CategoriesProgram Design Strength Training

10 Must Do’s to Stay Athletic (Part 2)

Before we get to Part 2 of James’ guest post from yesterday, a few things:

1.  You should read Part 1 if you haven’t already. This isn’t like The Matrix Reloaded or Revolutions or anything where, if you didn’t watch the original Matrix, you’d be throwing your hands up in the air wondering what WTF is going on.

Where did 100 Agent Smith’s come from?

If Neo can fly, why go through all the trouble of kung-fu’ing everyone?

And, who the hell is this Architect character and why is he obsessed with the word “ergo”?

Nevertheless, you can absolutely read Part 2 (below) and not Part 1 and get the gist of everything.  But, it’s still nice to have the whole story.

2.  The guys over at Examine.com (THE best source for INDEPENDENT and UNBIASED supplement information in the history of the internet) just released their new product, Stack Guides, today.

If you’ve ever asked yourself the question, “what supplements should I take for ______?” then this may be right up your alley.

The Stack Guides are easy to use and provide a step-by-step breakdown of the most prominent queries people have towards supplementation:

Fat Loss
Muscle Gain & Exercise Performance
Bone Health
Sleep Quality
Libido
Mood/Depression
Vegetarianism/Veganism
Insulin Sensitivity, etc……..

You name it, Examine.com probably has it covered.  For more information, you can go HERE.

And with that, lets get to Part 2 of James’ article….

6.  Maintain an Aerobic Base

Low intensity, long duration cardio gets a bad rap sometimes.  If you listen to some people, it sounds as if even thinking about going aerobic will automatically make you lose all your gains.  Unless all you do is low intensity, long duration cardio, that’s not the case.  Your muscle will not melt off your body.  I promise.

Here are a few reasons to maintain a stellar aerobic base:

– It’s always contributing to energy production

– It plays an enormous role in regenerating the necessary substrates to fuel alactic metabolism (aka it helps you recover)

– Is the most trainable of the three energy systems because its only byproducts are CO2 and water.

– Can push out your anaerobic threshold, which in turn allows you to avoid the fatiguing effects of anaerobic metabolism.

For more on this topic I’d recommend checking out this article.

Action Item:  Do cardiac output work once a week for 30-60 min and mix in tempo work once a week at the end of a workout.

7.  Eat Well 90% of the Time

You are what you eat.  It’s pretty self-explanatory.  Eat like crap, and you’ll probably perform and feel like crap.

If you do your due diligence and eat well 90% of the time, and by well I mean focus on lean meats, vegetables, fruits, and healthy fats, then you’ll do great.

I hate when people get all paranoid and never allow themselves some breathing room.  If you’re craving a milkshake go crush a damn milkshake.  If you make yourself miserable trying not to have it, you’re more likely to binge eat later.  Just indulge yourself within reason and stay on point the other 90% of the time.

If you have questions about nutrition and want an easy to follow plan based on your body type and goals, then click here.

Action Item:  Get protein (lean meat), carbs (veggies and fruit), and fat (nuts, seeds and oils) into every meal you eat.

8.  Play

One of my favorite quotes is by George Shaw, and it goes like this:  “We don’t stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing.”

Think back to when you were a kid, and how much you enjoyed the art of playing.  Just reckless, mindless, good old fashioned playing.  For some reason we lose that as adults, and it’s sad because the health benefits from playing are great.

Although the list is long, I think most of it comes back to stress management.  Playing allows us to take a much needed break from the constant stressors of todays 24/7 lifestyle, and may very well help keep our stress response in tune (ala not “on” all the time).

If you’re interested in reading more about stress and its impact on the body, I couldn’t recommend the book Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers by Robert Sapolsky enough.

Action Item:  Play for at least 1 hour each week.

9.  Have an off switch

Getting jacked up and ripping 500lbs off the floor is great and all, but you have to be able to shut down afterwards.

More specifically, you have to be able to turn off your sympathetic (flight or fight) nervous system and get into your parasympathetic (rest and digest) nervous system.  This is important for a host of reasons, but here’s a quick example.

Let’s say you find yourself roaming the Serengeti and come across this cuddly little guy:

Without having to think about it, your sympathetic nervous system will kick into gear, diverting blood flow to your muscles and dumping things like glucocorticoids into the bloodstream, while most other bodily functions that don’t help you survive at this immediate moment get put on the back burner (digesting food, secretion of sex hormones etc.).

Side note:  this is what happens when you train.

Once you’ve escaped the lion you’d like to be able to shut off the sympathetic system and find your parasympathetic system so you can rest, digest and recover.  Unfortunately, some people lose the ability to do this.  They stay sympathetic all the time causing their bodies to constantly act as if they’re running from a lion.  Needless to say, that’s not healthy in the long run.

Action Item:  Try doing 3 minutes of crocodile breathing after workouts and before bed every night.

Note from TG:  Crocodile or Belly breathing is easy to do.  The idea is to “coach” people to become less of a chest breather – which is an aberrant pattern that tends to jack up our secondary respiratory muscles like the upper traps and scalenes (and, not coincidentally, often leads to neck and shoulder pain) –  and learn to breath more into their belly.

Here, you’ll lie prone on your stomach with your forehead resting on your forearms. From there try to inhale and breath more into your stomach.  You know you’re doing it correctly if you notice your lower back moving up and down, like in the video below.

10.  Surround Yourself With the Right People

You are the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with.  If you hang out with people who have zero interest in maintaining a healthy lifestyle, you will also not care about having a healthy lifestyle.

Not only that, having a supporting cast and a few good training partners can make all the difference in the world.  So choose wisely who you associate with.

Action Item:  Make a new friend this month that shares your health and fitness related goals.

Note from TG:  or, you could also just hang out with Jason Bourne.  That would be pretty bad ass.

11.  Bonus: Have Something to Train For

As much as I’d love for everyone to train just because they love training, I’m a realist.

I know that’s not the case for the majority of people. Go out of your way to find something train for.  It can be anything.  Do a Tough Mudder.  Sign up for a powerlifting meet.  Really…anything goes.  Just pick something you can put on the calendar that’ll act as a source of accountability.

Action Item:  Find an event you can compete in sometime over the next 6 months.

Closing Thoughts

Some of the material presented in this article is probably new, and some is probably old news.  Either way, the overarching theme is this:  if you don’t use it, you lose it.

Funny as that may be, it’s true.  The body will adapt to whatever stimulus you place on it, and that includes whatever stimulus you don’t place on it.

The easiest way to stay athletic is to stay on top of your game—it’s always easier to maintain something than it is to get it back.

About the Author

James Cerbie, CSCS, Pn1, USAW, Crossfit Level 1

James Cerbie is certified by the National Strength and Conditioning Association, Precision Nutrition, USA Weightlifting and Crossfit.  He has worked with athletes from the middle school to professional level, powerlifters, olympic lifters, and Crossfit athletes alike.  He’s the owner of Rebel Performance and currently works as a strength and conditioning intern at Indianapolis Fitness and Sports Training.

P.S.  He would love it if you hung out with him on Facebook and Twitter.

CategoriesProgram Design

10 Must Do’s To Stay Athletic (Part I)

Today’s guest post comes courtesy of former Cressey Performance intern, James Cerbie. As the title suggests it’s all about how to maintain athleticism, which is something that will hit home for many former athletes, weekend warriors, and Al Bundy-like people who like to bask in the glory of their high-school and college days.

Enjoy!

What does it mean to be an athlete?

Sure, there’s getting all the girls of course.

Kidding…kidding…we all know there’s more to it than that.

So what is it?

The thrill of winning, the rush of competing, the butterflies before a game, the anticipation of a daunting challenge, the brotherhood (could be sisterhood but I’m speaking from my own experience), the pain of defeat, the constant drive towards perfection…it’s hard to say.

Being an athlete, to me at least, encompasses all of those things and more.  It’s truly a way of life, and hard to rid yourself of once you’re so called playing days are over.

Unfortunately, the real world doesn’t seem to recognize this.  Once you leave college or professional sports, you’re thrust into a world that almost looks down on being an athlete.  They’ll just tell you:  “Oh, you had your chance.  Your playing days are over.  It’s time to hang up the cleats and begin your slow decline into decrepitude.”

Whew, doesn’t that sound fun?

It truly pains me to see this happen, and I see it happen a lot—people who were once exceptional athletes who have fallen off the tracks, and are now mere shadows of what they used to be (it honestly reminds me of animals locked up in captivity, but the animal is you and captivity is being locked behind a desk all day).

Don’t get me wrong.  The chances of you being able to maintain your fitness level from college, pro’s etc. is highly unlikely.   This is merely due to the fact that it’s no longer your major commitment.  You have a job, perhaps a significant other, and a life to live.  You just don’t have 20 plus hours a week to commit to training, practice and the sorts.

BUT, that doesn’t mean you can’t stay athletic…so here are 10 must do’s if you hope to avoid turning into a desk slob.

1.  Take Care of Movement

Focusing on how well you move may be boring, but it’s essential.  Without good movement patterns, you are setting yourself up for failure in two big ways.

First, increased risk of injury.  It should come as no surprise that if you move poorly you are more likely to get injured.  Instead of things rolling, sliding, gliding and staying where they’re supposed to, they start banging, pinching, and putting pressure on places they shouldn’t—this is called compensation.

Here’s a simple example:  Say you have poor scapulohumeral mechanics.  In other words, you’re not very good at maintaining the position of the humeral head in the socket in coordination with scapular movement.

As opposed to keeping the humeral head centered in the already small glenohumeral socket (it’s like a golf ball sitting on a tee), it may glide forward and start cranking on the long head of your biceps (ever had pain on the front of your shoulder?).  Although that example is WAY oversimplified, I hope it gives you an idea of what I’m talking about.

Second, and the seller for most people, is decreased performance—big time muscles are taking a break while the smaller, less capable muscles carry the brunt of the load.

The human body is like a machine, and to guarantee health and maximal performance you have to make sure all the pieces are balanced, strong and in the right position to function optimally.

Action Item:  Get assessed and have someone fix your movement woes.

2.  Lift Heavy Stuff

Please don’t stop lifting heavy things (unless you have an injury or don’t move well).  The benefits it brings about are second to none, and are so essential to long term health and functionality.

I wrote a whole blog post just on this topic a while back, so instead of repeating myself, I’ll refer you here if you want to learn more

Action Item:  Lift something heavy at least once a week.

3.  Sprint

If you’re like most athletes, you can’t wait to drop sprints from your workout regiment. You’ve been doing them your whole life, they suck, and you can’t wait to throw them behind you forever.

Sorry to break it to you, but sprints are necessary.  Similar to lifting heavy weights, sprints are one of the best ways to optimize your hormonal response.  In other words, there appears to be a minimum required threshold of intensity for your body to start dumping things like testosterone and HGH into the bloodstream.

This makes sense from an evolutionary perspective and is backed up in the research.  I’d recommend checking out this article if you want to read more about the many health benefits brought about by sprinting.

Action Item:  Get outside and run at least once a week.  Think hill sprints, 40 yard sprints, 60 yard sprints, 100 yard sprints etc. etc.

4.  Jump

A large amount of athleticism comes down to your rate of force development—how quickly you can generate force.  The only way to maintain and improve this quality, is to do things that require you to generate force as quickly as possible.  Jumping is one of the best ways to accomplish this.

Here’s an easy example:  your absolute strength level is like a pool of water.  The bigger the pool the more strength you have.  The size of the pool, however, doesn’t necessarily mean you can draw out a lot of water at once or do it quickly.  It just means you have the potential to do so.  Jumping, and a host of other exercises, teaches you to draw out a lot of water and to do so quickly.

If you want to stay explosive and powerful, jumping is must.

Action Item:  At the beginning of one workout a week, jump onto something 10-20 times.  I’m not talking about just hopping around through, like really jump.

Note from TG: check out THIS article on common mistakes when it comes to box jumps.

5.  Be Agile

What do you think happens to your joints during athletics?  In particular, during the planting and cutting portion?  Sure you may have some wear and tear (a lot of that goes back to the movement piece though), but your joints adapt to the stressor being placed on them.

They gain the ability to absorb force and help you change direction without your knee going one way and your body going the other.  Similar to jumping and sprinting, this is one of the first items to fall by the wayside at the conclusion of playing competitive sports.

Unless you’re constantly being chased by dogs, cops or maybe even zombies, it’s highly unlikely you’re getting this stimulus in your day to day life.  Can you imagine someone sprinting down the sidewalk of a major city trying to cut, juke, dodge and avoid all the pedestrians?  It doesn’t happen.  Thus, you have to go out of your way to make sure it does.

If not, then say bye-bye to any “agileness” you once had.

Action Item:  Do t-drills, 20 yard shuttles and other actions that involve planting and cutting in a rapid fashion once a week.

And that’s it for today. Check back tomorrow where I’ll discuss the other five keys to stay athletic.

About the Author

James Cerbie, CSCS, Pn1, USAW, Crossfit Level 1

James Cerbie is certified by the National Strength and Conditioning Association, Precision Nutrition, USA Weightlifting and Crossfit.  He has worked with athletes from the middle school to professional level, powerlifters, olympic lifters, and Crossfit athletes alike.  He’s the owner of Rebel Performance and currently works as a strength and conditioning intern at Indianapolis Fitness and Sports Training.

P.S.  He would love it if you hung out with him on Facebook and Twitter.

CategoriesExercise Technique Program Design Strength Training

How to Maintain Deadlift Strength

I received an interesting question from a reader the other day on deadlifts, particularly 1RM (1 rep max) deadlifts. And since I get all giddy like a school girl at a One Direction concert whenever someone brings up the topic, I figured I’d share my answer here on my website since I’m sure it’s a question that others have wondered as well.

Q: My lifting consists mostly of deadlifts and chin-up/pull-ups with lots of auxiliary work. I also cycle a lot (100 miles per week in-season). But I am in the field for several months a year and it interrupts my lifting. 

Last year I pulled 305 on my 60th birthday (at 182 pounds body weight). I got a late start this year and was not as systematic with the spin up. I did a 1RM test and only pulled 270 (at 190 pounds) on my 61st.

I plan to start with the Matt Kroc program that I read in your site as soon as I get back from a month in Alaska (field work on the glacier near Juneau; it’s a tough job, but…).

My question is: I would have liked to maintain a 300 pound 1RM but was not systematic enough through the year. What do I do between programs to maintain a higher 1RM? (And continue to cycle and miss the occasional month in the deep field for work?).

A: Who are you?  John Wayne?  I love this!

First off, as a quick side tangent, any guy who uses his age as an excuse to not train hard is lame.  This isn’t to say you shouldn’t tweak some things here and there if need be, but all told, like the late 90s R&B star, Aaliyah, used to say, “Age ain’t nuthin but a number.”

While I should get a pat on the back for referencing both John Wayne and Aaliyah within a single blog post – quite possibly the first time in human history that that’s ever happened – you, sir, should get a pat on the back for kicking ass and taking names.

You hang out on glaciers AND deadlift.  By comparison I drive a Hyundai Elantra and own a cat.

Okay, lets get to the heart of the matter.

To start, lets put things into perspective.  You pulled 305 lbs on your 6oth birthday, and a year later, after admittedly not being as diligent with your training leading up to your 61st, you were still able to pull 270 lbs, which is within striking distance of 90% of your 1RM.

You know what?  That’s not too shabby considering.  Compared to other lifts like the squat or bench press, that’s not a huge drop off at all.

Why is that?

As Tim Henriques notes in his book, All About Powerlifting, “the deadlift is the simplest of the big three exercises (squat, bench press, DL), meaning it requires the least amount of skill. The deadlift is the most natural of the three lifts. Essentially all people, regardless of age, will perform a deadlift during their day, every day. 

Every time you bend down to pick something up off the ground, from your shoes to your laundry basket to a child to your dog to your couch, if you pick something up you are deadlifting it.

In addition your ability to deadlift remains for a relatively long time after you stop deadlifting.  If you stop squatting, even after you have been squatting for a long time, your ability to squat very heavy or perform a max set decreases relatively quickly. You will notice a difference after just one or two weeks.

Your ability to bench press remains at a moderate level; if you stop benching it begins to go away but assuming you stay strong in other exercises you will still be able to bench a decent amount of weight for a while.

The deadlift ability remains the longest.  If you stop deadlifting you can still come in a year later and deadlift a decent amount of weight. This is because the neuromuscular coordination required for the deadlift is the least specific of the three exercises and the basic motor control pattern remains the same even when you stop deadlifting.”

Of course, this isn’t to say that the deadlift is easy to learn or that there isn’t any skill involved – nothing could be further from the truth. I mean, entire books have been written on this one lift alone.   One of may favs includes Off the Floor, by David Dellanave.

However, compared to the squat and bench press, which, from a motor pattern standpoint aren’t movements we perform on a daily basis, the deadlift tends to “stick” longer.

Along those same lines, compared to other “qualities” such as anaerobic endurance, strength endurance, or maximal speed, maximal strength tends to have a much longer staying power.

Meaning, regardless of secondary emphasis, you can leave alone and maintain certain qualities of “x” number of days without seeing much of a drop off in performance.  This is something my good friend, Joe Dowdell, highlighted during his Peak Diet and Training seminar.

Here are some numbers to consider:

Aerobic Endurance = 30 +/- 5 days (meaning you can maintain training effect for 25-35 days with minimal exposure to that same stimulus).  Maximum Strength = 30 +/- 5 days, Anaerobic Endurance = 18 +/- 4 days, Strength Endurance = 15 +/- 5 days, Maximum Speed  = 5 +/- 3 days.

To maintain maximum strength all you’d have to do is try to elicit a maximum strength response once every 30 or so days.

I see this phenomenon all the time at Cressey Performance.  Eric’s known to not touch a heavy deadlift for months on end, yet he can almost always approach a 600 lb pull when coaxed or challenged enough by us other coaches or athletes.  While he’s not pulling 600 lbs on a regular basis, he is hovering in the 85-95% (of 1RM) range every so often which has a lot of staying power.

Likewise, with me, I tweaked my back last summer and wasn’t able to deadlift (heavy) consistently for a few months.  Once I was back to normal – or close to it – I was still able to hit a clean 500×3 without much trouble.

Bringing the conversation to YOU (and everyone else reading), if you know you’re going to have a long hiatus from consistent training, with the deadlift, at least you have the odds in your favor.

1.  You’re almost always going to be “deadlifting” to some capacity, even if it’s not a barbell, on a daily basis.  To that end, the motor pattern won’t go away anytime soon. Even if you have to resort to kettlebell work only, you’d be surprised at how much “strength” you’ll be able to retain.

2.  Along those same lines, one of the best strategies of used with myself and other clients is to place a premium on TECHNIQUE work.  I like this term more than “speed” work.

Using a load that’s roughly 60-70% of one’s 1RM, I’ll have him or her perform anywhere from 8-20 SINGLES in a given workout. This won’t be at all taxing on the nervous system, but it will help “glue” solid technique and also help with bar speed (which is an important component of strength).  It may look something like this:

Week 1:  14×1 @ 60% with 60s rest between each rep.
Week 2: 12×1 @ 65% with 60s rest between each rep.
Week 3: 10×1 @ 65% with 45s rest between each rep.
Week 4: 8×1 @ 70% with 45s rest between each rep.

3.  If you’re able, and can muster a way to hit a heavy pull every 4-5 weeks, that will go a LONG WAY in terms of any damage control and help to maintain strength levels.

Barring injury, an extinction level event (think: asteroid, volcanic eruption, Nicolas Cage movie), or jail time, it’s not as difficult as people think to maintain their strength in the deadlift.

Hope the suggestions above help!

CategoriesProgram Design

Some Thoughts on How to Structure Effective Bootcamps

Bootcamps are all the rage nowadays.  It seems you can’t walk more than a block in your own neighborhood without running the risk of a kettlebell flying out of nowhere and hitting you on the side of the face, or watching as a group of people are being run through the gauntlet with an endless array of push-ups, burpees, jumping jacks, cone drills, and whateverthef***thatexerciseis by the big meanie-head bootcamp instructor.

And it’s with good reason.  Bootcamps – which is just a glorified way of saying “group exercise class” without actually saying it – are a great option for those with busy work (and life) schedules, and who also thrive in a group training environment.

And without beating around the bush, bootcamps are generally much, MUCH cheaper compared to one-on-one personal training.  While I don’t have the exact stats starring me right in the face, it’s been noted that, with regards to disposable income, roughly 5-7% of the population can afford to hire their own trainer on a consistent basis.

Jump to the semi-private side of the fence – as is the case with bootcamps – and that number increases to 40-45%.  That’s a pretty significant jump, and a huge reason why they’re so popular.

You can imagine with all the various bootcamps out there to choose from, that the “market” is somewhat watered down and gives rise to some pretty atrocious iterations of what a bootcamp should entail.

In short: there’s a lot of shit and shenanigans out there.  But that can be said with any industry whether we’re referencing lawyers, contractors, dentists, babysitters, or Lady Gaga impersonators.

It may come as a surprise to some that Cressey Performance actually has a bootcamp program.  Contrary to popular belief we don’t just train professional athletes or Victoria Secret models.

Even more surprising to some is that all the coaches are involved in some way or another. I cover every Friday morning bootcamp.

And as a staff we’re all really proud of how much our program has grown since its first inception close to two years ago.

That being said, what follows are some bullet point quips and insights as to how we’ve structured our bootcamps and why I feel it’s a step above the rest.

1.  We Actually Coach!

I’ve watched and observed other bootcamps in action, and I’m sometimes left speechless as to how much of a circus they can be.

There’s no inherent rhyme or reason as to what’s being done, and it’s almost as if the instructor just tossed a bunch of random exercises towards a wall and decided to see what stuck.

In other words:  there’s very little structure or planning involved.

Even worse, the execution of the exercises by the bootcampers themselves is spotty at best.

Listen, I understand that things aren’t going to be perfect 100% of the time and it’s impossible to have your eye on every single person when the action starts.  But at the same time, I find it inexcusable – and downright lazy – when there’s NO coaching being performed.

First of all, we make it a point to never let the coaching to client ratio get too skewed.

We’ll never sacrifice the quality of the training at the expense of getting more people in the doors.

If you find you’re unable to take the time to coach people up because there’s too manyto keep tabs on, then maybe it’s time to either 1) hire another coach to help out or 2) change up your schedule.

We like to place a premium on the coaching side of things with our bootcamps and prefer to take the time to coach people up on their hip hinge technique (deadlift), squat technique, push-up technique, or anything else you can think of.

If anything it adds added value to the classes, and the participants themselves really appreciate it.

2.  Have Regressions and Progressions Handy

Along those same lines, unless your name is Gandalf, you’re not going to be 100% perfect 100% of the time with your programming.

Our first bootcamp starts at 5:30 in the morning.  I usually arrive around 4:45-5AM so that I can take the time to organize and set-up the classes for that day.

In actuality we’ll sit down as a staff and “program” the classes a head of time in 4-week blocks, but there are still times where I know new people will be showing up and I need to plan accordingly.

The likelihood I’ll have someone on their first day perform conventional deadlifts – even if they’re programmed – is slim.  Instead, I’ll need to make sure I have appropriate regressions in my back-pocket so that that individual 1) feels like they’re getting some attention 2) they’ll still getting a training effect and 3) my corneas won’t bleed.

As a coach, it’s your job to make things seem seamless.  If someone comes into class and they’re unable to perform a certain exercise and then you start stumbling around trying to figure out what they should do, you’re going to come across like an asshat.

3.  Techno

I have no evidence to back this up, but I’m pretty sure everyone’s favorite day to do bootcamps is Friday. Why?  Because they know I’m going to be blaring techno for five straight hours.

GRAB YOUR GLOWSTICKS!!!!!!!!

4. Don’t Just Beat People to Pulp

 

Photo cameo by former CP coach, Brian St. Pierre.

I get it.  Bootcamps are meant to make people hate life and to it’s your job to ensure that they’re leaving each and every class in a pool of their own sweat and/or they can’t feel the left side of their body.

I don’t agree with this mentality.  Most people move like ass and make the Tin Man look like Kelly Starrett.  It’s important to take into context movement quality and that you’re making a concerted effort to make people BETTER each and every session.

Here’s  a quick peek into how a typical session looks like when I coach class.

Note:  We run bootcamps every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday and each day has a specific goal or “quality” we focus on.

Monday tends to be more conditioning based (since most bootcampers spent the weekend crushing Tiramisu and god knows what else).

Wednesday tends to be more circuit based.

And Friday (my day) has an emphasis on strength.  Big surprise, I know.

I wake up at 3:30 AM brush my teeth with rainbows after I piss excellence and wash my face with glory.  Then I head to the facility to set-up.

I generally start each session with me walking in and going all General Zod on everyone just so they know what’s up:

I’ll have the class foam roll for a good five minutes and then we’ll perform a thorough warm-up consisting of positional breathing drills, glute activation, t-spine stuff, lunges, squats, skipping and some light movement prep.

From there I’ll have two stations set-up which may look something like this:

A1. Trap Bar Deadlift x5
A2. Push-Up Variation x5
A3.  Reverse Crunch x10
A4.  Yoga Plex x5/side

B1.  DB Goblet Bulgarian Split Squat x5/leg
B2.  Carry Variation x20 yd/arm
B3.  TRX Row x10
B4. KB Swing x10

Depending on the number of participants per class I’ll either set these up as straight sets (x number of sets per exercise) or I’ll set a timer for 10-12 minutes and have everyone go through in circuit fashion, but making sure focus on QUALITY reps and progressive overload.  The objective here is NOT to whiz through the exercises and try to perform 17 rounds.

Then, to finish up, I’ll devise some sort of “sucky” finisher  that they’ll all groan about but do anyways because I told them to.

The entire time, however, myself and the other coach are roaming around the floor coaching people and correctly form if needed.

This approach may not have the glitz, glam, and bells and whistles (and puke buckets) of some other bootcamps, but I can promise you everyone gets a solid workout in and they’re learning along the way.

5.  Don’t Be Afraid to Slow Things Down

We’ll often implement “coaching moments” into our bootcamp classes where we’ll allot a 5-10 minute window to introduce a new exercise or concept to the group.

For example, you can’t just put Turkish Get-Ups or KB swings into the mix and expect things to go smoothly.

It’s often beneficial to slow things down and take the time to address the group as a whole and break down certain exercises. Trust me, it makes things infinitely easier down the road.  Likewise, it adds a degree of “service” or “velvet rope treatment” to the class which people always appreciate.

And those are just a few thoughts and insights as to how I approach bootcamps and how I feel we as coaches and trainers can make them better.

Also, for those interested, I’d HIGHLY recommend Bootcamp in a Box by Mike Robertson, Molly Galbraith, and Jim Laird.

Many of the systems and concepts we use at Cressey Performance are a direct influence from this product and I can’t recommend it enough.

CategoriesAssessment personal training Program Design Strength Training

Two Dudes Talking Shop

I had the pleasure of recording an interview with Harold Gibbons, a fitness writer and trainer at Mark Fisher Fitness in NYC yesterday.

The word “interview” is used loosely here, because it wasn’t so much an interview as it was two intelligent and uncannily witty dudes sitting down to talk shop on things ranging from coaching and program design to more rabbit hole topics such as the Postural Restoration Institute and “corrective” exercise.

And, of course, there was Star Wars.

Not to mention Harold’s epic beard!

Nevertheless, if you’re sitting at work and need something to keep you occupied until lunch time or want something to listen to while you drive your car or ride the train, just press play.

Fair warning:  If you’re listening to this in a public place or work, you may want some earphones because I cuss like a sailor at several points throughout.  If, however, you have the coolest boss ever, and he or she doesn’t care, then by all means turn up the volume. It’s been said I have the voice of an angel.

CategoriesFemale Training Program Design Strength Training

3 Reasons Your Female Clients Aren’t Seeing Results

Note from TG:  Today’s post comes courtesy of Molly Galbraith. She and the rest of the Girls Gone Strong pack released their new resource, The Modern Women’s Guide to Strength Training, today.

Molly was kind enough to write a little sumthin, sumthin to serve as an adjunct to its release.

Enjoy – it’s a doozy!

If you read Tony’s site much (which obviously you do because you’re reading this) you know that he’s a man that’s passionate about a few things:

  1. Deadlifting
  2. Eating dead animal flesh
  3. Anything that has to do with un-doing the “work” of Tracy Anderson

So obviously, I’m going to talk about all 3 of these things today because Tony promised that if I did, he’d film a video of himself doing an Irish jig while wearing a kilt, fanny pack, fairy wings, and the clogs that he hasn’t got much use out of lately (he’s been busy).

So yes, I’ll be covering these topics today, namely #3.

Today I’ll be telling you the 3 reasons why your female clients aren’t getting the results they’re looking for… (Assuming that those results are that they want to look and feel amazing and strong).

Let’s get started!

1. Your Programming is Poor or Incomplete.

I know what you’re thinking:

“My programming’s awesome!  My female clients squat and deadlift and do push-ups and all kinds of awesome stuff.”

That’s great.  I’m super excited that your clients do those movements.  That’s a great starting point, but there are a few things to ask yourself:

–        Do you asses all of your clients as soon as they come in the door?  Do you observe their posture, their body awareness, and their capability to perform basic movement patterns?

–        Do you start your clients off with the basics of each of those movement?  Do they perform squats and hinge movements with just their body weight at first?  Do they start with incline push-ups so they could really master the movement pattern?  Do you set them up for success at the beginning by building an awesome foundation?  Or did you have them doing Barbell Back Squats on their first day?

–        Is their programming tailored specifically towards what you found in their assessment?  For example, if a female client has an exaggerated anterior pelvic tilt are you including more hip, hamstring, and glute dominant exercises that quad/knee dominant exercises?  Are you doing a lot of anterior core stability and strength work with them?

Hopefully the answer to all of these question is yes.  If it is, you’re *thisclose* to being a Rock Star.  But I have a few more for you.

–        Have you ever talked with your clients about the importance of breathing?  Are there any breathing drills in their workout, even just to cool down at the end?

–        Does your client Foam Roll or do other soft tissue work for at least a couple of minutes before their training session?

–        Does your client perform a solid Dynamic Warm-up before every workout?

–        Does your client do intelligent Energy Systems Training (i.e. cardio)?  Also known as “not dumb shit?”  This is generally a mix of short High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) sessions and Moderate Intensity Cardio (MIC) with their heart rate in the 120-150 beats per minute range 1-2x each throughout the week.

All of these things should be included in your female client’s training programs in order to get them the best results with the least amount of time and effort.  If not, you’re leaving something on the table.

2. You’re pushing your clients in the wrong ways.

Let me start by saying that I have zero problems with training hard and pushing my clients hard.  But it’s important that your client is properly prepared to be pushed, and there are ways to do it, and ways that just don’t make any sense.

Some examples:

A female you’ve been training for a year who has awesome deadlift form and you want to see what she can deadlift for a heavy triple?  Awesome.

Seeing how many Burpees your client can do before they puke, pee, cry, or fire you?  Not awesome.

Helping your client eek out a couple really tough reps on Dumbbell Bench Press and teaching her to “strain” a bit?  Awesome.

Bragging to your friends that your client could hardly walk for four days after being trained by you? Not awesome.

Having your client really push herself on her last couple of prowler trips and try to beat her previous best?  Awesome.

Making your client do 100 Box Jumps or Jump Squats because you think its “cool” to make her legs feel like jelly?  Not awesome.

Prepare your clients to be challenged appropriately, and I won’t come kick you in the shin.

Note from TG (regarding Molly’s “kick you in the shin” comment):  you DO NOT want to make Molly angry.  Trust me.  Look at her in the picture above.  That’s the face she made after being told her boyfriend adopted a kitten for her.

LOL – I’m just kidding.  Molly is a delightful human being.

But seriously, don’t piss her off.

3. Your clients are not recovering properly.

As their trainer, it’s your job to help your clients get the best results possible in the gym.

As an above-average-intelligence-trainer (I mean hey! You’re reading Tony’s blog aren’t you?) I expect you to know that your client’s success is directly correlated to how well they can recover from their overall stress load – meaning not just what they do in the gym with you, but what’s going on in their life, in general.

The more life stress they have, they less they need to be doing in the gym unless they have tons of time to sleep, eat nutrient dense food (like dead animal flesh), and recover.

If you’re not talking to your clients about recovery, you’re doing them a major disservice.  Before they start training with you, it’s important to help them understand that they get better/stronger/fitter when they recover from, and adapt to stressors, not while the stressor is being applied.

Talk with them the importance of these things:

–        Eat nutrient-dense, whole foods 80-90% of the time.

–        Manage their stress effectively.

–        Get moderate amounts of sunshine regularly.

–        Get 7-9 hours of sleep in a cold, dark room every night.

–        Use recovery modalities such as massage or other soft tissue work, Epsom salt baths, low to moderate intensity cardio, contrast showers, etc.

And your female clients will be on their way to looking and feeling better than ever.

Hi, it’s me Tony. So how’d you stack up?  Are you making these mistakes with your clients, or are you absolutely killing it?

I hope you’re killing it, of course.  But on the off chance that you might have been missing a thing or two, you should definitely check out an incredible new resource from Molly and the rest of the Girls Gone Strong crew (you know, The Women’s Fitness Authority) that discusses ALL of these issues, and then some.

The Modern Women’s Guide to Strength Training

I can’t tell you how excited I am to endorse this fantastic resource, as I feel it’s a product that will help a lot of women finally understand the merits of strength training and how strength is a good thing.

More importantly:  it’s a manual designed for women written by women.

I know many of you are wondering what’s included.  Here’s a brief synopsis.

–        The Modern Woman’s Guide To Strength Training Getting Started Guide – this program comes with a LOT of information, but the getting started guide will walk you through it step-by-step.

–        The Modern Woman’s Guide To Strength Training Manual – what is strength training, why is it important, a glossary of terms, and information about recovery, sleep, and stress management.

–        The Modern Woman’s Guide To Strength Training Programs – three 16 weeks training programs for beginners, intermediates, high-level intermediates (with multiple options for every single exercise in case you want to make a substitution).

–        The Modern Woman’s Guide To Strength Training Video Library – 90 minutes of high-definition video with me coaching GGS co-founder Alli McKee through 70 exercises.  I will discuss proper – form, as well as common mistakes and how to correct them.

–        The Modern Woman’s Guide To Strength Training Exercise Glossary – a print version of the video library for quick reference if you forget how a particular exercise is performed.

–        The Modern Woman’s Guide To Strength Training Progress Tracker – a progress tracking guide where you can track measurements, weight (if desired), mood, sleep, stress level, strength level, energy level, etc. so you can get a comprehensive picture of what’s going on with your body.

In addition, for those looking for guidance on the nutrition side of things, The Modern Woman’s Guide To Good Nutrition Package written by Dr. Cassandra Forsythe, PhD, RD, CSCS, gym owner, and co-author of The New Rules Of Lifting For Women, and The Women’s Health Perfect Body Diet will also be available.

Included in this package is:

–        The Modern Woman’s Guide To Good Nutrition Manual – 18 chapter manual with everything you need to know from determining calorie level and macronutrient ratio to recommended food sources and beverages, to what medications may be preventing fat loss.

–        The Modern Woman’s Guide To Good Nutrition Meal Plan – Cassandra recognizes that every woman is different and needs a different nutrition structure to be successful.   She put together done-for-you meal plans for fat loss and maintenance at multiple calorie levels, as well as a FODMAP plan for women with digestive issues, a Paleo meal plan at multiple calorie levels, and outlined multiple If It Fits Your Macros (IIFYM) plans for those who prefer that type of plan.

In a nutshell:  this resource is the bomb-diggidy, and covers every base imaginable.  So what are you waiting for? Click the link below to get started (you only have a few days to take advantage of the introductory offer).

—> The Modern Women’s Guide to Strength Training<—

 About the Author

Molly Galbraith is co-founder of Girls Gone Strong, a movement dedicated to helping women improve their physical strength, mental strength, and strength of character through strength training.

She is also co-founder J&M Strength and Conditioning, a private studio gym in Lexington, Kentucky.

Her mission is to, ”Help women discover and accept what their best body looks and feels like, with minimal time and effort, and once they discover that, help them have grace and compassion about it.”

Categoriespersonal training Program Design

The Concentric-Only Deload

Today’s guest post comes from Dallas based personal trainer, and frequent regular/commenter on this site, Shane “The Balance Guy” McLean.

He covers a topic that I feel many people recognize, but don’t necessarily understand: the deload.

There are a million and one different ways to approach the deload – reduced volume, reduced axial loading, nixing compound movements for more traditional isolation work, placing more emphasis on “fun stuff” like biking, hiking,or recreational sports for a week, actually taking time off and resting, and/or walking underneath a rainbow to name a few. 

Shane discusses one way which many trainees and coaches tend to overlook or dismiss altogether: concentric only training.

I hope you enjoy it!

How many times has your body been beaten up by squats, bench presses and chin ups? For most of us, getting after it and ignoring discomfort is a way of life.

That’s because you love it.

Against your better judgment you arrive at the gym, walk up the stairs and Ohhh….. My…….. God your legs are screaming at you due to the tough workout you crushed yesterday.

You contemplate walking right back down those stairs and finding a nice safe corner to weep in. Most serious exercisers have had these moments from time to time.

But wait, hang on and get out of that corner. Haven’t you heard about deload training?

Deload training involves taking a week off or reducing your sets and reps for a week while maintaining the same intensity before moving into your next training phase.

My take on deloading is little different, however. Let me explain.

When lifting weights, we typically use three types of muscle contractions: concentric, eccentric and isometric.

Isometric muscle contractions are when the muscles produce force but there is no change in the length of the contracting muscle. Think of this like a tug of war between opposing muscles. Examples of this are front planks and side planks.

Isometric exercises are great for reducing age-related muscle losses after a period of inactivity and when joint movements are painful. These types of exercises are useful in a rehab/physical therapy setting.

Plus, when planks are done right they provide for an awesome midsection.

Isometrics are also used in the strength world to overcome sticking points in the major lifts. For instance using a press against pins at a sticking point in your bench press. This isometric move can be performed for several seconds to overcome a weakness at a particular joint angle.

When we eliminate weak points, you can bust through plateaus and gain more strength.

However, isometric exercises can cause higher than normal blood pressure spikes. If you suffer from high blood pressure, these are a no-no. Furthermore, due to no muscle movement, isometrics doesn’t strengthen the muscle through its entire range of motion.

Isometrics has its place, just not for deload purposes.

Eccentric contractions involve the muscle lengthening while under tension due to an opposing force (gravity or added resistance) being greater than the force generated by the muscle. Think lowering down from a chin up/squat (slow eccentric) or the preparation for a plyometric movement like power push-ups or squat jumps (fast eccentric).

As fewer motor units (functional unit of muscle contraction) of the muscle contract during the eccentric phase, the muscle can generate 1.3 times more tension than the concentric (lifting) phase.

This increase in tension leads to our size and strength gains when the weight is lowered under control and through a full range of motion. Eccentric contractions are essential for your awesomeness.

Just don’t tell the guy who’s half-assing squats at your gym.

The drawback for lifters is that eccentric contractions can lead to delayed onset muscle soreness (pain you feel 24-48 hours after tough training), muscle swelling and decreased range of motion.

[Histochem Cell Biol. 2002 Jul;118(1):29-34. Epub 2002 Jun 18.

Eccentric contractions leading to DOMS do not cause loss of desmin nor fibre necrosis in human muscle.

Yu JG1, Malm C, Thornell LE.]

If you’ve ever had trouble using the bathroom or walking up stairs after leg day, you can relate.

Last but not least, there are concentric contractions. Concentric contractions happen when force generated by the working muscles overcomes the resistance, and the muscle shortens.  Think of pushing the bar away from your chest or flexing your biceps hard while doing curls.

Like eccentric contractions, concentric contractions are essential for increasing your muscle capacity and mass.

Here’s the kicker. Using just concentric contractions can help lessen the pain of muscle soreness caused by DOMS, as pointed out by a 2006 study in, “Applied Physiology, Nutrition and Metabolism.”

Now imagine for a moment exercising while minimizing your eccentric contractions. Presto, you have the perfect deload training.

My version of deload training can be plugged in between training phases as recovery, as a one-off training or when you want to add variety to your current routine.

Deload training recommendations

1.        Most concentric dominant moves are not overly technical, but you must have mastered the basics of pushing, pulling, hinging and squatting.

2.        Choose moves with little or no eccentric movement, such as plate pushes, sled/ prowler pushes, step ups, medicine ball throws, kettle bell swings and resistance band exercises like chest presses and rows.

3.        The repetitions should be in the 8-12 range. When done for time, do 20-30 seconds of maximum effort.

4.        As a guideline, keep the rest periods between exercises and circuits to 60- 90 seconds. If you need more rest, take it.

Here is my one of my favorites.  Complete this as a circuit for a total of 3-4 circuits.

Let the fun begin.

1. Medicine ball squat toss, 8-10 reps

Cues- Use proper squat from.  Release ball quickly. Imagine the ball is a hot potato.

2. Overhead medicine ball throws, 8- 10 reps

Cues- Strong step forward and when releasing the ball, encourage yourself to “spread your fingers apart’ on release.

3. Kettle bell swings, 30 seconds

Cues- On the down swing the wrists must “smack” the inner thighs. On the upswing squeeze the butt and take a sharp breath out. Tell yourself to “squeeze and breathe”. My favorite cue of all time.

4. Power resistance band rows

Cues- Quarter squat position, stand tall and squeeze the butt. Use a quick pull. Elbows don’t travel past the torso.

5. Plate push

Cues- Push away from the floor. Tell yourself you’re running on hot coals.

When using this instead of your usual deload/recovery, do this no more than 3 times per week.

When plugging this in for fun or to aid with delayed onset muscle soreness, just do one time.

Your body will thank you.

About the Author

Shane McLean is a Dallas based personal trainer and is also known as The Balance Guy.

You can also follow him on Twitter HERE.

CategoriesProduct Review Program Design Strength Training

Pimp Your Program Design

Today I have a killer guest post by strength coach, future Dr., good friend, and specializer in all things glutes, Bret Contreras.

Getting good (or even adequate) at designing effective training programs takes time. There are a lot of theories and opinions out there on the topic, and in today’s post Bret shares some insight on what he feels should be some common denominators.

There’s a TON of useful, easily actionable information involved (and I went a head and embedded numerous videos from Bret which could serve as excellent resource themselves).

Also, as an FYI, Bret released his new program yesterday called 2×4.

Bret was nice enough to send me an advance copy last week and I had the opportunity to read through it while I was stuck at O’Hare airport in Chicago over the weekend.

I liked it.  A lot.

Watered down to the essentials, the title 2×4 means 2 (big, compound, movements) performed 4 times per week.

It’s a 14-week program designed to get people STRONG (and gunny) by integrating strength work in conjunction with sub-maximal training and assistance work.

I think what I appreciate most is that it’s a no-frills program. You vs. the barbell.

While Bret suggests which exercises you should focus on, you do get the opportunity to choose which eight exercises you’d like to have as your “indicators” to gauge progress.

What’s more the program can be modified to fit your preferences (strength vs. hypertrophy), so it’s far from a one-size-fits all program.

He also includes a bunch of sweet bonuses, all of which only sweeten the pot.

In fact, as of today, I’m doing the program myself!  I can’t wait to see what kind of results I get.

For more information you can go HERE.

On that note, enjoy the article!

Pimp Your Program Design

Is your training still stuck in the 1990’s? If so, let me help you out with some common program design tips of highly effective trainers and lifters.

Necessary Components

First of all, your training will need to be comprehensive. While I personally prefer 4 full body training sessions per week, other training splits can certainly be effective too. Just make sure that every week (and preferably twice per week), you’re performing exercises from the following categories of movements:

1. Hip + Knee Extension Movement – these include bilateral and unilateral squatting exercises. Examples are goblet squats, back squats, front squats, Bulgarian split squats, walking lunges, and step ups.

2. Straight Leg Hip Extension Movement – these include bilateral and unilateral hip hinging movements. Examples are deadlifts, good mornings, horizontal back extensions, 45 degree hypers, reverse hypers, single leg RDLs, and kettlebell swings.

3. Bent Leg Hip Extension Movement – these include bilateral and unilateral bridging and thrusting movements. Examples are hip thrusts, barbell glute bridges, single leg hip thrusts, and cable pull-throughs.

4. Upper Body Pressing Movement – these include bilateral and unilateral vertical, 45 degree, and horizontal presses. Examples are barbell or dumbbell bench press, barbell or dumbbell incline press, and barbell or dumbbell overhead press.

5. Upper Body Pulling Movement – these include bilateral and unilateral vertical, 45 degree, and horizontal pulls. Examples are chins, pull-ups, seated rows, one arm rows, inverted rows, and bent over rows.

6. Core Stability Movement – these include anti-extension, anti-lateral flexion, and anti-rotation exercises. Examples are RKC planks, side planks, ab wheel rollouts, hollow body holds, suitcase holds, and Pallof presses.

Base your training around these exercises and you’re bound to succeed.

Balanced Hip Extension Exercise

Unless you’ve been hiding in a cave for the past 50 years, you’ve undoubtedly heard about the merits of hip extension exercise. Simply put, it’s the cat’s pajamas.

However, some hip extension exercises stress the flexed-range position, while others stress the extended-range position.

Flexed-Range Hip Extension Movements

Squats, front squats, conventional deadlifts, sumo deadlifts, good mornings, lunges, Bulgarian split squats, trap bar deadlifts.

 Note from TG: Who wants to bet that Bret’s not wearing any pants in this video?????

Extended Range Hip Extension Movements

Hip thrusts, barbell glute bridges, single leg hip thrusts, horizontal back extensions, cable pull-throughs.

The exercises in the former group are staples that have been popular for quite some time. The exercises in the latter group have recently emerged onto the scene and are very important for ensuring that full range hip extension strength and maximum glute development are realized. Every good program should include exercises from both groups.

Daily Rowing and Glute Work

Not all volume is created equal. Some exercises heavily tax the CNS, whereas others don’t tend to create much soreness or fatigue. Performing maximal deadlifts multiple times per week is usually a recipe for disaster, but the same cannot be said for rowing movements and most targeted glute exercises.

You may perform 2-3 sets of inverted rows, seated rows, one-arm rows, chest supported rows, or face pulls every training session.

You may also perform 2-3 sets of band seated hip abductions, monster walks, sumo walks, banded clams, band hip rotations, side lying hip raises, glute marches, or RKC planks every training session as well.

Sub-Maximal Training Methods

In the old days, we thought that we had to max out or take every set to failure in order to see results. These days, more and more coaches and lifters are realizing the benefits of sub-maximal training methods.

I like to perform what I call super-strict reps, or dynamic-effort reps, or pause reps, each for around 3 sets of 1-5 reps. This allows for greater training frequency without compromising recovery, which leads to greater strength gains over time.

Personal Record (PR) Opportunities

Pick 5 of your favorite compound exercises. If you consider a 5RM, a 3RM, and a 1RM, that makes for 3 different “PR opportunities” per exercise.

If you perform 3 sets of 1, 3 sets of 3, or 3 sets of 5 reps, then this makes for 3 more “PR opportunities” per exercise. With 6 PR opportunities for 5 exercises, this equates to 30 different PR’s. Week in and week out, you should be setting PR’s.

Do you know what you can max close grip bench? Do you know what you can front squat for 3 set of 5? Do you know what your 3RM sumo deadlift is? If not, you should.

Deloading

I know you love training balls-to-the-wall (or ovaries-to-the-wall if you’re a female lifter), but you simply cannot train all-out 52 weeks out of the year.

I like to go hard for 6 weeks and then deload for a week. Some coaches prefer to deload every 3 or 4 weeks. It all depends on the lifter, but suffice to say, you need to plan built-in easy weeks that allow for proper recovery.

Conclusion

Hopefully these suggestions will revamp your training and help you reach new levels of strength and physique development. They’ve worked well for me and for my clients, so I think they’ll work for you too.

About the Author

Bret Contreras, MA, CSCS is currently studying to receive his PhD in sports science at AUT University. Find out more about him by visiting his blog at www.BretContreras.com.

 

CategoriesProgram Design

Early Morning Exercise: 2 Tips To Make It More Effective

Q: I have been lifting weights now for about 3.5 months and have been happy with my results. However, I have been feeling a little tired during my last few workouts. I believe that it is because I am lifting heavier weights than when I started.

I workout in my home and workout early in the morning, usually at 5am.

I think my problem is that I am working out on an empty stomach since I literally roll out of bed, take my pre-workout and go at it. I started taking casein before I go to bed and it seems to work a little. Unfortunately, this is the only time in the day I can fit in my workouts, so moving workout time is impossible. All I have been able to find is that I may need to add a pre-workout meal.  Do you have any suggestions?

A: Whether it’s due to family obligations, work, school, or because some of us stay up late fighting crime (or more realistically, playing video games), sometimes the only way we can squeeze in a workout is if we do so early in the morning.

While that’s fine, and there are plenty of people who do very well with that sort of schedule, there are some things to consider/address.

1. Spine Stiffness

Rolling out of bed at 5AM and immediately turning into some exercise Nazi – busting out sit-ups, push-ups, heavy squats, kettlebell swings, and the like – while admirable, probably isn’t ideal.

Can you at least brush your teeth and get the “eye boogers” out first?

The key word here is immediately.

Ever notice how much it sucks to try to bend over and put your socks on first thing in the morning compared to later in the day?

Dr. Stuart McGill has done a ton of research on spine mechanics and he’s noted that the spine is very “stiff” first thing in the morning.

Namely, because we’ve just spent the past 6-9 hours sleeping on our backs, our spine decompresses, collects water, which in turn increases annular tension within the discs themselves.

With this in mind, it’s generally not a good idea to begin exercising soon after hitting the snooze button for the seventh time.  Ideally, once out of bed, you’d want to hold for about 30 minutes before you begin to exercise.  More specifically, though, this pertains to exercise which will require a lot of bending over, rotating, or nunchucks.

Going for a walk or light jog = no biggie.

Lifting heavy stuff = hold off 30 minutes.

I see one of two options happening:

1.  Get up 30 minutes earlier and just chill out.  Stand-up, read the paper, drink a protein shake (more on this in a bit), watch a few LOLCat videos, I don’t care.  Just don’t hop out of bed and immediately walk over and start busting out some deadlifts.  Wait 30 minutes.

2.  If time is a factor, getting up even earlier sounds as enticing as watching an episode of Dancing With the Stars, and you don’t have the luxury of waiting, you can still start training early, but save the “heavy” stuff for later in the workout after you’re warmed-up and have been moving for a bit.

It may look something like this.

Full foam rolling and dynamic warm-up

Note:  try to keep most of the warm-up to standing options only.

A1.  Chin-Ups 3×5
A2.  Standing Split Stance Landmine Press 3×6-8/arm
B1.  1-Arm DB Row 3×10/arm
B2.  DB Goblet Reverse Lunge 3×8/arm

C.  Trap Bar Deadlift 3×5

D1.  Rotator Cuff
D2.  Additional Core Work
D3.  Take a shower, stinky.

2.  Should You “Break” the Fast?

Didja see what I just did there?

Some people can eat a ginormous meal right before training and feel fine.  Others will just look at a bowl of oats and hightail it to the bathroom after their first set. It’s purely individual.

Here it will take a bit of experimenting on your part to see what works for you.

The while casein vs. whey protein thing is overplayed.  It’s generally accepted that casein, since it’s slower to absorb, is a better protein to ingest to help preserve or “protect” muscle mass.  Conversely, whey protein, since it’s absorbed quickly, is best to take immediately after a training session to help jump-start the muscle repair process.

While not a wrong train of thought, it’s definitely sensationalized.  Yes, casein is absorbed slower compared to whey. But the last time I checked, and I believe smarter people than myself such as Alan Aragon and Mike Roussell have confirmed this, we’re talking minutes, not hours.

In the grand scheme of things it doesn’t matter that much, if at all.

One thing that I’m adamant about, however, it telling people NOT to train on an empty stomach.  While intuition – and a lot of faulty information, logic, and magical fairies making things up on the internet – says that training on an empty stomach will help one burn more fat, I have some news for you.

Your body is a lot smarter than you.

Even if you eat carbs before a workout, substrate utilization (ie: what the body burns) during exercise doesn’t really matter.  At the end of the day it’s about what the body is doing AFTER and IN-BETWEEN training sessions.

If you train on an empty stomach you have no “gas in the gas tank” and you’re essentially exercising on fumes.  Sure, you may burn a greater percentage of fat (as preferential fuel source, depending on degree of exercise intensity), but the TOTAL calories being burned as a whole – because you’re energy levels are in the crapper – is so insignificant, that it won’t matter anyways.

To that end, I much prefer to see people train with something in their stomach if for nothing else to give them a little boost during their workout.

It’s NOT about substrate utilization! It’s about fueling your workout!

What you can eat, however, is the million dollar question.  Some people do well with a simple protein shake and maybe a small piece of fruit beforehand. Others do well with a small bowl of oatmeal or cereal.  Hell, you can have last night’s leftover pork chop for all I care.

The point is: Eat something!  Please.

Categoriespersonal training Program Design Strength Training

“How Much Weight Should I Use?”

Do any of you have a question or statement that, when blurted out, automatically sets off your inner Jaws theme music playlist?

For guys it could be something like, “hey, wanna go see the latest Julia Roberts movie?” or worse your girlfriend comes home and says, “I know what we could do tonight instead of watching Game of Thrones. Lets talk about our feelings!”

For the ladies some prime examples could be “babe, do you mind if the guys come over to play some cards?” or “was that good for you?”

There’s no right or wrong answer here.  We’re all human. It’s in our nature to get annoyed on occasion.

I hate to say it, but for me there’s one question that sometimes (not always) sets me over the ledge.

“Tony, how much weight should I use?”

I feel guilty because it’s a question, especially for those who aren’t seasoned veterans in the weight room, is applicable and is a reasonable one to ask. Moreover, as a strength coach it’s my job to guide people and point them in the right direction.

Sometimes I have to fight back the urge to say something along the lines of, “if you can do more reps than what’s called for, it’s too light.  If you can’t, take some weight off.”

But then I’d just be an a-hole.

On the flip side, I do feel that people – trainers and coaches included – tend to make things waaaaaaay more complicated than they have to be.  This isn’t a question that should involve some advance algorithm or a degree from NASA.

In my latest article for BodyBuilding.com I try my best to break things down and explain how I approach the “how much weight should I use” conundrum.

Click Me <—– But Gently, I Did Legs Yesterday.