NOTE: the term “Porcelain Post” was invented by Brian Patrick Murphy and Pete Dupuis. Without getting into the specifics, it describes a post that can be read in the same time it takes you to go #2.
Huh, I guess that was more specific than I thought.
Enjoy.
Know what I say about exercise variety?
“Exercise variety, shmeshmercise flafliriety.”
As in, “Exercise variety? Meh.”
As in, “You don’t need as much of as you think you need.”
Or, to put it another way: “fuck it, it’s overrated.”
I’ve reached a tipping point of tolerance, hovering in the vicinity of going bat-shit crazy as it relates to watching people wasting repetitions (and their time) performing superfluous exercises in the name of Likes and Instagram bragging rights.
Don’t get me wrong: I understand that for some of you reading, this comes across as nothing more than me playing the role of ornery, cantankerous strength-coach…hellbent on reminding everyone that, “when I was your age, I worked out without Tweeting about it, barbells were pretty much it, and I didn’t even CrossFit.”
Now, please excuse me while I go yell at the kids to get off my lawn (and then peel out of my driveway in my Gran Torino).
Exercise variety has its place. I want to make that clear. For some people it’s the “variety” that keeps them sane and motivated to show up day in and day out.
Sometimes, it is about having fun, and there’s a degree of excitement and anticipation when we head to the gym to try something new.
I’m all for it.
In addition, exercise variety can also be a valuable asset to help address technique flaws or weaknesses with any one particular lift. It’s that subtle jolt in doing something different – while attacking something specific – that can make all the difference in the world.
Conversely, it’s the vanilla nature of doing the same exercises, in the same order, for the same sets/reps for weeks, months, and years on end that oftentimes derails progress.
So, in many ways, exercise variety is a crucial component in long-term, consistent, and systemic (improved) performance in the weight room.
On the flip side….
Exercise Variety Can Stagnate Mastery
Far too often I find trainees grow infatuated with the “newness” of new. They turn into Dug, the dog from the movie Up:
SQUIRREL!!!
Before they’re able to demonstrate any semblance of understanding and “mastery” of an exercise – in this case lets default to the “big 3 (squat, bench press, deadlift) – they’re distracted by the squirrel, or the shiny, gimmicky, whateverthef*** exercise that that guy is doing over there in the corner of the gym.
Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.
I am right there with you: the hip hinge looks boring, and it is boring.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZufiCSUTjc
It’s not a sexy exercise, and it most certainly will not win you any social media followers; but I gotta tell ya, as a coach, nothing is more valuable to me than the hip hinge.
Once someone masters that, their exercise toolbox grows exponentially.
I can more or less do whatever I want with him or her.
Deadlift? Check.
Squat? Check.
KB Swing? Check.
Fight Jason Bourne? Check.
It behooves me to drill the “big 3,” to the point of boredom and nausea, over and over and over and over again.
The Pareto Principle almost always applies here: 80% of your results are going to come from 20% of the work. If someone wants to get strong, more athletic, or even shredded…the basic, boring, “stuff” is going to get the job done.
I mean, if you want to get better at back squatting…back squat!
I know, I’m full of good ideas.
Besides, you can add plenty of “variety” playing with bar position, foot position, stance width, in addition to fluctuating sets/reps, tempo, and rest intervals.
Granted it’s an “old school” approach, but what good does it do to spend a week or even a month on a given exercise only to move on before any level of competence or motor learning has transpired?
What good does it do to add variety for the sake of adding variety?
We are providing a service, and we must take into consideration our client’s goals and preferences. There is a degree of compromise.
However
Mastering the basics, using less variety, at least in the beginning, for most people, most of the time, is going to supersede exercise flamboyance.
It stands to reason if you’re reading a blog who’s tagline is “Because Heavy Things Won’t Lift Themselves” you need little convincing on the merits of strength training.
You’ve already been converted to the “dark side.” (<— Best if said using the same accent and inflection as Darth Vader from Empire Strikes Back).
However I’m hoping the commentary that follows will resonate with those who aren’t yet “converted,” have preconceived notions, and/or who have been programmed into thinking strength training is something women should not be doing, which saddens me deeply (and makes me want to hurl myself into a live volcano).
NOTE: If you happened to have stumbled on this website by accident using the key words “adorable,” “World’s best hugger,” or, I don’t know “crazy cat gentleman” then welcome! I hope you stick around for awhile.
What Strength Training Is Not
To be clear: “strength” is subjective. I feel part of the problem as to why some (not all) women refrain from strength training is that some (not all) automatically assume they have to be lifting heavy-ass weight.
Not true.
Yes, possessing the ability to deadlift 2x body-weight or to be able to bang out ten bodyweight chin-ups is impressive and is strong.
But strength can also be other things.
I mean, have you ever watched a Cirque du Soleil show and the crazy positions those performers can get into and hold? That’s strong too.
All that said, I’ve long been a champion of doing my part in debunking and offsetting the message the mainstream media often perpetuates to the masses (women in particular) with regards to strength training.
The message that strength training is for men and that women should focus more on “toning” or “lengthening” or any other vomit-in-my-mouth worthy phrase or comment the likes of Tracy Anderson has regurgitated over the years.
She’s had some doozies.
“No woman should lift a weight heavier than 3 lbs.”
“I would never recommend (kettlebells) to women, even women who are fans of bulkier muscle lines. While bulkier muscle looks OK on women in their 20s and 30s, it doesn’t age well.”
“It’s important to use lighter weights so we can target our deep, less angry, stabilizing muscles. Also, dipping your left hand into a bucket of unicorn tears detoxes the body of sadness.”
One of the quotes above I made up. The fact you may have to figure out which one speaks to her asininity.
In General:
For men the message tends to lean towards “building” or “make stronger.”
For women the message tends to reverberate towards “to lessen” or “to slim” or “to make smaller.”
There’s nothing wrong with any of those things; if that’s your bag, that’s your bag.
So be it.
I just find the overall message of smaller, thinner, sexier, to be very toxic in nature and encourages a mindset that paints strength and strength training (with regards to women) as something that should be avoided altogether.
Strength = bulk, mass.
Strength = BAD.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ytCEuuW2_A
It Needs to Stop
Sure, I could wax poetic about how strength training for women helps to increase athletic performance, increase muscle mass (which helps improve body composition (muscle takes up less space than fat), metabolic rate, and overall caloric burn “at rest”), stave off osteoporosis/osteopenia, in addition to reducing the likelihood of injury.
ALL of these are wonderful things.
Yet still, many women refrain from the iron.
Like myself, my good friend, Ben Bruno, trains a lot of women.
He does a masterful job of framing strength and strength training as something that should be embraced and that more women should adopt and gravitate towards.
“It’s about strengthening the right areas,” he often says.
What makes his message all the more effective is that he works with some high-profile clients, and has them performing some kick-ass stuff.
Stuff that many women would be reticent to try because they’re deemed unconventional and don’t involve sitting in a room set at 106 degrees.
I don’t “baby” them, I don’t treat them like delicate snowflakes, I don’t have them perform “girl push-ups,” and I don’t feed into any fanatical nonsense that placing a barbell on a their back is going to turn anyone into He-Man.
I treat the women the same as I treat the men.
Giving credit where credit is due: CrossFit has pretty much nipped this mindset in the bud in recent years. I see more and more women ditching the elliptical machines in lieu of barbells, and it’s amazing.
However, I’m not married to the barbell.
One’s goals and ability level will always dictate the path I’ll take with any client. Sometimes, and I credit Ben (Bruno) for this little tip, a little reverse psychology can help nudge a woman to the benefits of strength training.
The body can’t differentiate a barbell from a kettlebell from a dumbbell from a band.
A video posted by Tony Gentilcore (@tonygentilcore) on
While there was no “trickery” involved with the video above – I was using the KB and band to better groove Yael’s hip hinge – I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had a female client give me the stink-eye when I tell her to lift “x” weight with a barbell, only to nonchalantly crush the same weight with a kettlebell or dumbbell.
As a coach, sometimes it’s best just to meet people where they are.
But it’s fantastic once the switch flips, and I can get a female client comfortable and more confident with barbells.
2) Body Acceptance
It’s impossible for me to elaborate more eloquently on this subject than how Jen Sinkler did recently:
“This weekend I was told by a man I knew in college that I was “unrecognizable” now thanks to my “really big arms.”
I love how I look. I love the thickness. It’s one of the reasons I lift. My concept of beauty is different now. It involves more determination.
No one gains muscle by doing nothing. It takes action, diligence, and a strong work ethic. Muscle represents those qualities, tells me about that person.
Hard work is beautiful.”
Another fantastic quote, from Fabienne Marier, which was in response to Jen’s quote above (as well as served as an impetus for the title of this article) also hits the nail on the head:
“I love that my body is now an ally, instead of being an adversary.
My look is deliberate, not accidental. And it’s the result of striving to be more, instead of wanting to be less.”
3) Get S*** Done
Every so often my wife is approached at the gym while she’s training, and in between sets of deadlifts or chin-ups, is asked by a curious onlooker, “what are you training for?”
Many people – men and women – watch her train and assume she’s training for a competition of some sort.
It’s a compliment, and she takes it as such.
But how often is a man asked that same question? No one blinks an eye when a man is using the squat rack.
Yet when a woman is using it, it’s assumed she’s a competitor.
Lisa has the most appropriate response, though:
“I’m training for life.”
BOOM.
Not coincidentally…she’s never asked me to open up a jar for her, she isn’t timid to move furniture, and she certainly doesn’t back down when she has to (farmer) carry the groceries a few blocks from the grocery store to our apartment.
She’s strong.
She…gets…shit…done.
4) Provides More Purpose and Intent
Strength training by it’s nature yields itself to more performance-based goals, which I am a huge fan of.
Whenever I start working with a woman and she’s all like “I want to lose ten lbs,” I’m all like (fast forward to the 0:35s mark in this clip)…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDQx1Kn9wUM
This IS NOT to discount or belittle someone’s goal to lose weight…it’s my job as their coach to dig deeper, peel back the onion, and figure out why this is the case (why do they want to lose 10 lbs?, why do they feel they need to lose 10 lbs?)….and then set them up for the best path of success possible.
However, in my experience, often (not always), it’s a lazy, shallow, and meaningless goal.
If anything, the sentence “I want to lose 10 lbs” is nothing more than a default setting many women have been programmed to say because, well, they don’t know what else to say.
Ladies: You’re not Microsoft Word.
You’re better than that.
Striving for more performance-based goals, and setting a higher standard for why you head to the gym day in and day out can be a game changer.
A video posted by Tony Gentilcore (@tonygentilcore) on
Her goal is to deadlift 300 lbs. It’s not every female’s goal.
She arrives to every training session with a sense of vigor and passion that wouldn’t come close to what it consistently is if her goal was to “just lose 10 lbs.”
I’d argue that setting performance-based goals sets the tone for aesthetic goals anyways. All the hard work and dedication it takes to nail the performance goal – whether it’s performing your first chin-up or hitting “x” number of reps of squats at “x” weight – allows for the aesthetic goals to just kinda happen.
Strength training helps to mold, shape, and add contour to the body.
You don’t “shape” anything by spending copious hours on the treadmill. You may lose weight, but you make yourself a smaller, weaker version of your original self.
If that’s what you want, cool. But I doubt that’s what you want.
If you’re like a lot of people, back on December 31, 2015 you vowed to make some changes in your life. You were going to quit smoking, drink more water, read more, spend more time with family, start a new hobby, stop watching porn2, or any number of equally nobel and novel things.
It’s likely, however, you (probably) made the decision to start exercising more or eating healthier.
“Tomorrow,” you thought to yourself, “January 1, 2016 starts a new day, a new year, a new me. For real this time.”
NO, for real, real.
And then January 2nd came (0r maybe you lasted a week, or hell, a month!) and inevitably, as is the case every year, you got hit with another case of the Eff Its.
As in, “fuck it, I’m out.”
Lets Hit the Reset Button
This is the part where I’m supposed to sit here and type comfy words like “develop a support network” or “find a workout with a buddy/friend” or “it’s okay,” or “don’t worry, you’ll get em next year, tiger!”
I’m not going to to that.
You’re a grown up, it’s time to act like one.
The onus is on YOU to make the change.
I’ll grant you you can find inspiration via an article you read, or an audiobook you listened to, and sometimes that’s what we need to hit that tipping point and push us into action.
But it’s still on you to start. To make things happen. To break the inertia of ineptitude.
You can read, renew your subscription to Audible.com, and re-watch all the same motivational workout videos on YouTube you want (and I’d encourage you to do so)…but it doesn’t mean anything unless you put things into action.
People speculate too much.
Since when do we have to “research” everything. I don’t need an article to tell me that sticking my finger in an electrical socket will hurt or that eating something that’s gluten-free will taste like sawdust dipped in anthrax.
Maybe that’s a dumb analogy, but I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had a conversation with someone about their health and fitness and come to find out…they’re really, really well-read.
They’ve read everything. They’re bookshelf would give the Health and Fitness section of Barnes & Nobles a run for its money.
Yet, they’re stuck, incapable of taking that first step; seemingly paralyzed by too much information.
Do you (we) really need a book or article or any sense of confirmation to tell us to just, you know, “show up?”
^^^ That’s today’s date as I type these words. Chances are, like many others, you fell off the New Year’s bandwagon a looooong time ago.
That “promise” you made yourself to get to the gym 3x per week, or to start training for a 5K, or to start cooking more meals at home instead of eating out?
Long gone.
So lets do something about it. Lets pony up. Lets hit the reset button.
Because, 1) why 2) the 3) fuck 4) not?
I get it: Me being all RAH-RAH telling everyone to “shut up and do the work” isn’t going to solve anything. It won’t help.
This is why marrying yourself to one ideology, or book, or person can sometimes be an epic failure. Because what works (or worked) for them, may not apply to you.
If you read a book about yoga and how it’s going to solve all the world’s problems from global warming to your waistline, yet you fucking hate yoga, what’s the likelihood it’s going to work?
For the record: you can switch out the word yoga with powerlifting, CrossFit, pilates, bodybuilding, Olympic lifting, kettlebells, or naked hula-hooping, I don’t care.
I find a lot of success with my own clients the more I give them a choice. Rather than me barking orders, I give them a sense of autonomy and it makes the experience more enjoyable.
Give yourself some choices. You don’t have to go to the gym to perform heavy squats or deadlifts. I think it’s pretty baller if you do, but you don’t have to.
Instead, maybe you want to head to the local football field and perform some 60 yd tempo runs. Or maybe summon your inner-Dan John and perform a day where you do nothing but carry variations and sled drags.
Heck, maybe it’s just a matter of going for a nice, leisurely walk. Exercise is exercise. Give youself some choices. Whatever you need to do in order to put momentum in your favor…..DO IT.
3) Stretch Your Goals
I’m currently reading Smarter, Faster, Better by Charles Duhigg and one of the things he hammers home throughout the book is the notion of stretch goals.
Stretch goals, in short, are goals that force people to commit to ambitious, seemingly out-of-reach objectives which can then spark outsized jumps in innovation, productivity, and progress.
Duhigg uses several examples in his book such as GE CEO, Jack Welch, setting the bar for the company to reduce manufacturing defects on airplane engines from 25% reduction to a 70% reduction; and to do it within three years.
This, of course, was seen as “ridiculous” by managers.
But they got it done.
And while he wasn’t used an example in this book, Steve Jobs was also notorious for pushing his employees to the point where things seemed impossible.
Helping turn Apple back around into one of the most respectable companies in the world? What’s next…1000 songs in your pocket?
Oh, wait.
The point is: sometimes we undershoot our goals, and the concept of SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Timeline), while admirable and tested, isn’t enough.
We need stretch goals. Goals that seem unattainable.
Telling yourself that you want to try to hit the gym 2x per week is fine, but telling yourself “I want to hit the gym 5x per week so that I can rub it in my ex’s face (and possibly bang their best friend)” is even better.
“I want to learn to squat better” is cool. But setting a stretch goal for yourself and signing up for your first powerlifting meet at the end of the year is going to light a fire under your ass. It’ll get you out of your comfort zone and give you a sense of purpose and intent in your training.
You’re going to be more likely to kick-ass and take names. Shooting for the stars, may in fact, be exactly what you need.
I want to fight Jason Bourne. There, I said it…….;o)
Note From TG:Today’s guest post comes from good friend, Todd Bumgardner. Todd’s written several articles for this site, and when he reached out recently asking me if he could write something I, of course, obliged.
After all, Todd was the inspiration behind THIS post I wrote several months ago which resonated with many people who read it. He’s a deep thinker, and I really respect his approach to life.
So I said, “Sure! How about something on what it means to be a man?”
This is what he sent back. Enjoy.
Are We Men?
My maternal grandfather’s name was Alfred C. Traxler. He was born in 1926 and died in 1964; he didn’t reach his thirty-eighth birthday.
Unconscious at the wheel, he was a truck driver, his truck swerved from the road and he crashed.
I’ve heard the story a hundred times from my childhood to now, but I can’t remember if he died before he wrecked or if the wreck took his life. He left behind four children, including my mother who was eight years old, and a wife two years his junior. I was born in April of 1986. I never got to meet him, all I know is relayed to me through a vague family mythology.
In 1944, before he finished high school, he enlisted in the army. Within the year he found himself in Europe, fighting in World War II as a member of the field artillery. Don’t ask me to list the battles he fought in, I can’t catalogue them. The only one I’m sure of is the Battle of The Bulge. I’m also sure that he came home with two Purple Hearts, one for being shot in the head.
I’m not certain of his other wound—maybe he was hit in the head twice—or how normal his life was after coming home with a head injury.
My mom tells a story about a time she and her sister were fighting in the basement. As he was walking down the basement steps to stop them, he lightly tapped his head on the ascending staircase that climbed from the first floor to the second, in opposition of the basement staircase’s descent. His 6’3”, thin frame crashed on to the steps, unconscious.
I’m certain that, were we matched; thirty year-old Al Traxler would kick thirty year-old Todd Bumgardner’s ass. It’d be a lopsided thrashing, despite me having around forty pounds on him. Despite having my jaw tested throughout my childhood and college years. Despite me being a physically strong human being.
Alfred Traxler would beat my ass.
Guess what? Your grandfather, were it possible for you to be paired at the same ages, would monkey stomp your goofy ass in a hurry.
Things were different when my grandfather grew up. Men then had something men now don’t have.
Men, and manhood, were different.
I’m not here to reminisce on good ol’ days that I never saw, or to say we need to return to a time when men were men while extolling bravado’s benefits. But there are differences between then and now—some good, some bad, some indifferent. My goal is to create a contrast in behavior so we that we may compare.
We’re struggling to understand what it means to be men.
The problem is, there is no ideological man.
The definition, man, is a derivative of culture and context.
What it means for us in Western culture is different from that of Middle-Eastern cultures. It’s different from how Eastern men define themselves. As we derive our definition, gender roles are evolving.
Male and female don’t carry the same connotations that they once did. We’re evolving, it seems, into androgyny and some folks are struggling with this.
To cope, we’re constructing a lot of empty definitions.
My grandfather grew up during the Great Depression, voluntarily entered himself into the greatest destruction the world’s ever seen and was doing his best to raise a family when he lost his life. I’ve never put my ass on the line for anything that I didn’t want to do.
That’s a stark contrast.
Of course, I’ve stepped up when my family’s needed me. And I’ve taken an ass whooping or two to defend a friend. But I haven’t really done a damn thing that laid my ass on the line. Not like he did.
It’s generational.
My experience isn’t atypical—unless a man or woman of my age has chosen to enter the armed forces, we’ve never had to truly experience a great deal of sacrifice. That’s why we’re struggling to define a lot of who, and what, we think we are—especially males.
Men of my grandfather’s age faced the scarcity of The Great Depression and the horrors of killing, watching your friends die and the reconciliation of all of it. Even if a guy was a pussy, he had an ideal to work from.
While men then were outwardly tougher, had thicker skin and better prepared to deal with adversity, they also orchestrated a world with more misogyny, more racism and less tolerance.
Past generations provided us the stoic ideation of manhood while also demonstrating negative behaviors and beliefs that contrast our current evolution toward tolerant humanism. There is no concrete ideology. While manhood is built on certain principles, at least in my belief, there is no ideal example.
It’s increasingly amorphous and it confuses us.
We talk a lot of shit.
We have the internet in all it’s amazing, constructive glory. Despite its opportunity-bearing beauty, it’s also an open pulpit for empty pontification. An endless array of diatribes on what men should be able to do. We make up silly little trials because we have so few real trials to overcome. Mostly, it’s look what I can do. I’m a man. Do this and you’re a man too.
Beyond that, and even sleazier, men propagate to other men that they can help them engineer a personality, a new life, a new body if they follow the advice in their book. Get laid. Get money. Be a stud. It’s cunttastic marketing at its worst. Deny self-acceptance and progression toward something worthy, something that teaches us about ourselves, and work your dick off to become something that you’re not. Horse-fucking-shit.
Lifting weights doesn’t make you tough/hardcore or any other cockamamie masculine ideation. An outrageous expression of physical strength or capacity, while beautiful and worthy, doesn’t qualify anyone as a man. Hardcore is working a job for twenty years so your kids can eat and getting up every day, and going to that motherfucker and kicking ass with a smile on your face, and perspective in your mind, because that’s what you have to do.
We idolize the image of the alpha, and dudes sure do a lot of talking about being one. Alphas don’t have to talk about being alphas. They are just alphas. And in most instances we do our best to segregate them from society: they become Navy SEALs or go to jail.
Please distrust any individual that tells you, via conversation or via print, that they can help you become an alpha. Nine chances out of ten, you’re not an alpha. And that’s totally cool.
You are who you are.
Kick ass at being that dude, accept him and develop him as much as you so desire. But don’t listen to some dick-head that tells you that you can become something that you’re not if you simply listen to his advice.
These are examples of our continual strivings for a male identity in a world of limited trials, a famine of opportunities to construct a real identity chisled out of struggle and strife. This is the bullshit that we imagine to placate ourselves…and we sell it to each other every day.
It’s an adolescent screaming and yelling, an upheaval originating from male frightened immaturity, despondent because, collectively, we’re afraid to take responsibility for our own lives in a world with so much opportunity and so little direction.
Many males are frightened of blurred gender roles and assertive women. And, of course, by acceptance of homosexuality that’s nearly universal. Which is one of our best cultural achievements. It leaves insecure males with the inability to define manhood along side those that also love other men.
Maybe it’s a step in the progression toward evolving into better humans. We’re trying to understand what is happening around us and we need some kind of self-definition. So we devolve slightly so that we may move forward.
I like to believe we’re collectively ascending as a species. But there’s a lot of vacuous dick measuring that makes me ask some questions.
Especially when it’s realistic to believe that most men under forty have never been punched in the face.
Again, I’m not extolling bravado as manhood’s end-all-be-all, but exuding machismo comes with certain prerequisites.
Let’s also not revert to ‘good ol’ day’ thinking, but something tells me Alfred Traxler would have a hard time relating our modern male squabbling to define ourselves after coming home from Europe as a twenty year-old man with battle scars and two Purple Hearts.
So, after all this opinion bearing, what does it mean to be a man in 2016?
This is, of course, one man’s take, extrapolated to the entire Western world equipped with external human plumbing.
It’s the best ideal I could construct.
Take it for what it is; maybe I’m an asshole.
Being a man starts with giving a shit about yourself. Not the faux self-care that fills space with materialistic yearnings and celebrating the “cult of me”, the tending to every somatic and sensational need.
No, not that, but true self-care.
The kind that gives you the strength to embark on your own hero’s journey to find out what’s actually inside of you, to define physical and mental feats for yourself, disregarding aggrandizement and celebrating self-validation.
It’s finding the inner solace, the inner core that gives a guy the ability to define himself without the need for anyone else to adopt his definition. It’s this core that solidifies manhood.
A man is compassionate.
Compassion is the truest expression of strength. From compassion emanates kindness. Each is the product of a deep serenity that allows us to give others what they need because we’ve done all we need for ourselves. All are the product of taking responsibility for our own lives.
Manhood is having the nuts to act on our individual constructs of the “right thing” all of the time. No matter who is watching. No matter if no one is watching. It’s consistency of purpose and alignment with deep routed personal ideals that firmly extend a middle finger in the face of that which we independently believe is wrong.
And while we contain this ferocity, we encapsulate it with respect, respect and openness toward other cultures and points of view.
Respect for other humans.
Respect for life.
Men have fierceness of purpose, a deep connection with why they’re here and what they’re going to do about it.
Being a man, when distilled clearly to its essences, is a balance between confidence and humility. It’s having the balls to take responsibility for your own life and take action to shape it into an art worth sharing. It’s an ever-present consideration that we’re damn lucky to be alive and a grateful use of the time we’re granted. It’s authenticity.
These are the musings of a lucky thirty year old that’s done his best to develop himself into someone worth being around, a man people would be proud to know. It’s my definition of manhood, no one else’s.
But fuck, man, I don’t know. I’ve never been shot in the head.
Any hip-hop junkie will recognize the title of today’s post.
It’s a quote from Jay-Z.
I’m in no way putting myself in the same company as one of rap’s biggest historic moguls, but I felt the title was appropriate given the context of what I wanted to write about today.
It’s something I rarely broach on this website, yet it’s an integral component to just about every fitness professional’s day to day life.
Surprisingly, I’m not referring to energy drinks. Or protein.
Let’s Talk a Little Fitness Business Mmmkay?
It’s been a little over two months since I left Cressey Sports Performance to pursue other opportunities and my own “thing” in Boston.
NOTE: I put quotations around “thing” not as some ubiquitous attempt to insinuate I have no plan. I do! But, well, just keep reading……
Since leaving CSP things have been great. Life has had a nice pace to it.
I’ve been able to keep up with writing and running this website while also building whatever it is I’m building here in Boston. I.e., a small army of deadlifting psychopaths…;o)
As it happened, maybe a week or two ago, Pete and I were texting back and forth and he mentioned that it would be interesting if I spoke to what it’s been like for me during this transitional phase in my life. What have been some of the hardships (if any?) and lessons I’ve learned in starting my own “thing.”
Sorry, there’s that word again.
The “Thing”
At the CSP staff Christmas Party this past weekend, Mike Reinold and I were chatting about how hard and impossible it must feel for upcoming fitness professionals to make a name for themselves.
On one side of the fence the internet has made everything – and everyone – more accessible. Fitness celebrities and can be constructed in a matter of months.
On the other side, however, the market is so saturated with Instagram feeds, Facebook likes, websites, blogs, and hashtags that everything – and everyone – is seemingly invisible.
There’s too much noise.
When we opened CSP back in the summer of 2007, I had already been working as a trainer for five years and writing on my own website and sites like T-Nation for a little over a year (my first article on T-Nation was published in 2006).
I joined Facebook not long after with little comprehension of A) knowing what the hell it was and B) definitely not knowing what it would become. Nonetheless I crushed LOLCats on it.
Likewise, I joined Twitter in 2010. Again, not really understanding what the point was. All I knew was that all the cool kids were doing it.
The important thing to consider, though – and this is where many upcoming fitness pros miss the boat – is that I didn’t initially use any of those platforms to build my brand or market myself or use them to build some semblance of “fake experience.”
I spent years training and coaching people before any of that shit entered the equation or even mattered.
Too, I spent over a year writing to the 10 people who read my blog – for free – before I got my first break on T-Nation.
Long story short: I did the work. I worked the long hours, I trained hundreds and hundreds of people, got up early/stayed up late, and I paid my dues. The work is what helped to mold me as a professional. Not the race to accumulate friends and arbitrary “likes” and “shares”
But I also recognize I lucked out to a degree.
I was an early adopter of all those social media thingamabobbers (particularly blogging). Today I’d feel super intimidated if I were to start a blog.
Another thing I lucked out with was having Eric and Pete in my corner….and I feel they would corroborate the sentiment: me being in their corner as well.
Eric: There is only one Eric Cressey. The man is a machine and has the work ethic of a rabid rhinoceros. I don’t even know that means, but suffice it to say that it’s hard to know someone for a decade, live with them for two years, start a business, and not have some of their traits and habits rub off on you.
Pete: Part of what I feel made CSP so successful to begin with was because Pete assumed the role of “business guy” from the start. He was the one responsible for scheduling, invoicing, taking phone calls, ordering equipment, negotiating the lease, and all the other dirty work many people can’t fathom or appreciate.
This allowed Eric and I to do what we do best…..coach!
And argue over the music.
All of This To Say….
I have NO interest in opening or owning my own facility.5
I’ve spent over a decade building my own brand and a “business,” but I am in no way, shape, or form a businessman.
I think one of the biggest fallacies in fitness is thinking that the end-all-be-all destination is to be a gym owner.
Ask ten young trainers/coaches what their end-goal is and I’m willing to bet 80-90% of them will raise their hand and say “to watch Tony Gentilcore train shirtless to own my own facility someday.”
It’s a respectable goal to have; albeit a lofty one.
Strength coach, Clifton Harski, has this to say on the matter (and I tend to agree):
“I would wager that over half of gym owners did it due to their own EGO and an initial goal they had when they started – which they never really thought to reevaluate over time. It seems like the next logical step for someone. However, it’s not – quite often.”
Moreover, I feel there’s an “expectation management” gap that exists when it comes to gym ownership. The expectation is that someone decides to open a gym, they buy a bunch of fancy equipment, and they think that by turning on the lights that a drove of people are just going to show up and hand over their money.
Realistically, someone will come up with the idea of opening up their own facility, buy a bunch of fancy equipment, make sure the electricity is turned on (always an important step), and then are quick to realize it’s not as much of a cake walk as they had originally planned.
(NOTE: there’s nothing I can say with regards to fitness business that Pete hasn’t discussed over on his website. I’d highly encourage you to check it out (linked to above) and thank me later)
This is what I like to call the “Commercial Gym Trainer Conundrum.”
Typically what happens is that someone who’s been working at a commercial gym for all of two weeks thinks they’re getting screwed by the man. I mean, they’re the one doing all the work, right? Yet, they’re only getting 1/3 of the cost of a training session, and the gym is just pocketing the rest. Like a bunch of a-holes.
Um, no.
The “man” is paying your health insurance, taking care of utilities, equipment upkeep and replacement, and ensuring the rent/lease is paid each month. And this doesn’t even take into account paying the salaries of any support staff – janitorial, front desk, etc – in addition to any CAM (Common Area Maintenance) charges that may exist (snow removal, landscaping, building upkeep).
ALL of these will be YOUR problem the second you open up your own facility. In addition to things like lead generation, scheduling, invoicing, bookkeeping, to add on top of your coaching and programming responsibilities (which can vary depending your business model).
Oh, and the case of phantom explosive diarrhea in the bathroom…guess who’s cleaning that up?
I don’t know about you, but none of that sounds fun to me. I’d rather jump into a shark’s mouth. Which is why I had to sit down and figure out what it is I wanted to do for the next 5-10 years of my life and what was going to be right fit.
I had to have a hard conversation with myself and come to the realization that I AM NOT A BUSINESSMAN.
Don’t get me wrong, I run a business – coaching, writing, this website, speaking engagements – but I don’t consider myself a businessman in the sense of having the desire to own and run a facility.
So, To Conclude My Rambling
1. I’m sub-leasing in Boston at a space called Run Strong Studio. I have no overhead other than paying “rent” for the time I use, and paying for my own liability insurance (via the NSCA).
It’s the right fit for ME.
2. I did purchase around $5000 of my own equipment to get started (which I can write off for tax purposes), but I made sure to give myself a HARD AUDIT as to what I’d really need.
This is a mistake many fitness professionals make. Their eyes are often bigger than their wallets and they end up purchasing equipment that’s 1) cool and only they’ll use or 2) takes up too much space.
Think of if this way: Power rack = something everyone will use. Big, fancy leg press = not so much.
3. And speaking of taxes: GET A GOOD ACCOUNTANT!!! I’ve had the same one for five years and he’s more of less my BFF.
4. My goals at this stage in my career is to coach 20 or so hours per week, which still allows me plenty of time to keep up my writing responsibilities and allow for windows of travel for workshops.
[It’s funny: many trainers/coaches want the same scenario that I am doing right now, but fail to understand I spent 13 years coaching people and writing 1,800 blog posts and countless articles to get there.]
Could I coach more if I wanted? Yes, and, honestly, I could make more money if I did so. However, I love the freedom and autonomy I have now.
I mean, if I want to go to an afternoon matinee or, I don’t know, practice my nunchuck skills, I can.
Autonomy is sweet.
I remember reading something somewhere (<— how’s that for a citation) that many people feel happier and more fulfilled being their own boss….despite making less money.
I have to say, I concur.
5. You’re only as good as your systems.
Knowing my limitations, and after asking several colleagues, I signed up for a service called Front Desk, and it’s been spectacular.
Any peace of mind I can give myself in terms of management of money and “systemizing” things is all good in my book.
My eight years at CSP helped to prepare me (and dampen) the inevitable failures I’ll come across on my own. However, I’m a firm believer that you learn more in failure than you ever do in success.
And in the end, that’s some solid business advice.
This past weekend I attended the I Am Not Afraid To Lift Workshop at Iron Body Studios in West Roxbury, MA. It’s an event created by Artemis Scantalides geared mainly towards women – although men are encouraged to attend too – that teaches strength training as a form of empowerment, a road to improved confidence, and a less arduous avenue towards increased autonomy.
(In addition to giving the attendees any excuse to flex their biceps whenever possible).
It shouldn’t take more than 1.7 seconds to find where I’m located in this picture.
What made this past weekend particularly special for me was that my wife, Dr. Lisa Lewis (located front row, 3rd from left, next to Artemis, on her right), was a co-presenter invited to speak on the topic of mindset, dealing with negative self talk, and to elucidate further on some of the psychological hurdles that many trainees tend to encounter in the weight room…and in life.
As someone who works with a lot of women and who has long championed the idea that strength training is a good thing and something that should be embraced and not euthanized in lieu of buzz words like “toned,” “long,” “lean,” and “sexy”…I felt this was a perfect melding of worlds, and something there’s a massive need for.
Artemis speaking to the intricacies of the deadlift, squat, swing, press, and chin-up/pull-up – both from a coaching/cueing and program design perspective – and Lisa speaking to many of the pervasive mental road blocks many women and men battle on a daily basis which CAN be managed with some easily implemented drills and strategies.
“Should-ing” On Ourselves
While speaking with an attendee about her anxieties and frustrations about not being able to hit a specific fitness goal, Lisa commented, “It sounds like your “SHOULD-ING” all over yourself, instead of feeling energized by your goal.”
The entire room erupted in laughter6. I’m lucky I wasn’t drinking anything at the time, because this totally would have been me:It was an awesome line, but not a Lisa original.
She borrowed it from Dr. Albert Ellis who’s the man responsible for something referred to as RET, or Rational Emotive Therapy. RET was popular decades ago, before CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy) came on the scene. Ellis would focus on “irrational thoughts” as the source of our anxieties and negative emotions.
I have to assume there’s a book somewhere out there with big, fancy words or entire courses describing this type of therapy in more glamorous detail, but in other words it can be broken down like this:
The origin of your problem isn’t actually the problem… it’show you’re thinking about the problem.
Some common health and fitness examples may include:
“I’m not fit until I can run a marathon or deadlift 2x bodyweight.”
“I’m not in shape until I have a six pack or I’m “x” dress size.”
“I have to workout every day.”
“If I don’t achieve my goal of hitting a bodyweight chin-up, I’m a failure.”
Lisa interviewing an attendee on her “mental roadblocks” and anxiety about hitting a specific fitness goal.
Many of us form these beliefs and inevitably turn them into doctrine:
Who says they’re real in the first place?
Who says you have to deadlift 2x bodyweight?
Who says you have to train everyday?
Who says you have to lose 10 lbs. in order to look good in a bikini?
Who said that? Who says these rules?
A trainer? An article your read on the internet? Some magazine cover? A Kardashian?
Even me?
Even if a reliable source makes a professional recommendation about what you “should” be doing – does that mean it’s come down from the mountain? No7. My goal as a fitness professional is to help – offer ideas, alternatives, new ways to approach your strength goals. But if something I (or anyone else) recommends doesn’t help, and in fact makes you stressed, feel bad, or NOT WANT to pursue your fitness goals, THROW IT OUT!
Try a different approach.
It’s All Made Up
The thing to point out – especially as it relates to YOUR goals and YOUR happiness – is that there are no rules. Everything – more or less – is someone else’s belief. Someone else’s opinion.
[Not coincidentally to help sell an ebook, or DVD, or Gluten-free, GMO, organic, Acai Pills soaked in Unicorn tears.]
That doesn’t mean it’s right for you.
As Lisa notes:
“Buying into a “rule” that makes you unhappy is the problem.”
And this is something that permeates into other aspects of our lives as well; not just fitness.
We make rules for ourselves – often irrationally and without much thought – and make a habit of measuring our happiness, sense of well-being, and worse, our overall sense of self-worth on our ability to successfully cross these rules off like a checklist:
I have to – should – be married by the time of 28.
I have to – should – make Dean’s List every semester.
I have to – should– be making “x” amount of money per year.
I have to – should – get caught up on Game of Thrones8.
Bringing the discussion back to health and fitness, according to Lisa:
“If “shoulding on yourself” is messing you up and makes you feel upset, then it’s time to reevaluate.”
That’s not the point of fitness. Don’t should on yourself.
If you can deadlift 290 lbs and your goal is 300, are you any less accomplished or less of a person? Does all the hard work you put in for the past few months (or years) all of a sudden become moot or negated because of 10 lbs?
It’s true: we celebrate growth and progress in the gym by how much weight is on the bar. We take before and after pictures. We set goals and standards for ourselves, which is fantastic.
However, once we allow someone else’s arbitrary (even if well intentioned) rule from a magazine or book affect our well-being – I should be avoiding carbohydrates after 6PM (even though I feel lethargic and want to drop kick everyone in the face), I should be back squatting (even though it never feels good, despite good coaching) – and it becomes more toxic than helpful… it’s time to change your mindset.
In the end who cares? What matters and what’s important is that you recognize the process is every bit as important as the outcome.
It’s time to stop SHOULDING all over yourself.
How about you? Any “shoulds” out there that you’d like to share? Lisa says it can help to acknowledge and “put it out there” to help yourself start to reevaluate what really matters…
To any overly patriotic or political zealots out there who may have misread, note the title does not say “Why I dislike America.”
To everyone else, notice too that the title doesn’t say “I hate the American kettlebell swing.”
Hate is such a strong word anyways; more appropriately reserved for things like Hitler, ebola, global warming, Gwyneth Paltrow playing the role of a health & fitness authority, poodles, and skinny jeans.
The kettlebell or girya is a cast-iron or cast steel weight used to perform ballistic exercises that combine cardiovascular, strength and flexibility training. They are also the primary equipment used in the weight lifting sport of girevoy sport. Russian kettlebells are traditionally measured in weight by pood, which (rounded to metric units) is defined as 16 kilograms (35 lb).
In other words: it’s one of those “cannonball with a handle” looking thingamajigs that you see all those people at your gym pushing, pulling, hoisting, and tossing every which way in an effort to 1) perform a legitimate exercise such as a swing, get-up, snatch, clean & press, Farmer carry, amongst many, many others 2) perform an exercise that makes absolutely no sense for its intended design and/or use.
Like this:
Although, giving credit where it’s due, this is kind of badass. Albeit from a cost-benefit standpoint I see little upside.
And 3) to look cool. <— Research backs this up.
Kettlebells are a very useful piece of equipment, a piece of equipment I use often with my own athletes and clients, but I do find some people take an elitist attitude towards them to the point where things like barbells and dumbbells are considered obsolete or inferior (which I feel is an absurd stance to take).
It’s a minority take, but a take nonetheless.
The Kettlebell Swing
Splitting the conversation further is the swing; one of, if not the most popular exercise performed with a kettlebell.
FMS and Strong First instructor, Brett Jones, showcasing the Russian Style (and I’d argue, correct) swing.
I’ve written several articles in the past expounding my take/approach to the swing and I’m not going to belabor my point(s) here. If interested you can peruse THIS, THIS, and THIS article. We can high-five later.
I’d also encourage you to seek out information from the likes of Dan John, Dr. Mark Cheng, Jen Sinkler, Neghar Fonooni, Gray Cook, and Iron Body Studios (Artemis Scantalides and Eric Gahan):
All the coaches/peeps mentioned above advocate the “Russian” style swing as opposed to the “American” style. To which I say, “Samsies.”
What’s the Difference?
Russian Style = less ROM, more vodka.
American Style = more ROM, because, why not? And, America!
There are adamant supporters in both camps, and both make solid cases for why their style is the style everyone should be using.
And, as far as internet pissing contests are concerned, it’s an “argument” that ranks right up there with the low bar squatters vs. high bar squatters, steady state cardio vs. HIIT cardio, meat eaters vs. vegetarians, and you better bet your ass this calls for a Rocky vs. Drago reference.
I have to say, though, the “American” advocates have a far less stellar rationale (it’s just my opinion of course) for their style.
Let’s discuss shall we?
My Case Against the American Style Swing
I posted the following question on Twitter yesterday:
Little Help: can anyone provide benefits/advantages for the “American” KB swing?
I received this well-thought out response (which made me chuckle):
“Looks more hardcore in METCON.”
However the bulk of responses fell in the line with:
“To practice the movement for CrossFit competition. Sport specific practice, in essence.”
“It is measurable in the context of the bell has to be fully extended overhead to be a rep is the only thing I can think of.”
It’s hard for me to counterpoint that train of thought. I get it, I respect it, and I can appreciate any “specificity” that’s involved. You don’t get better at swimming by riding a bike just like you don’t get better at American style swings by not doing American style swings (for competition).
CrossFit competitions are one thing (and even then, why?). Where I feel things get dicey are for those CrossFitters who don’t compete and when personal trainers/coaches start using the American style with their regular clientele who, again, don’t compete and more importantly, have poor movement quality…all because they watched the wrong YouTube video, or Jillian Michaels DVD.
Mind you, there are plenty (not a lot) of people who can perform an American style swing and not make my corneas bleed.
It’s a learned skill just like any other exercise – with a right way and wrong way to do it (I think) – and I’m sure it’s not too hard to find passable images on Google.
However, lets not kid ourselves…most people who do it end up looking like this:
Or this:
Maybe it’s the cynical coach in me speaking, but all I see is forward head posture, excessive lumbar extension (both primarily compensation patterns for limited shoulder flexion mobility; or the ability to get your arms over your head, and lack of lumbo-pelvic-hip control; or limited anterior core strength/stiffness), and a local physical therapist salivating.
And who knows: maybe the pics taken above were rep # 117 of a WOD, where technique is bound to take a hit. Either way, my back hurts looking at it.
I am not at all against people training overhead.
I just feel the vast majority of people need to earn the right to do it.
Many people just don’t have ample enough shoulder flexion and/or lumbo-pelvic control to get their arms overhead without blatant compensations and (potentially) serious ramifications down the road – much less be competent enough to add load and repetitions (unfortunately, usually both).
Someone was kind enough to link to THIS article on Twitter written by CrossFit serving as a rebuttal to everyone else’s rebuttal that, for 90% of people 90% of the time, the American swing, and I’m paraphrasing here, fucking stupid.10.
See! An example of a better, “passable” American swing where the hips get through into more terminal extension. Understandably the criteria for a CF competition isn’t to get the hips through, it’s just whether or not the arms get overhead.
From the article itself:
“On first being introduced to the kettlebell swing our immediate response was, “Why not go overhead?” Generally, we endeavor, somewhat reflexively, to lengthen the line of travel of any movement. Why? There are two reasons.
The first is somewhat intuitive. We don’t do half rep pull-ups, we don’t do half rep squats, and we don’t do half rep push-ups. If there is a natural range of motion to any movement we like to complete it. To do otherwise seems unnatural. We would argue that partial reps are neurologically incomplete.”
I’ve already pointed out my disdain for assuming everyone can train overhead. It’s just not true, and I applaud any CF box or affiliate who take the time to properly screen their clients beforehand to better ascertain who can and cannot perform movements overhead…safely.
I almost shit a kettlebellwhen I read that second paragraph.
First off, every gym does half rep everything. Walk into any gym, anywhere, and you’re bound to see people “cheating” their lifts. Some lifts warrant partial reps – block pulls, Anderson squats, board presses, etc. There’s a ton of efficacy for partial ROM lifts, typically to address a technique flaw or weakness in one of the “big 3.”
But I’m sorry, CrossFit isn’t anything special, needs to be held to the same litmus test, and recognize that people cheat their lifts just as much there as in any other gym (commercial, collegiate, private, or otherwise).
All of that comes down to coaching anyways.
Secondly, You don’t do partial rep pull-ups?
Um, what the hell are kipping pull-ups then? They’re certainly not full- ROM. Puh-lease.
Here’s another doozy from the same article:
“From physics we know that the higher we lift something, and the more it weighs, the more “work” we are performing. Work is in fact equal to the weight lifted multiplied by the height we lift the object. Work performed divided by the time to completion is equal to the average “power” expressed in the effort.
When we swing the kettlebell to overhead, the American swing, we nearly double the range of motion compared to the Russian swing and thereby double the work done each stroke.”
Who says you have to increase ROM (and do more work) to make an exercise better? It’s the American way I suppose. We work more, take less vacation, and are otherwise stressed to the gills because we’re a-holes like that.
More is better, right?
With the swing – as with more conventional exercises like the bench press, squat, and deadlift – it’s not (always) about how much more work you can do (by increasing ROM) to make it better or harder or more effective. With the latter examples it’s about doing LESS work to improve efficiency and to take better advantage of one’s unique anatomy and leverages.
This is why many coaches advocate a low-bar position when squatting or why we tinker with deadlifting style to get the hips closer (laterally speaking) to the bar. Some do better with conventional deadlifts while others do better with Sumo. It depends.
Lastly, with regards to the American swing being more “powerful” compared to the Russian style I’ll defer to THIS excellent post by Mike Young on why that’s not the case.
I’ve also seen it argued that the American swing produces more force due to the increase in ROM. Sorry, but force output is more about forward motion, not up (the bell actually slows down the higher you go).
Not to mention – from a personal standpoint – I feel there’s more room for error with the American style swing. Taking compensation patterns and physical limitations out of the discussion, the increased ROM often lends itself to the bell traveling well below the knees for most people, which can lead to much more “stress” to the lumbar spine – something I’d like to avoid altogether.
Although the KB snatch is very similar, so I guess the real culprit is one’s ability to “clear” the hips and get overhead.
Additionally, I’ve heard stories of people losing the bell overhead, where it ends up flipping over and the bell falls.
In the End
This is not an attack on CrossFit or any coach who uses this particular style – relax. Far be it from me to tell any coach what he or she should be doing with their clients. If they want to coach their swings American style, have at it. They have their reasons.
It’s also not about pandering to which style is right or wrong. However I do feel the Russian style is more optimal and a better fit for most people. Why fix what isn’t broken?
All of this is my opinion – one it’s hopefully coming across in a respectful, “huh, that makes sense” kind of way – and as with anything in this industry the right answer as to whether or not the American style swing is a good fit for you is…it depends.
It depends if you compete in CrossFit. If so, I get it. I guess.
It also depends on whether or not you have the requisite shoulder flexion and anterior core stability to go overhead. Most people don’t.
It also depends on the cost-benefit. I argue there’s little upside to performing it. It does make your METCON finisher look more hardcore. Yay?
As most who read this site know I spent this past weekend in St. Louis with Dean Somerset teaching our Complete Shoulder & Hip Workshop11 to a group of 25 personal trainers, coaches, and PTs at Blue Ocean Fitnesslocated just outside of the city itself, in Chesterfield(if you’re in the area, give John Farkas a call. Great coach and amazing staff). In addition, I spent the last few days eating a fair amount of dead animal flesh.
For as much as Kansas City gets all the BBQ hype (and with good reason, it’s delicious), I have to say…St. Louis ranks right up there too.
Gotta say: St. Louis BBQ is right up there with KC. Shots have been fired!
Pulled pork aside, the entire weekend was a success – no one left early or asked for their money back. And from what I could tell everyone who attended walked away with a number of ah-HA moments.
A few “big rock” examples:
1. Shoulder assessment is much more in depth than only paying attention to anterior-posterior imbalances (rounded back). It’s crucial to pay close attention to superior-inferior imbalances as well; the ability to upwardly rotate the scapulae and control, eccentrically, downward rotation.
2. If someone lacks the ability to achieve ample shoulder flexion, they probably shouldn’t be performing overhead pressing, snatches for AMRAP, or kipping pull-ups. Ever.
3. The term “shoulder stability” is kind of a misnomer. Stability suggests broad bony structures and ligamentous attachments. This has nothing to do with the scapulae. Instead, a better term – I stole from Sue Falsone – is controlled scapular mobility.
4. The “anti-flexion” movement has given rise to a host of other equally deleterious imbalances to shoulder (and spinal) health; namely those “stuck” in gross extension, and subsequently depressed/low shoulder girdles and downwardly rotated scapulae.
This is important because how you go about “treating” and programming for these individuals will often be in stark contrast to the likes of computer guy (and zombies), who are stuck in flexion. For instance, for those in a more extended posture it’s not uncommon to hammer upper trap activation to help improve scapular upward rotation.
Something most “computer guys” won’t need. They may need to improve upward rotation, but NOT by means of MORE upper trap activation.
5. Not everyone is meant – or designed (we need to appreciate and respect people’s anatomy and bony limitations) – to squat ass-to-grass. The internet disagrees and it can go fuck itself.
6. Perceived mobility restrictions could very well be lack of motor control and/or instability. Don’t assume limited ROM in any movement means you need to stretch for endless hours or “smash” a muscle with a foam roller, lacrosse ball, barbell, or for the more hardcore SMR types, a live grenade.
Aggressive soft tissue work has a time and place, but I do feel many take it too far.
7. Along those same lines, improving proximal stability with things like plank variations and rolling patterns – to help aid core firing and stability – will result in improved distal mobility.
Dean and I didn’t film our lecture(s), but I encourage you to watch the video below of Dr. Perry Nickelston discussing the soft roll.
Also here’s an older video of Dean going all Gandalf on people, showcasing the power of planks at improving hip range of motion.
And here’s a video of me stabbing a SWISS ball. Because, corrective exercise.
And now it’s all over.
As the case is every time I complete a workshop, I did what any self-proclaimed introvert would do: collapsed on my hotel bed, vegged out, and binge watched HGTV.
What can I say: Nothing says I live life dangerously more than House Hunters and Property Brothers.
It was an early wake-up call this morning, and as I type these words on my keyboard I’m sitting here in the airport waiting for my flight to Cincinnati where I’ll connect back to Boston.
I didn’t have anything concrete to write about today, but then I remembered a question one of the attendees of the workshop this past weekend asked me prior to starting on Saturday:
“How did you get so good with shoulder stuff? Where did you learn it from?”
It was a huge compliment. It made me feel good. But it also caught me a little off guard, because I don’t consider myself anything special with regards to shoulder knowledge.
If we’re discussing the ability to quote the movie GoodFellas, regurgitate random Mark McGwire baseball statistics, and list, alphabetically, the name of each character to die in Game of Thrones…then I’m the shit.
But shoulders? I guess I’m okay. I’m also my own worst critic. I know I know a thing or two.
However, I think anyone would feel inferior in this department if one of their best friends was Eric Cressey.
Then again, that’s part of the reason I’m comfortable with the topic.
That and what I wanted to briefly discuss today:
The Law of Repeated Exposure(s)
Mind you, I don’t believe this is a real thing, much less a law. Not like The Law of Thermodynamics or The Law of Gravity or The Law of Paula Patton’s hotness.
This “law” is more or less something I made up, but nonetheless pertinent to the conversation.
Simply stated: the more you immerse or “expose” yourself to any given topic or thing (<- how’s that for science), the more likely you are to have some degree of mastery in it.
As an example Dean and I were discussing the Strong First certification this past weekend with the attendees, and he mentioned to everyone that when he took the course last year he performed roughly 3000 kettlebell swings in two days.
Likewise, how does someone get better at deadlifting, squatting, or chin-ups?
They do them. A lot.
I work with a lot of women, and one of the common themes I notice is their apprehension or reluctance at their ability to perform a strict, full-ROM chin-up.
Whether it’s via negative self-talk (“I’ll never be able to do that!”) or the fact much of the mainstream media channels them into believing they’re these delicate flowers that can’t (or worse, shouldn’t) train with appreciable weight or intensity…many (not all) have waived the white flag before having tried.
And even if they do try, it’s less a real, valiant attempt than it is a whimper. Training the chin-up once – maybe twice – per week isn’t going to cut it.
I often defer to my good friend, Artemis Scantalides, who, is not only an outstanding coach, a Strong First instructor, one of only a handful of women to complete the Iron Maiden Challenge, and a black belt in Kung-Fu, but also champions the idea of training the chin-up in some way or fashion – varying set/rep schemes, accessory movements, etc – 4-6x per week.
That’s how you get better and more proficient with it.
Taking the “law” outside of the realm of health and fitness, it’s still every bit as efficacious.
What do writers do to get better at writing? They write.
It’s every bit as much of a learned skill as acting, throwing a baseball, learning to play guitar, or finally beating Mike Tyson in Mike Tyson’s Punch Out.
I’ve written well over 1,800 blog posts on this site, and cringe at some of my early work. I still cringe and struggle with the bulk of my writing today (I have yet to meet anyone who does a fair bit of writing and believes he or she is a “good” writer). But I know I’m better than I was 2006.
Chefs get better the more they cook. Dancers get better the more they dance. Nerds get better at not getting laid the more Star Trek conventions they go to.12
It all falls under the same umbrella.
The more you do something and the more you expose yourself to the material, the more confident you are in your abilities to master it.
Coming back full circle to shoulders: I still don’t consider myself an expert. But there’s a lot to be said from all the assessments I’ve done in the past eight years, the sheer number of overhead athletes I’ve worked with, programs I’ve written, the countless articles and books I’ve read, DVDs I’ve watched, and seminars/workshops I’ve attended.
Too, I understand that having access to someone like Eric Cressey and the amazing group of coaches I’m surrounded by on a daily basis puts me at a slight advantage.
But that’s also because I’ve worked hard to put myself if in that situation. Doing so has allowed me opportunities I otherwise couldn’t have fathomed ever happening.
Like teaching at this past weekend’s workshop.
Here’s the Lesson
Regardless of what you want to get better at: Shoulder anatomy, assessment, biceps, Scrabble, posting cute cat pictures on the internet, whatever. There is no one correct way or answer. The onus is on YOU.
Ask questions and be inquisitive. That goes without saying. But also do whatever it takes to get as many repeat exposures to the material as possible.
A friend of mine and amazing writer, James Fell, wrote a clever piece recently titled Gym Etiquette 101 highligting some of the not-so-etiquette-like shenanigans many gym goers are violators of.
Give it a read. It’s hilarious.
After reading it myself I was inspired to shell out my own list of Gym Etiquette rules.
Admittedly I sort of live in a gym etiquette bubble at Cressey Sports Performance. We have the luxury of setting the standard, frowning upon, and “policing” many of the things that would otherwise be par-for-the-course at your typical commercial gym.
Case in point: here’s the sign that greeted all of our athletes and (non-athlete) clients when they passed through our doors circa 2008-2010.
We’ve since rescinding from making the sign public – we felt it didn’t bode well giving off a good first impression with parents – but the “rule” still exists.
Whenever I see a young athlete stopping a session to walk over to check his phone I’ll follow suite and say something to the effect of “unless you’re texting with Emma Watson about your plans for dinner tonight, get back over to the squat rack.”
Likewise you won’t see anyone at CSP get all huffy about sharing a piece of equipment. Yelling or grunting during a set is encouraged. If you’re not using chalk (and wearing lifting gloves instead) you’re a tool. And you can’t load up the leg press machine and then leave all your weights because we don’t have a leg press machine to begin with.
Nah-na-na-na-nah.
Similarly there are a handful of implied “un-written” rules as well. Like:
Thurdays are generally reserved for Tony’s Techno Thurdays.13
Eric will inevitably throw his hands in the air, say something along the lines of “this music is making my ears bleed,” and then put on Linkin Park radio.
No direct arm work until you’re able to perform one strict, bodyweight chin-up (women) or five chin-ups (men).
Tony has to coach with his shirt on. Which is BS.
Don’t feed Tank! He’s like a Gremlin.
Pretty simple, right?
However, all of this isn’t to say I never have the opportunity to venture outside my little bubble and train at a commercial gym. I like visiting different gyms now and again, if for nothing else to have a change of scenery (and for the entertainment value).
When this happens I’m always amused as to some of the things that transpire and some of the etiquette rules that are broken.
It’s as if people’s social filter is somehow blocked when they’re surrounded by barbells and dumbbells. Or maybe it’s the plume of Axe Body Spray rendering people inert from giving a shit.
Either way here are some of my own thoughts.
Gym Etiquette 201
1. I can’t reiterate enough how annoying it is when people offer unsolicited advice. I’ve never done it personally, but have been approached by random people in the past who asked me a question or two. That’s different. If someone goes out of their way to ask you your advice or opinion on something, have at it.
If someone is minding their own business (especially if they’re wearing headphones) – and even if the exercise they’re doing resembles more of a mating dance than an actual exercise – keep your yapper shut. Move along with your life. No one cares.
2. However, for many new personal trainers who have to log “floor hours”14 at the start of their employment, offering unsolicited advice is kinda what you have to do to “recruit” potential clients.
Tread lightly.
Don’t he the guy or girl who approaches everyone within a two-mile radius to correct their technique. It’s one thing to offer some words of insight or encouragement to someone who’s obviously struggling or runs the risk of injuring themselves. It’s another thing to interrupt the guy deadlifting 400+ lbs (for reps) that he may be lacking some left hip internal rotation which may be affecting his Zone of Apposition.
“Here’s my card, we should talk.”
Have some “feel” and know when to pick your battles.
When I worked in commercial gyms I always found success showing people new exercises or a slight tweak to one they’re already doing, and then moved on. I didn’t linger like a creepoid and proceed to the awkward, “soooo, are you looking for a personal trainer” conversation.
They way I saw it: if I offered a quick ah-HA moment to a few people per day – which was no biggie since I was being paid for my time anyways – and didn’t make things awkward, at some point the law averages would dictate someone would bite and seek me out for my services.
I also offered “free” 15-30 minute tutorials where I broke down technique on a specific movement (squat, KB swing) or maybe gave a quick-n-dirty core training class and introduced people to deadbugs,Pallof Presses, or not sit-ups.
3. Another thing to consider – if you are an uppity douche and always insisting on giving people unsolicited advice – is to know what you’re talking about. This is especially true if you’re a personal trainer.
I once had a trainer come up to me at a commercial gym to inform me I wasn’t going down low enough on my squats and that I was leaning too far forward.
I had just completed a set of good mornings.
4. Hey guy who can’t walk past a mirror without doing one of those fake I-have-sweat-on-my-forehead-and-need-to-wipe-it-off-with-my-shirt-but-what-I’m-really-doing-is-checking-out-my-abs moves.
Once or twice you get a mulligan.
After that, stop it. You’re abs didn’t disappear. They’re still there.
5. I actually don’t care if someone makes noise when training. It’s a gym not a library. In a commercial gym, though, it can get a little controversial because some people take it a little too far.
I won’t name the actor, but I remember a few years ago I was training at a reputable high-end gym when, after a set of deadlifts, I heard the most audacious roaring coming from around the corner.
I had to go take a peek.
I was expecting to see some ginormous human being lifting a bulldozer. What I found instead was said actor finishing a set of DB presses with 50 lbs.
YEAH! You’re the man.
6. Like everyone else I Earth, I have a particular affinity towards water. And, I think it’s awesome you’re someone who takes their hydration so seriously that you carry around a gallon jug to ensure you’re hydrated to the best of your ability.
But do you have to fill up the entire jug at the gym when five other people are waiting in line at the water fountain?
7. I’m all for pumping yourself up prior to a big lift. But spare everyone the HEY EVERYONE LOOK AT MEWWE worthy entrance before every set.
Trust me: you’re not the Ultimate Warrior. And a 225 lb quarter squat isn’t impressing anyone.
8. Guys: just because a woman is in the free-weight area doesn’t mean she needs you to come “rescue” her and offer a spot with every single lift. She’s good.
9. Everyone (men and women): just because a woman is squatting or deadlifting doesn’t mean she’s automatically an athlete or is training for some sort of competition.
My wife has the best response whenever someone asks her “Whoa. You’re really getting after it. What are you training for?”
“Life. I’m training for life.”
10. We all have our biases and what we like to do. Meatheads like to lift. Yogis like to yoga. Pilates people like to pilaticize. Runners like to run. CrossFitters like to to perform scoliosis for AMRAP.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T74Xek-pDLM
Just kidding CrossFit. Kinda….;o)
It’s all good. Whatever makes people happy and gets them moving is a win. Lets stop being so judgmental towards one another, attempting to prove one way is inferior to YOUR way, and trying to “one-up” everyone else.
It’s one thing if someone is paying you for your advise and expertise and have hired you to help them achieve a specific goal. If that’s the case you use whatever modality is the best fit for them, their goals, their ability level, and what you’re comfortable coaching.
In one corner we have the evidence based coach who won’t let his or her client/athlete perform anything without a PubMed reference in hand. And at the other corner we have the coach who relies on anecdotal experience and feels just because it worked for his or her’s clients/athletes that it must apply to everyone else.
It’s a never ending battle of back and forth shenanigans, name calling, and vitriol similar to the exploits of the Jedi vs. the Sith or the Autobots vs. the Decepticons.
Who’s right vs. who’s wrong? Who’s good vs. who’s bad?
I for one feel the best approach is one that adopts both sides. I see value in both…each having it’s own unique set of advantages and disadvantages.
Put another way: in terms of figuring out the “best” approach to anything (as it relates to getting people bigger, faster, stronger, and harder to kill) my thoughts mirror that of the Godfather of behavioral economics, Richard Thaler:
“I try out lots of ideas, get quick feedback, and learn in the best possible way: theory-driven intuition tested by trial and error.”
That’s about as fair and charitable of a statement as I can muster on the topic.
Which brings me to an email I received this past weekend from a young, up-and-coming fitness professional:
“I recently started an S&C internship at a D1 school (won’t give the name). I want to go into college S&C so I figured this was a great opportunity to learn from the “best.”
However I have been following you, Cressey, Boyle, and Somerset for a couple of years now and I love how you are pushing the field forward.
I mentioned to the strength coaches I follow you guys and they rolled their eyes at me and said “why would you follow random dudes and not read publications and research.”
I bit my tongue and stayed quiet because I’m an intern, but what I really wanted to do was punch a wall. I believe you all stay ahead of the game and you have inspired me and taught me so much. I would love your thoughts on college S&C and the mindset of the coaches I’m learning under now.”
My initial reaction.
I find this unfortunate to say the least. Not that I have to sit here and defend my honor (and that of my colleagues) – I believe our collective body of work speaks for itself – but I’m going to do just that. Only for a minute. Promise.
In terms of myself and Eric Cressey (and Pete Dupuis): we’ve grown a business that started in 2007 in a 2200 square foot space we rented inside an indoor batting facility training mostly local high-school athletes, to a now 15,000 square foot space training professional baseball players from every level from every affiliated MLB team, not to mention athletes and general fitness clients from all over the US and world.
I’d like to think that we’ve done so via an equal parts evidence based approach and anecdotal. And bicep curls.
Do I really need to defend Mike Boyle? Come on!
And as far as (Dean) Somerset is concerned: the guy is one of the smartest guys I know who can regurgitate studies by memory and who’s built one of the best reputations in the industry for being able to “dumb down” research into more bite sized information bons-bons that guys like myself can understand. That, and he has build a very successful fitness business training thousands of people in the past few years.
In short: even though guys like myself, Eric, Dean, Boyle, and a vast array of others are writing for various websites and our own blogs (how dare we!), we do in fact, actually coach people. In real life.
So, in many ways, we’re doing “research” on a daily basis, finding out what works and what doesn’t, and learning to assimilate the information we come across as it best applies to our athletes/clients.
Ol’ Boys Club
Giving credit where it’s due: I applaud the young coach who sent the email for keeping his mouth shut. The last thing he or she wants to happen is to yap away at their superiors and come across as some know-it-all entitled hipster after having coached for all of eleven seconds.
If you’re in someone’s “house” as a guest, you respect their rules and their way of doing things.
I don’t know what Division I program he’s referring to, but we have to understand that some (not all) strength and conditioning coaches at that level have one hand tied behind their back as far as how much “freedom” they have outside of the program itself.
As my colleague, Jim Laird, pointed out:
“I think much of that attitude stems from jealousy. Many college coaches just do not have time to do stuff online or not allowed to. They see private sector coaches doing stuff online getting recognition and it steals their thunder and authority.”
While I agree, I do feel it’s a minority mindset. A shitty mindset, mind you…but a minority one. As an example, I’m good friends with the entire staff at Boston University Strength & Conditioning and they couldn’t be a more open-minded staff willing to try new things and listen to what others have to say.
They use research all the time. I’ve seen their programs and I’ve seen the books and journals on their desks. But I can’t tell you how many times I’ve walked in – I train there 1-2x per week – and one of the coaches will pull me aside to ask my opinion on something or ask me what blogs I’m reading lately. It’s refreshing to say the least.
They don’t (always) need a double blind study to do the thinking for them. There’s a zero ol’ boys vibe.
As strength coach, Henry Lau, notes:
“As a S&C coach, it’s not one’s job to “read” research, though more likely to assimilate methodologies to make better athletes. Why some coaches think it’s great to read journals and make up their own ideas from a limited view is intellectual dishonesty.”
And We’re Doing A lot of Assuming
I for one HATE reading research. This isn’t to say I discount it or that I don’t understand (and respect) its role in furthering our knowledge in the field. But am I wrong to state that research is designed to ask more questions, not to necessarily answer all of them?
What’s more, what many fail to realize – and guys like Brad Schoenfeld, Bret Contreras, Nick Tumminello, amongst others can attest to – is that research studies and books are often 2,3, sometimes 4 years behind the curve with regards to the information it’s relaying. By the time a study or book is released – years after the fact – the information is already outdated (or has been expounded on).
Nowadays blogs and websites are what people read to stay “up-to-date” and relevant.
Besides that, we’re assuming that most people can actually read the research, and more importantly…understand it. It’s not as easy as one may think. Reading research is every bit as much of a learned skill as riding a bike or writing computer code or pretending to listen to your wife when she’s updating you on her day when what you’re actually doing is repeating the lyrics from The Fresh Prince of Bel Air in your head.
Take for example the following random study I found on PubMed using the keyword “muscle hypertrophy:”
I admire anyone who can read something like that and be all like “yep, makes total sense, got it.” For me though: I’d make it through the first paragraph and probably black out and not remember a thing I just read.
I’ll read it, pick up a few things (maybe), but it’s really hard for me to digest most of it.
Plus, and this can’t be discounted: Research is great, but it’s practical application can be limited because things are controlled quite strictly for the research to be valid and effective. We don’t necessarily live in this “research bubble” where everything is hunky-dorey.
That, and many (not all) fitness-based studies involve untrained, fasted individuals, or worse, mice. Not exactly the most relevant and useful ball of information to correlate to a trained, presumably high-level population.
And at the end of the day what do most people use research for anyways? To answer questions, yes….but to also validate their own set of beliefs and biases. I mean, technically, you can find research to back anything up. We used to have research that stated smoking was good for us.
To Summarize
BOTH sides of the argument (it’s a stupid argument to have IMO) are important and have their role. By reading journals, articles, and research one will expand their own knowledge and hopefully develop critical analysis of research, methodology, and conclusions.
However it comes down to more than only book smarts. As strength coach, Kevin Shattock so astutely states:
“It’s only after the above is reached where one can understand HOW and IF the findings can be applied to their particular settings and environment. This is what the likes of Cressey, et al do well.
But by simply “following ” these guys on social media, you may gain (& often do) gain great insights, thoughts, ideas etc the intern, young S&C is missing a crucial part of the coaching journey, the WHY you do something, the understanding on a fundamental level.
Research is NOT everything, but it can be a great starting point to develop YOUR OWN ideas, thoughts, perspective and methods, just as careful observation of great practitioners can be.”
In the end: To be a great coach you cannot discount either approach. I’d argue that in order to truly grow as a fitness professional (and by extension to possibly innovate) you should use practice both.
It’s every bit as much of a learned skill as acting, throwing a baseball, learning to play guitar, or finally beating Mike Tyson in Mike Tyson’s Punch Out.
