CategoriesFemale Training Motivational

Getting Your Female Clients to “Woman Up”

Today I have an excellent guest post by CT based strength coach, Erika Hurst, covering a topic I’m very passionate about: Encouraging women to lift heavy things.

Before we jump into the article:  We made it safely to Australia, and if you’d like to keep tabs on our trip Lisa is writing a daily blog. You can check out the first entry, Day 1: 20 Hours On a Plane HERE.

Time to Woman Up

In my six years of coaching mostly women, I can count on one hand the number who were able to walk in the gym and mercilessly attack their workout without a hint of self-doubt, protest or fear….along with pure admiration for the amount of Pantera I subject them to, but that’s another story.

Most women are totally unaware of the brute force that exists within them and the extraordinary feats their bodies are capable of. It is completely unknown to them how harnessing their strength can earn them the lean, vibrant bodies they desire and an indestructible mental fortitude that will benefit them far beyond the gym.

From the get go, these things just aren’t appealing. The idea that men and women should train differently is preposterous. Everyone needs to push, pull, squat, lunge and hinge, but women unquestionably approach exercise with different cultural, sociological and psychological motivations.

(Source): Me!

It’s up to you as a coach, mentor or friend to challenge those motivations and provide them with the right tools to develop a mindset powerful enough to propel them forward towards a healthier approach to changing their bodies.

Note that I’m not referring to us broads who already thoroughly enjoy rolling around in a bucket of chalk, covering our shins in bruises and waging personal warfare against heavy shit for fun.

I’m referring to the average female client who just wants to lose fat and gain confidence. Women in this population have been utterly misinformed on how to change their bodies and usually lack belief in their selves.

What holds this population back is what goes on in between their ears.

They’ve been lead to assume all their lives that they can’t be physically and mentally strong. They live an existence of self-loathing because they’ve been heavily influenced by dramatically false photoshopped images, girly fitness mags that treat them like weaklings, and an industry that constantly tells them they should forever be toning, fixing and punishing their bodies.

It’s you, as a coach who trains women, versus all the BS they are inundated with on a daily basis once they step outside of your gym.

Fortunately, the physical strength we gain in the gym expresses itself in other parts of our lives through strength of mind, character and greater sense of self. If we give our female clients the extra tools to really harness that expression we can truly help each of them discover how strong and powerful they are, how to filter through the nonsense and in turn incite some really meaningful, lasting changes in their lives.

Below, I’ve laid out a few of the strategies I use to accomplish this with my female clients.

1. Listen To and Educate Them.

If you are an introvert like me, you probably already have the whole listening thing nailed down. As with any mutual relationship where trust is integral, listen to their concerns, wants and needs. Let them know each is perfectly valid, dispel any nonsensical fitness beliefs they may be attached to and simply educate them.

Knowledge is empowering and the better your female clients understand proper strength training and sensible nutrition, the less inclined they’ll be to fall for quick fixes and other baloney like Piloxing or 30 day squat challenges.

2. Revamp Their Perspective.

The more positive of an existence and mindset one creates, the more power they have over themselves and actualizing their own realities.

Help the women you train understand that a sustainable, effective nutrition and training regimen should add value to their bodies and make them feel good. Chasing fatigue and soreness in the gym, and restricting themselves in the kitchen doesn’t make anyone better and usually backfires.

Teach women to view exercise as a means to become more able, powerful and bold – rather than a never ending battle against their bodies to be less. Teach them that striving for performance is more fruitful than chasing calories burned.

I have my clients set and strive for realistic strength goals like performing 10 real push-ups or deadlifting 200lbs. This helps them approach their workouts with eagerness and embrace fueling their bodies properly to achieve these goals. Momentum and confidence then builds each time a small strength goal is reached, they feel more energized from eating better and begin to see the physical changes that result from doing both consistently.

3. Believe In Them.

Women have been conditioned by circuit training, wimpy exercise DVDs, and believing they need special exercises. The thought of doing a real chin up or deadlifting 1.5x their body weight has probably never crossed their mind, therefore most have zero confidence in their ability to perform either.

It’s up to you to show them these are not only great endeavors to chase, they are also very attainable and effective ways of reaching their goals. Most women are full of self-doubt and “I can’ts”, so they usually need a subtle push to add an extra 10lbs to the bar, grab a heavier dumbbell or push harder behind the sled.

Let them know you have full confidence in their abilities, provided it’s honest. Their belief in themselves will grow and they will eventually start asking to go heavier.

4. Encourage Self-Awareness.

As a society, it’s of the norm to be constantly rushed and on autopilot. Stopping to think about what you’re doing or why you’re doing it., who has time for that?

It’s pretty obvious how detrimental this can be to any goal.

My female clients are fairly high strung and need encouragement to tap the brakes, introspect and put their conscious brains in charge. This helps them to be more in control of their actions, able to make more informed decisions and realize the power they have over themselves.

Before each session, I do an informal readiness assessment where I ask about soreness, energy, what they ate that day, how they slept, etc. For some of them, this is the only time they’ve paused to really think about any of those things. No matter what, always encourage them to be compassionate and non-judgmental about what they discover about themselves.

5. Motivate Through Self-Love.

It is very important for women to understand that if they are using negative perceptions about their bodies as their sole motivation for wanting to change, their efforts will not be viable or purposeful.

However, it’s not as easy as simply telling them to love their bodies first.

Often, the dislike they have for their body stems from another deeply rooted issue. This is why many women under go phenomenal body transformations, yet are still unhappy with their bodies. What we can do is discourage negative self-talk and self-neglect, help them view setbacks as learning experiences and guide them towards taking care of their bodies rather than fighting against them.

Most importantly, keep them haulin’ iron!

Although most female clients may need convincing otherwise and a slightly more complex approach, they are not delicate flowers. There’s nothing more rewarding than helping women fall in love with discovering their strength and in turn cultivate a sense of empowerment and self-worth through their bodies’ capabilities.

If you would like additional female-specific fitness advice, please feel free to reach out to me: [email protected], or visit my gym’s website/blog or Facebook page.

CategoriesMotivational personal training

A Tale of Two Clients

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…..

Even for those who aren’t avid readers, the words above are fairly recognizable. At some point in everyone’s life they’ve (probably) heard the phrase absent of whether or not they know the origin:

Charles Dickens’s A Tale of Two Cities.

Yeah, I haven’t read it either.

But the book reference serves as a nice introduction to today’s post as click bait. Because, you know, everyone goes bat-shit crazy over Dickens quotes.

I was asked two questions recently (from two different people) that I felt would be best served answering here as I know a lot of personal trainers and coaches read this site.

Question #1:

I’m curious what’s the longest amount of time you had the same non-athlete client and I’d love to see more articles on what makes a good lifting trainee/student!

Question #2:

Not sure if you have touched on this in a previous blog post but would love to hear your thoughts on how you go about motivating your general fitness clients vs. your baseball players. I imagine they come in with different experiences, expectations, etc. and I imagine they both pose unique challenges in getting them to engage and buy into the process.

Two different questions, albeit not altogether too dissimilar.

Before co-founding Cressey Sports Performance in 2007 I worked as a personal trainer in both the corporate setting and commercial setting….for five years. That’s five years of early mornings, late nights, working on weekends, working on Holidays, and working with every permutation of human being you can possibly think of save for a one-legged pirate and an Astronaut.

Repeating the borrowed prose from above, my life literally was “the best of times, and the worst of times.”

It was the best of times because I was doing something I loved. Right out of the gate I was making a living wearing sweatpants to work and hanging out in a gym helping people get stronger, lose fat, address an injury, and making people of the opposite sex want to hang out with them.

That didn’t suck.

Too, it was a point in my life where I was a sponge for knowledge ( I still am). Upon graduating from school I thought I knew what I was doing – I graduated Magna Cum Laude, I played four years of college baseball, I had been lifting weights since I was 13, I had six-pack, I got this! But once my first client was handed to me I experienced a hefty reality check.

I didn’t really know as much as I thought I did.

Luckily my first client survived, I didn’t set the gym on fire or anything, things were going to be okay.

It was that time where I found sites like T-Nation.com and other reputable publications that helped me peel back the onion and understand that what I learned in school wasn’t exactly how things are in the real world. I made it a point to read, and read a lot. And I got better.

It was the worst of times because life as a personal trainer isn’t shall we say……all that glamorous.

As mentioned above you work when others don’t, there’s a bit of “politics” involved – pressure to hit quotas and numbers at the expense of quality programming and coaching, and you learn quickly that life as a trainer is just as much about becoming a good “people person” as it is a coach.

Put another way: some (and I’d say most) clients are amazing, wonderful people; while others are life sucking, Debbie Downer/Johnny Raincloud, soul crushers that would give Godzilla a run for this money.

Given all that, however, I wouldn’t change anything from my past as a fitness professional. The one piece of advice I give all incoming personal trainers – especially to the entitled ones who think they’re going to train professional athletes their first day on the job1 – is that you should work in a commercial gym setting.

For 1-2 years.

You need to grind it out, work shitty hours, and learn to work with as wide of a variety of clientele as possible. You do this, and I GUARANTEE you’ll get better and learn to appreciate which niche – if any – you’d like to pursue to further your career.

In my 13 years as a personal trainer and coach I’ve had the opportunity and honor to work with so many different people. Everything from young athletes to professional athletes to CEOs, doctors, fat loss clients, powerlifters, post rehab, and anything you can think of in between. Still waiting for that Astronaut, though.

I’ve had clients who have worked with me for 5+ years – both in person and in a distance based format. Most often when I’ve been working with someone that long they’re someone I’d train for free. I’d be lying if I said you never build a rapport past the trainer-client dichotomy with some people. You absolutely do.

I’ve had clients become really good friends, and I even have one who’s going to be an attendant in my wedding this May.

I wouldn’t say this is normal or happens all the time.

But given that circumstance is more of an outlier scenario, here are some quick bullet point traits I find make for a good client(s).

1. They pay. You have bills, right? It sounds tacky and trite, I know, but if you have a client who pays, pays on time, and is willing to do it for months, and if you’re lucky, years on end….that’s grounds for a solid start.

2. They respect you as a professional. Admittedly, there are a number of examples across the country of inept personal trainers and coaches who give the industry a bad reputation. All you have to do is peruse YouTube for 30 minutes and a small portion of your soul dies.

So part of me understands why the industry as a whole is looked down upon by many people.

But nothing grinds my gears more than when someone hires me for whatever reason – fat loss, performance, dealing with an injury – and then proceed to question/bitch/whine every…single….thing I ask them to do.

When this happens I do this:

Me: “Say Al, what is it that you do for a living?

Al: “Well, Tony, as it happens, I’m an Astronaut.”

Me: “What the what. Finally! Can we be BFFs?

Al: “Only if we can practice karate in the garage.”

Me: “Obviously.”

“Also, you know, Al, I wouldn’t have the faintest idea what the ideal ambient torsional velocity should be when ascertaining the longitudinal axis of a rocket during space docking.”

Al: “I would think not.”

Me: “Soooooo, shut up and do your freakin deadlifts.”

The point is: I’m willing to bet they wouldn’t question an accountant about their taxes or their lawyer about their lawyering. While being inquisitive is one thing (and should be expected), they shouldn’t constantly question your expertise with regards to differentiating flexion intolerant back pain from extension intolerant back pain.

Mind you, you should have a rationale and be able to explain everything written in a program. Conversely it’s not too much to ask that your client trust you. That is what they’re paying you for, right?

3. They show up on time. They schedule on time. They wear deodorant.

4. They do the work. Both in AND outside of the gym. I often give my clients homework. This may be something like asking them to keep a 3-day food diary, or maybe doing an extra active-recovery circuit on one of their “off” days from working with me. Are they compliant? The ideal one’s make an effort to be.

I’m sure I can easily keep going, and maybe I will at some point down the road. I’d encourage you to look up some of Alwyn Cosgrove’s stuff on the topic. He’s written several things on how to build an ideal client roster and how to fire clients if need be.

Meet Eddie

Eddie is a professional athlete (baseball). He works his ass off. I’d make a case that he’s one of the hardest working athletes I’ve ever coached.

Lets be honest: any professional athlete who chooses to spend his off-season in Massachusetts – we’re currently under 2+ feet of snow with more on the way – probably doesn’t need much motivation to train.

The thing about Eddie is sometimes he’s TOO motivated.

As much as it is for us coaches – as a team – to write effective, efficient, and safe programming, a large portion of our job is also to pull the reigns or pump the breaks when needed.

It’s not uncommon for me to tell Eddie to chill out and that it’s okay if he didn’t break his PR for the 16th consecutive week.

While Eddie is also an outlier, we’re very lucky to have so many hard-working and dedicated athletes (and not just baseball players) walk through our doors at Cressey Sports Performance.

Motivation, generally, isn’t too much of an issue when them. They’ll either put in the work or get released. Their choice.

Meet Robin

Robin is not an athlete. In fact, she’s a working professional who started training with us three months ago. She came to us with a vague background in strength training, but was also dealing with a few nagging injuries.

One of the advantages I have is that most people who seek out my services KNOW what they’re getting into. They read my stuff, they read Eric’s (Cressey) stuff, they read Greg Robins, Tony Bonevechio, Miguel Aragoncillo, and the rest the CSP’s staff material.

People know they’re not going to be doing Zumba. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

So, in a way, most of the people I work with at CSP don’t need a whole lot of motivation to train. The brand sort of sells itself. What many of them do need – and especially in the case of Robin – is someone to help them gain their confidence back.

Some have been so “broken” for so long, and have worked with any number of other trainers, that it’s sometimes difficult to buy into what it is I have to say.

Showing them success is paramount.

They’re motivation is literally, training.

What can I do as their coach to get them to train pain free, or to do things that they thought they couldn’t do? It isn’t my objective to have everyone conventional deadlift on day one. Some people aren’t ready for that because it’s too aggressive or above their ability level. But I can have them perform some light glute bridges or some pull-throughs to get them to feel what turning on their glutes feels like in addition to grooving a hip hinge.

And then I can progress them from there.

If a female client can’t do a push-up, I’m NOT going to have her do “girl push-ups.” That’s lame and provides an initial connotation I’d prefer to avoid. Instead, she’s going to do push-ups – elevated on pins.

I’m going to show her success so that she gains some confidence. THAT’s oftentimes all the motivation anyone ever needs, and how I approach things with the bulk of my general fitness clients.

Prove to them that they CAN do “stuff.”  Once that happens it’s pretty much a domino effect in terms of progress and compliance with their programs. It’s not a sexy answer, but it works.

CategoriesMotivational

Focus on the Process, NOT the Outcome

Boston is in the midst of yet another snow storm today. We’re expecting a foot on top of the two feet we got in last week’s storm.

It’s probably good timing given most people called into work this morning anyways due to the Pats winning the big game last night.

Such an awesome game last night, as most people expected. And don’t even get me started on that finish. Nail biter to say the least!

Tough call by Pete Carroll to throw the ball instead of handing it off to Beast Mode (Lynch) with 1-yd to go to win the SuperBowl, but deflategate talk notwithstanding, the Pats won the game fair and square.

Cue the duck boats

So today I have a guest post from Lisa, my fiance. She’s a psychologist and knows a thing or two when it comes to behaviors and behavior change. Today she sheds some light on goal setting and how many of us view it from the wrong context or window.

Enjoy!

Focus on the Process

Purposes for physical activity abound. Feeling good, living longer, getting stronger. Better blood pressure, in-check cholesterol, enhanced mood, improved sleep, increased sex drive, looking hot, and on and on and on.

Any way you slice it exercise = good stuff.

If you are searching for a goal to focus on and help you get active, stay active, or increase your activity, your options are endless!

Despite this plethora of purposes, many struggle to stay consistent with their physical activity pursuits…

Several weeks ago, we thought a bit about your “continuum” of motivation, and considered ALL of your motives to be important contributors to your ongoing success. Our motivations are often connected to an outcome – a goal.

Consider your motivations, and then identify at least one goal (or more) that you have recently identified as important to you…

What do you notice?

Hopefully, and similarly to motivation, you’ve identified a few goals, if not many, that cover a range of outcomes, like health, fitness, energy level, mood improvement, and last, but probably not least, appearance.

Lookin’ good. We all want to look good, or better. It’s part of human nature to want to improve ourselves and to be attractive to others. But if we are exclusively (or mostly) focused on weighing less, being a smaller/larger pant size, or looking more attractive to others, we might be set up for failure.

“How could this be?” you ask? “Since everything and everyone promotes the importance of exercising for improved appearance” you exclaim!?

Let me count the ways:

#1. It’s not really your goal anyway.

Where on earth did you get the idea that your thighs should be “longer and leaner”? I bet you some long, lean lady on TV. Who told you a 6-pack is the way to “finding a mate”? I bet some “Health” magazine columnist.

What is the true significance of dropping a dress size or a waist size? I bet you’ll tell me, “that’s what I want”, but is it really? Or have you been led to believe that some arbitrary appearance-based outcome is a means to a happy end?

We are inundated with images and messages about what bodies should look like all the live-long day. Not only do these messages include impressive, often impossible-to-replicate images, but also judgment, guilt, and the especially toxic shame.

Just last month, a large commercial gym (which shall go unnamed here) posted a sign in the lobby, “Santa, have you looked at yourself in the mirror lately?” To the sadistic and probably-sedentary marketing bastards who incite guilt and shame to boost membership sales, I ask, are we seriously shaming Santa?

Guilt and shame. Motivational?

In the short term, maybe. But over time, heck no.

In the long run, we internalize guilt and shame (a shift from, “I ate something bad” to “I am something bad”… from, I had a “dirty meal” to “I am a dirty fat slob”). Belief in the latter renditions of guilt and shame do nothing for getting us to the gym, and often enable giving up, sitting down, and digging in to a bigger, nastier bag of chips (Or as they say in 12-step programs, a case of the “F-it’s”).

Focusing only on an outcome (in the absence of other goals and motives) can be a thankless, fun-less, motivational vacuum that drains your moxie and damages your confidence and self-image.

#2. Appearance-related goals often focus on a superficial, societally valued outcomes.

How long can you stay in hot pursuit of bigger biceps, skinnier thighs, or a smaller belt size? A week? A month? Right up until the evening of the wedding/reunion/gala?

The motivation based on the reward of a few less pounds or a smaller dress size has an expiration date. There are a few different reasons for this, but first and foremost, external rewards lose their motivational power over time. Anyone who’s ever hit a goal weight and then has trouble staying consistent with his or her nutrition and training regimen knows this.

A “goal” to attain something society values isn’t a goal, so much as a “should”.

The surreptitious, insidious belief that you “should” be ‘skinny’, ‘lean’, or have a ‘6-pack’ of abs has gotten a hold of you. As Dr. Ellis, father of Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) liked to sometimes say to his patients, “You’re just ‘should-ing’ on yourself”.

In other words, it is a B.S. goal – someone else’s goal that you have adopted (mistakenly) as your own.

Symptoms that you are “should-ing” on yourself with an outcome goal include A). Resentment toward the goal, or to those who have achieved the goal. B). Constantly “breaking rules” that make obtaining the goal impossible, and/or C). Feeling excessive guilt or shame about your “inability” to achieve the goal.

#3. You are focused on the outcome – instead of the process.

I know. “Eyes on the prize”. “Go for the Gold”, right?

It seems only natural to focus on the desired outcome in order to keep you pushing toward it. However, focusing on the outcome ONLY can drain motivation, impair performance, and actually have a negative impact on goal achievement. On the other hand, a focus on the process of your goals can be more enjoyable AND more effective in helping you achieve the outcome.

In other words, a process oriented goal focuses on the journey – not the destination.

Now, you don’t want to throw your outcome goal out with the motivational bathwater! Having a goal of any kind is good – you just want to mix it up, particularly if your goal is long term.

For example:

Let’s say you’re getting married in three months and 28 days (just for example2), and you want bring down your body fat percentage by 5%.

Focusing ONLY on your body fat percentage during the next four months will be no fun at all!

But as you monitor your macros and get after it at the gym, here are some in-the-moment goals that focus on the process and facilitate continued striving toward the ultimate outcome:

  • “When I squat today, my goal is to focus on form… brace abs, ass to grass, slow down, fast up…”
  • “My chin ups will rock the house this morning! Dead hang, solid core, exhale up quick, inhale down, slow…”
  • “I’m eating more slowly… noting how I feel before and after… I’m learning how to feed myself differently… how to fuel my workouts… I’m cooking new recipes that look delicious… I’m paying attention to how I feel after my meals…”

Do you see the difference? Your outcome goal focuses on the end. Your process goal focuses on the means. Your outcome goal involves the infinite form of a verb (“I want to be 10 pounds lighter” or “I want to have biceps that are two inches bigger).

Your process goal involves the gerund (I am squatting to depth” “I am pushing the barbell away from my chest, and pulling the barbell toward my chest”).

Remember, process goals can always act in the service of an outcome. Setting an outcome goal, but then focusing on the process can be worthwhile for a number of reasons:

  1. Performance enhancement: If you are thinking about the process of your workout, and not just the outcome, you can bet you’ll have better form, stronger focus, and increased resolve to add weight, reps, or both.
  1. Avoiding negativity: Sometimes, outcome orientation causes us to focus on what NOT to do (“I will not eat any Doritos this week!”). Guess what happens when you try to NOT think about Doritos? Or skipping a day at the gym? Or how bad you will feel if you don’t hit your goal? Focusing on the process is foolproof, because you’re ALWAYS thinking about what to do. Process orientation keeps you in the present moment, away from shoulds, guilt, and doubt.
  1. Enjoyment: It’s true! Being fully engaged in a goal-directed activity is an evidence-based way to be a happy camper. If you’re interested in learning more about this, check out Flow (2008), written by another favorite psychologist of mine, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi.

So, want to give it a try?

If you do, you can think back to your current goal, which is probably an outcome. Now, take a moment to consider the processes that are involved in this outcome (lifting, learning, cooking, sleeping, and so on). Each week you work toward your outcome, choose a specific process to focus on.

For example, clean up your deadlift technique, finally learn how to “braise” all of that protein you need to be eating, or dedicate a workout to focusing on your breath, throughout all your reps and sets.

Experiment a little and see what you notice. Does the time fly by at the gym, because you were so wrapped up in exhaling and inhaling? Or could you add a few more chin-ups because your breath was so big and strong? Or do you just feel like a bad ass at the end of a focused, fully committed training session?

No matter your current goal, an overarching life long goal for you might be feeling good, living longer, or getting stronger. All of these are a process, and ideally a pursuit that never ends. So, enjoy your journey by focusing on your process.

Good Luck, and let me know how it goes!

CategoriesMotivational

Unspoken Gym Rules: You Joined a Gym!? Great! Now What?

There are a lot of rules we have to follow. I’m all for following them, but sometimes it gets exhausting.

In elementary school (grades 1-5 here in the States), on top of learning our multiplication tables and how to write in cursive (maybe they don’t teach that anymore? I don’t know), we’re taught to raise our hands before speaking, refrain from eating paste, and to not run with scissors in our hands.

As we enter adolescence and into young adulthood, we’re taught to follow societal norms like respecting your elders, obeying speed limits, and to make sure that when our parents say 10PM is curfew that our rear ends are home at 9:59 PM.

And then as adults we’re expected to do things like pay our taxes, not kill people, and to wear pants out when we’re in public (<— which is bullshit).

To add more, all of this doesn’t take into account the stream of unspoken “rules” we’re supposed to follow. Much like it’s an unspoken rule to not bunt in the 8th inning when a pitcher is throwing a no-hitter, we’re equally encouraged in everyday life to avoid things like wearing white after Labor Day, that we have to invite our estranged Aunt Alice to our wedding even though we haven’t laid eyes on her since the Sega Genesis came out, and, well, I don’t care what anyone says: if a Junior Mint is dropped on the floor I’m still eating it.

5 second rule!!!

Taking this conversation to the health and fitness side of the fence, again, there are seemingly any number of “rules” people are supposed to follow.

Some have merit and can’t be disputed (you need progressive overload in order to get stronger); others are nothing more than hearsay and smoke and mirrors. I.e., gluten. Do we really need to be avoiding it? The minute few in the population who have Celiac Disease…absolutely! Or are you avoiding it because People Magazine told you to?

I’ve written in the past about my disdain for the words everybody, never, and always. I believe anyone – whether they’re a fitness professional or not – who uses those terms exclusively to defend their opinion on anything is an asshat. That’s about as eloquent as I’m going to get with defending that statement.

Just think about it:

– Does everybody need to avoid gluten? Riiiigggghhhhhtttt.

– Should we never deadlift? Please.

– Does it matter if someone always avoids spinal flexion? Seems a bit drastic, no?

I like to consider myself a middle-of-the-road kind of guy and more or less go out of my way not to be douchy with regards to being too controversial with my writing.

Mind you: I’m steadfast with much of the advice I give (I wouldn’t say if I didn’t believe in it):

– I believe most people should focus on compound movements. If more people squatted first in their workout, every workout3 they’d probably be pretty darn happy with how they look.

– I believe most people should stop overemphasizing steady state cardio as their main source of exercise; especially if their goal is fat loss.

– I believe the whole post-workout anabolic window conversation is overblown. Do yourself a favor and look up anything and everything written by Brad Schoenfeld on the topic. Total calories matters more than making sure you gulp down your protein shake within 17-seconds of finishing your last set.

– I believe cuing people to (0ver) arch and think “chest up” on their squats leads to more issues than it solves. Excessive extension (particularly in the t-spine) can result in increased spinal instability and lead to more compressive forces on the end plates and pars leading to an ouchie.

– I believe most people should deadlift4

– I believe people need to chill the eff out about eating Paleo.

– And, I still believe Tracy Anderson is about as intelligent as a ham sandwich.

Thinking more globally, however, when it comes to someone’s fitness and what “rules” they should follow I always operate under the mindset that there are no rules.

Maybe I should clarify: there are no rules when it comes to goal setting.

What works for one person, may not work for the next. Even though I like to lift heavy things and think it’s sexy as hell to deadlift a metric shit ton of weight, that doesn’t mean someone I’m working with wants to do that (nor will it help them reach their goal).

There is no rule that everyone has to train for 1RM strength.

There is no rule that everyone has to do yoga to improve their flexibility.

You get the idea.

But when you set a goal and you start to make a plan to attack that goal…..there are definitely rules to follow.

Side Rant: Not coincidentally it pisses me off to no end whenever I hear or see a trainer or coach insist that all their clients train the exact same way they do.

Some (not all) bodybuilders tend to train their clients like bodybuilders. Because, you know, it only makes sense that your female client who’s 30 lbs overweight work on her bicep peak!

Some (not all) powerlifters tend to train their clients like powerlifters. Okay, cool. Fred from Accounting can’t perform a walking lunge without collapsing like a game of Jenga, but having him squat with chains looks super cool. YOLO.

And don’t get me started about CrossFit.5

My lovely fiance, Lisa, wrote a blog post on this site last week extolling the virtues of motivation and what, intrinsically and/or extrinsically, motivates people to train.

The message: just get your ass to the gym. Anything is better than nothing, and it doesn’t matter what “motivates” you.

I agree. But to tie this long-winded post together into one, cohesive, “rules to follow” knot, for those just starting their fitness journey in 2015 do me a favor:

1. If you’re a dude and can’t perform at least 5-10 clean, chest to bar chin-ups…you have no business performing an “arms day” at the gym.

Girls = 1.

Your time could be better spent working on those compound movements mentioned above. Or juggling a bunch of chainsaws. You pick.

The reason why you don’t have “big arms” isn’t because you don’t perform enough arm work; it’s because you’re weak!

2. It’s been said that most people quit their resolutions within the first 2-3 weeks of resoluting them. This number may be even smaller for those who join a gym.

I think much of the reason(s) why most people fail to stick with their fitness resolutions in the long-term is because they’re too vague.

I’m sorry but saying nothing more than “I’m going to get fit” is like me staring my fiance straight in the eye and saying “I’m going to cook dinner tonight babe!”

[cue heel click]

We can offer ourselves all the inner congratulatory words we want, maybe even kiss a baby or two, but just because you bought a gym membership (and I made toast for dinner when Lisa was expecting something a little more non-bacheloresque) doesn’t mean much.

Listen, I’m not going to sit here and pamper you and say something like, “that’s so cute, you went to the gym twice last week! I’m so proud!!!”

Sure, it’s a step in the right direction and it should be commended, but I’m sorry snowflake, unless you’re more specific with your goals you’ll likely become one of those resolution dropper statistics. So do this….

SET PERFORMANCE BASED GOALS!!!!!

Ladies, knock it off with being so obsessed with the scale. It’s a number. That’s it. I’d be more inclined to think that if you tackled that 1-rep chin-up goal (or emphasized strength in general: squatting “x” weight for “x” reps, performing “x” number of push-ups), and put your heart and soul into hitting that number (and then some), you’d be surprised as to how much your body will change.

Scale be damned.

The amount of effort, work, and dedication it will take to get to that landmark will trump ANY pink-dumbbell workout you could follow. Want “tank-top shoulders?” Do actual work!

I could keep going, but I’ll stop here. Read: I’ve been sitting here in Panera for a while now typing away and now I’m hungry.

The point of this post wasn’t to downplay or belittle people’s goals. Who am I to say what your goal(s) should be? Rather, it was just to shed some light on expectation management. You can’t expect to make much progress in the gym if 1) you major in the minors and 2) don’t hold yourself to a higher standard and set the bar higher with regards to your actual goals.

CategoriesMotivational Writing

Tips For Becoming a Better Fitness Writer

Note from TG: Today’s guest post comes courtesy of Cressey Sports Performance’s most recent hire, strength coach Tony Bonvechio. Otherwise known as “the other Tony.”

A former collegiate baseball player, current competitive powerlifter, amazing coach, and prolific writer himself (he holds a degree in Journalism and has had his work featured on sites like T-Nation and Stack), we’re very lucky to have had Tony join our staff.

Today he offers some insight on what it takes to become a better fitness writer (or writer in general). I know many people who read this site aspire to write to some capacity, and this post would be an excellent starting point in helping you develop your “voice.”

Enjoy!

Coaching is communication. If you’re not a good verbal communicator, you won’t be a good strength coach or personal trainer. As it turns out, written communication has become a vital skill in the fitness profession too. Writing articles, blogs and e-books enables coaches to reach thousands of people with their ideas and products.

Unfortunately, if you can’t write worth a lick, you’re missing out on a chance to spread your message.

Today, I’ll share some insight from the journalism industry that can help aspiring fitness writers craft better articles and build a bigger readership.

About the “Other” Tony

Long before I was a coach, I was a writer. I started writing for my local daily newspaper when I was 16 years old, covering high school sporting events. As I planned for college, I decided I wanted to major in journalism. I got mixed responses when I told people of my potential career path. I felt like David Spade on Saturday Night Live, getting lectured by Matt Foley for my utterly unheroic aspirations.


Long story short, I got my degree in journalism but fell in love with strength and conditioning in the process.

Between getting my Master’s degree in exercise science and eventually completing an internship at Cressey Sports Performance, I worked for three newspapers and three college media departments, including an Ivy League University. My professional writing experience helped me stay engaged with the fitness community while building my coaching skills.

Along the way, I’ve read lots of great writing by great coaches, and lots of not-so-great writing from great coaches whose ideas perhaps got overlooked because of a lack of writing chops. If you’re a repeat visitor to this site, it’s because Tony G consistently provides quality content and intriguing writing.

Note from TG: and because of my uncannily witty awesomeness, deadlifting tips, movie and book recommendations, and because favorite color is blue. But mostly for my uncannily witty awesomeness….;o)

In this post, I’ll share a few tactics that good writers use to keep readers coming back for more.

Write How You Talk

No one’s invented smell-o-vision for the internet yet, but you don’t need it to smell a bullshitter – especially when the topic is fitness.

The sheer virality of the “Do You Even Lift?” meme tells us that exercise enthusiasts want substance, not smoke and mirrors. The fastest way to sift yourself through the fog of posers is to write how you talk.

Writing how you talk brings out your most authentic voice. Nobody does this better than Tony G. He can talk shop with intellectual coaches all day, but he doesn’t do that while coaching.

Between concise and effective coaching cues, he’s joking about LOLcats, rapping along to Wu Tang or geeking out about Lord of the Rings. That’s literally how he writes too – plenty of laughs and pop culture references, but full of no-frills, actionable content.

If you’re not much of a comedian, don’t write a dozen jokes per article. If you don’t have a PhD in nutrition, don’t give a dissertation on protein metabolism. Write how you talk and people will gravitate toward your authentic voice.

Stay Within Your Scope of Knowledge

This piggybacks off the last point, but it’s impossible to overemphasize – avoid topics on which you are not qualified to give advice. If you must, acknowledge that you’re still exploring the topic and point readers toward more information.

The internet is a scary place to try to establish yourself as a knowledgable authority. Droves of keyboard warriors are constantly at the ready to cut you down and point out your inaccuracies, especially when it comes to exercise. If you can’t back up your statements with a combination of scientific research and experience, you’ll quickly be tarred and feathered by the masses.

If you cover topics beyond your expertise, give credit where credit is due. Pick up a newspaper and you’ll notice that everything is attributed – meaning the writer notes who said what or where the information came from. No crime is reported without quoting a police officer. No medical breakthrough is announced without citing a lead researcher. Adopt the same practice and quote (or at least mention) your sources.

This isn’t to say that you shouldn’t voice an opinion or think out loud about an interesting topic. Just stay in your lane.

Don’t try to create an illusion of false authority. I’m not going to try to out-write Eric Cressey about shoulder anatomy or Tony G about Star Wars trivia. Powerlifting, yes. Facial hair management, maybe. But I’ll leave these other topics to the experts.

Learn to Cite Research

Perhaps the most valuable skill I developed in grad school was reading and interpreting research studies. No singular study is going to change strength and conditioning, but collectively they should drive our methods, so you need to know how to read, report and cite your findings.

Learning to read research deserves a separate article, so I’ll just touch on citations.

Note from TG: I’ve never shied away from stating that I hate reading research studies. If it came down to picking between swallowing a live grenade or reading a research study, I’d seriously contemplate the former.

This DOES NOT insinuate that I don’t do it, nor ignore the importance of the practice. It just insinuates I have a sick sense of humor…;o) That said, I have a lot of smart friends in the industry who like to geek out and read PubMed on a Friday night.

Some of my “go to” sources include:

Examine.com’s Research Digest

Strength & Conditioning Research – Bret Contreras and Chris Beardsley

Alan Aragon’s Research Review

And I’d also direct people to THIS article written by Jonathan Fass on how to really read (and interpret) fitness research.

Proper citation separates you from the abstract-skimming phonies. First, always cite within your article, not just at the end. There’s nothing worse than a sentence that reads, “Studies show…” with no indication of which study your referencing. And just listing a bunch of references at the end doesn’t count. Instead, try this:

“A 2014 study [link to full study so readers can view] by Reardon [author’s name] published in the Journal of Sports Science & Medicine suggests that the cross sectional area of the quad muscles effects an athlete’s ability to realize the power benefits of post-activation potentiation.”

In fact, ditch your post-article reference section all together. No one’s gonna read that stuff, and more references doesn’t mean a better article. I’ve literally read a 500-word article with over 30 references before, and the article sucked. Word count doesn’t equal worth.

Be Firm, Not Ambiguous

After talking about research, it might sound contradictory to speak in absolutes, but there’s no faster way to destroy your authoritative stance than to always be on the fence. If you never take a stand on important topics, your readers won’t trust you. And then they won’t pay you for your services.

I’m not telling you to make outrageous claims like, “deadlifts will solve world hunger.” I’m telling you to avoid overusing wishy-washy terms like “maybe,” “sometimes,” “it depends,” and phrases like…

“Research suggests that deadlifting may induce hypertrophy of the glutes and hamstrings, which has been linked to improved sprint speeds.”

This is all well and good for a research journal, but your readers want a leader, not a politician. Instead, tell it like it is:

“Deadlifts can make you sprint faster.”

If you’re a coach, which phrase is going to get your clients motivated to deadlift?

Be firm in your beliefs, but realize that you might not believe everything you write forever, so be willing to evolve.

Putting Pen to Paper

As I’ve heard Tony G tell many aspiring bloggers, the first step is simply to start writing. But keeps these tips in mind along the way. You’ll find your own authentic voice while maintaining integrity and providing some entertainment along the way.

Author’s Bio

Tony Bonvechio is a strength and conditioning coach at Cressey Sports Performance in Hudson, MA. A former college baseball player turned powerlifter, he earned his Master’s degree in Exercise Science from Adelphi University. You can read his blog HERE or email him at [email protected].

 

CategoriesMotivational

What Moves You?

Today’s guest post comes from my fiance, Lisa Lewis. Dr. Lisa Lewis (EdD, CADC-II, Licensed Psychologist).

We’re currently down here in Florida (her home state) visiting some family and friends along with chipping away at some good ol’ fashioned wedding planning. I.e., “discussing” whether or not I can finish our vows by saying “one ring to rule them all” when I place the ring on her finger.

I.e., and by “discussion,” what I really mean is “not a chance in hell in happening.”

Anyways, knowing we were going to be away for a few days, and the likelihood I’d have a lot of time to do any writing pretty slim, Lisa was a champ and wrote this post on exercise and motivation. She’s kinda smart. And the internet loves it when she writes for my site. I suspect this will be no different.

Enjoy!

[Seriously babe, Tiesto, blacklights, smoke machine, first dance, what’s not to like?????]

Take an Intention Inventory:

Let’s go: grab a scrap piece of paper, a napkin, or open a “post-it” on your computer, and write down 10 reasons why you work out (or “lift”, “train”, “exercise”, ect) … Don’t think too hard or too long… just jot them down as fast as you can.

Give yourself about 2 minutes…

Alrighty. Now put that aside for a moment, and consider the construct of motivation.

As complicated, ever-changing, growth-directed creatures, we humans are separated from the rest of the animal kingdom by our psychology – and specifically, our innate desire to grow, improve, and gain mastery over our environment(s).

In a word, we are motivated. We pursue careers, follow dreams, take up hobbies, and aspire to be better than we are. Since you are reading Tony’s blog, you are motivated to be one of the following: fitter, faster, stronger, smarter, beastly-er, better. Motivated to enhance your fitness, you have most likely adopted behaviors and developed habits that others would consider “extreme”, “impressive” and “disciplined”.

How on earth do you do it?

Anyone can exercise, and while many begin, or begin again, most do not persist over time. We make resolutions that influence behavior for a day, a week, or a month, but what makes it stick? How do we persist in activities that require discomfort, delayed gratification, and sweaty smelliness? Those of you who have struggled with finding – and more commonly keeping – motivation for health and fitness have most assuredly wondered the same.

Motivation drives us – but not just in one direction or toward one outcome. A variety of intentions move us.

One way to conceptualize motivation is along a continuum: at one end we are motivated by 100% intrinsic enjoyment derived from engaging in the activity itself, and nothing else; at the opposite end, we are motivated in order to obtain a reward or to avoid a punishment. My personal favorite theory of motivation, the Self-Determination Theory (Ryan and Deci, 2000) posits a range of motivations from wholly external to entirely internal, and all together, these motives combine, compliment, and conspire to move us to act, work, and grow.

Now, let’s look at your list of results along this “continuum” of motivation to see what helps you to “get after it” at the gym, day after day. Label each one of your answers with the number corresponding to the best description of that motive:

1. Reasons including “getting something” good, or “avoiding something” bad are externally regulated. For example, some people are incentivized by employers to walk (measured with pedometers), go to the gym (proved with attendance records), or join a sports league. Oppositely, you may be externally regulated to avoid something punitive, like chronic pain due to inactivity.

2. If you wrote down anything about “feeling guilty if I don’t go” or “being proud after a great workout!” than you are also motivated by introjected regulation. Partially internalized, this motivation works by either moving you away from shame and guilt, or by pushing you toward pride. (Unfortunately, this is a motivation often used by the media and commercial gyms, which impose guilt and shame for not “getting in your run” or doing regular physical activity… this is unfortunate because this type of motivation often leads to behaviors which become “extinct” over time).

3. Any statements about your identity and your values. For example: “Training hard is who I am!” “I really value being strong and fit, and I make sacrifices to keep myself healthy”, “I’m athletic and I want to look at feel athletic” and “I want a long, healthy, happy life”. If you get to they gym due to “Identified” or “Integrated Regulation”, then you identify with exercise and fitness, and/or exercise behaviors are integrated into who you are as a person. You value the outcome of your hard work, and find the results personally meaningful. It may not be fun, but dammit, you feel that it’s all worth it.

4. Intrinsic motivation. Examples include, “I’m in my zone/happy place/flow when I’m training”. “I love getting in there and working hard”, or “it makes me happy!” Intrinsic motivation is pure, and someone operating under this motive is training solely for the internal state that is created (as opposed to the outcome).

So, what did you find?

Lots of 3’s and 4’s? Hope so! If that’s the case, you most likely have no trouble staying on track with your fitness. If there were mostly 1’s and 2’s, then you might have a harder time… you may stop-start often with workouts or resolutions… you may beat yourself up, have a “good week” or month, but then find yourself back out of the swing of things again.

If you notice a mix of scores 1 – 4 on your list, then you’re regulated by a range of motives that combine and complement one another. For example, someday you may feel excited to get to the gym and happy just to “get after it”. The following day you may be sore and have other things you’d rather do, but you go again because your fitness goals matter to you, and it means a great deal to you that you “stay on track” and hold yourself accountable.

Other days you might feel tired and start to fantasize about skipping the gym to binge watch some Downton Abbey (or maybe that’s just me), but you realize you’ll feel guilty if you don’t go, and “better” once you do, so you drag yourself anyway.

Then other days you might just to because you promised a friend you’d spot or train with her, or because it’s Saturday and you’ll be going out to a big delicious dinner later on that you want to “earn”.

As for the “best” kind of motivation? Research has demonstrated that intrinsic motivation leads to persistence in a behavior over time – but as we all know, you can’t “love” to workout every day… or even once a week.

But if love gets you deadlifting once a week, and guilt gets you pressing another day, and your lifting partner pushes you to glute ham raise a third, and the fourth day you go because it’s what bad-asses do – then what you have is a pattern.

A consistent, regular, rain or shine, good days and bad pattern.

The blend of motivations – the drive to work on yourself across a continuum of motives – is the magic elixir to a long, fulfilling life of health and goal-directed fitness.

So: Embrace the guilt that gets you off the couch! Love the “masochist” inside that wants to push the sled and “punish” you. The fun from your run and shame from your shake work together in pursuit a well-meaning, worthy goal.

Run with your reasons to get to the gym, no matter what they are. In the end, you’ll be fitter for it.

CategoriesMotivational Nutrition

My Diet Home Base

I have a home base or “go to” for just about everything. And by that I mean the thing – however ordinary, ornate, ominous, or obligatory – I’ll always default to when in a pinch or when I know I won’t be able to make up my mind and just want something familiar.

Home base restaurant (general): Chipotle

Home base restaurant (in Boston): Beehive or Sunset Grill.

Home base movie: GoodFellas

Home base television show: House Hunters International Fresh Prince of Bel Air re-runs.

Home base book: anything written by Kurt Vonnegut (or has lots of pictures).

Home base lazy day activity: hanging with my cat or going to the local bookstore.

Home base musical artist: Norah Jones. Whatever dude, don’t judge me! I saw that REO Speedwagon mix tape in your glove compartment.

Home base is simple. It’s what we know. It’s consistent. No matter what, it’s what we’ll always gravitate towards when left to our own devices and just want to go with the flow. It’s home.

Many of us have forgotten what our home base is when it comes to diet and nutrition.

There’s a lot of noise out there to distract us. Every week there’s a new diet book that hits the New York Times Best Seller list.

Last week it was Paleo Rules: The Ultimate Diet We Have Little Proof Existed In the First Place and Meant Different Things to Different Parts of the World Depending on What Food Was Available to Them At the Time (Yet Will 100% Cure Everything, Ever. Including How Fat You Are)6, and this week it’s the seminal hit, Gluten Is Basically Worse Than Ebola7.

Adding fuel to the fire, one week dietary fat is bad and will steal your lunch money, and the next it’s our BFF. A few years ago intermittent fasting was all the rage. Now it’s all about if-it-fits-your-macros, yo!

NOTE: for an excellent, all-encompassing (free) resource on intermittent fasting go HERE.

It’s no wonder so many people are so confused on what to eat! I overheard a conversation not too long ago between two women at Panera where one of them was having a mid-life crisis on eating an apple before bed. She had been so indoctrinated that all carbohydrates were bad, she needed to find solace from her friend to reassure her that it was okay. The fructose police weren’t coming after her.

Listen, I’m not a hater. I recognize that what works for one person, may not be an ideal fit for the next. I also recognize there’s going to be a bit of experimentation to figure out what works best for any one individual. If you want to eat nothing but grapefruits for 17 days or ingest some magical pills that have you shitting detox rainbows, have at it!

I feel the whole “detox” trend is BS, but if that’s your bag so be it.

If it works for you and it makes you happy, cool. However, I do feel it’s important to have a home base. A place you can feel “safe” and revert to when things get dicey or unclear.

Using myself as an example, I know what works for me and what makes my body feel good. I remember I did an intermittent fasting experiment two years ago for a month to see what all the buzz was about. I hated it.

I typically train between 9-11 AM and my lifts suffered because I’d get halfway through my session and think about nothing other than when I was going to eat.

I lasted 3-4 weeks and reverted back to my “normal” diet. Lots of whole eggs, beef, chicken, fruits/veggies, etc. Sounds very Paleolike, right? I guess you could say I roll with that crowd…..to a degree. Keep reading.

I also remember a stretch where Lisa and I went hardcore Paleo. We took grains, lentils, and beans out of our diet. We also omitted peanut butter – GODDAMMIT!!! – and pretty much all dairy.  It was tolerable, but I noticed after awhile I was feeling a bit more lethargic and tired during the day – especially in the mornings, which shouldn’t happen after 9-10 hours of quality sleep.

It didn’t take long before I went all Wilford Brimley and said, “fuck this I’m eating my oatmeal.”

I felt better.

I know my body. I know my body handles carbs well8; I know it prefers a big breakfast every morning; I know it prefers I “taper” carbs as the day progresses; I know it likes potatoes, beans, oats, grains, and everything else people who like to sell books hate; I know it loves eating dead animal flesh; I know it can handle dairy (I’m obsessed with cheese); I know supplements aren’t going to trump real food; and I know it loves mine and Lisa’s “Date Night,” where we go out to eat every Saturday night and not only eat bread, but ask for more than one basket. And then we eat dessert.

If I’m paying $30+ for an entree you better believe I’m having some carrot cake!

I know what works for ME and what allows me to hit my goals. If I ever stray too far away from what I know works, I can always go back. That’s the beauty of having a home base in the first place! Once you know what it is, you know where to find it.

It may take you or someone you know a bit longer to define home base – it can mean different things to different people. For some, home base is 10% body-fat year round and being able to “fuel” every grueling workout. For others, home base is eating GMO, organic sawdust. And for others, home base is eating well-balanced diet (what ever that means).

The point is: a home base exists. It works for YOU. You feel great and it allows you to reach (and MAINTAIN) your goal(s).

Basically what I’m trying to say is: oatmeal is my home base.

What’s yours?

UPDATE: maybe I need to write a little sumthin, sumthin in my training home base?

CategoriesMotivational

Breaking Family (Health & Fitness) Traditions

Many times with my private clients, and even the youth athletes that I continue to guide in the weight room, the topic of nutrition will inevitably arise. I understand that with the mindset of work, it is often analogous to think of hard work, sweat, and coming into the gym day in and out to see results.

This is important, yes, but not as much “hard work” is done in the kitchen, nor is advising the emotional pathways that guide our nutritional thought process, along with the routine habits that ultimately guides what is being digested into our bodies.

Photo Credit: AB Chao

Prior to arriving at Cressey Sports Performance, I was living at home, working multiple jobs, and helping out my family when I had the opportunity. I would clean, I would cook, and I would do any errands that anyone needed to get done, other than my own responsibilities as a strength coach, personal trainer, and online writer.

Note from TG:  A man who cooks and cleans!?!?!? Miguel is single. Ladies??????

Needless to say, I was busy. However, I didn’t let this stop me from living a healthier lifestyle, along with influencing others towards a healthier lifestyle.

Essentially, I controlled what I could control.

The purpose of the following is not to discredit any number of both cultural and individual diets, or devalue the traditions of one culture versus another, but to more aptly identify what is helpful and not helpful with respects to a community of individuals, also known as a family.

With this in mind, changing habits for yourself as an individual can bring about conflict in an immediate circle of individuals. If someone within this “circle” challenges the status quo, what happens? How can you bring about change in a positive manner without negative confrontation?

Identifying Your Culture’s “Diet” By Traditional Meals

My family is Filipino, and with that comes many of the traditional meals that are associated with the culture.

The Filipino diet is largely rooted with delicacies, soups, stews, and white rice.

This sounds great at first, especially if you haven’t had this type of food before, but the meals cultivated by our culture may not be the most advisable towards a healthy and productive lifestyle. For an insider look at what my typical meal selection looked like growing up, I typically had white rice with every meal – breakfast, lunch, dinner, including snack times throughout the day – along with a variety of meats, soups, and stews.

Two-four cups of white rice, at roughly four meals a day, for approximately 13 years (when I was old enough to eat rice at a decent clip, to when I began cooking on my own) is a lot of white rice.

At a young age, I was fortunate to have the mentality to expand my horizons on food selection, along with improving a lifeskill (cooking) that would still guide me to this day.

At risk of calling my diet a “problem”, a better statement to identify with is: what can be improved upon within my own family’s Filipino diet?

Or, any diet for that matter?

With that said, here are some things that you can implement and draw upon from my own experiences with bringing about changes in a traditional family setting.

Improvement #1: Lead by Example By Cooking Recipes On Your Own.

Begin a healthy lifestyle of movement and diet change on your own, and don’t be overly confrontational about improving your loved ones’ lifestyle (unless you know they can handle it mentally).

With this in mind, learning to cook is a skill that I’ve cultivated from a young age, and it has stayed with me to this day. About once a week I cook a large amount of food, in order to save time, and to minimize the stress involved with not having any immediately consumable foods nearby (which can lead down the path of snacking and raiding fridges).

One recipe that I’ve mastered is one involving ground beef, potatoes, rice, veggies, and hardboiled eggs. This recipe is called, picadillo, and I’ve adjusted it to include grass fed ground beef mixed with beef stock, chopped up sweet potatoes, green and jalapeño peppers, white rice, eggs, and sriracha sauce, among a variety of other spices. It is delish.

Often, I ask the youth athletes I work with if they like eggs, and if they do, if they know how to cook them?

I’m surprised at the number that do not know how to cook eggs, let alone a full meal.

For what it’s worth, eggs are a staple in my diet and will continue to be a helpful ingredient towards my physical and aesthetically minded goals. Barring the personal dislike for eggs, I’m of the belief that learning to cook eggs is a great first step towards a lifeskill of cooking – if you mess up sunny side up, or over medium, you can quickly turn a “mistake” in cooking into an omelette.

Note from TG: for those reading who have to fight the daily battle of people thinking eating eggs (yolks) are the equivalent of kicking a baby seal in the mouth have them read THIS and THIS.

That said, I have sat down with these athletes, YouTubed a 1.5 minute video on “How to Cook Eggs”, and made them watch this video with me in order to impart some knowledge.

Improvement #2: Encourage Small, Healthy Changes, Instead of Large Amounts of Change In a Very Quick Timeline.

Food selection can prove to be pivotal towards a lifestyle change.

Decreasing the amount of white rice (carbs) consumed in favor of meats within the meal (protein) can prove to be a small change. Even adding one vegetable ingredient (green peppers, spinach, or even a salad as an “appetizer” to your main dish) can prove useful towards implementing a positive change towards a healthier lifestyle.

Improving health through the avenue of food is not the only way to decrease health risk factors – exercise is also a helpful beneficial activity.

Leading by example is one way to prove that “big doors swing on small hinges.”

To use a personal example, my mother was never really a “gym person”, and I never fought her on the issue of going to the gym. For a frame of reference, I started dancing and bodyweight training at the age of 14, and began strength training at the age of 21, so I also never truly began a gym associated lifestyle until a few years ago.

However, health and lifestyle issues decided to visit her instead of being proactive about it, and after many “hard talks” with her general physician, she reacted by going to group exercise classes.

After a number of Zumba classes, she kept on mentioning to me how these Zumba classes weren’t all that good – not enough dancing, not many good songs, and not enough sweating.

After hearing this for a few months, I pushed her to become a Zumba instructor – be a part of the solution instead of solely identifying a problem.

She was hesitant at first, since she wasn’t used to the idea of going to seminars and conferences, but when a conference for Zumba certification showed up in Philadelphia, I registered along with her and got certified as a Zumba instructor as well.

She loved it, and is still teaching to this day.

The point is to not identify how awesome my mom is at Zumba, but rather to exemplify that habits can be formed in multiple ways, not just through sheer willpower and grit.

Improvement #3: Don’t Shy Away From Eating Traditional Foods at Family Gatherings, Social Events, Etc.

Avoiding meals at these social gatherings can lead to high amounts of stress for both you and the social parties involved.

Note from TG: plus, you come across as an uppity a-hole. “Oh, oh, look at me everyone…I brought my own cooler of prepped food in my own Tupperware!” Douche.

Stress for you because you have this constant animal on your back telling you to eat these foods that have been a part of your lifestyle for [x] amount of years, as well as your own inner voice singing “No, no, no, no.”

This is pure willpower at work, and often times it will not pan out the way you imagined.

Stress presents itself for the other parties involved because now they have this mental stigma that their cooking is no longer acceptable, their food is not good, or some other conjecture that is not fully realized.

Using the 90% rule from Precision Nutrition indicates that if you have all relatively healthy meals during the week, you can utilize that 10% in order to eat more traditional foods at that social gathering on Saturday.

This is particularly helpful, especially if you have JUST begun a new “diet” and you are aiming to navigate the social aspects of eating with this new lifestyle choice.

With all this being said, one big question that sticks out is “What has happened now that you moved?”

I’m no longer there to help cook or help overall – correct.

However, I’m of the mindset that fostering change should also lead to fostering independence. Sure, my exact recipes aren’t being used, but the positive notion towards a healthier lifestyle remains, and you can bet your behind that my mom is still Zumba-ing her way to a healthy and physically active lifestyle, along with cooking up a storm of awesome meals.

So hopefully I have also armed you with strategies that will begin a lifestyle of change not only for you, but also your immediate circle of friends, family, and loved ones.

About the Author

Miguel Aragoncillo is the newest addition to the Cressey Sports Performance staff, with the self-acclaimed title of Office Linebacker. He enjoys breakdancing, lifting heavy things to 90s Hip Hop mixtapes, and guiding everyone towards their goals – whether it is sports performance, healthier lifestyle, or to get huge.

More of his writing can be found at www.MiguelAragoncillo.com and make sure you follow him on Twitter (@MiggsyBogues) … or else.

Contact him at [email protected] if you have any comments or questions!

CategoriesMotivational Strength Training

Lessons Learned Preparing For My First Powerlifting Meet – Part II

Today’s guest post comes from one of my good friends, Ryan Wood. Ryan wrote Part One of this series a few weeks go (which you can check out HERE) prior to his first powerlifting meet, which took place two weekends ago.

I thought he did a fantastic job with it, and it ended up getting a lot of positive feedback and was well received because a lot of people who read this blog have contemplated competing down the road.

In Part Two (below), Ryan discusses his first meet and some of the lessons he learned.

Enjoy!

Back on October 11th, I competed in my first ever power lifting meet.  The meet was held in Everett, Massachusetts, right around the corner from Total Performance Sports.

On meet day, I arrived to the rec center around noon to listen to the rules. Jumping the gun on commands was the last thing I wanted to do in my first meet. I was pretty nervous when I got there, and even more so as the actual meet time approached. The morning session was set to finish a little bit early, so I began preparing and lightly warming up for the 2:30 start time.

Luckily my good friend and competitive power lifter himself, Adam Pine, was there to coach me throughout the day. I really can’t thank him enough for his expertise during my first meet.

Note from TG: you can check out Adam (and Jordan Syatt) in their new YouTube video series: The Angry Coaches.

Here they make a plea to fitness professionals to “quit telling your clients they’re broken.”

There’s a lot that goes into having a successful meet, and having someone there to guide me sure took off a ton of pressure. Keeping this in mind, here are some key lessons I learned from my first power lifting meet.

1) Have a Handler

Basically a handler is someone who guides you during meet day. They help with the logistics of the meet and also provide bench press hand-offs.

Note from TG Again (Shit, sorry to hijack your article Ryan!!!!): here’s a quick video I shot at BU Strength and Conditioning on how to properly hand off to someone. Yes, it matters.

Adam took care of getting my squat rack height set properly, sending in my attempts, telling me when to warm up and giving me cues to focus on.

I was very fortunate to have his guidance because without him I would have been a nervous wreck. Instead, he took care of the details which allowed me to focus on lifting and just enjoying my first meet.

Plus, it’s not like I’m going to argue with a guy who deadlifts 700 lbs….

2) Bring Plenty of Food/Water/Gatorade

This one is pretty self-explanatory but very important.

Power lifting meets are very long and tiring. I showed up for rules at noon and didn’t leave the rec center until 9pm.

Nine hours is a long time, but picking foods you know settle well in your stomach is key.

It’s not a good idea to crush some random exotic food if you don’t usually tolerate it well. Snacks like trail mix, beef jerky, protein bars and shakes, peanut butter sandwiches, water and Gatorade are some good examples to keep you fueled and ready to lift.

The worst thing is to be starving while you’re trying to get amped up for a PR deadlift attempt.

3) Know the Layout of the Meet and the Flights You Are In

Flights are basically what order you are lifting in.

The meet is organized based on weight lifted. Check the order as soon as it’s posted so you can begin to plan when to warm up so that you don’t finish warming up 30 minutes before your first attempt.

Again, I had Adam there to help me time my warmups so I was ready when my name was called.

Once I was finished benching, I still had about 2 hours until deadlifts even started. Since I was in the 2nd flight for deadlifts, I knew I could add another 15-20 minutes to the start time. Adam recommended that I just relax and get a little food in me as I had plenty of time to warmup once the first flight of deadlifts began.

 Photo Credit: Elitefts

Along the same lines as knowing the layout, it’s also important not to go nuts in warmups. Adam suggested I take jumps like I normally would in training when working up closer to my attempts.

Try to do your last warmup about 4-5 minutes before you’re set to lift on the platform.

4) Take PR Attempts Even If They Are Small PR’s

I opened my first meet with a 315 squat. This was easy, as it should have been.

Because it was my first meet, it was recommended to me to open light and show the judges that I could handle the weight

My next attempt was 350 which also felt really great.

My best squat coming into the meet was 365. During my training as the meet approached, I wanted to hit a 385 squat. But things change a little on meet day, and while the 350 felt light, I jumped too much and ended up missing 385 in the hole. Adam suggested I go 375, which would have been a 10lb pr. I decided I wanted to go for 385 but it didn’t pay off.

The lesson I learned from failing on my 3rd squat attempt is this. Take a PR when you have the chance.

For my first meet, I should have listened to Adam. It really didn’t matter whether I squatted 375 or 385 because either weight was a PR since it was my first meet.

Instead of listening to his advice, I told him 385 and ended up being frustrated after missing it. The point is to take a PR even if it’s a small PR.

Honestly 370 probably would have been more realistic but I got greedy and paid the price.

5) Build Weaknesses

The only lift I failed on was my 385lb 3rd attempt on squats.

As you’ll see in the video, I didn’t stay controlled enough on the descent, which caused me to lose tightness in the hole. Once I started up out of the hole, I leaned forward just slightly and was out of position to stand up with the weight. I will specifically need to work on staying more upright, as well as building strength through my erectors, and overall back strength.

I will continue to work on taking it down with more confidence, and staying tighter throughout the entire lift.

Here’s the video of my 385 lb, attempt:

At the end of the day I ended up going 8/9, posting a 1020 total with a 350 squat, 210 bench, and 460 deadlift. I tested my strengths and was able to see my weaknesses as well.

I want to thank everyone that helped me along the way as well as my buddies who were there on meet day to cheer me on! Big thanks to Adam Pine for helping me have a successful first meet!

Here are videos of my successful lifts:

350 Squat

210 Bench – apologies for the grainy video

460 Deadlift -5lb PR

Some Other Great Resources on the Topic

All About Powerlifting – Tim Henriques (this book literally covers everything about powerlifting).

2×4 Strength Program – Bret Contreras (this program is basic and boring. But basic and boring is what works!).

Learn to Squat Seminar – Jordan Syatt (<— he holds world records. You should listen to him).

Building the Big 3 – Greg Robins (fantastic powerlifting program co-written by Eric Cressey)

About the Author

Ryan Wood is a Certified Personal Trainer through the American Council on Exercise. He interned at Cressey Performance in Hudson, Massachusetts, coaching athletes, professional baseball players, and general population clients for the last several years. He now works as a personal trainer in the Boston area.

He is passionate about about all things lifting and wants to help his clients reach their ultimate goals. He recently began powerlifting and will compete for the first time in October 2014.

You can check out his website HERE or become BFFs with him on Facebook HERE.

CategoriesMotivational

Two Ears, Two Eyes, and One Mouth

We’ve all heard the classic saying/joke relating opinions to assholes. For those unfamiliar, it goes something like this:

“Opinions are like assholes. Everybody’s got one and everyone thinks everyone else’s stinks.”

Similarly, I find Stephen Colbert’s quote on fact/opinion hilarious (if not entirely true – satire or not – given the world we now live in where access to information is seconds away):

“You see, the facts can change, but my opinion will never change no matter what are the facts.”

The fitness industry, maybe more so than any other industry, is rife with opinions – on both sides of the argumentative fence, on any given topic – despite the presence of facts, research, and real world application.

Opinions and personal biases always get in the way. More to the point: people tend to be more concerned with proving everyone else wrong and that they’re unequivocally right.

We have those who feel eating animal protein is the key to a lean, well-performing, healthy body (research backs it up). And we also have those who feel eating Bambi’s mom is worse than joining a Satanic cult and is a one-stop ticket to a heart attack (research backs that up too.  The heart disease stuff, not the Satanic cult jab).

Likewise, we have people who feel crushing deep fried Pop-Tarts covered in maple syrup and garnished with rainbow sprinkles is okay so long as if it fits your macros.  IIFYM in the house!!!!!!! I “think” there’s research to back that up.

Bringing the conversation to the weight room, there’s a camp of people who feel all you need to do is perform one-set of any exercise to failure in order to elicit an appropriate training response, and then there’s those on the opposite end who feel that that’s a load of B to the S.  Research backs both.

Sit ups will cause your spine to explode and shit out its own spine! No, wait, sit ups are okay and are actually efficacious for spinal health! Pick your poison, because research backs both cases.

Like the Energizer Bunny I could keep going and going.  Intermittent fasting vs. eating 4 square meals per day, steady state cardio vs. HIIT training, low reps vs. high reps, CrossFit vs. the World, Hulk Hogan vs. Rowdy Roddy Piper.

It doesn’t end. It never ends. Everyone has an opinion on what works and what doesn’t. And everyone – right or wrong – has “research” to back them up.  I mean, if I tried I could probably find research that shows sticking your finger in an electrical socket increases T-levels by 718%.

This isn’t to say that leaning on research is wrong; it isn’t.  It’s just sometimes, as I noted above, people are more concerned with being right than listening to what other people have to say.

I’m not impervious to it either, and know full well that I’m just as much a culprit of it as the next person.

Having said that, no matter what, I always seem to go back to a quote Mike Boyle said a few years back when I first started in this industry:

“You have two ears, two eyes, and one mouth. Use them in that order.”

When I heard that I couldn’t help but think back to something Pai Mei would say to The Bride (actress Uma Thurman) in the movie Kill Bill during her training:

“It’s the wood that should fear your hand, not the other way around. No wonder you can’t do it, you acquiesce to defeat before you even begin.”

Both quotes are an example of colloquialism at it’s finest. Simple, yet profound. And yes, I just compared Mike Boyle to Pai Mei. Who wins the internet today?  This guy!!!!

The point I’m trying to make? Sometimes we just need to drown out the incessant white noise surrounding us, and listen (and observe). Sometimes, we just need to shut-up!

I was in Washington, DC this past weekend for the NSCA Personal Trainer’s Conference. I was invited as a speaker and had the opportunity to represent the governing body that I’m certified through, which was a huge honor. It was an amazing experience, and assuming my 1-2 swear words during my presentation didn’t elicit a lifetime ban, I hope to be invited back.

Outside of meeting all sorts of new people and the plethora of networking opportunities, one of the major draws for me is being able to hang out and chill with some of my colleagues.

Here’s a picture I took during one of the dinner breaks over the weekend:

From left to right: Dean Somerset, Jonathan Mike, Brad Schoenfeld, Nick Tumminello, and Bret Contreras. Batman was in the potty.

It was like our own little wolf pack, and whenever I have the chance to hang with these guys I always come back more energized and invigorated.

Not surprisingly, that’s a table full of not only strong dudes, but strong opinions as well.

And, speaking truthfully, more often than not, I found myself following Mike Boyle’s advice from above. As I was sitting there, I found I spent the majority of the time just listening.

Don’t get me wrong:  I partook in conversation and offered my own insight on certain topics. But it was far more valuable for me to just sit there and listen to what these guys had to say. I didn’t agree with every nook and cranny blurted out, nor did I feel I had to.  But there’s really something to be said for actually shutting the eff up and listening to someone explain their viewpoint and rationale for thinking how they think.  I don’t need a research study for that.

That’s my opinion, and I’m sticking to it.

Feature Photo Credit (above): Steven Shorrock