
Some key points that I liked:
Dissing the bench press in lieu of overhead pressing isn’t necessarily the answer. In fact, it’s “probably” worse.
Technique, technique, technique. In other words, stop benching like a bodybuilder for the love of god.
You need to do more dedicated work for the scapular stabilizers. It’s not what you want to hear, but then again, I don’t care. Do it anyways.
There isn’t such a thing as a bad exercise*, just bad exercise performance.
Researchers in the Netherlands created what was described as soggy pork and are now investigating ways to improve the muscle tissue in the hope that people will one day want to eat it
I’m gonna say it right now, I’d rather eat cancer garnished with ebola.
Can exercise prevent someone from getting the Swine Flu? Doubtful. However it certainly won’t hurt, and may in fact slow down the degree at which it affects you. Yes, even if you do feel that yoga and pilates is actually a form of exercise. Just kidding. PS: I’m not.
Thanks to Chuck C. for sending me this article, and for summarizing the above article so succinctly:
“Ask your doctor if getting your ass off the couch is right for you.”
Normally, I go out of my way not to talk about politics here. However, I saw this posted over at Jason Harris’ Evidence Based Rehab blog, and thought everyone else might enjoy it as well.
I’m a big fan of Alan’s work. If you haven’t checked out his monthly Research Review, you’re really missing out on some of the most practical, in depth, not to mention entertaining nutrition and fitness information available on the net. I’d go so far as to say that if you’re a fitness professional (or anyone who’s remotely interested in their own health and well-being), you’re doing yourself a disservice by not subscribing to it. For the same price it would cost you to go see a movie ($10), you could you know, actually get smarter. It’s a no-brainer in my opinion.
To that end, Alan is now officially a blogger. Go show him some love.
* Unless we’re talking about leg curls, leg extensions, upright rows, leg presses, squatting in a Smith Machine, and pretty much anything done on a BOSU ball. Other than that, we’re cool.
Okay, I gotta be honest and say that I wasn’t really planning on posting anything today. After getting up early to train the ladies this morning, and then putting in a full days worth of coaching athletes, the last thing on my mind when I walked into my apartment tonight was writing a blog. Truth be told, I was just going to take a mulligan and spend the rest of my evening catching up on programs I need to write, possibly boil some eggs, maybe listen to a Mandy Moore cd, and then veg out and read a few more chapters of the book I’m currently reading- Eating Animals.
SPOILER ALERT: While this is quite possibly the most kickass title of any book ever written (sorry Everyone Poops), I’m sad to report that there is nothing remotely ass-kickery about it. Matter of fact, it’s about as un-kickass as it gets once you realize the entire premise of the book is that we shouldn’t eat animals. Hahahahaha. That’s hilarious. Except, you know, it isn’t. Shame on you guy I’m never going to buy a book from again Jonathan Safran Foer. Shame. On. You.*
In any case, while I had every intention of not posting anything tonight, that was put on back burner when I noticed Eric Cressey posted some more footage from the 2nd Annual Cressey Performance Thanksgiving Morning Lift over on his blog not too long ago:
SPOILER ALERT #2: 0:32 second mark= I’m pretty sure my bicep could fight an aircraft carrier and win 9 times out of 10.
* All kidding aside, it’s actually a really interesting read. And while I’d make out with a blender before I give up eating meat, the author definitely sheds some light on just how “unpalatable” animal factory farming is. Pretty eye opening to say the least.
1. I hope everyone had a safe and delicious Thanksgiving last week. I don’t know about you, but I’m going to need at least a week to detox my body from all the pie I ate over the weekend. What can I say, whenever I go home, I just can’t resist my mom’s homemade cooking.
Along similar lines, today is my birthday (33), and last night I decided I would finally go to Pizzeria Uno and have their Deep Dish Sundae to celebrate. I’ve been talking about this sumbitch for like a year now, and last night, as we were walking past an Uno on the way to visit friends, I told my girlfriend that it was time.
It was glorious.
However, today I’m back on point with my eating. Brian St. Pierre and I are actually in the process of planning a pseudo get shredded plan this month. I’ll be sure to update everyone once I know what the hell we’re actually going to be doing. Needless to say, you can pretty much guarantee that I’ll hate life for the next few weeks, but it will all be worth it when I flex my pecs and they turn into diamonds. I love magic.
2. I know people have been waiting with abated breath, so without any further ado, here are some videos from the Thanksgiving morning lift at Cressey Performance:
To say that it was complete madness is an understatement. I think we had roughly 25 people show up at 8AM to get their lift on:
Here’s Dan T hitting a personal best of 360 with the bench press:
Here’s my girlfriend, Lisa, pushing the Prowler, and loving every second of it (note sarcasm):
And here’s me deadlifting (big surprise) with my Cobra Commander shirt on. This is 505 for three reps. I then followed that with 15 reps at 405. Not surprisingly, I received the following text message afterwards:
Tony, WTF. Don’t ever do that again
-Your Spine
Unfortunately, I didn’t get a video of KevLar (Kevin Larrabee) doing bicep curls vs. bands while screaming THIS IS SPARTA at the top of his lungs. All in all, it was an awesome time and we’re definitely looking forward to next year!
3. Speaking of Kevin, he’s holding a Black Friday sale on The Fitcast Insider up until Tuesday at Midnight. It’s a pretty sweet deal consisting of 19 interviews featuring the likes of John Berardi, Alwyn Cosgrove, Mike Robertson, Mike Boyle, Bill Hartman, and some guy named Gentilcore (to name a few). Not to mention a high resolution Dan John squat video to boot. Check it out HERE.
4. My birthday actually got me out of a speeding ticket yesterday. I was caught doing 40 in a 25 MPH zone, but when the officer returned to my car all he said was “you’re lucky it’s your birthday tomorrow,” and just gave me a warning. So this pretty much means I can get way with doing anything today. I’m totally turning right on red. What can I say? I like to live life dangerously.
5. Holy Krystal Forscutt, this is the best b-day present I have received so far. Thanks James!!!!!!
UPDATE: Resident fashionista and CP’s longest tenured client, Steph HB took some candid shots from the Thanksgiving lift, and as luck would have it, totally caught KevLar mid rep during his gun-show performance. He’s single……ladies?
I’m switching gears a little bit today, and doing something completely different. Today I have a guest blog from John Brooks. Hailing from the Pacific Northwest (and undoubtedly a Pearl Jam fan), John’s a fellow colleague/muscle nerd who not only trains rowers and rugby players, but a handful of MMA fighters as well.
John’s always been supportive of my stuff (articles, blog, etc), and I’ve had the pleasure of exchanging numerous e-mails with him over the past two years or so. What’s more, he actually made a cameo appearance at CP last year when his wife competed in the Head of the Charles Regatta here in Boston.
Long story short, John sent me an e-mail a few weeks ago after the release of Functional Strength Coach 3.0, and the subsequent video that followed asking me why so many people were getting their panties all up in a bunch over the fact that Mike Boyle was not only “dissing” the squat, but hinting that he may very well eliminate them from his programming all together.
John made a rather convincing argument in his original e-mail:
“……..those guys seem wrong, but their arguments are damn compelling (regarding Boyle). However, what if they’re right for the general population? Or, more accurately, why is it that we tell every unfit woman with screwed up movement patterns who wants to look like (American triathlete) Lokelani McMichael that she needs to get fit before she can go run 20 miles a week, yet most muscle heads who want to look like Thiago Alves, we have no issues telling them to squat without similar caveats?”
First and foremost, this is Lokelani McMichael:
Secondly, how in the hell have I gone this long without including a picture of her in my blog?
Third, and most importantly, that was a damn good question raised by John. To that end, I asked John if he’d be interested in writing down some of thoughts on the matter. And this is what he came up with:
Recently there has been a lot of discussion about the squat. Mike Boyle, one of the most respected coaches in the country, caused an uproar with a video (linked above) that says he almost never squats his athletes (note: he did say almost). Testosterone Magazine recently published a few articles proposing hip extension exercises to strengthen the posterior chain, ostensibly to replace the squat.
On the other side of the fence is Mark Rippetoe who so eloquently declared: “you have to squat or you’re a pussy.” Or, a bit less extreme would be Coach Dan John: “Squats can do more for total mass and body strength than probably all other lifts combined.” Can heavy barbell squats turn one into a life-taker and heart-breaker, or are they dumb, dangerous, and unnecessary?
What Coach Boyle says in the video makes a lot of sense; I have a bum SI joint that agrees with him: squatting incorrectly hurts, but never squat? It just feels… wrong. Every hypertrophied fiber in my body says that you have to squat to get strong. So what’s the truth?
The truth is they’re all right, and they’re all wrong. They’re all guilty of the fallacy of accident (ignoring exceptions to a generalization). The problem with the training world is that there are always exceptions. If done correctly the heavy back squat really is the muscle building panacea that Coach John and Rip say it is. However, most people lack the mobility and fundamental body awareness to squat correctly, and thus for them, it is dangerous and should be avoided.
Some guy from the internet once wrote: “most (read: not all) people shouldn’t be running,” and summarized:
“you need to be in shape to run. In doing so, your body will be able to handle the stress MUCH more efficiently and you will be less prone to all of those nagging injuries that come with being a runner.”
If we keep this logic in mind; if every unfit woman with screwed up movement patterns who wants to look like Lokelani McMichael needs to get fit before she can go run 20 miles a week, then don’t most muscleheads who want to look like Ivan Stoitsov need to follow similar caveats before they put a heavy barbell on their back and squat?
Without proper movement patterns and the stability to move under load you will end up squatting for a while, getting hurt, taking time off, healing, squatting some more… over and over…so on and so forth; just like runners who do the same thing. Everyone thinks for some reason, “this time is going to be different. This time I’m going to runsquat and I won’t get hurt.”
To make this more difficult, a good many trainers have never dealt with these issues themselves. They see it as a ‘technique issue.’ Their response to people who can’t safely reach full depth is to say “go lower, keep your arch,” and continually keep trying to jam square pegs into round holes because they dogmatically believe everyone has to squat.
So what do we do? We have to assess and progress athletes from where they are to the point where they can get the muscle building benefits without injury. Depending on injury history some trainees may never be able to free squat at all. Some will always have to squat to a box. Some may never get past unilateral loading and pull-throughs.
The key is to look, find out what is causing their “bad form” and fix it. Get their hips open and glutes active (since you’re reading this blog you probably have a few good ideas about how to do this). What’s more, you should also emphasize core endurance (which is key in preventing back injuries), as well as strengthen the posterior chain, etc.
Get the athlete in shape. Then squat. The key is that no exercise is for everyone, and few exercises are for no one. These fundamental arguments are meaningless until we apply them to individual trainees.
NOTE: to contact John, you can visit his website HERE, or e-mail him at [email protected]
Tomorrow marks the Second Annual Cressey Performance Thanksgiving Morning Lift. All of last year’s inaugural cast will be in attendance, along with several other new people who have no idea what they’ve gotten themselves into. All in all, we’re expecting upwards of 20-25 people to arrive at 8AM for the sole purpose of lifting heavy things off the ground and stealing the lunch money from all the Turkey Trotters running past the facility. Or, if your name happens to be Tony Gentilcore, perform every bicep curl variation known to man until your arms are the size of Kansas. True story.
In any case, I’m headed back home to New York for the rest of the week to spend time with family. As such, I won’t be updating the blog for the rest of the week, but hope to be back Monday firing on all cylinders. I wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving, and to please try not to kill one another on Black Friday. It’s just a dvd player for crying out loud.
It was my girlfriend’s birthday last week. And when I say “it was my girlfriend’s birthday last week,” I literally mean it was her birthday for the entire week. It was her 30th, so understandably it was kind of a big deal. Many of her friends came in from out of town to celebrate, so it really wasn’t at all shocking that the week was jam packed with girl’s night out, margaritas, Sex and the City references, and naked pillow fights. You know, the status quo whenever a bunch of chicks get together.
Since we’ve only been dating for four months, I wanted to try to do something unique and memorable for her birthday. Given that she loves cooking (and I love eating what she cooks), I thought it would be a cool idea to sign us up for a Cooking Couples class at the local School of Culinary Arts.
NOTE: and for all the guys who just thought to themselves, “Oh snap, Tony is so pussy whipped,” all I have to say is that I’m not the one who went to go see New Moon this weekend. Just sayin.
For those who aren’t familiar, the premise is pretty self explanatory. Essentially you sign up for a class, whereupon you and three to four other couples cook your own meal under the supervision of a professional chef. It’s actually a pretty cool idea, except the only downfall is that you’re not allowed to kill your own animal beforehand. Be that as it may, I was able to let bygones be bygones, and signed is up anyways.
In looking at the class schedule a week or so prior, I was a little perplexed because the class schedule wasn’t really what I was expecting. I mean, you would think that any high class institution recognized for their culinary expertise and tradition would offer classes like:
Cooking Couples: Omletes
Cooking Couples: It’s Meat, and It’s In a Loaf. What’s Not to Love?
Cooking Couples: Lets Be Honest, I Don’t Even Know How To Pre-Set the Oven. How Bout You Just Make Me a Ham Sandwich, and We Call It a Night?
But that’s just me I guess. Nope, instead there were classes like, Cooking Couples Cook French, Cooking Couples Cook Tapas, and Cooking Couples Cook Italian. Unfortunately, most of the classes had waiting lists or just weren’t feasible due to scheduling, so I went with Cooking Couples: Twas the Night Before Christmas.
We were the first couple to arrive, and were greeted by the chef, Eliana. Elise took our names and mentioned that there were going to be a total of five couples for the class, and that we would get started once everyone arrived. In the meantime, however, she handed us our pamphlets which had all the cooking instructions of the things we were going to make.
For those interested, the menu included stuff like buttery seared scallops with a Beurre Blanc sauce and caviar with white truffle oil; as well as pan-seared roasted veal chops on a bed of creamy fennel puree with luscious Port Wine fig sauce, to name a few.
Honestly it could have said blah blah blahbiddy blah sauteed in worscestershire sauce with a bloop bleep bloopy bleep bloop creme brulee, and I would have been like “that sounds fantastic!!!”
Nevertheless, all the couples arrived, and Eliana gave everyone the option to choose what they wanted to make. Because we like to challenge ourselves, Lisa and I chose the veal chops and some sweet potato/apple thingamabob that called for like 22 gallons of heavy cream. We were given a quick tour of the kitchen, and we started cooking the shit out of our food.
To her credit, Lisa knows her way around the kitchen, and I just took orders from her. Grab the salt? Done. Stir ingredients? Gotcha. Put your shirt back on! Check. Everything was going swimmingly. We were talking with the other couples, Eliana was walking around making sure no fingers were being severed, and everyone was looking forward to a wonderful meal of whatever it was we were making.
That is, of course, until Lisa and I made a small boo-boo. While we were following the directions to a “t”, we had a minor brain-fart and placed the 8×8 pyrex dish we were using for our fennel and figs on top of the burner. Two minutes later, there was a massive noise as glass exploded all over the place. And when I say all over the place, that’s an understatement. Not only did Eliana shriek at the top of her lungs, “is everyone alright?” but glass even shot into the chocolate fondue the couple next to us were making for dessert.
Eliana was more than understanding, and while she had every right to go Full Metal Jacket on us, she didn’t. Instead she mentioned that in hindsight, the directions weren’t written that clearly. Well that, and I forgot to tell her that I couldn’t read. Opps. It’s a miracle I didn’t mistake confectioners sugar for rat poison!
In any case, while dinner was delayed an hour because we had to start over; all the other couples laughed it off, chipped in to help, and we had an awesome time nonetheless. Granted I think we may be blacklisted from ever going back, but at least we’ll have a funny story to tell during Thanksgiving dinner.
