CategoriesMiscellaneous Miscellany Uncategorized

Miscellaneous Miscellany Monday: Yes, I Watched the Golden Globes. Don’t Judge Me!

I just realized it’s been a good 5-6 weeks since I’ve done one of these, which is just completely unacceptable.   Part of me feels like I’m doing a disservice to everyone by “wasting” a day to post about random shit.

I mean does everyone really care that I watched every minute of the Golden Globes last night?

Hell yeah you do!

1. If you missed them – all sorts of shenanigans went down.  Tina Fey and Amy Poehler did a bang-up job hosting.  While I didn’t get my panties all up in a bunch like a lot of people did when Ricky Gervais hosted last year, I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t a breath of fresh air to see that they didn’t go out of their way to “roast” all the attendees.

While on one hand I think if you’re making upwards of $10 million+ to pretend you’re someone else on screen, you should be able to suck it up if someone wants to bust your chops a little bit.

On the other, I don’t necessarily feel someone deserves to be humiliated in front of millions of viewers.

Nevertheless, I was happy to see my boy (as if I know him?) Quentin Tarantino win Best Screenplay for Django Unchained, and was equally as happy to see Ben Affleck (Ben freakin Affleck!) win Best Director (and Best Picture) for Argo.

I’ve had my qualms with Ben in the past. Namely for marrying my long-time crush (from her Alias days) Jennifer Garner, and you know, for making all of us suffer through Gigli.

But I have to say, he’s completely redeemed himself.  I was really impressed when he made his directorial debut with Gone, Baby Gone back in 2007. I was dumbfounded when The Town came out.

Many – myself included – felt Gone, Baby Gone might have been some kind a fluke; beginner’s luck if you will.

But when The Town came out two years ago, anyone who loves movies could tell that he had a knack for this directing thing.

With Argo, he’s easily established himself as one of the A-list directors in H-town.  And, giving credit where credit is due:  the guy’s grown on me as an actor as well.

If you haven’t see it already, I suggest you do it ASAP.

I read the other day that he’s in cohoots with Jason Bourne Matt Damon to make a movie based off the life of Whitey Bulger. Which basically means that if they decide to film in Boston (which I don’t see why they wouldn’t), the entire city is going to go into apeshit mode.

OMGOMGOMGOMG  – it’s going to be awesome.

The other highlights from last night: Wolverine can sing! He won for Best Actor in Les Miserables.  I haven’t seen it yet (mainly because I pee standing up), but stranger things have happened and I’ll most likely check it out soon.

The Oscars are next.  See you in a few weeks.

 2. One of the more common questions I receive on a somewhat regular basis is Tony are those your pecs or cinderblocks you have underneath that shirt? Tony, what’s your beef against Olympic lifting?

Presumably many are under the assumption that because I don’t discuss OLY lifting that much – or that I never program it – I’m adamantly against it.

Au contraire mon soeur.

This couldn’t be further from the truth!

For starters, as a strength coach, I’d be the worst one in history if I was somehow opposed to the OLY lifts. I think it goes without saying that they’re an unparalleled tool to help build explosiveness, power, and overall athleticism.

Thing is:  I don’t have a lot (if any) experience with them. As such, I don’t really go out of my way to coach them, or include them in any of my programs, because I’d be a walking ball of fail if I tried. If anything, I’m taking a huge bite of humble pie by admitting that I don’t feel comfortable as a coach including OLY lifting in my programs.

This isn’t to say that we don’t have other coaches at CP who have more hands-on experience with them and are more comfortable around them. But for me, I think I’d be doing my athletes and clients and disservice by pretending that I know what I’m talking about.

Besides, we make do with various med ball drills, sprinting drills, and the like, which get the job done.

Considering we don’t necessarily know how long we have each athlete for, it makes much more sense from a time-efficiency standpoint to utilize less “coaching intensive” protocols.

Sadly, there are quite a few coaches and trainers out there who don’t have the same mentality as myself. Instead of admitting their weaknesses, they pretend to know what they’re talking about at best coaching people with god-awful technique, and at worst……hurting someone.

That said, recognizing my weaknesses as a coach, I’ve started to delve a little deeper and started to read and watch various texts and DVDs on Olympic lifting.  It’s a whirlwind for sure, but something I feel will help make me a better coach in the grand scheme of things.

As luck would have it, I was sent an advance copy of Will Fleming’s Complete Olympic Lifting DVD a few weeks ago, and it’s been awesome.

The problem isn’t deciding whether or not to incorporate these lifts into our programs. It’s getting your athletes to properly execute them.

And THAT’S what’s helped me the most.

It takes you through the process of assessing, teaching and fixing the Olympic Lifts (and their variations) in a simple, straight forward way you can begin implementing immediately.

No technical jargon. No fluff. No scientific text. No cowbell.

If you’re like me, and the thought of OLY lifting makes you cower in the corner sucking your thumb, I’d highly suggest checking this fantastic resource out.

It’s on sale this week for 40% off the regular price, which is a steal if you ask me.

Check it out HERE, and thank me later.

3.  For more of universal flavor, and because bootcamps are now all the rage in the fitness industry, Mike Robertson, along with Jim Laird and Molly Galbraith have just released a 30-minute webinar as a precursor to their Bootcamp in a Box product coming out later this week (Tuesday, Jan. 15th in fact).

This is a product geared towards bootcamp owners that want to run a smarter and safer bootcamp.

I know all you hear right now is blah, blah, blah, just another bootcamp product to throw onto the “not interested” list.

But what differentiates this from all the other similar products there is:

  • I personally know Mike (as well as Jim and Molly) and know they’re all passionate about the type of information they put out there, and won’t allow themselves to put out a poo-poo product.
  • This is a DVD and manual which gives you – on a platter – an entire training system that you can use with your bootcamp clients.

It entails 6-months of done-for-you programming, progressions and regressions for all the major movement categories, and they’ve literally taken any guesswork out of the program.

For what it’s worth, many of the principles covered are things we’ve incorporated into our own Excellence Bootcamps at Cressey Performance

Like I said, the 30-minute webinar is FREE, and will give you a better idea of what the system entails.

Check it out HERE.

4.  And lastly, I want to touch on the whole training women while they’re pregnant topic. I’ve personally trained a handful of women through their pregnancies, and I’m currently training two as I type this.

Well, I mean not literally as I type this, but you know what I mean.

I definitely have some strong viewpoints on this topic – and I do want to share them in more detail – but I’d be curious to hear what other’s have to say (or think).

For me there’s a massive dichotomy between what I do and what most (not all) of the research says we should be doing.

While it definitely comes down to the individual, their comfort level, listening to their body, as well as their past training history, I find it asinine that there are physicians out there (and even more articles) that suggest that “training” should revolve around light walking and what mounts to arm circles.

For me, when I’m working with someone who’s pregnant, it’s about preparing them for something a helluva lot more significant than lifting pink dumbbells or anything I’ll ever have to do.

In my eyes, if they’re able to grow and push a human being out of their body, they’re capable of lifting a barbell off the ground.

Sometimes even over their head.  Repeatedly.  GASP!!!!!!!!

But again, this definitely doesn’t apply to everyone. I understand that there are subtle training modifications that should be addressed trimester to trimester, and there are times where extenuating circumstances come in to play as far as complications are concerned.

In my experience, however, these are few and far between and I often feel like we’re being overly cautious.

Now, I’m not insinuating that someone carrying child should go out and try to hit deadlift PRs on a weekly basis or snatch a mack truck over their head.  But I’m certainly in the camp that feels we can offer a lot more than “go walk in the treadmill.”

Like I said, I’d like to jump into this topic with more detail, but I wanted to throw out a “feeler” to see if anyone would bite and offer their insight on the matter.

Soooo, what say you?

CategoriesUncategorized

Stuff to Read While You’re Pretending to Work: Getting Abs, Strength Tips, and Training Women

The past few days have been full of information on my end.  Cressey Performance has been playing host to the Cressey Performance Elite Baseball Mentorship for the past three days, and it’s been unbelievable the amount of knowledge bombs Eric Cressey, Eric Schoenberg, and Matt Blake have been sharing with the over 30 people who have travelled from all over the country – New England, New York, Texas, Seattle, to name a few – to attend.

Sunday was entirely lecture based where the crew discussed much of the lame status quo in the baseball community regarding its often archaic through process with regards to “arm care” and how to train baseball players in general.

In short:  the system is broken what with teams “accepting” that injury is just part of the process.  One stat that really jumped out at me was the fact that injuries in 2011 cost clubs $487 million – or about $16 million PER TEAM – in lost revenue.

Sadly, teams are more prone to spend exorbitant amounts of benjamins on facilities, equipment, and the like, yet skimp out when it comes to spending any amount of money on proper, up-to-date, and relavent rehab.  Or even more proactive, preventative measures for that matter.

Too, the crew spent a lot of time discussing common injuries (and their mechanisms) on Sunday.  One line that I absolutely LOVED was when Eric Schoenberg noted:

If you throw with JUST your arm, than do an “arm care” program!

Essentially, Eric noted that if you’re only working on a “shoulder/arm care” program, you’re missing the whole picture.  It’s a garbage term.

Take for example that anterior core drills can actually be considered an “arm care” program.  I  mean, if one lacks appropriate core stiffness to elevate their arms over their head (which is kind of important for a baseball player to do), and their lats are stiffer than a 2×4, what’s the likelihood their shoulder is going to flip them the middle finger at some point?

Some food for thought, no?

In addition, program design and strength training considerations were discussed.  Like how one would go about managing a strength training program for a pitcher who’s “lax” as opposed to one who’s “stiff.”

And, Matt Blake spent a fair amount of time breaking down pitching mechanics and what he often looks for when tweaking guys’ deliveries.

In short, after attending on Sunday (and Monday where assessment and corrective exercise was heavily discussed) I’m pretty sure if I was at a carnival and walked past one of those “fast pitch” thingamajigs, I’d sit 90MPH, easy.

Needless to say there was a crap ton (ie: a lot) of information shared, and I definitely have a few posts lined up in my head that I write up which I think many of you will enjoy and find beneficial (even if your goal isn’t to throw a 12-6 curveball and make a batter destroy the back of his pants).

Okay, with that out of the way, lets get to this week’s list of Stuff to Read While You’re Pretending to Work:

The Men’s Health Big Book: Getting Abs – Adam Bornstein

Since it’s now officially 2013, and many people are hightailing it to their respective local gyms in droves, I figured it was fitting to point people in the direction of a brand spankin new book that I, along with many of my fitness industry friends – Adam Bornstein, Mike Robertson, John Romaniello, James Smith, Chris Mohr, Nick Tumminello, and many others contributed to.

If you want abs, this is your ticket.

And even if you don’t want abs (or you already have them), this book is chock full of ideas and insights to help you get in the best shape possible.

Be the Man You Would Want Your Sister to Train With – Chad Landers

I thought this was a fantastic article dealing with some of the minor (albeit profound) subtleties that come with training women.

Chad hits the nail on the head with this one, and I highly recommend this to ANY trainers out there who may be reading.

Seriously, don’t skip this one.

4 Strength Training Tips You Won’t Find in Books – Jim Smith

This was an absolute gem written by Smitty (as if that’s any surprise).  I particularly like tip #3:  Not Everyone Can Be a Powerlifter. Or, for that matter, should train like one.

And that’s this week’s list.

On that note, please feel free to share or send me any articles or links to articles you like!  I’m always looking for new material to read, and could always use some new “ammo” for this series.  Either share them below to shoot me an email.

Thanks!

 

CategoriesUncategorized

The Real Rules of Assessment

The topic of assessment can be a daunting subject to tackle given there have been hundreds – if not thousands – of books, ebooks, manuals, DVDs, tapes (ha – remember those!?), brochures (and whatever other form of media you can think of) that have dissected and scrutinized every nook and cranny.

What else is there to say?  Certainly writing a blog post on the subject isn’t going to enlighten anyone –  especially considering there really isn’t anything new to say.  Likewise, it’s unlikely I’m going to say anything profound or revolutionary that will bring me accolades, a ticker tape parade, or in the event I really blow people’s minds, a Nobel Prize for Being Awesome.

Giving full disclosure, when it comes to assessment, there really is no set protocol I follow.  In the fitness world there are undoubtedly a bevy of phenomenal procedures or “systems” to utilize (FMS, NASM, Assess and Correct, to name a few) – but if I’m going to be honest, there is no ONE  that I prefer over the other.

I think Eric Cressey (my good friend, and business partner) said it best:  at Cressey Performance, with regards to assessment, we take a bit more of a “broad” approach and then dig a little deeper if need be.

Well I should clarify that statement to a degree.  With a large part of our population – specifically all of our baseball guys – we definitely start with a more targeted approach.  With them we’ll immediately delve into nitpicky things like total range of motion (IR + ER) between throwing and non-throwing sides, check their scapular upward/downward rotation, shoulder flexion, and the like.

After placing them under the microscope, we’ll then start to incorporate more generalized screens like the Thomas Test, adductor length, lunge and squat pattern, so on and so forth.

With such a specialized group of people, it only makes sense to start in that capacity.

On the flip side – with a more generalized population (those looking to lose some fat, increase their general level of badassery, or to look better neked), we’ll usually start with a more “broad” approach and then dig a little deeper if need be.

In the latter scenario, a perfect example would be someone who walks in with a history of chronic lower back pain.  In that case I’m definitely going to want to take a closer look at things and try to see if any red flags pop up that will give me more pertinent information.

The more info I have, the clearer picture I get, and the more likely I am to better ascertain what their needs are and come up with a plan of attack from a programming standpoint.

It’s in this type of scenario where having a “cherry picking” attitude towards assessment comes in handy.  I’ll take bits a pieces from the FMS, from some of Dr. McGill’s stuff, Gray Cook, Mike Boyle, Mike Robertson, Charlie Weingroff, Papa Smurf.  It’s all fair game.

Like I said:  I’m not married to one train of thought over the other.

Regardless, I do feel there are some overlying rules or “code of conduct” when it comes to assessment that I’d like to share.  And with that I’d like to share what serves as an umbrella of sorts to my general philosophy when it comes to assessment.

Rule #1: Actually, You Know, Do an Assessment

It still boggles my mind that there are still some fitness professionals out there who don’t even perform an assessment with their clients.  While I know it’s a cliched saying:  if you’re not assessing, you’re guessing.

As I alluded above, I don’t care what type of assessment you follow – everyone has their own preferences            train of thought, and I’m not here to state who’s right and who’s wrong, which systems are worthwhile and which ones are bogus.

BUT:  you’re an a-hole if you’re idea of an assessment is to just show a client the Cybex circuit. If you’re not taking your clients through an assessment, you might as well use a dartboard to write their programs.  Good luck with that.

I am by no means saying that what we do at CP should be considered the gold standard, but just to give everyone an inkling of what an assessment entails:

– Thomas Test, Seated Hip IR/ER, Supine Hip IR/ER, Adductor Length, Hamstring Length, Prone Quad Test, Prone Hip IR/ER, Shoulder IR/ER (total ROM), GIRD?, Shoulder Flexion, Say the Alphabet Backwards (for time)

This takes all of 5-10 minutes (tops) and provides a gulf of information.  For example, if I’m working with a right-handed pitcher coming in with some elbow pain, the first inclination is to look at the elbow (which we obviously do).

But if that’s all I did, and I didn’t test his lead hip IR (which we find is woefully deficient, which means he’s probably opening up on his delivery too soon, which mean’s he’s placing waaaay more valgus stress on his elbow), we’d be barking up the wrong tree.

From there, we like to get people moving.  Testing them on the table is cool and all, but when we train, we move, and I like to see how people move.

– Squat Patern

– Lunge Pattern

– Teach Em’ How to Dougie

Using a general fitness enthusiast as an example, there are several squat “screens” I’ll take people through which I highlighted in THIS article.

But if all I did was a simple overhead squat screen – which most people fail miserably at – and I didn’t dig any deeper, I may just assume that the reason why he or she can’t get to depth is because their hips are tighter than a crow bar.  This is what they’ve been told from several other trainers, so it must be true!

I’ll take people through 3-4 squat screens to see what shakes free.  With the last one I’ll have them hold a counterbalance out in front of their body, and it’s almost profound how much of an improvement you’ll see.

By holding the weight out in front of you as a counterbalance, you’re forced to engage your anterior core musculature, which in turn gives the entire body the stability it needs to allow for more squat depth.

Without performing this last screen, many would automatically assume that the reason they can’t squat to depth is because of a mobility issue, when in fact, as Alwyn Cosgrove has noted on numerous occasions, it’s a stability issue.

Without this differentiation, we can see how many people would be barking up the wrong tree, and doing themselves a massive disservice on the training side of things.

Think what would happen if we omitted or neglected to perform the last squat screen – we’d assume that we have a mobility deficit somewhere and just focus on that one component, rather than address the real issue at hand, namely lack of stability.

Rule #2: You’re Objective Isn’t To Make Them Feel Like a Walking Ball of Fail.

The objective of an assessment is to give you information, not to point out every dysfunction that the person has and make them feel like a loser.

I remember one of the biggest mistakes I made as an upcoming trainer was to try to prove to people who much smarter I was than them.  When I’d start with a new client, I’d take them through an assessment, use big words like synergistic dominance, reciprocal inhibition, and adductor aponeurosis, and try to wow them with my infinite wisdom, intelligence, and witty banter.

Really all I did was come across as a walking douche.

I’d go out of my way to point out every single dysfunction – OMG, your left pinky toe doesn’t dorsiflex 17 degrees! – and honestly, it would turn many of them off.

Don’t get me wrong:  I think it’s important (wand warranted) to point out any concerns or red flags that may appear, but it also doesn’t hurt to have some sort of social filter and tone it down on the first day.   Try not jump at every chance to tell them how much of a train wreck they are.

Rule #3: It’s Still Important to Achieve a Training Effect

Pigging backing on the point above, many trainers get a little too overzealous with assessment and fail to realize that it’s still important to give people a training effect (even if they are banged up).

Think about it this way:  would YOU want to spend an entire hour on a table getting poked and prodded like a piece of meat?  Indeed, there are cases where that’s warranted – particularly when someone presents with a unique injury history. But you might as well just toss in an episode of Army Wives and bore them to tears if all you’re going to do is test hamstring length for an hour.

GET THEM MOVING!!!!!!!!!

At CP we’ve designed our initial assessment to be half table work/showing them how to foam roll/taking them through a general dynamic warm-up and half lets-get-them-on-the training-floor-and-see-what-shakes-free  hodgepodge.

Actually SEEING whether or not your client can perform a proper hip hinge or whether he or she can perform a push-up without compensating willl provide a heckuva lot more information, in my opinion, than testing breathing patterns for 45 minutes.

Rule #4: Make Them Prove You Wrong

And lastly, this is the crux; the creme de le creme if you will.

The REAL point of an assessment is for them to prove to me that they CAN do “stuff.” Listen, I think as fitness professionals (or just general fitness enthusiast) we all know that exercises like squats, deadlifts, rows, pull-up variations, single leg work, etc are going to make the “bulk” of most training programs.

My goal is to get all of my clients squatting, deadlifting, bench pressing, and kicking ass.

What TYPE of squat or deadlift or whatever is where the assessment comes in.  If someone comes in with FAI, I’m sure as shit not going to squat them (at least not past parallel).  But I can more than likely have them perform trap bar deadlifts and single leg work without much fanfare.

Additionally, if I’m working with someone dealing with a shoulder impingement problem, I’m probably not going to have them bench press, but I can probably have them perform dumbbell floor presses (and a crap ton of horizontal rowing) and progress them from there.

The point is:  they must demonstrate to me – through the assessment process – that he or she can perform the things I want them to do in a safe manner, with flawless technique, and without pain.

More importantly (and this can’t be glazed over):  will said exercises point them in the right direction with regards to helping them attain their goals?

In many ways, this is the REAL rationale behind an assessment.  To prove to you – the fitness professional – that they can perform “x” exercise(s) without causing injury or harm.

And That’s That

The above certainly isn’t an exhaustive overview on my thoughts with assessment, but more along the lines of a quick brain dump that (hopefully) sheds some light on things I’ve learned, experienced, and adapted throughout the years.

I think at the end of the day, no one is really right or wrong when it comes to assessment.  There are certainly many, many ways to approach it.

I’d love to hear everyone else’s thoughts.  Agree? Disagree?

CategoriesUncategorized

2012: The Mayans Were Wrong and the “Best Of” In Blog Posts

2012 is about thiiiis close to coming to a close, and since we’re all still here (HA!….take that Mayans!) I thought I’d use the last day and highlight the ten most popular posts of the past year based off of the total number of visits/hits each received.

It was the best year yet for TonyGentilcore.com, and I can’t thank everyone enough for their continued readership, and more importantly, support.

If I could give every single one of a hug I would.  But not only would that be weird, it’s pretty much impossible.  Nevertheless, please know that I am repeatedly grateful to all of you and here’s hoping that 2013 bring us all happiness, love, and PRs!

 

Fixing the “Tuck Under” When Squatting Parts ONE and TWO

Almost resoundingly, by a few thousand visits, this was a very popular two-part post I wrote on how to fix the tuck under or “butt wink” at the bottom of the squat. I guess people like reading about squats!

All the Hype Behind Kipping Pull-Ups

I don’t know which is more controversial: CrossFit, the so-called “fiscal cliff” we’re about to nose dive off of, Hitler, or the three weeks worth of facial hair that’s currently on my grill (which is a record for me).

In any case, whenever you mention CrossFit, you can bet that the sirens are blasted, and people are going to come out in droves to express their opinion.

Here I take a firm (albeit fair) take as to why I’m not a fan of kipping pull-ups.

Glutes Are the New Biceps

Badonkadonks are where it’s at.  Nuff said.

Box Squats vs. Squat TO Box (Yes, There’s a Difference)

This was a topic of a staff in-service that I did where I discussed some of the (several) intricacies that exist between the box squat and the squat TO box.

As the title suggests, yes, there is a difference.

A Discussion: Weight Loss vs. Fat Loss

The impetus behind this post was an email exchange I had with one of my female clients and a discussion we had on the differences between weight loss and fat loss. It’s a topic I feel many people can glue themselves to because we’ve all been there.

The information and logic provides are sound, but if anything else, what’s most impressive of all is my use of the word  flummoxed.  Seriously, gold star for that one!

5 Coaching Cues:  Deadlift 

I heart deadlifts. So it should come as no surprise that one of the 317 articles (slight exaggeration) I wrote on it should pop up in the top ten. Here I breakdown some common (and uncommon) coaching cues that I often use with my athletes and clients to help improve their technique.

The Perfect Warm-Up?

It’s a rhetorical question, because in the grand scheme of things any warm-up is better than no warm-up at all. Although, if I’m going to be a little biased I think this one is pretty money.

4 Things Your Girlfriend Should Know (Revisted)

I got in a little hot water after posting this article earlier in the year.  You would think, after reading some of the comments I received, that I made a case for why women shouldn’t be allowed to vote!

99% of the people “got” the message:  how the fitness industry panders to women is a complete joke, and there’s a massive double standard: men should lift weight, women should take yoga class.

1% actually hate my guts.  Whatever.

A Girlfriend’s Response 

And wouldn’t you know it, my own girlfriend, Lisa,  came to my rescue like a knight in shining armor.

19 Tips for the Deadlift

I told you really, really like the deadlift.

See you next year!

 

CategoriesStuff to Read While You're Pretending to Work Uncategorized

Stuff to Read While You’re Pretending to Work: Zombies!, Pull-Ups, and the best Warm-Up Article EVER

Wait a second – my alarm went off this morning.  I don’t think I’m dreaming.

*looks out window*

Volcanoes aren’t erupting, the streets aren’t flooded with molten lava, and from what I can tell, everything seems business as usual.

The Mayanpocalypsearmeggedonacaust didn’t happen.  We’re all still here!!!!!!

High Five!

But be weary my friends – we’re still not out of the woods yet.  The day is still young, and you never know when s*** is going to hit the fan.

If things do get real, and you’re forced to fight for your life, whether it be killing a grizzly bear with your nunchucks for your next meal, protecting your family from evil doers, or I don’t know, something less “doom and gloom” like clicking “next” whenever your Pandora station plays a Coldplay song……are you prepared?

Are you in enough ass-kicking shape to do what you need to do to get s*** done? Can you – WILL YOU – survive if you had to go all Snake Plissken on people’s asses?

Well just in case, earlier this week my boy, John Romaniello, released his latest training program:

Zombie Apocalypse Survival Workout

I know some reading are going to dismiss this product due to the “less than serious” premise. To that I say:

1.  Relax!  Don’t take yourself so seriously.

AND

2.  There’s actually a legitimate rationale behind it.

John, along with every other well-known fitness professional I know, routinely gets questions asking his opinion on CrossFit (myself included).

It’s a touchy topic to say the least, and something that has caused a rift between strength coaches, personal trainers, and fitness enthusiasts alike.

On one end of the spectrum you have those who swear by it, and literally eat, drink, breath, and LIVE by CrossFit.

On the other, you have those who loathe it, think it’s a fad, and that it’s hopefully going away.  Like, soon.

Well, it’s not going away.  And while I’ll be the first to admit that I too have my qualms with CrossFit, I also understand that it’s getting people excited to exercise, and there’s a lot to be said for that. How can I possibly poo-poo on that?

Like John I feel the idea of CrossFit is sound – it’s just that its execution is flawed.

To his credit John has been attending at least one CrossFit class a week for the past few months to try to get a better understanding and feel for what the culture is like.

And, not surprisingly, he’s mentioned several times that there are great coaches and absolutely terrible coaches.

The great coaches – and by extension, the most successful CF boxes – understand that it comes down to sound programming.  They take the time to properly coach their clients and use appropriate exercise progressions (and more importantly, regressions) to “guide” them through.

By contrast, the terrible coaches – and unfortunately this seems to be the rule rather than the exception – focus solely on the workouts. How can we completely obliterate our athletes/clients and make them hate life?  How can we – fingers crossed! – make them cough up their spleen?

The latter is what I 100% disagree with, and what I feel gives CrossFit its bad rap.

So what did Roman do?  He started taking CrossFit classes to see if he could fix it.

To quote the man himself:

“I thought to myself, “what if you took the idea of CrossFit–the idea of non-
specification,the idea of having a high level of general proficiency across the
board, and applied intelligent programming–with a classic Roman twist–to
that idea…what would you get?”

It’s a good question, and one worth exploring. So that’s what I did.

What I wound up with was the Zombie Apocalypse Survival Workout. 

Because really, when you strip away the fun and silliness, that’s what ZAW 
really is: my take on CrossFit. It’s CrossFit, Roman style, with all of the issues 
with programming fixed.”

Fittingly, today is the last day of the sale, so if you’re interested you better hurry.  The walking dead could be right around the corner……;o)

6 Coaches Weigh in on Pull-Ups – 6 Coaches, Duh!

Along with Bret Contreras, Ben Bruno, Dean Somerset, Tim Henriques, and Dan Trink, I was asked to contribute to this awesome pull-up article that was put up on T-Nation yesterday.

If we were a boy band, we’d totally be the most diesel boy band ever.

I’d be the shy one.

Warm-Up – Mike Robertson

The title says it all.

I wrote a blog post a while back titled The Perfect Warm-Up?  It was nothing revolutionary, but it cemented my thoughts on what I felt the purpose of a proper warm-up is, and then I offered a different spin on it.

Well, in THIS article – which should be titled The FOR REAL Perfect Warm-Up – Mike breaks everything down from what the warm-up should accomplish for each segment of the body to providing videos of all of his favorite drills.  This is a MUST read.

 

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How to “Stick” the Box Squat

Vacation is over.  Sad face.  Having spent the past three days in paradise (Captiva Island, Florida) soaking up some good ol’ vitamin D, relaxing, eating my fair share of insulin coma inducing foods, and even catching my very first glimpse of a manatee, it’s time to head back to good ol’ Boston, Massachusetts.  I just looked at the local weather there and it’s miserable, rainy, and cold.  Like really cold. Like I can’t feel the left side of my face cold.

Awesome!

In fact, as I type this Lisa and I are in the Ft. Myers airport waiting for our flight to depart.  Per usual, given my affinity for hating to fly, I’m fighting back the urge to hyperventilate into a brown paper bag, but since we have like an hour to kill before we start boarding, I figured I’d spend the time to my advantage and try to bang out a quick blog post.

I’m a ninja like that.

So as it happened, the resort we stayed at in Captiva Island – the SouthSeas Resort – had a fairly well equipped fitness center that we used each day we were there – except yesterday.  HA!

Two out of three days ain’t too shabby, though, right?

Anyways, I wasn’t expecting a Gold’s Gym or anything, but I braced myself for the worst.  Typically when a resort or hotel states that they have a “fitness center,” it generally consists of a treadmill (or two), an old school universal gym complete with an antiquated leg press and lat pulldown station, a few med balls (with no wall to throw them to), and if you’re lucky, a pair of matching dumbbells.

It is what it is. When you take a trip to paradise, it only makes sense that they place more emphasis on the all-you-can-eat buffet rather than the the number of barbells available.

I have to say, though, that this particular fitness center served it’s purpose. It had dumbbells (albeit only up to 50 lbs), a full Life Fitness circuit, as well as a baller functional trainer.  And yes, they had more than enough cardio equipment.

But I have a confession to make.

*cue Darth Vader theme music*

I used a Smith Machine.  To squat in.  Ahhhhhhhhhh.

I know, I know.  It’s blasphemous – but it’s all I had available to me and I had no other choice than to MacGyver the shiznit out of my workouts.

I mean come on: Give me a Smith Machine, a roll of duct tape, a rubber ducky, and some jelly beans, and I can somehow conjure up a killer program.

Nevertheless, I felt kinda “dirty” afterwards, and to make up for it I felt compelled to write a quick post on box squats (as well as commit myself to 47 Hail Mary’s for committing such a sin).

How to “Stick” the Box Squat

I think the box squat is an invaluable tool.  Not only is it a superb way to groove rock-solid squatting technique, it also serves as an excellent exercise that adds unparalleled muscle mass (specifically to the posterior chain:  hamstrings, glutes, mid & upper back), not to mention helps get people uber strong.  If that’s your bag, which it should be.

Unfortunately a lot of things can go wrong when box squatting – knees caving in, upper back rounding, not maintaining more of a vertical shin angle, not sitting back (hip hinging) enough, poor lat (and subsequent thoraco-lumbar) activation, poor bracing, and you even run the risk of splitting your pants wide open in the middle of a set, which actually happened to one of my female clients a few years ago.

It was awesome.  It didn’t even phase her.  She finished the rest of her sets like a rock star.

Needless to say, there’s a lot to think about!

Squatting in general is a fairly technique heavy movement, and if someone isn’t careful to learn proper technique (or doesn’t take the time to properly progress), they run the risk of seriously hurting themselves.

I’m not going to go into too much depth on ALL the intricacies of the squat with this post, but I do want to hammer on one point that I feel doesn’t get enough recognition.

One common mistake I see a lot of people make when BOX squatting is how they “stick” the landing.  Many times it looks something like this:

As you can see in this example, there’s really nothing “technical” about it.  I just plop onto the box.

This is cringe-worthy for two reasons:

1.  You lose ALL tension on the box when doing this.  I’m not a huge fan of the “rocking” variation that some coaches like to teach off the box.  For more advanced lifters this may be appropriate (as they’ve accumulated enough time under the bar to stay out of  spinal end ranges of motion), but for the beginner or intermediate lifter, this could spell disaster.

I much prefer trainees to STICK the landing, pause for a second, and try to maintain as much tension as possible when sitting onto the box.

2.  The second and probably most pertinent point to the post: Your spine will hate you squatting in this manner.

To clarify – the spine can handle compressive loading pretty efficiently and can take care of itself, thank you very much.

I don’t want to cause mass hysteria here.

But when you just plop onto the box like a dead fish, you run the risk of increasing compressive loading twofold. Actually, a lot more than that, but who’s counting?  This becomes even more worrisome when you combine this with losing tension on the box, as one will definitely increase the risk of the spine buckling.

 

Instead, I like to coach people to “land softly” onto the box.  I want to see them initiate the descent by hip hinging like a bastard (read:  hip hinge correctly) while simultaneously pushing their knees out, and as they inch closer to the box, I want them to pretend as if they’re sitting on broken glass.  DO NOT PLOP onto the box.

It looks something like this:

God, that’s sexy.

Hopefully that helps shed some light on one of the lesser known intricacies of proper box squatting.  It’s a minor detail I know, but something I feel a lot of people dismiss.

Now if you excuse me, I have to board my flight.

*grabs blankie and half a gallon of Nyquil*

UPDATE:  I made it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

CategoriesStuff to Read While You're Pretending to Work Uncategorized

Stuff to Read While You’re Pretending to Work: Conditioning? Review of CP Seminar, and Arnold

As this post goes live I’m most likely confined in an airplane on my way to Florida with Lisa for her cousin’s wedding.

We’re actually head to Captiva Island for three days and it’s going to be glorious. I haven’t had any direct sunlight in like two months, and I can’t even remember the last time I had a tan. 1994 maybe?

Plus, things are going to be getting uber busy at the facility within the next week or two with all of our college guys coming home for Christmas break, contributing more or less, to a “perfect storm” of pro baseball players, college baseball players, and high-school baseball players….

…..so this short getaway will serve as a welcome length of quiet before the storm.

That said, as you’re reading this, I’m sitting in a plane (clenching my butt cheeks like you wouldn’t believe), which isn’t one of my more favorite things to do.

Given a choice between lighting my face on fire or flying, lets just say I’d have to think about it.

So of course what did I do all this morning?  Like an asshat I watched videos of plane crashes, of course!

I just want to make sure I’m prepared.  You know, just in case.

Anyways, here’s this week’s stuff to read:

Conditioning is a Sham – Mark Rippetoe

I respect the hell out of Coach Rip, and it’s hard not to love anything the man’s written given his remarkable career and experience.

This article is no different.

Funnily enough, just yesterday I was joking with a few of the guys after performing a high-rep set of deadlifts (405×12), bent over and panting trying to catch my breath, that anyone who thinks strength training can’t count as “cardio” or that it can’t improve your conditioning is crazy.

You don’t need to bring your body to the brink of shitting a kidney in order to improve your conditioning.  No kidding!

1st Annual Cressey Performance Fall Seminar Review, Part II – Matt Kramer & Chad Rodgers

In the last installment of “stuff to read,” I linked to the Matt and Chad’s awesome review of the CP seminar from a few weeks ago.  Here’s part II where they cover both Eric Schoenberg’s and Chris Howard’s topics.

Thanks for doing this fellas!

Arnold Wisdom – John Romaniello

Those who are familiar with John’s writing will eat this post up.  Those who aren’t familiar – well, you’re welcome. Your world just got a little more awesome

And one more BONUS addition.

How to Get Your Period Back – Cassandra Forsythe

I know half my audience will balk at the title (and yes, it’s about EXACTLY what you think it is) but this was an absolute knowledge bomb of an article that I feel should get more attention.

On that note, I’m out!  See everyone when I get back!

CategoriesUncategorized

Cold Case Files With Brian St. Pierre

Both Brian St. Pierre and I have been on an emailing tear this past week, going back and forth on a litany of nutritional topics, and I figured that since I really didn’t have anything flashy or important I wanted to discuss this fine Monday morning I’d give everyone a peek into a few of our e-conversations.

NOTE:  Oh, what’s that?  You don’t know who Brian St. Pierre is?

Well, long time readers of this blog will know exactly who he is. But for those who are a bit newer around these parts, Brian was actually Cressey Performance’s very first full-time intern, part-time employee, full-time employee, and subsequent first employee to leave.  Jerk!

Okay, in his defense he did get married to his lovely wife, Anna, and they ended up having a kid and buying a house up in Maine.  So he gets a mulligan for that one.

Since leaving, he’s gone on to make quite the name for himself getting his Masters in Human Nutrition and Dietetics as well as becoming a coach for Precision Nutrition.

Basically, he’s become one of the “go to” guys for no nonsense nutritional information, and it’s been awesome to see him grow as a professional.

And what’s more, he likes to quote Star Wars, so there’s that.

A few weekends ago we were both in attendance for a mutual friend’s wedding and we ended up sitting at a table discussing a few hot topics in the nutritional realm, which as it happened, spilled over into several back and forth emails last week.

Some of the discussions included:

1. Why type II diabetes can’t (or shouldn’t) be blamed solely on sugar intake. Instead, much of the data suggests that, as Brian notes, “you essentially get it from having too much bodyfat (specifically visceral fat) and/or inflammation (which sugar can contribute to, but is FAR from the definitive cause).”

2. Why is it that cholesterol always seemingly gets the bad rap in the mainstream media?  Sure, roughly 47-50% (0r somewhere in that range, I don’t have the actual number in fromt of me) of people who suffer from a heart attack have high cholesterol levels, and there may be something to look a little deeper into there.

Okay, but what about the other 50% who have a heart attack and have LOW cholesterol levels?  What then?  Huh

3. Why the New York Times bestselling book, Wheat Belly, according to Brian, is a poo-pooey book.

“Much like Taube’s insulin theory,” he noted, “William Davis’ starting premise is simply flawed.  There is certainly some credence to grains and wheat in particular being potentially problematic for some people, but his overall argument is poor.”

Here is a great scientific debunking of his book:

Click ME (<—-and have your world rocked.)

I love talking with Brian about these sort of topics because, unlike a lot of nutritionist out there on the interwebz, he has an uncanny ability to weed through the BS and not fall prey to any preconceived hype.

Needless to say, I really appreciate his candor and the fact that he has an open mind when it comes to many of the “hot topics” in the nutritional world.

Another prime example is a comment I received from a former distance coaching client of mine concerning eggs and oxidized cholesterol levels. Knowing I’m a huge egg fan, and that my preferred way to eat them is in omelet form (onion, bacon, broccoli, salsa, and bullets), he wanted to share a comment which Dr. Batshitcrazy Dr. Mercola wrote on his website about eggs, how you eat them, and oxidized cholesterol levels.

Dr. Mercola:  “Eggs are one of the richest sources of dietary cholesterol, so the way you cook them will influence the level of oxidized cholesterol in your blood. Oxidized cholesterol contributes to hardening of your arteries, which increases your risk of heart disease.

High heat will promote this oxidation. Since there is iron in the egg white, when it combines with the egg yolk that will also oxidize the cholesterol. Scrambled eggs or omelets are one of the least healthy ways to prepare eggs.

Surprisingly, the best way to prepare eggs is to not cook them at all and simply eat the whole egg — yolk and whites — raw. This is an advanced technique, so no need to rush on this one unless you feel especially motivated.

I realize the texture of raw eggs may not be very appealing. If you have strong objections to the texture of eggs, that can be easily modified by whipping them into a meringue or blending them in a protein smoothie. You won’t even notice they’re there!”

Don’t get me wrong, my client had my best interests in mind – and wholeheartedly appreciated his concern.  Still, something in the good Doc’s logic seemed amiss and my bullshit meter was essentially rearing back to round-house kick me in the face.

I decided to ask Brian his opinion.

Brian St. Pierre: “Your bullshit meter should go off.

There is currently no evidence that consumption of oxidized cholesterol leads to oxidized cholesterol in the blood.  Plus how much actually oxidizes is a function of time x air exposure.  A freshly made omelet or some scrambled eggs is little to worry about.

Having high blood levels of oxidized cholesterol is certainly unhealthy and an independent risk factor, however they are not one in the same.

Eating raw eggs is most certainly not the most effective method!  Raw eggs contain avidin, which binds to biotin, preventing its absorption.  Raw egg protein is not as well absorbed as cooked egg protein – the denaturing from the cooking actually improves its absorption.  Plus you are taking an unnecessary salmonella risk!”

I’ve always said that I don’t like to live my life in absolutes (only Siths live in absolutes!), and that keeping an open mind is always the  best approach.

I think it’s important to bring these controversial topics to the forefront every now and then if for nothing else to demonstrate to people that just because someone in the mainstream media says “carbs are evil,” or “eggs cause cancer,” or “unicorns poop diamonds,” that we DO NOT have to take their word as dogma.

What say you?  Do you have anything to offer in the conversation?  I’d love to hear your thoughts!

ADDENDUM:  Brian wanted to make a small clarification for any nitpickers that may be out there concerning the whole cholesterol and oxidation argument:

“There actually is some evidence that consuming oxidized cholesterol can lead to increased levels of oxidized cholesterol in the blood, but overall the research is underwhelming.  They heated the cholesterol for inordinate amounts of time where you are likely getting compounds that you won’t find in scrambled eggs cooked on medium heat.  There is even some evidence for specific methods of causing oxidized dietary cholesterol being less atherogenic in the blood.  All in all, it is much like the fructose data – in supraphysiological amounts it can be problematic, in regards to a normal food consumption pattern, it is not much to worry about.
How much actually oxidizes would be even more appropriately termed as heat x air exposure x time.”
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Stuff to Read While You’re Pretending to Work: Squat Like a Baby?, Letter to Women, and CP Seminar Review

I don’t think I’ve ever said this before, but this week’s list of stuff to read is arguably the best one ever!  I don’t know if it’s because of pure coincidence, the planets aligned just right, the Red Sox signed Mike Napoli, or if it’s simply because people churned out some awesome content this week.

Whatever the case may be, it’s awesome.

First on the list is an EPIC post by my buddy, Nick Tumminello, on what it really means when someone says “everyone should be able to squat like a baby.”

Saying something like that just sounds asinine, and doesn’t make any sense, right?  Sorta like saying, “everyone should be able to fart cinnamon.”

Comparing the anatomy of an adult to that of an infant is just dumb. But in typical Nick fashion he’s a bit more articulate than myself, and explains why this is a faulty belief to carry in your back pocket whether you’re a coach or general fitness enthusiast.

Squat Like a Baby: 7 Reasons This is a Ridiculous Myth – Nick Tumminello

I couldn’t agree more, and while I’ve used the whole “squat like a baby” analogy in the past (more so as a counterpoint to the whole “squatting deep is dangerous” argument), Nick does a bang-up job in debunking this common myth.

As an aside:  I’m currently working on my next T-Nation article which digs into this topic as well, titled Does Everyone Need to Squat (Deep)?

SPOILER ALERT:  No.

Letter to a Client or Why I Don’t Believe in Barre Classes – Emily Giza Socolinsky

If nothing else this post serves as an AMAZING message to women on why they should ditch the pink dumbbells and incorporate more strength training into their repertoire.

From Emily herself:

I believe, as many other women who strength train believe and who are in my field, that women need more than what a barre class offers. Women do not need special classes like barre because they are women and they should “train this way because this is how a woman should train.

Doing tiny little pulses until your thighs burn does nothing but make your thighs burn. So what? As my husband said, “My butt would burn too if you made me squeeze it 100 times. But it won’t help me develop a strong butt.”  You will not build a strong body unless you stress the body ie. lift weights that are more than 5 pounds. No one is telling you that you need to lift 200 lbs (although this is damn impressive and shows true strength and domination.) But 5lbs? Come on.”

And really, that’s just a taste. Emily pours her heart out in this post, and it behooves all of you to take five minutes to read it.  Especially YOU, ladies!!!!!

1st Annual Cressey Performance Fall Seminar Review, Part 1 – Guys From Show-Me-Strength

Given I’m an epic ball of fail for never writing up my own summary on the seminar from a few weeks ago (It was awesome – how’s that????), I breathed a sigh of relief when both Matt Kramer and Chad Rodgers (both of whom train at CP) posted this up on their site yesterday detailing some of the highlights.

CategoriesUncategorized

Talking Shop On The FitCast

Kevin Larrabee reached out to me yesterday and asked if I’d be willing to hop on Skype early this morning (8 freaking 30 thank you very much) and talk a little shop on The FitCast.

Luckily I’m an early riser so I had plenty of time to mentally prepare myself, try to be “on my game,” and more importantly, put some pants on.

It’s a short talk – like 40-45 minutes – and we delve into a few topics that I think many of you would be interested in: like my current deadlift programming, the importance of hip stability, how to coach the hip hinge, some new things we’re doing at Cressey Performance with our clients, and there may or may not be some geek talk on The Hobbit.

HINT:  there totally is.

Anyways, if you have some time to spare, and you’re boss isn’t around, you can check out the episode HERE.