Author: Tony

Hmmmmm, what to write about today. Glute medius function and how it relates to anterior knee pain? Naw. Why I think guys who do ballistic barbell shrugs with 1/8 of an inch ROM (what’s the point? ) should perform a vasectomy with a Power Ranger action figure? Nope, not today. However, I’ll definitely hit on that one soon. In short, behind leg curls, I think barbell shrugs are pretty worthless.

I know! How about the fact that I may very well shit my own spine out today as Eric and I test our one rep maxes on the deadlift? Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding. We have a winner. For those that are out of the loop, Eric and I have been doing this deadlift specialization program- a hybrid of some Russian squat specialization program that one of our powerlifting clients, Dan Toledano, has been following recently- and today marks test day.

For the past three weeks both of us have been, well, deadlifting- to the tune of four times per week. Yes, that’s a lot of deadlifting. Yes, we bitched and moaned the entire time. And no, we didn’t overtrain. I’m often amazed at how often that term is thrown out there, given that you really have to go out of your way to overtrain. The technical term to use here is overreaching, but that’s a whole different blog post. However, suffice it to say, we were both pretty happy to deload this past week. Heck, I watched season 1 of Fringe on Blu-Ray and made an omelette, it was awesome.

The last day of the program was this past Thursday, and while I did a very light training session on Saturday and went to a local BSC on Sunday to move around a bit, I haven’t touched a weight since.

Nevertheless, in roughly two hours, it’s on like Donkey Kong. I believe several of our athletes/clients are coming in early to watch the festivities, and I’m pretty sure Fox News will be broadcasting live. Who cares about health care reform when there’s heavy stuff to be lifted? Updates to follow………….

UPDATE: Hit 550, which is a 15 lb conventional deadlift PR. Went something like this:

135×5

225×3

315×1

405×1

455×1

495×1

550×1

585 (which was a longshot) x fail

570 (which is what I should have done after the 550) x fail

560 (WTF) x fail. I was spent by this point.

While I’m at it:

Taking my recycling out x fail

Following the speed limit on the way to work this morning x fail

Not peeing on my girlfriend’s toilet seat last night X EPIC fail

Video of the 550 to follow later on tonight.

It’s no surprise that one of my jobs as a strength coach is to get athletes to buy into this whole “lifting weights will make you better” thing. Basketball players are notorious for turning their backs to the weight room. Instead, many will spend their free time participating in pick up games, or worse, spending their entire off-season traveling around the country playing in tournaments and showcases, thinking (falsly) that by doing so, they’ll become a better basketball player. While I can certainly understand the rationale, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to realize that it is called an OFF-season for a reason. Without taking the time off to address overuse injuries, strength imbalances, soft tissue restrictions, not to mention fatigue, an athlete oftentimes does more harm than good. Get him (or her) into a solid strength and conditioning program, and you can almost guarantee that good things will happen.

Along similar lines, the same can be said about *cue Darth Vader theme music* endurance athletes. Given the choice between a colonoscopy or lifting weights, I’d venture to say that the vast majority of endurance athletes would choose the former over the latter.

Despite the vast amount of data which demonstrates how strength training can help improve running economy, force production, as well as VO2 max (coincidentally, all of which help you run faster), most endurance athletes still avoid the weight room like the plague. Instead, they’d rather pile on the mileage, thinking that by doing so, they’ll improve their times. How are those shin splits treating you?

While I could sit here and site research and bore you (and me) to tears trying to prove my point, I’m not going to do that. Naw, I’d much rather use a real world example. Meet current CP client, Aimee:

1. As a former division I basketball player at Boston College, she’s about as competitive as they come. We’re still figuring out the details of our soon-to-be EPIC game of H.O.R.S.E.

2. After graduating from college, most of her exercise consisted of “casual jogging,” a spin class here or there, random stairmaster sessions, as well as participating in recreational basketball and soccer leagues. In her words,

“basically I was going through the motions, doing the minimal amount of work that I needed to do to stay in average shape.”

3. Fast forward a few years, and she began running more seriously to hold herself more accountable.

“This worked to some degree, but I knew that I could/should be doing more. I knew that I had to make changes to my routine if I really wanted to see significant changes and improvements in my running and my overall fitness.”

12 months ago here is what a typical week looked like for Aimee:

Monday – stairmaster or similar

Tuesday – run, short mileage or speedwork

Wednesday – stairmaster or similar

Thursday – run, medium mileage

Friday – off

Saturday – run, longer mileage

Sunday – off

Enter a little CP in her life, and here’s what a typical week looks like now:

Monday – CP training session

Above is Aimee last April a week before the Boston Marathon racking pulling like a champ (and not playing me in H.O.R.S.E).

Tuesday – run, usually speed work/intervals

Wednesday – CP training session

Thursday – run, medium mileage distance on hills

Friday – spinning class and/or 20-30 minutes of metabolic circuits (designed by CP coach)

Saturday – run, medium or longer mileage

Sunday – off

As you can see, in the year that she’s been training at CP, she’s running less and lifting more. As it were, her times have been steadily improving. Shocker.

2008 Boston Marathon time: 3:40:36, 8:25 pace

2009 Boston Marathon time: 3:35:12, 8:13 pace

Additionally, two weekends ago, Aimee ran the Boston Athletic Association Half Marathon (without really training for it) and posted her best time ever at 1:39:53, averaging a 7:38 pace.

It still dumbfounds me that the bulk of endurance athletes out there won’t incorporate strength training into their repertoire, and just confirms that they’re missing the boat entirely. I don’t know if it’s dogma, stubbornness, or both- but it seems pretty evident to me that if one can improve their running economy by upwards of 6-8 %, all while decreasing injury rates (less mileage), it’s a no-brainer. Lift weights, for the love of god!

Anyone who knows me well enough, knows that I loves me some classic hip hop. It’s always amusing when I bust out my iPod at work and play my When Hip Hop Didn’t Suck playlist with the likes of A Tribe Called Quest, Public Enemy, Jeru the Damaja, KRS One, Gang Starr, De la Soul, and Black Moon (to name a few) bumping through the speakers.

Not surprisingly, most of the high school athletes look at me like I’m from Mars whenever I take over the stereo. But I don’t know if it’s because they’ve never heard of most of the artists, or if it’s the fact that I have a tendency of walking around challenging people to free-style battles at random:

*cue instrumental version of One More Chance by Biggie *

First things first, this is DJ Spider and you can’t step to dis. Welcome to the abyss. You’re squat technique is pathetic, don’t sweat it. We’ll correct it. In no time flat, that’s where it’s at.

Next on the list is your kyphotic posture. Rounded back with internally rotated glenohumeral joints. You ain’t on point. Girls won’t want to hang out with you, or your weak ass crew. What we gonna do, son? Where did you get that tazer gun? UR ruining my flow, bro. No, seriously, where did you get that? Put it down. Wait, wait, stop. Ahhhhhhhhhhhh.

 

One love, one love.

In any case, at this point, you’re probably wondering how the heck am I going to tie in old school rap with a relevant blog post. As it happens, I was listening to one of my all-time favorite songs, They Reminisce Over You (T.R.O.Y) the other day, by Pete Rock & CL Smooth:

The basic theme of the song is, well, reminiscing. As such, it got me thinking about when I first started in this industry. Coming out of college, I thought I knew everything there was to know about performance, strength training, assessment, and nutrition. I mean, I took all the required course work, graduated Magna Cum Laude with a degree in Health Education, read like two books, not to mention had rock hard abs that would make a tank jealous. How could I not succeed?

It wasn’t long thereafter when I started my first paying job in a corporate fitness center near Syracuse, NY, that I realized I didn’t know anything. I literally felt like a fish out of water, and was embarrassed to find out that I couldn’t even name the four rotator cuff muscles without looking them up, let alone design a program for someone.

So, too, the same could be said about my approach to training. As a collegiate athlete myself (I was a pitcher), I “thought” I knew the right way to train. Unfortunately, my thought process had me following a bodybuilder split where I was doing bicep curls the day after a start (smart, I know) as well as inventing exercises that can only be described as cringe worthy.

My favorite? Leg presses in the Smith machine. Nope, not kidding. I would load up the bar with like five plates on each side, lie on my back and place my feet on the bar, un-rack the weight, then perform my set. My spine is literally crying right now thinking about it. Afterwards, I’d walk around like I was Shooter McGavin, high-fiving people and kissing babies. Phew, phew, phew. God, I wish I could go back and drop kick myself.

The moral of the story? With respects to starting out in the industry, I wouldn’t change a thing. As much as I gripe about how miserable I was working in the commercial gym setting- I also realize that it allowed me to grow as a trainer, as well as a person. I think there’s a lot to be said about “paying your dues” and working in that setting.

That’s why I’m often frustrated whenever I hear or see new trainers proclaim they’re going to make thousands by writing some lame e-book that twelve people will read. Why not get really good at what you do, and then you won’t have to worry about money? It’s no coincidence that 1 in 200 personal trainers are financially independent- most suck!

Furthermore, I can’t stress enough how important it is to always strive to get better. I am constantly reading, attending seminars, traveling to other facilities, and I STILL feel like I have so much more to learn. Seriously. I don’t get how there are some trainers out there who feel they know everything and never make an effort to get better.

With respects to some of the stupid shit I used to do in the past. Whatever. We’ve all been there. We’ve all curled in the squat rack, did 500 sit-ups before bed, and thought leg extensions were the key to tear-drop quads. Thankfully, I was able to filter out the stupid sooner rather than later, and now take solace in the fact that I’m able to teach young athletes how to train the right way.

So, what’s your story? Looking back, would you change anything? What were some of the stupid things you used to do?

You didn’t really think I’d send you to a NSFW website did you? So, here it is, my new blog. From here on out this will serve as ‘homebase’ for all of my content. Welcome!

I have to admit, this wasn’t my first choice for a domain name. Nope. After a thorough study group, it came down to two options:

ihatekatebeckinsale’shusband.com

OR

ihatekatebeckinsale’shusband.net

Not surprisingly, both were already taken. Dammit! As a result, I went with the seemingly obvious choice- tonygentilcore.com.

Nevertheless, I’m going to leave this post up for a few days as people start making their way over here. In the meantime, feel free to look around and let me know what you think.

NOTE: If you come across any kinks, please let me know, and I’ll forward them to Morpheus.

Kind of short on time today, but wanted to fill everyone in on some updates:

1. You may recall last week when I casually mentioned I’ll be switching over to my own site in the very near future. To review, the new site is going to serve as “homebase” for all of my content, including the blog. As it is, the “near future” is probably going to be this week, assuming my webguy (who will be referred to as Morpheus from here on out) can work his magic and implement the finishing touches.

Chris/Morpheus has been a champ, and has redefined how I look at computer geeks. On an aside, he can deadlift over 400 lbs, so he’s not that geeky. Nevertheless, I’ll be making an official post later on in the week directing everyone to the new site. Stay tuned………

2. Everytime the UPS guy shows up at CP, it’s almost like it’s Christmas morning all over again. Yesterday, he dropped off our brand new deadlift bar, and needless to say, I haven’t been this excited since N*Sync broke up.

With the amount of deadlifting that Eric and I have been doing over the past three weeks, it’s going to be interesting to see how different it will feel to deadlift with this bar as compared to a standard Olympic bar.

As an FYI- a deadlift bar bends a little more and has little more “whip” to it, which makes lifting it off the floor a bit easier and less cumbersome.

3. As evident by the fact that I’m writing this blog post today, I made it back from Brian St. Pierre’s wedding in one piece. The CP crew had an awesome time, and as expected, there are some incriminating pictures already on the interWEBZ. Check out Steph’s blog for a review of the shenanigans.

NOTE: I ate everyone’s cake, and as a result, tore it up on the dance floor. Seriously, I think I already won next season’s So You Think You Can Dance…….by a landslide.

4. And because I like to give bad-ass credit where bad-ass credit is due; here’s Rosemary (who runs the cafeteria in the building where CP is located) attacking a tire with a sledgehammer*. While most 60 year olds are watching re-runs of The Golden Girls, or I don’t know, overdosing on Pepto Bismol; Rosemary is taking matters in her own hands and gettin after it twice a week. Awesome.

* That’s what the tire gets for having the balls to tell Rosemary her meatloaf needed more pepper. Idiot.

I had no idea what I was going to write today. Honestly, when you’ve been blogging for as long as I have (close to three years now), the fact that I’m able to somehow come up with ideas on a daily basis even amazes me. More remarkable still, is the fact that people want to read what I have to say; albeit I know half my readers only come back because I include pictures of hot chicks being hot.

PS- you’re welcome.

Nevertheless, as much as I’d like to think that I’m creative enough to come up with content on a daily basis, the truth of the matter is, I steal like it’s my J.O.B and I’m not ashamed to admit. No worries, I give credit to the people I steal from. Brian St. Pierre has written several blogs referencing a typical day “in the life” as it relates to his nutrition. As such, I’d figured I’d jump in on the fun and show everyone what an average day looks like for me as well. This is exciting stuff people.

First off, my alarm clock rarely, if ever, wakes me up in the morning. I seem to have some innate superpower that allows me to wake up five minutes before it’s supposed to go off- which sadly, makes that pretty much the lamest superpower ever. Right behind the ability to control plants and accelerate their growth. If you’re a vegetarian, this might be useful. Or, if you’re some sick, twisted individual looking for a reason to make this the worst picture ever taken of Kelly Brook, then you’d also be in luck.

PS- plants suck.

Anyways, back to the alarm clock. I generally wake up between 6:30-7AM every morning, and am legit excited to eat breakfast. I’m far from a morning person, but it’s not uncommon for me to get right out of bed and head straight to the kitchen to make breakfast:

Omlete:

6 Egg Whites

2 Whole Omega-3 Eggs

Pepper, salt, oregano

A shit-ton lot of veggies (2-3 handfuls)

Note: I like to chop up various veggies (mixed colored peppers, onions, carrots, celery, chopped broccoli) beforehand and place everything in a large container for various use throughout the week. It takes me literally ten minutes to chop everything, and saves so much time in the long run.

Salsa, and a dash of light cheddar cheese (hormone free from Trader Joe’s)

Miscellaneous:

Two slices of cinnamon-raisin Ezekiel Bread- lightly toasted

1 tbsp Teddies Natural Crunchy Peanut-Butter. I don’t do smooth peanut butter.

1 banana- placed like a smiley face on my toast. Just because.

1 cup of seedless red grapes or one piece of organic fruit (apple or pear)

12-16 oz water

4 capsules of fish oil (Biotest Flame Out)

1 capsule Country Life Vitamin D

1 capsule Probiotic Pearl

And that, ladies and gentlemen is breakfast. By far my largest meal of the day (although my post-training meal is a close second), and oops, I have to interrupt this blog post, because the guys just showed up and it’s time to lift heavy things. To be continued……………