I am happy to announce I have partnered with the popular training app TrainHeroic to offer a new program to the masses titled Beginner to Badass.
To no one’s surprise (I hope given the title), the objective of this program is to serve as an introduction to strength training for those who have limited experience doing so. I.e., this program is not intended for the likes of Eddie Hall, Olivia Reeves, or, I don’t know jacked lumberjacks.
No, the ideal candidate for this program is someone who wants to learn to lift weights safely in a realistic manner – no IG influencer vibes here – and in a way that will inspire them to become more consistent, and as a result, competent in strength training.
What this Program Features
Structure: 12 weeks of programming done 3x per week to keep you safe and to help you develop the CONSISTENCY you need to be successful. Master the basics of strength training!
HD Video Guidance: I have recorded video demoes for every exercise so that you don’t have to play guessing games. Follow the video, check your form, lift heavy things
My Pecs: (👈 did I mention videos are in HD?) Videos are filmed in HD.
Expert Instruction: Each video comes with KEY COACHING CUES that are simple and to the point. I’ve been coaching people for over 20 years so you won’t be inundated with complicated concepts that require a phD in word vomit to interpret.
The TrainHeroic Platform: You will get seamless access to the program that you can take with you anywhere on your phone. No more PDFs or notebooks. Let the app be your guide to track your progress and stats.
If you’re a beginner and feel intimidated by the weight-room, or have no clue where to start, this program is designed for you. I’ll be there (in the palm of your hand) guiding you the entire time using exercises and principles I use with my in-person clients everyday.
In the same light, if you happen to have a family member, friend, colleague, or significant other who is looking to get started with a strength training program this would be an excellent choice because, you know, I am totally not biased…😉
This program will be on sale for $29 ($10 OFF the regular price) from today until July 18th.
Anyone who grew up in the 80s and 90s is likely very familiar with the video game Super Mario Bros. I had my introduction to the game the morning of December 25, 1987 after spending half an hour going mental once I realized Santa had dropped off a Nintendo Entertainment System underneath our Christmas tree.
Back in those days each system came with a few “complimentary” games: Super Mario Bros and Duck Hunt. The latter of which was included if you also had the system that came with the Zapper Gun.
Anyways, Super Mario Bros has since had, I don’t know, 47 different iterations and has become a recognizable icon in our cultural fabric. As it happens my wife and I have a funny thing we do that’s a subtle reference to the game whenever we’re around each other and need a little “pick-me-up.” As an example she may hit up her Nespresso machine for a quick caffeine fix and I may inject an energy drink directly into my left ventricle.
What follows is often a sarcastic “bloop, bloop, BLOOP” sound that one of the two of us will make. You know, the same sound little Mario makes when he comes in contact with a Super Mushroom and becomes Super Mario.
Really, though, anything that provides a bit of a boost or “power up” can be substituted here. A large glass of water, a power nap, a zombie Apocalypse, anything.
Even your workout.
Your workouts don’t always have to be a grind or always make you collapse in a pool of your own sweat. There’s a time and place for that of course. Like I always say, lifting weights or training isn’t supposed to tickle. However I find far too many people fall into the trap where they’re more concerned with constantly killing themselves in the gym – be it because they feel that’s the only way to make progress, or worse, to win some sort of popularity contest on social media – rather than make a concerted effort to get better, see results, and/or work towards a legitimate goal.
Training with purpose or with a goal in mind is never a bad approach. That being said, every training session doesn’t have to be life or death. I think it was Paul Carter who came up with the idea of 80% workouts.
10% of the time you will feel like garbage. These workouts are the worst. It happens. It’s likely you’ll need a change of plan.
10% of the time you will feel amazing. You walk into the gym and feel like you could beat Jason Bourne in a fist fight.
80% of the time you’re just, you know, there. Nothing spectacular.
It’s those 80% “meh” workouts that matter most. You get in, do the work, don’t miss any reps, and move on with your life. Instagram doesn’t even have to know about it. It’s unsexy and boring, but it’s that consistent attack on being consistent that we should all strive for.
I don’t want to leave you hanging. What do you do when you walk into the gym, have an epic session planned, but one of those 10% days happen where you feel like a bag of dicks? On one hand you could just reverse trek, hop back into your Camaro, go home and crush a steak. On the other, you could still workout…but in a way that will enhance recovery and help you feel like a million bucks.
The Bloop, Bloop, Bloop Workout
The following are some Super Mushroom options to help turn you turn Little Mario into Big Mario.
Option 1: Glutes/Core/Bodyweight
I see Bret Contreras use the option often and it makes a lot of sense. Your glutes and core musculature tend to be harder to fatigue and can generally handle a little more volume without it affecting your subsequent training sessions.
Plus most people could use some additional work in those areas anyways.
Here’s a favorite circuit I like to use myself (and with my clients):
A1. Band Resisted Hip Thrust x 15 or Frog Pumps x Infinity (<— 25-50+ reps)
A2. TRX Row x 10-15
A3. Bodyweight Squats x 15-20
A4. Yoga Push-Up Complex x 5/side
A5. Birrdogs w/ Band RNT – x10/side
A6. Half Kneeling Hip Hinge Matrix – x3-5/each/side
The idea is to perform in circuit fashion with 60s rest at the end. I like to shoot for a total of five rounds. Total work time = roughly 10-15 minutes.
Option 2: I’m an Athlete Tony, Treat Me Like One Dammit!
Alternatively we can implement what’s referred to as a Neural Charge Workout.
What’s a neural charge you ask? It’s simply a way to train the CNS in an efficient and non-ball busting way (<=== how’s that for science?).
Implementing more of this type of training is a great way to not only help with recovery, but also to improve inter and intramuscular coordination, increase recruitment of high-threshold motor units, increase rate coding, and lets be honest: it’s just plain fun.
As well, I’d even argue it’s a great way to decrease joint stress (as your utilizing (mostly) concentric based movements), not to mention there’s an obvious metabolic component as well. And it gets people more athletic.
Nevertheless the basic premise is this: Pick 5-6 exercises or drills and perform them as explosively as possible in circuit fashion. I should also note that it’s important to allow full recovery between each exercise. So when I say circuit fashion it’s not like you’re going to rush through it. And you’re not going to perform many total reps. I’d say 3-5 max.
A1. Band Resisted Broad Jumps – x3-5
A2. Med Ball Floor Stomps – x3-5
A3. Sprinter Step-Up – x3-5/leg
A4. Explosive Push-Up to Box – x3-5
Height of the boxes (or steppers) will vary here depending on ability.
A5. HAS (Heavy As Shit) KB Swing – x3-5 (you know, heavy)
This is where I may swing the beast around like a boss.
What’s listed above are just options. You can substitute anything you’d like in their place: box jumps, Heidens, 10 yd starts, pressing variations vs. chains, or whatever.
The important thing to consider is alternating between upper and lower body exercises, and if you’re going to include things like med ball work, core specific work, OLY lift variations, sled work, and the like, you need to put some thought into the order.
From there, as noted above, you’re gong to cycle through the exercises (making sure to recover between each) for a specific number of rounds or for a specific amount of time. Six rounds takes me around 12-15 minutes which is just about right in my book.
Remember: the idea here isn’t to hate life and train until you shit a liver. If anything after this type of session you should feel refreshed and ready to take on the world. This is what I mean by Bloop, Bloop, Bloop. You should feel energized and good after this session.
There’s a bit of autonomy and personal preference with regards to exercise selection, but I’d caution against going overboard. Stick to “easy” stuff for no more than 3-5 repetitions. Try to shoot for no more than 15 minutes of work and GO HOME.
Congratulations on (pick whichever pertains to you):
(A) Recently graduating college with a Health Science, Health & Wellness, Exercise Physiology, Kinesiology, or History in Shakespearian Literature degree.3
(B) Switching careers from accountant, computer programmer, or, I don’t know, professional mustache grower…to strength coach.4
(C) Passing your weekend personal trainers course.
Welcome to the industry. Happy to have ya.
Guess what: You’re not that special.
It’s time to get to work.
Chances Are…
You decided to enter the industry under the guise you’d get to wear sweatpants everyday (a definite perk) and make a boatload of money.
You’d put in your dues for a few months at a local commercial gym, build a client roster, charge anywhere from $60-$150/hour, and then graduate to doing stuff solely online and, fingers crossed, eventually reach the holy grail and become a social media influencer.
Some dork is all of a sudden an “influencer” because he has abs and posts shirtless pics of himself standing next to a Black Hawk helicopter?
How’d all that work out a few weeks ago when Facebook and Instagram went down for several hours and everyone’s influencing world came to a screeching halt?
Okay, I don’t mean to come across as a jaded, cantankerous curmudgeon. It’d be a bit hypocritical of me to poo-poo on the power of social media altogether.
I do owe much of my career to my website/blog/biceps.
That said, I’d be remiss not to offer a little dose of tough love and urge upcoming fitness professionals to heed the following piece of advice.
Social media is fleeting.
Think about: there’s nothing, nothing, preventing Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, hell, even MySpace (that still exists, right?) from pulling the plug tomorrow and reneging their platforms. I mean, granted, the likelihood of them abandoning billions of dollars in potential revenue is about as likely as me winning Kumite.
But still, it could happen.
And then what? The only thing you’re left influencing is a big fat NADA.
To be clear: I am not insinuating you should ignore the power of social media or not to use it to help grow your brand and/or business.
I am, however, in a not so subtle way, underlining the dangers of putting ALL YOUR EGGS into the social media basket.
What Will Separate You As a Fitness Professional From the Masses is to Not Be Like the Masses
I’m often asked by upcoming fitness professionals what they need to do to get to where I am in my career? What business books should they read? Marketing? Writing? No, wait, maybe they should invest in taking a course to optimize their SEO?
But I’d be lying if I said my mouth doesn’t usually end up agape, flabbergasted at the question.
I’ve been a coach for 17 years and feel I’ve only just now started to figure shit out. It’s so frustrating because we live in a society that feasts on entitlement; that if you just read “x” book or take “y” weekend course, the world owes you a six figure salary and a roster of professional athletes.
One piece of advice I always give, and it’s an unpopular one is this…
“Spend – at MINIMUM – a year working in a commercial gym.”
I did this for the first FIVE years of my career and wouldn’t change a thing. Eric Cressey did the same thing. Mike Robertson too. Cassandra Forsythe, Dean Somerset, Jon Goodman, heck, I even think Mike Boyle has reminisced over long, arduous years as a commercial gym trainer as the cornerstone of his prominent career as a trainer and coach.
Many of the top names in the industry share the same common denominator: (former) commercial gym trainer.
For me it was the only way to marinate myself in misery.
It was hard getting up at 3:45 in the morning twice a week to open the gym at 5 am.
It was hard working at such a low salary and to try to make ends meet.
It was hard working long hours, holidays, and weekends.
It was hard to learn how to “temper” my coaching style to meet the needs of my various clients.
It was hard dealing with different personalities and learning how to motivate people.
It was hard. All of it.
Misery is a strong word to use in this scenario (really, I was just aiming for a good alliteration). However, it seems appropriate.
Those initial years helped make me resilient and prove to myself that I could “make it.”
Coaching people, in person, provided me with so many (life) skills that helped shape my career. Possessing the ability to break down someone’s squat and honing my scapular upward rotation assessment skills have proved invaluable.
But equally as invaluable has been the ability to hold a conversation and partake in small talk.
“Oh my god, YOU like Balrogs too? Did we just become BFFs?.”
Shit, get back in task Tony.
Focus, focus.
What the hell am I trying to say?
Get off Instagram?
No.
I am not here to rag on your desire to grow a brand on social media or to build an online business. Go for it. But both have a higher degree of actually happening if you concentrate on doing one thing; the thing many upcoming fitness pros fail to understand and respect.
Back pain can be tricky. First off, anyone who’s ever dealt with it (pretty much everyone) knows it’s no fun. Second, there’s no overwhelming agreement as to what actually causes it. One person says weak glutes, another says tight hip flexors or hamstrings, and yet another may point to a bad hair day (NOTE: read this footnote, it’s a doozy —>).5
Third, if the stock photo I chose is any indication, back pain can also put a real damper on what can only be described as an Old Spice or Abercrombie & Fitch ad shoot.
In my career as a personal trainer and strength coach I’ve worked with hundreds of athletes and clients battling low back pain. It comes with a territory as a fitness professional. I’ve tried my best to arm myself with the best skill-sets possible (within my scope of practice) to help my clients work through their low back shenanigans. I can assess – not diagnose – and try to come up with the best game plan possible to address things.
And, to be honest, addressing one’s lower back issues can be mind-numbingly simple.
In short:
“Find what movements hurt or exacerbate symptoms, don’t do those movements, and then find movements that allow for a degree of success or pain free training.”
I’d be remiss not to mention Dr. Stuart McGill’s work here. Not only is he one of the world’s Godfathers of spine research, but he’s also one of the world’s best mustache havers.
He’s co-authored hundreds of studies and written several books on the topic of low-back pain – with Ultimate Back Fitness & Performance (now in it’s 6th Edition) and Low Back Disorders being his flagship pieces of work.
Speaking of Ultimate Back Fitness & Performance, look who makes a cameo appearance on pg. 289 in the latest edition.
HINT: It’s a bald strength coach whose name rhymes with Macaroni Flentilzore
For the Record: TG Life Bucket List
Get to a point in my career where Dr. Stuart McGill not only knows who I am, but emails me out of the blue and asks permission to use a picture of me in his latest book update.
Appear in a Star Wars movie.
Become BFFs with Matt Damon
My bedtime becomes 8 pm.
I’d have to say, however, that his most “user friendly” book is Back Mechanic. In it, he breaks down his entire method for “fixing” low back pain covering everything from spinal hygiene, assessment, corrective exercise, and strength training.
I’m not going to belabor anything, you can purchase the book and peel back the onion on his protocols (seriously, the assessment portion is gold).
I’ve noticed a trend in recent years, though. Dr. McGill has done so much for the industry and his work is so ingrained in our thoughts as fitness professionals that I feel the whole idea of “avoiding spinal flexion (sometimes at all costs)” has bitten us in the ass.
Yes, avoiding spinal flexion is a thing, especially if someone is symptomatic and flexion intolerant.6. It’s that point, though, “avoiding spinal flexion” that has gotten the best of us for the past decade or so.
We’ve done such an immaculate job at coaching people to know what “spinal neutral is” via prone planks, side planks, and birddogs, and then used strength training to engrain that motor pattern, that (some, not all) people transitioned into more extension-based back pain because they lost their ability to move their spine into (pain free) flexion.
Dr. Ryan DeBell discussed this phenomenon recently where he discussed his own back pain history. He started as flexion intolerant, trained himself into “spinal neutral,” (which is what you should do), started to avoid all flexion like an episode of Emily in Paris, and after awhile, extension-based movements & positions started to hurt…because he was locked into extension.
As a corollary, I see this quite often myself: someone comes in to see me and both flexion and extension based movements hurt. It’s so frustrating for the person and I can understand why.
My job, then, as the coach is to garner confidence and self-efficacy with my client/athlete and work with him/her on what I know tends to work….find movements that do not hurt and work from there.
Dr. McGill has his own version of the “Big 3,” or his go to exercises when first starting with a low-back person:
The Curl-Up (I.e., not a sit-up)
Side Bridge or Plank
Birddog
Even when we master those movements, which are often very challenging for people when performed right, I’ll stick with them for a couple of weeks and just up the ante with appropriate progressions.
Lets take the birddog for example.
Birddog w/ RNT
The band adds an additional kinesthetic component where increased stiffness or engagement occurs in the anterior core and glutes. Truthfully, it’s not uncommon for me to START with this variation so the person can feel what their limbs are doing in space.
Birddog – Off Bench
Doing the birddog off the bench takes away a component of stability (feet off the floor) and forces people to slow the eff down and learn to control the movement. If they don’t, they fall of the bench. And I laugh.
Your Spine, Move It!
Going back to the assessment for a quick second, it’s not uncommon for me to assess someone and to find that their spine doesn’t move. Whether it’s because of a faulty pattern or they were coached to avoid flexion at all costs (even when asymptomatic) it’s as if their spine is Han Solo frozen in carbonite.
One screen I like to use is a the toe touch drill. When someone bends over to touch their toes there should be a consistent curvature/roundness of the spine. Often, what I’ll see is more of a “V” pattern where they’ll bend over, but instead of seeing a nice curve I’ll see their lower back stay flat throughout the movement; as in zero movement.
This can be just as detrimental as anything else. It may or may not be a root cause of their low-back pain, but I know it’s a red flag I’d like to address.
Segmental Cat-Cow
Below is a drill I’ve been using more and more with my low-back clients. We’re all familiar with the Cat-Cow exercise, where you round and arch your spine moving through a full-ROM.
Cool, great. The human body is great a compensating, and unless you have a keen eye for detail it’s easy to assume that if someone can round and arch their back they’re good to go. But
But are they? Often, if you SLOW PEOPLE DOWN it’ll become abundantly clear that they may move well in certain areas of their spine (thoracic), but not in others (often lumbar).
Coaching them through the movement – point by point, segmentally – is a fantastic way to hammer this point home and to help nudge them to move their spine in a slow and controlled fashion.
Give this one a try with some of your clients. COACH THEM. This drill doesn’t require more than two passes (up and down) per set, for a total of 3-4 sets. Helping them understand that they are allowed to move their spine – assuming it’s pain free – is a sure fire way to set them up for long-term healthy spine success.
Final Note (Because, #douchebagswillbedouchebags)
To appease the hoity toity internet warriors, couch coaches, and fitness influencers who have never coached an actual person (let alone a ham sandwich) out there. All of this DOES NOT insinuate that I am not ALSO using regular ol’ strength and conditioning to address things. All of the drills showcased above are just entry-level ideas or starting points.
I’m actually a massive fan of introducing unloaded rotational and/or spinal flexion/extension movements into the mix as well as loaded exercises such as Jefferson Curls to help build more resiliency within the spine and the musculature that supports it. In addition I’ll introduce things like tempo deadlift and squatting variations, various hip/low back dissociation exercises (I.e., other hinging alternatives), as well as a consortium of single leg exercises to help build overall strength.
As I always like to say…
You need to lift shit to fix shit.
It’s usually not a one or the other scenario. Both sides of the spectrum (motor control strategies and lifting heavy shit) need (and should) be considered.
What separates good gyms or trainers from the mediocre ones?
Some would make the case it’s a certain style of training, access to state-of-the-art equipment and amenities, the results their clients/athletes are able to achieve, or even their knowledge on topics like anatomy, assessment, program design, or, I don’t know, long division.
Don’t get me wrong: All of the above can help with separating yourself from the masses, but what really drives client loyalty (as well as woos new ones) isn’t the fancy equipment or the fact you’ve read Mel Siff’s Supertraining 47 times and can cite every page.7
No, what gives you the competitive edge is the culture you create.
How To Create a Winning Culture (<– Not An Exhaustive List, But You Should Continue Reading Anyways)
1. It Starts With You, Sherlock
Nothing wraps this message in a nice, neat, eloquent bow than something I read from Alwyn Cosgrove not long ago:
“A team that is tanking brings in a new coach and they totally turn things around.
A company like Apple, removes Steve Jobs, starts to take a nosedive, then brings back Steve Jobs as the leader and the company starts crushing it again.
Or alternatively, an assistant coach takes over a program when the head coach leaves, and even though that assistant is running the same system, that team never reaches the level of where they were before.
Why does this happen?
It all starts at the top.
It all starts with you.
It’s more than just the systems that were in place, it was the culture (or lack thereof) that was created.”
I think it’s safe to say everyone, at some point or another, has experienced the dichotomy between a good leader and a godawful one. It might be hard to put a finger on the exact characteristics that divide the two, but it stands to reason you know it when you see it.
Back in 1997 I earned a scholarship to play baseball at Mercyhurst University in Erie, PA. I loved the the coach who recruited me to transfer there. During my recruiting visit he came across as someone who was a straight-shooter and someone who demanded (and received) the respect from his players.
I spent an entire weekend watching practices and hanging out on campus with guys from the team and there wasn’t one instance where they talked smacked behind the coach’s back.
They described him as someone who was strict, albeit fair, and as someone who stayed consistent with his expectations of everyone. He wasn’t someone who said one thing one day and did a complete 180 the next.
He exemplified leadership.
The guys enjoyed playing there and spoke highly of the program as a whole. And, as it happened, at the time, the team was coming off a successful 40-6 season and a Top 10 ranking in the Division II baseball polls.
Without going into too many details, I arrived in the Fall of 1997 and within a few months the coach who recruited me to come to Mercyhurst left to take over another program.
I was bummed and more than a bit agitated. But I was confident I had still made the right decision (Humblebrag: I turned down a full-ride at a Division I school to go there) and that the team would still be competitive moving forward.
I was wrong.
The coach who was subsequently brought in was the antithesis of leadership. A ham sandwich would have been a better leader.
He was nothing but a blowhard and an egregious asshat.
By the end of his first (and only) season at Mercyhurst he had burned a lot of bridges with the players and administration at the school, not least of which because it was discovered he had lied about his previous playing and coaching career.
Keep in mind: This was the pre-internet days so it was the Wild West of making shit up. I mean, I once struck out Ken Griffey Jr three times in one game and also made out with Rosario Dawson once.8
Anyways, as far as culture was concerned…the proof was in the numbers:
1997 Team: 40-6
1998 Team: 26-18.
Now, 1998 wasn’t a complete horror show of a season from a Win-Loss perspective (most teams would love to finish 8 games above .500)…but it was clear the vibe and culture of the program was tainted.
And, honestly, it was the first time I had personally witnessed how poor leadership bred a toxic environment.
Now, as a trainer or coach, think about how this parallels with gym environments you’ve been in? I’ve worked in places that gave zero thought or value in building great trainers, who gave two shits in providing any continuing education, and reneged on cultivating a winning culture, and it showed:
High turnover.
More concern over whether trainers hit quotas on packages sold rather or even how to hold a genuine conversation with potential clients.
General clusterfuckery.
Taking it a step further (and taking the corporateness out of the equation), what does it say about you as a fitness professional if you constantly show up late, you forget appointments, you aren’t prepared, and/or you show up dressed like a homeless pirate?
Leadership always and concretely starts at the top.
And, whether you work in a commercial gym or you’re your own boss, leadership and the culture you curate starts with you.
2. Stop Being a Cantankerous Curmudgeon
One of my favorite comedies of all-time is Grumpy Old Men.
In a nutshell the movie is based around two friends, John (Jack Lemmon) and Max (Walter Matthau), and their lifelong rivalry.
It’s filled with “old guy” cliches, humor, and amazing Burgess Meredith (of Rocky fame) quotes.
The movie’s theme often reminds me of the fitness industry today and how it’s rife with the same antics and toxic hostility.
We expect a lot from our athletes and clients. We want them to show up and give us their undivided attention and full effort. Moreover, in many ways, we aim for them to be more responsible and to take accountability for their actions…
…to be leaders in their own right.
Yet, we (the so-called integrity police) will hop on Twitter (er, excuse me “X”) the second Dieselchest2277 has the audacity to disagree with us on anything from squat technique to achilles tendinopathy protocols to best keto recipes that taste like sawdust.
It’s kinda hard to develop a civil culture, one that’s respectful of other’s backgrounds and experiences (and opinions), if you have the temperament of a twelve year old. Or, more to the point, a cantankerous old man.
Grow up.
Recognize that not everyone has to agree with you and that maybe, GASP, you may be wrong or out-dated in your line of thinking.
This epitomizes good leaders.
3. Be Human. Not Superhuman
Lastly, I’m a firm believer that people don’t respond well when we demand perfection from them.
It doesn’t bode well for culture and camaraderie when you’re an insufferable douchehole and expect all your athletes and clients to be Captain America 100% of the time.
It’s okay if they’re unable to nail that hip hinge on their first try.
It’s not the end of the world if they miss a lift. (but it also shouldn’t be happening on a consistent basis)
Eating carbs isn’t a punishable offense.
Part of building a winning culture, especially a winning gym culture, is encouraging PROGRESS not perfection.
What’s more, I think relatedness is an underrated component of building a winning culture. Part of the reason why I think some of my clients like training with me is because I’m just as excited to talk about deadlifts and scapular upward rotation as I am There Will Be Blood quotes.
Client: “So, after this set of incline presses what’s next?”
Talk about movies, gossip about the latest season of The Bachelorette, go crazy and listen to boybands radio.
Show your human side. Be authentic to who YOU are. Demonstrate you’re vulnerable and that sometimes you’re wrong, aren’t perfect, and don’t know all the answers. Your athletes and clients will love you for it.
That’s the key to a winning culture.
Come Listen to Me Talk in Person About This Stuff
I’m heading to Europe this fall to put on two separate in-person workshops:
1. Coaching Competency Workshop – Prishtina, Kosovo: Saturday, October 21st
This will be my first visit to Kosovo and I couldn’t be more excited. Topics covered in this event range from how I assess clients and go about writing (strength) programing for gen pop clients to how to work around common injuries and trouble-shooting common exercises like squats and deadlifts (of course).
For more info and to register please email my host Dr. Rita Parashumti at: [email protected].
2. Building the Complete Fitness Pro – London, UK: Saturday & Sunday, October 28th & 29th
Full details (including itinerary) can be checked out HERE.
(NOTE: Very limited early bird spots are available for this event, so if you’re even remotely interested pounce NOW)
In general, it’s purposeful use of exaggeration as a rhetorical device or figure of speech. It’s often used in writing (and communication as a whole) to evoke strong feelings and reaction from the audience. These reactions can range from a chuckle and an “aww shucks” eye roll to someone getting punched in the throat.
Hyperbole is everywhere (politics, dating, sports, Thanksgiving dinner) – for better or for worse.
More innocuous and inane examples of hyperbole – the “aww shucks” variety – would be:
I’m so hungry I could eat a horse.
“So and so” is about as intelligent as a ham sandwich.
Attack of the Clones is a cinematic masterpiece.10
As a writer I love hyperbole because it can be a useful tool to add a bit of panache and entertainment value to a blog post or article in order to maintain people’s attention for more than 27 seconds.
Where I hate it is where this particular blog post comes into play.
A few weeks ago I was perusing Twitter when my feed fed me this piece of gargantuan eye wash (because, of course):
“STOP DOING BARBELL SQUATS!!! It’s a useless exercise that does way more harm than good to your body.”
This, my dear reader, is a choice example of the latter example of hyperbole mentioned above. You know, the kind that makes you want to wash your eyes with broken glass.
Now, I don’t know the person who wrote it (I’m choosing not to directly mention them here), and I have zero insights into why this person is so vehemently against barbell squats. What I do know – from checking out this person’s profile – is that they’re a Chiropractor, they seem to build a lot of their online persona around this idea that most people lack mental toughness, and that “bad posture” is the reason why most people are in pain.
Not for nothing, but…
…I’d make the case that the reason why a lot of people are in pain is because they’re chronically weak (muscularly), not because their TL junction needs adjusting every two weeks.
(Which, not ironically, can be improved, drastically – and long-term – with some properly progressed strength training.11 If you don’t force the body to adapt to load or stress, then how can you really expect meaningful change? If the only intervention is adjusting and cracking someone’s bones to fit some “textbook perfect posture” narrative, and it’s something that needs to be repeated over and over and over again, to me, this is akin to using nothing but a band-aid to address a knife wound).
But let’s move beyond that.
The thing that rubs me the wrong way with this person’s train of thought is that it’s so egregiously self-aggrandizing. One thing that I despise in this industry – and something that makes me lose a lot of respect for someone when they do it – is thinking that THEIR WAY is the ONLY way to do something.
The easy comparison here is Mike Boyle.
I was in the room when, back in 2005, while recording Functional Strength Coach, he revealed to the strength & conditioning world that he no longer included back squats in his athletes’ programs.
I’m pretty sure this was the collective mood in the room when he said it:
He wasn’t tarred and feathered by the entirety of the profession, but in the years since he’s routinely received flak for his stance.
However, I’ve always respected his take and have never taken issue with it.
Why?
Because he’s never said:
“Stop doing barbell squats with YOUR athletes.”
He’s only said:
“I’ve stopped doing a barbell squats with MY athletes.”
Moreover, he’s always followed that up with a sound rationale & explanation of why he came to that decision in the first place. And whether or not you agree with him isn’t the point:
They’re HIS athletes.
My man is still producing bonafide beasts in the weight-room and on the playing field.
Hard to argue with results.
Bringing things back to our friend from above.
Where I take issue is the insinuation that barbell squats – of any kind, in any situation, with any person, at any moment in time, even if they’re YOUR client and not mine – is dangerous or turning everyone into spinal compression walking balls of dysfunction.
To steal a quote from strength coach Gerry DeFilippo on that matter:
“How about this. Do exercises that fit your anatomical parameters and needs. More information, less fear mongering/cancelling of exercises.”
Our App: From Strength Coach Tony Gentilcore and Psychologist Dr. Lisa Lewis
Most of you may already know that my wife, Dr. Lisa Lewis, Psychologist (and household director of talking about feelings), has been my partner in our Strong Body, Strong Mind initiative:
…to mesh together both physical and mental strength training for optimal health and functioning.
After years of presenting together at conferences, seminars, and private workshops, we are THRILLED to release programming in an easy-to-access, affordable application.
The inaugural program offered in the Strong Body, Strong Mind app is called “Beginner to Badass” and is specifically designed for those who are stark beginners to barbell training or just looking for some direction.
Whether you (or someone you know) is brand new to lifting weights, returning after a break, or just looking for a nuts and bolts program, Beginner to Badass can meet those needs.
What to Expect From the Program
👉 3 months (3x per week; 36 total sessions) of appropriately progressed strength training. NOTE: You will need access to barbells, dumbbells, etc in order to follow this program.
👉 Videos that demonstrate proper technique alongside voice prompts & coaching cues to help you execute every exercise like a pro.
👉 My biceps looking extra bicepy.
👉 A “Mindset Minute” that coincides with every workout session to help you build resilience and persistent habits.
What Not to Expect
❌ Novelty – Exercise variety has a time and place, but a beginner strength training program isn’t one of them. Using one of my more astute and colloquial quotes:
“The greatest gap is most people’s training isn’t lack of novelty, but rather lack of mastery.”
This is the Beginner to Badass program’s glue.
❌ Guarantees or Promises – I could sit here and regal you with grandiose claims like “I guarantee your bench press will increase 50 lbs in five weeks” or “I promise your pecs will be able to cut diamonds” following this program, but that would be disingenuous.
Because the fact is…I don’t know!
What I do know is that you will learn more about what unabashed consistency can do for progress in addition to gaining more confidence including more barbell training to your repertoire.
❌ Lumberjacks – sorry?
We hope you’re as excited as we are to get started.
I’ve been woefully negligent with my writing prowess of late.
But it’s for good reason.
My wife, Dr. Lisa Lewis, and I have been busy for the past few months developing a wellness/fitness app!
Strong Body, Strong Mind
The app is called Strong Body, Strong Mind and we firmly feel it’s going to be quite different than the bulk of fitness apps out there.
How/why?
For starters, the obvious: This app will provide both structured strength training AND mental skills guidance to bolster motivation and confidence.
I’ll be taking the reigns on the training side of the app. The “Beginner to Badass” program is designed to guide those interested in starting a barbell-based strength training program but have otherwise been intimidated to do so on their own.
My goal with this app is to make strength training accessible to the masses and to demonstrate how to properly progress from a beginner to being able to beat Jason Bourne in a hallway battle royale.
Lisa will run the show on the psychological/mindset side. She’s an actual Doctor of Psychology (not an Instagram mindset coach) and has over two decades of experience.
Plus she’s a doctor who actually lifts!
Each workout will have a “Mindset Minute” to coincide with it, and will focus on anything from how to stay motivated when beginning a new exercise routine to ways to overcome speed-bumps with lack of consistency.
In short: Lisa’s there to Jedi mind-trick you into kicking ass and taking names. And maybe, if all goes to plan, get you to summon the force with the strength of your butt cheeks (that’s how it works, right?)
More details will be coming in a few days when the app is officially launched. For now, I hope this serves as a bit of an Amuse Bouche of the awesomeness to come.
HEADS UP: My newest and latest continuing education resource – Strategic Strength – is now officially available to make out with purchase. It’s on sale all this week at $50 off the regular price.
I hope you’ll check it out. (waves Jedi hand – you WILL check it out).
This is a story about a woman, her deadlifting journey, and how the words we use matter.
Unfortunately there are no dragons involved, but it’s a BALLER tale nonetheless.
It begins in 2019 (remember those carefree days!?!) and takes us all the way to a mere three weeks ago where a Colorado State Record was broken.
To serve as slight prelude, I’d be remiss not to point you in the direction of a blog post I wrote in early 2020 titled The Words We Use Matter.
In it I discuss the often negative connotation the words we use have on the psyche of our athletes/clients.
The best example is the initial assessment/evaluation.
Instead of using it as an opportunity to empower someone and to demonstrate to them what they CAN do, we’ll often use the assessment as an invitation to chop them down a peg or two and hone in on their faults thinking, mistakingly, that by doing so we’ll “woo” them into submission; that the only way they can be “fixed” is by purchasing a 24-pack of sessions.
It’s relevant because 1) I go into detail on what NOT to do during an assessment in Strategic Strength and 2) in hindsight the seed(s) of that article were very much planted a year prior, in 2019, at a fitness event I was involved in.
The quick backstory is that I was invited to Colorado Springs to record a webinar at NSCA Headquarters for their 2019 Virtual Personal Trainers Conference.
My presentation was on “Hip Assessment” and how fitness professionals should lean more into the idea of asymmetry (brief take: it won’t kill you) and that it behooves us to take time to better individualize one’s squat and deadlift set-up & execution.
I.e., little tweaks here in there with regards to foot position, stance, or even the variation can go a long ways in helping a lift not only feel better, but feel more stable and powerful too.
Part of my presentation involved taking someone in the audience through a real-time assessment in addition to a technique audit.
Here’s visual proof of the interaction:
That’s me on the left and Jenny (Stein) on the right – you can check her out on IG HERE), a personal trainer located in Colorado Springs.
If I recall correctly, Jenny volunteered her deadlift because, according to her, “it had never felt great.” So I spent a solid 20-30 minutes taking Jenny through some shenanigans.
She had always performed her deadlifts with a conventional stance (feet closer together, hands just outside the knees) but it had always bothered her back.
So I widened her stance to a modified Sumo stance (pictured above) which allowed her to maintain a more upright torso and placed less shearing on her spine. I then got her to have a better appreciation of what it really feels like to ramp up full-body tension:
Finding her hamstrings by experimenting with hip position (up, down, back, forth, BAM, okay, right there).
Finding her lats: “squeeze an orange in your armpits.”
Having her put more force INTO the ground by PUSHING away from the floor rather than pulling.
Connecting the bar to the inner circle of the plates – “taking slack out of the bar.”
All these things helped her stay better engaged and helped her to maintain a neutral spine throughout each rep (no more back rounding).
Was she perfect?
No.
All I was after was “better.”
I kept things positive, focused on the “big rocks,” and tried my best to cement the things that were clicking with her at the moment.
(Another really brief digression: I go into MUCH more detail on ALL OF THE ABOVE in Strategic Strength. Hint, Hint Like, you get to SEE it for yourself).
In all, at the end of the live session, her deadlift felt and looked better, which was a win in my book.
Unbeknownst to me (at the time), during one of the breaks in filming, another male trainer in the audience approached Jenny to make some small talk. He asked her in passing if she had ever deadlifted before?
She said yes, but that she hadn’t a ton of experience.
His response:
“Yeah, those looked pretty shitty.”
What profound feedback!
Fucking asshat.
It was weeks later, when Jenny sent me a message thanking me for the coaching cues I gave her, that she told me about her exchange with the other trainer in attendance.
We had a chuckle about it, and shared a few eye rolls…
…but it made me wonder about this guy’s coaching style. Obviously I have no way of knowing for sure, but if he had such callous and insensitive commentary towards a complete stranger, wasn’t it safe to assume it was more of the same with his own clients as well?
Some people may respond positively to such feedback. In my experience, most would crumble.
(shrugs)
The words we use matter.
I mean, what if I had taken the same approach?
Let’s say we had a time machine and went back to my first interaction with Jenny and my initial feedback mirrored his (albeit with a bit more drama):
“OH MY GOD. MY EYES. MY EYES. THEY’RE BLEEDING. MAKE IT STOP. MAKE IT STOOOOOOOOOOOP.
Sorry Jenny, those looked really shitty. Also, your dog is ugly. Next.”
Chances are I’d have turned Jenny off completely and she never would have pursued training with deadlifts ever again.
Instead, This is What Happened
This is a message I received from Jenny in early 2020:
“Hey Tony!
I’m the girl from the NSCA with the “shitty deadlift.” I wanted to tell you that my ugly deadlift is now 335 pounds and I have entered my first powerlifting competition and may even grab a state record next year.
The time you spent with me that day last year sparked something and it may sound ridiculous, but I don’t know where I would be today without the magical creature called the deadlift. For some reason I felt compelled to share this with you today. What may have seemed ordinary and mundane to you completely changed my life.
Again, probably sounds over-dramatic but I truly mean it. You’re a gem. Keep doing what you do.”
It’s seems counterintuitive, maybe even borderline asinine, not to guarantee your clients results, right? I mean, what the hell are they hiring you for?
HINT: It’s not to trade baseball cards or tickle fights.
I had a new client start with me recently and within ten minutes of her initial assessment she was relaying a story of her previous coach telling her she’d see results in “x” weeks.
I don’t know about you, but I’d hate to set myself up for that kind of standard or expectation as a coach. Unless their goals are any of the following….
Cut diamonds with their pecs.
Build a deadlift that shakes the ground all the way down in Kentucky.
Become a world class hugger.
…I’m not guaranteeing anything, let alone within a specific window of time.
When a new person shows up to CORE I have zero insight into their work ethic, degree of compliance, or any other outside factors that may or may not come into play (family responsibilities, work schedule, Andor marathon watching schedule).
Don’t get me wrong: There should always be an open dialogue and some form of communication with regards to goal setting. But don’t set yourself (or your client) up for a trap by guaranteeing results.
So, Uh, Since We’re Talking About Goals
It behooves any coach to encourage their client to be more specific with their goal setting. Having realistic and tangible goals in sight helps nudge more intent and purpose.
It keeps people more invested in their training.
Just be careful of someone being too vague (“I want to lose weight”), unrealistic (“I want to add 100 lbs to my deadlift in two weeks”), or downright batshit crazy (“I want to pet a Unicorn”).
Lets us a too vague example.
Too Vague = “I want to lose weight” or “I want to get stronger.”
Neither is a bad goal. They’re just both vague as shit. It’s like me saying something to the effect of “I want food” when asked what I am in the mood for for dinner.
When someone suggests a vague goal like the ones above I’ll usually try to dig a bit deeper:
“Why do you want to lose weight/get stronger?”
“What’s prevented you from achieving those goals in the past?”
“How will attaining those goals make you feel once you hit them?”
Peeling back the onion with follow-up questions reveals quite a bit. The person soon understands they need to switch gears and latch onto something more concrete.
Which serves as a nice segue to…
Try to Encourage More Performance Based Goals
I’ve been a champion of this approach for a number of years now.
Setting performance-based goals is a game changer.
For example, with many of my female clients, instead of allowing them to default to the “I want to lose weight” trope, I’ll encourage them to pick a performance-based goal to train towards instead:
Perform their first strict, unassisted chin-up
Deadlift their bodyweight for five reps
Perform ten, strict pushups from the floor.
Beat Wonder Woman in a fist-fight.
Setting a performance-based goal makes things so much clearer from a programming standpoint. First off, it makes getting rid of the superfluous foo-foo bullshit easier. Secondly, and most important, is that it gives people purpose in their training.
There’s a WHY behind the madness.
Each exercise, exercise order, load, set/rep, and rest period is curated for the sole purpose of hitting that goal.
To steal a famous quote from strength coach, Dan John:
“The goal is to keep the goal, the goal.”
Either your training program is bringing you one step closer to hitting your goal, or…it’s not.
What I find, more often than not, is when I can get a client to marry him or herself to training for a performance-based goal, the work and effort involved often results in them hitting that aesthetic goal anyways.
It’s a win-win.
The dose of empowerment is priceless.
Set Up Process Goals
This is so simple it’s absurd.
Basically, process goals are smaller, more bite-sized, DAILY, goals people should try to hit that will compliment their ability to hit “big rock” training goals.
I mean, how “strong” is someone going to get if they’re routinely only getting 4-5 hours of sleep a night? What are the chances someone is going to “lose weight” if their idea of a veggie is a piece of lettuce on top of their double bacon cheeseburger?
Setting up 2-3 process goals – getting at least seven hours of sleep a night, shooting for 3-4 servings of vegetables per day, eating out less – for people to strive for every day is a great way to not only keep them on task, but provide an unparalleled sense of accomplishment as well.
As they check off hitting each goal per day, they gain more and more confidence and sense of “holy shit, I can do this.”
Build Autonomy, Competency, and Relatedness
These are just fancy-schmancy ways of saying people want to have a sense of freedom/choice in their training, they want to feel like they can do shit, and they want to be part of a community.12
Autonomy: People don’t like to be told what to do. When someone is told what to do or not to do, the human response is something called reactance.
They revolt. Go against the grain. Tell you to go fuck yourself.
Basically, they do whatever it is you told them not to do anyway.
Admittedly, when someone is paying you to be their coach, there’s a degree of “do what I tell you to do” that comes with territory.
However, I’d encourage any coach or trainer to build a level of CHOICE into their programming.
Maybe your client gets to choose what variation of deadlift they perform that day.
Maybe you let them choose if they want to use dumbbells or kettlebells for certain movements.
Maybe you give them a 5-10 minute window at the end of their session to do some additional glute training.
That sense of freedom/autonomy will undoubtedly build a greater degree of compliance.
Competency: This is easy. People don’t like to fail. I’d argue failing is good and part of the growing process, but that’s besides the point.
People want to feel like they can DO stuff. For example, if someone has little experience strength training, what’s the likelihood they’re going to feel great about barbell back squatting on Day #1.
Now, I’m not saying a good coach can’t teach someone how to back squat in a matter of minutes.
It’s very doable.
However, what I am saying is don’t be a dickhead. It can be intimidating for some people to place a barbell on their back, and you’re not doing them any favors by force-feeding it.
I feel the squat is a valuable pattern everyone should become competent with. That doesn’t mean everyone has to start with a barbell on their back.
Goblet squats are a splendid starting point for many people. Once they’re comfortable with that, we can progress accordingly.
Relatedness: Keeping this one brief, going out of your way to build a culture where people are surrounded by like-minded individuals and they can be themselves is paramount.
Don’t Be Scared to Dish Out Some Tough Love
Bringing this whole discussion full-circle: Remember that new client I mentioned above, the one who told me her previous trainer guaranteed her results?
She asked me an obvious question:
“When do you think I will see results?”
My response:
“If you kinda-sorta train, you’ll get kinda-sorta results.”
This was a (maybe not so subtle) hint that it’s up to HER.
You get out of training what you put into it.
As someone’s coach I’ll be there to support them and help augment their training experience. However, it’s also important to relay the message that part of the onus on them, too.
