Author: Tony

I’m a day late, I know. Truth be told, I’m writing this Monday night because I’m essentially still recovering from the insulin coma I put myself into over the weekend. Nonetheless, it was great to get away this past weekend- eat dirty (as my friend Pete would say), spend a little time on the water, as well as catch up on some reading.

Speaking of which, as some of you may know, I’ve been reading Dan John’s book Never Let Go.

I finally finished it this past weekend, and all I have to say is that it’s hands down one of the best books I’ve read in a while. I’ve always felt that one of the true indicators of a great book is how re-readable (is that even a word?) it is- and I can honestly say that I’ll be referring back to this book time and time again. I mean, how can you not absorb every word someone with over 30 years of coaching experience has to say?

All the same, below I’ve collected just a handful of quotable quotes from Dan John himself with a few brief comments of my own below. Enjoy.

1. Back in the 1970s, I ate a high-protein diet to get bigger and stronger. As a senior at Utah State, I weighed 218 pounds with eight percent body fat, and threw the discus over 190 feet.

Then I got some advice from the people at the Olympic Training Center. I needed carbs, they advised, and lots of them. They pointed to studies done on the American distance runners. Being an idiot, I took the advice to eat like emaciated, over-trained sub-performers. It took years of high carbohydrate grazing to learn the evils of this advice.

TG Comment: Carbs aren’t evil and they do serve a purpose- however you’re kidding yourself if you think you’ll achieve any appreciable fat loss with a diet consisting of 60% carbs. Dieticians are funny.

2. Two great principles of strength and conditioning:

• Everything works
• Everything works, but only for so long

TG Comment: However if you can’t bench press your bodyweight for one rep, you have no business using chains or bands.

3. In quoting an interview by Dr. Arthur De Vany regarding his insights on early human activity:

“My cardio is the fast-pace of my workout. And it’s sprinting in a field or on a stationary bike. I never put in miles or time on a treadmill. It’s boring and worthless.

Look at joggers and distance runners. They aren’t slender; they simply have no muscle mass. They’re weak, they can’t generate power, and in spite of their slender appearance, joggers aren’t lean. The average body fat content of jogging club members was twenty-two percent in one study. Anything above thirteen percent is deleterious.

I wouldn’t jog for health, but playful runs are wonderful. Vary the speed and terrain and you have a really great activity that’s fun and healthful. Routinized jogging is factory work, not natural activity. If you log long miles on a track, I believe you’re compromising your health.”

TG Comment: Again, you need to get fit to run, not run to get fit. If more people followed this simple piece of advice, I’d be less inclined to want to stab myself in the face with a machete.

4. Years ago at a clinic, a young man told me, “Squats hurt my knees.” I asked him to demonstrate for me, and after he did said bluntly, “Squats don’t hurt your knees; what you are doing hurts your knees.”

TG comment: I think it’s great that more people are squatting. Unfortunately, what many trainees “think” is a squat, is anything but. And no, squatting in the Smith Machine isn’t any safer- it’s worse in fact. Stop. Relearn. You’re not that big of a deal where you can’t ask for some coaching.

5. Attack fat from any other goal. I fought this for years, but I have come to this simple conclusion: If you are doing this and this and that and this…you can’t also have the energy to lose fat. I recommend two- week to four- week periods of commitment. Doing something as simple as the Atkins two-week induction, literally a feast of fish, meat, eggs, and cheese for two weeks, will allow you to focus on the single goal of losing fat. One or two concentrated two-week fat attacks a year seems to do better than the fifty-two-week-a-year diet failures most people endure.

TG Comment: Many trainees have training ADD. One week they want to focus on strength. The next, fat loss. Pick one and go with it. 100%. Fat loss demands total focus. As Dan reiterates repeatedly: fat loss is war. There are no little steps. Yes it’s hard. You’re going to feel like poop at times. Deal with it.

6. Much of a beginner’s training is with weights not beyond much more than bodyweight. Yet I will get emails from delightful young people with intense periodization schemes and dozens of curl variations. Here is a little workout I recommended recently for a man my age (just past old) who hadn’t lifted in three decades.

Goblet Squats

Half-Turkish Get-Ups

Lawn Mowers (one arm rows)

Push-Ups

Suitcase Carries (walk with one DB for fifty yards, turn around and come back using the other hand)

When I explained the reps and sets, and I quote myself, “Do a couple of reps with the exercise and get a feel for it. Do it again, but make sure you are doing each rep right. Try to do a little more each time…either more sets or more reps. In two weeks, try to do this workout six or seven times.”

He emails me back to tell me, “This isn’t what they are doing in the magazines.”

Right. And the magazines don’t recommend taking off thirty years first.

TG Comment: People think they’re more advanced than what they are. More often than not, less is more. It often amazes me how I’ll get people coming in for evaluations asking whether they should be incorporating ME (Max Effort) deadlifts into their program, when they can’t even perform a simple body-weight lunge without tipping over! Make sure your program fits your experience level. On an aside, leg presses suck.

7. If it’s important, do it every day.

TG Comment: If your soft tissue quality sucks- foam roll. Every day. If you have the mobility of a pregnant mongoose- do your dynamic flexibility drills. Every day. If your squat technique sucks-squat. Yes, everyday (there’s no rule against it). If the hot Starbucks girl continues to ignore your phone calls- simply key her car. That will learn her!

8. Look at your goals. Look at your behavior. Does your behavior match your goals?

TG Comment: Sorry dude, but drinking a kegger every weekend isn’t going to help with that six pack you’ve been trying to get since freshman year. Likewise, as much as you’d like to think that grabbing a few M&M’s here and there from your secretary’s desk won’t mount to much- there’s a reason you’ve been trying to lose the same 20 lbs for five years.

9. The single best piece of diet advice I ever heard came from (don’t laugh) peak-performance consultant Anthony Robbins.

Robbins got his advice from one of his clients. It’s called the Alpo Diet. Invite a dozen friends over to your house. Tell them by the end of the month you’re going to lose ten pounds. Tell them if you don’t, you’ll eat the can of Alpo in front of them.

For the next week, every time you feel the urge to take a piece of chocolate from the cubicle next to you, reread the contents to the Alpo can. If someone offers you something smothered in goo, open the Alpo can and take a deep sniff.

TG Comment: I guarantee that ten pounds will come off. If not, I recommend Classic Chunky.

10. Occasionally, restart your training with the Zen notion of the beginner’s mind. Find a book or training article that has a two-week beginner’s program and follow it. Have a buddy watch your lifting technique, and allow comments. Hey, here’s one: During the pull-up, go from straight arms to chin over the bar. Really, try it that way. It’s called the right way.

TG Comment: Dan John is my hero

11. Someday you’re going to pay for the 10,000 crunches you were sure would build a six pack. Instead, those built a bad lower back. Ab work does absolutely nothing for you. Just ask any long-time strength coach.

TG Comment: I concur. I can think of 1001 more productive ways to spend your time in the gym than by doing freaking sit-ups/crunches. Hell, I’d rather you pick your nose than do crunches.

12. Here’s my ultra-secret training diet regime: Follow Mom’s rule first!

• Eat breakfast everyday
• Be sure to eat three meals a day
• If you’re hungry an hour or so after a meal, you didn’t eat enough protein
• Water should be your major beverage
• There nothing more fiber can’t cure

TG Comment: When in doubt, eat protein. Likewise, just because something has protein in it, doesn’t mean it’s a significant source of protein. In other words, ladies, peanut butter (while a great source of healthy fats) isn’t protein.

13. There’s pain and there’s injury. Learn the difference

TG Comment: if something is “stingy,” that doesn’t mean you’re hurt. I’m talkin to you…………Colleen!!!

14. Here’s a great home workout that allows you to train and work on the usual issues I find ailing most people:

• Right-leg Bulgarian Split Squats with DB in suitcase position, 10 reps
• Left-leg Bulgarian Split Squats with DB in suitcase position, 10 reps
• Goblet Squats, 10 reps
• Deep Push-Ups, 10 reps
• Doorway Chin-Ups, 10 reps
• Ab Wheel, 10 reps

Try to do these six movements one after another straight through without resting much between movements. Repeat this sequence, after a minute or two of rest, three to five times.

This short workout, a supplement to your regular training, will help with cardio, help with muscular development, and help with general training. But most important, it’ll help you work by yourself on full movements and applying the lessons of coaching.

TG Comment: I actually did this exact workout two weeks ago with Georgia Southern athletic trainer Matt Biancuzzo who happened to be visiting CP for the week. Matt will be the first to tell you this program kicks your ass. Screw the elliptical trainer- do this instead.

15. Measure your progress in the weightroom one of three ways:

• Your deadlift max increased
• You did more real pull-ups
• Your three-jump increased

Why the deadlift? Well, I have yet to see any aids-besides straps; don’t use them- that make deadlifts easier. In fact, I don’t even know a trick that really works besides just getting stronger. Your buddies can help you bounce a bench off your chest, help you through the sticking point, and assist the top part “just a little,” but I don’t know anything to aid a deadlift.

The pull-up also fits the bill. Be as strict as possible. Why? Because no one gives a damn about how many pull-ups you can do. There’s no professional league, no Olympic gold medal nor any celebrity endorsements. It’s a measurement. Don’t cheat and turn this into some kind of dance move; just use your arms and back.

TG Comment: I could literally keep going, but honestly…..just go buy the book.

Last Week, Eric posted a video of intern Roger dominating the competition (to the tune of 8th place overall) in the World 2007 Rock, Paper, Scissors Championships. Since that video was posted, CP has been ground-zero for EPIC, impromptu RPS battles.

Staff vs. Roger

Clients vs. Roger

Girlfriends vs. Roger

Rosemary the cafeteria lady vs. Roger

Heck, I even think I saw the German Shepherd next door (we’re adjacent to a dog training facility) challenge Roger to best out of three. It seems everyone wants in on the action!

However, just when I thought his legend couldn’t possibly grow any further, I learn that Roger placed as a Runner-Up in the Precision Nutrition: Lean Eating Program. Sorry ladies, he’s taken.

I don’t know what’s next. I’m half expecting Roger to tell me he traveled to the depths of Mordor to destroy the Precious- and that was before lunch. In any case, well done Roger, and congrats! If you keep this up, we could very well name the vacuum cleaner after you in your honor when your internship is complete. We can only hope, we can only hope. For the full article, click HERE.

I’m swamped this morning catching up on “stuff.” And by “stuff,” what I really mean is buying advanced tickets for the new Harry Potter movie coming out in two weeks. As such, I’m sitting here in the office with my red/yellow scarf around my neck trying to write programs for today: Hint: only those who are obsessed with Harry Potter will know what the hell I’m talking about.

A1. Snape Deadlifts, 6×4

A2. Some random mobility movement. We’ll let the Sorting Hat decide.

B1. Low Incline Hogwarts Presses, 3×8

B2. Walking Mudblood Lunges, 3×10/leg

C. Bibbidy, bobbidy, blibblidy boo. I have a sneaky suspicion that sled pushes are in store for you. GRYFFINDOR!!!!!

Anyways, a few quick updates:

1. I made a cameo appearance on The Fitcast this past weekend where Kevin, Leigh and myself discuss post-workout nutrition, dieting mistakes, fitness industry jargon, and MJ (Pssssst, Alison……I don’t watch Fox News, it’s just called commonsense, but I digress).

2. If you look in this month’s issue of Men’s Health (ahem, pg. 42), I’m the featured expert with The 15-Minute Workout. On an aside, I just noticed that Nicole Beland is no longer the featured Girl Next Door columnist for MH.

I’m sad. However, on the bright side, I’m pretty sure this means I can officially ask her out since you know, we’re no longer co-workers.

Nicole, will you go out with me? Circle one: yes/no/maybe so/the restraining order is on its way

3. Congrats to CP client Danny O’Connor, who won his fight this past weekend and ran his professional record to 7-0.

4. And just because this is pretty much the coolest video, here’s Nia Shanks (bodyweight of 122 lbs), breaking the SPF national record with a 300 lb deadlift:

Nia is actually a really bright girl, and you can check out more of her stuff HERE. All I have to say is that we definitely need more women such as Nia telling other women that lifting heavy stuff is good for them. Also, word on the street is that Nia is going to try to make a trip out here to CP sometime soon- can someone say deadlift off?

1. In yesterday’s blog, I made a boo-boo. In short, I made a comment (about homeless people) that a few people didn’t take too kindly to-and looking back, I’ll be the first to admit that it was rather classless. Given the general tone of this blog, I often assume that most of my readers know when I’m being facetious. However, in my caffeine free state yesterday morning, I exhibited poor judgement. For my own edification, I want to be clear that my own views DO NOT reflect that of Cressey Performance or it’s staff (unless, of course, we’re referring to guys who curl in the squat rack). Nonetheless, yesterday’s post has been edited, and I included a picture of Megan Fox to make up for it. Hugs?

2. Hahahahahahahahahahaha. Thanks to Matt for sending me the link to this picture.

3. Last week, t-nation published an article that I helped contributed to titled Advice You Don’t Want to Hear. Check it out here.

4. Here’s an interesting article that someone sent me a few weeks ago about running shoes. Definitely blows the door wide open in regards to the multi-billion dollar shoe industry. I won’t go so far as to say that they’re a complete sham, but the article does bring up some valid points concerning the virtues of barefoot training. Read with an open/objective mind please. Also, I’m just the messenger, so save the hate mail.

5. Eric mentioned this in his blog yesterday, but I wanted to chime in and show some love for CP athlete Danny O’Connor as he attempts to run his professional record to 7-0 this weekend at the Roxy in downtown Boston.

I’ll actually be attending the fight this weekend with several other CP athletes/clients. Granted, the main reason I’m going is to support Danny and watch him dominate someone’s face. But I’m not gonna lie- this is also the perfect opportunity for me to bust out my fur coat and feather hat and heckle Danny’s opponent all night long- You’re gonna eat lightnin’ and you’re gonna crap thunder! For more information check out Cappiello Promotions.

6. Q: Throughout various posts, you have discussed anterior pelvic tilt and how it is a problem many people have developed. I’m pretty sure I have developed it as well. Any chance on a comprehensive fix this problem plan? The tips you’ve provided here and there have been very helpful, but it’s hard to see how to put it all together. I’m sure your readers, many of who suffer daily with this horrible affliction (cue Sally Struthers) would appreciate it.

A: Without going into some funtional anatomy diatribe- in lamens terms four groups of muscles support the pelvis in anteropsoterior alignment. The low back extensors pull upward on the pelvis posteriorly, the hamstrings pull downward posteriorly, the abdominal muscles pull upward anteriorly, and the hip flexors pull downward anteriorly. With proper muscle balance, the pelvis is maintained in optimal alignment. However, with muscle imbalances, the pelvis tilts anteriorly or posteriorly.

With anterior pelvic tilt, the muscle imbalances include some of the following: weak anterior abdominal muscles, tight hip flexor muscles, tight low back muscles, and weak hip extensor muscles.

In my experience (and I’m being rather simplistic here, it’s always a little more complicated) the culprits are usually tight hip flexors (namely iliopsoas) and weak hip extensor muscles (glutes, hamstrings). What does this mean? Generally speaking, those who exhibit anterior pelvic tilt need to stretch what’s tight (psoas, and to a lesser degree the rectus femoris), and strengthen what’s weak (the posterior chain: glutes and hamstrings). A simple blog post can’t do justice to this particular topic, so I encourage you to read Mike Robertson’s article Hips Don’t Lie: Fixing Your Force Couples.

7. If this video of Matt Kroczaleski performing band deadlifts doesn’t make you want to head to the gym right now, then I don’t know what will. Awesome

UPDATE: After watching that video again, I just realized I need to go change my underwear.

Sorry, for some reason I can’t embed the trailer: CLICK HERE anyways

While Food, Inc is nothing short of a spectacular social commentary on our food system (Hint: it sucks, but more on that below)- I can honestly say that no film, at least in recent memory*, has made me so angry that I’d want to rip down every movie poster in the theater on the way out the exit:

Steel Magnolias: Riiiiiiiiiip

Waiting to Exhale: Shred, tear, tear, shred

 

The Notebook: wait a second, I’m in my own apartment. Dammit!!!!

While we’ve been made to believe (marketing and food packaging at it’s finest) that the food we buy at our local food markets is produced on farms with fenced in pastures, hay stacks, blue skies, and free roaming cattle/pigs/chickens/Kirstie Alley’s (sorry, couldn’t resist)- the truth of the matter is, the food we eat is anything but “farm” food.

Rather, the vast majority of our food, if you can still call it that, comes from industrialized means -courtesy of CAFO’s (Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations), as well as vast (an estimated 30% of our land) corn/soy fields in the mid-West subsidized by the government. All overseen by a handful of companies (Tyson, Cargill, to name a few) with the sole M.O of producing, packing, and distributing more, albeit cheaper food for the American public.

It comes as no surprise that many consumers often balk at the notion of paying $3 for a dozen eggs or $1.79/lb for fresh, in-season organic fruit at the local farmer’s market. I mean, why pay such an exorbitant amount of money on wholesome, nutritious food when you can buy an entire frozen pizza and a six pack of Coke for the same price?

To make matters worse, as noted in the film, many families often must choose between having the means to pay for stuff like their diabetes medication (upwards of $100 for 50 pills) over purchasing said grass fed beef and organic broccoli. As ass backwards as it sounds, it’s sometimes more prudent, financially speaking at least, to literally eat ourselves to death. Sad, but true.

Moreover, given the fact that it takes roughly 75 gallons of petroleum to harvest, transport, and distribute one acre of corn-which coincidentally is what we feed our cattle (despite what mother nature states otherwise) to fatten them up more quickly; it’s really not that absurd to say, “you are what you eat, eats.” I can see it now- “can I have a quarter-pounder with cheese, hold the Exxon!”

Confound this with the added expense on health care costs (heart disease, diabetes, obesity)- it really does beg the question: is our food really that much cheaper?

Nevertheless, for anyone even remotely interested in what they put down their pie hole, I can’t recommend this film enough. Furthermore, if you don’t leave the theater questioning what you’re going to have for dinner tonight, and aren’t the tiniest bit miffed at the CEO’s and government officials responsible for trying to pull the wool over our eyes (and succeeding), then I honestly think Megan Fox will cry. And no one makes Megan Fox cry. Not on my watch. True Story

* Including, but not limited to movies that

1. Star Keanu Reeves

2. Revolve around women discussing their “emotions**”

3. Include teenage vampires that don’t kill each other

4. Don’t consist of some form of ass-kickery. This can include buildings exploding, car crashes, bodily dismemberment (preferably via light saber), ninjas, and/or Crocodile Dundee

** unless said emotions necessitate showing their boobies

What Is It: 1-Legged Barbell RDL (Romanian Deadlift)-red shoes optional.

Who Did I Steal It From: Apparently the Romanians

What Does It Do: If you asked me what most trainees fail to incorporate into their programming, it’s single leg work. Oftentimes, single leg work gets put-off or neglected altogether in favor of bilateral (two-legged) work such as squats, deadlifts, etc. And just for the record, single legged leg curls/leg extensions/leg presses don’t count. Nice try.

In any case, single leg work serves many purposes:

1. Helps to correct/eliminate any asymmetries and/or imbalances between one limb and the other.

2. Helps to increase overall strength. I have yet to see anyone improve their strength on single leg movements not increase the amount of weight they can lift on two legged movements.

3. They also play an important role in knee health, as well as lower back health. For starters, single leg movements force us to activate the lateral sub-system, which consists of the Adductor Complex, Glute Medius, as well as the Quadtratus Lumborum on the contra-lateral leg:

In a two-legged stance, these muscles aren’t necessarily “activated,” per se. However, in single leg stance, this same system of muscles are forced to “fire,” which then work to stabilize the hip and knee joint.

Moreover, and I say this with some reluctance since I don’t want this to be taken out of context- squats and deadlifts place much more compressive (and shear) force/torque on the spine. Consider the fact that many trainees don’t know how to squat/deadlift properly in the first place (trust me on this), given time, it’s going to catch up with them. Single leg movements allow one to train the lower body with much less of a burden on the spine.

Nevertheless, single leg training should definitely be a staple in anyone’s routine- for all the reasons listed above, and because I said so. As such, one of my favorite exercises is the one-legged barbell Romanian Deadlift- which coincidentally, is considered a single leg UN-supported variation.

Key Coaching Cues: Keeping your spine in a “neutral” position throughout the entire movement (as well as scapulae retracted and chin tucked), simply “push” the heel of your rear leg back towards the ceiling-your leg and back/neck should make a straight line. The knee of the standing leg should be slightly bent, and you should try to feel the brunt of your weight shift back into your heel (not your toes). Again, red shoes are completely optional. But for sexiness points, they’re mandatory.

On an Aside: A free container of Surge to anyone who comes up with a cool tagline for my website. I kind of like this so far: TonyGentilcore.com—–Strength and Performance Enhancement Done Right (courtesy of Lelli), but I feel like it needs a little more of my personality. Any suggestions…………

It’s often been stated that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, expecting a different result. This was never more apparent than this past weekend, when I decided to make a cameo appearance at my old stomping grounds-The Sportsclub/LA in downtown Boston.

One of my clients still trains there during the week, and she mentioned to me that she was going to go in on Sunday morning to get a quick lift in. For shits and giggles (and for pure entertainment purposes), myself along with the First Lady of Cressey Performance, Anna, decided to tag along.

It’s been close to two years since I’ve stepped foot in SCLA, and while it was nice to catch up with some former colleagues and ex-clients (not to mention to see people destroy the back of their pants when Anna, a girl!!!, repped out 225 on the trap bar deadlift), it also reminded me why I always felt the sudden urge to throw my face into the nearest brick wall.

Not surprisingly, I wasn’t shocked to see the same people, doing the exact same routine, and looking exactly the same as they did two years ago. Of course, there was the guy reading his newspaper between sets (of tricep kickbacks). Then there was the guy who, to his credit, was getting after it on the treadmill- albeit I’ve seen one-legged crack whores look more graceful. And least I forget “hot pants” girl, who always seems to be more concerned with looking at herself in the mirror than realizing that she’s using 20 lbs on a deadlift. Cause you know, we wouldn’t want to actually lift an appreciable weight. Icky. Here’s a rule of thumb: if you can curl it, you shouldn’t be deadlifting it.

I’m currently reading Dan John’s new book, Never Let Go, which has been a fantastic read thus far. I’ve always liked Dan’s no frills writing style. For instance, here’s his his top 10 tips for athletes:

1. Use whole body lifts; rarely isolate a muscle.

2. Constantly strive to add weight to the bar, and move it faster.

3. The best anabolic is water.

4. Did you eat breakfast? If not, don’t ask me anything about nutrition.

5. If you smoke or don’t wear your seatbelt, please don’t tell me the quick lifts are dangerous.

6. Go heavy, go hard.

7. Keep it simple. Less is more.

8. You have to put the bar over your head.

9. Put the bar on the floor and pick it up a bunch of different ways.

10. Know and love the roots of your sport.

Simple, easy, not much to debate.

So this got me thinking- what would be my top 10 tips for people who train at a commercial gym?

1. You’re there to train, not to watch tv.

2. If you don’t know why you’re doing a particular exercise, or what purpose it serves- don’t do it.

3. There’s a reason why all the ellipticals and treadmills are being used. They’re easy! Conversely, there’s a reason why Airdyne bikes and squat racks are never used (for their intended purpose. Curling in the squat rack doesn’t count). They’re hard! Guess which ones yield the best results?

4. A 60 minute Yoga class doesn’t warrant a post-workout shake. Just sayin…..

5. If you can hold an entire conversation while you’re doing your “cardio” (and I use that term lightly), you’re not working nearly hard enough.

6. The world won’t collapse if you don’t bench three times per week.

7. Smith machines suck. So do leg curls, leg extensions, and leg presses for that matter. Yep, I just went there.

8. Okay, I get it….you have fake boobs. You’re still not that hot. Okay, maybe a little. I love you.

9. I have to stop there. A little piece of my soul is dying with each number I write- you guys can finish the list off if you want- I need to go lift some heavy things.