Nothing too too new to brag about this week other than I WAS CLEARED TO DRIVE MOTHERFUCKAS.
Up until this past Tuesday I hadn’t been behind the wheel of a car since May 23rd. My wife has been carting me everywhere.
Babe, I need to go to work!
Babe, I need to meet my realtor to check out a new potential gym space!
Babe, I need eggs.
Babe, why are you walking toward me with a knife. Babe, BABE, noooooooooooo.
On top of that I’m pretty sure Lyft is still operating in Boston because of me.
So it was a nice reprieve and welcome change of pace to be able to drive this week.
Onward!
2. You can now purchase CORE @ Home for whatever it is you want to pay.
During quarantine I started a platform where I’d deliver 20-40 minute workouts that could be performed in everyone’s living room using minimal equipment.
In all I curated 36 workouts using nothing but bodyweight, bands, and kettlebells and/or dumbbells. With many people still reticent to head back to their regular gyms (not to mention the scarcity of gym equipment out there to purchase) I figured this would be a nice opportunity to help.
Whether you want to spend $1 or $100, the workouts are ready and available to start.
Full Disclosure: Pete’s a good friend and former business partner of mine. His Niched podcast is excellent either way you slice it.
Sahil is also a good friend (and one of the first athletes I trained at Cressey Sports Performance). He’s now doing some pretty cool things in the world of finance, telling stories, and making it more palatable for us minions.
He’s been CRUSHING Twitter of late with his “Allegory of Finance” series. So much so that Sahil picked up a follow from Tim Cook. He’s now one of 69 people the CEO of Apple follows.
However, I’M only one of 48 people Sahil follows…;o)
You ever head to the gym, get there, and then all you want to do is leave?
No matter how hard you try you just can’t muster the mojo to get going and preserver through a training session.
I had one of those days yesterday, actually.
I stayed and swallowed a somewhat decent session down, but I definitely veered off my program and just opted to perform some random exercises that filled my training love tank that day.1
In today’s guest post by TG.com regular, Shane McLean, he shares some ideas you can implement when you just need a slight change of pace on any given day.
Years ago, my son was getting a cavity filled. Let’s face it, nobody likes going to the dentist and getting those big needles stuck into your mouth.
It sucks.
My son’s first shot didn’t take, and needed a second one to numb the pain.
Then the water works started. Who can blame him? Those needles are scary.
The dental nurse had no bedside manner plus no clue on how to turn the water works off, so I had to think fast.
“Hey, do you realize your bottom lip is so fat the astronauts in space can see it,” I said.
“What are you talking about, Dad? It’s not fat!”
“Feel it. It’s huge,” I said. He smiled, touched his lip and the crying stopped. Problem solved.
You’re thinking, “What the heck has this got to do with exercise?”
Let me explain.
Sometimes you are sore, tired, or uninspired and the last thing you want to do is knock out sets of deadlifts, squats, and overhead presses. The trick (when feeling meh) is to exercise without realizing it.
Hence, the art of distraction training.
I find the best way to achieve distraction is through game play, plus a little friendly competition because you can have fun while exercising, even if you have goals.
Plug the following drills into your warmup or as a substitute for any exercise you have planned. You’ll be sweating and smiling in no time.
NOTE: These ‘games’ work well in a personal training and group exercise setting too.
1. Balloon Tennis (Not Just a Kid’s Game)
This is a great substitute for planks, pushups, or shoulder work, and it’s simple and easy to play.
Set Up – For your “net” you need three step up risers on either side, a body bar, space, plus a blown-up balloon.
Rules – Imagine a straight line down from the edge of your risers. That is your boundary.
Now you and your partner assume a pushup position with feet wider than hip width apart and set up within arms distance from the net.
“Serve” the balloon over the net and bat it back and forth over the net until
The balloon lands out
The balloon touches the ground
You or your opponent lose the plank position
All the above results in a point.
First to 5 points wins. You’ll be surprised at how much this drives up your heart rate.
2. Reaction Ball Squash
This is a great drill to get you moving in all directions quickly while improving your hand to eye coordination. Play this on the squash or racquetball court. Think of it as squash without a racquet.
Set Up – The server serves from inside the service box while the receiver stands anywhere within his or her service half.
Rules – Once the ball has been thrown against the far wall and bounces once, it is fair game. If the ball is dropped, missed, or has bounced twice this results in:
If the server wins, he wins the point and the right to serve again.
If the receiver catches the ball, he wins the right to serve.
Only the server wins a point.
The first person to 10 points wins.
3. Core War
This is a fantastic drill that I “stole” from PTA Global. Core war works on the anterior, posterior, and lateral core while challenging balance. This drill will improve hand-to-eye coordination and quickness.
Set up– Face each other with 1-2-foot distance between each other. Place your hands to shoulder height, elbow bent and palms facing towards your opponent.
Rules– Each person is trying to slap the others hand while avoiding being slapped. You can do this for time for warm up purposes PLUS each partner can keep score. First to 5, 10 or 15 slaps wins.
To make things interesting, the winner can decide a “punishment” for the loser.
4. Stability Ball Wrestle
I know some fitness professionals debate the use of stability balls and Bosu balls in a gym environment. Even some have taken their anger to extreme levels.
Note From TG: It was a dark time in my life.
However, I see them as another tool in the toolbox.
Stability ball wrestle can be used in place of single leg or balance exercises. You’ll be too busy trying to knock each other off balance you’ll never realize (and workout partner) you are training your ankle stability, mobility, and balance.
Set Up – Standing in front of the stability ball put your right foot on top of the ball making sure your right knee is bent 90 degrees. Your partner who is directly across from you on the other side puts their left foot on the same ball, right beside your foot. Your other foot is flat on the ground, This is your stabilizing leg.
Rules – You are both trying to knock your opponent’s foot off the stability ball by rolling the ball aggressively with the foot on the ball. There is no kicking, just pushing the ball any way possible to knock your opponent’s foot off the ball. Person whose foot stays on the ball wins the point.
This can be done as a timed warmup, for 30 seconds on each foot. Or turn this into a friendly competition. Every time some loses his balance it results in a point for the opponent.
First to 5 or 10 points wins.
5. The Boxer
Use this in place of any chest or shoulder exercise. This drill will work on power, muscular endurance, and hand-to-eye coordination. Think of it as a fun band chest press.
Set Up – Use a resistance band with handles looped around a solid anchor point and bring hands to shoulder level with the resistance band under and not over your arms. Your partner puts his or her hands up, open palms facing forward and away from their face.
Rules – You hit the open palm (with a clenched fist), one hand at a time. Your partner can change his hand position up, down, or left and right to increase the challenge.
You can do this for time and record the amount of hits or use it as an upper body finisher, using a timed interval of your choice.
Wrapping Up
These five games can be integrated into any training session to turn the tedious part of your workout into something fun that can help improve your performance too. Let’s put some fun back into exercise.
About The Author
Shane “Balance Guy” McLean, is an A.C.E Certified Personal Trainer working deep in the heart of Louisiana with the gators.
I often tell people that what “connects” you to the barbell during the deadlift isn’t your hands.
Rather, it’s your lats.
Having the ability to engage them and firing on all cylinders during the set-up and execution has profound ramifications on deadlift technique and performance.
The thing is: For some trainees, asking him or her to “turn on your lats” is akin to understanding Klingon or, I don’t know, being able to perform long division.
In the past week I’ve spent a little more time out of the boot walking around the apartment and occasionally living live dangerously and walking around the neighborhood.
It seemingly took me a week to walk to the bank and back the other day, but it was a nice “win” for me nonetheless. I still have a ways to go before I am doing anything remotely athletic – running seems as unlikely as time travel at this stage – but it feels great to be making progress.
Onward!
2. You can now purchase CORE @ Home for whatever it is you want to pay.
During quarantine I started a platform where I’d deliver 20-40 minute workouts that could be performed in everyone’s living room using minimal equipment.
In all I curated 36 workouts using nothing but bodyweight, bands, and kettlebells and/or dumbbells. With many people still reticent to head back to their regular gyms (not to mention the scarcity of gym equipment out there to purchase) I figured this would be a nice opportunity to help.
Whether you want to spend $1 or $100, the workouts are ready and available to start.
Social media, if nothing else, has amplified the notion that everyone’s life is hunky dory, that nothing ever goes wrong, and that everyone is on cloud nine 24/7/365.
This is especially the vibe in the health/fitness industry.
Everyone hits PRs every workout and looks like a model in their Lulus.
Mental health is not something to scoff at or be cynical about; yet the prevalent thought process – still – is that it’s a taboo subject and that one should just suck it up and deal. I LOVED this post by Chris and how honest, open, and REAL it was.
Give it a read.
Oh, and also check out his Landmine Everything resource he just released. (<– not an affiliate link). It’s pretty baller if you ask me.
A few weeks ago a good friend and colleague of mine, Andrew Coates, took some time on his Facebook page to note that he’s not just this 6’2″ 260 lb behemoth of a human being who likes to lift heavy things.
He’s a lot of other things too.
Canadian, for example…;o)
So, I figured since I’m in a bit of a writing rut of late anyway (and that I too am not just some deadlifting Terminator) there’s really no better topic to help me break the funk than…
…scapular upward rotation,extension-based back pain,Top 10 boyfriends of Carrie Bradshaw MEeeeeeee!
– I grew up in a small village in Central NY (in the Finger Lakes region) that still doesn’t have one traffic light. Or fast food chain. Or electricity.
– Just kidding. My hometown (Groton, NY) has electricity. In fact, it has it’s own electric company. The station is named after my grandfather He-Man Frank McClear.
– I graduated high-school in 1995 and was one of the few athletes from my hometown to have the opportunity to play sports at the collegiate level.
– I played two years at Onondaga Community College (Syracuse, NY) where I was named MVP Pitcher for both the 1996 & 1997 season in addition to being named 1st Team All-Region in 1997.
– I then transferred to Mercyhurst University (Erie, PA) in 1997 where I was named a Division II Player to Watch for the 1998 season. I played there for two years and SPOILER ALERT: There weren’t many MLB teams clamoring for a right-handed pitcher who topped out at 87 MPH.
Yep, that’s me.
– I then transferred back to NY to finish my degree at SUNY Cortland where I earned a degree in Health Education with a concentration in Health/Wellness Promotion (and kicking ass).4
– I was thiiiiiis close to becoming a health teacher. However, a stint student teaching a bunch of 7th graders what nocturnal emissions are all about pretty much put an end to that dream.
– Instead I opted for a career where I could wear sweatpants everyday to work. Doesn’t suck.
– I was never a voracious reader growing up – except for The Source and Sports Illustrated magazines. It wasn’t until my then girlfriend broke up with me in 2002 (and I needed to find something to occupy my time other than crying in the fetal position in the shower & envisioning her hooking up with other dudes) that I began reading more novels and literature. My favorite author is Kurt Vonnegut. My favorite book is The Grapes of Wrath. The final pages of that book still haunt me.
– I’m a 90’s hip-hop head through and through. 1993-1995 is the best two year span of hip-hop ever. Prove me wrong.
– I never thought in a million years I’d ever be a “writer,” let alone paid to do so. I wonder if any of my high-school English teachers – Mrs. Davie, Mrs. LaVack, Mrs. Gambetta – ever refer to me as their crown achievement? I like to think that they used to include units on “the works of Gentilcore” alongside Shakespeare, Langston Hughes, and Proust.
– I also like to think that one day I’ll make out with J-Lo.
– I firmly believe there’s a middle ground to everything – whether we’re referring to politics, bar position on the back squat, or agreeing that all keto recipes taste like sheetrock.
– I will never, ever, ever, never, not in a million-years, ever, ever, ever…start a podcast.
– The only two live concerts I’ve ever attended are Alicia Keys and Norah Jones (twice).5
– I know everyone says this (and it’s entirely not a profound statement to make), but I love watching movies. I was asked recently what profession I’d want to do if I weren’t doing what I am doing now. First would be “professional beat Jason Bourne in a street fight guy.” Second, though, would be a movie reviewer. I can think of no better way to spend my day than to be a jacked Gene Siskel.
– If there’s one piece of advice I like to give everyone it’s simply this: Be nice. Most of the time. Nazis (and/or Megatron, Skeletor, Cobra Commander, pretty much any doctor/charlatan who writes a mainstream nutrition book) should be punched in the face or pancreas whenever possible.
– I think it’s silly (and bordering me not having enough eye rolls to give) when gym owners post videos of themselves vacuuming their facility.
– That said, who am I to toss shade!? I once posted a video of me doing a Turkish Get-Up. You do you.
– I met my wife on Match.com. We exchanged emails for two days (<– writing skills came in handy there), spoke on the phone for one day, and met for tacos the next. Five years later I proposed on our apartment balcony in sweatpants. Not kidding.
– My cat just took a massive shit in her litter box which is four feet away from me. Perfect segue to end there.
When COVID unveiled its ugly head this past winter and forced the health/wellness industry to shut down I did what every fitness professional did:
Hyperventilated into a paper bag.
But after that, I did the second most germane thing:
Watched the entirety of Ozark on Netflix.
But after that, I created CORE @ Home: A weekly “stream” of 30-40 minute workouts people could perform in their living rooms (or wherever: bedroom, man-cave, hovercraft) using minimal equipment.
You can now purchase the entire series (3 months worth of programming which includes 36 total workouts) for whatever it is you want to pay.
Starting today you can purchase the entire enchilada for $1 or $1,000,000.00 or $47 (or anything in between).
Your choice.
What Do You Get?
Three workouts per week divided into three sections: Athlete, Build, Condition.
Athlete = Simple, anyone-can-do-them-trust-me-you’re-not-LeBron-James plyometric drills to help you conjure your inner athlete.
Build = The meat & potatoes or “traditional” iron work centered around exercises that use bodyweight, bands, kettlebells and/or dumbbells.
Condition = The part where you’ll hate life. Hahahaha. Just kidding.6[
Each workout includes coaching instruction providing simple cues to follow as well as options to make exercises more challenging or easier.
You also get a cameo from my Achilles rupture.
NOTE: To clarify: I didn’t rupture my Achilles during the actual filming of the workouts – I did it sprinting during a workout I was doing on my own. However, about half way through you’ll notice the model becomes infinitely more attractive because my wife was a trooper and filled in for me for a handful of weeks to demonstrate all the drills and exercises.
Nevertheless, given many of us are still reticent (or in many cases unable) to head back to our regular gyms it’s become apparent more and more people are seeking out quality programming they can do in the comfort of their own home.
Programming that’s simple, easy to follow, effective, and also fun.
In the most rudimentary sense the deadlift can best be described as an action where one bends over at the waist, wraps his or her’s hands around a barbell, and then “pulls” said barbell off the ground until they’re standing fully upright with their knees and hips locked.
Of course, there are a few important nuances with regards to back position to consider.
For brevity’s sake you can think of the setup as shoulders above the chest, and chest above the hips.
This.
Not This
Ya Heard
Anyway, you want to think about putting force into ground and pushing away, rather than just pulling the bar off the floor.
In my experience whenever I see someone’s back rounding or I see their hips come up a bit too early I find they’re not placing any emphasis on the PUSH (and using their quads to help with leg drive).
Another option is to think about “pushing the ground away from you.” This subtle reframing has made a profound difference with many of the lifters I’ve worked with.
Staying Calm Through Uncertainty, Becoming a Successful Coach, & Daily Routines
I really enjoyed the conversation Matt and I had centered around COVID and how I’ve handled the pandemic with regards to my business, how I’ve handled throwing an Achilles rupture on top of that, how I got started in the industry, and I’m sure some Star Wars shenanigans are tossed in there as well.
I enjoy more of a freestyle interview approach and that’s exactly what you get in this episode.
When it comes to the setup, however, there’s no one-size-fits-all approach.
In this instance we’re all special snowflakes with varying limb lengths, torso lengths, and hip orientation… all of which will affect what will feel best and allow us to lift the most amount of weight.
That said, there are two tenets to the deadlift setup that applies to every lifter:
1. Use the Wedge.
Popularized by Dr. Stuart McGill, it’s a foolproof way to set yourself up for success and protect your back. Basically, when you bend over to grab the barbell, you want to use it as a counterbalance to “pull” your chest up and get the hips down, “wedging” yourself between the bar and the floor.
2. Now think, “Armpits over the bar, with maximal hamstring tension.”
Today’s guest post comes courtesy of Dr. Lisa Lewis (AKA my wife).
Earlier this year she released her Psych Skills for Fitness Professionals course which was designed to help fill a gap where many fitness professionals lack formal education: psychology, motivation, and the “softer skills” needed to coach effectively and help clients attain their goals.
I’ve long noted that what burns and stresses most coaches/trainers out isn’t the x’s and o’s of program design or breaking down someone’s squat technique…
…rather, it’s the ongoing attempts to maneuver around the dark recesses of our clients’ psychological needs (particularly when it comes to motivation).
Of more relevance, COVID-19 has really done a number on just about everyone’s life in 2020 and the importance of motivation, healthy habits, and resilience through stress and uncertainty has never been more apparent.
Lisa has just opened up enrollment for her course, with a NEW, just-added module focusing on how fitness professionals can better build immunity to stress and uncertainty for themselves AND their clients/athletes.
If no foreplay is needed, you can dive right in HERE.
In 2020, this sequence of emotions, and the resulting toll they take is familiar to us all. Whether your personal, professional, or financial life has been stressed, shaken, or stamped out by the pandemic, chances are you have been significantly impacted by closings, stay-at-home orders, and social-distancing mandates.
When we have a stressful day, most of us can cope well.
We may become flustered, negative, or pessimistic, but a trusted coping strategy can typically help us to recover and turn the page quickly, like dinner with friends, a big hug from a loved-one, a good training session, or a hot bath.
But when days turn into weeks, and weeks into months, we all need more than a good pump and steamy soak in the tub. We need skills that can help us to persist.
To maintain hope.
To help us access our strengths in the face of long term adversity.
Starting in April and May of this year, I have been asked to contribute to articles and podcasts on “coping with the pandemic,” or “coping with stress,” or some similar topic.
As a psychologist, these requests and their resulting discussions and writings led me to explore the current literature on resilience, and this in turn focused my attention on the field of positive psychology.
Over the past 20 years, positive psychology has offered evidence-based recommendations for living well, coping effectively, and thriving (Peterson, 2006). The benefits of optimism, positive emotions, personal strengths, gratitude, meaning, healthy relationships and other optimal experiences in life have been examined, evaluated, and clearly identified as real, measurable, and worth-while.
This research, and the resulting recommendations for coping and living well offer a rich variety of skills that are relevant, important, and even essential in the current climate.
For example, as I read up on how to build and sustain resilience, I learned about “mental agility” from Karen Reivich (2002), who explains that we can learn and practice thinking flexibility and more effectively. Reivich states that by recognizing our tendencies to think in overly-rigid ways, intentionally changing direction, and carefully planning for negative outcomes, we can be more productive, efficient, and hardy in difficult situations.
Dr. Karen Reivich
The same way fitness professionals and enthusiasts can practice skills and drills for physical agility, so too can we work on mental agility.
If your thinking sometimes gets you stuck in negative, ruminative, unhelpful patterns of all-or-nothing, catastrophizing, or “poor me” thinking, then working on your mental agility could help you to think more objectively, effectively, and productively.
In addition to mental agility, challenging life events require us to not only work on our deficits, but also to draw on our strengths. In my work with patients, clients, and fitness professionals, I’ve found that most people gravitate toward addressing weaknesses, blindspots, or shortcomings in their thoughts and behaviors. However, understanding and leveraging the best of you is also a rich and potent source of resilience (Petersen & Seligman, 2004). Your personal character strengths can contribute to coping and even thriving in adversity – especially now!
Whether they be optimism, diligence, spirituality, or a great sense of humor, the best of you has so much to offer in the face of the worst times in life.
Do you know how to practice flexible, agile thinking?
Are you familiar with your character strengths? Do you appreciate them and harness them intentionally in the face of adversity?
This summer, I’ve designed a curriculum for developing and practicing these skills, and added them, for free, to my Psych Skills for Fitness Pros course. This curriculum has been included as a bonus module for students of Psych Skills for Fitness Pros, and covers the following content:
An Introduction to Resilience
Optimism
Mental Agility
Character Strengths
Implementation and Practice
In addition, this bonus module includes an interview with Mike T. Nelson, Ph.D., who discusses the concept of anti-fragility, and it’s parallel to stress hardiness and resilience! Dr. Mike and I explore the physical and psychological benefits of anti-fragility, as well as how to promote anti-fragility with your clients.
Psych Skills for Fitness Pros offers not only a review of theory and research, but also real life applications for coaches in fitness, wellness, and nutrition. Here’s what a recent graduate of the program had to say about her experience in the course:
“Coaching is about so much more than exercise selection and macros. I’m always looking to get better at the psychological side of coaching so that I can help my clients actually make the changes they want to make. Psych Skills for Fitness Pros was exactly what I needed. It was not just theoretical, but practical. “Here are the theories and here’s how you can use them in your day to day work.”
As a result of practicing the skills Lisa teaches I am better at meeting clients where they’re at with regards to motivation while helping them to develop along the motivation continuum and using motivational interviewing techniques such as helping clients work through their ambivalence. You will without a doubt be a better coach after taking this course.”
For the rest of 2020, and beyond, these skills and assets are what I hope you can draw from, lean on, and utilize to cope with the pandemic and all that it brings. But even more than that, I hope we can all develop more strength, agility, and skill as a result of having to cope with the pandemic. If we can endure this year, good – but if we can thrive and improve ourselves as a result of it, great!
Please read more about Psych Skills for Fitness Pros, Volume 1, HERE.
If you want to see more of my writing and approach to interlacing strength training and physical activity with mental skills and positive psychology, follow me on Instagram, HERE. If you want to learn more about positive psychology, mental agility, and/or character strengths, check out the fabulous content at the Positive Psychology Center at UPenn, HERE.
References
Peterson, C. & Seligman, M. (2004). Character Strengths and Virtues: A Handbook and Classification. Oxford University Press: NY.
Peterson, C. (2006). A Primer in Positive Psychology. Oxford University Press: NY.
Reivich, K. & Shatte, A. (2002). The Resilience Factor: 7 keys to finding your inner strength and overcoming life’s hurdles. Broadway Books: NY.
