Categoriescoaching Corrective Exercise Strength Training

5 Strategies for Healthy Shoulders

Unlike Dan John, I lack the ability to seemingly rattle off an array of quotable quotes with the frequency of a Donald Trump soundbite.

That said, every now and then luck strikes and I chime in with gem like this:

“Lifting weights isn’t supposed to tickle.”

Muscles are going to get sore, and joints are going ache. And, in keeping things real, the risk of sharting yourself increases exponentially.

Sorry, it comes with the territory.

Being “sore and achy,” however, while nothing new to anyone who lifts weights on a regular basis, shouldn’t be a regular occurrence…or badge of honor.

Likewise, while the saying “pain is just weakness leaving the body” is a popular one amongst fitness enthusiasts (most often, CrossFit participants and marathoners1)…it’s really, really, really stupid.

Pain is not weakness leaving the body. It’s your body telling you to “quit the shit” and that what you’re doing has surpassed its ability to recover.

Of course, there are different levels of pain. I can have someone perform a set of 20-rep squats or Prowler drags – on their hands, blindfolded, uphill, for AMRAP – and there’s going to be a degree of “pain” involved.

But if pain is present – to the point where, you know, stuff fucking hurts – then that’s something entirely different and something that needs to be addressed…sans the machismo.

The shoulders are a problem area for many lifters and often take a beating. Below are some brief, overarching talking points on how to address shoulder pain/discomfort.

Note: it’s a broad topic, and one teeny tiny blog post won’t be the answer to everything. However, chances are, addressing one – if not several – of the talking point below may be exactly what’s needed to get the ball rolling in the right direction.

1) Stop Doing What Hurts

I had a client approach me recently about his shoulder. The conversation went something like this:

Client: “My shoulder hurts when I do this.”

[Proceeds to do this weird behind the head, shoulder dislocation thingamajiggy]

Me: “stop doing that.”

Client and Me: “LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL.”

Me: “seriously, stop doing that.”

It seems like an obvious thing to do, but if something hurts – whether it be the weird Cirque du Soleil contortionist move my client was doing, bench pressing, or whatever – stop doing it.

At least for now.

I know it’s a hard blow for a lot of guys to be told to stop bench pressing for any length of time, and in fairness, much of the time it’s a matter of addressing a handful of common technique flaws:

  • Better upper back stiffness (learning to pull shoulder blades together and down for improved stability).
  • Learning to engage the lats (to make a “shelf” and to “row” the bar down towards the chest).
  • Maybe tweaking wrist and elbow position (so one isn’t so flared out).
  • Addressing leg drive.

BAM – shoulder doesn’t hurt anymore.

All that said, it’s usually a better play to take out the incendiary movement altogether – maybe for a few days, or even weeks – and take the time to allow tissues to calm down and address any profound weaknesses and dysfunctions present.

2) Earn the Right to Overhead Press

The ability to raise one’s arms overhead – I.e., shoulder flexion – is something that’s not quite as easily accomplished in today’s society.

The left: what most people look like (forward head posture, excessive lumbar extension). The Right: dead sexy. Kinda.

We just don’t spend that much time there. Yet, walk into any commercial gym or CrossFit box and you’ll witness any number of trainees happily pushing, hoisting, and/or kipping overhead.

Often with deleterious ramifications.

Several factors come into fruition when discussing the ability to elevate the arms overhead2:

  • Shoulder: if one lacks abduction/upward rotation on any given side, you could see any number of compensations like lack of elbow flexion.
  • Scapulae: we need upward rotation, protraction, and posterior tilt to get overhead. Most people are lacking in one or all three.
  • T-Spine: does it extend? It should.
  • Lumbar Spine: does it extend? It sure as shit shouldn’t.

This is where assessment and individualized programming comes into play. Some people require a different “corrective” approach compared to others. However, if that’s not your wheelhouse, refer out!

But as a strength and conditioning professional you could still set people up for success by having them perform more “shoulder friendly” overhead pressing.

1-Arm Landmine Press

 

Serratus Upward Jab

3) Improve Upward Rotation

Many people are “stuck” in a downwardly rotated position – especially those who participate in an overhead sport (baseball for example) or are a lifetime meathead.

Due to lack of anterior core control, tight/stiff lats, soft tissue restrictions, poor programming balance, or a combination of several factors, many tend to live in a state of “gross” extension.

To that end: anything we can do to target the muscles that help upwardly rotate the scapulae – low/upper traps, serratus – would bode in our favor.

Band Wall Walks

 

1-Arm Prone Trap Raise

 

1-Arm Band Overhead Shrug

 

TRX Hinge Row

Moreover, a little TLC to foam rolling the lats would work wonders, as well as addressing anterior core control/strength with exercises like deadbugs.

Too, proper coaching/cueing by not allowing clients to crank though their TL junction or lumbar spine during movement would be stellar. Thanks, appreciate it.

4) Obligatory Commentary On How Breathing Will Cure Everything

I’m a believer in PRI (Postural Restoration Institute) principles and have used it to great success with clients in the past and present.

Helping to “reset” posture with focused breathing drills can be a game changer – especially for those living with shoulder pain.

First, lets address a common fallacy…beautifully articulated by NYC-based physical therapist, Connor Ryan:

Taking the conversation on “gross extension” a little further, we can attempt to apply Connor’s analogy with some focused breathing drills like this:

 

Doing so:

  • Helps stimulate parasympathetic activity (excessive extension = “impingement” of Posterior Mediastinum leading to constant sympathetic – flight or flight – activity).
  • Allows a window for the thorax/rib-cage to move, which, in turn, allows the scapulae to move.
  • I only perform 1-3 different drills here, lasting, maybe, 2-4 minutes. And then it’s time to go lift heavy shit.

5) Let Your Shoulder Blades Move

A common mistake I see many trainees make is “glueing” their shoulder blades in place during exercises like a 1-arm dumbbell row or even push-ups.

This is not wise.

Scapular retraction (adduction) is important, but so it allowing the shoulder blades to protract (abduct).

In short: the shoulder blades should have the ability to move around the rib cage.

If their always pinned in place, this will often manifest into glenohumeral issues – namely, anterior humeral translation and instability.

Translated into non-geek speak, your shoulder is basically saying:

Simple Shoulder Solution

Strength coach Max Shank just released a handy manual called the Simple Shoulder Solution.

Anyone familiar with Max’s work knows he’s a guy that likes to think outside the box and help get people more athletic.

Much of what I discussed above mirrors much of what Max covers in this manual (with more detail).

In order to best address the function of the shoulder you need to follow the order of operations and handle the surrounding structures first. These are:

1) Breathing and Core Activation
2) Thoracic and Neck Mobility
3) Scapular Mobility and Stability
4) Glenohumeral Mobility and Stability

The main idea here is that if you do not address 1-3 FIRST, you are likely to create more compensation, hypermobility and potential for injury at the Glenohumeral joint.

I can dig it.

Give it a look for yourself HERE.

Categoriescoaching Exercise Technique

Trainer Critique Live 2: The Deadlift

I had an amazing time in NYC this past weekend.

I was invited back by the crew at Mark Fisher Fitness to participate in round #2 of their Motivation and Movement Lab. I, along with Mark Fisher, Michael Keeler, Harold Gibbons, Michael Littig, Steven Ledbetter, Pete Dupuis, and Artemis Scantalides spoke over the course of two days to a group of 80+ trainers, coaches, therapists, and gym owners from around the country on a variety of fitness-related topics ranging from business and behavioral change to program design and assessment.

What’s more…there were roughly 17,459 f-bombs dropped, 245 references to unicorns/dildos, and this Pulitzer Prize worthy picture.

It’s hard not to appreciate the sharp contrast and symmetry between the lighting, Jackie Chan’s facial expression, and my biceps.

Much like last year, I left the event feeling energized and thankful for being included in such an amazing event. I’m a better human being after having been immersed in the infectious MFF culture. Their passion and proclivity at helping every person pursue and amplify the best version of him or herself possible is unparalleled.

It’s quite an honor to see and be a part of it.

On that note: I got back into Boston somewhat late last night, and am in the throes of email purgatory. However, I do have something cool for you to check out.

Trainer Critique 2: The Deadlift

Last year, both Bret Contreras and Nick Tumminello were part of a video series hosted by ProShapeFitness.com called Trainer Critique “Live” I felt was pretty neat.

The premise was simple: the two of them watched a video of someone performing a lift (in this case, the squat) and they would each provide real-time, “live” feedback on what they saw.

HERE’s the link to the video.

For the second go-round, I was asked – alongside Jordan Syatt – to critique two different deadlifts. Here’s what transpired. Enjoy!

Jump to each critique section:
– Jordan Syatt critique 1: 0:56
– Jordan Syatt critique 2: 3:59
– Tony Gentilcore critique 1: 7:12
– Tony Gentilcore critique 2: 14:07

Categoriescoaching Exercise Technique

3 Exercises You Won’t Believe Work As Well As They Do

If you’ve ever picked up a VHS off the shelf at Blockbuster—you still do that too, right?—you know that movies often aren’t what they appear to be at first glance.

  • The Deer Hunter isn’t about hunting deer.
  • The Neverending Story actually, you know, ends. There’s even a sequel.
  • 50 Shades of Grey is not a coloring book.

Strength training is the same way. Plenty of movements look like a whole lot of weirdness—or a whole lot of nothing—when you see them in a 10-second YouTube clip without context. But with a little more context, they turn out to be just the thing you needed all along to build an epic overhead press or nail that first pull-up.

These three movements are all worthy of being performed without a shred of self-consciousness. Still, it’s a good idea to be prepared for the inevitable question: “What is that working?”

Continue Reading on BodyBuilding.com….

SPOILER ALERT: exercises discussed in the article are HBT (Hanging Band Training) Overhead Press, Lying Hollow Position, and the Spoto Press (pictured above).3.

Categoriescoaching Exercise Technique

Strive For Progress Not Perfection: Squat Edition

My dream as a kid was to be He-Man play professional baseball. Growing up in Middle-of-Nowhere, NY4 made this dream a bit more of challenge because 1) I often had to resort to doing things alone and 2) I didn’t have a ton of access to watching baseball.

My parent’s house was outside of town lines, which meant we didn’t have access to cable television. I had five channels to choose from (<– borderline child abuse nowadays), and the only way I could watch a MLB game was to wait for the “Game of the Week” broadcast every Saturday afternoon on one of the major network channels.

Although, sometimes, if I used enough tin foil on my small black and white television in my bedroom, and angled my antenna juuuuust right, I could snake a regional broadcast out of Elmira, NY of the Yankee games.

I’d stand there in the middle of my bedroom with my bat and emulate the swings of Don Mattingly, Jesse Barfield, or Steve Sax pitch by pitch.

Anyways, I’d record the weekly broadcast on Saturdays on our VHS player and play back the game over and over and over again throughout the week.

The real treat was the annual All-Star Game. I’d record that game too, and play it back ALL year…oftentimes watching an inning or two and then heading outside to my backyard to pretend I was Nolan Ryan, Roger Clemens, or Greg Maddux.

I’d tried so hard to perfect their mechanics and their way of doing things, that I’d get frustrated whenever things didn’t click or make sense. Things would get even more frustrating when I didn’t throw 95 MPH.

I mean, WTF!?!

Suffice it to say, in looking back (hindsight is always 20/20), it was the mentality I took in striving for PERFECTION and not focusing on PROGRESS that was the issue.

Not coincidentally it’s a mantra I feel holds a lot of weight in many facets of day-to-day lift…especially in the weight room.

Your Squats Aren’t Perfect (And That’s Okay)

I started working with a new female client a few months ago and knew within the first 15 minutes of coaching her squat that she was a perfectionist.

She’d get easily frustrated and discouraged whenever she performed a “bad” repetition and would seemingly respond like a reprimanded puppy whenever I coached her or offered some advice.

Mind you, I like it when people take a more proactive approach to their training and want to get better. What I don’t like is when people set the bar so high for themselves that it becomes more of a detriment than anything else.

I started repeating the above mantra to her…noting that small, incremental “wins” in technique (progress) trumps the perceived need for perfection, every day of the week.

Except for every other Saturday. Just because.

To put things into perspective: I’m pretty good at deadlifting (best pull of 570 lbs at a bodyweight of 190), and would consider myself an “advance lifter” in that realm.

I still tinker and tweak my technique, and understand (and accept) the notion that I’ll never be perfect.

What’s more I’m often dumbfounded by my client’s dumbfoundedness when they realize that I, too, their coach, am still trying to “figure things out” when it comes to lifting stuff.

I should know all there is to know by now, right?

And here they are giving themselves a hard time for not understanding a concept after reading one T-Nation article and/or training seriously for only six months.

Sheesh, relax.

But lets get back to the squats.

Look at a guy like Chad Wesley Smith, one of the best squatters in the world.

 

He’s pretty locked in with his technique, but you can peruse any number of his articles and videos and he’ll reiterate the same sentiment: He’s still tinkering.

I am no where near Chad’s level when it comes to performing – let alone coaching – the squat. However, I know a thing or two.

Sometimes.

And, having done some major finagling myself for the past year or so with my squat I wanted to share some of my own thoughts and experiences with how I’m striving for progress and not perfection.

1) There’s No ONE Right Way to Squat

This is by no means a new revelation on my end. I mean:

  • Meryl Streep is kind of a good actress.
  • Richard Dawkins is kind of smart.
  • Bacon is kind of delicious.

No new news there.

I’ve always taken the stance that everyone is going to be a little different when it comes to squatting. I never quite understand the steadfastness of some coaches who are adamant that everyone needs to squat “x” way, and if they don’t they might as well jump into a live volcano, cause they’re stupid and suck.

It’s a very standoffish, ornery – borderline childish – approach to take.

I mean, sure, we could make an argument for this way or that approach with regards to lifting as much weight as humanly possible but:

1. Not every cares about max strength.

2. Even with strong dudes (and women), if you watched 20 different videos of them squatting, you’d see 20 different approaches.

And that more or less feeds into the dilemma at hand.

Someone watches a video of Dan Green squatting:

 

Then tries to emulate his squat stance, his bar position, his hand width, his whatever (training program, volume, etc) and is left wondering why they end up hurt all the time or never make any progress.

[NOTE: I recall Chad Wesley Smith saying something to the effect of “you shouldn’t emulate what elite level lifters are doing NOW in their training. You should do what they did 10, 15, or 20 years ago to get to that level.”]

Some people will squat better with a narrow(er) stance (maybe even an asymmetrical stance), some with a high(er) bar position, and some with their feet pointing out more.

More to the point, as Dean Somerset notes in THIS excellent article, no two hips are the same and variances in things like anteversion, retroversion, degree of APT, and angle of inclination will dictate what type of squat (and depth) will be the best fit.

To put my word vomit into a short sentence: We need to respect everyone’s individual anatomy and anthropometry.

It’s hard to pound a square peg into a round hole. I feel that’s what many trainees end up doing when they fall into the trap of holding themselves accountable to copying a specific individual or book/article 100% of the time.

Speaking for myself I prefer a narrow stance when I squat with a high(er) bar position. It just feels better to me. I finally accepted this a few months ago and have seen much better progress overall.

Which serves as a nice segue to…..

2) “Feel” of a Set Matters

Too, since we’re on the topic of falling into traps, I feel many trainees think the only way to gauge progress is to lift more weight.

It’s actually an excellent way to gauge progress. I should shut up here and move on.

But it’s not the only way.

“Feel” of a set matters too. And this is something I’ve latched onto more and more with my own squatting.

3) Upper Back Tightness Is Crucial

This is a concept lost on some trainees. Nothing saddens me more than poor attention to detail during the set-up.

Well, that and a well done steak.

You want to see something that will have an instantaneous effect on someone’s squat? Have him or her actually take the time work on their upper back tightness.

Hand position will vary person to person, and mostly be a slave to one’s shoulder mobility. That being said, a closer grip will generally lead to better upper back stiffness compared to a wider grip.

Moreover it’s important to note that the elbows should not only point towards the floor but be INSIDE the hands. If the elbows are outside the hands and then you crank them forward it will lead to some, well, cranky elbows.

Additionally, two cues I like to use to get people to turn on their lats to improve upper back tightness other than saying “turn on your lats:”

“Place your shoulder blades in your back pocket.”

And

“Try to get your triceps to touch your lats.”

 

Progress over perfection can mean different things to different people. With squats it can mean something as simple as not holding yourself to some unrealistic expectation (that you HAVE to do it one way) or staying more cognizant of “feel” of a set.

But the mantra as whole can be applied to anything: whether you’re following a nutritional plan to lose fat, learning how to salsa dance, or playing a piano. It works. Life’s easier that way.

Categoriescoaching

New and Improved Group Training Membership

I’m excited to announce the re-branding of my previously referred to Premium Workout Group.

It’s a group I’ve been running on Exercise.com for a little more than a year now. It allows people who otherwise wouldn’t have “access” to me to be able to follow monthly, canned programming in a structured, periodized, and properly progressed fashion.

I wouldn’t say it trumps in-person coaching…but it’s a nice alternative. And the participants seem to enjoy it.5

From Ali, 61, Personal Trainer:

“Tony’s workouts via Exercise.com are well thought out and easy to follow with video instruction. Every month there is a new program so I am never bored. Not only have I gotten stronger with Tony’s programs, I have eliminated a couple of nagging aches and pains.”

From some dude named Han Solo:

“I’m not as young as I used to be. And if I’m going to be galavanting all across the galaxy in 12 parsecs or less, I have to be in tip-top shape. Tony’s Group Training Membership is exactly what I needed, and has allowed me to not only help defeat the Empire, but arm wrestle Wookies to boot. Tony’s the man!”

In the spirit of full-transparency I haven’t utilized the group to it’s fullest potential, maybe even taking a complacent attitude here and there. I suck sometimes.

I had a nice pow-wow with the guys over at Exercise.com last week to help “right the ship,” and they were able to walk me through some cosmetic changes I could easily perform to make the group (and experience) more aesthetically pleasing and easy to follow.

Introducing Group Training Membership

What’s in it for you?

Well, it’s cost effective. Again, I’ll always recommend in-person coaching whenever you can receive it. But lets be honest: many personal trainers don’t know their ass from their acetabulum. People will spend upwards of $60-$120 per hour to be shown how to put a pin into a machine and rarely ever get significant instruction on how to perform exercises correctly. Let alone receive a structured program.

With my Group Training Membership you’ll pay $49 per month….for full programming, detailed coaching cues, and unique video content.

Group:

  • Discussion: Interact with fellow members on the group discussion board.
  • Messaging: Click “Ask” on the web or “Ask a Trainer” on the mobile apps to private message me.
  • Leaderboard: See how you compare to the fellow members in your group.
  • Videos: View exclusive videos that give tips and insights.

App:

  • Schedule: Schedule your workouts to automatically have your scheduled workouts come up in your web or mobile workout log.
  • Logger: Easily log your scheduled workout on the web or mobile workout logs.

  • Workout Plans: Follow detailed workout plans on the web, mobile apps, or printable PDFs.
  • Exercise Demos & Info: View exercise demo videos and get performance notes for all of your scheduled workouts on the web and mobile apps.
  • Profile: View logged activity, records, & progress photos on your own profile.
  • Performance: View graphs analyzing your performance of exercises you have completed
  • Tracking: View your web dashboard to view your progress from logged workouts.

What Else You Get

  • Less Stress: Lets be honest: You’re busy, stressed, and straight up going to stab someone with a pen at work. The last thing you need to think about is what you’re doing at the gym. Let me do the thinking for you.
  • Empowerment: You’ll learn! Not only how I write programs, but you’ll have access to “inner circle” like content that will only be available through this group (video tutorials, exercise technique, shadow puppet presentations).6
  • A Hug: If or when you and I ever meet face-to-face. I promise I won’t make it weird.

For more information and to register you can go HERE.

Categoriescoaching Nutrition

Why Eating With Your Non-Dominant Hand Can Help With Weight Loss

Everyone has ran into a situation where they have had great intentions to eat healthy but somehow find themselves mindlessly reaching for a bag of chips or ice cream rather than the fruit or vegetables they had planned on eating.

By the time they realize what they are doing half the bag or carton is already gone!

Most people tend to underestimate how many food-related decisions they make every day.

That is to say: most of the food decisions we make happen automatically or without conscious intention (4). Behavior that occurs without conscious intention is descriptive of habit. The two important components of habit are repetition; the behaviors occur often, and context; the behavior occurs in the same environment.

Many people battle between their bad habits and their good intentions.

If the context or environment in which behaviors occur is not changed it is likely that bad habits will win out over good intentions more times than you would like.

Note From TG: Reminds me of the concept of the Elephant, Driver, and the Path7alluded to in Dan and Chip Heath’s awesome book, Switch: How to Change, When Change Is Hard.

There are many environmental contributions to behavior. However, for the purposes of this article the environment will constitute the where and how behaviors occur.

In a research study Neal and colleagues found that interrupting habits is as easy as switching the hand you eat with.

They found that individuals who scored high for habitually eating popcorn during a movie ate relatively the same regardless of if the popcorn was fresh or seven days old!

That is, they ate without thinking.

However, when high habit popcorn eaters were asked to eat with their non-dominant hand they ate considerably less when the popcorn was stale.

Participants ate slightly more than 40% of their bucket when they ate stale popcorn with their dominant hand whereas they ate slightly more than 20% of their stale popcorn when they switched to their dominant hand (1).

This small environmental disruption apparently brought behavior under intentional control and allowed high habit participants to follow their goals (to not eat a lot of popcorn that tasted like Styrofoam!).

Disrupting automatic eating may be as easy as moving unhealthy food out of sight8 (2) or changing the sequence of events that leads to automatic eating.

For example, picture that every day you come home from work and enter your home through the kitchen door.

Note From TG: Or, if you’re me, parachuting from an Apache helicopter onto the roof of the apartment complex. Same difference.

From there you open the fridge and stare at the leftover pizza slices from last night. A few minutes later you’re still standing in front of the fridge and are working on your third piece!

In this case the series of events as well as the location of the food could have been changed to help disrupt mindless eating9 (3). This individual could have done the following:

  1. Walk through the front door rather than the kitchen door to avoid temptation.

  2. Put the pizza in a less noticeable place such as the bottom shelf. Place healthy food at eye level so it is a more noticeable snack than the pizza.

  3. Rather than eat food in front of the fridge put one piece on a plate and bring it to the dinner table.

It is easy to imagine how these concepts could apply to different scenarios.

For example, you may drive home from work past a series of fast food restaurants. It has been a long day and you’re hungry now. Rather than mustering up the willpower to say no to four different restaurants find an alternative route home.

If you find yourself engaging in an unhealthy behavior think about the series of events that led up to the behavior.

Note: HERE’s some further reading on how to go about changing behaviors.

From there think of ways to interrupt this sequence of events or make the behavior more difficult to do. The environment is an important and overlooked contributor to habit. By modifying it you may be able to bring your actions under voluntary control and perform the healthy behaviors you would like to do!

Author’s Note

This article covered one important part of how personal trainers can help clients make healthier decisions. I believe that this information is just one important aspect of how trainers can provide better services for their clients.

Because of this passion I have put together a full day conference where great coaches and researchers will share their knowledge to help trainers provide a better service.

These speakers include Tony Gentilcore, Mark Fisher, Dr. Cassandra Forsythe, Dr. Spencer Nadolsky, and John Brand. The conference is Saturday April 2nd at SUNY Cortland. For more information you can go HERE.

CEUs will be available and the cost is only $20 for students and $60 for professionals.

Also, I totally don’t have bigger biceps than Tony.

References

  • Neal DT, Wood W, Labrecque JS, and Lally, P. How do habits guide behavior? Perceived and actual triggers of habits in daily life. J Exp Soc Psychol 48:492–98, 2011.
  • Wansink B, Painter JE, and Lee YK. (2006) The office candy dish: Proximity’s influence on estimated and actual consumption. Int J Obesity 30: 871-875.
  • Wansink, Brian.Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think. Bantam Books, 2006.
  • Wansink B. and Sobal J. Mindless eating: The 200 daily food decisions we overlook. Environ Behav 39(1): 106-123, 2007.

 

 

Categoriescoaching Conditioning speed training

Using External Cueing To Improve Linear Acceleration

“I’m not fast, but I like to pretend I am on the internet.”

  • Me

Okay, I’m kinda fast.10

Well, I mean, as far as 39 year olds who are roughly 15 years removed from playing any competitive sports are concerned, I’m lightening quick.

Besides, baldness increases aerodynamics right?

Truth be told: as a strength and conditioning coach it’s not required I win the 100m in the Olympics in order to speak to the topic at hand. Granted I should be able to demonstrate a sprint or sprint mechanics without resembling a one-legged pirate or worse…blowing out a hamstring.

But I don’t need to be a world-class sprinter myself in order to coach or teach others to be able do it. Which is why I’ve been making my way through Lee Taft’s Certified Speed and Agility Coach curriculum to better augment my coaching abilities.

At the end of the day it’s about having the ability to break down movement into more manageable parts and more importantly, having the ability to get your athletes into better positions (in order to express speed or strength or whatever).

CSP Coach, George Kalantzis, demonstrating how to use sled work to improve torso angle for linear acceleration.

And when it comes to getting people into better positions – especially as it relates to linear acceleration – as Lee notes, we don’t need to get too fancy with our toolbox.

Which Begs the Question: What Is Linear Acceleration?

Good question.

I’ll tell you what it’s not….sprinting/top speed.

Sprint/Top Speed = more perpendicular posture.

Acceleration = more forward pitch or torso inclination.

When we’re coaching (linear) acceleration it’s important to respect that the idea here is to produce a lot of force quickly. However, that force is still going to be longer in terms of foot contact time compared to top speed.

Linear acceleration requires getting things started and getting the center of mass moving. It’s different than top speed.

  • We must produce a lot of force down and away
  • We also need an extremely long arm action, which then coordinates with the same side leg and high knee drive. All of this accomplishes a ROM of the leg which then allows the athlete to produce as much force as needed to finish the push off to get into the next stride.

It sounds like a lot – and complicated – but I assure you it’s not. This isn’t to imply, of course, that some attention to detail isn’t warranted. If it were easy everyone would be a challenging Usain Bolt to a game of Duck-Duck-Goose.

But there are some easy and ingenious strategies in the form of EXTERNAL CUEING that’ll help accomplish all of the above.

Linear Acceleration Troubleshooting

To reiterate: linear acceleration is not the same as top speed. First and foremost, with acceleration we’re working on starting speed which implies different joint angles and positions.

1) I already mentioned above that top speed requires more of a perpendicular posture and acceleration implies more forward pitch of the torso.

As such, a major mistake many athletes make out of the gate is, well, a poor starting position. Like this:

Here I’m starting way too upright and my hips (and shoulders) are too far back. Not a conducive position to produce horizontal force.

Ideally we’d want to start in a more staggered stance with the hips in front of push off (this will make it easier to gain momentum and get mass moving), which implies a more angled torso. Too, we want the shoulders to be in front of the hips

2) More Aggressive Arm Action

In acceleration the back side needs to be long, front side short. The back side is what matters in acceleration. The front side becomes more important during top speed.

Lee Taft hammers this point home time and time again throughout his CSAC course.

To that end, a common mistake made is that people aren’t aggressive enough with their arm action.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HpzkwBgZoVc

 

You’ll notice my back arm “stays short” and as a result both my arms and legs are choppy.

A beautiful external cue to use here is to tell the athlete to be more aggressive with “THROWING THE HANDS BACK.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6v193yEgzjs

 

Looks sexier, right?

And, subsequently, the more aggressive arm action “nudges” a more aggressive forward action of the knee….with minimal additional cueing.

But what if all of that still doesn’t get the desired effect?

The Magical World of External Cueing

A brilliant corrective strategy11 I “stole” from Lee Taft is to give the athlete a target to shoot for. This is external cueing at its finest.

External cueing takes into consideration what the body is doing in space and implies direction, intent, and action.

The corrective in this case would be to place a med ball – or anything: cone, hurdle, Ewok action figure – a few feet away from the athlete’s starting position. The athlete must then explode, “CHASE HIS SHOULDERS,” and get past the object within one step.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51B3WnDCq6w

 

As you can see, this immediately incorporates a better arm action. Better arm action mirrors a greater leg action, which then produces more horizontal displacement.

Giving the athlete a target or something to shoot/aim for (EXTERNAL CUEING) will “correct” acceleration mechanics without too much fluff.

The addition of the target cues the athlete to push harder into the ground and then physics takes over.

Action = Reaction

Learn This Stuff (and More)

You can learn all about these drills and cues (and much, much more) by signing up for Lee Taft’s Certified Speed and Agility Coach.

The curriculum is only available until this Friday, January 29th and then it goes bye-bye.

Now, I’m not saying it’s going to be tossed into a Disney Vault never to see the light of day again…..but for all intents and purposes, you WILL NOT be able to purchase this course after the 29th.

I’ve been making my way through the course and to say I am highly impressed would be an understatement.

It’s currently be offered at a generous discount and there are payment plans available.

CategoriesAssessment coaching

Become a Certified Speed and Agility Coach: Like, a Real One, And Not Just Someone Who Sets Up a Speed Ladder

Yesterday renowned speed and agility coach, Lee Taft, released his new course Certified Speed and Agility Coach (CSAC).

As the name implies, it’s a certification.

Eric Cressey wrote a well-written article yesterday on his blog elucidating the meaning of that word…certification.

Are certifications worth investing in? Which ones are the best? Which ones are the best around?

 

In strength and conditioning circles there are any number to choose from. And, much like Eric, the ones I gravitate towards and find have the most value are the ones that 1) fulfill a void or knowledge gap on my end and/or 2) stems from a source I respect.

Truthfully, unlike some fitness professionals, outside of those certifications that “govern” the industry from a professional market perspective (NSCA, ACE, NASM, ISSA, etc), I don’t latch onto any one certification so I can add letters next to my name and treat my LinkedIn account like a Pimp My Ride episode.

Lee’s Certified Speed and Agility Coach certification is the real deal.

1) You’re learning from a guy with over 25 years of coaching experience. That in of itself makes the cost (nay, investment) a no brainer.

2) You’re not just given a laundry list of drills and coaching cues, and BAM…you’re certified. You learn the WHYs behind the drills:

  • Why Lee uses specific progressions and the order in which he uses them.
  • Why he chooses certain correctives to place people into appropriate positions.
  • Why and how he periodizes things.

3) I’m personally making my way through the curriculum right now and can’t speak highly enough to the content and production quality. Going back to point #1, Lee’s an amazingly detailed and easy to follow-along coach.

4) It was filmed at Cressey Sports Performance using CSP coach, Miguel Aragoncillo, as the model.12I mean, do you honestly think CSP would allow itself to be affiliated with a less than stellar product?

Pfffft, no way!

Registration is live now at an introductory $100 off discount. If you’re like and find this sort of a material a “weak link” in your coaching arsenal or if you’re just looking for some amazing content to better yourself, look no further.

You can check it out HERE.

Categoriescoaching Motivational personal training

Doing Your Time: The Value of a Good Strength and Conditioning Internship

I never quite understand the infatuation some fitness professionals have with telling the world how much they’re “grinding” or hustling.” As if to imply their work ethic deserves more praise than the thousands of other coaches and trainers getting up early to, you know, go to work.

What’s more, those who continuously gloat about their grinding prowess and how “busy” they are sure do have a lot of extra time to post 37 different reminders on social media about it.

Of course, this isn’t to insinuate that people don’t actually work their butts off and have a right to brag about it. Someone like Eric Cressey or Joe Dowdell or David Dellanave or Molly Galbraith or Mike Reinold or Mike Robertson or Cassandra Forsythe or any number of fitness pros I know13 who have built a successful fitness business (and have unmatched work ethic) can do whatever the heck they want!

Here’s the kicker, though: they’re not the ones on Twitter and Instagram belaboring over the grind.

In my experience, those who do go out of their way to routinely market to the world about their hustling ways, are generally working exponentially harder to maintain the facade.

A facade that does nothing but mask what’s really going on.

He or she gets up like everyone else, trains people 4-5x per week like everyone else, and takes weekends off like everyone else.

In short: nothing special.

Nevertheless, all of this is to say that hard work – REAL hard work – does enter the conversation and matters. The fitness industry is one super saturated mess and everyone is vying for a piece of the pie.

Everyone is trying to separate themselves from the masses by worrying, first, how to market themselves or “build a brand” before gaining any experience and skills that will actually make themselves marketable.

Most often without understanding that – and please forgive the cliche – there’s a degree of “paying your dues and putting in the time” that’s involved.

“Putting in the time” is not referring to setting up twelve different social media platforms and posting videos of yourself talking to the camera about “time saving hacks” or what you had for breakfast while you’re driving down the highway.

Come on! You’re not that busy that you can’t sit down and talk without risking the lives of other drivers.

Don’t get me wrong: I understand that in today’s world part of running a successful business is staying on task with technology and understanding how to utilize it to build a brand. I’m not a hypocrite.

However, I’m referring to real work.

Real interactions with real people during real training sessions.

Basically, building real skills.

It’s a lesson many up and coming fitness pros need to understand.

It’s not sexy, but it’s what works and helps builds integrity, resiliency, and character. Annnnnd, I’m getting a bit too ranty and taking away the spotlight from today’s guest post.

Recent Cressey Sports Performance coach (and intern), Ricky Kompf, had a similar message to say on the matter. I encourage all young fitness professionals to give it a read below.

Doing Your Time: The Value of a Good Internship

Have you ever heard of the phrase….

“If you’re good at something never do it for free”?

When it comes to being good at your future career (especially in the fitness industry) the phrase should really go…

“If you’re good at something never do it for free and the road to being good at something is paved with a whole lot of free labor.”

Not as catchy but a lot more accurate.

When you begin your career in the fitness industry it’s hard to get a whole lot of hours of experience right away. Most of the time you’ll be in a situation where you are in a commercial gym and you’ll have to build up your clientele in order to get more experience.

Depending on where you are it can take a while to build up the hours you need in order to be a good coach.

With internships you have those hours right away and you’ll be able to hone your craft, become a great coach and build up confidence within yourself…all while under the mentorship of more experienced individuals.

I am a better coach now than I was seven months ago, and I owe that to my internship experience.

The value of a good internship will help you make leaps and bounds in your career as an up and coming fitness professional. Internships give you the opportunity to gain experience, be mentored by some of the top professionals in your field, work with the population you want to work with and expand your network.

I’ve been a personal trainer for two and a half years and have been lucky enough to have some influential people guide me along the way. This led me to take part in two internships that have been the greatest learning experience in my young career.

My first internship was at a successful training facility in Rockland New York called Rockland Peak Performance (RPP).

For three months I worked close to 40 hours a week with a wide variety of clientele that I had previously never been exposed to. This included youth, collegiate, and professional athletes all the way to general population clients of all ages and backgrounds.

As soon as I finished at RPP, I went directly to Massachusetts to start my second internship at Cressey Sports Performance.

For the next four months I honed my craft 32 hours a week coaching on the floor of CSP and worked alongside arguably some of the best strength and conditioning coaches in the country.

Tallying up close to 1,000 hours of experience right off the bat after graduating.

Not too shabby I’d say!

Never under estimate the value a good mentor.

The people you surround yourself with will have huge impact on who you are and who you will become as a person and a professional. When you place yourself in a situation where you are surrounded by people who are successful and good at what they do you have a better understanding as to how you can get there too.

Working with others who have a strong desire to learn and become better is a major benefit to a good internship.

A good coach’s commitment to become better may have a positive impact on you. You may find yourself picking up on the behaviors and habits they have that make them successful. I’ve always seen myself as a hard worker, but throughout my internship experience the phrase work ethic has taken on a new meaning to me. The habits I’ve developed over the past seven months have made me better and more efficient at coaching and communicating with others.

One of the least talked about advantages of pursuing an internship of your liking, is that you can choose the population you want to work with.

In the beginning of your career you have to build up your clientele…meaning you can’t choose who you want to work with; not when bills need to be paid.

By going through an internship you have the opportunity to work with the population you might want to specialize in.

Note From TG: Conversely, it opens up the possibility you may dislike it and realize what you thought you liked, you don’t. In their book, Decisive, Chip and Dan Heath calls this an “ooch,” or, a way to test one’s hypothesis or experience a small sample size.

You may in turn use that as a way to market yourself in the future.

Baseball players come to Cressey Performance because CSP is known for being the go to place to train if you are a baseball player. When you have experience with a certain population that population is more likely to pay for your services.

Finally an internship is a great networking opportunity.

Building a good network in the fitness industry gets you jobs and more clients. Knowing people who know people opens the door to where you want to be.

For example, as a previous Cressey Performance intern, you are a part of a CSP alumni intern page where job opportunities are posted regularly. This is because people in the fitness field know how good of an internship process CSP has and come to Pete and Eric asking if they know anyone good to fill a position at their facility (chances are, they do).

If you have an internship opportunity and are hesitant because it is unpaid, I highly encourage you to consider the opportunities that will open up from the experience.

If you are required to go through an internship as part of your undergraduate degree I encourage you to look at it as an investment in yourself.

Go for the internship that you will be challenged the most from.

This will give you the foundation that you need in order to become successful in this field.

About the Author

Rick Kompf is a SUNY Cortland Graduate with a degree in Kinesiology and a concentration in fitness Development. After completing his degree he went on to perform seven months of unpaid internships and is currently a Personal Trainer for Trillium Personal fitness in Syracuse New York.

Also the Founder of GainzTheoryFitness.com.

Categoriescoaching Exercise Technique

Layering the Kettlebell Swing

The kettlebell swing offers many benefits and can be utilized in many ways.

It’s a fantastic modality to train explosiveness and power (especially as a more “user friendly” alternative to Olympic lifting), it’s a back saver in that 1) when it’s performed correctly it helps to dissociate hip movement from lumbar movement (it’s all about the hinge baby) and 2) even Dr. Stuart McGill agrees that the KB swing is the bombdiggidy14, it serves as an excellent conditioning tool, and it’s one of those things that doesn’t take up too much gym space or equipment.

All you need is a body and a kettlebell.15

The thing is, the kettlebell swing isn’t as intuitive as it looks.

Frankly, more often than not, whenever I watch someone try it (or even coach it), it ends up looking like whateverthefuck dance Drake’s doing in his Hotline Bling video.

 

There’s a lot going on with a (good) swing, and it’s understandable why many mess it up on their first go. And second, and 7, 912th.

A lot of “things” need to happen and be in working order from a patterning standpoint to perform one competently. And it’s compounded further when we start to factor in load, not to mention the ballistic nature of the movement itself.

Whenever I begin to coach someone up who’s new to the movement (or even if I’m working with someone with a little more experience and have to iron out some technique kinks), I prefer to break things down into more manageable, bite-size chunks and attempt to “layer” the swing.

Layering the KB Swing

Technically, the first “layer” is slowing things down and allowing people to appreciate what the finished – standing tall – position should feel like.

Here is where abs should be engaged, knees are locked out (quads/knee caps flexed), spine is an anatomical neutral position, and one should be firing their glutes so hard that their butt cheeks could crush a Volvo.

I’m not kidding.

Here, too, is where I try to get someone to understand what it means to HINGE and not SQUAT the swing.

The KB should never dip below knee level – again, it’s a hip hinge not a squat – and there are a litany of cues I default towards to get this message across:

  • One I like a lot is one I stole from Dan John: “attack your zipper.”
  • Another one I like is to tell people to “play chicken with your (you know what).”

 

Essentially I need to get people to appreciate that they’re going to stay upright for as long as possible – till the very last split second – before they “break” and get out of the way.

From there I find time best spent working on the set-up.

A big mistake people make is to pick up the KB and then try to start the swing from a standing position. It’s awkward and vaguely resembles dry humping a tree. See? Awkward.

Teaching the HIKE POSITION is crucial, as it gets people in a more efficient starting position and helps to set the tone for the subsequent hip snap.

 

This in fact may be someone’s wheelhouse for a week, maybe longer. I’ll generally keep things in the 8-10 rep range and perform multiple sets as either part of an extended warm-up or as a stand alone exercise.

The key, though, is to ensure an aggressive hike and that the hips don’t pop up too far.

Once we have that nailed down, it’s time for the next layer….

The Hike +1

Here is where we take the hike and start to incorporate an actual hip snap (swing)…albeit only ONE repetition.

The goal is to ensure quality reps.

 

I also want to ensure people learn to use their HIPS (and not “muscle” things with their arms). The hips more or less serve as a launching pad to “thrust/push” the arms out front.

Note: and since we built a little context beforehand and started everyone in the end position (standing tall) they should kinda-sorta know what it feels like, or what to expect. Basically, it’s not a foreign “thing” to them like a good episode of The Kardashians or, I don’t know, a leprechaun.

I’ll keep reps a little lower here, usually around FIVE, and utilize the same approach as above with the hike.

Moving Forward

Once those two things are dialed in, we can then experiment with an actual repetitive swing. However, I find many people will benefit more by not being too aggressive from the get go and veering too far away from the Hike and Hike + 1.

Some may pick things up quickly and be able to perform a swing within 10-30 minutes – Dean Somerset and I do it all the time at our workshops: TORONTO (3/19), SEATTLE (4/9) – and for others it may take a few sessions, if not a few weeks.

The important point to consider is to break the swing down into more manageable parts for people, and to not perform or coach an American Swing.…;o)