The better title of this post should be: “10 Steps To Ensure You Won’t Destroy the Back Of Your Pants (With Your Spine) When You Deadlift.”
The deadlift, as with any compound movement, requires precision and attention to detail in order to 1) Perform it well 2) Not get hurt and 3) To have any shot at lifting appreciable weight. There are many moving parts to the lift, however, to speak candidly, of the “Big 3,” the case could be made it’s the least technical.1
This is not to insinuate it’s altogether easy or simple. Simple in concept? Yes. I mean, picking a barbell up off the ground and locking it out isn’t rocket science. Simple in execution? Well, that’s where things get a bit more complicated.
Below are some overarching (<—Ha, pun intended) “themes” with regards to setup and execution of the deadlift I feel are important across the board.
The internet likes to argue. It’ll argue whether or not the dress was gold or blue (remember that stupid debacle from a few years ago?), DC vs. Marvel, high-bar vs. low bar squats, and/or who’s the most bad-ass He-Man character not named He-Man.
Cyclone anyone?
More cogent to the topic at hand, people will also argue on the internet that anyone who SUMO deadlifts is cheating.
The prevailing, uppity, train of thought is that, because one is closer to the ground when performing a SUMO deadlift (compared to a conventional stance) it’s easier and thus it’s cheating…and somehow less relevant of a lift.
To which I say: bull to the shit.
Unless your name is Professor Dumbledore and can somehow make someone’s femur change length when they switch from a conventional stance to SUMO stance…the whole “it’s less ROM, it’s easier” argument is a moot one.
The moment arm (femur) doesn’t miraculously change from conventional to SUMO stance.
It’s just…..different.
What you lose in the sagittal plane during conventional, you gain in frontal plane when performing SUMO style deadlifts.
Generally speaking (due to the moment arms and levers at play):
Conventional Pulls: easier/faster off the ground, harder at lockout.
SUMO Pulls: harder/slower off the ground, all out sexification at lockout.
Stephanie Cohen hit a 525 lbs deadlift at a bodyweight of 123 lbs recently. It was done SUMO.
True to form, (some of) the internet projectile vomited all over itself calling her out, saying it didn’t count, and that it’s not real powerlifting (I guess because she was using straps?).
1. Hahahahaha. I have to assume most commenters calling her out couldn’t sniff her warm-up weight.
2. Um, the lift didn’t take place at a powerlifting meet. So thanks for making the stupidest argument you could possibly make.
[For the record: most powerlifters I know are some of the most respectful, courteous, and supportive people I know. They would never turn their nose to such an impressive lift.]
Step one to successful deadlift technique is to figure out what style feels best FOR YOU.
What feels better? What feels more powerful and stable? Which one places you in the best position possible?
Some people will do well with conventional style, while others may prefer SUMO. Both are fine.
Relax internet.
2) Get Your Air, Set Your Ribcage
Gone are the days of cuing people to excessively arch their backs. Gross, repetitive extension can have just as many negative ramifications on spine health as gross, repetitive flexion.
Ideally we want to shoot for more of a canister (or pillar) position where the pelvis and ribcage are “stacked” on top of one another. Most specifically, the pelvic floor and diaphragm are stacked on top of each other.
I like to cue people to get a big gulp of air and aim for 3D expansion (breathing into their stomach, sides, and back) before bending over to grab the bar.
Admittedly it takes a bit of practice but makes a profound difference in how the lift feels.
3) Chest Up, Show Me Your Logo
This is a cue I stole from Eric Cressey and a staple at Cressey Sports Performance. Generally speaking I like to see the following on the deadlift setup:
Shoulders above chest
Chest above hips
Hips above knees.
This isn’t the case for everyone, mind you, but a good rule of thumb to follow. This will ensure most people stay in a “neutral” position and offset the bulk of shear forces on the spine.
I’ll often stand in front of an individual and just say “show me your logo the entire time” as he or she descends down to the bar.
The end result should look like the picture above.
If not, this happens:
4) Armpits Over Barbell, Max Hamstring Tension
Regardless of style of pull, the goal with one’s set up should be armpits over the bar with maximal hamstring tension.
This will help ensure 1) hips are as close to the bar as possible (without making it too squatting. In that case the hips are actually further away….laterally) and 2) people will be less likely to pull via the lower back.
5) Turn Lats On
The lats are a big player with regards to deadlift technique. You want to make sure they’re “set” to help with upper back stiffness during the lift itself.
The best cue I’ve used to help with this is to tell someone to “squeeze the oranges in your armpits.”
Works like charm.
6) Pull Slack Out of the Bar or Bend the Bar
7) Push Away
The deadlift is just as much of a PUSHING exercise as it is pulling. You want to generate force into the ground and drive AWAY, thrusting your hips forward as you stand up.
People who solely focus on pulling the weight up – via their back – are often the ones that complain about it low back pain the most.
8) Finish at Top or Stand Tall
A common mistake I see some trainees make is either not getting their hip through at the top (AKA: the sexy stripper butt) or going too far.
“Hump the bar” at the top. Finish. Stand tall. All are cues I’ve used that work and get people to finish with their glutes.
9) Don’t Let Go
On the descent, don’t let go.
Stay engaged.
It’s here where I’ll often see people round their shoulders or lose their upper back position. And it makes me sad.
Keep your abdominals engaged (and keep squeezing that orange), even on the way down.
NOTE: Disregard for max effort pulls….;o)
10) Reset or Peel the Shoulders
There’s a time and place for tap-n-go deadlifts, but I have to admit I rarely use them. Instead I’ll tell people to “reset” between each rep – albeit it’s brief – to gulp their air, “peel their shoulders back,” and to make sure they’re in a good position for the next rep.
The video below is of me demonstrating this with a dumbbell, but you should still get the gist:
These Aren’t Set in Stone
None of what I said above is concrete.2 There will always be some slight deviations based off someone’s anatomy, ability level, and goal(s).
However, I have found that for most people, most of the time, they all work really well to get people’s technique in check.
Today’s guest post comes courtesy of Syracuse, NY based strength coach, Ricky Kompf. Ricky interned at Cressey Sports Performance when I was still a coach there and has been doing a superb job building a reputation as a “go to” coach in the Central NY area.
Today he discusses the importance of community and how building one can make all the difference in the world with your clients/athletes and fitness business in general.
I consider myself a pretty mindful and deep guy. Over the years of working with people I find myself delving deeper and deeper into psychology based reading and realizing what I read to be valuable and applicable to my job as a coach.
Many times that little gold nugget of knowledge in a book on psychology is even more powerful than the knowledge bombs I find in strength and conditioning text books.
I would like to share an experience with you that was pretty excruciating yet gave me quite the breakthrough.
This moment not only gave me confirmation that I am doing the work I was set out to do and I am fulfilling my purpose in life, but also gave me a realization that there are more people out there that NEED our help as fitness professionals but don’t necessarily WANT our help.
That experience was of course while serving for jury duty…
I was in a room filled with 375 random people who live in Central New York waiting to hear if they have to sit in on trial or not. Whatever picture you have in your head right now… Trust me it was worse than that.
People were pissed, impatient and probably a little hungry.
It’s pretty safe to say no one wanted to be there.
I know I didn’t want to be there, but there was no point in stressing over something I couldn’t control. So I practiced some diaphragmatic breathing while sitting in a room for 8 hours waiting to hear my fate.
It was then that I started to look around the room and become the silent observer. This was the perfect sample size of what society around me is like. Many were overweight, seemed slightly depressed, poor posture, and just looked a little run down. I actually counted in the room how many people seemed like they were in pretty good shape.
I could count them all on my hands.
It was then that the lady in charge asked a very important question, “If you have a medical condition that could affect your ability to serve as a jury please come up front.”
Half the room stood up and walked/limped to the front.
That’s right…there were just as much people sitting down as there were people in line waiting to tell this lady about their illness. That was well over 150 people! I’ll factor in that some people were just trying to get out of jury duty but still!
That’s when I realized something, something that really speaks to our society as a whole.
We live in a nation where it is the minority to be healthy and not have issues with your health.
We are fat and depressed; we rely on the drugs of pharmaceutical industries to keep us just barely going. All the while we are living with this belief that this is the norm. We look to the people around us and see that they’re unhealthy and it gives us unconscious confirmation that it is okay to be unhealthy as well.
To me the words healthy and happy are prerequisites to each other.
You have to be healthy to be happy and you have to be happy to be healthy.
The more and more people I come in contact with and work with, I realize it’s not the great physique they’re after or the even the edge on the competition. Even if they really think it is.
It’s happiness.
It’s the feeling you get when you’re in control of your health, the quality of life you have, and most of all control over your own destiny.
As a fitness professional remember you’re not just delivering results, you’re delivering happiness.
Like the feeling you get when you witness two kittens snuggling. That kind of happiness.
So you may ask yourself, I’m a fitness professional but how do we get all these people who either don’t want our help or can’t afford our help to change and become healthier?
It all starts with community.
Have you ever heard the phrase, “you are the average of the 5 people you hang around with most?” The people you hang around with will influence every decision you make.
Well How Do You Use This Information?
As strength coach’s or personal trainers you may notice that you’ve build a mini community around you. These communities of clients are like minded people, they want to become healthier and support each other.
If you’re really good at what you do they even hangout with each other outside of the gym!
That’s your change right there.
You may have even noticed that most of your clients now are word of mouth based, which means people are talking about you outside of the gym and sending business your way.
The more you double down on your community and focus on building a support group of people, the more likely you will make an impact on your community’s health as a whole.
This may even be indirectly.
The larger the community you make the more of an impact you will have. This is also why I think one-on-one training can be detrimental to your business if your goal is to influence as many people as possible.
Community is the secret sauce to your goals.
Mark Fisher Fitness: the epitome of how to build a lasting fitness community.
Community gives people permission to change; or, more to the point, “nudges” people to change.
Having a community of like-minded individuals who implement a healthier lifestyle and share common goals is often the key determining factor that help others change their behavior.
Look at your clientele base now:
Do they hangout with each other?
Do they communicate on social media?
Do you show them off on your social media?
And how excited are they to tell people about what you’ve done for them?
If you’ve never thought to consider these questions, or worse, the answers are a resounding cricket chirp, then I’d recommend getting your butt in gear.
As a fitness professional, you are the mayor in your “health conscious” community. Exercise is a vehicle for a life well lived.
Create a Facebook group that brings all your clients together to support each other and give information to them regularly. Hold special 10-15 minute Live Events that inform them and keep them engaged in the journey. Highlight THEIR videos and exercise accomplishments.
Use your Instagram account to show off how badass your athletes and clients are. Everyone loves recognition.
Plan out events to do as a group that brings people together outside of the gym. This could be Spartan races, 5k’s, team dinners, book and movie clubs, even mass text messages can go a long way.
If you have athletes, go to their games! They worked so hard for you, and they will love to see your support.
About the Author
Richard Kompf, BS, CSCS
Strength and conditioning coach and Internship supervisor for Scollo Strength and Performance. Located inside of Pacific Health Club, based just outside of Syracuse, NY. Specializing in explosive athletes and general population clientele.
Today’s guest post comes courtesy of Syracuse, NY based coach and personal trainer, Ricky Kompf. He covers a topic I believe every up and coming fitness professional can commiserate with, but more importantly learn from:
Even though I have been working as a trainer for a little over four years this past year and a half I have completely engorged myself in the lifestyle and business mindset of a trainer.
I write this article to share some of the lessons I have learned while building my own personal training career and business.
I have come out of this period of my life with a whole new perspective on what works and what doesn’t in this industry and let me tell you something….it is hard!
Plain and simple, the fitness industry can be one of the most challenging fields to start a career in.
While it may be very challenging in the beginning the lessons and rewards that you encounter makes the difficulties of this field very much worth it. What I wish to share with you are four lessons I have learned growing from 0 clients on day one to 50 plus active clients now.
Lesson 1: Priority Number One is Gaining Experience
Gaining experience and knowledge while in the company of very good and successful trainers in the industry will teach you to stay humble and always continue to educate yourself and develop your craft as a trainer and coach. If you want to be the best, be around the best and study their behaviors to bring into your own practice.
That experience will pay for itself.
For my first two and a half years as a trainer I was training out of college gyms in the student section as well as various commercial gyms.
I had no long-term clients, but knew the experience gained along the way would help me forge full-steam a head down the road.
It was only after finishing my internship at Cressey Sports Performance a year and a half ago that I felt comfortable taking money from people to let me train them.
With experience comes confidence.
At the end of the day if your clients don’t trust your knowledge and experience as a trainer you won’t be able to bring results to them.
Additionally, with experience comes knowledge, and with knowledge comes confidence in yourself, and that is the foundation in which you should start your journey to building your training business and brand.
Have confidence in yourself to deliver an amazing service.
Lesson 2: Over Deliver
I can’t stress this enough; to this day with the 50 plus clients I have to manage I am always searching for ways to over deliver to them.
One thing that I heard Eric Cressey say in a Podcast as well as many other fitness professionals is:
“They don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.”
Remember that we are in the service industry and what sets you apart from the competition is the quality of your service.
Your clients should be saying “I can’t believe I only pay this much for this training” more than “I can’t believe how expensive this is!”
Some easy things you can start doing right now are giving free consultations and assessments, without trying to push your services on them. Look at it as you trying to work on your assessment process and how you deliver information that is helpful for that person.
I have done well over 200 assessments in the past year and a half. Probably less than half signed up for training. That being said, I have a great assessment process that I have created and it is very rare now that someone doesn’t sign up.
Go overtime.
If you’re training someone and you know you have some extra time at the end before you have to start your next client or group, spend more time with them.
They will appreciate the extra work you give them and will be more likely to refer someone to you.
Even now that I have my clients and groups pretty much back to back, I give them extra work to do at the end.
Follow up with them outside their training sessions.
Text or call your people, ask them how they’re feeling. Talk to them about their goals outside of the two or three hours out of the week in which you see them. This will show them that you care and that you’re invested in their journey.
Lesson 3: Don’t Waste Your Time (Right Away) Trying To Brand Yourself.
After a year and a half of building my reputation only now am I considering making a website. And even then it’s mainly to communicate with my current clients, giving them information more effectively, in addition to allowing potential clients to see what I’m about and have to offer before signing up.
At my current job one thing we preach to our clients and athletes is that we’re not for everyone.
That being said in the beginning when you first start out, guess what….you are for everyone.
Don’t try to brand yourself as the athlete guy or the basketball guy or the fat loss guy. Train as many different people as you can so you can find your strengths and to find out what/who you really enjoy working with.
For example, I know my strengths are in female and male youth athletes, and adult groups.
This doesn’t mean I don’t train collegiate level athletes or have any one-on-one clients.
I do.
However, I found in the past few years I get jazzed up and excited to train young athletes and to be a mentor towards them. So why not gravitate towards what brings me joy and fulfillment?
I encourage you to do the same – BUT YOU NEED TO TRAIN AN ECLECTIC GROUP OF PEOPLE FIRST BEFORE YOU CAN BRAND OR MARKET YOURSELF TOWARDS A UNIQUE SUBSET.
Lesson 4: Find a Place or Group of People That Will Help You Grow and Enjoy the Process.
I owe a lot of my success and accelerated progress to my boss and partner strength coach, Vinny Scollo.
He’s been an amazing mentor towards me.
Together we have created an environment in our gym that breeds great athletes and amazing results.
We build each other up when energy levels are low and challenge each other to be better coaches. I couldn’t have asked for a better boss and work environment.
If you wish to last in this field and turn it into a career, you must find or create a team that will build you up, challenge you to get better, and enjoy the process.
I have trained and worked in very bad environments with very negative co-workers and I have experienced the best environments and co-workers. An environment that will build you up is a place you want to be in for the long haul, and will make the challenging moments in your career seem not so bad.
About the Author
Richard Kompf, BS, CSCS
Strength and conditioning coach and Internship supervisor for Scollo Strength and Performance. Located inside of Pacific Health Club, based just outside of Syracuse, NY. Specializing in explosive athletes and general population clientele.
For some people seeing the words “Turkish Get-Up” in the title of an article elicits a gag reflex or makes them want to jump into a live volcano.
Even I’ll be the first to admit it’s not the most exciting exercise to talk about.
However, that doesn’t mean it’s altogether invalid or that it doesn’t deserve our undivided attention. It’s an exercise that has carryover to many facets of fitness whether you’re a beginner or elite athlete.
Call me crazy, but I wholeheartedly believe it has a time and place in everyone’s programming.
In today’s guest post by Calgary based personal trainer, Linden Ellefson, he breaks down the movement into more manageable, bite-sized tidbits that’ll (hopefully) convince you to give it a try.
Shoulder, chest, and arm development will skyrocket due to the amount of time you spend keeping the kettlebell above your head.
It will iron out any left to right imbalances, meaning that your bench press and squat will likely improve because both are being trained equally.
Because your hip moves in multiple planes of movement, you train your hip more than up/down and forward/back like a squat or deadlift. This helps prevent injury.
Another benefit of this exercise is that since there are so many pieces to the exercise, you can work on improving each step to get better at the whole.
If you aren’t drooling with anticipation to master this exercise and be the envy of your entire gym, we can’t be friends.
You’re going to need:
Overhead Mobility: Can you put your arms overhead so that your biceps rub your ears without your lower back compensating?
Hip Hinge: Can you move your hips independently of your lower back? If so, then feel free to give this a shot!
Obligatory “If You’re Hurt, Then Read This” Warning: If you are currently going through an injury, then you need to see a physical therapist or doctor to get out of pain first. Do that, THEN you can learn your turkish get-ups.
Lets Get to the Breaking Down Part
While this exercise may look complicated when we look at the whole, there are actually five different parts you’re going to learn about. Here’s what they are.
Drive to the elbow
Press to the hand
Bridge the hips
Sweep the foot underneath
Half kneeling position
Stand Up
If you watch this video, you’ll know how technical this movement is.
This is best learned by having someone coach you through it. If you have access to a competent coach, be sure to learn this from them.
Note From TG: You can find competent coaches by perusing both the StrongFirst & RKC (Dragondoor.com) websites.
If you like learning by reading, read along!
A Couple Keys to Keep in Mind.
There is a concept known as active and passive shoulder. When you have an active shoulder when someone pulls on your hand, your whole body would come with it. When you have a passive shoulder, it means that your shoulder moves independently of your body. We’re looking to keep your shoulder active the entire time.
You’ll naturally press into the hand that’s holding the kettlebell, but I also want you to press into the ground with your bottom hand like you’re a wide receiver trying to stiff arm the safety as you run to the endzone for a touchdown. This will allow you to keep the shoulder in a safe position, not increasing your risk of shoulder pain.
Ready to learn? Let’s start then.
Drive to the Elbow
Assume you’re using your right hand. Start with the kettlebell directly above your elbow at a 90 degree angle. Your right knee is at a 90 degree angle with your foot on the ground. You will look like the following:
From here, drive the kettlebell across your body as if you’re going to punch someone. Push with your right leg as well.
As you drive the kettlebell in the air across your body make sure you push through your elbow into the ground. When you do this, your shoulder is less likely to get injured.
Part 1 done! At this position, you should feel your back turned on, your shoulders nice and warm, and core turned on too. Finish position below:
Press to Hand
With your right hand in the air, extend your left elbow and squeeze your tricep as you press up onto your hand, just like a tricep extension. When you finish you will look like the following:
Hip Bridge
This step can cause the most problems with trainees. Make sure your both the bell hand and the hand on the ground are stable. When here, drive your hips up in the air by aggressively squeezing your glutes.
Like a deadlift.
Or other fun activities 😉
The higher you can get your hips, the easier the next step will be.
This is the finish position:
Note From TG:As an alternative, and I hope Linden doesn’t mind me poking my opinion into the mix, I’m not married to trainees always performing the high bridge option. Both Gray Cook and Dr. Mark Cheng (the latter likely should get more credit) note that this is a “speed bump” or fork in the road to the get-up.
Meaning we have some options.
There’s the high-bridge option which is delectable option for those with optimal hip mobility and hip flexor length.
And then there’s the non high-bridge option where one more or less sweeps the leg – Johnny Lawrence style – and transitions to the half kneeling position from sitting.
Sweep the Leg
From here, you’re going to take your LEFT leg, and sweep it underneath your right leg and place your left knee directly underneath your hip. Your right arm will still be in the air, and your left hand directly below your right. You will look like the following picture:
Half Kneeling Position
This isn’t a movement, but the position you end in. You DON’T use your back to get to a kneeling position with the bell above your head. Instead, you’re going to brace your core, squeeze your butt and push your hips underneath your upper body as you press the weight up.
Your butt is fully engaged here as you keep the weight up. Keep your core tight as the tendency here will be to use your lower back to keep the shoulder stable.
The picture of the position is below.
Note From TG:Hey, it’s me again. This is yet another speed bump to the Get-Up. The most popular option to transition to the half-kneeling position is the “windshield wiper” the back leg and position into half-kneeling.
This is fine.
However, it can oftentimes feel wonky to a lot of trainees.
Another option I like is this:
Stand Up
This is essentially where we stand up from a lunge. With the weight over our head, we’ll stand up using the entirety of our legs. Stand up from there.
Finished position below:
With that, we’re going to reverse this whole process to lie back down.
If you understood all that and put it into practice, then you might have successfully completed your first turkish get-up.
OR you might have picked up a couple cues to clean up your relatively hideous one.
Where Should You Put It In Your Workout?
Without understanding how to put it into your workouts, it does you no good. There are three places where I would suggest using them.
As a Warm-Up. Since this uses every muscle, depending on your workout for the day, you can emphasize different steps to get specific muscle groups prepped.
Doing upper body? Spend 3 Seconds in each position until you Sweep the Leg. Got a killer deadlift workout coming? Spend 3 Seconds in each step from the hip bridge on.
Use it as part of your strength programming. This can work as your second or third exercise in an upper body day or your full body workouts. Due to the length of this exercise, if you’re looking to get stronger, I would suggest sets of 3-5 reps with a heavy bell. Start with 35lb as a man, and 15-25lb as a woman.
Use it for conditioning. With a lighter bell than you would use for your strength work, set a timer for 10-15 minutes and see how many good quality Get-ups you can do in the time frame. Alternate your hands every rep or after every second rep. Challenge yourself to be better next time.
If you want a good challenge, one of my new favourite conditioning combos is to use turkish get-ups and overhead walking lunges together. Check out the video below to see how to perform it.
If you follow this step by step guide, along with download the accompanying video, you’re going to master this exercise in no time. Use this exercise, abuse it, and thank the fitness fairy godmother for this one when you get a chance.
About the Author
Linden Ellefson,
Bkin, CPT
Linden is a Calgary, Alberta personal trainer and online coach. He loves good coffee, his Boston Terrier Taco, and a great workout. Most of all, he loves making his clients the strong, pain free, athletic beasts they were meant to be.
To find out more from Linden connect with him at www.lindenellefson.com Facebook (he’s the only Linden Ellefson), or onInstagram.
In today’s guest post by Shane McLean he touches on a topic that affects every fitness professional: the “line” or boundary that exists between trainer and client.
What the boundary is and how far a coach/trainer is willing to go to cross it is every individual’s personal choice. It’s an important topic and I’m glad Shane took the initiative to discuss his own experiences.
I’m going to pull back the curtain on training clients in a one-on-one environment. There’s a lot more to personal training than designing programs, counting sets and reps and wearing tracksuit pants. Sometimes the professional/personal line that exists between coach and client gets crossed.
Let me explain. Since being a personal trainer, I’ve had
Three clients pass away
Three who have beaten cancer
One who’s got dementia
Several clients who have had their joints replaced and gone through painful rehabilitation
When studying to become a trainer, these situations never came up in any of my textbooks because nothing prepares you for things like that.
Only life can.
When dealing one-on-one with these clients while they’re suffering, the professional boundaries that trainers should have with their clients gets blurry.
How can it not? Trainers are not robots.
Although my (and most) personal training clients come to the gym to forget their problems, sometimes the burden they carry is too heavy and they need someone to talk to. All a trainer can do is lend a sympathetic ear much like your hairdresser or local bartender.
And for most personal trainers (myself included), personal training is much more than a pay check or a business transaction. It’s a real opportunity to make a difference in the lives of their clients whether they’re fighting fit or not.
Trainers share in their clients’ successes, failures and heart aches. Often exercise is the easy part of the equation during a session but the mindset or ‘getting into the mood’ can be more difficult.
Trying to get clients into the right frame of mind when they are in pain takes this mindset thing to a different level. Because let’s face it, exercise can be hard enough even when we’re healthy, let alone sick.
Over two years ago I was hired to work privately with an elderly couple in their home. Both had their share of health problems but the male was in bad shape. He was unable to perform simple self-care duties and found walking extremely difficult.
He and his wife performed simple balance and mobility exercises and fundamental human movements once or twice a week. Even at their advanced age, they were looking to improve their quality of life.
Both were so sweet to me that it was difficult not to get close to them. I would often stay after our sessions to hear their stories and join them for lunch. They welcomed me into their home like I was a part of their family.
However, the male’s health took a turn for the worst a few months into our time together and a few weeks later he passed away peacefully.
It was one of the saddest situations I’ve ever witnessed and made me feel very fortunate that I got to spend time sometime with him and his wife. I’ll cherish the stories they told me forever.
Earlier this year, I was rocked by the death of former client who was taken from this earth because of pancreatic cancer. When we worked together, over two years ago now, he had turned his life and health around.
He was fit, strong and full of life and then cancer robbed him of this. He fought to the end with humor, grace and dignity. I still miss him to this day.
Both of these situations provided a challenging conundrum for one who’s business is personal. When does professional become personal? When is it ever okay for professional/personal boundaries to be crossed?
Most of us know it’s not okay for a trainer to sleep with their client and for a teacher to get sexually involved with a student.
That’s clearly crossing the line.
However, on the other hand, is it okay to visit a client who’s on life support in hospital and to be there for support? Is it crossing the line to go out to lunch with a client and share personal stories?
Like some laws are meant to be broken, some boundaries (I think) need to be crossed, especially when it’s a matter of life and death. However, there is some inherent risk involved here.
When putting yourself out there and crossing boundaries your feelings or the client’s feelings may get hurt. Your wallet may suffer, and if you ever witness sickness or death it’s going to be painful for all involved.
I made a judgement call (and will continue to make it) that I’m going to be there for clients when it comes to life, death and sickness. Am I crossing the line?
You can be the judge.
However, I feel in matters of the heart, you should follow the heart more often than not and the boundaries that exist between a service provider/client should be tossed away.
Wrapping Up
Personal and professional boundaries exist for a reason. It can stop laws and feelings from being broken. However, when suffering and death happens and you’re in the middle of it, lines will get crossed.
About the Author
Shane “The Balance Guy” McLean, is an A.C.E Certified Personal Trainer working deep in the heart of Texas. Shane believes in balancing exercise with life while putting the fun back into both.
When my wife and I first started dating there’s one thing I used to do that used to drive her crazy.
It didn’t involve placement of the toilet seat. I put that shit down like a champion. And it didn’t involve my use of colorful language; she’s equally as potty mouthy as me.
In hindsight this “thing” was borderline unforgivable, and, to be honest, I’m kind of embarrassed to admit this. Here goes:
My name is Tony Gentilcore and I used to order my steaks well-done.
At the time I just didn’t know any better. Prior to meeting Lisa a romantic dinner out for me was hitting up Applebee’s on 2 for 1 entree night.3 So you can imagine the look of disdain on her face when we went to a fancy schmancy restaurant in the North End here in Boston on date #3 and I did what I did.
I might as well have belched the theme song to Fresh Price of Bel Air while being seated or, I don’t know, farted in her Caesar salad. Both would have been less egregious dinner etiquette snafus than ordering a steak well-done.
I mean, WTF?
She married me nonetheless. But not until we had a “talk” and she made me watch every season of Top Chef.
Speaking of “talks,” I posted this Tweet the other day and it sparked some good comments:
What’s the one thing you have the hardest time getting clients to adopt? Mine is rest periods. More specific: actually taking rest.
I’ve been coaching people for a little over 15 years now and the idea of rest periods – or, to be more specific – actually taking rest between sets – is the one thing I still have the hardest time getting many of my clients to adopt.
Whether it’s because they’ve taken one too many CrossFit classes or because of their supercharged Type A personality on steroids, the idea of taking rest between sets – let alone a rest day – doesn’t compute.
Half my battle with new(ish) clients is to get them to understand there’s a rationale and purpose for rest periods, that they’re good for them, will help them, and more importantly…that they won’t lose any points for Gryffindor for standing in place for more than 30 seconds without performing a burpee.
Don’t get me wrong: there’s a time and place for metabolic or circuit-based training that require diminished rest periods; especially if the goal is to increase conditioning and/or work capacity. However, I can’t tell you how many times someone has started with me, expressed an interest in getting stronger, and I have to do everything in my power to get them to chill out.
Day one/program one is always interesting. They’ll do a set and before I can offer any feedback they’re half-way through set #2.
Eight minutes later they’re done with their program and asking for more.
I can appreciate their willingness to get after it, but the “go go go” approach is almost always why 1) they haven’t seen any significant improvements in their lifts in eons and 2) they have an inane proclivity at being hurt all the time.
As strength coach, Mike Sheridan, wrote in THIS post on my site last year:
“Despite the ‘rest makes you weak’ mantra from aerobic instructors, or the ‘no pain no gain’ philosophy of many CrossFitters, we start training a different energy system when rest is too short.
We’re not trying to exhaust the muscle, we’re trying to strengthen and improve it.
When we perform an endless number of muscle contractions (repetitions), we end up building muscular endurance as opposed to hypertrophy or strength.
And start training aerobically, instead of anaerobically.
Compromising our ability to build strength and muscle, and facilitating an overall loss in power and explosiveness.Whether it’s resistance training or not.
Even though shorter rest periods produce a larger hormonal response and more metabolic stress, while longer rest periods allow for more weight to be lifted on subsequent sets, there is still a minimum threshold for proper recovery.
If rest periods are too short, the number of reps declines, the weight lifted declines, and so does the total workout volume.”
Shorter rest periods do have a positive effect on metabolic stress, one of the factors that plays into improved hypertrophy (growth) of the muscle. However when strength is the goal it’s important to note that too short of rest, while great for increasing things like levels of testosterone, IGF-1, and gH, can be offset due to the decrease in mechanical tension and strength output, all of which stems from accumulated fatigue (due to lack of rest).
To keep things to a nice, short, and succinct stopping point I can’t state things any better than what Mike says here:
“We don’t want our rest period at a point where it’s difficult to perform as much ‘work’ as would be possible with slightly longer rest.Which means keeping it high enough to maximize the number of successful reps over multiple sets, while still experiencing adequate metabolic stress to stimulate hypertrophy.”
The “sweet spot,” then, is 90-180 seconds of rest between sets.
This can seem like torture to some people, analogous to scratching nails on a chalkboard or worse, being forced to watch What the Health in a room full of vegetarians.4
To that end I find rest periods to be opportune time to take advantage of “filler” exercises. You know, exercises that activate or mobilize stuff that people are supposed to do in their warm-ups that they inevitable always skip.
If someone has poor T-spine rotation or extension I’ll have him or her perform some Side Lying Open Books in between sets of deadlifts:
Side Lying Open Book
Or maybe they need to work on a little adductor length and opening up their hips more. If that’s the case this drill works wonders in between sets of squats:
Happy Baby Stretch
NOTE: I mis-spoke and called this the “goalie stretch” in the video, but I also have a 5-month old at home and haven’t slept since January, so fuck off…;o)
Filler exercises can be anything: glute activation drills, scapular upward rotation drills, T-spine mobility drills, hip flexor mobilizations, a particular stretch, naming all the members of Wu-Tang Clan, anything. The idea is they’re low-grade, low-demand, easy, and address something that won’t sacrifice performance on subsequent sets of iron work.
Heck, if all else fails, if someone is still flying through things, this would be one of the rare instances where I’d encourage them to go peruse their Instagram feed or post a picture of their protein shake on Twitter.
There’s little room to be ambiguous. More times than not, if someone wants to make and see progress in the gym…getting them to respect rest periods is going to be an important conversation to have. It’s the easiest way to ensure one recovers and is able to sustain performance and high(er) outputs during their training sessions.
Having a discussion about “off-days” is a blog post for another day.
I don’t envy new trainers and coaches coming into the industry. Today’s market is so saturated with gimmicks, tomfoolery, and bluster, everyone vying for everyone else’s attention, a total shit-show, that it’s become increasingly more challenging to give advice.
Most of what I have to say falls on deaf ears because, well, what I have to say isn’t sexy, takes a bit of persistence and resiliency, and doesn’t involve quick fixes (or the letters SEO).
I’m empathetic towards today’s fitness professional, though. I really am.
When I first started in this industry – way back in 2002, when smart phones didn’t exist – the industry was pretty barren. At least it seemed that way.
Today, seemingly, everyone is in on the action. All anyone needs nowadays is an IG account, a badonkadonk or a bunch of tattoos (or both), and sha-ZAM….a bonafide fitness expert is made.
Here’s a little secret:a pretty good litmus test as to how to tell the fitness celebrities asshats from the fitness professionals is the ratio of pictures of themselves to that of actual clients, or better yet, actionable content/advice.
What’s more, when I first started blogging waaaaaaay back in 2006, there weren’t many people in the industry who were doing the same. Off the top of my head I can think of Eric Cressey, Mike Robertson, Mike Boyle, Krista Scott-Dixon, and John Romaniello.
I was lucky in that I jumped on that train early.5
Fast forward ten years….the cacophony of “noise” and competition from everyone blogging, Tweeting, Snapchatting, using Facebook Live, and starting their own Podcast is intimidating if not absurd.
It’s never been easier to be heard; the internet and social media has given everyone a voice. However, it’s never been harder to get heard; because the internet and social media has given everyone a voice.
It can be a cutthroat, shallow, cynical, often opaque industry rewarding those who, for all intents and purposed, wouldn’t know their ass from their acetabulum.
It’s less about actually wanting to help people, and more about winning a popularity contest.
On a deeper level, I’m truly empathetic to those trying to make a living in the “real” world. There’s rarely a week that goes by where I don’t receive an email from someone that’s an iteration of one of the following:
“I’m having a hard time getting or maintaining clients.”
“It’s taking all my mental energy to not want to throw my face into a chainsaw. Working in a commercial gym sucks.”
Here’s Some Advice (In List Form Because I Like Lists)
I’ve said this before and I’ll repeat myself until I’m blue in the face: I believe every (new) trainer should work in a commercial gym setting for a minimum of two years.
It’s there you’ll learn to build some resiliency, fail (which is a good thing), fail again (which is even better), and eventually learn from those failures.
You’ll have rockstar clients you’d train for free, as well as those clients you’d rather jump into a shark’s mouth than spend one more minute with.
Suck it up.
Use it as an opportunity to get better.
It’s going to happen. Be patient. (Good) coaching is just as much about sets/reps and exercise selection as it is becoming a people person and adapting to different personalities.
2. Shut Up
If you hate working in a commercial gym setting so much or feel you’re not getting paid enough, do something about it. Make yourself a commodity and more indispensable to the company.
Dean Somerset wrote an amazing post on the topic HERE.
3. Shut Up Even Morer
One of my biggest pet peeves is when fit pros complain about how much stuff costs.
Stop bitching.
NOTE: It’s not lost on me I make a fair portion of my income traveling around the world offering workshops. I am not implying you’re wrong for not wanting to hang out with me. Although, I am….;o)
There’s too much complacency in this industry. I have zero PubMed studies to back this up, but I’m willing to bet those trainers who complain the most about how much shit costs – like workshops – are the same ones who won’t hesitate spending $700 on the new iPhone.
Going to a workshop or purchasing a resource to make yourself better isn’t a cost…it’s an investment.
I guaranfuckingtee whatever you end up paying will almost always pay for itself tenfold.
All you need to do is learn one thing. One. that’s it. And when you apply that one thing to the right person, that’s the person who starts training with you twice a week for a year.
What’s more, you can write off all continuing ed (workshops, DVDs, books, digital products, Kama Sutra) on your taxes.
It’s a win-win.
Eric Cressey puts it a little more eloquently than myself recently:
“Early in your career, the opportunity cost of your time is far less expansive. You need to make money and build your reputation, so you should take on just about every client and continuing education opportunity that comes your way. And, if you want to be successful in writing and speaking, too, then you need to write and speak at every opportunity, even if nobody is or reading listening. The opportunity cost of your time is basically just watching the same episode of Sportscenter for the 47th time.”
4. Stop worshiping everything Gary V says.
Listen, I like Gary V. I think he has a lot of valuable things to say, and I think he does a superb job at giving people tough love when they need it.
He’s someone who advocates and pushes for people to work their ass off.
I’d be remiss not to give props where props are deserved.7
Here’s the thing though: people are so seduced by his passion, f-bombs, and proclivity to tell people to grind, that what many fail to comprehend is one important detail: Gary V was/is actually good at something.
Really good.
He built his reputation, first, as a wine connoisseur. He took over his family’s wine (shop) business and made himself into a wine expert. He attacked it, relentlessly. In fact, he was one of the first people to use social media to tout his (then) weekly hit-podcast, Wine Library TV.
That snowballed into a career in marketing, public speaking, and brand development.
And that’s the thing: A lot of fit pros today are too quick to worry about building a brand before they have a brand to build.
Many act like a deer in headlights the second you ask them to coach someone through a set of squats. Yet, they’re asking Gary V how they can get their ebook out in front of more eyes.
Again, be patient. Coach the shit out of your clients. Get good. Real good. And then get better than that. Wash, rinse, repeat.
As Lou Schuler famously said when asked what’s the best piece of advice he gives fit pros aspiring to see their names in reputable fitness publications:
“When the industry is ready for you, it’ll let you know.”
The answer is career capital and experience.
Want more clients? Coach the ones you do have well. Get really good. Simple concept, hard to execute because it’s painstakingly vanilla and boring.
Sorry
5. Be Authentic.
The clearest example regarding authenticity is something Complete Human Performance coach, Jonathan Pietrunti, noted on his Facebook Wall the other day
“Write blog posts about coaching/training…4 people read them.
Write a post about my life drama and disasters…viral.
Are you guys trying to tell me something?”
I’d argue nothing is more valuable in this industry than unapologetic authenticity. Now, this doesn’t mean you have to go out of your way to air your dirty laundry to every ear that’ll listen; no one wants to hear about your explosive diarrhea. However, it does mean people want to know you’re relatable.
Not to blow up your spot or anything, but most people could care less that you’ve memorized the Kreb’s Cycle or that you can regurgitate all the insertion points of the rotator cuff. Sure, they’re looking to hire a trainer who can get results.
They’re also looking for a connection.
I don’ know, I think people are more likely to stick with you long-term if you’ve memorized the map of Mordor or can regurgitate all the insertion points of the rotator cuff…in Klingon.
They want to see that you’re human, and not just someone who lives, eats, and breaths Paleo recipes.
Whether you’re into powerlifting, bodybuilding, early 90’s Mariah Carey, or wearing capes while you coach a group fitness class…be authentic to who YOU are. Don’t copy someone else.
Ever wonder what some of the best coaches/trainers say their favorite mobility drills are? Squat regressions? Favorite exercise in general? No? Well, too bad.
Shane McLean asked some well-known coaches (John Rusin, Meghan Callaway, Meg Julian, Eric Bach, and myself) what some of their favorites are. Go learn something.
My favorite food is potatoes. I’ve never met a potato I didn’t like yet.
My favorite movie line is “I feel the need, the need for speed.” I’m pumped that Hollywood is making a sequel to Top Gun. I’m already counting down the days to its release next July.
I wonder if they’re going bring back Goose from the dead?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7O1ZhHts8MI
Bring the subject back to exercise, my favorite move is deadlifts. If left to my own devices, I’d deadlift, do some curls, slam down some coffee and then go home. However, my coach makes me do a bunch of stuff I hate but really need.
That’s what great coaches do.
Great coaches also have their go to exercises that end up in most of the programs they write. Usually, you need to attend a seminar or deep dive the internet to find out what the smartest minds in the fitness industry are doing.
However, let me save you the trouble. I’ve asked some of the industry biggest names about their go to moves and exercises they never go without. Who knows, you might learn something.
Tony Gentilcore. <– That’s Me
1) Number One Foam Roll Drill. And Why?
My #1 foam rolling drill comes in the form of a brief rant. Now, mind you, understand I am a fan of foam rolling and do encourage my clients to partake prior to each training session. Or after, I don’t care.
This is my ” go to” series.
That being said I do feel many people place too much credence/emphasis on foam rolling. I can’t tell you how many people have come to me seeking advice on why this hurts and that hurts and why they can never stay healthy. Whenever this happens I’ll inevitably ask them to show me their warm-up.
Fast forward 30 minutes.
Yeah, that’s right….it’s not uncommon for some people to spend upwards of 30 minutes (sometimes more) foam rolling. Foam rolling. After that long even Sting, a proponent of something like 7-hour tantric sex sessions, would be like, “come on already, let’s get it over with.”
When this happens, I’ll come straight out and say it: “THAT’s why you’re always hurt.”
People need to get out of this delicate flower, corrective exercise bubble mentality. Sure, foam rolling helps…but not for the reasons most people think. Do it if it makes you feel better. But get the eff off and go TRAIN.
2) Number One Mobility/Flexibility Move. And Why?
My favorite move is the Yoga Push-Up Complex.
I like it because it’s ONE move that hits a lot of trouble areas for most people:
T-Spine Extension & Rotation
Hip Flexor Length
Glute Activation
Hamstring & Adductor Length
Scapular Protraction & Upward Rotation
About the only thing it doesn’t address is small biceps….;o)
3) Your Number One Squat Regression. And Why?
Slowing people down.
Lets discuss this under the guise of butt wink and squatting. It’s a thing.
Basically, it’s a less nerdy way of informing someone “dude(tte), you’re running out of hip flexion so you’re compensating with excessive lumbar motion.”8
Many think the culprit is tight hamstrings. Nope.
The hamstrings are bi-articular muscle crossing both the knee and hip joints. When we squat (go into deep(er) hip flexion) the hamstrings shorten at the knee and lengthen at the hip; there’s very little net increase in length.
When butt wink occurs it’s almost always a lack of tension issue. Meaning, often, there’s lack of pelvic control either due to one of two scenarios:
Lack of strength/stability.
Lack of motor control.
If your trainer tells you it’s because of tight hamstring he’s a dickwad.
In either case one of the best ways to address it is to slow down. You need to control slow before you can control fast. Coaching people up to adopt a better bracing strategy (core on, spread the floor with feet, PULL down into the squat in a controlled manner) will make a significant improvement for most.
On an aside: what may present as a mobility issue (unable to squat deep) may just be a stability issue. Adding a slight anterior load (plate or Goblet Squat) can fix things quickly.
4) One Exercise You Cannot Do Without. And Why?
I know most people who read my stuff think I’m going to say deadlifts here. But I’m not. I think the one exercise I do the most – and incorporate into my client’s programs the most – are carry variations.
What’s not to like about them? They work on core stability, hip stability, posture, grip, and take little to no coaching to perform them. And, they can be done with dumbbells, kettlebells, various barbells, people, you name it.
Just don’t make these common mistakes:
Trainer Meg J (I Guess It’s Like a Self-Titled Album)
Touch Down, or a wall slide, on a foam roller. Not an actual rolling drill, but a great chest opener and client favorite. Much of the general population (and even athletes), battle “Upper Crossed Syndrome“.
Due to how much time we spend behind computers, looking down at phones, or sitting behind a wheel or TV, our necks and shoulders begin to round down and in. This can be a factor in neck, back, and shoulder pain, as well as impact breathing. This drill allows gravity to help naturally open the tight chest area.
2) Number One Mobility/Flexibility Move. And Why?
Wall slides. Like the Touch Down on the foam roller drill, wall slides help opens the chest, engage the back muscles, and bring more blood flow to those areas.
3) Your Number One Squat Regression. And Why?
Goblet squat with raised heels. Goblet squats are excellent for building anterior core (abs) strength and maintaining balance while learning the movement pattern. If someone has tight calves, or several other potential lower body issues, adding plates under their heels allows them to move more smoothly.
4) One Exercise You Cannot Do Without. And Why?
While I’m tempted to pick the phenomenal, almost as good as bacon, exercise of the Deadlift, my final answer will the ASLR (Assisted Straight Leg Raise) with band. This exercise is incredible for building core strength, teaching tension, and getting the hips and abs to work in unison.
Meghan Callaway, Strength Coach
1) Number One Foam Roll Drill. And Why?
Truthfully, I don’t do much with the foam roller. In most cases, I find that when you prioritize stability, the need for foam rolling is much less. While rolling out your quads might feel good, I don’t think it will make or break your performance or overall health.
Many people expend too much of their time energy aimlessly using the foam roller, when their time would be better served focusing on improving other areas of their overall health and fitness.
Note From Tony:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TAryFIuRxmQ
2) Number One Mobility/Flexibility Move. And Why?
I will occasionally use the foam roller to perform thoracic mobility drills, particularly flexion and extension. Of course, whether I use this drill will depend on the individual, and their unique needs.
I like to use the roller to perform band resisted hamstring curls, a single arm push-up/roll-out combo, or ab roll-outs, but obviously these are not flexibility/mobility drills.
3) Your Number One Squat Regression. And Why?
The goblet squat is one of my go-to squat regressions. This exercise helps people master the squatting movement and acquire the requisite levels of technique, strength, and controlled mobility so they can progress to performing more advanced squatting variations.
I also like the landmine squat for the same reasons. (Are Meghan and John Rusin related?)
Negative Goblet Squat
Negative 1.5 Rep Goblet Squat
4) One Exercise You Cannot Do Without. And Why?
I can’t pick one exercise, so I’ll choose two. I cannot go without trap bar deadlifts, and pull-ups, particularly some of my crazier ”play” variations.
It’s important to understand that just because you are utilizing the foam roller as a tool doesn’t necessarily mean that you are addressing soft-tissues. The foam roller can be a powerful manipulator of position in the spine, pelvis and extremities due to the acute force angle it has the ability to create.
So, do I view the thoracic spine foam rolling technique as a self-myofascial release technique? No. I view it as a corrective exercise that addresses the mobilization of the thoracic spine. Like this for example.
2) Number One Mobility/Flexibility Move. And Why?
Single Leg Adductor Rock Back with T-Spine Rotation
Most people have lost the ability to stabilize their pelvis and lumbar spine. This is a problem since the lower portion of the spine is anatomically designed to be stable; it functions best under low amounts of relative movement.
Creating super-stiffness at the pillar is nonnegotiable if you’re a lifter. It starts with positioning the pelvis and lumbar spine together synergistically. But achieving a position is vastly different than maintaining a position, especially when there’s a heavy barbell on your back.
That’s where this movement comes in. It’ll help you brace your core by creating tension in a controlled environment. You’ll relearn what stability should actually feel like.
3) Your Number One Squat Regression. And Why?
Landmine Goblet Squat
This variation provides the full body stability benefits of placing a load into the anteriorly loaded goblet position, but also aids in the balance and coordination requirements of the squat pattern by increasing the ground contact between the barbell and your hands.
Instead of just having your feet in contact with the ground, the barbell is in contact as well.
The unilateral position of the barbell also alters the strength curve, pushing you back into your hips further and further as you ascend deeper into the squat pattern. This characteristic is what makes this variation of the goblet squat the logical starting point for rebuilding the movement pattern from the ground up.
4) One Exercise You Cannot Do Without. And Why?
Trap Bar Farmers Carry.
For long-term orthopedic and functional success, you should be able to pick up a heavy object, stabilize, then walk with it. The inability to do so is a sign your grip is fragile and that you’re susceptible to chronic issues in places like the lower back, shoulders, and elbows.
Not many gyms have dumbbells that go up into the 200’s, so don’t think carries are limited to dumbbells. If you want to train grip with continuous progressive overload, the trap bar or farmers-carry handles, which can be loaded with weight plates, are your best bet.
Why: Chances are you’re spending hours each day in a crouched, internally rotated position which leaves you with poor posture and terrible thoracic mobility. And chances are you like to hoist heavy bench presses every Monday despite your shoulders screaming at you.
While I’m not going to tell you not to bench press, I will tell you to combat poor posture and battle back against achy shoulders with the side lying windmill on a daily basis. Posture takes time to improve. This simple drill attacks one of your biggest weak points to long-term, pain-free training.
2) Number One Mobility/Flexibility Move. And Why?
Groiner with T-Spine Rotation
Why: The groiner with the t-spine rotation attacks two common weak points: hip and thoracic mobility.
By killing two birds with one stone you’ll open up pain-free ranges of motion to improve both upper body and lower body training during a warm-up.
3) Your Number One Squat Regression. And Why?
To improve the squat patterns, I’ll move clients from a typical back squat all the way back to a bodyweight squat to a box.
Why such a regression?
It’s much easier to rebuild a movement from the beginning than taking a stab in the dark with other regression models. By doing a body weight squat to a box you’ll reinforce basic mechanics from holding an active foot position to properly shifting the hips back, pushing the knees out, and bracing the abdominals without weight.
Often, this simple regression will progress quickly through the following process: bodyweight squat to box>bodyweight squat>goblet squat to box>goblet squat> goblet squat with 5 second eccentric> barbell squat of your choice.
4) One Exercise You Cannot Do Without. And Why?
Front Squats.
For starters, front squats require hard work, which most gym goers avoided like the bubonic plague, opting to post every gym P.R. and dozens half-naked selfies on Instagram. Further, few exercises match the high-performance benefits of the front squat.
Anterior bar placement keeps the torso vertical, preventing the hips from going into an excessive anterior pelvic tilt, and requiring incredible core strength to prevent flexing forward.
Anterior bar placement forces lifters to attain an upright posture, decreasing shear stress on the spine, a bonus for minimizing back pain.
Front squats require scapula and clavicle elevation and upward rotation to keep the elbows up and the bar in proper position. This requires the traps, serratus anterior, levator scapulae, rhomboids, and lats to work in conjunction to hold position and prevent you from dumping the bar forward.
This gets you yoked and prevents you from developing smeagol like posture.
Wrapping Up
I hope you take this new-found knowledge and apply it to your own or client programs. These exercises will have you and your clients moving and feeling better and crushing life.
And it didn’t cost you a dime.
About the Author
Shane “The Balance Guy” McLean, is an A.C.E Certified Personal Trainer working deep in the heart of Texas. Shane believes in balancing exercise with life while putting the fun back into both.
Last week Travis Hansen wrote part one and covered some arguable topics that you can focus on as a trainer/coach to help improve your personal and online training business over the long-haul.
It’s a very competitive world and there are many sub-fields within the training industry that you can explore to try and make a living and attempt to specialize in. (i.e. fat loss, muscle building, bodybuilding, powerlifting, Olympic lifting, Crossfit, athletic development, bootcamps, corrective exercise, etc. etc.)
Trying to stay general and master all areas of training development is a pipe dream and self-limiting.
Just take a quick look at the best in the business, and they are once again sharing something by having a specific brand or niche.
Granted you could make a very strong case that these guys could hold their own in just about any type of debate about a specific subject matter.
Nonetheless, most have a specialty because training is extremely competitive and technical when you get into the nitty gritty and discover lots of depth on a topic. And as I mentioned in part #1, this is yet another reason why you will need a sound network, so that you know who to turn to when an issue originating in an area outside of your target specialty occurs.
Also, bear in mind that there is much overlap between speciality’s which will require strong foundations across many types of training, but be sure to be real with yourself always and make it a point to identify your limits and knowledge gaps.
2. Practice What You Preach
This one probably pretty much goes without saying at this point, but I still think it’s worth mentioning.
If you want immediate attention and respect from clients and athletes in the short-term then all you need to do is look the part.
For example, if you want to train bodybuilders then be a bodybuilder. If you want to attract football players then play collegiate or even pro football and watch the initial waves of players that come knocking on your doorstep.
But does all of this guarantee that you are going to keep clients coming back in for more?
Hell no.
Why?
People inevitably want what they want, and this is results!
Although, having gone through the type of training you are preaching will award a temporary competitive advantage since you have gone through the process…beyond that you will have to gorge yourself with info and be a “student.”
This is why you see many pro superstars that don’t evolve into becoming coaches after their career’s are finished. They didn’t learn all of the x’s and o’s. Training goes beyond just hard work and talent. You have to really dedicate yourself to craving more knowledge and learning both the science and art of training.
Conversely, on the other end of the spectrum you have guys that have very little experience in a style of training, but are absolutely phenomenal and world class at what they do. There are several examples but it’s not important.
These individuals are brilliant intellectually, and can identify angles and interpret information and research differently from the rest of us. They are of course the exception, and are few and far between though.
And just so you don’t think I’m talking out of my ass, here is a comparison video from years ago of me walking the walk:
I was running consistent mid to high 4.4’s from multiple people hand timing me. And there happened to be one day where I felt superhuman and did record a 4.31 (4.54 fully electronic)!
What I was really proud of is that I spent half of a decade trying to improve my speed because I love speed training.
I started at a 4.7-4.8 initially.
I researched every technique, book, research study, program, and periodization model that I could find. My goal was to run a 4.3 naturally, and once I did that I lost all of my motivation and wanted to help others with a similar passion in becoming as fast as possible.
Since then there has been hundreds of athletes follow our training system and become much faster. Which brings me to the next factor.
3. Build Your Portfolio
Early on in my training career I would spend money on business cards, pamphlets, etc. in hopes of generating business leads and potential clients since I had just become self-employed and hated the corporate scene.
This was the approach that was advocated by my circle at the time, but I must admit that it didn’t feel right at all and I quickly dismissed the idea and went a different route altogether.
I asked myself why am I trying to sell a service with out much evidence that it works, along with a crystal clear understanding of what I’m actually doing?
And that is when I decided to commit myself to constant learning and daily practice.
Moreover, I wanted to make the absolute most out of each opportunity that I had training each client.
My learning to client ratio at the time was like 9:1.
I wasn’t making really any money, but I had a large window of time that I could capitalize on outside of training to gradually improve my training skill set. Anytime outside of that was focused on being social and staying sane!
And then I would train my ass myself.
Over time, I had taken care of a lot of people, and my clientele incrementally started to grow. But my whole mission of being results based and results driven has never changed and never will.
Do good work and people will come. Word of mouth will start to surface, and then eventually you will have something tangible that you can really market and sell to the public.
4. How Do You Respond to Failure?
How you respond specifically to acts of failure is going to be a huge determinant in how far you go I’ve found out.
Like anybody, you are going to always take your lumps in this business or any for that matter.
I think a big key factor is trying to minimize your failures and not make things harder on yourself than necessary. I can tell you firsthand that I’ve had days where I’ve completely sucked, cried, broke shit, sat there and shook my head in disbelief, and questioned whether or not it was all worth it, or if I really wanted to do this anymore.
A big part of the reason for this I think is because I have ridiculous goals and always have since I was 8 years old. And when you are miles and miles away from were you want to be, well it f*%ken sucks.
But when you start to become and remain accountable with yourself and you are constantly learning and practicing your craft with full effort, then it all starts to make sense eventually and things begin to fall in place slowly.
Wrap Up
On a final note, I really sincerely hope these two pieces may have enlightened you on a few things you may not have thought about with the profession and my full intention is to help you as much as possible.
Stay patient, grind, laugh, have fun, and try not to worry too much or be too critical of yourself. It will eat you alive!
About the Author
Travis Hansen has been involved in the field of Human Performance Enhancement for nearly a decade. He graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Fitness and Wellness, and holds 3 different training certifications from the ISSA, NASM, and NCSF.
He was the Head Strength and Conditioning Coach for the Reno Bighorns of the NBADL for their 2010 season, and he is currently the Director of The Reno Speed School inside the South Reno Athletic Club.
He has worked with hundreds of athletes from almost all sports, ranging from the youth to professional ranks. He is the author of the hot selling “Speed Encyclopedia,” and he is also the leading authority on speed development for the International Sports Sciences Association.
Surviving in the fitness industry is tough. Now, granted, this isn’t The Revenant…we don’t need to worry about wrestling grizzly bears or anything. But it is pretty cut-throat out there and the one’s who “survive,” and do well, are the ones who can separate themselves from the masses.
Today’s guest post by strength coach Travis Hansen showcases some ways you can do just that.
Trying to be successful in the fitness industry is a lot harder than most people tend to think.
The temptation for instant gratification and fly by night credibility is a very strong one, and provides with it a common misconception that you won’t have to grind on a regular basis, learn, and actually train people, not to mention generate legitimate results to remain alive in the business.
I’ve heard from a few credible sources that far less than 10 percent of individuals who start in the fitness business remain alive after a decade, and based on my experience that definitely seems to be pretty true.9
In this article I am going to share with you some arguable principles that I’ve utilized over the course of the past 12 years to stay alive and grow both my online and personal/athletic training business. I am by no means the most successful individual and I’m sure that many others could add to the list, but I honestly think the issues I am going to share with you are essential to your survival if you love this business and ultimately want to help people. I think everything stems off of the two factors I just mentioned and they serve as the groundwork for everything else to help lead you on your way.
So here we go….
#1- What Room Are You In?
Something that is very common I noticed from other trainers or even just the general public, is that there seems to be a constant battle in determining who knows more than the other person, or someone immediately jumps out and gets defensive if their current thought process is challenged by someone who may in fact be right.
I would be willing to wager a bet that our industry is far more guilty of this problem compared to any other profession with all of the hyped up trends that are out there still, hands down!!!
If you watch closely you will notice that the best in the business often times have their note pads out, eyes locked in on the person they are interacting with, ears open wide when they are trying to learn anything they can take away from the present conversation, and more times than not, don’t engage in these petty intellectual ego driven arguments that accomplish zero in the long run, unless the individual is just that damn stupid and asking for it.
As Mike Boyle once said:
“ There is a reason we have two ears and one mouth.”
The harsh truth is that you should probably spend the first 10 years of your career searching out the people who make you uncomfortable and dumb for the moment and eventually it will all start to make sense, and I guarantee you will be surprised just how much better you get.
The last thing I want to discuss in this regard is that something world renown coach and gym owner Zach-Even Esh once said that really resonated, and that is that people are often times uncomfortable and unsupportive of successful people as it makes them introspect and assess where they are at relative to their goals.
I honestly feel if that you start admiring successful people and try to emulate and even beat them then good things start to happen.
Don’t hate congratulate!
#2- Sacrifice
What a lot of surviving comes down to is how much you’re willing to do and sacrifice in order to achieve your goals.
Once you have mentally committed to doing whatever the hell it takes in order to achieve your goals without being illegal or walking over someone in the process then eventually you can start to grow.
I remember when I first got into this business I would buy and immerse myself into any fitness related material I could get my hands on to help build a solid learning filter. I was working 6-7 days per week for 8-12 hours per day. I would contact and pester any expert that would respond back to me with questions I had.
Luckily I stumbled across some great people that I still consult with today. You need very strong mentors and a network to better yourself and help your people.
#3-ASK FOR HELP
Never be afraid to ask for help or admit to your clients that you do not know something.
This only improves your credibility and earns more trust from your people in the long run.
Conan O’Brian once said in his late night talk show that saying you don’t know is often a sign of intelligence.
If you elect to retain your massive ego and state of ignorance, then you are only setting your education and growth back, and eventually your people are going to catch onto your bullshit and you will join the massive crowd of fly by night trainers that exist in our society today.
And remember you are only as strong as your network or alliance.
#4- Re-Invest
If you pay attention on social media, many times the high level practitioners and coaches in the field will send you subtle hints on how to be successful by showing you pictures of their personal training library and such.
There is also generally a very robust “Resource” section on every one of their websites where they show you where they learned from and how to improve your potential knowledge gaps.10
Your success will be ultimately determined by how smart you are, how hard you work, and how much you invest in your education and business. I never personally took out a business loan, but every paycheck and sometimes my whole paycheck was dedicated to learning material or small equipment purchases that accumulated into a bigger and bigger training setting or environment.
And then eventually once people see that you know what you are doing, you’re legitimate, and you get results, then they will more than likely invest in you and the ball just keeps growing bigger and bigger!
About the Author
Travis Hansen has been involved in the field of Human Performance Enhancement for nearly a decade. He graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Fitness and Wellness, and holds 3 different training certifications from the ISSA, NASM, and NCSF.
He was the Head Strength and Conditioning Coach for the Reno Bighorns of the NBADL for their 2010 season, and he is currently the Director of The Reno Speed School inside the South Reno Athletic Club.
He has worked with hundreds of athletes from almost all sports, ranging from the youth to professional ranks. He is the author of the hot selling “Speed Encyclopedia,” and he is also the leading authority on speed development for the International Sports Sciences Association.
