vadymvdrobot@123rf.comCategoriescoaching Corrective Exercise Program Design

The Post Where I Prove It’s Not Always Tight Hamstrings

You would think, based off all the alarmist articles I come across on the internet extolling the sentiment, that everyone walking around – you, me, leprechauns1, everyone – has tight hamstrings.

And as a result, if you do a search on Google, you’ll come across roughly 8, 089, 741 (+/- 41, 903) articles telling you why, how, and when to stretch them.

Tight hamstrings have been to blame for a lot of things, including but not limited to:

  • Back pain.
  • Knee pain.
  • Shoulder pain.
  • Any sort of pain.
  • Male pattern baldness.
  • Global warming.
  • The reason why I haven’t taken the garbage out (again, much to my wife’s dismay).

And while tight hamstring can be the root cause of some of those things, to always put the blame on them is a bit reductionist and narrow-minded to say the least.

In short: It’s the default culprit for lazy coaches and personal trainers to gravitate towards.

To steal a quote from Dr. John Rusin from THIS recent T-Nation article:

“If you’re stretching your hamstrings every day for months (or years) on end without improved flexibility, mobility, movement patterning, or pain relief, it’s not working. And it’s time to get out of this rehab purgatory.

If you aren’t seeing results from stretching, then it’s not only a waste of time, but it may be working against you. The thing is, muscles don’t get longer; they maintain a certain tone or tightness based on neurological impulse. So yes, strategic stretching DOES work in terms of reducing tone and tightness (in the short and long term), but if it hasn’t worked for you by now, it’s probably not going to.”

To steal a quote from myself:

“In order to increase the length of a muscle you need to either 1) lengthen bone (um, ouch!) or 2) in the case of someone who truly presents as short or stiff, increase the total number of sarcomeres in series (which takes a metric shit-ton of stretching).

Ask physical therapist Bill Hartman how long someone really needs to stretch in order to have a significant affect and/or to add sarcomeres, and he’ll tell you the starting point is 2-3, 10 minute holds per day. Working up to 20 minute holds.

That cute 30-second “stretch” you’re doing (most likely incorrectly) isn’t really doing anything.”

Are You “Tight” or Just Out of Whack?

You’d be surprised how often it’s the latter.

Simply put: most people aren’t so much tight as they are “stuck” in a poor position.

It goes back to something physical therapist and strength coach, Mike Reinold, brought up in casual conversation not long ago:

Which is more important to hammer first: stability or mobility?

Those trainers and coaches who swing on the stability side of the pendulum tend to be the overly cautious type who have their clients stand on BOSU balls for 45 minutes.

Those who swing on the the mobility side of things sleep with their copy of Supple Leopard every night.

Neither approach is inherently wrong so much as they’re flawed (if haphazardly assumed as “correct” for every person, in every situation).

If you strengthen (stabilize) in misalignment you develop an imbalance. If you stretch (mobilize) in misalignment you develop instability.

Take someone who presents with excessive anterior pelvic tilt. It’s not uncommon for said person to complain about constantly “tight” hamstrings, and no matter how often they stretch them, they stay tight.

You would think that after weeks, months, or sometimes even years of non-stop “stretching” they’d see some improvement, right?

Wrong.

The reason why they feel tight all the time has little to do with their hamstrings, but rather pelvic positioning.

Unless you address the position of the pelvis – in this case, excessive anterior pelvic tilt – you can stretch the hamstrings until they stop making those shitty Transformers movies (when will it end?) and you’ll never see an improvement.2

Think about it this way: in this scenario the reason why the hamstrings feel tight is because they’re lengthened and firing on all cylinders. By stretching them you’re just feeding into the problem in the first place!

We could easily chalk this up to the classic Lower Cross Syndrome as popularized by Dr. Vladomir Janda and stretch what’s tight (hip flexors, erectors), and that would be a step in the right direction.

Cool.

But I feel for most people, most of the time, that’s not going to solve the problem.

Instead, for the bulk of people, addressing things like anterior core strength (deadbugs, anyone?) in addition to active hip flexion and extension drills, like the Core Engaged Active Straight Leg Raise, is going to be money.

Real Life Example Of Not (Really) Tight Hamstrings

Take one of my clients, Dima. For all intents and purposes he’s someone who presents as “tight” AF in the hamstring department.

To throw him under the bus a teeny-tiny bit, if we tested his Active Straight Leg Raise this very minute anyone who’s taken the FMS would grade him the following way:

via GIPHY

Note to Dima: You’re my boy, Blue!

The thing is, as poor as his ASLR appears, I can get more range of motion passively. Meaning, if I were to manually “stretch” his hamstrings I can nudge a bit more ROM.

Since this is the case, wouldn’t it make sense to have him stretch his hamstrings?

Meh, not really.

Now, in Dima’s case, I’m not saying we avoid stretching his hamstrings. He is someone who’s a candidate for doing so (and we do), albeit I don’t prioritize it nearly as much as some coaches/trainers may do.

Instead I have perform stuff like this:

Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat

That’s some Gandalf type shit right there.

NOTE: Yes, I recognize he’s still unable to get full knee extension, but you can clearly see his ROM improved and the ease at which he got the additional ROM is night and day compared to the start.

All without stretching.

My boy Dean Somerset does a better job than myself explaining the mechanism at play here:

“Part of it is matching the active ability to achieve the position with the passive range of motion that’s available. If they can passively get there, they’re not “tight” or “restricted,” they just may not have the strength or motor control in that specific position, so doing some hip flexion movements can help build context of how to get there so that on their follow up test, they have a better knowledge base of active hip flexion capability to get into.”

In the end, don’t always assume everyone needs to stretch. A little active range of motion in conjunction with TENSION can go a long ways at building context and improving ROM.

CategoriesAssessment coaching Program Design

How to Fix Scapular Winging

Scapular winging. It’s a thing.

I guess.

Copyright: olegdudko / 123RF Stock Photo

 

Forgive the aloof and standoffish tone. I recognize the term “scapular winging” is a thing and that it can be an actual, real-live, medical diagnosis with dastardly consequences.3

But more on that in a minute.

It’s just that, in some ways, I find a lot of fitness pros – personal trainers, strength coaches, and even physical therapists – can often be a little too liberal with use of the term. They toss it around with little understanding of what it actually means and with little “feel” on how it’s interpreted by their clients and athletes.

I’ve long championed the sentiment that most (not all) fitness pros use the initial assessment as an opportunity to showcase how much people suck at doing things and how broken they are, and that, for the mere cost of a 215 pack of training sessions (the equivalent of a really, really nice Audi), they’ll fix you.

Pffffft, who wants an Audi anyways?

Here’s how a typical conversation goes:

Client: “Hey, I’m thinking about hiring someone to train me.”

Douchy Trainer: “Great, I’d be glad to help. We need to start with an assessment so I have ample opportunity to showcase how much of walking ball of fail you are and how I alone can fix you.”

Client: “Uh, okay. When do we start?

Douchy Trainer: “Right now, take off your shirt.”

Client: “Not going to buy me dinner first, huh? Kidding, okay, BAM.”

[takes off shirt]

Douchy Trainer: “Oh……….MY………..GOD.”

Client: “What? What’s wrong?”

Douchy Trainer: “I’m sorry to have to tell you this, but, you may want to sit down for this.”

Client: “Okay. What is it?

Douchy Trainer: “I’m sorry to have to tell you, but, but…..you have scapular winging.”

Client: “Is….that bad?”

Douchy Trainer: “I honestly have no idea how you’re able to walk, let alone speak complete sentences. We need to fix this ASAP.”

And this is where the trainer turns into that a-hole nun from Game of Thrones walking the client, Cersei style, down to the training floor to take them through a bevy of corrective exercise drills.

via GIPHY

 

Lets pump the brakes, mmmkay?

Scapular Winging: What It Is

It’s this:

Now, admittedly, the key words used to find this picture were “most fucked up, dumpster fire of a case of scapular winging on the internet,” so don’t get too alarmed.

This is a legit, medically diagnosed case, and not at all normal.

 

Pretty cool, right? That’s some Gandalf shit right there.

Quadruped Rockback w/ Floor Press

 

Typically the Quadruped Rockback is a a screen used to gauge active hip flexion ROM and to ascertain someone’s appropriate squat depth based of his or her’s anatomy. However, after listening to Mike Reinold speak on the topic it’s also a great drill to cue people into more protraction and upward rotation

Floor Press w/ Upward Rotation

 

Taking the floor press a step further, we can take away a base of support (and force the stabilizing arm to work that much harder in order to maintain position) and then incorporate some upward rotation.

Wrap Up

The umbrella theme here is not to dismiss scapular winging as an actual diagnosis. It is a diagnosis. It’s just not as common as people think, and I wish more fitness pros would stop jumping to conclusions so fast.

Oftentimes the fix is just to coach people up, introduce some load, and get them into better positions.

Last Chance to Save $100 off Complete Shoulder & Hip Blueprint

TODAY (7/6) is, for real this time, the last day you can purchase Complete Shoulder & Hip Blueprint at 50% off the regular price.

Because of the 4th and everyone’s travel plans, Dean Somerset and I extended our sale by one day so more people could take advantage.

That’s $100 you’re saving. Take that money you’ll save and go to a nice steak dinner instead.

—> LAST CHANCE. GO HERE. <—

Categoriescoaching Corrective Exercise Program Design

How to Train Around a Groin Strain

Groin strains can be a stubborn son-of-a-bitch. Once you have one, it’s one of those pesky injuries that never really seems to go away. In today’s guest post by strength coach and physical therapist, Sam Spinelli, he breaks down some common ways to resolve the issue.

Awesome stuff. 

Copyright: sportgraphic / 123RF Stock Photo

 

How to Train Around a Groin Strain

Groin strains are often a hard problem for people to manage. We see them present in many different populations and occur with a wide range of activities. Strains are common in sports such as baseball, hockey and soccer where this is a huge demand on the groin.

With the groin musculature being a collection of numerous muscles, it is involved in so many different movements – flexing the hip, extending the hip, bring the knee towards midline, internally rotate the hip, and externally rotate the hip.

Due to the involvement in these movements, the “groin” can get stressed while performing them, but also get strained when the opposing movements are done as well.

For example, the adductor brevis (one of the higher up groin muscles) acts to adduct, internally rotate, and flex the hip.

If strained, during those three movements the muscle will be challenged to contract.

In contrast, during hip abduction, external rotation, and extension the adductor brevis will get lengthened. When the adductor brevis is strained, excessive lengthening can increase the damage to the vulnerable tissue.

The first step to managing these strains is to get things to calm down. Check out THIS article for more on that in regards to strains.

Get Long

When we say get long, we are talking about having someone comfortable with allowing the involved musculature to elongate.

This isn’t trying to lengthen the actual tissue – which is a topic we will discuss in a separate article/video series – but have the tissue be able to express the range it actually has with ease.

Below is a series of options – foam rolling, less dynamic movements, and more dynamic movements.

We start off with foam rolling as a means of helping in the short term, which we can use to help reduce the perception of tone in the tissue. Ideally this is used only briefly and removed as soon as possible so we are not relying upon it.

The less dynamic movements are one which have less involved movement, fewer joints involved, and more support. These are a great starting point for moving and reducing fear in individuals coming off a groin strain.

The more dynamic movements are things that will have more transfer to daily life and sporting activities.

Once we are in the phase of building things up, we will shift our focus to exercises to help make the tissue more resilient. In particular, we are going to start off with an approach to get long and get strong.

Soft Tissue – Adductors

 

Split Stance Adductor Mobilization

 

Frog

 

Frog 2.0

 

Lateral Lunge

 

Cossack Lunge

Cossack Squat

 

Get Strong

A muscle that is stronger can handle more stress placed upon it. This is why developing the musculature related to this injury can help in the future. In particular, we will look to increase the strength of the groin muscles, but also that of the abdominals.

When we look at where most of the groin muscles originate, we can see they share a common insertion with some of the abdominal muscles. This can be like a tug of war between the muscles. If we have one side not holding up its part, then we can be left with imbalanced force production and a not optimal tension-length relationship. This is often overlooked and can lead to reoccurring issues – which is why we address it here.

We use a similar approach here of utilizing less dynamic movements initially to help target the groin muscles, then build in more dynamic movement and load over time.

For the abdominals we use an approach of challenging the abdominals in both a isometric and isotonic format. This helps to integrate static strength to hold position, but also strength in being able to manipulate the pelvic positioning.

Adductor Strengthening

Side Lying Adduction

Feet Elevated Side Plank – Top Leg Only

Feet Elevated Side Lying Adduction

Lateral Lunge – DBs

 

Lateral Lunge – 1 Rack

Band Resisted Lateral Lunge

 

Abdominal Strengthening

Reverse Crunch

 

Hanging Knee Raise

 

Hard Style Plank

 

An Example Introductory Session

Upper Body Lift +

A1. Split stance adductor mob x10 x3sets

A2. Side lying adduction x10 x3 sets

B1. Frog x10 x3 sets

B2. Reverse Crunch x10 x3sets

As you start to build strength and comfort, we can progress to:

Modified Lower Body Lift (RFESS, deadlifts, etc.) +

A1. Lateral Lunge – DBs x6 x3sets

A2. Hard style plank – 3(10s) x3sets

B1. Feet elevated side plank – top leg only x3(10s) x3 sets

B2. Hanging knee raise

Wrap Up

Over time you would want to keep progressing the variations while also building to more advanced movements involving power, agility, and requiring greater motor control of positioning.

Move well, lift heavy, stay healthy,

Author’s Bio

Sam Spinelli is cofounder of The Strength Therapist, a company devoted to educating people about strength training for rehab and performance.

Coming from the great white north of Canada, Sam spent 5 years working with high level hockey as a strength and conditioning coach. Currently he has taken up a nomad status in the United States to pursue his doctorate of physical therapy and hang out with really smart people (Like Tony G).

Outside of spending his time reading research papers and drinking coffee, he is a competitive strength athlete in sports such as powerlifting, weightlifting, and strongman.

Website – thestrengththerapist.com

Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/thestrengththerapist/

Facebook – https://m.facebook.com/The-Strength-Therapist-200045793768153/

CategoriesFat Loss personal training Program Design

Accelerated Fat Loss

I’m still across the pond in London with Dean Somerset presenting our Complete Shoulder & Hip Blueprint workshop.4 I have zero plans to do work today, but a good friend (and colleague) of mine, George Kalantzis, was kind enough to pinch hit write for me.

He’s written several articles for this site and he’s a master at writing effective fat-loss programs.

Enjoy.

Copyright: ruigsantos / 123RF Stock Photo

Training For Fat Loss Sucks!

In fact, the cards are stacked against you and mainstream media keeps flooding you everyday promising you with six pack abs shortcuts and seven day cleanses to only leave you frustrated and tired of results.

But Not Today

Over the past 15 years of my life, I have had the chance to train with some of America’s finest men as a Marine, and coach alongside some of the best in the fitness realm. I’ve learned some pretty cool training methods and have helped people lose anywhere from 5-40 pounds in a matter of a few months.

Because you are here to pick heavy things up and see results, you want a training method that will optimize time and accelerate fat loss.

And to be lean and athletic, you need to utilize combination exercises in your training to build more muscle and boost the metabolism so that your body continues to burn off calories well after exercise.

Combination Exercises and How The Accelerate Fat Loss

The common mindset or misconception seems to be that you can shred fat faster by doing two things- lower exercise at a longer steady duration or crush yourself into oblivion with high-intensity training.

While both play a vital role in fat loss and a well-rounded program, no one has time to train multiple hours throughout the week, ( if you do, I applaud you) and if you want to accelerate fat loss and keep burning calories well after your workout, you have to work hard and smart.

That means you have to find a training method that will burn a ton of calories, promote muscle mass, and elevate the metabolism.

One of the best ways to accelerate fat loss is to utilize combination movements in your training program. Combination movements play a huge role in fat loss because they allow for the greatest muscle fiber recruitment and an increase in the resting metabolic rate.

By stimulating a greater amount of muscle fibers during a workout your body will see huge increases in metabolic demand, which in turn will increase EPOC (Exercise Post Oxygen Consumption). EPOC is the amount of oxygen consumed during recovery in excess than what would have been consumed at rest.

Essentially your body becomes a fat burning machine well after the workout.

Ok, so now that we’ve covered the why combination exercises work, let’s cover how to shred some serious fat!

How To Use Combination Exercises For Fat Loss

Just training hard and fast isn’t usually the answer to a good fat loss program. Or is running for hours on end on the treadmill and Stairmaster going to do the trick.

You need to stimulate the most muscle in the shortest amount of time while finding a sweet spot between failure and easy in order to boost your caloric deficit, a key component to getting shredded.

Combination exercises are great for fat loss because they use compound movement patterns with short rest periods and higher intensity. A must have for shredding that stubborn fat.

But before we get into the circuits, I want to walk about the method behind the madness of combination circuits.

I’m a huge fan of taking what has been known to work and finding out ways to make it better. Density training has been known as one of the best things you can to shred fat fast. The greater the density, the more fat you will burn. You can increase density by cutting rest times and set up circuits like the ones below.

Day # 1

1a) Upper/Lower Compound x12-15 Reps

1b) Push-up Progression 8-10 Reps

1C) Split Stance Progression/Core x6 reps

2) Quad Dominant x 5

2b) Vertical Pull x 5

2c) Core

Day # 2

1a) Upper/Lower Compound x12-15 Reps

1B) Inverted Row x 5

1C) Single Leg RDL Combo x 6/leg

2a) Hip Dominant x 15

2B) Horizontal Press x 5

2C) Core

These circuits are a bit more advanced, so use them as a starting point and make modifications where you can

Pre-Exhaust Method Combination – Then Heavy Equals Accelerated Fat Loss

Not all circuits are created equal. To stimulate the most muscle during a workout and keep burning fat well after the workout, you need to shock the system.

Traditional fat loss programs include lighter weight and higher reps to produce results. And while there is nothing wrong with those programs, I like my clients to maintain muscle while shredding fat.

This is where I like to combine pre-exhaust training with heavier training to accelerate fat loss. Pre-exhaustion is a way to fatigue the muscles before hitting them with compound multi-joint exercises. This method is old school but is a great way to wake up the muscles prior to the larger lifts and stimulate muscle growth. Which means you get to build some more muscle and keep shredding pounds.

Fair warning, just because the reps are higher and the load is lighter, does not mean it will be easy.   You will soon begin to feel what pre-exhaustion meals into your second and third set.

Pre- Exhaustion Set For Fat Loss Looks Like This

A1) DB RDL/Bentover Row Combo x 12

A2) Tempo Pushup x 3-0-3 x 8

A3) Walking Lunge Into Renegade Row 6/side

 

Then You Would Rest No More Than 90 seconds and Get Right Into Heaver Weights

B1) Double Kettlebell Front Squat x 5

B2) Pull-up x 5

B3) Side Plank With Knee Drive 5/side

A second day would look like this

A1) Kettlebell Squat To Press x 12

A2) TRX Inverted Row x 10-12

A3) Single Leg RDL To Reverse Lunge Combo x 6/leg

 

B1) Kettlebell Swing x 5

B2) BB Bench Press x 5

B3) Push-up To Mountain Climber 5/side

 

Accelerated Fat Loss Summary

For most people, when it comes to shredding fat, being consistent with eating healthy and working hard produces results. Sometimes, you will need to think outside of the fat loss box and mix it up with different styles of training.

Harder, shorter training sessions work better than high reps and lower weights because they force you to recruit more muscles than a typical training session. Attack fat loss training with a specific goal and stick to it for at least 4-6 weeks. Use the training methods above at least two days a week and you will begin to see a transformation in your body composition.

Author’s Bio

George is a Marine Corps Veteran of 9 years and was awarded an honorable discharge after deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. He is currently a Master Instructor and Personal Trainer at Equinox in Boston and a licensed massage therapist.
Outside of Equinox, George maintains a fitness related blog that can be found at www.sgtkfitness.com.
He and his wife Shawna reside in Manchester, NH with their daughter Melina and fur baby Lola the dog.
ufabizphoto@123rf.comCategoriesExercise Technique Program Design Strength Training

An Ode to the Meadow’s Row

As odes are concerned, you can relax: this post is not a poem.

However if I were to give my poem writing skills a test-drive it may look a little something like this:

Meadow’s Row, Meadow’s Row.

Thou shall build superior backs.

Lats, lats.

More lats.

I like bacon.

Seems how I won’t be giving Langston Hughes a run for his money anytime soon, lets get into the meat and potatoes of the Meadow’s Row and why I like it so much.

First off, John Meadows, the guy who popularized the movement, was a brick shit house. Sadly, John passed away in 2021.

It was a long-time staple exercise in his routines, and, if you want a back the size of Nebraska, like John had, you’d be remiss not to start peppering it into your exercise routines as well.

I’ve been a big fan of the Meadows’ Row for awhile, ever since I first saw John mention it in THIS article over on T-Nation a few years ago. It wasn’t until earlier this week, however, when I posted the picture below on Instagram that I felt compelled to write about it.

Julian getting an early introduction to one of my favorite back exercises: the Meadow’s Row.

A post shared by Tony Gentilcore (@tonygentilcore) on

Basically, someone saw the picture and asked if I’d discuss coaching cues and provide a few videos?

Given I’ve been in a little “coming up with new content funk” I was more than happy to oblige. So, here you go.

The Meadow’s Row

What Does It Do? –  I’d like to preface everything by saying I do feel it’s important for most trainees – especially beginners and intermediates – to pump the brakes a little and learn to perform a strict 1-Arm DB Row first.

You can start HERE.

But also, check out THIS article from Lee Boyce.

The 1-Arm DB Row should not be performed in a straight up and down motion. This often leads to faulty mechanics and people “rolling” their shoulder(s) too far forward due to excessive humeral extension.

The resultant abducted and anteriorly tilted scapular position makes it cumbersome to target the upper back muscles, which is kinda the point of the exercise in the first place. So, there’s that.

Rather, the more kosher way to perform them is to have the DB move in an “arc” fashion; forward and back. This does two things:

  1. When conjoined with the cue “bring your elbow to your hip or back pocket” it prevents the elbow from going past the midline of the body, avoiding that “rolling” of the shoulder mentioned above.
  2. It matches the fiber orientation of the lats, which is what we’re really trying to target.

Side Note: I also agree with Lee that you can only be so strict with the DB Row for so long before it loses its moxy.

Meaning: I think it is important to be strict – at first – so that you can target the scapular retractors (namely, rhomboids). However, it won’t take long before the limiting factor of how much weight you can use is, you know…being strict.

As Nick Tumminello notes in THIS excellent article, two things to consider are the Resistance Curve and Strength Curve of any exercise.

The Resistance Curve: This refers to how the load changes throughout the range of motion based on changes in lever-arm (or moment-arm) length.

The Strength Curve: This refers to how your strength changes throughout the range of motion of a given exercise, which is due to a principle of physiology known as the length-tension relationship or the length-tension curve.

Photo Credit: T-Nation.com

Muscles have the lowest potential to produce force when they’re either fully elongated or fully contracted – somewhere in the middle is when they produce the highest amount of tension.

Moreover, when performing a horizontal row (like a 1-Arm DB R0w) the lever arm gets LONGER at the end range of the concentric motion (when your humerus is perpendicular to the ground).

As Nick notes:

“This is why you often see lifters pull the weight halfway with good form, then jolt it the rest of the way when doing exercises like barbell bent-over rows and one-arm dumbbell rows. It’s also why you see so many people turning their torso towards their rowing arm as they pull the dumbbell in on dumbbell rows, along with seeing people staying too upright on bent-over barbell rows and one-arm dumbbell rows, or leaning back to far when performing seated rows or machine rows.”

Anyways, I’m a firm advocate for coaching strict technique in the beginning. But we also need to recognize said strictness can be a limiting factor if muscle growth is a goal.

And, it is…..always……….;o)

By all means, be strict!

Just know you (likely) won’t be turning any heads or building an impressive upper back with your “strict” 45 lb rows.

So What is it About the Meadow’s Row That I Like So Much?

  • It builds ginormous backs.
  • Specifically, it hammers the lats (which is your largest back muscle).
  • It makes you feel like a badass diesel motherfucker.
  • It’s fun to do, and nice change of pace from plain ol’ vanilla DB Rows.
  • A great option to go heavy if your gym is lame and doesn’t have heavy DBs.

Key Coaching Cues: 

1. Use straps.

Don’t listen to internet trolls who will tell you you’re “cheating” if you use straps. They brag about 225 lb deadlifts and their parents still pay their phone bills.

Use straps. You don’t want your grip to be the limiting factor on these.

2. John himself advocates you open up your hip closest to the bar. As in: the hip closest to the bar should be higher than the outside hip. I believe he prefers this method as it puts the lats on stretch a bit more.

Either way, play around with hip position and see what feels best for you.

3. I like to support my torso with my “free” hand by resting it on my opposite knee. I feel this takes the burden off my lower back.

4. I still use the same cue: “elbow to back hip or back pocket.”

5. Try to feel a slight “stretch” in the bottom position, when arm is straight.

6. Holy shit, lats for days.

Another option would be to perform the Meadow’s Row with a Meadows Attachment.

The thinner handle helps with grip issues, and won’t result in demerit points if you’re adamant on not using straps.

In addition, you can also play around with different handle positions to see which one you prefer or feel most. There’s no right or wrong here.

NOTE: You can purchase the attachment HERE on Elitefts.com.

And That’s That

If you haven’t already, give the Meadow’s Row a try today. It’s one of my favorites and I’m sure you’ll learn to appreciate them as well.

CategoriesProgram Design

Exercise For Grown Ups

I don’t want to be cliche and say that today’s article is “exactly what I needed,” but it’s exactly what I needed.

If you’re a newly minted parent (or just someone who’s crazy busy and needs to be as efficient as possible in the gym) you’ll want to hug me for posting this guest post from Shane McLean.

I like hugs.

Copyright: gekaskr / 123RF Stock Photo

 

Exercise For Grown Ups

My wife and I had just tucked our little one into bed and made our nightly dash to the bedroom…so we could get as much sleep as possible.

What were you thinking?

Tomorrow was gym day and I was looking forward to crushing some weights and getting a break from daddy duties for an hour or so.

Like most first-time parents, we had a baby monitor turned up full blast beside our bed to hear when it was feeding time.

Because my wife had a full-time job and I was the stay at home parent, it was me (for the most part) who would get up to feed our son and try to put him back to sleep.

On this particular night, he thought 2 a.m. would be an excellent time to play on the sheepskin rug after he had finished his feeding. He was making goo goo eyes at me while having a big time thrashing his legs about like a Tour de France cyclist.

This was all very cute, but by 3 a.m. I’d had enough of this show and I put him to bed so hopefully the both of us could get some sleep before the sun came up.

Needless to say, I was a zombie the next morning and too tired to crush my planned training. Not even excessive amounts of caffeine could wake me up. The baby was full of energy, however.

Funny how that works.

This is what happens in real life. Stuff comes up and our best laid plans become stuck. We have other priorities that push exercise down the list.

Whether you’re becoming a parent, are already a parent or you just have way too much going on, use the following strategies to keep your health on track. Your sanity will thank you.

Imagine You’re in Prison

Dan John, strength Yoda, imagines a scenario where you’re in prison and you only have 15 minutes a day to train. What would you do? What is important to you? Please don’t say bicep curls.

Narrowing your focus when your time and energy is limited will at the very least keep you, your waistline and the scale happy. No matter how busy you are, you should always dedicate some time to exercise.

Here are a couple of examples of time-saving trainings (gym and home) that I’ve used in the past when time is limited but I still want to eat ice cream guilt free.

1a. Pushups 10 reps (Can be done on knees or on an incline surface)

1b. Inverted rows 10 reps

1c. Kettle bell swings -20 reps

 Rest one minute after each circuit and do five circuits.

1a. Dumbbell shoulder press 10 reps

1b. Dumbbell bent over row 10 reps

1c. Goblet squats 20 reps

 Rest one minute after each circuit and do five circuits.

1a. Pushups – 10 reps

1b. Side planks- 15 seconds each side

1c. Bodyweight squats 20 reps

 Rest one minute after each circuit and do five circuits.

Cardiovascular Training

Do a two-minute walk/warm up, then a 15 second sprint followed by 15 seconds of rest. Repeat this cycle for five work/rest intervals. Then cool down for two-three minutes.

This can be done on treadmill, track, bike, rowing machine or you can find some open space and sprint.

Stand Up and Take Movement Breaks

A study by Levine (2005) recruited 20 healthy volunteers, 10 lean people (5 men 5 women) and 10 people classified as grade I obese (5 men and 5 women). Levine was looking for physical activity differences between these two groups.

Levine found that grade I obese sat for 164 minutes a day longer than their lean counterparts and lean people were standing and active for 153 minues more than their obese counterparts. This lead to the lean people burning 352 calories a day which is the equivalent to 36.5 grams of fat per year.

This partly is due to N.E.A.T or non-exercise activity thermogenesis, a process that burns the majority of our calories.

Finding time in your day to be active even when you’re busy or overwhelmed will have huge implications on your health, fitness and waist line.

Here are some suggestions when you don’t have time for the gym.

  1. Take the stairs instead of the elevator.
  2. Walk during your lunch hour.
  3. Walk to your coworker’s desk instead of emailing.
  4. Pace the sidelines at your kid’s athletic game.
  5. Do housework and walk around your house.
  6. Walk your dog.
  7. Bring the groceries from your car into your house one bag at a time.
  8. Perform gardening and easy to do home repair projects.
  9. Refer to point one.
  10. This list could go on and on but I’ll stop. You can get creative.

One Lift Per Day

If going to the gym is non-negotiable, try narrowing your focus even further by doing just one lift per day. Trust me, this is not for sissies. Back in the 50’s and 60’s some Olympic lifters trained like this and they turned out just fine.

It was greasing the groove concept before Pavel Tsatsouline popularized this in his book Power to the People. Bottom line, if you’re going to master a lift it pays to do it more not less. Mind blown, right?

I could wax poetic on sets, reps and guidelines but you’re better off just reading THIS. He kind of knows what he is talking about.

Wrapping Up

There are periods in our lives where we barely keep our heads above water and our time and energy are in short supply. This is not time to crush PR’s or embark on some ambitious fat loss program.

It’s a time for maintenance because a little exercise can go a long way. Besides, sometimes you need your energy for more important stuff, like 3 a.m. sheepskin rug time. With the baby, I mean.

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.

Categoriescoaching Exercise Technique Program Design

The Abdominal Rollout: Common Mistakes and Progressions

Having a newborn at home = I’ve been waking up on the wrong side of the bed lately. A lot. I’m cranky AF and my brain waves aren’t firing on all cylinders this morning so you can blame this lame introduction on that.

Cool?

Awesome. Lets discuss abs. Specifically, lets discuss one of the more common ab exercises out there: the abdominal rollout.

Copyright: georgerudy / 123RF Stock Photo

The Abdominal Rollout: A Complete History (But Not Really)

I’d like to sit here and pizzaz you with some interesting factoids and trivia about the abdominal rollout, like, say, I don’t know, its roots can go all the way back to Mesopotamia and that every male had to perform strict repetitions for 17 hours straight before he was allowed to mate. Maybe the History Channel can back me up on that one?

Who knows, for all I know some guy named Phil was the first to perform the exercise while training in his basement in 1968 while jamming to Hendrix. Phil was cool as shit.

Either way, all I can really tell you is that it’s a staple exercise that trains the anterior core musculature – upper and lower rectus regions in addition to the internal and external obliques – and has long been a “go to” exercise for anyone looking to shred their mid-section.

Copyright: max5799 / 123RF Stock Photo

Specifically the abdominal rollout is an excellent variation that trains ANTI-EXTENSION, and, well, many people tend to miss the boat in this regard.

I see a lot of common mistakes when I watch trainees perform this exercise. In fact, most would be better off pumping the brakes a little bit and mastering something like an RKC plank first.

RKC Plank = a plank (albeit learning appreciate tension).

The set-up is more or less the same a regular ol’ plank, except here you’ll want to flex everything – your abs, glutes, quads, eyelids, everything.

An important cue I use when teaching the RKC plank is to tell the person doing it to pretend as if they’re trying to drag their elbows towards their toes. When done right, it increases the “holy cow, this is really hard” factor by a large margin.

Also, when done right, 10 seconds will feel like torture.

But I’m getting a little off-track. What are those common mistakes of the rollout I was referring to above? The two most common are:

  • People falling into excessive lumbar extension (<– remember: the rollout is an exercise that helps train anti-extension; it defeats the purpose of the drill if you allow your lumbar region to “fall” into extension). The idea should be to maintain posterior pelvic tilt of the pelvis throughout.
  • Not allowing the hips to follow the shoulders.

 

In Case You’re Too Important to Watch the 2-Minute Video Above

1. I like to cue people to start the exercise in a bit more of a lumbar flexed posture (PPT). Relax, it’s unloaded flexion, you’ll survive. By doing so, most will end up in spinal neutral as they draw closer to the floor.

2. My triceps look jacked in that video.

3. Oftentimes as people break toward the floor their shoulders will lead and the hips will tend to lag behind. A cue that often works for me is to tell the person to pretend there’s a rope or chain connecting their hips and shoulders and that the shoulder are “towing” the hips behind them. They should move simultaneously.

Address those two things and technique will clean up nicely.

How About Progressions?

Assuming you’re already pretty good at the standard rollout, what are some ways we can progress the exercise?

Some less sexy alternatives would be:

  • Add a pause at the bottom.
  • Use a slower tempo on the way down and up. Think: three seconds down, pause, three seconds up.

We all know you’re going to skip those however, so maybe consider these options?

Level 1: This Is Kinda Cool, I Guess – Elevator Ab Wheel Rollout

 

Here, the idea is to include some pitstops or “speed bumps” along the way to make the movement more challenging and to increase time under tension.

With the Elevator Rollout I’ll tell people to rollout to three different lengths:

  • 1/2 way out, then back.
  • 3/4 way out, then back.
  • Full ROM, then back
  • THAT’s one rep.

Aim for 5-6 repetitions (which is really 15-18 repetitions when you count all the additional stops).

Level 2: Alright, Now We’re Talking – 2-Way Ab Wheel Rollout

 

All we need to do to make something a little more challenging is to add a change of direction. With the 2-Way Ab Wheel Rollout the idea is to alternate between veering off to the left and to the right. But, really, you can add as many directions as you want. And, if you’re really feeling frisky you can combine this with the elevator variation above.

I like to shoot for 6-8 repetitions per direction with this one.

Level 3: Ohhhhhhhhhhhh, Snap – Band Resisted Ab Wheel Rollout

 

To up the ante even more we can add resistance in the form of a band. With this variation I wrapped two bands around the corner of a squat rack and wrapped the other ends around each handle of the abdominal wheel.

The band will “assist” with the yielding/eccentric component, but you will need to fight and overcome the concentric portion. It’s a pretty nasty progression, so don’t take it lightly.

Aim for 8-12 repetitions.

Level 4: “Whoa, I Know Kung-Fu” – Standing Band Resisted Barbell Rollout

^^ Bonus points for The Matrix reference.

 

Admittedly, this isn’t that baller…but it’s a nice variation for those who aren’t quite able to perform a strict standing rollout (which is next level Jedi shit). With this variation you have to overcome the band as you roll out, however on the way back the band will accommodate or assist you back up to the starting position. Pretty nifty.

Aim for 5-8 repetitions.

And that’s that. I hope those tips to clean up technique help and made sense, and I also hope you now have a few new exercises to try.

 

Categoriescoaching Exercise Technique Program Design

Sport Restrictive vs. Sport Specific Exercise: How to Avoid Damaging Our Athletes

Speed ladders, parachutes, BOSU balls…it’s all nauseating at times. There’s a time and place for all those things – I guess – but when they’re added to an athlete’s (especially young athlete’s) training repertoire I have to wonder if they’re in there because the coach feels it’ll make him or her better, or if it’s the novelty they’re after? Today’s guest post by strength coach, David Otey, tackles the idea of sport RESTRICTIVE exercise and sport ASSISTIVE.

Good stuff.

Copyright: gloffs / 123RF Stock Photo

Sport Restrictive vs. Sport Specific Exercise

In fitness, finding your niche is a major part of making an impact on an individual. Over the last few years, Instagram celebrities and fitness magazines are guiding people on the best “sport specific” exercises for athletes.

If you want to be great at throwing, do this!

If you want to play cornerback in football, do that!

The whole process is very demanding of precise movements. The only issue is, details enhance, they don’t create. Just like a nice tie doesn’t make a cheap suit look better, detail work without a foundational set of athleticism, doesn’t change the athlete.

We can all remember our first intro to lifting weights, like a first date. The first interaction is the most impactful so a shit program can really compromise your results for years to come if you don’t find the right direction.

Ever meet that 50 year old guy that is still doing his HS football team’s lifting routine?? I meet that guy all the time. The issue with this idea is young athletes usually get thrown into a specific rotation of exercises that may be helping tiny details but neglecting overall development.

The fact is, the first 6 months to a year of working out is the most crucial from a muscle mass, neuromuscular awareness, and overall gym knowledge standpoint. Those initial days and exercises really set the table for your future accomplishments in the gym.

Sport specific exercises have been used for years with the intent of developing a particular athlete in their respective competition. Ever hear of the SAID principle? If so, makes sense right?

Sport restrictive exercises is a term I use for any exercise that could hinder the natural athleticism of an athlete.

If we are using sport specific exercises, they should be a compliment to some natural big lifts that are the foundation of our program. Thousands of athletes, right now, are practicing how to make one hand catches like Odell Beckham Jr. While focusing on that, they are neglecting speed, power, route running, catching fundamentals, and more

Athlete programming has two overall objectives: Maximize potential and minimize injury/restriction.

If you are not getting better, you are competing less.

If you are hurt, you are competing less.

We want athletes to compete more, work more efficiently, and stay in the game longer. The idea of sport restrictive exercises is to change the thought process from what things can I do for specific movements to what things should I REALLY not be doing to hinder my development in that sport.

I would argue that the majority of exercises are good for all athletes with a strong foundational level of athleticism (assuming no major injuries). There are a subset of exercises for each sport which should be avoided if you are looking to max out your potential. Here are four of the more common situations we may run into which are holding back our athletes.

Restricted Hip Drive

Restricted Shoulder Mobility

Loss of Rotational Power Generation

Loss of Multidirectional Movement

These four basic areas are really what encompass the attributes that set an athlete apart from the field.

Lacking in one or multiple of these either place you behind the curve or place you on the injury reserve. These for characteristics are also seen in every sport just in varying quantities. Let’s dive into how we can distinguish and avoid sport restrictive exercises going forward. As sport specific exercises are truly movements seen in game situations, I will refer to the exercises below as “sport assistive.”

Hip Drive

Hip drive is one of the most powerful and common strengths of any athlete. Whether you are throwing, blocking, sprinting, hips dominate the motion. Hip drive can be used in many ways but explosion and stability are the key responsibilities of the Glutes. To get the most of your hip drive, it’s important to work in areas that are similar to your sport. The weight room opens us up to a long list of activities that can work on a more powerful looking lower body. Key word is LOOKING. How can we adjust to just flat our powerful.

Sumo Deadlift – Sport Restrictive Movement

Note from TG: Noooooooooooooooo (sad face). I’m still posting a video of myself.

 

Traditional Deadlifts are becoming more common in weight rooms everywhere which is a great thing. The movement is based on full body strength and developing power. With regard to the Sumo Squat, it’s inherently unique set up is unfamiliar to almost any sport we see on a regular basis. Now I know, some people are going to say, “But what about the extra muscles used in the Sumo Deadlift?”

I certainly can understand that, my argument is this is more suited for the athlete geared towards weight-room competitions and less towards indoor/outdoor traditional sports. Building a foundation should be based on movements that are going to directly impact performance, not just look sweet in your Instagram post.

Broad Jump – Sport Assistive Movement

Without hip mobility, you are leaving yourself with a quick road to injury. Restricted hip mobility leaves you in a position to rely on areas to gain mobility that aren’t meant to have mobility. This extra strain, either placed on your knees or lower back, can quickly turn into chronic issues.

 

To avoid this, don’t work on exercises with unique demands that are uncommon to your everyday activity. The broad jump for any athlete is a way to specifically focus on hip and lower body explosion with the outcome of “project myself as far as humanly possible”. All out power is what we strive for. The hip extension utilize in the broad jump mimics almost all lower body locomotive movements we will see more commonly.

Shoulder Strength

Shoulders are the second most impactful joint in the body. Where the hip is mainly responsible for power generation from the lower limbs, the shoulders have the main juncture of the upper limbs. In all throwing sports, the chain reaction between medial foot all the way through the throw, is either amplified or diminished because of shoulder (scapular and glenohumeral) strength and mobility.

Barbell Military Press – Sport Restrictive Movement

 

The traditional Military press is no argument a solid movement for building muscle mass, but not ideal for working with the general athlete. The fundamental difference between athletics and barbells is the level of predictability.

Barbell movements confine the body to accommodate muscle growth and patterning to a restricted path due to the bar. In sports, all movements are unique and the body is better prepared when trained to be strong through its own control of its path (Example: Dumbell Press).

With respect to athletes with large wingspan, shoulder movement independent from one another is also safer than fixated movement. Increased muscle mass restricts in some sports and helps in others, but overall, the barbell is counterproductive for the athlete.

Landmine Shoulder Press – Sport Assistive Movement

The Landmine Shoulder Press is a great method to strengthen the muscle while focusing on glenohumeral rhythm.

 

To build in the body’s capabilities to work at its highest demand, we need to reinforce the body’s desire to work in collaboration with coexisting parts of the system. The Landmine’s free pivoting base allows you to control the weight independently. Along with this, the path of the bar promotes scapular upward rotation along with force angle more appropriate for one of our most unstable joints.

Rotational Power

Power is only as good as it can be transferred. Its tough to turn on a light with a frayed power cord (don’t try that at home). The anterior and posterior core’s primary functions are to maintain spinal stability and transfer power. The inherently awesome part of rotational power is the body’s ability to work together and coordinate multiple segments to maximize output. This doesn’t happen without the core, and doesn’t happen without training the body in its full capacity rather than in isolated segments.

Power Cable Twist – Sport Restrictive Movement

 

Cable twists are commonly seen in gyms around the country as a method to great sick abs. Unfortunately, they aren’t great at that and are more detrimental to spinal integrity. Just as I wouldn’t swing a baseball bat without pivoting my feet, rotation without lower body rotation creates increased stress on the discs, vertebral columns, lumbar spine, hips, damn near everything. Creating rotational power generally starts at the medial foot and transfers up, so training in that manner is most appropriate.

Med Ball Throws – Sport Assistive Movement

 

The Med Ball Throw is one of the most similar movements to translation of rotational power. One key factor of power is the ability to go full throttle. Just like doing sprints on a treadmill is definitely not the same as doing full sprints outside, there is no restriction of full potential. Proper Med Ball throws can teach an athlete full power output, safely!

Multidirectional Movement

Side Shuffles – Sport Restrictive Movement

 

One of the hardest things for me to watch is a coach teaching an athlete to side shuffle. Usually, with the side shuffle, the athlete is instructed to keep their back foot in contact with the ground. This concept is generally contradictory to natural lateral movement. Try running while keeping one foot on the ground at all times. Chances are you are going to lose your race.

Lateral Skiers – Sport Assistive Movement

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOI1exR6pSk

 

The medial foot is one of the primary points of the body where power starts. Stealing a base, juking a tackle, initial drive in the baseball swing, all start from medial foot. Lateral work is a great translator to rotational power and lower body reactive capability. Lateral Skiers allow you to focus on single leg accommodation and the ability to propel from that loaded position. This is a movement that every athlete should build do and practice.

Summary

Every program is going to be unique because of the athlete and specific coach writing the program. The purpose of this article isn’t to blast certain exercises but to bring up arguments to why other movements may be more appropriate for your athletes.

You don’t need a speed ladder to be sport specific.

The best sport specific movements are those done in practice. Unfortunately, as coaches, we may only work with certain athletes in a weight room setting. It is important to identify which exercises can translate, and which in the long term, could be holding back our athletes. Bottom line: don’t restrict your athletes by refusing to adjust from the status quo.

Author’s Bio

David Otey is a Strength and Conditioning specialist based out of New York City. David is the 2016 Fitness Manager of the Year for Equinox and has been featured in several major fitness publications on the topics of strength and Conditioning.

Categoriescoaching Exercise Technique Program Design Uncategorized

Box Jumps: You’re Not Jumping as High as You Think You Are. And, You’re Doing Them Wrong

Thump, thud, thump, thud.

“What’s that noise?” I thought to myself. “Thor whacking people’s faces with Mjolnir or a T-Rex break dancing to It Takes Two.”

I turn the corner….”please let it be a T-Rex. PLEASE!”

Nope, just some asshat performing box jumps.

Copyright: ammentorp / 123RF Stock Photo

 

Now, before anyone gets their panties in a tissy….I am not against box jumps. I implement them into my training as well as into the programs I write for other people and think believe they have a time and place (as does most any other exercise in existence5).

I mean, any strength coach or trainer worth his or her weight in paleo brownies understands their role in helping to train explosiveness and athleticism. And, if we were to peel back the onion a bit further, we’d note the REAL benefit(s) of box jumps are:

  1. Force summation, Rate of Force Development, or learning to put force into the ground.
  2. Landing mechanics: or, learning to absorb force.

It’s not to try to jump onto a box at the highest height possible or to perform them for endless repetitions.

Dumb

 

Really Dumb

 

Dumber

 

Commentary on Video #1

Before the record button was pressed you know those two guys were thinking to themselves “Dude, if you hit this jump it’s going viral and you’re totally going to get laid tonight.”

He’s lucky he didn’t break his back or neck.

Commentary on Video #2

Considering the number of banged up knees and scraped shins I’ve come across I really wish CrossFit would begin to understand that box jumps aren’t a great conditioning tool, and that there’s an abyss of better options.6

Hell, running over your right arm with a Honda Civic would be better than high-rep box jumps.

Commentary on Video #3

Yeah, yeah, I get it: It’s JJ Watt, it’s an old video, he’s an elite professional athlete, he nailed it, quit belly aching Tony.

Admittedly that was a baller jump and I too would have full confidence in JJ’s ability to jump over Mordor and then some. However, from a cost-benefit standpoint…..as a coach who’s worked with plenty of high-level athletes myself, I wouldn’t touch that with a ten-foot pole.

I have to wonder, though, did the coaches in that video prescribe or allow this to happen because they felt it would make their athlete better, or because they were chasing YouTube views and likes?

Not worth the risk. Refer to video #1.

My Real Beef: Not Box Jumps, But HIGH Box Jumps

A few months ago I watched a stellar video by Nick Tumminello where he went into detail on why he didn’t like HIGH box jumps, and he made a brilliant point I had never thought of before.

High box jumps reward those people with excellent hip mobility, particularly those with great hip flexion. Here’s an example:

The distance from the bottom of your foot to top of box is the “real” distance you’re jumping. Not so impressive now, huh?

And this is what the same jump looks like when someone doesn’t have the ability to clear ample hip motion:

They start cranking through their lumbar spine, over and over and over and…..”awwwww, goddamit I blew out my back again.”

“Ma, meatloaf! We want it.”

And speaking of the lumbar spine, how many times do you watch someone perform their box jumps and it ends up looking something like this:

Box Jump: Poor Landing

 

Happens all the time right?

Yuck.

If your box jumps look like this you’re using too high of a box and are reaping ZERO benefit from doing them.

How you start (chest up, knees slightly bent and not caving in, athletic position) is how you should end. Like this:

Box Jump – Good Landing

 

Another not so great thing thing many people end up doing is landing too loud on the box. Remember: one of the main benefits of the box jump is absorbing force.

Box Jump – Loud Landing

 

If someone can hear your box jumps in Idaho you’re doing them wrong.

Instead, you want to make sure you land softly, or what I like to tell my clients “like a ninja.”

Box Jump – Who’s the Ninja? You Are That’s Who

 

A Few Other Random Thoughts

  • Even with a (seemingly) low box height, the idea is to cue your clients to jump as high as they can (and then to land soft). External cueing works wonders here:
    • Try to hit your head on the ceiling.
    • Jump away from the ground.
    • OMG, there’s a snake!
  • I like to program box jumps for low reps. Sets of 1-3 are ideal.
  • Moreover I LOVE performing box jumps on lower body days prior to squatting or deadlifting as it serves as a nice way to potentiate or wake up the nervous system.
    • Perform 3-4 sets of 1-3 reps and you’re good to go.
    • Quality over quantity.
Categoriescoaching Exercise Technique Program Design

The Humble Goblet Squat

Last week I broke down one of my favorite variations to teach the squat to beginners. I was expecting some blow-back because I had the audacity, nay, the cojones, to not mention the Goblet squat.

Of course, I love the Goblet squat. As you should too. It’s a wonderful little exercise that serves as a “catch all” to groove a better squat pattern. And on top of that…it’s super versatile.  As you’ll come to realize after reading this excellent guest post from Shane McLean.

Copyright: blanarum / 123RF Stock Photo

The Holy Grail

The Goblet squat has revolutionized the way the squat is being performed and taught throughout the world. If don’t know what a Goblet squat is, I’m getting Dan John to come over to your house and slap you upside the head.  

If you don’t know even who he is, I suggest you Google him.  Pronto.

Dan John stumbled upon this excellent exercise by chance.  

“Years ago, I was faced with teaching 400 athletes to squat correctly. I attempted move after move and lift after lift, yet I failed every time.

I saw glimmers of hope from teaching one kid the Zercher squat and a few picked up the pattern when we lifted Kettlebells off the ground but nothing was really working.

The answer was somewhere in between a Zercher and a Potato squat. It came to me when I was resting between swings with the weight held in front of me like I was holding the Holy Grail.

I squatted down from there, pushed my knees out with my elbows and behold, the goblet squat.” (1)

I guess you can say he choose wisely.

Thanks to Dan’s discovery people in gyms everywhere have discovered the joys of squatting. The Goblet squat is an exercise that’s great for beginners and advanced exercisers alike.

But what makes the Goblet squat so good?

Holding the weight anteriorly encourages you to stand up straighter, get that upper back tight and puff out that chest which sets the table for good squat. Furthermore, the weight acts as a counter balance that encourages you to sit between your legs and not over your knees.  

 

For most gym-goers, the Goblet squat may be the only squat you’ll ever need.  It beats squatting on a stability ball by about a trillion. Why do people do that?

Now that I’ve established the Goblet squat is the bomb, let’s look at some variations so you can squat like a boss.

1. Goblet Box Squat

 

If it’s been a while since you’ve squatted or you’ve never done a Goblet squat before, this variation is a good starting point. Reducing the range of motion combined with a reference point with the box will help you groove proper technique.

Pairing this with single arm press/pull combined with a mobility drill works like a charm. For example:

1A. Goblet Box Squat

1B. Single Arm Row

1C. Half Kneeling Hip Flexor Stretch

 

2. KB Goblet Squat with Lowering

 

Tony calls this lowering but I’d prefer to calling this a biceps curl. Any excuse to work on the guns, right?

 

The pause at the bottom of the squat with the ‘curl’ helps you ‘own’ the bottom position and creates extra tension in the anterior core and the posterior chain. It’s going to tickle the legs a little also.  

Pairing this with a suitcase carry will provide a greater challenge for your lungs and grip strength. Try this little finisher that I borrowed from Dan ‘the man’ John.

 

  • 8 Goblet squat with lowering
  • Suitcase carry left hand 40 steps
  • 7 Goblet squats with lowering
  • Suitcase carry right hand 40 steps
  • 6 Goblet squats with lowering
  • Suitcase carry left hand 40 steps
  • 5 Goblet squats with lowering
  • Suitcase carry right hand 40 steps
  • 4 Goblet squats with lowering
  • Suitcase carry left hand 40 steps
  • 3 Goblet squats with lowering
  • Suitcase carry right hand 40 steps
  • 2 Goblet squats with lowering
  • Suitcase carry left hand 40 yards
  • 1 Goblet squat with lowering
  • Suitcase carry right hand 40 yards
  • Collapse

3. Goblet Squat with Resistance Band

Click HERE

How do you make Goblet squats more enjoyable? By adding a looped resistance band of course. Adding a band to the kettlebell helps you control the eccentric portion of the movement and provides extra resistance on the concentric portion also.

Furthermore, some gyms don’t have big enough kettlebells to challenge advanced lifters and adding a band helps…… or hurts depending on your perspective.

This exercise can be done for straight sets but if you’re feeling ambitious you can pair this with a little exercise called the Goblet lateral walk.  For example

1A. Goblet squat with band 8-12 reps

1B. Goblet lateral walk 8-12 steps each side

1C. Your grip will love you

 

4. Goblet Squat 1 ½

 

 

Adding a half a repetition to this exercise will make you hate life but will increase tension in your legs, anterior core and the posterior chain. These factors will give you a lower body of steel.

This exercise can be used as a finisher at the end of your leg training or can be super-setted with a core exercise for a rousing good time. For example:

1A. Goblet squat 1 ½

1B. Push up position plank

 

5. TG Addition: Goblet Elevator Squats

A nice progression for 1-1/2 rep Goblet squats would be elevator squats. I learned this one from my good friend Ben Bruno.

Here you’ll squat down into the bottom position, come 1/2 way up, back down again, then 3/4 of the way up, back down, and then stand tall. This is a great option for those who A) can’t think of any other way to make them hate life more and/or B) have limited options in terms of load you can use (the increased time under tension is a leg killer).

 

Wrapping Up

The Goblet squat makes it possible for most people to squat with good form and to reestablish the squat pattern for those who have ‘lost’ it. This also doubles as an excellent mobility exercise for the lower body.  

Start choosing squats wisely. Incorporate the Goblet squat into your routine pronto and make Dan a happy man.

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.