I’ll just come right out and say it: Feelings are a motherfucker.
NOTE: “motherfucker” in this sense can be used interchangeably here: good or bad.
“Did you just see how far I hit that baseball?
Motherfucker!
I.e., Good. You know, you’re happy and excited you hit the baseball a long ways.
“I had to take my car in, again, to get the transmission fixed.
Motherfucker! (punches the wall).“
I.e., Bad. Sucks, dude.
Hopefully you get the gist.
They (feelings), as we all know, encompass a wide range: from how we feel when we first fall in love to what happened a few days ago in Las Vegas. They cross a spectrum: from warmth, empathy, and unconditional positive regard on one end…to how I feel whenever I see someone perform a kipping pull-up on the other.
Annoyance peppered with spontaneous rage.
Feelings aren’t right or wrong.
How you feel at any given moment, under any given circumstance, is how you feel.
Who am I – or who is anyone, really? – to disregard or question how you feel?
That said, facts matter.[/efn_note]It’s not lost on me, given the current political environment we live in, that this point (facts matter), unfortunately, can (and is) debated. Climate change isn’t real, 3,000,000 people voted illegally, Unicorn tears are an excellent aphrodisiac…whatever. Who needs facts?[/efn_note]
I mean, I feel like leaving the toilet seat up is perfectly fine and no big deal. The facts – my wife’s dropkick to the side of my face – state otherwise.
I feel like early 90’s Mariah Carey and I were meant to be soul mates. The facts – hahahahaha – state otherwise.
Feelings vs. Facts In Fitness
A few weekends ago Lisa and I were in Toronto presenting our Strong Body-Strong Mind Workshop when one of the attendees, a local personal trainer, shared a story.
She went into detail on how a client of her’s, another female, had been giving her a hard time. You see the client was a perpetual pessimist and had a hard time deflecting negative self-talk.
This trainer even went so far to say that her client admitted to her that the only reason why she even signed on to start training in the first place was to prove to her that personal training didn’t work.
That she was a lost cause.
A failure.
As I was listening to the story I couldn’t help but think to myself, “man, that’s horrible. Who’s got time to deal with that? Fire the client!”
Lisa, to her credit, made a beautiful reframe and rebuttal:
Lisa: “How long as the client been working with you?”
Attendee: “Over a year.”
Lisa: “How many times per week?”
Attendee: “At least twice, if not more.”
Lisa: “And she’s making progress?”
Attendee: “Yes, although in her eyes she hasn’t.”
Lisa: “Hmm, interesting. She’s obviously getting something from her time with you. What she’s focusing on are feelings and not facts.
The facts demonstrate your client has been consistently training for over a year despite her initiate “goal” to prove to you personal training doesn’t work.
The facts state otherwise.”
*Smoke bomb, smoke bomb, exit stage left.*
We see this all…..the…..time in fitness and the strength & conditioning world: people allow their feelings to convolute the facts.
Take my client, Alexandra, for example.
I get that we’re all our own worst critic, but she’s made amazing progress since we first starting working together. Back when we first started working together she came to me with some chronic shoulder and low back pain, and was frustrated with her lack of progress in the gym in terms of some strength markers she wanted to hit.
Namely: deadlifting over 200 lbs and performing her first strict chin-up.
She’s been working her tail off.
She no longer has shoulder or back issues, she hit her DL goal (and then some), and she’s thiiiiiiiiis close to hitting her chin-up goal. Yet, sometimes, like everyone, she has a hard time with allowing her feelings to override the facts.
A post shared by Tony Gentilcore (@tonygentilcore) on
The cool part was Alexandra’s response in the comments section:
“Thank you Tony!! It’s so awesome to see this cause in my head I’m not making much progress and then I’m ok like damn okayyy haha. 💪🏽💪🏽💪🏽💦 It’s so close i can taste it!”
Taking things a little further we can see the same parallel in other aspects of fitness.
Some coaches feel everyone should squat the same way – same foot spacing, same stance, same depth, etc – but the facts state otherwise.
Likewise, some coaches feel everyone must squat or deadlift with a straight bar, but the facts – not everyone is a competitive power or olympic lifter, you asshat – state otherwise.
You feel as if you’re 7% body-fat, but the facts, well, you’re not.
You may feel you’re better off jumping into a live volcano than eating any gluten, but the facts are against you my friend.
Feel the Feels
I am not insinuating you should avoid or disregard all your feelings. By all means love your spouse, enjoy that succulent steak, feel anger whenever someone performs a KB swing overhead, don’t be shy to cry it out when you binge watch This Is Us.
Let your feelings marinate.
However, when it comes to you and your fitness/health goals be cognizant of facts and learn to boycott your feelings when necessary. You’ll be better off for it.
One of the biggest honors for me is when other fitness professionals take time out of their schedule to come shadow me or observe what I do at CORE.
Truthfully I don’t feel what I do on a day-to-day basis is altogether revolutionary or going to win me any Nobel prizes in coaching badassery. I mean, I have people deadlift, squat, throw things, and carry stuff, all while listening to some sick techno beats.
No biggie.
However, this was pretty cool and a nice surprise.
Below is a nice write-up by UK based trainer, Stuart Aitken, describing his experience observing me for a few hours a few Saturdays ago.1
I walked into CORE, Tony’s small private gym in Boston, for a day of shadowing a few weekends ago.
Here are a few of things I saw within the first 30 minutes of being there:
Accommodating resistance.
Accentuated eccentrics.
Advanced periodization.
Complicated exercise terminology.
Of course, this wasn’t what I saw and truthfully, there was was nothing special about the way Tony coached, what was special was HOW he coached.
I often think us fitness professionals can be a bit hypocritical.
We tell clients “play the long game,” “stay consistent and good things will happen” and “don’t search for the magic pill, it doesn’t exist,” yet we think we’re one book or course away from solving all of our career issues.
Tony doesn’t programme any differently than I’ve seen him write about, nor does he have a cueing roster that addresses every single movement issue a client has. He still has clients who don’t push their knees out and who need a quick reminder to squeeze their glutes at the top of a hip extension movement.
Perhaps this is what makes Tony, and really any other coach I know, excellent – the basics, done brilliantly.
1) Client-Centered Coaching
I’m a huge fan of constantly checking in with myself about whether I’m being client or philosophy centered.
Lisa, Tony’s wife, talks about this heavily in her work, but for anyone who is reading who hasn’t heard of this before, client-centered coaching would be where you’re taking into the client’s needs and wants into account.
Philosophy-centered would be where you’re putting your philosophies first and forcing square pegs (clients) into round holes (your programming). An example in my career would be when I started to enjoy some gymnastics and started to ‘push’ gymnastics onto the people I work with.
It’s so easy for us to start pushing clients towards what we think is best for them, but when we think about what encompasses effective coaching, this couldn’t be further from how we know clients are likely to respond best.
Think about someone telling you how to do something – how does that you feel? Yes, at times this type of coaching may be necessary, but for the most part, you should be focused on guiding clients towards the decision that is best for them.
Jenny, who is a mum of three and simply wants to feel better, might enjoy doing some deadlifts, but she probably doesn’t want that deadlift to be the only thing she does in her training. Tony loves deadlifting, but not every single one of his clients is going to deadlift, nor will they all “need” to deadlift.
2) Window Coaching
I learnt this off of Tony at a shoulder workshop he ran in the UK earlier this year. Essentially what it means is if you worked in a facility where everyone who walked by could look in and watch, how do you look?
Are you active or are you passive? Are your arms crossed and are you looking disinterested? Is it your tenth session of the day and you look like the last place you would rather be is in the gym?
At one point Tony was dancing to some 90s rap, and at other points, he was either laughing with clients or actively coaching, if you walked past it would look like the kind of environment his type of client would enjoy being in.
Potential clients are always watching.
3) “Move Well, Move Often, Move Under Load”
It wasn’t actually Tony who said this quote but rather my colleague at Lift the Bar, Gregg Slater, but it sums up how I viewed the way Tony has progressed his clients. All of them could hinge, they all knew how to brace, and breath and they all came in early and got on with their warm-ups.
Before you throw a barbell onto a new clients back for squats, do they know how to create tension in their body? Do they know how to disassociate between their hips and upper back so they can hinge effectively? Can they get even MORE out of their sessions by doing their own warm-ups?
Teaching clients how to move well before you start loading them up will not only have a positive effect on their results, but it’ll also decrease the risk of injury.
4) Communication Skills
One of the brilliant things I watched Tony do with each of his clients was the way he related to them. Whether that be in the type of language he used (swearing vs not swearing for example), how much he listened vs spoke, the type of feedback used or right down to the choice of music, his communication skills were appropriate to the client who was in front of him.
I think this is such an under-appreciated aspect of effective coaching; the ability to wear different coaching hats dependent on who you are communicating with.
You know how Susan loves knitting? Make sure you ask about that new scarf she’s working on.
You know how Jonny is a huge football fan (that’s not American football, by the way, that’s good old British football where you kick the ball with your foot)? Make sure you have a glance at the latest football scores.
This kind of stuff matters and to quote Seth Godin:
“A small thing, done repeatedly, is not a small thing.”
If you’re relating to clients, creating an environment that leaves them feeling great, keeping their goal in mind and delivering a quality service, you’ll do well in this industry.
Tony Changed My Life (<– Note From TG: I Wrote That)
Overall I had a fantastic five hours at Tony’s gym, and I can’t recommend doing this kind of thing more often.
There are always others coaches, who are often more experienced, and within a few hours of you, who you could go and shadow.
An afternoon spent with another coach can keep you fresh, allow you the space to level up your coaching and network with other trainers in and around your area, (and it doesn’t even cost anything!) I can’t see any reason why we shouldn’t be doing more of it.
About the Author
Stuart Aitken is the head of member support at Lift the Bar and host at the LTB Podcast, which are both educational services for Personal Trainers. He also works as a Personal Trainer out of Good Health and Fitness in Dundee, Scotland.
When it comes to neck pain, as a strength coach, I (generally) don’t touch that with a ten-foot pole. It’s case dependent of course, but more often than not, if someone I’m working with walks in with a some significant discomfort in their neck I 1) start hyperventilating into a paper bag and 2) immediately refer out to a someone who has more diagnostic and manual therapy skills.
This is not to say, however, that there aren’t any avenues to take if you’re a personal trainer or strength coach. It’s not like you can’t do anything. In today’s guest post physical therapist, Dr. Michael Infantino, goes into great detail on some things to consider if you ever find yourself in this predicament.
The Gym Is a Pain In My Neck: Two Movements To Cure Them All
Are you struggling with neck pain?
Does the gym make it worse?
Do you find yourself looking at a lot of informative websites for ways to resolve these issues, but wish it were compactly put in one place?
Does this sound like an infomercial?
Well it’s not!
But for just $29/month you can… just kidding.
This article is here to solve all of those problems. Neck pain is often blamed on poor form when exercising. This is absolutely true. Unfortunately this does not answer a crucial question, “why?” Discovering WHY your form is poor is the goal. On top of that, people often fail to recognize other human errors that are contributing to their symptoms. We will provide a guide for figuring out why you have neck pain and how to resolve it.
In most cases, pain attributed to the gym can be tied to the following:
Limitations in the necessary mobility to perform a movement
Limitations in the skill needed to perform a movement
Limitations in the capacity to perform a movement (Strength and Endurance)
Human error [Electrolyte and Fluid balance, Self-Care, Rest, Sleep, Breathing, Posture, Medication and Fear.]
Limitations in MOBILITY: 2 movements to cure them all!?
Limitations in your ability to put yourself in optimal positions during almost any upper body movement are a result of two movement limitations.
Limitations in these positions can lead to a host of different complaints. For the sake of time we are going to pick on NECK PAIN. If you are struggling with one exercise you are likely struggling with another, you just might not realize it.
Position #1: Shoulder Extension Test
Movements: Push Up, Pull Up, Row, Dip, Pull Up (top), Jump Rope, Punching someone in the nose because they have one of those weird miniature poodle mixes.
Attempt to perform the ^^THIS^^ motion
Instructions: Keep the neck retracted while extending the shoulders just beyond the trunk without the following:
Increased forward head position
Forward shoulder translation
Shoulder shrug
If you are unable to replicate the picture above you likely have a MOBILITY problem.
If you can’t perform this motion when you aren’t under load, you will definitely struggle when you are. Especially with repeated repetitions and the addition of weight.
Target Areas for Treatment
Soft Tissue Mobility
Pecs
Serratus Anterior
Upper Traps
Stretches and Joint Mobilization
Chin Retraction
Thoracic Extension (arms overhead)
Open Book Stretch
After working these bad boys out I want you to RE-CHECK the test position.
Is it better?
If not, you need to keep working on it.
Assuming you now have the necessary MOBILITY to perform this motion, we need to make sure you have the required SKILL with the particular movement you are interested in.
Skill: the necessary strength, stability and coordination to perform the most basic form of a loaded movement (pull up, push up, dip, row, etc.).
Are you able to maintain a good position in the:
Bottom of your push up
Row
Top of your pull up
Bottom of your dip
Jump roping
As you load the arm for a hay maker!
We aren’t as complex as you might think. Many of our daily activities are broken into a few movement patterns.
Follow this sequence:
Create the mobility necessary to perform the pattern in its most basic form. (In this case, Position #1 and #2).
Ensure you have the skill needed to perform your desired movement (Push Up, Pull Up, etc.)
Build capacity with that movement (Endurance and Strength).
If you don’t have the skill to perform a specific exercise or movement, you need to practice. Look at the above definition of skill to make that judgement. If you don’t have the baseline strength to perform one good push up, pull up, dip or row, see below for regressions that will allow you to maintain good form as you work your way back to mastering these moves.
Here are some ideas:
Push Up: Inclined position (Ex. against weight bench or counter), knee push ups
Pull Up: Assisted with a band, inverted row
Dip: Assisted with a band, bench dip
Row: Kind of an outlier since this move typically doesn’t require body weight. Use a weight that allows good form. TRX Row and inverted row are body weight options. Adjust the angle of your body to reduce the difficulty.
The goal here is to demonstrate the ability to maintain proper form throughout each movement with a regression that is appropriate for you.
Joe Muscles next to you may need to take 50 lbs. off his 200 lb. weighted belt during his pull-ups to maintain good form. You may need to work on getting one pull up with good form without any extra weight.
Most of us have one or two good pull ups in our bag of tricks to whip out for an “impromptu” Instagram post. Preventing injury is going to require you to build the strength and endurance to exceed Instagram’s one-minute time cap. DAMN you Instagram!
Adding repetitions and weight to the regression will help you work your way back to a standard pull up, row, dip, push up, etc.
I can’t emphasize this point enough.
We all have high expectations of ourselves. Neck pain after 10 reps is not necessarily a “push up” problem. It may be the fact that you did three other exercises before push ups that started to fatigue the neck. The push up was the breaking point. You need to have a realistic expectation of your current ability, or capacity.
Position #2: Overhead Test
Movements: Overhead Press, Pull Up (bottom position), Snatch
Instructions: Lie on your back with knees bent. Tuck chin (neck flat to ground) with arms flat to the ground in the start of a press position. Press arms overhead by sliding arms along the ground.
Common Faults:
One or both arms come off the floor at any point in time.
Compensatory forward head or extended neck position to keep arms on floor
Compensatory spine arch to keep arms on the floor
Assuming you repeatedly tried to replicate this position without success, once again we have a MOBILITY PROBLEM.
Target Areas for Treatment
Soft Tissue Mobility
Pecs
Lats
Rhomboids
Stretches and Joint Mobilization
Chin Retraction
T-Spine Drop In (or T Spine Extension)
Open Book Stretch (Add: External Rotation at Shoulder)
1st Rib and Scalene mobility
After finding the weak link, it is time to RE-CHECK. If it looks better, great let’s move on. Similar to Position #1, assuming you now have the pre-requisite MOBILITY to perform this motion we need to make sure you have the SKILL necessary.
*If you are having trouble improving your mobility or resolving pain, seek the advice of a qualified medical provider or fitness professional.
Can you maintain the same control and form during your overhead press, snatch, hang position of your pull up (or any variation- kipping pull up, toes to bar)? If not, we need to REGRESS the move. Unlike the shoulder extension position, many of the overhead exercises can be regressed by reducing the weight or working on single arm presses instead of two arms. Other regressions include:
Regressions:
Overhead press: Landmines (Tony goes into more depth in this article).
Snatch: Cleans, Single arm overhead kettlebell squat, single arm overhead lunge
Pull up (bottom): use a resistance band for support, inverted row
Human Error
Now that you have mastered Position #1 and #2, it is time to make sure that you are limiting HUMAN ERROR.
I think everyone should have someone in their life that serves as an extra pair of eyes. Even the best fitness trainers and medical providers in the world have a hard time being objective toward different areas of their own life. Barbers don’t cut their own hair, right? Not positive about that one. Either way, you can’t go wrong with some quality feedback!
Most of us are quick to blame the boulders in our life when it comes to pain, but we overlook the pebbles.
With pain we can’t overlook the pebbles.
The pebbles are diet, water intake, sleep, and self-care habits.
Patients usually tell me that they are doing “better than most” or that they are “pretty good” about optimizing these areas of their life. It isn’t until their spouse shows up to the appointment that we get the whole truth.
I love it!
Proper Fluid and Electrolyte Balance
Paying attention to what you consume pre and post workout is important. Proper fluids and electrolyte intake prior to exercise can help delay muscle fatigue and cramping.
Many people can get by with less than optimal effort when it comes to this category. However, if you are having neck pain you need to give yourself the best chance at success.
“At least 4 hours before exercise, individuals should drink approximately 5-7 mL·kg−1 body weight (~2-3 mL·lb−1) of water or a sport beverage. This would allow enough time to optimize hydration status and for excretion of any excess fluid as urine” (Sawka, 2007).
This is not always possible, I understand. Do your best. Some is better than none.
Warm Up
Proper warm up is also important.
Engaging in a warm up that gradually increases heart rate and muscle flexibility is a great way to prime the muscles. Dramatic increases in blood pressure and heart rate can lead to less than optimal muscle performance and increased risk of exertion headache during your workout.
Your warm up should be focused on getting the heart rate up; along with preparing the body for the movements you are going to perform during your workout (squat, push up, deadlift, clean, etc.).
Taking the time to stretch and do some soft tissue work after exercise will help reduce muscle soreness in the days following your workout (Gregory, 2015).
Leaving your body more prepared for the next workout. It is a great way to improve muscle extensibility and eliminate trigger points that aren’t allowing your muscles to perform effectively (Lucas, 2004).
Adequate rest is also important for recovery.
Going hard every day and not getting adequate sleep does not allow your body to grow and repair itself. Neglecting proper recovery leads to a less than optimal immune system and central nervous system.
Sleep deficits can also lead to an increase in the intensity of pain and alterations in mood. This is some serious shiznit. Can’t express enough how important this category is. I am a huge fan of the “grind.” It just sounds cool. You aren’t meant to grind everyday though, so please take some time to recover.
Breathing and Posture
Proper breathing is something that is often overlooked, but may be contributing to neck pain.
Gritting it out is cool, I highly recommend it. It builds character.
However, regularly holding your breath or clinching of your teeth when exercising can lead to increased tension around the neck. This could end up resulting in tension headaches as well.
Many of us without realizing it spend most of our day performing shallow breaths. We often over utilize the neck musculature. Shallow breathing into the chest can increase tension in these muscles and even increase feelings of anxiety.
It is recommended that people learn how to perform relaxed diaphragmatic breathing to reduce tension in the neck muscles. Staying in sustained postures throughout the day can also be contributing to your neck pain.
Many studies continue to show that sustained postures throughout the day (typically with office workers), especially with a forward head position, can increase neck pain and headaches (Ariëns, 2001).
Symptoms are also more common in people that hate their job.
Really off topic, but it is true …
Consider how stress in your life (emotional or physical) is amplifying your feelings of pain. Emotional pain and physical pain are HEAVILY connected. Check out this video by Tony to learn a little more about proper breathing strategies.
The Advil Fix
This may not seem to fit with the other categories.
Nonetheless, it is super important.
Side effects related to over the counter anti-inflammatory use are becoming common knowledge. Every now and then I run into someone that isn’t aware of the potential risks of regular use.
Popping over the counter anti-inflammatories (i.e. advil) before or after your workouts IS NOT recommended.
It’s like sweeping the dirt under the rug.
“The most common side effect from all NSAIDs is damage to the gastrointestinal tract, which includes your esophagus, stomach, and small intestine. More than half of all bleeding ulcers are caused by NSAIDs, says gastroenterologist Byron Cryer, MD, a spokesperson for the American Gastroenterological Association.”
Fear
One of the reasons that I started RehabRenegade.com was to help share information like this with as many people as possible. Many of the complaints I get in clinic can be fixed SUPER QUICK. Having a basic understanding of how to care for yourself and knowledge of the body can remove the “threat” of pain.
Red flags (serious pathology) represent less than 2% of the cases that are seen in a clinical setting (Medbridge, Chad Cook: Cervical Examination).
The Internet can be a blessing and a curse.
It can either lead you down the right road or scare the living crap out of you. We all know that any injury or illness is usually presumed to be cancer after a late night search on WebMD. Here are some discussions and advice I found on the inter-web related to neck pain in the gym.
Great intentions, but poor advice.
We tend to blame everything on a “pulled muscle,” whatever that means.
Rest?
What year is it?
We stopped recommending straight rest in like 1902.
By all means, take time off from the gym.
This doesn’t give you free rain to lie in bed all day watching re-runs of Game of Thrones.
It’s true… you may have over done it. Your muscles were overworked. Likely leading to a nice amount of local inflammation and some trigger points. The more constructive advice would be to perform some soft tissue work, light stretching and low intensity non-painful exercise to keep that area mobile.
Resorting to pain medication is not a healthy option. Last but not least, mentioning damaged discs and compressed nerves never makes someone feel at ease. Trauma to the neck may be a reason for disc injury. Overdoing your push ups and pull ups is NOT.
Fun Fact: The prevalence of disk degeneration in asymptomatic (without symptoms) individuals increased from “37% of 20-year-old individuals to 96% of 80-year-old individuals. Disk bulge prevalence increased from 30% of those 20 years of age to 84% of those 80 years of age” (Brinjikji, 2015).
Positive findings on MRI are common in people without pain. Don’t get too caught up in images and diagnoses. Do the things we know are healthy. If you hit the gym hard this morning and then followed that up with a CROISSAN’WICH from Burger King, and a cigarette at lunch we have bigger fish to fry.
First and foremost, muscle and joint strain at the neck commonly refers pain to the head. We call this a cervicogenic headache. Rest assured that it is very rare that you have a more serious pathology requiring immediate medical attention. Give the tips in this post a shot, if it doesn’t help by all means see a medical professional. The worst thing you can do is show up to your medical provider without attempting to improve your flexibility, tweak your form or get adequate rest.
If I had a dollar for every time a therapist told someone they had the tightest (fill in the blank) they have ever seen I would be a little better off.
If this poor girl wasn’t worried enough… Now she has the tightest back he has ever seen… really?
As providers we need to be very careful with our words. It is really easy for us to turn neck pain into chronic neck pain.
It is called an iatrogenic vortex.
When people get tied up in the medical system too long they often see symptoms worsen or develop other unexplained diagnoses.
Overview
In most cases, pain attributed to the gym can be tied to the following:
Limitations in the necessary mobility to perform a movement
Limitations in the Skill needed to perform a movement
Limitations in the Capacity to perform a movement (Strength and Endurance)
Human Error [Electrolyte and fluid balance, Self-Care, Rest, Sleep, Breathing, Posture, Medication and Fear]
You could be one small modification away from eliminating your neck pain.
The big takeaway here is to make sure you have the ability to perform various exercises with good skill.
From there, you need the knowledge and self-awareness to know when you have exceeded you capacity.
You also need to look at the big picture to ensure that you are checking the boxes when it comes to living a healthy life. If you are someone that often finds yourself worried or anxious when injury sets in please take a step back and look at the big picture. Use this article to see where your gaps are. If you still can’t get relief please see a medical provider. Nothing makes medical providers happier than working with patients who demonstrate a willingness to learn and grow.
About the Author
Dr. Michael Infantino is a physical therapist. He works with active military members in the DMV region. You can find more articles by Michael at RehabRenegade.com.
References
Ariëns GAM, Bongers PM, Douwes M, et al
Are neck flexion, neck rotation, and sitting at work risk factors for neck pain? Results of a prospective cohort study. Occupational and Environmental Medicine 2001;58:200-207.
Brinjikji, W., Luetmer, P. H., Comstock, B., Bresnahan, B. W., Chen, L. E., Deyo, R. A.,Jarvik, J. G. (2015). Systematic Literature Review of Imaging Features of Spinal Degeneration in Asymptomatic Populations. AJNR. American Journal of Neuroradiology, 36(4), 811–816. http://doi.org/10.3174/ajnr.A4173
Gregory E. P. Pearcey, David J. Bradbury-Squires, Jon-Erik Kawamoto, Eric J. Drinkwater, David G. Behm, and Duane C. Button (2015) Foam Rolling for Delayed-Onset Muscle Soreness and Recovery of Dynamic Performance Measures. Journal of Athletic Training: January 2015, Vol. 50, No. 1, pp. 5-13.
Lucas KR, Polus BI, Rich PS. Latent myofascial trigger points: their effects on muscle activation and movement efficiency. J Bodyw Mov Ther. 2004;8:160-166
Sawka MN, Burke LM, Eichner ER, Maughan RJ, Montain SJ, Stachenfeld NS. American College of Sports Medicine position stand. Exercise and fluid replacement. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2007;39:377-90.
Today’s guest post comes courtesy of regular contributor and San Antonio based personal trainer, Jonathan Acosta.
The fitness industry is rife with people who use hyperbole, quick fixes, and instant gratification tactics to “woo” other people into their web of deceit and mindfuckery.
Whether one’s goal is fat-loss, muscle gain, or to have a pecs that can cut diamonds…more often than not people default to the “I want it and I want it now” mentality. And it sets people up for failure.
Jonathan uses a brilliant metaphor/analogy to break this train of thought.
In the movie TheMatrix Revolutions, Neo gets trapped in a train station that’s basically a border world between the matrix and the machine.That station is essentially limbo…
Why am I telling you this?
Because even the great Neo gets stuck in limbo.
We all do from time to time.
A lot of times it isn’t this permanent stuck here forever type of thing that we are led to believe.
Sometimes we have to ride it out until the train arrives to the station.
Note From TG:I still don’t know WTF this scene was all about.
When it comes to this fitness journey, those of us in this profession know all too well about this limbo and what to do about it. We know that results aren’t linear as we’d expect and hope them to be.
Its not a magical rainbow of results just shooting straight upward.
Luckily the fitness industry has done a good job at getting people to understand this and snapping them out of the “I want it now” mentality.
Sure, we still have to battle the inevitable BS such as same-day liposuction or the latest and greatest Cryo-Fatloss-Mega-Blast-Infrared-Sculpting procedure. But as a whole, I think we’ve done pretty well at giving clients the truth and helping them understand that this isn’t a quick and easy fix.
BUT…
What happens when you’re in this shit period? (The shit period is when progress flat lines to where progress seems non-existent?……………AKA: Limbo)
Now for some, it’s easy to just look down and put in the work day in and day out until they finally see the shimmering light.
But for most, especially ones who haven’t ever prioritized health and fitness in their life, the shit period is so discouraging that quitting is inevitable.
Now you and I both know the cycle.
Three months (if that) of hard work, followed by quitting for six months, only to restart again, usually in worse shape began than before, until the process repeats itself…or they opt for the “instant fixes:”
Liposuction
Cryo-Fatloss-Mega-Blast-Infrared-Sculpting®
Tapeworms
If Only…
If only there was a way to get them to see the 1000 ft. view like you see it right? To get them to see the big picture and the timeline if they stuck with it in the long haul.
I haven’t figured out the answer myself so don’t get your hopes up this is that kind of article.
However, I like metaphors and believe many people learn best this way; they allow an opportunity for a person to connect with a topic.
I can’t remember for the life of me where I got this quote from but its pretty true.
“When it comes to fat loss, you’re going to be in a plateau 80% of the time.”
That means you might be in limbo for a good while.
So where were we?
Oh right. Limbo.
We’ve all been there.
Grinding day in and day out.
Keeping meticulous attention as to what we put in our mouths and staying on point only for nothing to budge.
First of all you should have the help of a competent coach who’s able to recognize “limbo” and guide you through it
Two coaches that come to mind that are exceptional at this are Bryan Krahn and John Meadows.
Even if you’re a coach yourself it would benefit you a ton to hire one of them and learn from them as much as you can.
Next thing is understanding and explaining this curve to them.
I like to give this scenario…
Lets say you’re minding your own business and out of the blue a man comes up to you with a briefcase in hand.
Picture Leonardo DiCaprio as Jay Gatsby. He gives it to you and tells you open it.
You’re confused but you open the briefcase and all you see is stacks upon stacks of $100 bills.
It’s Leo so you know its legit and not monopoly money.
It’s one million in cash.
You can have it if you want. No strings attached.
Now hold on, before you close the suitcase and run. (I did that in my head mentally the first time I heard this analogy).
He says you can have it no strings attached…Or, you can have this…He then pulls out a penny from his Armani suit pocket (they had Armani back in the 1920’s right?).
He says, “I’ll put this penny into your bank account and I’ll double the money in the account once a month for three years.”
[By the second month you’ll have two cents. The third you’ll have four cents. The fourth you’ll have eight cents and so on.]
Before you start trying to do the math in your head, Leo quickly distracts your thoughts and says, “Which one do you want: The million, or the penny?”
You have 5 seconds to answer…
He literally starts counting down 5, 4, 3,
Now if you suck at math like me, that problem would take you 15 min to figure out let alone five seconds.
So you shout your answer.
What’d you answer?
Its ok, were all friends here. There’s no right or wrong answer.
1 Million or 1 Cent?
In the heat of the moment and with the small time frame given, most would choose the million up front.
Its cold hard cash given right there and then.
Sure we’re all smart and have already witnessed trick questions like these before, so we kind of assume already that the penny would be the better choice.
But since we don’t have time to do the math, or are not able to see the outcome, we choose the quickest, right in front of you, results right nowoption.
Instant gratification.
Does that sound familiar?
Clients really do know the answer to their riddle.
They know their penny option would probably be best.
But since they can’t see the outcome or the answer, and since they have a five second countdown in the form of social media bogus two-month transformations and extremely high expectations…they too succumb to the “I want it and I want it now” mentality where 1 million dollars up front is quick and easy.
Kick Instant Gratification In the Dick
Now this is where you explain to them what they’d get if they chose the penny.
If they chose the penny. The first year would total a whopping $20.48.
That one million is sounding awfully good isn’t it?
It’s ok, this is that limbo period where seemingly nothing is happening.
But slowly and surely you’re depositing into your “fitness account” with dedication, consistency, and day in day out on point eating and workouts.
After two years your bank account should be better right?
The second year puts you right at $83,886.05…
WTF! That’s still not even close to the one million cash.
Its ok, this is STILL limbo.
At this point you have two different types of people.
People that see no end in sight and either quit or go for instant gratification.
And those that figure F- it I’ve already gone this far might as well just keep going and see it through.
By the end of the third year…your account will have a total of $343.5 Million dollars.
Now I’m not good at math but even I know that 343 million is wayyyyyyyy more than 1 million.
And all it took was having patience and to keep depositing throughout that shitty limbo period.
Fat Loss is Just Like That.
If you were to see it as a chart graph, it would seem as if results were slow or practically nonexistent, until out of nowhere… boom!
A huge spike and results soar for a short period of time until you “graduate” to the next level of limbo.
That huge spike is more than enough to get you where you wanna be; it’s just a long and slow process at times.
Seriously.
If you think of body transformations in terms of yearly, in a three-year period it’ll feel and possibly seem like the first year and maybe even two will have been a waste.
Pump the brakes. Chill out.
It’s completely normal to feel frustrated, like you’re stuck in cement, and that progress is moving at a snail-like pace.
The metaphor above puts things into perspective: it assures you that if you’re crossing your T’s and dotting your I’s it’s not a waste…and your day in the sun will come soon.
I’m a huge Bruce Lee fan.
He liked to use water in a lot of his quotes so I’m gonna use one too.
If you’ve ever boiled water and stared at it while it boils you’ll notice that it just simmers for a good while till seemingly, out of nowhere, bubbles erupt and its boiling.
What if you change your mindset about limbo and that shit period and see the parallel to the simmering water?
Realizing that things are actually simmering and leading up to that huge skyrocket of success makes the mundane, daily grind seem much more worth it.
About the Author
Jonathan Acosta is the founder of Underground Performance Center and head trainer at Get Sexy San Antonio and is a certified personal trainer though both ISSA and the NCEP, as well as Precision Nutrition Level 1 certified.
He likes lifting heavy things, reading books with big words in them, his steaks rare, funny stuff, writing stuff, hanging out with friends, and laughing.
For the sake of brevity, this post assumes you can perform a deadlift – trap bar, straight bar, bag of groceries of the ground, person, whatever – without shitting your spine.
If you can’t, go seek out a reputable fitness professional – or Google it2 – to show you how.
Much like if someone wants to get better at writing they should, you know, write, or if they want to get better at not getting laid, they should attend Star Trek conventions…if you want to get better at deadlifitng, you should deadlift.
The more you (purposely) practice something the better you’ll get at it. I understand it’s stating the obvious, but it can’t be repeated enough.
There are many moving parts to executing a pristine deadlift, however, and oftentimes it bodes in our favor to include exercises, drills, and/or movements that compliment the lift or, more germane to the conversation, address a technique flaw or general weakness.
Below are a handful of quick-n-dirty suggestions that may (or may not) apply to you and help increase your deadlift badassery.
1) Deadstart Squats
This is one of my favorite deadlift accessory movements for a few reasons:
When set up to match your hip position for the deadlift it offers a ton of carryover in terms of both mechanics and musculature targeted.
The deadlift is (mostly) a concentric movement. The Deadstart Squat, too, is (mostly) a concentric movement.
For people who struggle with keeping their chest up (preventing their upper back from rounding) during the deadlift, this will be a challenge. NOTE: I’d likely revert to a FRONT squat hold for those who really struggle with back position here. Front squat position is also a better option for those who lack the requisite shoulder mobility (external rotation) to perform well. Another great option is using the Safety-squat or Yoke bar.
Great option for training power/explosiveness.
Because I said so.
As far as sets/reps there are two approaches I like, both of which gravitate more towards the low(er) end of the spectrum.
One (3-5)
Here, reps will stay in the 3-5 (25ish total reps) range using 60-75% of 1RM. A 4-week macro-cycle may look something like this:
Week 1: 5×5 @ 65% 1RM, 90s rest
Week 2: 6×4 @ 70% 1RM, 90s rest
Week 3: 8×3 @ 75% 1RM, 90s rest
Week 4: 3×5 @ 60% 1RM, 90s rest
Idea is to stay tight throughout duration of set. You should always come to a complete stop on the pins, however you shouldn’t relax
Two (Singles)
I love this option as I feel it offers the most carryover to my deadlift.
Because I’m only performing one-rep, I can place a premium on getting as tight as humanly possible and being as explosive AF. In addition I can go a little heavier in weight here (70-85% of 1RM)
A 4-week macrocycle may look something like this:
Week 1: 12×1 @ 70% 1RM, 30s rest
Week 2: 10×1 @ 75% 1RM, 30s rest
Week 3: 8×1 @ 80% 1RM, 60s rest
Week 4: 6×1 @ 85% 1RM, 60s rest
2) RKC Plank
I don’t know about you, but this is what I look like whenever someone brags to me about how (s)he can hold a two-minute plank:
You might as well be bragging to me about how you can point out the color red or, I don’t know, walk in a straight line.
That’s how many fucks I give about your fucking plank.
Besides, you know and I know if you’re holding a plank that long it (probably) looks like garbage.
NOTE: This is not to insinuate I’m against the plank or find zero value in it.
Au contraire.
Without going too far down the rabbit hole of spinal mechanics, prone (and side) planks (and how long someone can perform them) are a legitimate assessment tool and are staples in terms of low back rehab and performance.
Teaching the RKC Plank offers a quick primer on how to 1) perform the plank right and 2) allow people a window to appreciate what it really feels like to get and maintain full-body tension.
The RKC Plank is all about building context.
More specifically it’s about appreciating full-body tension. If someone can’t understand (or feel) what this means while lying on the floor…how in the hell are they going to understand it standing up while attempting to pick up a heavy object off the floor?
Trust me, when done right, 10s will feel like torture.
3) Straight-Arm Band Pulldowns
I stole this tip from Dr. John Rusin when I was giving his Functional Hypertrophy Training program a test-drive last year.
For the Record: it’s an awesome program.
The idea is pretty simple (and effective).
Prior to each set of deadlifts you perform a set of 5-10 repetitions of band pulldowns (holding each rep for a 3-5s count).3
This serves a few functions:
It allows the trainee to prime or feel his or her’s lats firing. Setting your lats (and subsequently posteriorly tilting your scapulae) as part of your DL set-up will help with leverages and moment arms getting you closer to the barbell. Greg Nuckols does a fantastic job at explaining things more thoroughly and nerdely HERE.
Offhandedly, it also helps with anterior core engagement, which in turn aids with rib position. Less rib flare = less lumbar extension = more stable position to lift a metric shit-ton of weight.
Closing Thoughts
None of the above are revolutionary ideas or are going to win be any fitness writing Pulitzers. However, they are exercises/drills I use myself (and with my own clients/athletes) and have found they provide a lot of benefit.
Give them a try yourself and let me know your thoughts/experiences.
Today’s guest post comes courtesy of good friend and Jedi strength coach, Todd Bumgardner. Many don’t know this, but Todd was one of the people who encouraged me most when I was thinking about leaving Cressey Sports Performance and going off on my own.
He’s a no-bullshitter and someone who tells it like it is. There’s a reason why 100+ fitness professionals trust him and the other coaches of The Strength Faction to help separate themselves from the masses; to get their shit together.
It’s because of articles like the one he’s sharing today.
As personal trainers, we’re like de facto members of the personal development industry. God, it feels weird to say that it’s an industry…almost spewing sacrilege. But it’s a reality. We spend a lot of time, and money, on personal development—and we really should. It’s worth it—it’s the sole reason Chris Merritt, Mike Connelly, and I run Strength Faction.
Commitment to personal, and professional, development has set all of our lives on an upward trajectory, and we want to help as many fellow fitness folks hit that same upward spiral.
I’m sure that you want the same thing for yourself and for your clients—a gradual ascension that carries everyone forward. Well, here’s some pretty goddamn obvious thinking: you can’t help your clients ascend unless you’re committed to the process. It’s a long game, and it’s worth playing. Here are a few tips we’ve found helpful for staying in the game and moving toward the goal line.
1) Realize That It’s Important
Let’s start here.
We love the X’s and O’s of our profession. We want the answer when someone asks us how many sets we should be doing for hypertrophy (there is no real answer, by the way), and we love being able to pontificate with each other on the virtues and vices of a given energy systems development strategy—when in reality ninety percent of our clients wouldn’t be affectively able to use it.
Professional development is important, so please, don’t take that as a slight.
We have to be good at what we do, and we have to get results for our people. But most of our impact, and our money, is made by being a human that’s worth being around. Granted, we all start with different raw materials—some folks have natural propensities for human connection, others have a difficult time. Some, yet, are born assholes and have to learn how to be someone worth being around. I mostly fall into the latter category.
Aw, come on: does this look like the face (or body) of an asshole?
In the context of our careers, personal development is the scaffolding that allows us to display our professional development.
Being a growth-centered human being gives people cause to feel attracted to us—people like people headed in the right direction. It also gives us the chance to actually connect with the people that want our help. The New Zealand All Blacks live by the value that “better people make better All Blacks.” The same is true for personal trainers.
Beyond the toil of our work, personal development, in my limited understanding of life, is what we’re here to do. By the time the casket closes and the loved ones that we leave behind say their goodbyes, we should be the best possible thing that we could evolve into. I believe that’s the most important thing in the world.
2) Decide What You Value
“I really need help with time management. I’m not always sure what I should be doing, and I waste a lot of time. I feel like I never get done all of the things I should get done.”
The quotation is a conglomeration of three common statements I hear on coaching calls. Most folks feel like they need to do a better job managing their time—and they’re not wrong. But I don’t think the main problem is time management, it’s value management.
It’s tough to use time wisely if we don’t know what our aim is, what’s most important to us, where we’re trying to go.
I think we just try to be busy because it seems like everyone else is busy and that’s what we’re supposed to do. It’s the illusion of hustle perpetuated by guys that are really good at marketing on social media. They convince us that if we “grind” and follow their lead, we’ll get all the shit we want.
It’s circular, empty promise.
But it does lead us back to the starting line, the initial question: what do you want, and what do you value above all else?
Having the answer to that two-part question will give you the best insight into how you should manage your time.
Personally, I value human development for development’s sake above all else, so I don’t mind busying myself with it. But it also helps me order how I should spend my time each morning, each afternoon, and each evening.
It decides who, and what, get my time, and most importantly, my attention.
You don’t, however, have to hustle and grind if that’s not what you value—fuck the Jones’. If you value living in rural America and raising chickens, figure out how to do more of that.
If you feel aimless with your time, work through what you value you most. That will give you your aim. Then, when you have an aim to develop yourself toward, you’ll be better able to manage your time doing the little things that take you closer to that aim.
3) Just Have Good Friends (Forget About Your Goddamn Network for a Minute)
Psychological safety, unbridled truth—it’s a concept we use to guide our actions as leaders at our gym and as leaders of Strength Faction. What it means is we create a consistent, supportive environment that allows people to be themselves and feel like they are safe. Once this happens, people usually open up enough to hear the truth—from themselves and from other people. But the environment has to exist first.
That’s what a good friendship is—an environment where you feel heard and understood enough to let people tell you the truth.
And a good friend will tell you the truth, not just pat your ass and tell you that you’re special.
They’ll unconditionally show you that they love you while also holding up a mirror so you can look at yourself, recognize your faults, and do something about them. That’s the community we’ve created in Strength Faction. Our members have become friends. They look out for each other. They support each other.
And they tell each other the truth.
Here’s an example from the Summer ’17 Faction.
One member posted a poll to gather strength coach’s opinions on yoga.
At the end of the questionnaire she included a question that quite a few members thought was off-putting and unnecessary—so they told her about it.
She, then, engaged them in dialogue and explained herself.
The conversation went on, and everyone expressed their opinions, their truths, without attack. They stayed in dialogue. They were friends…even though many of them had never met other than in our private Facebook group and on our weekly ZOOM calls.
That’s what a web of friends does for your development. There’s not a lot of talk about that in our industry. Mostly the conversation centers on expanding our networks.
Don’t get me wrong, that’s important. But if you want to develop, networks need to evolve into friendships, or sometimes you have to prioritize friends over networking. Each needs to exist, but a web of friends in a community that’s moving in a good direction will do more for your life, and development, than an expansive, superficial network.
Personal Trainer, Personal Development
It’s a long game, folks. But when we commit to ourselves, and the process of personally developing over the long haul, this strange thing happens—things get better. Make some time for personal development, prioritize based on values, and make sure you have the right people around you. You’ll keep inching toward the goal line.
Enrollment for the Fall ’17 Strength Faction is currently open!
If you dig learning more, or enrolling, check out the link below.
I mean, that’s the last adjective I’d use to describe them. A back massage feels good. Hitting a walk-off home-run feels good. Hell, I’d argue getting kicked in the balls feels good compared to a heavy set of front squats.
The set-up is kinda wonky and you’re always at the risk of suffocating yourself – not the greatest feeling in the world when you’re trying to lift heavy things. Then there’s that annoying part where the barbell inevitably starts to roll off the shoulders.
Each repetition is a battle against gravity (and patience).
It sucks.
The front squat JUST SUCKS.
That said, I’d be remiss to ignore the front squat is still a staple exercise I prefer to incorporate myself and something I have most of my clients perform as well.
Why?
They’re joint friendly – almost always a better option for those with a history of lower back and knee pain.
They allow most people to attain a deeper depth.
They’re (arguably) easier to perform compared to back squats. They allow a more upright torso (which plays into the deeper depth thing), and for anyone who lacks the requisite upper back and/or shoulder mobility (abduction/external rotation, T-spine extension) front squats are a superb option.
They help build a monster set of legs, help bulletproof the core, and turn your back into the size of Rhode Island.
I’d go into more of the particulars but 1) I’m lazy and 2) my good buddy, Eric Bach, already did and wrote an excellent article on the front squat HERE that I could’t possibly top.
Go read it, seriously.
Anyways, as much as I tend to belly-ache about how much the front squat makes me want to slam my face into a brick wall, I do prefer performing them over back squats.
Mainly because, and I can’t believe I’m about to say this…
I’m 40 now, not 25.
It’s not lost on me that my 25 year old self would Sparta kick my 40 year old self in the pancreas for uttering the “I’m 40 now” line.4
However, while I don’t expect my N=1 anecdote to reflect everyone else’s experience, if I were a betting man I’d put everything on black that a vast majority of people reading feel the same way.
Stuff just feels different at 40 compared to 25.
Relax internet, I still back squat.
But not as much as I used to, and not nearly as heavy. If I were to be honest, I back squat juuuuuuust enough to maintain a decent enough number in addition to having enough of a carry over to my deadlift. After that I don’t give a shit.
I’m not a powerlifter, so who cares?
Besides I DOfeel I get more out of the front squat (see reasons above), and more importantly it just feels better and doesn’t beat me up as much. And while I’m not winning any internet dick measuring contests by posting this, I have worked up to a 300+ lb front squat which is nothing to sneeze at.
A post shared by Tony Gentilcore (@tonygentilcore) on
My 2 Favorite Front Squat Cues
The biggest issues I find with most trainees with regards to the front squat is bar placement on the shoulders and the fact the bar has a tendency to roll off the shoulders. Both are annoying, but both have a simple solution.
Check out this video below – it’s short – to find out my two “go to” cues for cleaning up front squat technique. I hope it helps.
When my wife and I first started dating there’s one thing I used to do that used to drive her crazy.
It didn’t involve placement of the toilet seat. I put that shit down like a champion. And it didn’t involve my use of colorful language; she’s equally as potty mouthy as me.
In hindsight this “thing” was borderline unforgivable, and, to be honest, I’m kind of embarrassed to admit this. Here goes:
My name is Tony Gentilcore and I used to order my steaks well-done.
At the time I just didn’t know any better. Prior to meeting Lisa a romantic dinner out for me was hitting up Applebee’s on 2 for 1 entree night.5 So you can imagine the look of disdain on her face when we went to a fancy schmancy restaurant in the North End here in Boston on date #3 and I did what I did.
I might as well have belched the theme song to Fresh Price of Bel Air while being seated or, I don’t know, farted in her Caesar salad. Both would have been less egregious dinner etiquette snafus than ordering a steak well-done.
I mean, WTF?
She married me nonetheless. But not until we had a “talk” and she made me watch every season of Top Chef.
Speaking of “talks,” I posted this Tweet the other day and it sparked some good comments:
What’s the one thing you have the hardest time getting clients to adopt? Mine is rest periods. More specific: actually taking rest.
I’ve been coaching people for a little over 15 years now and the idea of rest periods – or, to be more specific – actually taking rest between sets – is the one thing I still have the hardest time getting many of my clients to adopt.
Whether it’s because they’ve taken one too many CrossFit classes or because of their supercharged Type A personality on steroids, the idea of taking rest between sets – let alone a rest day – doesn’t compute.
Half my battle with new(ish) clients is to get them to understand there’s a rationale and purpose for rest periods, that they’re good for them, will help them, and more importantly…that they won’t lose any points for Gryffindor for standing in place for more than 30 seconds without performing a burpee.
Don’t get me wrong: there’s a time and place for metabolic or circuit-based training that require diminished rest periods; especially if the goal is to increase conditioning and/or work capacity. However, I can’t tell you how many times someone has started with me, expressed an interest in getting stronger, and I have to do everything in my power to get them to chill out.
Day one/program one is always interesting. They’ll do a set and before I can offer any feedback they’re half-way through set #2.
Eight minutes later they’re done with their program and asking for more.
I can appreciate their willingness to get after it, but the “go go go” approach is almost always why 1) they haven’t seen any significant improvements in their lifts in eons and 2) they have an inane proclivity at being hurt all the time.
As strength coach, Mike Sheridan, wrote in THIS post on my site last year:
“Despite the ‘rest makes you weak’ mantra from aerobic instructors, or the ‘no pain no gain’ philosophy of many CrossFitters, we start training a different energy system when rest is too short.
We’re not trying to exhaust the muscle, we’re trying to strengthen and improve it.
When we perform an endless number of muscle contractions (repetitions), we end up building muscular endurance as opposed to hypertrophy or strength.
And start training aerobically, instead of anaerobically.
Compromising our ability to build strength and muscle, and facilitating an overall loss in power and explosiveness.Whether it’s resistance training or not.
Even though shorter rest periods produce a larger hormonal response and more metabolic stress, while longer rest periods allow for more weight to be lifted on subsequent sets, there is still a minimum threshold for proper recovery.
If rest periods are too short, the number of reps declines, the weight lifted declines, and so does the total workout volume.”
Shorter rest periods do have a positive effect on metabolic stress, one of the factors that plays into improved hypertrophy (growth) of the muscle. However when strength is the goal it’s important to note that too short of rest, while great for increasing things like levels of testosterone, IGF-1, and gH, can be offset due to the decrease in mechanical tension and strength output, all of which stems from accumulated fatigue (due to lack of rest).
To keep things to a nice, short, and succinct stopping point I can’t state things any better than what Mike says here:
“We don’t want our rest period at a point where it’s difficult to perform as much ‘work’ as would be possible with slightly longer rest.Which means keeping it high enough to maximize the number of successful reps over multiple sets, while still experiencing adequate metabolic stress to stimulate hypertrophy.”
The “sweet spot,” then, is 90-180 seconds of rest between sets.
This can seem like torture to some people, analogous to scratching nails on a chalkboard or worse, being forced to watch What the Health in a room full of vegetarians.6
To that end I find rest periods to be opportune time to take advantage of “filler” exercises. You know, exercises that activate or mobilize stuff that people are supposed to do in their warm-ups that they inevitable always skip.
If someone has poor T-spine rotation or extension I’ll have him or her perform some Side Lying Open Books in between sets of deadlifts:
Side Lying Open Book
Or maybe they need to work on a little adductor length and opening up their hips more. If that’s the case this drill works wonders in between sets of squats:
Happy Baby Stretch
NOTE: I mis-spoke and called this the “goalie stretch” in the video, but I also have a 5-month old at home and haven’t slept since January, so fuck off…;o)
Filler exercises can be anything: glute activation drills, scapular upward rotation drills, T-spine mobility drills, hip flexor mobilizations, a particular stretch, naming all the members of Wu-Tang Clan, anything. The idea is they’re low-grade, low-demand, easy, and address something that won’t sacrifice performance on subsequent sets of iron work.
Heck, if all else fails, if someone is still flying through things, this would be one of the rare instances where I’d encourage them to go peruse their Instagram feed or post a picture of their protein shake on Twitter.
There’s little room to be ambiguous. More times than not, if someone wants to make and see progress in the gym…getting them to respect rest periods is going to be an important conversation to have. It’s the easiest way to ensure one recovers and is able to sustain performance and high(er) outputs during their training sessions.
Having a discussion about “off-days” is a blog post for another day.
You would think, based off all the alarmist articles I come across on the internet extolling the sentiment, that everyone walking around – you, me, leprechauns7, everyone – has tight hamstrings.
And as a result, if you do a search on Google, you’ll come across roughly 8, 089, 741 (+/- 41, 903) articles telling you why, how, and when to stretch them.
Tight hamstrings have been to blame for a lot of things, including but not limited to:
Back pain.
Knee pain.
Shoulder pain.
Any sort of pain.
Male pattern baldness.
Global warming.
The “death” of Jon Snow.
And while tight hamstring can be the root cause of some of those things, to always put the blame on them is a bit reductionist and narrow-minded to say the least.
In short: It’s the default culprit for lazy coaches and personal trainers to gravitate towards.
To steal a quote from Dr. John Rusin from THIS recent T-Nation article:
“If you’re stretching your hamstrings every day for months (or years) on end without improved flexibility, mobility, movement patterning, or pain relief, it’s not working. And it’s time to get out of this rehab purgatory.
If you aren’t seeing results from stretching, then it’s not only a waste of time, but it may be working against you. The thing is, muscles don’t get longer; they maintain a certain tone or tightness based on neurological impulse. So yes, strategic stretching DOES work in terms of reducing tone and tightness (in the short and long term), but if it hasn’t worked for you by now, it’s probably not going to.”
To steal a quote from myself:
“In order to increase the length of a muscle you need to either 1) lengthen bone (um, ouch!) or 2) in the case of someone who truly presents as short or stiff, increase the total number of sarcomeres in series (which takes a metric shit-ton of stretching).
Ask physical therapist Bill Hartman how long someone really needs to stretch in order to have a significant affect and/or to add sarcomeres, and he’ll tell you the starting point is 2-3, 10 minute holds per day. Working up to 20 minute holds.
Simply put: most people aren’t so much tight as they are “stuck” in a poor position.
It goes back to something physical therapist and strength coach, Mike Reinold, brought up in casual conversation not long ago:
Which is more important to hammer first: stability or mobility?
Those trainers and coaches who swing on the stability side of the pendulum tend to be the overly cautious type who have their clients stand on BOSU balls for 45 minutes.
Those who swing on the the mobility side of things sleep with their copy of Supple Leopardevery night.
Neither approach is inherently wrong so much as they’re flawed (if haphazardly assumed as “correct” for every person, in every situation).
If you strengthen (stabilize) in misalignment you develop an imbalance. If you stretch (mobilize) in misalignment you develop instability.
Take someone who presents with excessive anterior pelvic tilt. It’s not uncommon for said person to complain about constantly “tight” hamstrings, and no matter how often they stretch them, they stay tight.
You would think that after weeks, months, or sometimes even years of non-stop “stretching” they’d see some improvement, right?
Wrong.
The reason why they feel tight all the time has little to do with their hamstrings, but rather pelvic positioning.
Unless you address the position of the pelvis – in this case, excessive anterior pelvic tilt – you can stretch the hamstrings until they stop making those shitty Transformers movies (when will it end?) and you’ll never see an improvement.8
Think about it this way: in this scenario the reason why the hamstrings feel tight is because they’re lengthened and firing on all cylinders. By stretching them you’re just feeding into the problem in the first place!
We could easily chalk this up to the classic Lower Cross Syndrome as popularized by Dr. Vladomir Janda and stretch what’s tight (hip flexors, erectors), and that would be a step in the right direction.
Cool.
But I feel for most people, most of the time, that’s not going to solve the problem.
Instead, for the bulk of people, addressing things like anterior core strength (deadbugs, anyone?) in addition to active hip flexion and extension drills, like the Core Engaged Active Straight Leg Raise, is going to be money.
Real Life Example Of Not (Really) Tight Hamstrings
Take one of my clients, Dima. For all intents and purposes he’s someone who presents as “tight” AF in the hamstring department.
To throw him under the bus a teeny-tiny bit, if we tested his Active Straight Leg Raise this very minute anyone who’s taken the FMS would grade him the following way:
The thing is, as poor as his ASLR appears, I can get more range of motion passively. Meaning, if I were to manually “stretch” his hamstrings I can nudge a bit more ROM.
Since this is the case, wouldn’t it make sense to have him stretch his hamstrings?
Meh, not really.
Now, in Dima’s case, I’m not saying we avoid stretching his hamstrings. He is someone who’s a candidate for doing so (and we do), albeit I don’t prioritize it nearly as much as some coaches/trainers may do.
Instead I have perform stuff like this:
Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat
That’s some Gandalf type shit right there.
NOTE: Yes, I recognize he’s still unable to get full knee extension, but you can clearly see his ROM improved and the ease at which he got the additional ROM is night and day compared to the start.
All without stretching.
My boy Dean Somerset does a better job than myself explaining the mechanism at play here:
“Part of it is matching the active ability to achieve the position with the passive range of motion that’s available. If they can passively get there, they’re not “tight” or “restricted,” they just may not have the strength or motor control in that specific position, so doing some hip flexion movements can help build context of how to get there so that on their follow up test, they have a better knowledge base of active hip flexion capability to get into.”
In the end, don’t always assume everyone needs to stretch. A little active range of motion in conjunction with TENSION can go a long ways at building context and improving ROM.
Today’s guest post comes courtesy of MBSC Thrive coach, Sean De Wispelaere. When it comes to fitness entrepreneurship – NOTE: commercial gyms trainers this still applies to you – everyone’s always looking for that one “trick” or slight “edge” that will help separate themselves from the masses and serve as the tipping point towards success.
Below are a few things that Sean has noticed from some of the of the top performing coaches have in common within the Thrive program/system.
1). Do You
Gary Vaynerchuck, a well-respected entrepreneur and social medial savage, spoke at the USC Entrepreneur Talk a few years back. He had 60 minutes on the clock, walked in, and told the class that the only piece of advice that matters is that they have to identify what they are good at and go all in on that.
He then asked if there were any questions. Savage
Relating that back to the coaching or training, you have to find out who you are as a coach and be really good at making sure your clients see that authentic you. If not, you will always be missing “something” and it will affect your ability to succeed at the level that you want in this industry.
It looks like all of our teachers, parents, and Dr-freaking-Seuss were right. I typically don’t trust anyone wearing a striped hat and bow tie…unless they advocate eggs (or even green eggs)…if Dr. Seuess had a rhyme-y coffee and deadlift book he’d be a triple threat.
Anyway, the majority of coaches or trainers who I have seen fail are the ones who fail to be their authentic self.
The clients are being 100.01% authentic when they buy your services.
That means that they need your help, that they cannot do this on their own, and believe that you’re the one who can help them.
So, when you’re not authentic they will sniff it out over time and as a result they will end their time with you. They usually say that they “can’t afford it anymore,” or “they have a new job that messes up their schedule,” or “King Leonidus power-kicked them into a deep dark hole.
…Regardless of their reason, it comes down to this harsh truth, in my opinion: They don’t trust you. You’re supposed to be the person that helps them succeed with something very challenging and when “something just doesn’t feel right,” you’re done.
Your clients should know some of your quirks, your interests, and why you do what you do.
Warning: there’s a line.
If one of your quirks is that you like to go to Comic-Con, cool. But they shouldn’t know that you went to Comic-Con last week, got hammered, and made 1-5 bad decisions with a Pikachu.
There is no cookie-cutter way of doing this. I’ve seen badass coaches who are the pump-up/hype coach, coaches who are quiet but remember EVERYTHING about their people, coaches who are uber-nerds and give their clients superhero personas, coaches who send a weekly newsletter to their clients just to let them know what is upcoming this week and highlight some clients.
Do you.
You have to be the person that you truly are and not the version that sounds good when you meet someone at the next fitness conference.
Outside of all of the things that can make you, you, here are the things that you have to be able to say ‘yes’ to:
Do you believe in your clients?
Do you lead by example and eat, train, and live the life that you’re advising?
Do you like people?
If your answers to the above aren’t an unequivocal “YES,” then find a way to make them a part of who you are. If you are unable to do that, then you might have to consider a different path. Sorry, but it’s true and might save you a lot of headache down the road.
2) Develop A Firm Philosophy
Your philosophy should be one that your clients can understand.
Keep it simple.
It will go a long way when they are telling their friends about you and WHY your workouts are different than the other programs in your area. On that note, spend the time educating your clients (not all at once…drip it out over time, Turbo). Develop an army of people spreading your good word and impacting your overall culture.
You can’t just be another “get sweaty as F%$k” workout in 2017. There is WAY too much of that and you won’t stand out.
A few tips to develop, re-work, strengthen, or badass-ify your philosophy:
Simplicity is king
It has to be one that you believe in so that your enthusiasm about it is contagious
Let it marinate…
When you hear a new idea or see a super sweet new piece of equipment don’t become immediately turned on (whoa, whoa…outta the gutter, Nasty) or turned off by it. Let it marinate to see if it actually fits into your philosophy and then make the call.
“Don’t be afraid to neglect certain ideas that oppose your message But you’re just as proud of what our products don’t do as are of what they do.” – Jason Fried, ReWork
Too many coaches and trainers think that they have to know everything about everything and include all of the things into their philosophy. I am not saying that you shouldn’t strive to be diverse, but it is ok to take some pressure off of yourself. It wasn’t until I read the above quote that I had a simple way of telling people why we don’t do that one flashy exercise that their friend on Instagram does.The quote is now my gift to you and I hope it helps you say “no” and have that be a positive thing more often.
You are the professional and that is why they hired you. If you let the clients dictate the workout, then why would they keep paying you? Also, remember to have fun (seriously, it’s ok.)
Disclaimer 1:I am well aware it is not about the money. There are 100 other reasons as to why this is the best industry in the entire world, but most coaches are not in a place where they can do it for free.
I have seen aspiring coaches who deeply wanted fitness as their profession, but couldn’t make it financially so they got a job that they didn’t love because it paid the bills. So, though it isn’t all about the money, it is a business and if you want to have the financial means to make it a profession that you are fulfilled in then below are some good business thing-things to keep in mind.
Disclaimer 2: If you have a product, people will buy it. Yes, it really is that simple. They will buy it and tell their friends about. Cool. That is all good and fine, but too many coaches and trainers wait for that to happen. If you want to expedite the process, here are a few ideas to consider.
Referrals
How many referrals per month are you getting? If you have 20 clients and got 4 referrals that is 20%.
How much can you increase that % by each month?
How to increase:
Ask!
Why can’t you have a special group session each month with all of your clients? One that is on-the-house and at the end you let them know that the biggest compliment that they can give you is to bring in a friend to experience what they have. Hand out some “bring a friend” workout cards and let them know how much you appreciate them.
Voila.
New Leads
Outside of marketing via social media (that is a 1,000.5 page article on it’s own)…
Look, I get it. Asking people to workout with you can be a tricky task. Whether you’re in a big box gym or a studio setting this is always a hot/awkward topic. If you’re the type that is able to just walk down the street and grab five leads for a workout…awesome, you don’t need any help and enjoy that cool horn, you’re a unicorn.
But, if you’re like the rest of us…
Drawing up leads:
Have a weekly or monthly 15-minute KB workshop -or- 2 secrets of fat-loss nutrition tips -or- back pain reducing warm up, etc
Promote it by telling everyone when they check-into the gym
Get promo cards made up and pass them out
Get it on the Group Fitness Schedule
If you’re not getting New Leads
Outside of marketing via social media (that is a 1,000.5 page article on it’s own)...
…in a big box gym, then all of the above topics work well for corporate in-services. Most companies in your area would LOVE to have a health professional come in and talk to their staff. Be audacious enough to reach out to the right people to make that happen.
Conversion
If you give 10 people an introductory workout and ask them to continue training with you, how many say “yes?” 30% is acceptable and upwards of 80% is REALISTIC if you’re damn good.
How to increase it you ask? Well, let’s go to school.
How good is the initial workout or assessment that you give just before you ask for the sale?
Do people understand why your services are unparalleled?
Have you asked your clients why signed up with you and leveraged those reasons into that initial workout with future leads?
Do you consider yourself a student of sales or just blow off that idea as if it is insulting? If you have a product that you are truly proud of and one that can help people live a better life, then why aren’t you proud to influence as many people as possible with that?
When was the last time you read a sales book and had a good mindset about it? Are they relatively corny? Yes, but, there just might be a few valuable tools in them to help you grow your venture.
“Time-the-heck-OUT! Sean, you didn’t give any advice in the above conversion topic at all.”
Or did I? Figured I go out with a Mr. Miyagi moment, Danielson.
* Special moment: To say that writing with Tony Gentilcore, the first fitness blog that I read AND respected, is an honor just doesn’t seem like a strong enough word. Dreams come true.
Thanks for reading and Kaizen on, Beast.
About the Author
Who am I?
Sean De Wispelaere. I have been with MBSC Thrive since the developmental years in 2010 and have contributed to many areas within the company. Mainly in program quality, coach development, and making sure that all of our locations have the support that they need to reach their wildest dreams. Featured in Men’s Health, Women’s Health, Prevention, Runner’s World, Vitamin Shoppe, Bicycling, and Seandthrive.com.
MBSC Thrive licenses facilities across the world with the Mike Boyle Strength And Conditioning program and branding while fueling it with proven business systems.
Dr. Michael Infantino is a physical therapist. He works with active military members in the DMV region. You can find more articles by Michael at 
