CategoriesMotivational

Everyone’s Goal for 2013: Train With a Purpose

Happy New Year everyone!!!  Hope you all had a fun, safe, and eventful New Years.  Lisa and I kept with our own tradition and spent our New Years in Boston’s historic North End eating bread with olive oil, pasta, and there might have been a few (dozen) pastries thrown into the mix.  Basically it was one ginormous gluten fest, and it was worth every calorie.

We were kind of rushed through dinner – we made reservations at 10 PM, hoping to be there when midnight hit – not knowing that the kitchen closed at 11.

So by 11:15, we have to make the executive decision to hop back on the “T,” pastries in tow, and head back to our apartment so that we could watch the fireworks on tv.  Low and behold the higher ups of the MBTA decided to take the train we were riding out of commission, and we were forced to get off and wait for the next one to arrive.

As the minutes passed with no train in sight, both Lisa and I were bummed that the likelihood that we’d be spending the first moments of 2013 on the train – and not in the comfort of our own living room – were more and more evident.

Alas, the train finally arrived and we were back in business.

We only live like five stops from the heart of the city, but when you ride the Green Line five stops can seem like an eternity.  At like 11:57, we were one stop away but decided to get off and spint – literally sprint – up the street to our apartment building.

Suffice it to say, we made it just in a nick of time, and right as I turned on the television Fergie was yelling HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!

We kissed, and more importantly wolfed down our goodies from the North End.  And, I think we were both dead asleep within the hour.  Yeah, you can say we’re pretty romantic….;o)

New Year’s day itself was pretty low-key, but that’s exactly what I wanted.  We closed the facility for the entire day which meant I was able to sleep in. Score!

After some basic food prep, we headed to a local Boston Sports Club for our first training session of 2013.  Fittingly, Lisa and I both benched pressed our asses off.  Why not, right?

She did some cluster sets with me, and afterwards, for the hell of it, I had her attempt a one-rep max.

She smoked 150 lbs! If we hadn’t done all that work beforehand, I’m willing to bet should could have hit 160-165 lbs, easy.

The kicker is that while we were testing her 1RM, there was an older gentleman training at the bench press station next to us puttering around with 95 lbs.

Now, maybe that was challenging weight for him, who knows?  But I have a sneaky suspicion that it wasn’t.

As I looked around, I couldn’t help but notice the same kind of blase “hey-I’m-at-the-gym-so-it-has-to-count-for-something” attitude amongst many of the gym patrons.

Most looked like zombies just going through the motions. Some torso twists here, some arm circles there, and texting. Lots and lots of texting.  Why people can’t leave their iPhone’s in their locker is beyond me.

There was one guy, however, taking himself through some massive free-for-all circuit of god-knows what (and making guttural noises that can best be described as a grizzly bear getting raped by a rhinoceros), so I’ll give credit where it’s due.  My man was getting after it!

As a whole, though, pretty much everyone was just, you know……there.  As if that’s all that matters.

Sure, there’s a lot to be said about taking some initiative and making an effort to head to the gym – especially on New Year’s day. That should be commended, and as GI Joe would say “is half the battle.”

We all know the saying: the hardest part is showing up!

But there’s a lot more to “it” than just showing up.

Whatever “it” may be – for some it’s shedding off the Holiday weight gain.  For others it’s more specific like nailing a 2x bodyweight bench press – you can’t just expect things to magically happen because you walked through the doors.

There has to be some semblance of urgency or better yet, PURPOSE when you train.

Now, I’m not saying you have to go all CrossFit and train to the point where you cough up your appendix every training session. That serves no purpose.

But what I AM saying is that you should train with a purpose. Train with some balls!  Or, in the case of the ladies reading, with some fallopian tubes (because, you know, you don’t have balls).

Try to have a clear-cut, attainable, measurable goal to train for.  I don’t care what it is – I’m not here to state what that should be.  But if you’re lifting a weight for ten reps (and you could have easily gotten 20), or more to the point, you just meander around the gym floor with no rhyme or reason and just kind of “fake it till you make it,” you’re doing yourself a huge disservice.

So everyone’s goal for 2013 is to train with a purpose.

Try it – you might be surprised as to how much of a difference it can make.  And for the love of god, put away the phone!

CategoriesMotivational

My Goals for 2013

I don’t know about you, but yesterday FLEW by.  I hope everyone reading had an amazing and well-rested Holiday full of family, friends, and fudge.

Lisa and I kept it fairly low-key, which is exactly how we wanted it. We made reservations at Fogo de Chao Christmas Eve night, which was amazing.  But really:  how can 16 cuts of all-you-can-eat meat NOT be amazing???

We crushed it.

Then, on Christmas morning, we woke up fairly early to open our stockings and exchange gifts.  I pretty much rely on her for my wardrobe.  As someone who spends his days hanging out in gyms, my attire generally consists of sweatpants and pretty much the most badass t-shirt collection ever. About the only thing I’m capable of doing as it relates to fashion is making sure I don’t commit the ultimate faux pas of wearing black shoes with a brown belt (or vice versa).

Outside of that I’m a lost cause.

Nevertheless I got a bunch of new clothes yesterday that I sorely needed, along with some odds and ends like a new pair of shoes I wanted, an appointment for a deep tissue massage, and a cornucopia of tea that should last me the year.

And then to top everything off, we headed out to catch the new Quentin Taratino flock, Django Unchained, because you know, nothing says “Happy Birthday, Jesus” than a Tarantino inspired Western filled with gratuitous violence, blood, and Samuel L. Jackson.

It……..was……….AWESOME!!!!

But enough of that.   Lets move into the meat (and purpose) of today’s post.

2012 is quickly drawing to close. And as such, like many of you reading, I like to reminisce about the successes and failures (but mostly successes) of the past year.

More to the point: I like to harpoon those sentiments from the past year and use all the lesson’s learned to help formulate and congeal my goals and expectations for the upcoming year.

Many of my friends and colleagues in the fitness industry have already done the same with their respective blogs, so to piggy back off of them, here are my goals for 2013 (The I’ve-Finally-Accepted-The-Fact-That-Kate-Beckinsale-Doesn’t-Know-I-Exist Addition)

Speak (Even More)

Last year one of my goals was to attempt to speak more. More specifically it was to step outside my comfort zone and attempt to take on more speaking engagements.

I’ve read that right behind the fear of dying, the next biggest fear on most people’s list is the fear of public speaking (and having a raging case of explosive diarrhea on a first date).

I’m no different.  While I’ve done a handful of speaking engagements prior to 2012, I really wanted to test myself and see if:

1.  I could do it.

AND

2. Not suck/fail miserably/destroy the back of my pants.

As it happened, I actually wasn’t too shabby.

In early 2012 I spoke to a group of 25-30 BSC (Boston Sports Club) trainers on assessment and corrective exercise to rave reviews and a standing ovation (which is a slight exaggeration).

In early summer I had back-to-back talks in Edmonton and Toronto.

The former was The Spinal Health and Core Training Seminar which I did alongside Dean Somerset, Rick Kaselj, and Dr. Jeff Cubos.  More on this below.

The latter was the PTDC Hybrid Training seminar that I did along with Nick Tumminello, Jon Goodman, Dan Trink, Mark Young, and Geoff Girvitz.

And then just a few short months ago, we held our first annual Cressey Performance Fall Seminar, which, outside of Hurricane Sandy raining on our parade, was a huge success.

While I’m still up in the air as to whether or not I see pubic speaking as something I want to pursue to a larger extent, 2013 is already filling up quickly.

I’ve already committed to heading to my alma mater (SUNY Cortland) to speak in March, which is a huge honor.  Too, I’ve got several other “gigs” that are in the works, which I don’t want to state just yet in case I jinx it.

Suffice it to say, people want to hear me speak which is surreal, humbling, and terrifying at the same time.

Finally, Like for Real This Time, Deadlift 600

Seemingly, I’ve been blabbering about this goal longer than most politicians have been blabbering about cutting the deficit.

I’ll be the first to admit that 2012 wasn’t exactly an exemplary year for me on the training front.  Sure, I still trained – rarely missing a scheduled session – but in many ways I was just spinning my tires and going through the motions.

I wasn’t training with a purpose.  Which is ironic given I’m constantly telling other people on this site to get their s*** together and train with a goal in mind.

I guess it was a clear cut case of “do as I say, not as I do.”  Which is BS.

I finally hit a tipping point last month, and reached out to fellow CP coach, Greg Robins, to see if he’d be willing to write my programming for the foreseeable future.

Essentially I came to the conclusion that I needed to outsource my own  programming.

I’ve long stated that the hardest person to train is yourself.  Humans are creatures of habit and we like what we like.  I’m no different, and when it comes to writing my own programs, I always put in those exercises which I like or one’s I’m good at.

I’ve been following Greg’s programming for the past 3-4 weeks, and it’s been awesome.  I write anywhere from 20-30 programs per week (sometimes more depending on the week/time of year), and it’s been such a relief to NOT have to think about my own training.

Greg tells me what to do, and I do it.

The goal is to go for 600 by March.  I’ll keep everyone posted.

Release/Write My Own Product

2012 was a success in a lot of ways.

I actually was able to make some toast without burning down the apartment complex I live in. I stayed up past midnight once. And, I tried my first cup of coffee if you can believe it.

But one of the things I was most pumped about was that I finally had my name affiliated with a fitness product:  Muscle Imbalances Revealed – Upper Body.

Hint:  you should check it out.

On that front, and as I mentioned above, I went out to Edmonton to speak alongside my MIRU compatriots (Dean Somerset, Rick Kaselj, and Dr. Jeff Kubos) for the Spinal Health and Core Training Seminar, which coincidentally enough will be released as it’s own product in a few short weeks.

So in a way, 2013 will already be off to an awesome start from a product release standpoint.

That said, one of my larger goals is to produce my own product that features Me, Me, and Me.

It’s a daunting thought to say the least.  To put yourself out there like that is pretty scary stuff, but I “think” I’m at the point in my career where it’s time. My inner dialogue has been on repeat for years telling me that I’m not ready, and that no one in their right mind would want to buy a product for me.

It’s something I’ve had to work really, really hard to conquer……but I’ve finally reached a point where it’s time I put my big boy pants on and write/produce a product.

I’ve already got the ball rolling, and you should be hearing more about a little sumthin, sumthin  sometime in early 2013.

Travel to Europe

Sadly, I’ve never been off the continent.  Yeah, I’ve been to Puerto Rico, but that’s sorta cheating since it’s still – technically – considered US soil.

Going to Europe has always been something I’ve wanted to do, and appropriately ties in with my above goal to do more speaking engagements.

Sooooooo, just to throw it out there: if there’s anyone in Europe interested in listening to a bald, kind of diesel, obsessed with Norah Jones strength coach coming to talk about lifting heavy things let me know…….;o)

Get Photoshoot Lean

On par with hitting a 600 lb deadlift, I also want to see what it’s like to get photo shoot lean.

Back in 2009 I did something vaguely similar, which I titled Operation Sexification (sorry Roger Lawson).

I spent six weeks following a rigid training and diet plan to see how lean I could get within that time frame.  I got pretty freakin lean.  But like an asshat, I didn’t really go out of my way to document it, nor did I take any pictures.  Namely because I did it in the dead of winter and was whiter than a Maroon 5 concert.

So, once I hit my 600 lb DL, I figured it would be kind of neat to get photo shoot lean and document that as well.

We’ll see.  I’m still up in the air on this one because I wouldn’t want it to come across as some narcissistic endeavor.

Is it me or is it hot in here?  *takes off shirt*

Get Alicia Keys to Subscribe to my Newsletter

That would be sweet!

Speaking of Newsletter – Actually Write One!

If you’ll glace to the right of my website you’ll notice an area where you can sign up for updates/newsletter.

This was a feature that I added to the site LAST year, but have yet to actually utilize.

I’m what you would call a technology nincompoop.  Meaning, I still don’t have a smart phone, and I still prefer to actually hold a book rather than download one.

While people have been signing up for my newsletter all along, and I have been collecting emails, I’ve failed to actually write one because the software scares the living s*** out of me.

But alas.  In 2013 everything is going to change.  Rest assured that I WILL start a newsletter and everything will be right in the world.

So stayed tuned for that as well.

And That’s It

While I could go on and list other goals like pass the cinnamon test, buy a new car*, wrestle a grizzly bear, or challenge myself to NOT black out every time I read something from Tracy Anderson, I think the above list is a great starting point.

Now that I’ve written them down, it pretty much means I HAVE to complete them. Right?

You’re damn right!

What are your goals for 2013?

* = or a tank. Yes, a tank!

 

CategoriesMotivational Strength Training

A Critical Reply to an Uncritical Coach

Today’s post comes from the one and only Bret Contreras.  As he’ll note below, I received an email from a fan of my blog asking me for my opinion on some candid remarks she overheard one of the strength coaches at her university regurgitate to a few other students.

And by using the word regurgitate I’m being really nice.

To say I was shocked at this particular coach’s train of thought would be an understatement, and I had to pinch myself to make sure I didn’t somehow time travel back to 1986.

Which, actually, would be kinda sweet because tv back then was awesome, what with shows like Airwolf, The A-Team, and The Gummi Bears rocking the airwaves.

Nevertheless I was definitely taken for a loop when I read this coach’s comments, and I could think of no one else I’d rather see write an appropriate and thorough response than Bret.

Thankfully he came through with flying colors, and absolutely PWNED the guy.  Enjoy!

A Critical Reply to an Uncritical Coach – Bret Contreras

Last month, an avid reader of this blog wrote to Tony requesting expertise. Tony sent it over to me for a good laugh. But I’m always up for a good grilling, so I asked Tony if he’d let me respond. In the past I’ve been disrespectful to those I grill, so I will try my best to remain professional here. The gist is that there’s some strength coach out there (we won’t mention his name) who is simply making a bunch of stuff up. This guy needs to be corrected so his athletes can receive proper training. Below are his comments. In gray is what the reader wrote to Tony, and my responses are in red:

Today I was eavesdropping on a conversation between the head S&C coach and a couple of his practicum students. They were talking about how he teaches the squat to his athletes. The coach said that because so many athletes are stronger in their posterior chain compared to their quads, he strongly discourages his athletes from “sitting back” or having any type of hip hinge movement while squatting to minimize glute and hamstring involvement and target the quads. He said the box squat or squat to a box was a pointless exercise due to the hip hinge requirement and the nearly vertical tibia – he wants his athletes squatting by dropping straight down, staying relatively upright and getting the knees a fair ways beyond the toes. He emphasizes developing quad strength over posterior chain strength in all of his young athletes. Also, he said that prevention of ACL injuries would be enhanced if there was less emphasis on hip hinging and more emphasis on quad strengthening, especially in female athletes. 

I pretty much disagree with everything this coach said. I see this all the time, and it’s worth addressing.

Many coaches formulate their methods based on what they think happens and what seems rational in their minds. They don’t read research or utilize the scientific method, and prefer to rely on intuition. They may still achieve good results, as many avenues lead to success. For example, coaches who simply have their athletes full squat and sprint will see improvements in performance. But due to false assumptions and failure to take advantage of the thousands of available prior scientific studies conducted by hardworking sports scientists and strength coaches, their athletes will fail to achieve maximum results, which is unfortunate. At any rate, here is my retort

1. Athletes are supposed to be stronger in their posterior chains compared to their quads. Gluteus maximus plus hamstrings plus adductor magnus should slightly outperform the quadriceps in terms of total muscle force and extension-torque production. If this is the case with athletes (hip extensor dominance), you should be happy and should not try to change the ratio toward quad-dominance. Strong quads are indeed important in sports, but it’s ideal for the hips to stay stronger than the quads.

2. No squat variation is “pointless.” The box squat is a welcome variation as the vertical tibia increases the hip extension moment and decreases the knee extension moment. In other words, more torque is required out of the hips, and less torque is required out of the knees. This is highly beneficial for lifters ranging from newbies, to those prone to experiencing knee pain or injury, to powerlifters. The full squat with an upright stance is also a good variation, especially for Olympic lifters, but not everyone can handle the forces on the knee joint associated with this variation.

3. Actually, quad-dominance increases the risk of ACL injuries, in addition to increasing the risk of hamstring and low back injuries. And actually, youngsters, females, and beginners typically exhibit quad-dominance due to high daily-activation in the quadriceps with concomitant low daily-activation in the glutes. For this reason, hip extension strength, particularly gluteal strength, should be emphasized with these athletes, along with just about every other athlete too. 

But wait! There’s more. The reader later sent another email to Tony with more “gems”:

He pretty much had a hate-on for the hip hinge. He said that “vertical displacement” is the key in sprinting and jumping, not the horizontal displacement of the hips moving back and forth. Therefore, the hip hinge should not be emphasized and the quads should. He never tells his athletes to “sit back”. He said that if he had an athlete who was knee-dominant, he would not try to strengthen his/her hips “because then they’ll use their hips for everything.” 

Vertical displacement is indeed the key for jumping, but not for sprinting. You do not want to be bouncing up and down excessively when sprinting. The key to sprinting is to produce just enough vertical force to raise the center of mass just enough to cycle the legs back around so they can reproduce horizontal force. Anything greater in terms of vertical force production is wasted energy and will result in slower speeds.

But now I need to address something very alarming.

Nothing we do in the weightroom completely mimics on the field performance.

If resistance training had to exactly mimic sport actions in order to transfer to performance, we would not be able to add resistance, since adding load in any form (bands, vests, sleds, free weights, etc.) immediately changes mechanics.

Squats, RDLs, split squats, hip thrusts, and back extensions would all screw up sprinting and jumping performance. Hell, squats would screw up RDLs and vice-versa, sprints would screw up jumps and vice-versa, etc.

However, we have tons of research showing improved performance and transfer of training from resistance training to sporting actions, from plyometrics to resistance training, and so on and so forth. There is a synergistic effect with the various types of hip extension exercises, and an athlete should be strong in all leg and hip muscles through a full range of motion. This requires multiple exercises.  

Of course you don’t want athletes sitting back excessively when they jump, but they can differentiate RDL’s and box squats from jumping performance as they are separate motor qualities.

RDLs and box squats don’t automatically cause athletes to sit back too much when they jump, Oly squats and split squats don’t automatically cause athletes to stay too upright when they jump, and hip thrusts don’t automatically cause athletes to want to lie down on their backs in the middle of a game (note the heavy sarcasm).

As long as there exists a balance in programming, athletic form remains intact. In the weightroom, we strengthen muscles and movement patterns, and the athletes are able to blend the newfound neuromuscular improvements into their jumping and sprinting motor programs. 

Last, research shows that the knee extension torque does not increase nearly as much as hip extension torque when transitioning from running to maximal sprinting, submaximal jumping to maximal jumping, and submaximal squats, lunges, and deadlifts to maximal squats, lunges and deadlifts. This is very important as it suggests that continual improvements are reliant upon strengthening the hips!

He thinks “glute activation” is complete BS because there’s no way to “prove” that it works (even using EMG). He said that the simple, low-load, isolated movements that are used to activate the glutes have no transfer to multi-joint movements like the squat or to the performance of the actual sport. I don’t think he believes that the glutes need to be activated in the first place.

There are many ways to show that glute activation works. We can obtain clues by examining the EMG activation, but at the end of the day we need training studies showing significant results. Glute activation is in its infancy in terms of the literature. However, in just the past couple of years, several important studies have emerged: 

  1. One showing actual EMG profiles of strongmen performing various strongman exercises. The better performers clearly used their glutes more so than the poorer performers.
  2. One showing increased glute activation with simultaneous decreased hamstring activation during hip extension exercise
  3. One showing increased hip extension strength, decreased hamstring activation during the support phase in running, and cured hamstring cramping in a triathlete
  4. And one showing significantly improved power production during a vertical jump compared to controls and a whole-body vibration warm-up

Considering that many well-respected coaches and rehabilitation specialists such as Tony Gentilcore, Eric Cressey, Mark Verstegen, Michael Boyle, Pavel Tsatsouline, and Stuart McGill have seen good results with glute activation drills, it’s definitely worthy of incorporation until more research emerges. It’s worth mentioning that I am a huge fan of glute activation and believe that research will eventually show its value. 

He thinks bracing the core (or whatever you want to call it) is stupid. He said “when would you ever do that when you’re playing your sport? You don’t have time to consciously think about activating your core.” He said that the core had much, much greater activation during the performance of big compound lifts.

I agree with the coach in this situation, aside from when an athlete is about to collide or be struck in the midsection. Sports are markedly different from resistance exercises, both in terms of timing and muscle activation requirements. When you put a heavy bar on your back or in your hands, you place considerably more bending torque on the spine, which requires a much greater amount of spinal stiffening compared to ballistic bodyweight movements.

He doesn’t really like single-leg training, but especially hates the single-leg squat because it “produces too much compensation.” He thinks that training the single-leg squat will only make the athlete better at single-leg squats and won’t transfer to the sport. I have seen him use split squats with his athletes, though.

I’m not sure what he means by “compensation,” but I suspect he’s referring to the oft-seen lumbar flexion and posterior pelvic tilt exhibited in the bottom range of motion during a pistol squat.

It’s worth mentioning that single leg box squats provide a solution for this issue. But the notion that they don’t transfer to performance is absurd.

Take a novice lifter who struggles with a bodyweight squat. Over the course of 12 weeks, utilize progressive overload and get him able to perform five full range pistol squats. Guess what? His barbell squat and vertical jump will have improved along with his pistol squat.

Sure you can argue that the pistol squat isn’t the safest or best way to load the lower body, but it definitely transfers to sport. Everything challenging compound lower body movement does, and the transfer is more pronounced with less experienced lifters.

That’s all for today! Hopefully sports science spreads and coaches are forced to step up their game or be replaced by those who have an appreciation for the scientific method and the literature. 

CategoriesMotivational

Everybody, Never, & Always

I mentioned yesterday that I had to head into the facility a littler earlier than usual because we were taking part in a pretty baller staff in-service revolving around some of the key principles and ideologies behind the Postural Restoration Institute.

While trying to squeeze their philosophy into one sentence or paragraph would be doing it a huge disservice, if I had to give a quick ten second “elevator pitch” on what their schtick is and what they’re all about, I’d say:  it’s about breathing!  Or, to be more precise, it’s about how most of us suck at it.

Like, really bad.

It’s about understanding that symmetry – as much as we try to attain it, and think that it exists – probably ain’t gonna happen.  Taking even a step further, it’s recognizing that we’re inherently designed in such a way where assymmetry is inevitable, and that how we breath plays a major role in that.

PRI tries to teach people how to breath more efficiently, which in turn, in conjunction with their corrective modalities, will help attempt to bring them back to neutral.

Like I said, trying to summarize everything into some pseudo Cliff Notes blog post isn’t even going to scratch the surface.  In fact, after listening and watching Michael Mullin drop knowledge bombs for two hours I pretty much felt like that evil Nazi from Raiders of the Lost Arc:

Having thoroughly had my face melted, it’s safe to say I had a lot of information and dialogue to digest.

Thankfully (and to his credit) Michael was a phenomenal speaker and presenter and was able to take all the complicated goobely gook and water it down so that we could follow along and appreciate the general picture.

In a way, he took what was equivalent to rocket science and made it seem more like long division.  And, you know, he provided handouts, which sorta helped.

Out of all the nuggets that Michael provided however, there was one phrase which really struck a chord with me, and it was something that he blurted out nonchalantly and without any fanfare at the very start of his talk.

Michael noted that he has been practicing for over 20 years, and has been studying (and practicing) PRI for twelve.  When he first stumbled upon it, he tried everything in his power to DISCREDIT it.  To him, he couldn’t quite understand how something so profound didn’t hit his radar screen sooner.  How could something that made this much sense not be discussed or talked about more in the therapy world?

Anyways, Michael went on to say that he’s always apprehensive whenever someone uses the words Everybody, Never, and Always.

He wasn’t there to “sell” PRI to us, and he immediately noted that it’s not the only modality he utilizes with his clients.  He was very much of the mindset that it’s in everyone’s best interest to “cherry pick” a little from this or a little from that, and decide what’s a good fit FOR YOU and YOUR clients.

Speaking on the assessment side of things for example, I try not to back myself into one corner or follow one train of thought.  I’ll take a little from the FMS, a little from the NASM train of thought, and even a little from Assess and Correct.

The point is:  there should be no one set way in anything.

To that end, he noted that whenever he hears someone start spewing out the words Everybody, Never, and Always, his bullshit meter starts flashing (my words, not his).

Not coincidentally this is the exact mentality that pervades much of the fitness and nutrition community.  A few candid examples:

Everybody should lift heavy.

Everybody should perform yoga.

You should never eat a carb past seven o’clock.

One should never allow your knees go past your toes when squatting.

Always avoid spinal flexion.

We should always eat breakfast.

Everyone should always make certain that they never listen to anything Tracy Anderson says (or stick their finger in an electrical socket).*

It’s human nature – we like to abide by absolutes, and there really aren’t any that exist in the fitness world, or in the “real” world for that matter. Except, you know, that last example, of course.

But lets take the above list and test it out:

Everybody should lift heavy.

  • I realize that heavy is subjective here, but bear with me. What if they’re not concerned with lifting as much weight as humanly possible?  What happens if they’re a complete newbie?  Should they still lift heavy?

Everybody should perform yoga.

  • Not if they’ve got a chronic history of congenital laxity or disc injuries – that’s the last thing they probably need.

You should never eat a carb past seven o’clock.

  • Okay Oprah, settle down.  The human body doesn’t just miraculously shut down its metabolism once Jeopardy comes on.  What happens if someone generally trains later at night?  Should they not eat afterwards?

One should never allow your knees go past your toes when squatting.

  • I guess every Olympic lifter in history had it wrong.

Always avoid spinal flexion.

  • Flexion IS a normal human movement pattern.  Loaded spinal flexion is one thing, but to tell someone to always flexion in general is a bit overkill. What happens if you’re working with someone who lives in extension?  Wouldn’t it be prudent to encourage a little more flexion to get them back to a more neutral position?

We should always eat breakfast.

  • Or what?  We’ll die off?  My god, what did our ancestors do back in the day?  They couldn’t have possibly gone more than seven hours without eating!!!!!!

Listen, I’m not saying that I don’t do it – I do!  I certainly have my biases.  For example, I feel everyone should deadlift at least once a week.

Now which type of deadlift is a different notion altogether, but you get the idea.

I also feel that if you have a history of shoulder issues – especially dislocations – you should never perform a dip.  Like ever.

And I also think it’s kind of important for people to always stay hydrated.

Simultaneously, those three ubiquitous examples aside, I do feel I do a pretty bang up job of not leaning too far to the left or right on any given topic.  With few exceptions, I feel there’s a time and place for everything – yes, even leg presses (as much as it pains me to admit it). And I’d encourage everyone reading to foster the same approach.

Especially as it relates to fitness and nutrition.

Summarizing: Don’t be an a-hole and think you know it all or that your way is the only way.  Unless your name is Gandalf, get over yourself…..;o)

* = or listen to Coldplay.

CategoriesMotivational Nutrition

Just Be Compliant!

This past summer my girlfriend, all of you know her as She-Ra Lisa, went to Europe for a month as a present to herself for surviving 6+ years of school, defending her dissertation, and finally becoming a doctor!

In the middle of June, she headed to Germany to meet up with her good friend, Leslie, who’s husband is stationed there at the Ramstein Air Base. This worked out perfectly because Lisa didn’t have to spend an inordinate amount of money on lounging, and, if need be, I could always fly to the base to borrow a Tomahawk H-2 helicopter if any dude tried any funny business with Lisa.

It was a win-win, really.

Anyways, as it worked out, the game plan was to head to Italy for a week – Tuscany, of course – to peruse wine country, and indulge themselves in everything Italia!

Serving as a second course, they returned back to Germany, and with Leslie’s young daughter in toe, they travelled all across the country visiting places like Dresden, Prague, Strausberg, Frankfurt, and because Ramstein is really close to the border of both France and Luxembourg, they also had the opportunity to experience those countries as well.

In a nutshell, it was the trip of a lifetime and Lisa enjoyed every second of it.

Side Note: and while I missed her tremendously, I enjoyed every second of not putting the toilet seat down, and being able to toss my socks wherever the hell I wanted.

Living room floor?  Hell yes!

Kitchen sink?  Whatever!

Freezer?  Sure, what not?

As most can surmise, spending a month in Europe means enjoying the hell out of food – and that’s exactly what happened.  It was what it was, and when Lisa came back to the States she knew it was time to hunker down and get back to her regular eating habits again.

Easy peazy.

Now, it’s not like she let herself go or that she had a lot of weight to lose – far from it!  Even though she was away for so long (and enjoyed herself), it’s not like Europe is some barren wasteland devoid of gym equipment and green vegetables. Lisa still went out of her way to exercise and make daily trips to the local grocery store to purchase healthy food.

What’s more, it’s not like she came home and we had the conversation that every guy dreads.  You know the one where your significant other walks into the room, the theme music from Jaws starts playing, and in slow motion she says those four words that strike the fear of god into us:

Do I look fat?

Um, uh, um, uh, uhhhhhhhh.

Haha.  Thankfully it never came to that!

Well, one month went by and her weight would go down, then come back up again, go up a smidge, then stay, then drop a smudge, and the same pattern wound ensue for the next few months.

It was frustrating on her part – because it’s not like much changed.  She started a new job, her stress levels were infinitely lower compared to when she was trudging through school and internships, she was still going to the gym three times per week to strength train, and she was still teaching her spin classes every week.

Too, her and I would do our normal weekend ritual of hitting up Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s loading up on veggies, fruit, grass fed beef, eggs, and the usual stuff we stuff our fridge and cupboards with.  And, to top things off, Lisa would do the bulk of the weekly meal prep on Sunday morning. BAM!

All the containers on the bottom are the meals I take with me to the facility each day of the week.  It’s awesome.

So, as you can see, it’s not like too many things were different.  Except for one thing which Lisa nipped in the bud just last week.

You see, at her work (and everywhere else in the world) people like to bring in baked goods or fill the “community” candy dish with things like M&Ms or Skittles, or whatever other yummy candies you can think of.

And, like any other human being out there, Lisa can’t help but “dip in” on occasion and grab a few pieces here and there.  No big deal, right?  Everyone does it, and besides, a piece of candy here and there isn’t the end of the world and certainly won’t make that much of a difference in the grand scheme of things.

Just out of curiosity, Lisa decided to nip things in the bud and actually stick to her normal eating schedule for a week.

Low and behold, she lost seven lbs in one week!!!!!!!  And the only thing that changed was that she stayed true to her word and didn’t deviate from her plan. At all.

Giving full disclosure:  Lisa also taught a double spin class on Saturday and fasted through Sunday which I’m sure played some role, but it wasn’t anything out of the ordinary or anything she hasn’t done in the past.

She stuck to ger guns, and actually followed through with everything she laid out.  In her own words, “I told myself to NOT TOUCH anything that’s not included in my meal plan.”

In short, she was compliant!

And this can apply to anything – whether you’re trying to clean up your diet, lose a few lbs, gain a few lbs, improve your deadlift, save up for vacation, or I don’t know, do your part in helping to bring awareness to the rights of gay seals…….

…..being compliant is kind of a big deal, and will almost assuredly lead to success.

For most, it’s not a educational thing, as my astute colleague, Mark Young, has stated on numerous occasions.

Most people know that daily exercise is important and that M&Ms aren’t the best choice of snack in the middle of the day.  It’s not necessarily about having will-power or anything like that.  It’s merely about recognizing that certain things in your life may need to be “adjusted” – whether it’s social, emotional, or even physical – and setting up a plan to help you become successful.

Compliance doesn’t even have to be an all-or-nothing affair, either.  Almost always, it’s just about starting small, like getting up five minutes earlier if your goal is make sure to eat breakfast in the morning, and going from there.

Once you’ve established that you can do that, then you can add more to your plate like taking your fish oil or making some scrambled eggs with veggies.

It’s isn’t necessarily about conquering 18 tasks at once and trying to do a complete 180.  Most people who do that fail…..like, all the time.

But in the end, you HAVE to be compliant to some extent, and to hold yourself accountable.  Without that, you’re just setting yourself up to fail.

 

CategoriesMotivational

Six Tips To Make You a Better Trainer

Today’s guest post comes from personal trainer (and friend) Mike Anderson.  Enjoy!

I mentally wrote most of this post while sitting in attendance at the First Annual Cressey Performance Fall Seminar. I couldn’t help but notice that quite a few of the people in attendance were personal trainers, not strength coaches.

Those of us who are personal trainers, and not strength coaches, are the red-headed step children of the fitness industry. I often read things on T-Nation (even here on Tony’s blog) about “pencil-necked personal trainers” who couldn’t train their way out of a paper bag and who constantly do stupid things with their clients.

Note from TG:  That is true, I’m a culprit of that.  My bad!  But in my defense, how else am I supposed to react when I see a trainer take his overweight, woefully deconditioned client through a circuit of BOSU ball squats, standing on one leg while hoisting pink dumbbells over their head?

This is understandable; the personal training industry is very misunderstood. It has long been filled with random people who simply put clients on machines and count reps for them. While there ARE exceptions to the rule, much of the time there’s very little thought given to proper programming and helping clients get results in the most time efficient (and safe) manner possible, and more thought put into what arm-band to wear, which sneakers to pimp, and trying to figure out the best way to “swindle” a client into purchasing the next big batch of training sessions to meet their monthly sales quota.

Nowadays, though, we have a new breed of trainer. There are more and more of us who base our clients training on current science and research rather than on bro-science.

In order to help people fix the misconception of what a personal trainer is I wanted to give you all a few tips that helped make me a better trainer, and it’s my hope that these tiny bits of perspective can help you too!

1) Find a Mentor

Whether he knows it or not, Tony has had a huge impact on my career so far.

Note from TG:  Dude, I’m a freakin Jedi.  I know everything…..;o)

In fact, I’d go so far as to say that he has helped mentor me through the first few years of my career. I’d been reading his blog for about a year before I first contacted him with some questions, he responded quickly and went out of his way to help me.

Every subsequent email was answered with promptness and full attention to my queries.  I finally met him in person and he continued to be a huge help to me whenever I had a problem or question. He has also provided me with this forum several times to help kickstart (what I hope to be) a writing career  and to get my name out in the world.

Considering he is one of the “celebrities” of our industry, this really meant a lot to me.

I’m lucky to live in an area that is dense with quality strength coaches who are pretty accessible: Tony, Eric, Greg and Chris out at CP; Mike Boyle and Ben Bruno up at MBSC; Jeremy Frisch at Achieve Performance; the guys at Total Performance Sports, and a ton of really great coaches at Boston University and Northeastern University.

Even if you don’t live near a great coach, you can find a way to get in contact with them. Most people in this industry are more than willing to pass on some of their knowledge to the next generation. Find someone who is smarter than you and learn something!

Note fron TG:  I get this question a lot from other trainers in the industry asking me how they can go about getting better.  Mike hit the nail on the head in this regard:  try to reach out to any local trainers or coaches.  Whether it’s a reputable trainer at a commercial gym or an area strength coach at a college or university, most will be more than willing to allow you to come in and observe and talk some shop.  

Just remember one very important rule:  you have two eyes, two ears, and one mouth.  Use them in that order.

2) Find your Style

This is something that I see a lot of new trainers lacking. They start training and will adapt every session to what the client likes or feels like doing.  They have no particular style to their sessions.

Everyone who trains with me knows they are going to spend some time on mobility, then get their hands on some heavy compound lifts. Is my style unique? Not at all.  Is it effective? Sure is.  Do I stay true to it regardless of who I’m training? For sure.

3) Don’t Stop Learning

It’s pretty easy to get comfortable in your job and stop trying to get better; that’s your death sentence.

There is so much new information that comes out on a regular basis in this industry that you need to keep up. Not only that, but so much of this information is FREE! There’s a ton of great blogs and articles out there written by very knowledgeable coaches; take advantage of this!

If you can read these articles and attend a seminar every once in a while, you’ll gain enough tidbits of information to keep yourself current.  Don’t be the trainer telling your clients that eggs are bad for them or that squats will hurt your knees.

4) Keep it Simple

Very few general population clients out there need anything besides the basics and their variations. Stick to these and stay away from progressing clients too fast and they will see results.

The fanciest exercise I do did with my clients are sled drags (unfortunately I was recently banned from doing these.) I stick to the 5 basic human movement patterns (as described by Dan John): squat, hinge, push, pull and carry.

Use variants of these with your clients, inform them about eating a diet full of real, quality foods and they will be better off in the long run.

5) Sell the “long term”

What I mean by this is; don’t sell a session to a client, sell your program.

Rather than treating each session as an independent hour, every session should be an hour spent working towards the client goal through the use of a program. If possible, you should be writing a full-length program (at least one month) for your clients and using it.

At the very least, you should have a template that you stick to. One of the most frustrating things that I see is when a trainer goes into a session with a client with no plan; you’re not getting results, you’re just getting them tired.

I mean, really:  anybody can do that.

6) Get with the right people

This refers to your clients and the people you work for/with. Having clients who are ready and willing to work hard and put forth the effort makes all the difference in the world; unfortunately this is something you don’t have a ton of control over. (Especially at the beginning of your career).

As you establish yourself more, it’ll become possible for you to become a little more selective in whom you work with.

Working with/for like-minded people will make a huge difference in how you approach work. Having good co-workers gives you the opportunity bounce ideas off of people and find out what other people are having success with. It also gives you the chance to run your programs by someone else to get a second opinion.

Working for a gym where the management is on the same page as you will also make a huge difference. It’s difficult to get results and keep clients happy if your management doesn’t support you in your quest to make clients fit, healthy and happy.

If any of you can take even one new tip from this article, then I did my job. Have a great day, and go lift something heavy!

Author Bio:  Mike is a Boston area personal trainer and currently interning with Boston University Strength and Conditioning. Mike is also finishing his degree in Exercise and Health Science at the University of Massachusetts Boston. He loves bacon, beer and his 7 year old pit bull Lexi. You can reach him with any questions, comments or notes of affection at [email protected]. You can also visit his website:  http://commercialgymtrainer.blogspot.com/

CategoriesMotivational

Small Wins, Big Rewards

To some degree, I’m the sort of person people hate.

Although, hate IS a strong word.

I mean it would be one thing if I cut you off in traffic, insulted your mom, borrowed money from you and never paid it back, or worse, drop kicked a puppy in the face.  Then, by all means, you’d have every reason to hate away.

Maybe “mildly irritated” would be a more appropriate phrase to use here.

You see I’m one of those guys who’s always been lean. As a kid growing up in MiddleOfNoWhereAndTheClosestGroceryStoreIsTenMilesAway, NY, I was very active. What else was there to do?

It’s not a fabrication or a stretch of the truth when I say I literally spent the majority of my time outside playing every sport imaginable.  From sun up to sun down – especially during the summer months – I was outside riding my bike, shooting hoops, playing baseball, wiffle ball, kickball, or any other sport you can name that ends with the word “ball” in it.

I’d go swimming, play catch, toss the football around, go exploring with my dog, Daisy, and sometimes, if was feeling really dangerous, stay up past midnight.

Furthermore, like any other kid, I drank my fair share of Kool-Aid growing up (looking back, I shutter at the amount of sugar I drank back then) and I can’t even begin to tell you how many boxes of cold cereal I dominated – Fruit Loops, Frosted Flakes, Apples Jacks – you name it, I crushed it.

Even still, sugar and all, I was skinny bastard!  In large part, and I’m very thankful for this, I didn’t grow up in the digital/technology age. Sure, things like VCRs were a big deal back in the day.  I can remember one weekend when my mom rented (yes, rented) a VCR player and I watched Return of the Jedi in my living room with while wearing my Jabba the Hut pajamas.

Awwwwwwwww.

It was pretty much the best day of my life.

“Stuff” existed back then – cd players, walkmans, microwaves, Thunderpunch He-Man, etc., but no where to the degree that things exist now.

Today, you’re more apt to find groups of kids spending more time texting or huddled around a tv screen playing Halo against other kids from the next state over or even from across the globe, than you are finding those same kids outside on the baseball diamond.

It’s sad, and a discussion that can be saved for another day – I’m getting way too long winded with this intro.  What the hell was I talking about again?

That’s right:  how skinny I was.

Yeah, I’ve always had “abs,”  but when you’re as skinny as I was growing up, it pretty much defeated the purpose.  Abs on a skinnu guy don’t count!!!

Even as my athletic career took off through high school and onto college, I was always on the skinny side.  I graduated high school weighing like 155-160 lbs, and even as I entered my senior year in college, I was only 175 or so lbs at six foot one.  Not a ladies man by any means.

I had abs, but you know, they were “skinny guy” abs.

It wasn’t until I stopped playing baseball, finished my degree in health education at SUNY Cortland, and got my first job in corporate fitness (this would have been 2002) that things started to click.

To make a long story short, I was sick of being skinny.  At that stage in my life, I had been a gym rat for a looooooong time, and to my credit, built a decent physique. But I was still doing stupid things like “arms day,” not eating egg yolks, and even more heart wrenching, averaging like 15-20 miles per week of running.

Yes, my name is Tony Gentilcore and I used to be a…..I used to be a…………

Runner.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1Y73sPHKxw

 

Dramatic chipmunks aside, it was something I actually enjoyed doing, but there came a point where I had to come to the realization that doing that much running wasn’t helping me attain my goals.

In the summer of 2003 I decided I was going nip things in the bud and attempt to get to a bodyweight of 200 lbs  – a seemingly insurmountable number in my head, especially given my struggles to hover anywhere in the vicinity of 180.

It’s that word insurmountable that really toyed with my head, though.  In the past, whenever I tried to gain weight, it’s like I had already programmed myself to fail from the get go, thinking I could never reach that mark of 200 lbs.

But I decided to chip away at it nonetheless.  My first order of business was changing my training from a body-part-per-day split to more of a full-body approach.  As weird as it sounds, and as shocking as it may seem, I didn’t perform my first deadlift until 2003 (when I was 26).

Once I got the hang of that, and realized it was’t that hard to make subtle changes, I started tweaking other things in my life.  I started eating more whole eggs.  Glorious, delicious, cholesteroly, whole eggs.  I also realized the world wouldn’t collapse in an Apocalypic hellfire if I ate a carb past 7 PM.

Moreover, as the months passed and I started gaining momentum, I made other changes.  I decreased my distance running drastically and opted for more sprinting type work; I started prepping my meals a head of time; hell, I even said hi to a girl once.

All told, within a 10-11 month span, I put on a solid 25-30 lbs and actually got up to 210 lbs.  And ever since, I’ve rarely dipped below 200.

And yes, I’m still lean thank you very much.

So, what does all of this have to do with you?  Well, I recently finished reading a phenomenal book by Charles Duhigg titled The Power of Habit:  Why We Do What We Do In Life and Business.

Not to throw a spoiler in your face or anything, but the book is about habits – what they are, how they form, and what we can do to set new ones.

In one section, the author describes what he refers to has Small Wins that I felt carried a lot of weight in terms of one of the book’s main messages.

To quote, from page 112:

Small wins are exactly what they sound like, and are part of how keystone habits create widespread changes.  A huge body of research has shown that small wins have enormous power, and influence disproportionate to the accomplishments of the victories themselves.  “Small wins are a steady application of a small advantage,” one Cornell professor wrote in 1984. “Once a small win has been accomplished, forces are set in motion that favor another small win.” 

Small wins fuel transformative changes by leveraging tiny advantages into patterns that convince people that bigger achievements are within reach.

Small Wins reap Big Rewards

Using a more universal example, lets say someone wants to lose weight.  They walk into their local bookstore and mozy over to the diet/nutriton section and choose from the cornucopia of diet books available.  In it the book suggest that they need to drink more water, eat more vegetables, and fruit, include more protein, take their fish oil supplement, exercise more, avoid carbs at all costs, except for post-training (or if it happens to be an even numbered day in a leap year), oh and by the way, you should only buy organic foods.

Capiche?  Good.  Now get to it!

It’s A LOT to take in, and to say that it can feel pretty freaking overwhelming would be an understatement akin to saying the Grand Canyon is kinda big.

Many will reluctantly make an effort to change (I CAN do this, easy peezy), but while intentions are good, it’s only so long before said person feels lost and reverts back to old habits.

It’s just too much to take on so many things at once – and it’s a mistake that everyone (myself included) makes.

Instead, start small.  Start with ONE habit – say, eat one more serving of greens per day.

Once you master that, and it becomes a habit, you can move onto something else like getting a gym membership and starting with making an effort to go twice per week.

Once you know you can do that, you can up that number to three, maybe four times per week.

It’s all about those small wins – and this can be applied to anything, really.

Quitting smoking.

Getting out of credit card debt.

Losing/Gaining Weight.

Increasing your bench press.

Training for a marathon.

Making a movie quality Iron Man suit.

Anything!!!!

The key is to not fall into the trap that you have to tackle everything at once. It doesn’t matter how trivial or minute the small win is…..any win is a step in the right direction.

CategoriesFemale Training Motivational

Is There a Fitness Double Standard?

When my girlfriend and I first started dating 3.5 years ago, one of the major attractions between the two of us was that we both had an insatiable appetite for fitness.  Well that, and we both had an insatiable appetite in the literal sense, too.

On our first date we crushed fajitas.

But fitness and living a healthy lifestyle – whether it be heading to the gym to get our swole on, making a cameo at Harvard to do stadium sprints on a Sunday morning, hitting up various local farmer’s markets, or trying our best to avoid gluten like the plague – has always been a “theme” in our relationship.

Funnily enough, when we first met, Lisa wasn’t that much of a hardcore gym rat.  Sure, she would go to the gym and do her thing following various routines she’d read about or come across in books or magazines, but more often than not the one’s she’d follow had the foo-foo body-part split, “Tone Your Abs in 17 Minutes,” or “Tighten Your Tush by Tuesday” vibe.

To her credit (and so that I don’t get the look of death from her after she reads this), she grew up in a very active family and was always highly encouraged by her father to lift weights. In addition, she was a volleyball player all through high-school and college – even being inducted into her alma mater’s Athletic Hall of Fame, thank you very much – and as such, understood the importance that strength training had on her success as an athlete.

Even as a non-athlete after college, she carried with her the drive to be active and fit, and still made weight training a priority in her life moving on into adulthood.

When our paths crossed back in 2009, Lisa had already established herself as a very popular spin instructor in Boston (she still is) and she supplemented that with her training routine – which, admittedly, and at the risk of being sent to the doghouse tonight, resembled one of those foo-foo routines I mentioned above.

Well maybe that’s a bit of an exaggeration, but suffice it to say, she wasn’t routinely lifting heavy stuff…..;o)

Anyways, during my courting of her (you know, dates at Chipotle, Star Wars marathons, and me bringing her containers of protein powder instead of flowers – true story) I’d occasionally go to the gym with her and show her a few new exercises here and there.  I also had her read The New Rules of Lifting for Women, and just tried my best to support and educate her along the way.

Trust me:  this wasn’t a damsel in distress scenario by any stretch. Lisa knew her way around the gym floor – I just had to nudge her a little bit towards the squat rack and the deadlift platform.

Needless to say, I created a monster.

Not to brag or anything, but Lisa routinely deadlifts 1.5x her bodyweight for reps, can bench press 135 lbs for multiple reps, can perform multiple sets of unassisted chin-ups, and I’m pretty sure if she arm wrestled a tank, she’d win.

And she looks goooooooooooood.

I write her programs on a monthly basis, and while she and I will sometimes butt heads (you’re going to do box squats and like it!!!!!!!!!!), it’s been fun to see her make so much progress and enjoy her training.

Because she follows a bit more of an unconventional program compared to most, she’s constantly getting questions from random people and remarks from trainers.

Most are just curious about a certain exercise she’s doing and wondering what muscles it targets, while others just stop to give her some praise – which is always cool, and Lisa is more than happy to stop and talk some shop.

But I can’t help but notice the massive double standard that exists.

For like the 18th time some random dude approached Lisa at the gym the other day in between sets of deadlifts and asked her what she’s training for.

“Are you training for some kind of sport or something? ” the man asked. To which she replied, “nope, just training for fun. What are YOU training for?”

“Uh, well, football I guess, ” he replied. “But, you know, I don’t play now, I used to back in high school. I’m 30 now, so I just train to train, ya know?”

I find it interesting that guys never ask other guys the same question. Well, it happens it’s just A LOT rarer.

Guy #1:  Hey dude, you’re pretty ripped.  What are you training for?

Guy #2: I’m heading to the club in like an hour, I gotta get me swole on.

Guy #1:  Right on.  Okay, nice talk!

While the above example is a bit facetious, just think about it: when many of us see a ripped or jacked or yolked (or whatever brospeak verbiage you want to use here) dude getting after it in the gym we generally don’t think anything of it. He’s just training.

Yet, when many (men AND women) see a strong female lifting weights they automatically assume she’s training for a sport or some kind of figure show or something.

I’d love to hear other’s thoughts on this.  Am I just over-analyzing, or do others notice the same thing?

CategoriesMotivational

Can’t or Won’t

Today I have another guest post from personal trainer Mike Anderson.  He did such a good job with his last installment, that I invited him back for round two.

This time around, he’s kinda angry (and I like it!)

We’ve all heard it a million times; hell, most of us have said it that many times. I just can’t do that!

As a trainer, I hear this way more than I’d like to admit to.

 I just can’t do another rep!

 A 7 a.m. session? I can’t wake up that early!

 Stop eating muffins and eat more meat?? I just can’t!

The more I hear it, the more I want to drop a kettlebell on my own balls. Is it really something you can’t do? Or is it something that you’re not willing to do?

This is really frustrating to hear because people come to me to get results. Nobody pays a trainer to stay exactly the same; everybody wants to improve something. Whether it’s to get rid of their low back pain, get stronger or get abZ you can bounce a quarter off, of people want results.

Why, then, are you not willing to do what it takes to get those results?

Get your ass out of bed and go to the gym. Go for a walk – do something!  I don’t care. The extra hour of sleep in the morning isn’t going to make a difference anyway; if you’re that tired, go to bed earlier.

Dan John always says that the hours of sleep you get before midnight are more important than the ones after midnight. (There’s no science to that, but if Coach John says it, it’s got to be true.)

Note(s) from TG:

1.  For those who aren’t familiar with Dan John (shame on you), HERE’s a post I wrote a while back highlighting some of his more memorable quotes from his book Never Let Go – which is required reading for ANY fitness professional (or anyone remotely interested in fitness for that matter).

2.  There actually is some solid research backing the whole notion of getting more sleep BEFORE the hours of midnight as opposed to after.  While I don’t have any studies to link to offhand, myself, Eric Cressey, Dan John, and a host of other coaches often state to our athletes and clients that one hour of sleep before midnight is worth two hours after.

Of course this isn’t to say that this applies to everyone, and maybe even more pertinent to the conversation is that it’s more important to go to bed and wake at the same time each and every day depending on body’s “internal clock.”

They say that variety is spice of life.  If you’re taking cooking classes or practicing the Kama Sutra, this is true.  BOM CHICKA BOM BOM.  Sooooooooooo, true.

With regards to sleep, however, you’re much better off staying the course and being consistent with your sleep patterns than to throw your body a curveball and head to bed and wake up at different hours throughout the week. 

Okay, enough with me, lets get back to Mike’s epic rant.

Just work hard! Your trainer should know your limits and the right way to push you; if he or she doesn’t get a new trainer.

Another option would be to find a good training partner, because, you know, training on your own kind of sucks.

A good training partner can make a world of difference in the way you work out.

Stop eating like a child – eat like a grown up! Seriously, if there’s anything that makes me want to jump off a cliff more it’s when I hear a client say this:  “I just don’t have the time to cook”

This a total bullshit excuse. Everybody is busy (yet we somehow manage to find an average of 4.5 hours PER DAY to sit in front of the television). Everyone has friends, family and a career to deal with. If your goal is to lose weight or gain muscle, you must find the time to spend in the kitchen cooking your meals. You don’t have to be Julia Childs either; every meal doesn’t have to be five courses. Make something simple that tastes good and fuels your body.

Try. Just try! The worst is when someone says “I can’t do that” without even trying. How do you know what you can or cannot do? The limits to what you can do are set only by your mind; if you just try I bet you’ll surprise yourself with what you’re actually capable of.

Have a great day, and go lift something heavy!

Author Bio:  Mike is a Boston area personal trainer and currently interning with Boston University Strength and Conditioning. Mike is also finishing his degree in Exercise and Health Science at the University of Massachusetts Boston. He loves bacon, beer and his 7 year old pit bull Lexi. You can reach him with any questions, comments or notes of affection at [email protected]. You can also visit his website:  http://commercialgymtrainer.blogspot.com/

 

CategoriesMotivational

Walking Advertisements?

NOTE:  I have to keep this one brief today because I’m about 20 minutes away from heading into a CPR/AED course that I’m as excited about as passing a kidney stone.

Today’s more of an “opinion” piece, but something I feel is relavent to many who read this site on a daily basis.

Many of our clients here at Cressey Performance train at other gyms throughout the week.  For most, they’ll train at their local commercial gym 2-3x per week, and then travel out to Hudson, MA to train with us, and to presumably increase the general level of badassery.

I also like to think that some make the trip out solely to hang out with me, talk about Star Wars, and to partake in Techno/Trance/Tiesto Tuesdays – but that’s probably not the case.

Whatevs.

Anyways, I was talking with one of our clients not too long ago – who’s a trainer herself – and she mentioned to me how, while working out at her other gym, she overheard a discussion another trainer had with his client to the effect where the trainer admitted that he doesn’t workout himself anymore.  Or, at least he rarely does because he never has the time.

She (my client) also added that this particular trainer doesn’t remotely look fit, which I guess isn’t surprising given he never has “time” to be physically active.

And that’s not the point.  I don’t necessarily feel that trainers or coaches HAVE to look a certain way.  I know plenty of very smart, competent, and very successful coaches who don’t fall into some societal “norm” of what a fitness professional should look like.

If clients are getting results and if athletes dominate on the field does it really matter whether or not their coach can cut diamonds with his pecs?

Sure, looking the part is never a bad thing, but just because someone has six pack abzzzzz, or has biceps the size of Arkansas, or looks as if they belong on the cover of a fitness magazine doesn’t mean they know their ass from their acetabulum.

As as aside, this is a topic that my friend, Jon Goodman, wrote about last year, and I highly encourage you to check out this post he wrote:  Should All Personal Trainers Have 6-Pack Abs?

My main beef was the notion that this particular trainer didn’t workout.  Like, at all.  Even worse, he mentioned this to his client of all people.

This is analogous to your lawyer admitting that he never took the bar exam, or that your financial planner just filed for bankruptcy, or that Mark Zuckerberg uses MySpace.

In either scenario you’d think it was blasphemous, no?

I don’t even care that the dude doesn’t workout. Maybe he has a legitimate excuse.  But I find it pretty hypocritical that he’d admit to a PAYING client, who’s looking to him for expertise and advice, that he doesn’t workout himself.

What’s that say to the client? F*** all if you ask me.

Maybe it’s just me, but no matter how busy I am writing programs, articles, assessing clients, running a gym, running an online business, rescuing kittens from trees, you name it….I find time to train.

Always.

As much as we may or may not realize it, as fitness professionals, we ARE walking advertisements.  Everything from how we appear (and this doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with abs), and to a larger degree, what we do and say, matters.

Have a clue, will ya!?!?!

What is everyone else’s thoughts on this?  I’d definitely be curious if my thought process is on par with what everyone else thinks.