Not in the “I drive 45 MPH in the left lane on the highway” slow or “I need to give exact change to the cashier so let me dig around in my pocketbook for two nickels and three pennies while everyone else waiting in line taps their foot” slow.
No, not quite. And just so we’re clear: I don’t own a pocketbook. I was just using that as a frame of reference, mmmmkay?
What I’m referring to when I say I’m slow is how I lift weights. I’m just, you know, slow. I lack explosiveness, pizzazz, “oomph,” whatever you want to call it, I just lack it.
Take my deadlift for example. I have a decent pull. My best is 570 lbs at a bodyweight of 190. My goal is to eventually pull 600 at a bodyweight of whateverthef*&k. I don’t care, I just want to pull 600. However, the biggest hurdle to jump when it comes to hitting this milestone is my speed off the floor.
To put it bluntly – It sucks!
Don’t get me wrong, I’ve done my fair share of dedicated speed work, working in the prerequisite 45-65% 1RM range and placing an emphasis on bar speed. But it’s just never panned out for me. And, if I were to speak candidly, there’s a small part of me that prefers grinding out heavy sets anyways, which is a very ass-backwards way of doing things.
NOTE: For a brief primer on the “Strength Continuum,” and to get a better idea of the ins and outs of what I’m talking about, I’d highly encourage you to check ou this video by Eric Cressey
I’ve been talking about this goal of mine for at least 2-3 years now. And for the past 2-3 years I haven’t made much of an effort to address my weakness, just assuming that if I grind out enough heavy singles, and if I want it bad enough, it will just somehow magically happen one day.
Well, we all know what they say: the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.
So it’s been within the past month or so that I’ve had an epiphany and decided to nip things in the bud. In a nutshell I need to get a little more athletic.
As noted in the video above, I’m one of those guys that’s been leaning more towards the absolute strength side of things and completely neglecting the speed side. Bad Tony!
Now, this isn’t all to say that I’m an un-athletic sloth here. It’s like I look like the Tin Man when I run, I can still throw a baseball in the mid-80s, and I’m pretty sure I could last at least seven seconds in a cage-fight with Gina Carano:
The impetus behind my new found motivation is an article that my pal, Todd Bumgardner, wrote a while back for T-Nation (HERE) where he discussed the benefits of implementing more “neural charge” workouts throughout the week.
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?).
Getting faster is a full-proof way to get stronger. Likewise, implementing more of this type of training is a great way to improve inter and intramuscular coordination, increase recruitment of high-threshold motor units, increase rate coding, and lets be honest: it just looks bad ass.
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.
Nevertheless the basic premise is this: you 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.
Here’s an example of a neural charge workout that I took myself through this past Saturday and Wednesday:
From a personal perspective I’ve been prioritizing more jumps in my training – hence the box jumps and split squat jumps. But 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, 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.
I’ve been implementing these twice a week as of late, but I know Todd and other coaches have no qualms going higher than that. There’s a bit of autonomy and personal preference here, but I’d caution against going overboard.
And it seems to be working. I walked up to a bar loaded with 500 lbs in the middle of the afternoon the other day, and without warming up pulled it for an easy triple with more in the tank.
Nevertheless, this may be a nice fit for some people who feel stagnant in their training and need a bit of a boost. Try it out and let me know how it goes.
As if you couldn’t tell from the title of this post and the picture to the left, like most human-beings with a Y-chromosome in their DNA I went to go see the new Superman movie this past weekend, Man of Steel.
And by “went to go see,” what I really mean is that I totally picked out my t-shirt the night before and acted like a giddy school girl at a Justin Bieber concert while we waited in line to be seated at the theater.
Saving the theatrics, all I’ll say is that the movie was visually stunning. The director, Zach Snyder, of 300 and Watchmen fame, left no stone unturned in terms of the CGI and look of the film. While I could sit here and have a conniption about a few things, all in all it was an awesomely entertaining movie to watch – which is what you want in a summer “popcorn” movie anyways.
Cutting to the chase is Henry Cavill (AKA: Superman). If anyone reading needs an indication about how yoked he looked in the movie, here is the text message – verbatim – that Lisa sent her best girlfriend after the movie:
Dayuuuuuuum
She followed that with another message to her friend: “Pecs, beware of the pecs.”
At which point I was like,”Pfffffft, whatever. Okay, we get it, he’s hot. And kinda jacked. And I hate him because I’m not him. Lets turn the page shall we????”
Before heading out to go see the movie, I wrote a silly post on my Facebook page:
It’s inevitable. Since this is opening weekend of Man of Steel, I’m almost cringing at thought of the number of articles, blog posts, and threads that are going to detail “The Superman Workout” coming this Monday.
It’s going to be the “300” phenomenon all over again. All you need to do is train for five-seven hours a day, and you too can look like a superhero/diesel Spartan! Seems pretty realistic to me….;o)
But in all seriousness, Henry Cavill did get yolked up for this role (cue man crush now).
I’m not gonna lie, though: as soon as we got home from the movie I immediately busted through our apartment door and banged out like 20 chin-ups. Totally not kidding.
Upping the cheesiness factor even more, I also cued up the Man of Steel theme song – HERE – hoisted Lisa into my arms and flew around the living room as if I was Superman for like twelve seconds.
Nonetheless, my prediction was 100% spot on. Perusing the interwebz this AM I found a handful of articles discussing Cavill’s transformation. I give it a week before there’s a “Superman Workout” class offered at your local fitness club.
But here’s the kicker: most people are never going to look like Superman. Like, ever.
Stealing a quote from my Facebook page from another trainer:
Watched an interview with him last night. Said it took nine months, and his contract with Warner stated he was only allowed to eat food provided by them. I’ve recorded it, to play back to my clients who moan how ‘unfair’ it is that they can’t make the same changes the film stars do. They don’t seem to grasp the concept that getting in shape becomes the person’s full-time job, not just a couple of hours after work, if they feel like it…
For those interested, the interview is below…..
And for those looking for more of a rated R commentary, there was a detailed blog posted recently over on the Chaos of Pain website discussing Cavill’s training and diet for both his roles in Immortals and Man of Steel.
I will encourage people to read the article if for nothing else than the last paragraph:
As usual, the takeaway from a “So and So” seems to be- eat a ton, train a ton, sleep a ton if you want to look superhuman. Doing what everyone else is doing isn’t going to cut it. 45 minutes of half-assed training a day four times a week isn’t going to cut it. “Cutting out carbs a little” isn’t going to cut it. If you want extreme results, you have to apply extreme effort- quit whining about who’s taking what, who’s got the best genetics, and why you don’t have the time or energy to get what you want. If a dude who’s nickname growing up was “Fat Cavill” could do it, so can you.
All of this isn’t to poo-poo on people who watch the movie and are all of a sudden motivated to train their ass off. Hell, I’m not impervious to the same thought process. Did you not read the part above where deadlifted a tank after leaving the theater?
But a lot of what needs to happen after movies like this are released is what I like to call expectation management.
There are going to be a lot of dudes out there this week who are going to hit the gym with reckless abandon, training with some intent and purpose for the first time in a looooong time. Likewise I’m sure a fair number will hit up their local GNC and buy a year’s supply of protein powder and creatine.
This isn’t a bad thing. Anything that gets people motivated to train (hard) and to recognize that just because they were in the gym for 45 minutes doesn’t give them a “free pass” to visit Dunkin Donuts is a step in the right direction.
BUT, and this a huge but……..
You have to understand that this isn’t something you do for two weeks. Either you’re all in or you’re not. You can’t crush a six-pack because the season finale of How I Met Your Mother is on tonight. Moreover, you can’t “skip a day” because you have a headache.
You’re most likely going to hate life, and you’ll probably want to drop kick anyone who dares eat a carb in front of you.
But THAT’S what it takes. It isn’t just a matter of showing up and going through the motions like everyone else. I mean, everyone does that! You have to sacrifice a few things. Yes, even pizza night. You have to be willing to be uncomfortable.
You have to shit or get off the pot.
Like I said: I’m all for people getting motivated to train. But at the same time, we also need to be realistic. Just my two-cents this morning.
These were cues one of our new interns were giving an athlete the other day while trying to coach him through his very first deadlift session.
It wasn’t going well, and I could tell said intern was getting a little perplexed as to why things weren’t going to plan or falling into place. No matter which cues he used the athlete resembled more of a melting candle than someone who was “getting” the exercise.
At one point I was half-expecting him to blurt out, “okay, I got it! Stand-up, hop on one leg, pat your head, and say the alphabet backwards!”
Obviously that didn’t happen (and if it did I probably would have laughed), but it’s something I think a lot of trainers and coaches (new and old) struggle with on a daily basis. And that’s CUEING!!!
Or, to be more specific: using internal cues when external cues would be more beneficial and worthwhile.
This is something we’ve been more cognizant of at Cressey Performance and paying more attention to, and it’s been working like a charm with many of our athletes and general population clients.
And we’re not the only ones. A few weeks ago I was forwarded an article by Armi Legge of Impruvism.com that he wrote titled How a Simple Mind Trick Can Make You Stronger in Seconds, which breaks down the science behind the efficacy of using external foci over internal.
I won’t spoil the entire article (you can click the link above), but in his own words Amri breaks it down like this :
An internal focus of attention means you’re thinking about your body movements. Your legs when squatting, your arms when doing chin-ups, your chest when benching, etc.
An external focus means you’re focusing on something in your environment that’s relevant to your task. If you’re squatting, this would mean focusing on the bar or on pushing the bar towards the ceiling.
This is an incredibly subtle difference, but it can have a huge impact on your performance. In some cases, researchers will give one group instructions that only differ by one or two words.
In a study using a vertical jump test, here were the instructions:
Internal focus: “Focus on your fingers.”
External focus: “Focus on the rungs.”
The latter option is better. Research has consistently shown that an external focus improves motor learning, strength, coordination, and performance across a wide range of activities and ability levels.
And as such this is EXACTLY the road we’re travelling down more and more at the facility using more external cues when coaching something through their session.
Some quick examples:
Deadlift
Internal Cue: Arch your back, get your chest up.
External Cue: Show me the logo on your shirt.
Internal Cue: Push your hips back
External Cue: Try to hit the wall behind you with your hips.
Squat
Internal Cue: Push your knees out.
External Cue: Spread the floor with your feet.
Internal Cue: Grip the bar tight.
External Cue: Try to melt the bar with your hands.
Bench Press
Internal Cue: Push the bar up.
External Cue: Try to hit the ceiling.
Med Ball Throws
** Particularly when trying to get them to throw the ball with some anger!
Internal Cue: Use your hips to throw the ball.
External Cue: Pretend someone just took a massive shit on your car and now you’re pissed.
Note: If I’m working with a young athlete I might say something along the lines of “pretend Voldemort actually defeated Harry Potter,” or something to that affect.
And it’s really that simple. While we’re often under the impression that we need to a bunch of smoke and mirrors in order to see marked improvements in the gym, sometimes it’s just a matter of using a simple Jedi mind trick.
The first major purchase I bought when I graduated college was a new car. Okay there was that, a Playstation 2, and what was probably the 7th “limited edition” release of Star Wars on DVD – but who’s counting?
The year was 2002. Like I said I had just graduated from college, The Bachelor was all the rage on tv, and was lucky enough to land my first real job as a “health and fitness specialist” at a corporate gym located just outside the Syracuse, NY area.
Purchasing a new car was uncharted territory for me as all I had driven up to that point was my parents minivan (not exactly a chick magnet if you know what I mean), a 1984 Ford Tempo which was a deathtrap waiting to happen (but it was MY very first deathtrap car, and I loved it) and a 199somethingorother Oldsmobile Achieva that was a hand-me-down from my grandmother.
A brand spankin new car was kind of a big deal in my book. And after having done a little research on a few options within my price range and budget, I elected to go with a Hyundai Elantra based on its unparalleled warranty and climbing reputation as a reliable car.
Armed with my step-dad, who’s negotiation skills are only matched by that of a thrifty ninja, I walked into the dealership and ended up paying what I felt was a reasonable price.
And without getting all sappy and sentimental, that car served me well for over a decade – through two Presidents, three relationships, and two god-awful Star Wars prequels. Although, giving credit where credit’s due: Revenge of the Sith was okay.
Heck it even made a cameo appearance on this very blog YEARS ago when I filmed a video of some of our younger athletes pushing it to the gas-station in our back parking lot as part of a fun finisher.
It’s something that I’ve been sitting on and contemplating for probably two years now, but alas, two radiators, countless brake pads, wheel bearings, and a few parking tickets later (not to mention 199,939 miles)…….it was time to turn the page and get a new car.
The decision didn’t come without any trepidation, though.
You see, I HATE confrontation. Lisa makes fun of me, but I’ll avoid confrontation at any cost. Even if it’s something completely benign.
There have been times where we’ve been out to eat and I’ve ordered a steak with two sides, and maybe only one side comes out. Rather than say something, I’d rather avoid the awkwardness and just roll with it and eat what’s put in front of me.
Sometimes I’ll even refrain from asking for help at the grocery store if I see that whatever it is I’m looking for – frozen blueberries, a certain flavor of Ezekiel bread, etc – isn’t on the shelf.
Not that I feel that those situations would be in any way “confrontational” (in the literal sense, anyways), but I don’t know, I’d just prefer to avoid them as much as possible, as ridiculously weird as that may sound.
So you can only imagine what was going through my mind when the notion of sitting in a room negotiating a price for a car with your prototypical, shady car salesperson was running through my head.
All without the help of my step-dad no less!
To be honest I’d rather jump into a live volcano.
In my defense, though, I did a solid year of research reviewing all the cars I was considering (price points, test drives, etc), and even took the advice of several people on this blog who recommended that I seek out the help of www.FightingChance.com, which proved invaluable in the long run.
If someone held a gun to me head, though, and asked me to be honest with myself: What I really did was spend a year dragging my heels and opting NOT to have a car payment. But I digress.
I stayed loyal and opted to go with another Hyundai Elantra – albeit a new(er), flashier, included 3-freaking-months-of-XM-radio version. Holla!
NOTE: for any Hyundai executives reading this blog: if you’re looking for a spokesperson to sing your praises, I can be reached at…..
Tony Gentilcore
101 Reduced Car Payment Blvd.
I Heart Hyundai, Massachusetts, USA.
call me…..(wink wink, nudge nudge).
But still: there was the whole negotiation thing that I had to deal with, and something I wasn’t looking forward to.
Long story short: I had to get comfortable with being UNCOMFORTABLE.
Despite being what I felt was well-prepared and informed, I wasn’t comfortable. Like I said, I hate confrontation and I was worried that I was going to collapse under the pressure, give in, and end up paying way more than I felt was necessary.
But I made a promise to myself that I was going to stick to my guns and be willing to walk if I didn’t get a price which I felt was fair and justified.
And for good measure I made sure I wore a smedium t-shirt to elicit a bit of an intimidation factor myself. Anything to set the odds in my favor, right?
And it all paid off. After a solid hour and a half of talking things through, and what easily resembled a Western stand-off, I I walked out of the dealership a proud owner of a new, “holy shit this thing comes with an iPod attachment!” car.
So what does all of this have to do with fitness and exercise? Well, it’s simple: you need to be comfortable with being UNCOMFORTABLE.
As humans we’re creatures of habit. We like what we like, and more to the point, we like to do what we’re good at or what comes easy.
As a quick example, for many, hopping on the treadmill and watching Ellen is a helluva lot more easier than spending that same amount of time in the squat rack performing squats.
Squats – when performed correctly, and with appreciable weight (and NOT in a Smith machine) – is a lot more daunting and hard compared to a treadmill or an elliptical trainer or a Yogalates class.
Not surprisingly, those who opt for the former generally have a hard time making any significant progress in the gym. These are the same people who look the same as they did three years ago and usually complain that, no matter what they do or how often they go, they just can’t seem to lose those last 15 lbs.
Typically said while crushing their Starbucks latte that’s bigger than a Cadillac.
I had a guy come in for an assessment a few weeks ago who, to no fault of his own (he mentioned how he worked with a “reputable” trainer in his hometown) was miffed that he wasn’t making much, if any, progress with his training as of late.
All he really wanted was to get rid of his beer gut, address some aches and pains, and maybe get a little stronger in the process.
As noted, he worked with a trainer in the past who had him do a bunch of machine based circuits for high-reps. It worked for a while, but he noticed that after repeatedly doing the same thing, for months on end, he kinda stalled.
I won’t go into the finer details of what he and I covered, but I will say that the guy didn’t move very well. He literally could not perform a lunge without falling over, his squat pattern was less than to be desired, and he could barely eek out five push-ups without puttering out (and making his shoulder flip him the middle bird).
How, then, if he worked with a “reputable trainer” for a number of months, was he not able to do ANY of those things? Like, at all.
While most of the finger pointing goes directly towards the abysmal trainer he worked with prior, some of the culpability should be directed towards him as well.
Why?
Well, despite working with the CP team for two hours, feeling infinitely better, and actually being able to perform a decent looking squat by the end (although it was damn hard for him), he elected not to come back.
He wrote the following day to say that he was very appreciative of the time spent, but that he couldn’t commit to a new training philosophy.
Maybe he hated it. Maybe my breath smelled like a fart passing through an onion that day. Maybe any number of other things. I’m not going to sit here and say that my approach and my way of doing things is the bees knees.
But my intuition tells me that he wasn’t comfortable with being uncomfortable.
And that, sadly, is what’s going to hold him back. And possibly YOU as well.
Fair warning: this isn’t going to be the type of post which delves into anything remotely strength and conditioning related. So if you’re in the mood for talking shop on things like hamstring “tightness” and how I think that’s a BS term (neural or protective tension is more like it), periodization, deadlift technique, or something as inane as whether or not I feel a 501 tempo is better than a 402 tempo for muscular gains (Hint: does it really matter?), I’m sorry to say, you’re out of luck today.
It’s my blog – deal with it…….;o)
Nope, today’s post is going to have a bit more of an introspective feel or flavor to it. Which, coincidentally, after Mint Oreo, is my second favorite flavor of ice-cream.
The impetus behind today’s post stems from something I read over on writer Jeff Goins’ site, which happens to be one of my favorite blogs dealing with the whole topic of writing and how much of a cluster**** that can be.
Yesterday he had a pretty cool guest post by a guy named Darrell Vesterfelt on the whole notion of faking it till you make it.
Not to play all spoiler king or anything, but this guy Darrell? He’s not a fan.
I’ll let you read the actual post if you’re interested, but to give a brief gist: in the world of social media, where some are constantly under pressure to be “on,” it often breeds an environment where there’s a lot of pressure to perform. As a result this whole notion of faking it till you make it rears its ugly head.
Speaking honestly, I do believe there’s a time and place where this sentiment is perfectly justified. For example, with each intern class that comes to Cressey Performance, many of them, not surprisingly, are wet under the ears and a wee bit intimidated or overwhelmed when tossed underneath the proverbial microscope and asked to coach someone how to squat or to take someone through an entire training session.
Maybe even doubly so when asked to do so with either myself, Eric, or any of other coaches watching their every step.
Upon their initial orientation we let every intern understand that they’re not going to be “supervised” 24/7 and that we encourage a bit of autonomy. By that same token we expect them to be able to coach things like foam rolling, dynamic warm-up drills, or even a push-up well on day one.
As the days and weeks progress, and we’re able to coach them up ourselves, take them through a few staff-inservices, and engage them in more one-on-one scenarios, they’ll undoubtedly gain more confidence in their abilities.
On the off chance that a scenario arises where they have no idea what a certain exercise or movement is we often use the whole “fake it till you make it” mantra with them, because at the end of the day we want to ensure that our athletes and clients have confidence in THEM.
I mean, what does it say if an athlete looks at their program asks one of the interns what a certain exercise is and then said intern looks around, utters a bunch of “um’s” and “uh’s,” and then starts hyperventilating into a brown paper bag?
Of course we don’t want them making stuff up out of thin air – before you know it, people are juggling oranges on BOSU balls – and it might just be something as simple as taking a few moments to ask myself or any of the other CP staff a quick question.
But still, there IS a semblance of confidence that serves as a nice prerequisite to it all.
On the flip side, however, I think it says a lot when someone can recognize they don’t know what they’re talking about, that they don’t have all the answers, and that they don’t pretend to be someone they’re not.
Sadly, while not always, this is a sentiment that fails to catch on in the world of the internet. Everyone is an expert or guru or world renowned.
Please, tell me, how can you label yourself “world renowned” when you still live with your parents? Better yet, how are you able to give yourself such an acclaimed title when you’ve only been training people for less than six months?
Perusing the internet you’d think everyone out there was training professional athletes, making six figures, and writing the next best e-book on how to get the abz.
While this may be the case for some, clearly, people tend to be giving themselves a little too much credit.
Hell, I’ll throw myself under the bus. I’m often asked how I became so successful and how I was able to build a respectable following through my blog and other social media outlets?
Here’s the cold truth: I still have student debt (not a lot, but I still have it. And thankfully, that’s the ONLY debt I have). I still drive my beat up Hyundai Elantra that I bought back in 2002. It’s 500 miles away from hitting 200,000 total, the check engine light has been on for the past three years, and it’s a wonder that I haven’t been ticketed for noise pollution when driving it through the city.
Based off the reaming I received my dental hygienest yesterday, I don’t nearly floss enough. Oops.
I’m scared to death of putting myself out there and taking risks. I’m constantly asked when I’m going to be writing a book or producing my own fitness content, and while I’ve made strides to do both (ahem, Muscles Imbalances Revealed – Upper Body and Spinal Health & Core Training Seminar), there’s still half of me that seemingly bullies the other half into holding back.
I’m not infallible, and contrary to some, I’m not world renowned. Far from it.
But don’t get me wrong, I’m good at what I do and feel I’m better than the average cat. But I try not to pull off any self illusions of grandeur in the process.
But I think it’s that “realness” and non-sense of entitlement that often gravitates people to this blog, and my writing in general.
As Darrell pointed out in his post linked above:
Real connection happens when – and only when – you’re completely honest.
There are plenty of people out there who brag about their 400+ lb bench press. It’s amazing how many people out there are elite benchers. I can count on one hand the total number of people I’ve seen bench press over 400 lbs – and that includes a year of training at South Side Barbell in Stratford, CT back in the day (circa 2005-2006) alongside some ginormous, very strong dudes.
Note: South Side Barbell no longer exists.
Want to know something else about me? I HATE benching. Pretty blasphemous words coming from a strength coach, right?
This isn’t to say I don’t find value in the lift, recognize there’s a lot of efficacy towards its use, and go out of my way to coach it well. It’s just for me personally, I’d rather go to a Zumba class than bench press.
My best bench is 315 lbs, and if you held a gun to my head today I’d be lucky to eek out a rep at 285. Paltry numbers compared to most. Especially on the internet.
I can DL like a mofo, though.
If there’s anything I can relay to people out there reading – especially those who are looking to write a (successful) blog – it’s this: STOP BEING FAKE!!!!!!!!
Nothing trumpets this sentiment more than THIS heartfelt, humorous, REAL blog post I came across recently by Erika Heidewald.
Erika used to write about how “healthy” she was, when what she was really doing was hiding her eating disorder from family and friends the entire time.
This parallels much of what I see in the e-world. Where people take on another persona altogether in order to convey a certain image or hold onto some standard.
If you don’t actually train people (like, in real life) why do you write about how to train people? Sadly, this happens more often than you think.
If you write about a certain way to eat – whether it’s Paleo, Intermittent Fasting, high fat, no fat, replacing all calorie laden drinks with unicorn tears, whatever – and don’t follow the same “rules” yourself……………..like, WTF!?!?!?!?!?
Note: I actually know of a popular fitness personality who has written several best selling diet books who admitted – to a friend of mine – that he never follows his own advice. Pretty shady.
If you haven’t ever actually performed the OLY lifts, why are you espousing their benefits or calling people out if they don’t include them themselves?
If you’ve never trained a female athlete, what makes you an authority on “female specific training?” Does such a thing even exist?
If, if, if, if, if, if. I could easily keep going.
If dingle berries were diamonds, I could open a Kay Jewelers in my pants.
HA – count it!
All of this to say, sometimes, it’s best to NOT fake it till you make it and actually just own up to who you really are. Is that so bad?
Today’s guest post comes from a former distance coaching of mine, Australian strength coach Shannan Maciejewski. Shannan started working with me when he was coming of a pretty serious ankle injury, and he hired me to help him sift through the program design process as he worked his way back to playing competitive rugby.
As a funny aside, speaking of contact sports, I had a very brief history playing football back in the day. I tried out for the football team in 7th grade and lasted a week.
After getting crushed for five straight days I handed in my helmet and pads and decided I’d rather collect baseball cards and play wiffleball in my backyard.
Nonetheless, Shannan offered to write a guest post and thought the theme he came up with was spot on to a lot of what I write about on this site. Which is: yeah, you’re hurt. But that doesn’t mean you still can’t train. Learn to make lemonade out of lemons!
Enjoy!
It’s 3.45pm and you receive a call.
Client
“I am just calling to let you know that I got crunched at training last night and am only just able to walk. I am going to have to cancel todays session at 4”
A few things go through your head…
-Is this just a cop out?
-Hmmmm, it is lower body day? I’ll go to hell if he doesn’t deadlift.
Your response
“That’s ok mate, come on in I will tweak the session for you”.
Being able to adjust on the fly or even plan in and around injuries is an extremely important aspect of a coach’s job. Tony has brought it up before on here, and I am going to shed some further light into creating a positive training response while recovering or dealing with the mud that life throws at you.
As with the above example, to have the session off and do nothing would rarely be the best option.
Life is going to get in your way.
I don’t have much energy today, My car broke down, My knee hurts, My nose is snuffly, I am still sore from Monday, My Doctor said to rest, my mum said I’m special, I think I’m coming down with something, I finished work at 5.10 instead of 5, I think I slept on my arm weird, my neck hurts……………And it goes on..
I think we all can relate to something above, I know I can. Mainly the special one!
Each and every individual is unique in what they present, and that is how programming should be approached.
Now just so you know upfront, I am not a physical therapist or a physio and therefore do not treat pain. I work with other professionals to get the best outcome for everyone we have contact with. It is always best to understand what the actual injury is, or what the limitation is before you start tinkering with exercises. So if in doubt seek professional advice initially and build from there.
What I can do is shed some light on is how to incorporate smart training and programming while you feel all busted up and helpless or just in need of some immediate action points that you can incorporate to keep progressing and moving forward.
Quick Story of a client of mine.
-Debilitating and season ending low back injury from over arching and sharp movement of throwing a football.
(Not quite the same throw in, but amusing anyway)
There wasn’t much initially that didn’t hurt. Bending, leaning, twisting, running all aggravated and stopped him from playing.
12 months later he is 10kg heavier, broad jump and vertical jump has increased, deadlifting and squatting is completely pain free and now a dominant figure sitting smack bam in the mid field. Cutting, turning, jumping, sprinting is all fair game.
Below I will outline some tips for you not just in how I approached the above client, but how you can do so with yourself and your injury/mishap.
Because, as Tony always says, you can ALWAYS train around an injury. Always
Whatever you do it must be pain free
I think this goes without saying, but it does warrant a mention. I have heard it time and time again, and I will also say it.
IF IT HURTS, DON’T DO IT…
It does not matter if it is the number 1 exercise that your specialist or favourite guru said you should be doing. If it causes you pain or discomfort, stop it….Now!
There is always an alternative.
It won’t put you right off track if you need to sub in some Barbell hip bridges instead of your beloved deadlifts. If it means pain free, and creates a positive effect, well I am all for it.
For example do lunges hurt your knee? First off: try doing them properly. That’s a novel idea, right?
A lot of the time this alleviates some issues. I won’t go into correct form in this post, but it’s safe to say that there is a ton of info on this site that you can go back through.
Note from TG: In fact, you can always perfect your RDL….(hint, hint).
If that’s still no good, go through a pain free range. Or as an example try these Low Co-Contraction Lunges with Anterior Pull. These allow you to feel more controlled and keep more of a vertical tibia therefore performing the exercise more effectively.
Start Point: With your right hand on Vastus Medialis (teardrop shaped muscle) and left hand on your glute and your right butt cheek squeezed hard, lift yourself off the ground a few cm.
Mid Point-End Point: Raise up stopping shy of lock out. This will keep tension throughout and reduce the range. Be prepared for the burns, and an intense stretch through your trail leg. This is fantastic to engrain 90/90 position and give instant feedback on what muscles should be working.
The point is even if it’s a magic exercise, it’s not magic for you if it hurts or aggravates an issue.
Focus on what can do, rather then what you can’t
This piggy backs on the above, but it definitely is worth mentioning.
Accept that you may not be able to perform your heavy squatting pattern for the time being, and focus on what movement you can do to create a training effect.
This is exactly the process that I went through when I broke my fibula and dislocated my ankle being tackled. Write down a list of movements that can be done pain free, and focus on these.
Can’t squat/deadlift/lunge due to injured/stiff/recovering ankle: Maybe it’s a time to hammer on your glutes and hamstrings through various supine based exercises. Lean on the cautious side and build up.
I recently just had a client who outstretched to catch a ball and his ankle blew up to balloon status. We had sumo deadlifts programmed, but ended up starting out with plenty of upper body as well as quadruped glute work, glute bridges, single leg glute work, strap leg curls and went up from there.
After a few weeks we worked up to barbell glute bridges, and now as ankle mobility has nearly been regained I am confident, as he is to slowly incorporate some standing work.
Here he is with some warm up sets on the BB glute bridge.
Try incorporating some DB pressing variations and a lot of pushup progressions, while hammering and bringing up your back strength. There is hyuuuggeee variety to use.
For example we have successfully regressed back to single arm fat grip floor presses with a neutral grip (mouthful I know) pain free. This still lends itself to some heavy lifting, while respecting the body.
It never hurts to incorporate more back/upper back work into the mix all year round too. A 2:1, sometimes a 3:1 ratio of pulling to pushing can help regain some normality in your posture and any strength deficits you may have.
Some pressing variations that tend to give the shoulders a bit more room to breathe and be a bit more joint friendly are DB floor pressing variations, Tucked neutral grip pressing exercises, ½ kneeling cable/band presses, standing split stance cable/band presses, ½ or tall kneeling corner presses. There’s more this just gets you to think outside the norm.
This variation is great as the resistance is low on the shoulder, and it is an angled press. So therefore we get a fatter grip, neutral hand position and varying resistance all while the glute is on and we get a bit of anti-extension throughout. Perfecto!
Don’t forget the other limb
There are times when being couch or bed ridden is unavoidable. Although when you are able to be up and moving around, there is then also the chance to begin to start the process in moving forward.
When we injure ourselves, or something doesn’t go quite as planned we can feel quite defeated and mentally drained.
With my ankle injury I wasn’t going to let both my legs turn to jelly and lose everything I had gained. Having 3 surgerys over a 12 month period I needed some avenues to keep me mentally and physically on top of things.
The results of the carry over were positive. Training the other limb has a slight carry over in strength and muscle control.
Choose exercises you can do, and do so with a slowly progressing volume. Most exercises can be done single side loaded or off set loaded.
On a note on stretching here is a hip flexor stretch I had to use when I couldn’t put pressure on my left foot. It worked a treat, and I used it frequently.
(All the pressure is taken off the front foot).
Hit the other half of your body hard
If you are someone who trains 4-6 times per week and can’t bare the thought of missing scheduled training sessions, then don’t.
What we can forget is that although we are injured, and recovery is number one at times, we still have 80-90% of our body to train. That’s a big chunk to me. Don’t let 10-20% get you right off track with everything.
Get your meathead on and add in a varying upper body session. Alter the rep ranges, and go for it. Maybe even add some arms in there. I won’t judge.
If it’s your upper body, add in a lower body conditioning session, or some extra lower bodyweight exercises.
If your ankle/knee is playing up and you can’t join in team training sessions, try incorporating some battle rope conditioning sessions to jack the heart rate, and minimise joint stress.
Try these battle rope variations to keep it interesting and challenging. Not all will be able to used if you can’t walk forward or backwards but you get the idea.
Check List to kick A#*when injured and recovering
I wanted to provide you with a list to go over and sift through, and take note of what you are doing/can do/and will do to make the transition from where you currently are, to where you want to be.
– When in doubt, seek professional advice and determine your injury/restriction
– Focus on what you can do, what you can’t is not important and irrelevant
-List movements you can do pain free. Think in terms of horizontal push/pull, vertical push/pull, squat, hinge, isolation.
-What would you like to achieve in the next 2,4,8,24,52 weeks that you may be recovering etc
-Do you have any weaknesses/imbalances that you can work on and bring up?
-How many days per week do you want to train/ or can train?
-Do you have some opposite limb exercises to perform to carry over to the injured side?
-Omit the days of your current program that you can’t do, or tweak the exercises so you can do them
-Add in some pain free conditioning/metabolic methods to utilise if this is what is needed
-Surround yourself with positive people, and a powerful network that can help you when necessary
-Remain positive and know that this is short term and you can get back to your normal regime when it’s time.
Being injured and recovering takes a new skill set and different approach to training and lifestyle. Some small tweaks to your current plan, and you can remain on track, keep some normality and sanity and in general feel good that you are doing something to benefit not hinder the process.
If you have any questions, pop them below.
About the Author
Shannan Maciejewski is a strength coach from Australia and the founder of Raw Fitness and Sports Training located in Ballina NSW.
He has a strong passion for developing on and off field performance for football(soccer)players, and his no-nonsense approach and methods produce long lasting results for many regular joes, individuals, athletes, and teams he works alongside.
He does not share the same passion for Star Wars as Tony though. Sorry!
Sorry for the blatant profanity – but how else to describe what happened yesterday?
Like so many of you reading, I remember where I was when 9/11 went down. I was actually in my microbiology lab class either fumbling with a bunsen burner or observing some paramecium colony under the microscope (I can’t remember which) when my professor walked in from the back room and said, “a plane has hit the World Trade Center.”
My lab partner, Connie, who was originally from Long Island and whose brother worked in the World Trade Center immediately jumped out of her seat in a panicked state and sprinted out of the room. Not long afterwards the rest of the class – most of which were also from the NYC area – excused themselves from class in an effort to get hold of family members or friends to make sure that they were alright.
As it turned out: Connie’s brother made it out of the building safely. Unfortunately, we all know that that wasn’t the case for so many others.
It was a sad day for all of us. It was a day that will forever be singed in our minds. It fucking sucked.
Much like yesterday did. But unlike the events of 9/11 (which I’m not downplaying in the least), what happened yesterday hit me in the stomach a tad harder because it took place in my back yard. Well, two-miles from apartment, but still.
Thankfully, I wasn’t anywhere near the chaos. I was at Cressey Performance – roughly 20 miles west of Boston – when I happened to walk into the main office area and Pete just said, “dude, shit is going down in the city. A few bombs went off near the finish line of the marathon.”
Knowing Lisa took the day off from work because her brother (of all days) was in town visiting from Texas, and knowing that the two of them had made plans to walk around the city to take in the sights and sounds of the marathon, I immediately grabbed my phone to make sure that she was alright.
She was. In fact, she was at home the entire time.
I had a few friends who were in the vicinity of the blast(s), but again, no one I know on a first-hand basis was injured.
But that doesn’t mean I’m still not very disheartened and saddened by what happened.
Like everyone else part of me feels the fear and sadness, which makes sense. But a larger part of me is also pissed as hell. I guess the best way I can describe it is when someone makes fun of one of your siblings and you want nothing more than to rip that person’s head off.
I’m not originally from Boston, but in the almost seven years that I’ve called it “home,” where I’ve watched countless games at Fenway, spent endless hours reading in Boston Common, ate my fair share of cannolis in the North End, and walked the very sidewalks on Boylston St. where all the madness happened…..I’ve fallen in love with it.
And the fact that this happened so close infuriates me to no end.
I know I’m not alone. I know the entire country is just as mad.
More importantly, though, I can’t even begin to articulate how proud and in awe I am of the random strangers and first repsonders who took it upon themselves to risk their own lives to help others in need.
By now we’ve all heard of the harrowing stories of people running TOWARDS the blasts to help. Maybe even more telling are the stories that circulated of runners themselves streamlining it from the finish line straight to the hospitals so that they could donate blood on the spot.
Unbelievable!
I think actor and comedian Patton Oswalt might have stated it best in his Facebook status that has since gone viral:
I don’t know what’s going to be revealed to be behind all of this mayhem. One human insect or a poisonous mass of broken sociopaths. But here’s what I DO know. If it’s one person or a HUNDRED people, that number is not even a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of a percent of the population on this planet.
So when you spot violence, or bigotry, or intolerance or fear or just garden-variety misogyny, hatred or ignorance, just look it in the eye and think, “The good outnumber you, and we always will.”
Sometimes, maybe even more than we’d like, people go out of their way to suck. But we can’t forget that the good far outweigh the bad.
Thanks for all the well-wishes and comments that people have sent my way the past 24 hours. We’re all in this together, and it’s my hope we’ll all come through this a little bit stronger.
Today’s guest post comes from Justin Kompf who’s a fellow Cortland State Red Dragon and the man responsible for organizing my little homecoming a few weeks ago. At 23 Justin is already doing big things. Not only is he making waves in the fitness industry, but he’s already teaching COLLEGE courses as an adjunct professor at Cortland. I think back to when I was 23 and all I remember doing is crushing Beverly Hills 90210 re-runs and bicep curls in the squat rack.
Suffice it to say, everyone, meet Justin. He’s gonna be someone you should remember. Good things are a head.
The world is coming to an end, or at least it must be. I have my bachelors of science in kinesiology – key word science. Not to say I’m in love with the whole cellular function of microbes or what Van Der Waals forces are, or even if I spelled that right, but I am keen enough to make observations and make fairly educated conclusions.
For example, if I pick up this weight and move it around I get bigger and I get stronger. Or how about this: people who don’t lift weights actually progressively get weaker until they have legs the size of toothpicks and need a machine to get from A to B.
Another mind blowing (yes sarcasm) discovery I’ve made is that if I eat crappy food my body feels and looks like crap. On the other side of the equation, if I eat lean proteins, fill my plate with vegetables, and sweet potatoes somehow I feel satisfied, don’t get sick, increase strength, and look pretty darn good too. As a scientist I have come to this radical conclusion that if I eat well and exercise well I feel and look good.
It doesn’t take a white coat, nerdy glasses and beakers to be a scientist. I just proved it. Science is the intellectual and practical activity of gaining knowledge through systematic observation. Pay attention, observe outcome. We learned the principle in elementary school Aà B. If Christina picks on me she totally digs me right?
One more time AàB
So wait this isn’t anything new? Eating healthy and exercising are healthy habits that everyone should be doing?!?!?!? I didn’t need to go to school for four years to make this discovery?
This is the reason why I have concluded that the world must be coming to an end.
Humans are logical, intelligent creatures. If the general population was forced to be honest, they would admit that they know what it takes to get healthy or at least healthier, but instead they continue to fuel the cyclic, destructive habits that have made them obese, sedentary and sick. Trips to the grocery store are always pleasant reminders of why the world is coming to an end. People who are obese continue to load their shopping carts up with processed foods, carbohydrates, lunch meats, microwaveable dinners, sodas, and candies.
They bring these foods home to their kids who then begin the pathway towards obesity. They don’t know any better, you’d have a better chance of convincing Charlie Sheen to keep his eyes closed in a strip club than you’d have convincing a kid who’s been shoveled processed, sugary foods on a daily basis to voluntarily put down the candy, ice cream or soda.
On another note…We live in a society that rewards people who don’t work hard. Sure, if you don’t want to work that’s fine. Just rest on your laurels! Nobody works hard these days anyways, right? Being successful and getting rich is all pure luck. Just put your feet up and wait for your pot of gold. Don’t want to work, that’s fine the government will pay you not to work.
Nate Green had a tremendous article on his scrawny to brawny website called the “SB2 Manifesto: Rules For Living a Bigger Life”. In the first rule he talked about how there are two versions of us, our ideal selves and our shadow selves. Our shadow self is the guy in our head saying, “it’s okay to sit on the couch for four hours a day watching TV, its okay for us to wear our pajamas the whole day and not learn anything new”. It’s the version of us that thinks that success can be put on the back burner. The shadow self – the procrastinating, lazy, undisciplined self is kicking millions of ideal selves’ asses all across America. Yes, it’s possible to kick your own ass.
We’re on the brink of the end of the world, maybe I’m being a little dramatic here but there is an unavoidable devolution of the mindfulness and work ethic occurring all across the country.
If you’re on this site and you’ve gotten this far in my article I’ll confidently assume two things about you.
First: You’re a meat head; you like to push your body to its limits to see what it’s capable of.
Secondly: You possess a mind that wants to expand.
Note from TG: I’ll also add a third: You obviously have great taste in which blogs you read. Well done.
If you’re nodding yes and yes to each of those, you’ve got a deadly combination of being a meathead with a brain. You not only want to be big, healthy, and strong but you want to be educated about it, too.
You’re not one of those guys questioning why you’re not getting bigger when your program consists of preacher curls, smith machine upright rows, and cable flys and a pre workout big gulp (not the bigger you wanted).
You squat and you deadlift and you read a lot.
Anyways, while we’re low in numbers I feel that guys like us hold some of the last hope the world has.
So let me personally welcome you to the remaining population of mindful, driven men left in the world. Tragically, our species is nearly extinct.
We are a club that defies boundaries, pushes limits in and out of the gym, and observes with the intention of asking why, learning something and applying it to our own lives, thoughts and habits for self-improvement and the betterment of the lives of those around us. Sure, for the most part we keep to ourselves and if you’re like me do a lot of observation on the current state of the world. I believe this is a good thing, we think before we talk and try not to spew out BS like most people out there.
So without further delay, I’ll share a few things I believe us men with active minds and active bodies can do to stave off, and maybe even prevent, the end of the world.
Train for at least one physical event a year.
I’m in the last week before my very first powerlifting meet. I look forward to learning from more experienced people but the last four months of serious training and following Jim Wendler’s 5/3/1 program have been great.
I’ve hit rep records on just about every lift while making it to the 181 weight class. I usually weigh about 195 pounds. I’ve learned a lot about pushing my body in the gym in combination with smart dieting. My friend recently asked me if I would be interested in doing a tough mudder in October.
Sure why not, it’s certainly not what I am built for but let’s do it. Training for an event creates concrete goals. Also, if you’re not exploring your body’s capabilities then what the heck are you doing? Another benefit of training is that it helps to clear up a lot of other things in your life. I make sure my diet is spot on when training and I make sure I get the appropriate amount of sleep when training. It helps clear up stress and basically acts as your own personal therapist if you need it.
*here is the end result of the competition- 510 deadlift ohhh yeaa!
Read, read, read
Yes I said it three times and there’s a reason. Here’s my three reads:
Read 1: Personal pleasure. E.g. I’m reading Howl’s Moving Castle. Before you Google this I’ll give you the heads up that it’s a movie and it’s a cartoon. So what – don’t judge – I wanted to read the book. I’m also getting a little into The Red Badge of Courage.
Read 2: Business Development or Self Improvement. E.g. Right now I’m reading Crucial Conversations by Kerry Patterson.
Try to read every single day. If we get in the habit of letting our shadow self win day in and day out he’s going to get stronger making it more and more difficult for our ideal self to win. I’ve been through periods of stagnation where my shadow self put a beating on my ideal self. Believe me it’s best to keep your shadow self’s victories to a minimum.
Create forward progress every single day
There’s a wise proverb that says “Without vision [man] perishes”.
Set goals, daily goals, weekly goals, monthly goals, career goals and get on a path towards success. I doubt anyone can say for certain what they want to do with their life. For example, my dad who has been an accountant for about 30 years has been talking about getting into training people who are older when he retires. You can be in your mid fifties and still not know what you want to do for sure.
I’ve gone from everything from wanting to be a personal trainer, to strength and conditioning coach, to a nutritionist and now onto a physical therapist. Mind’s change, luckily I didn’t have a dramatic career change of heart so just about everything I’ve done so far is applicable.
Even if you’re not positive where life is taking you that’s no excuse for stagnation. In fact you’re in a beautiful position to explore all of your interest to find what suits you. Hop on some kind of path, you don’t have to know where it’s heading, just know you’re moving forward.
Your weekly, monthly, and yearly goals should match up to career goals. My long term career goal is to become a physical therapist. On my path towards that some things have pleasantly popped up that gave me opportunities to do what I love doing while getting paid for it.
What am I doing to make this career goal happen?
Daily: Reading my current career book as well as peer reviewed articles
Weekly: Shadowing a physical therapist every Wednesday
Monthly: Working on prerequisites for school. I am currently taking chemistry
Yearly: continuing with prerequisites and everything else necessary to get into school
Pleasant surprises that have popped up along this path: I’ve had the opportunity to teach personal training and strength and conditioning classes at my college. I’ve gotten to work with athletes at Syracuse University which has given me the credentials to teach these strength and conditioning classes at my college. The coach I work with at Syracuse gave me a recommendation to teach another class at a community college as well.
Now all I need is a fedora and a whip and I’ll be a full on professor!
The sooner you realize getting drunk isn’t cool the better your life will be
I’m 23 years young, so I still live in that time period where a lot of people my age think staying up until 3 am and getting drunk is still awesome.
Sad thing is that I see people ten years my senior still trying to live the college dream. How productive are you the day after drinking? Not at all. Do you get good quality sleep? Nope. Is it possible to train like a man when you drink two or three times a week? No way. That’s not to say I don’t enjoy a beer or two. I do, but it’s not a keystone coming firing at me out of funnel anymore.
Now, small huddle of mindful, hard-working, meatheads – break! Go keep doing what you’re doing, do it better, and convince some other men out there to help push back on the end of the world while you’re at it.
Thanks for reading; I believe there is still some hope left in this world as long as we all set positive examples by respecting our minds, bodies, and of course others. Try to train for something at least once a year, read, read, read, set goals, and try to behave yourself at bars.
Author’s Bio
Justin is a certified personal trainer and certified strength and conditioning specialist through the National Strength and Conditioning Association. He holds a bachelors degree in Kinesiology from the State University of New York at Cortland where he graduated magna cum laude. He has worked with a wide variety of clients and has spent time at two division one Universities, Syracuse University and the University of California Riverside. He currently assist at Syracuse under Veronica Dyer, the head strength coach in the Olympic sports room. Justin teaches a personal training class at the State University of New York at Cortland and will be teaching two strength and conditioning classes along with an intro to kinesiology course next fall. He likes deadlifting, the shoulder, almond butter, dragon ball z, and Zooey Deschanel. He dislikes bench pressing and people that say YOLO. His website is cortlandfit.com and he can be contacted at [email protected]
It’s freaking snowing (not that that’s any big surprise)! That would be like saying,”the sky is blue,” or “water is wet,” or “Justin Beiber is a no-talent ass hat!”
I left Boston yesterday under blue skies and 60 degree weather (which feels like summer this time of year), only to arrive in central NY five hours later to overcast gloom and nothing but rain and snow.
Welcome home, Tony!
Despite the really crappy weather, it is nice to be “home.” I placed home in quotations because the college is literally ten minutes from my home town, and part of the impetus for making the trip – other than the non-stop adulation, praise, and ticker tape parade that may or may not happen in my honor – was to be here for Easter and take advantage of Mama Gentilcore’s home cooking.
Which is to say: I absolutely crushed some apple pie yesterday.
Nevertheless, to say it was an honor to be asked to come back and speak would be an understatement.
Note: for those out of loop: I was invited back to my alma mater to speak to some of the Exercise Science, Kinesiology, and Fitness Development majors; as well as any graduate students or general public you didn’t want to watch Dancing With the Stars and come listen to me speak instead.
In fact, it’s been kind of a surreal experience.
I mean, back in the day, when I was an undergrad myself, I was about as nondescript of a student as they come. And now, I’m expecting upwards of 50+ people to show up just to listen to me speak. Unreal.
Everything started to kick into high-gear when, last week, THIS short write up popped up on the school’s homepage detailing (the Cliff Notes version anyways), what I’ve been up to in the year’s since I graduated, as well as giving people a sneak peak into the topic of my presentation, which I’ll be throwing down later today.
From there it’s been an avalanche of local media exposure. I got a call from the school newspaper asking if we could set up a time for some photo ops, and then a local news talk radio station (in Ithaca) contacted me and wanted to do a 5-10 minute interview LIVE for their morning show.
And when I say live, I mean literally – LIVE. I called in and the guy was like, “we’re on in 30 seconds!” Thankfully everything went smoothy and I didn’t drop an f-bomb. Woo-hoo!
Afterwards I got in my car to make the quick trip to the main campus where the game plan was to speak to a Kinesiology class (the class of the professor who set this whole shindig up). The vast majority of the kids in the class were aspiring personal trainers, coaches, and future business owners, so rather than stand there and bore them to tears talking about insertions and origins and blah blah blah, I wanted to take the time to impress upon them some of the traits and characteristics that I feel every fitness professional should strive for.
Namely, that success in this industry isn’t so much dictated by book smarts or just showing up to class – but rather, it’s about having an insatiable drive to always make yourself better, and that at the end of the day it’s important to understand that you’re not that big of a deal and that you need to put your work in just like everyone else.
Here are some of the main bullet points I hammered (within 50 minutes):
1. Do you see this as a career or a hobby? First and foremost you need to get comfortable feeling uncomfortable, because you’re not going to know the answer to everything. But those who deem this more of a career, and something that they see as their future, will always try to find the answer and get better.
2. Understand that you (probably) won’t make a lot of money right out of the gate. Visions of a six-figure salary and having a ton of disposable income is wishful thinking. Statistically speaking most trainers burn out within two years, which isn’t surprising when you factor in 10-14 hour work day, 6-7 days per week. Likewise, most trainers are NOT financially independent, work pay check to pay check, and often have to get a second job to make ends meet.
The point isn’t to be a Debbie Downer or to say that it isn’t possible to do very well for yourself. But, if we’re going to be honest, and if we’re really going to prepare people for the “read world,” then this is the kind of stuff upcoming trainers and coaches need to hear.
3. Don’t have more degrees than a thermometer. HA – get it!?!?!? Degrees? Thermometer? Okay, I’ll shut up.
An example would be Joe Schmo, MSc, CSCS, CPT, LMT, Who gives a s***.
Point blank, no one cares how many letters you have next to your name. It doesn’t really mean anything. Sure it looks cool and it will undoubtedly help open the doors to a few more opportunities, but it always comes down to a quote I’ve heard Mike Boyls state time and time again:
No one cares how much you know, until they know how much you care.
4. I gave a quick quiz to the students, and asked how many could:
– Name all four muscles of the rotator cuff. Which ones are external rotators?
– What’s the main function of the rotator cuff?
– Name 8 out of 17 muscles that attach to the scapulae?
– Name the only hip flexor which acts above 90 degrees of hip flexion?
– Explain the difference between a short and stiff muscle?
– Coach someone how to deadlift properly?
– Explain to a normal person why there’s no such thing as a “Fat Burning Zone?”
– Draw the Kreb’s Cycle. Blindfolded.
Okay, kidding on that last one.
But the point was – can they actually explain these basic things? If not, well………..what does that say about this being a hobby or a career?
5. Learn functional anatomy. Not everyone is going to be an anatomy cyborg like Eric Cressey, Mike Robertson, or Bret Contreras. But it stands to reason that knowing your way around the human body is kind of an important trait to have as a fitness professional.
Admittedly, while I can get by and I can hold my own, anatomy is NOT one of my strong suits. What’s important, and something I stressed to the students, is that it comes down to repeated exposures. You’re not going to learn everything overnight, and if you hang out around the likes of Bill Hartman you can’t help but feel stupid at times.
The omohyoid thingamjiggy does what now?
Read blogs, articles, and books. Watch DVDs. The more repeated exposures you give yourself to any given topic, the more likely, someday, the light bulb will go off.
Trust me: it happens.
6. Be PROACTIVE as a coach! Actually look like you give a shit! Don’t just stand there and look like a zombie and count reps. COACH your clients.
7. But at the same time, don’t overcoach. Someone’s squat may look like a train wreck waiting to happen and you may very well want to throw your face into a wall, but it’s important not to overwhelm someone and to learn to focus on 1-2 major things rathe than trying to perform a miracle.
8. Try not to fall into being part of the status quo. Don’t throw in all the “smoke and mirrors” into your programming for the sole purpose of looking different than everyone else. Get people results, get them feeling better and moving more efficiently, and you’ll be doing your job.
9. I feel EVERY upcoming trainer should spend at least 1-3 years working in a commercial gym setting. Sure you’re going to have to fight the urge to pour battery acid in your eyes or to swallow live bees from all the asinine things you’ll see……but it’s one of the best ways to get better. In what other setting will you have access to such a wide variety of clientele? If you can teach a 45 year old CEO with the movement quality of an iceberg how to deadlift, you can teach anyone how to deadlift.
Sure you’re going to have life-sucking clients that will zap all your energy, but those are few and far between. Having the opportunity to work with such a wide variety of backgrounds, goals, needs, injuries, etc will speak volumes as far as making you a better coach.
10. Watch your social networking. As a potential future employer, I can guarantee you that if you apply for an internship or job, we’re checking your Facebook and/or Twitter accounts.
You know all those pictures you have up from when you won that Beer Pong championship back in 2012? Or all those posts where you called your ex-girlfriend every colorful name under the sun? Yeah, you should probably take those down.
And those were just the tip of the iceberg. I had a few other points that I made, but I feel like I’m just blabbering on now.
Anyhoo, the main show starts at 5 PM where I’m going to speak to a much larger crowd on things like assessment, program design, the season finale of The Walking Dead, and I’m sure I’ll go on a few rants or two. Or three.
Until then I need to get rid of some pent up nervousness and go lift some heavy things. Might as well go deadlift – of course!
I’ve had a great run of weekly guest posts from various people in the fitness world as of late, and I wanted to keep the streak going with another one from Nate Miyaki.
For those unfamiliar, Nate is a regular contributor at T-Nation and generally leans more on the nutrition side of things. I’ve grown to really respect his body of work and appreciate his simple, minimalist (yet very effective) approach to nutrition. In addition, I KNOW he walks the walk and doesn’t just talk a big game. My man is shredded!
I hate to say it, but there are A LOT of people out there that seem (maybe prefer?) to make things waaaaaaay more complicated than they have to be, and the topic of what to eat and when ranks right up there.
Is it better to eat low carb or high carb? Is it okay to eat past 6 PM? Because fruit contains fructose, we should avoid it at all costs, right? Is 1.0 grams of protein per lb of bodyweight best for optimal results or is 1.376 a better number to shoot for? And since everyone and their Little League coach is doing it, what’s the deal with Intermittent Fasting?
You would think, based off how some people dissect every nook and cranny of their diet, that they’re performing rocket science or trying to figure out why it is women are drawn to the 50 Shades of Grey phenomenon.
Nonetheless, in today’s post Nate dives into how athlete’s should strive to eat, and offers a sorta pre-game speech to set people straight. His sentiments mirror much of mine, and I think many of you will appreciate it.
Enjoy!
From the moment you put on that jersey, grab a bat, strap on the gloves, buckle up the chin strap, climb under the bar, or lace up a pair of sneakers, cleats, or skates; the sands of time start ticking away.
Most athletes only get a relatively short window within which to accomplish something great. That’s a gift in itself, because the majority of people were just not born with the natural talents or skills to even get a chance.
If you’re one of the lucky few, you need to take advantage of that privilege. For once its gone, it’s gone forever. Don’t wake up one morning wishing you had done more when you had the chance. You have the rest of your life to kick back, follow the crowd, and be mediocre.
But while your opportunity is here, right now in this moment, why not do everything possible to give yourself the best chance of succeeding? Why not use every weapon at your disposal to maximize your true athletic potential?
Dietary Discipline & Maximizing Your Potential
One of the most important weapons is your diet. Unfortunately, it is often the most overlooked by performance athletes, because the truth is you can perform decently on a suboptimal diet. Anecdotally, there is no arguing that given some of the sh*t lists I’ve seen from some of my own athletes. Do you even know what a caramel dumpling is?
But you certainly are not maximizing your true potential and performing at your genetic peak with this approach.
Our generation has lost something. We’ve become a bunch of entitled whiners expecting something for nothing, always looking for that quick fix. We’ve lost that ability to strive, to sacrifice, to set goals, to do everything possible to achieve them, and to never waver in their pursuit.
We’ll take short cuts and cheat the system any chance we can get; yet we shy away from the day-to-day grind that is really necessary to climb to the top. We’ll take a pill, but won’t change our daily habits.
So before we spend time getting into dietary details, which we will, we need to take a step back and look at the bigger picture. If we don’t solve this riddle first, all subsequent nutrition articles will be meaningless.
Athlete or Average?
You have to decide right now whether you consider yourself an athlete or an average dude (or girl). One gets more leeway, sympathy, and handholding. The other gets a swift kick in the nuts (or female equivalent, metaphorically speaking) when they show up to a training session with a bagel in hand, sipping on a latte.
Are you preparing to fuel your body for battle, or are you, in stealing a line from the great Dan John, “eating like a child” that needs a bag of Skittles to much on while sending your BFF texts about the Twilight Saga?
The average dude comes in for a few workouts a week, then goes and hangs out at Applebee’s. An athlete lives like one 24/7, whether their coach is watching over them or not, whether its “hard” and “inconvenient” or not.
Which are you? There’s no right or wrong answer. But as a coach, I need to know. Because you talk to guys on the field a lot different than the ones sitting in the stands.
It amazes me to see guys and gals train like madmen, then go out and eat pizza and ice cream. They have the discipline of a warrior within the lines, but a bullsh*t excuse-maker outside of it.
You’re saying you have dreams and want to be the best, but your actions are screaming something very different.
It’s Not Just How You Lift, It’s How You Live
Don’t you need to junk-load to increase calories and support your training? No. Never. Do you want to follow plans based on marketing material or plans based on science, or just pure common sense?
What do you think a dietary induced, chronically inflamed body is doing to your ability to recover from your training sessions, or for your nagging knee and shoulder pain?
That pastry sounds like sh*ts and giggles to the average, but its not if you have elite goals.
Cellular integrity, insulin sensitivity, and optimal nutrient partitioning can all degrade over time with a poor diet. What do you think that does to your ability to put on functional muscle that makes you faster and more powerful vs. non-functional fat that makes you slower and less explosive?
And sure, you may be able get away with whatever you want nutritionally in your 20’s. But the small percentage who extend their careers into their latter years are the ones who took care of their bodies and followed an informed path right from the beginning.
You call yourself an athlete, than live like an athlete — on the field, in the gym, and in the kitchen.
Start With the Simple – Optimize Food Choices
I don’t want this article to be just about philosophy, psychology, pontification, and rah-rah ramblings. You need some practicality as well.
So how should an athlete nutritionally support their competition and training demands? Do it through quality, nutrient dense foods that serve a physiological and metabolic purpose.
So hit those high quality animal proteins for the essential amino acids necessary to build lean muscle mass, and for the essential fatty acids and good fats necessary to support optimum hormone production.
We’re talking grass-fed beef, wild fish, free-range poultry, and eggs — all hormone and anti-biotic free, of course.
Don’t eat fast food, salami slices, or candy bars with protein added to it to justify “getting your protein in”. The #5 combo will be waiting for you when you’re trying to grow some chins, not be fast and powerful enough to land that knockout punch on your opponent’s chin.
Include some plant foods like vegetables and whole fruits for a variety of micronutrients and phytonutrients, not a bunch of empty calories combined with randomly shot-gunning a bunch of pills to try and make up for the nutrient deficiencies.
Maybe your mama thinks eating a bowl of cornflakes and chewing on a Flintstones vitamin is the Athlete’s Way. I don’t.
And carbs? I love Paleo nutrition as a baseline template. It automatically gets rid of many of the problematic compounds in the modern Y2K diet. That’s why 80% of my dietary recommendations are based off of it.
But as a high performance athlete, you can’t follow it all the way down the rabbit hole and end up in some dietary cult. You’re not a sedentary, pre-diabetic, insulin resistant office worker. And you are certainly not a frickin’ caveman. You’re a modern athlete with modern performance goals.
The game is different. You need to understand a thing or two about exercise physiology, and integrate some modern, researched, Sports Nutrition principles to properly fuel and recover from your training sessions.
Many athletes get caught up in following the universal, dogmatic proclamations of carbophobic academics whose only sport has ever been jogging (Ron Burgundy pronounces it Yogging). But high intensity strength and intermittent sprint sports are fueled by anaerobic metabolism, which can only run on glucose/glycogen.
That doesn’t mean loading up on bologne sandwiches and fruit roll ups. You want starches without the toxic compounds, potential food allergens, or “anti-nutrients” that can wreck the digestive system, impair nutrient absorption, and leave you tired and lethargic.
So cut the sugar, refined flour, and gluten-based starches. Stick with starchy tubers (yams, sweet potatoes, white potatoes) and white rice to support your training.
Drink some high quality H20 like the Water Boy recommends, not Diet Coke.
Conclusion
I get it. It’s easy to watch highlights of your favorite athlete, or film on your next opponent, or just flip through the pages of Playboy, crank up some AC/DC, and get amped up like a madman to train.
When the adrenaline subsides, and some semblance of a normal human being returns, however, it is a lot harder to get fired up to eat a grass-fed steak and potato instead of pizza and fries. But I believe it’s equally important to your long-term athletic success.
For every one genetically gifted or drug enhanced athlete that can get away with a crappy diet, there are ten that can’t. Everything you put into your body makes a difference. It’s up to you whether that difference is positive or negative.
Author’s Bio
Nate Miyaki is a fitness author, athlete, and coach. He is the author of the new book “Intermittent Feast: An Evolutionary & Scientific Approach to Slashing Fat”. Visit his site at www.NateMiyaki.com.
There are times when being couch or bed ridden is unavoidable. Although when you are able to be up and moving around, there is then also the chance to begin to start the process in moving forward.
