NOTE: I know I just did an Exercises You Should Be Doing installment not too long ago, but I needed something short and quick this morning, so you’re stuck with another one. Don’t you do it! Don’t you roll your eyes at me! I’ll turn this car right around. Don’t test me.
What Is It: Slideboard Bodysaw. For the record, however, if you don’t have access to a slideboard, you can also perform this exercise using a pair of Valslides.
So, in essence, this could also be called the Valslide Bodysaw, or the I’m Too Cheap to Buy a Valslide so I’ll Use This Folded Up Towel On the Gym Floor Instead Bodysaw. Whatever floats your boat.
Who Did I Steal It From: Mike Boyle, in his book Advances in Functional Training, which coincidentally, I briefly discussed yesterday.
What Does It Do: While most fitness enthusiasts- and professionals for that matter- believe the main role of the abdominals is to perform trunk flexion (i.e. countless repetitions of crunches/sit-ups), they may be surprised to find out that their abdominals aren’t, you know, a hamstring.
I’ve discussed my disdain for crunches numerous times, so I won’t belabor the point here. Needless to say, while trunk flexion is certainly one of the primary functions, the abdominals ( rectus abdominus, internal/external obliques, as well as the transverse abdominus), are also responsible for resisting trunk extension, posterior pelvic tilt, and most importantly, transmission of hoop stress; the latter being a fancy name for anti-rotation/stability.
With respect to anti-rotation/stability, most trainees are quick to bemoan the idea of planks. And to be quite frank, I’m right there with them. I mean, planks are about as exciting as a Matchbox 20 concert. Except in the case of planks, I have less of an urge to cut my penis off. Nonetheless, planks do serve a purpose, and as I’ve stated in the past, I’d rather make them harder than longer. Which is exactly what the bodysaw does!
Key Coaching Cues: While squeezing the glutes and keeping the abs tight, assume a plank position with the feet on the slideaboard. Your eyes should be looking directly at your fists to start. From there, simply “push” yourself away (driving through the elbows) as far as you can without your hips dipping. Return back to the starting position, and repeat. Trust me, it’s more challenging than it looks!
1. Isn’t it amazing how there is like a five week build-up to Christmas, and then it’s over in like ten minutes? Always bums be me out. In any case, I hope everyone had a wonderful time with their families. And, more importantly, I hope Santa was good to you. He was certainly good to me to say the least!
I drove to Albany Christmas Eve and stayed with my sister and her family. I woke up Christmas morning and beat my niece and nephew (4 and 7, respectively) down the stairs to see what Santa brought us. Here’s me running into the living room:
Annnnnnnnd, here’s my reaction:
2. Brian St. Pierre wrote a really interesting blog last week titled, The Case Against Conventional Dairy. While I’m not quite as adamant against dairy as Brian (although he is very convincing), I will say that after reading The Vitamin D Cure a few months ago, I have made it a point to decrease some of my dairy consumption; particularly in the form of cheese.
In any case, I highly encourage you to read Brian’s post. I think he brings up a lot of valid points, not to mention he’s also going to get a lot of hate mail this week. Nice work Brian. High five!
3. Speaking of stuff to read:
Advances in Functional Training – highlights many of Mike Boyle’s training concepts and techniques he’s adapted since his first book (Functional Training for Sport). There aren’t many people who have influenced me as much as Coach Boyle, and you’d be hard pressed to find anyone in the field of strength and conditioning who has done more in terms of creating healthy athletes who perform at a high level than he.
What’s more, one of the things that I admire most about Coach Boyle is the fact that he’s not scared to admit when he’s wrong, and he’s open to change; a rare attribute to have in an industry filled with ginormous egos and bravado. In short, this book is basically what he’s changed in the past few years in terms of training philosophy, programming, injury prevention, and corrective exercise, to name a few.
Additionally, Coach Robert Dos Remedios released a book recently titled Cardio Strength Training, which is a little more “user friendly.”
In this book, Coach Remedios does exactly what the titles implies- torch body fat, build muscle, and get stronger faster using complexes, circuits, and other stuff that will undoubtedly leave you asking the question, “why in the hell am I doing this?”
4. Here’s my attempt at a little conventional wisdom. I had one of my online clients e-mail me the other day expressing concern over the fact that his deadlifts felt like, for lack of a better term, shit.
I went 5×5 on deadlifts today and was considerably weaker than I remember being (had to drop the sets from 330 to 315 to 275).
He noted, rightfully so, that he hadn’t done conventional deadlifts for a while, but was still perplexed nonetheless.
Here’s my response:
Also, the fact that you had to lower your weight makes sense. As you noted, you haven’t done conventional deadlifting in a while, so it makes sense that you’d have to lower the weight. As well, even I don’t always increase my weights every time I deadlift.
I mean, the other day I was doing trap bar deadlifts, and all I did was 405 for 5×5 (I normally go in the 480-515 range for this). Point is, you don’t ALWAYS need to break PR’s every week. Sometimes it’s just a matter of getting quality reps in. Even Eric (Cressey) does this. The guy can pull 600+ when he wants, and I saw him doing 405 for reps the other day. Just because you can pull a shit-ton, doesn’t mean you have to.
Granted, the more “advanced” you are, the less you need to do to get the desired effect (specifically with regards to overall volume), but it just goes to show that you don’t need to go balls to the wall every session. Know what I mean? You’re not going to have your A-game every day; nor should you. There’s something to be said about just getting your reps in and calling it a day.
Q: I saw that you previously answered a post in your Locker Room about best tips for hockey players.
What are come general recommendations you would give to a sprinter? Thanks!
A: People have written entire books on this topic, and admittedly this isn’t my area of expertise. However, I do have some general thoughts on the matter that I’d like to drive home.
Generally speaking I’d say:
1. Strengthen the Posterior Chain– you want to run fast, you need to train ass. How’s that for a slogan? Someone needs to make that into a t-shirt, stat.
I’m not going to go into an exhaustive list of exercises you can do, but suffice it to say, as an athlete, you’d be remiss to neglect your posterior chain (glutes, hamstrings, upper/lower back, etc).
Likewise, and this is completely un-related to the question above- you’d also be remiss not to recognize that this badonkadonk deserves it’s own zip code.
YOWSA!!! I can’t tell if that’s a BOSU ball in the background or a Russian satellite crashing back to Earth from the shear gravitational pull of that thing. Am I right, or am I right? Hint: I am.
2. Soft Tissue Work– If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it twice—-do your foam rolling. It still boggles my mind that people don’t recognize it’s importance. Even today, this is STILL an often neglected component of basic programming. In short, this should be done several times per week, if not every day.
3. More Lateral Movement– For obvious reasons, sprinters are very “linear” in their training. It wouldn’t hurt, however, to include more lateral training into the mix. What this simply means is that you could add in some 25 yd shuttle runs, or anything that forces you to change direction for that matter. Not only will it help improve movement quality (we don’t always walk or run in a straight line), but it will also be more metabolically demanding to boot.
4. Distance Running- Don’t do it, for the love of god. You want to get better at sprinting, then you should sprint. Nuff said. To that end, try to read anything and everything by Charlie Francis and/or Vern Gambetta. Like I said above, I’m not expert in this area, but those two are the “go to” guys when it comes to sprinting and sprint mechanics.
5. Core Work- I have yet to meet an athlete (or weekend warrior for that matter) who couldn’t use more direct core training. Despite what many strength and conditioning coaches will say, squats and deadlifts are NOT all you need to hit your core. Specifically, I’m looking to improve core stability. The more “stable” we are, the more efficient we are at transferring force from the lower body to the upper body, which is kind of important when we’re discussing athletic performance.
6. Weekly massage or manual therapy work- We do preventative maintenance for our cars (oil changes, rotate tires, etc), so it only makes sense that we should do the same for our own bodies as well.
7. Condense your training stress. It stands to reason that sprinters, sprint a lot. Couple that with the amount of leg work done in the weight room, and you can surmise that the legs get pretty beat up.
If you can pull it off, I’d do 1-2 days per week of double sessions. On days you train your lower body (squats, deadlifts, single leg work, etc), try to do your sprint work in the AM, and iron work in the PM. Doing so will go a long ways in keeping you fresh, and less beat up as the weeks pass.
On an aside, there’s going to be a lot of autonomy here. Every person has their own strengths/weaknesses, postural issues, pathologies, injury history, etc. There’s obviously going to be some degree of “individualization” here, and I certainly can’t do this within the context of a blog post.
Generally speaking, most athletes need the same stuff——-get them stronger, improve movement quality, and above all, keep them healthy.
That being said, your job as a strength coach (or even if you train yourself) is to not hurt your athletes, or yourself! Dan John talked about this in one of his lectures not too ago. In short, the first role of a strength coach is “DO NO HARM.” There’s absolutely no need to get too advanced here. Keep it simple, and don’t do stupid stuff like squatting on a BOSU ball, or perform 1RM testing for leg extensions.
Believe it or not, we received a book at CP the other day where the author (I’m not going to name names) suggested 1RM leg extensions, among other things that were equally “vomit in my mouth” worthy. I know Alwyn Cosgrove will say that no book will make you dumber, but I’m borderline mentally retarded after reading that book.
All in all, I hope that helps. Certainly not an exhaustive list, but I think it provides some general guidelines that should be useful.
Note: Despite the name, there is no “nekidness” in the video below. It’s totally SFW. God, why does everything have to revolve around sex with you anyways? Grow up!
What Is It: Naked Get-Up. So named because I’m doing this exercise without the use of a kettlebell. Obviously, this exercise can be progressed to
Who Did I Steal It From: Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past few years, you’d have noticed that kettlebells are kind of a big deal lately. Admittedly, I was a bit skeptical about them to start, and just saw them as the next “flavor of the week” in the fitness industry.
Within the past year, however, I’ve definitely grown to view them as a valuable “tool” I can use with my clients and athletes.
To that end, many highly reputable people in the industry are huge advocates of kettlebells- Mike Mahler, Brent Jones, and of course, Dan John—–who is the one person who really convinced me that they’re worth the time and effort to learn.
What Does It Do: I don’t care how much you deadlift or squat, this exercise is about as humbling as it gets. Don’t believe me? Try it tough guy! As such, the naked get-up is a fantastic movement that encompasses a multitude of benefits, including but not limited to scapular stability, hip mobility, and core stability.
Key Coaching Cues: Like Dan John, I like to break down this exercise into three basic parts:
1. Punch and crunch.
2. T-position.
3. Hips High.
It may take a few days (or even weeks) to get the hang of it, but as with anything, practice makes perfect. Obviously, this can be progressed to the point where you could include a kettlebell, but don’t try to be a hero here. I’ve been using this as part of a general warm-up lately, but you could certainly include it anywhere in a training session.
To start, I’d focus on “x” number of reps per side before adding in the kettlebell. As it stands, I have most of my clients performing five repetitions per side for 2-3 sets. Get er’ done!
Sorry folks, it’s been a hectic week at CP, and my blogging has been less than exemplary. I’m headed back to NY this weekend for an early family Christmas get together, and promise I’ll be back next week with regular content.
In the meantime, Adam Campbell, fitness editor for both Men’s Health and Women’s Health magazine respectively, just sent me an e-mail this morning noting that both of his books, The Men’s Health Big Book of Exercises and Women’s Health Big Book of Exercises both go on sale this Tuesday, December 22nd.
You can pre-order you copies on Amazon.com today (linked above), but they’ll also be available next week anywhere books are sold- Barnes and Nobles, Borders, etc. As you can see, I wasn’t asked to be on the cover, but I was fortunate enough to be asked to contribute to the “core” section of both books (ahem, page 336).
As it is, each book is jam packed with pictures and descriptions of every exercise you can imagine, as well as detailed programs written by the likes of Alwyn Cosgrove, Rachel Cosgrove, Bill Hartman, Joe Dowdell, Valerie Waters, and Mike Boyle, to name a few. Highlights include:
Boost Your Bench Press 50 lbs in 8 Weeks
Triple Your Chin-Ups
The Scrawny to Brawny Workout
The Wedding Workout
The Bikini Ready Workout
What’s more, there’s also sections detailing the nutritional side of things as well. Namely, The 8 Healthiest Foods You Aren’t Eating , 25 Super Snacks That Keep You Lean and Fit, and the Biggest Nutritional Lies- Exposed!.
Needless to say, Adam went balls to wall with these books, with no stone left un-turned. Whether you’re a personal trainer, strength coach, or just a fitness enthusiast in general, these books would be an awesome additional to your library.
Now excuse me while I go destroy the back of my pants watching Avatar.
While James Cameron may put his socks on in the morning like the rest of us, he also happens to piss hit movies like no ones’ business. I’ve already got my tickets for next Friday at the IMAX theater, in 3D no less. BOO-YAH!
In other news, I made a little cameo appearance in the most recent article on t-muscle today.
When it comes to building muscle, more of the good stuff is usually better.
More iron, more food, more sleep, etc. will usually transfer into more weight on the scale and more beef on your frame.
But the thing is, try as you might, you can’t eat everything; even if it’s just quality food. Nor can you take every supplement, even if you could afford to……..
Four months ago, I became a new father. Needless to say, any sort of training went pretty much out the window at that time. I’m trying to get back into it, but find time hard to come by these days. I’m wondering if there’s a handful of key exercises to focus on to maintain strength or possibly get some gains, no matter how minor.
For instance, in terms of getting the best benefit out of my time, I was thinking push-ups into side planks and squats; since both work multiple large muscle groups. Another thing I’ve considered is throwing throwing together exercises that can be done at home with a basic set of weights, rather than requiring a trip to the gym (additional time needed in travel).
There are two factors that I recognize from reading your blog regularly that you might take issue with, so hopefully I can clear those up in advance.
A) I’m not one of the people watching TV for an hour or two a night and saying I don’t have time to work out. Any time the TV is on at our house these days, it’s in conjunction with something else (meal prep, putting away laundry, chores, etc).
B) Part of the reason I don’t have a ton of time for strength training is that I do try to get some cardio in on a regular basis. Primarily I row, bike, or rollerblade in order to keep up my endurance. I play hockey year-round and find that if I slack off on cardio, my play suffers greatly. Similar to the time-efficient exercises I’m proposing, I try to get the most out of my cardio by keeping my heart rate up (with use of monitor), setting a fast cadence, and including sprints/intervals, as opposed to jumping on a treadmill and go one pace for an hour, which I know gets you going.
A: First and foremost, congratulations on the new baby and becoming a father! Truth be told, I’ve often contemplated whether or not I’d like to have one of those myself in the future, but then I realize that A). I actually like sleeping, and B). unless I can name my kid Rambo, it’s probably not worth it. What’s more, I just referred to your new born child as “one of those,” which probably tells you something about my parenting skills.
Seriously though, congratulations!
With regards to your question, it sounds like you’ve got the right mindset. As you noted, time efficiency is key here. And, given that you’re a regular reader of my blog, it should come as no surprise that I’d recommend exercises/movements that will give you the best “bang for your training buck.” If your time is limited as it is, it only makes sense to focus on the “money” exercises such as squats, deadlifts, pull-ups, row variations, push-ups, etc.
That said, here’s how I would approach things:
1. If you can, try to get to the gym at least once per week. Granted, you may have to pull off some covert operation and tell the wife you’re going to the store to pick up some diapers in order to do it. I don’t care, get it done. When she asks why it took you 45 minutes. Run.
2. While you’ll have more exercise options at the gym, that doesn’t mean you still can’t get after it at home as well- even with limited equipment (barbells, dumbbells, pull-up bar, med balls, etc). I’d recommend setting up circuits:
A1. DB Suitcase Deadlift
A2. Renegade Rows w/Push-Up
A3. DB Split Squat (per leg)
A4. Med Ball Floor Slams
A5. Barbell Roll-Outs
OR
A1. Front Squats
A2. Pull-Ups
A3. DB Reverse Lunge (per leg)
A4. DB Row (per arm)
A5. Burpees
You can do these routines in A-B-A fashion, performing each exercise for 8-10 repetitions each with no rest (A1-A5). Once you’ve completed at entire circuit, rest for 60-90 seconds, then repeat for a total of 3-5 circuits. You could easily get this done within 20 minutes- if you’re crunched for time.
With this kind of pairing, not only do you incorporate your strength training, but you also get a metabolic effect as well. It’s a win-win.
SIDE NOTE: I’d be remiss not to mention that you wouldn’t follow this format forever. There’s obviously a plethora of different things you can do here. Don’t be scared to switch up the exercises, set/rep schemes, etc every so often. Likewise, each session should start with a proper dynamic warm-up, and don’t forget your foam rolling!
Remember too, that strength training CAN be considered “cardio” as well. Anything that elevates your heart rate is technically cardiovascular in nature. I’d challenge anyone to go through the above workout and tell me their heart rate isn’t elevated. Many people mistakenly use cardio and aerobic training interchangeably. Cardio is an elevated heart rate. Aerobic is a sustained elevated heart rate for a specific duration of time.
As it is, I think the fact you’re including more interval type training is perfect. Again, it comes down to time efficiency. It still amazes me that given the resounding amount of research backing the efficacy of interval training towards improvements in VO2 max and fat loss, that people still feel that steady state work is more beneficial. If I told you that you could get the same results (sometimes twice the results) in half the time, why wouldn’t you do it? To each his own I guess.
Last week, I showcased an exercise we’ve been using exclusively with our baseball guys as well as clients with banged up shoulders. Similarly, this week, I’d like to show you yet another exercise we’ve implemented with many of our clients that’s great for overall shoulder health.
What Is It: Standing Retraction to Low Row
Who Did I Steal It From: I don’t remember, but I just found out that Norah Jones is coming to Boston in March. Of course, I’m only saying this because uh, my girlfriend really likes her music. Yeah, that’s it. She loves that stuff.
Me on the other hand, would rather listen to whales raping each other. Either way, I guess this means I should suck it up and buy a few tick………hey, what are you doing with my iPod? Dammit, give that back! Listen, I have no idea who put that “I love Norah Jones. So much in fact, that I have all her cd’s and went to her concert the last time she came to Boston” playlist on there. Hahahaha, that Lisa is such a card. She must have put that on there. She’s so funny/I just got my man card revoked didn’t I?
What Does It Do: As I mentioned above, this exercise is fantastic for overall shoulder health, and really targets the scapular stabilizers, which is never a bad thing given that 99% of shoulder pathologies can be attributed to poor scapular kinematics.
Coaching Cues: First and foremost, you don’t need to stand there like a dumbass for eight seconds before you start the exercise. I forgot to edit the video before I downloaded it onto my laptop, and was too lazy to go back and do it over again.
Nevertheless, keeping a “stiff” arm throughout the duration of the movement, retract your shoulder blade (making sure not to shrug)- if possible, use non-working hand to feel scapular movement. Doing so will give you instant feedback on whether or not you’re doing it correctly.
From there, you’ll simply pull/row the pulley towards your knee, making sure to avoid humeral extension (don’t go past the knee). Return back to starting position, and repeat for desired amount of repetitions.
Of note, this isn’t the type of exercise where I’m too concerned about loading. Rather, I’m more interested in ensuring perfect technique with every rep. That being said, I’d recommend 2-3 sets of 8-12 repetitions (per side) if you’re going to include this in a program, which you should. Because I said so.
Who Did I Steal It From: This is one of those exercises where when I originally saw it, I immediately thought to myself “huh, why didn’t I think of that?”
As it is, Mike Reinoldis a helluva lot smarter than I am. And while the word “steal” is a bit of a misnomer given that there were 40+ other people in attendance when I saw it demonstrated a few weekends ago, nonetheless, I still need to give credit where credit is due.
What Does It Do: Before I get into that, lets take a few steps back and get a little geeky for a moment. If I were to ask you what is the function of the rotator cuff, what would you say? If I were a betting man, I’d garner that the vast majority of people reading would say one of three things:
External/Internal rotation of the arm (glenohumeral joint).
Elevates the arm in the scapular plane.
(crickets chirping) ummm, uhhhh, (crickets chirping) Throw me a freakin bone dude. Isn’t this the part of the post where you post a picture of a scantily clad hot chick?
If you mentioned either of the two former options- congratulations you’ve obviously read an anatomy book within the past 25 years. As such, while you’re technically not wrong, you’re not entirely correct either. But more on this in a bit. In regards to the latter option, THIS is actually the point where I post a picture of a scantily clad hot chick:
To that end, while the rotator cuff does invariably play a significant role in external/internal rotation, as well as elevation of the arm, you’d be remiss not to recognize that it’s main function is to simply center the humeral head within the glenoid fossa.
That said, with respects to rotator cuff rehab (as well as preventative maintenance in general), Mike Reinold has noted on several occasions that one of the most important aspects is dynamic stability. This is particularly true when dealing with athletes, which makes a lot of sense given the more dynamic nature of sports.
As a general rule of thumb, athletes (specifically overhead athletes) inherently have poor static stability and require precise interaction of the dynamic stabilizers, which coincidentally, is exactly what the above exercise accomplishes.
Key Coaching Cues: Placing a medicine ball on the floor, simply have the athlete place his/her palm on the ball and assume the quadruped position- locking their scapulae back (pack the shoulder). The coach will then GENTLY perturb the athlete’s arm, which in turn, will force him or her to dynamically stabilize the joint.
Just to be clear, let me reiterate that there is absolutely no need to go crazy. You don’t need to have an epileptic seizure here and try to knock the person off the ball. Rather, you’re just going to gently tap the upper arm and elbow for 5-10 seconds, and then switch to the opposite side.
Of note, I’ve placed this exercise at the beginning of a training session (as part of a warm-up/activation circuit), as well as at the tail end of a session (as part of a rotator cuff rehab/prehab/whatever you want to call it finisher). It’s not an overly taxing exercise, so I’d leave it to personal preference with regards to where to place it in a program.
This week’s interviewee certainly doesn’t need much of an introduction from me. Throughout my years in the industry, I’ve been fortunate enough to surround myself with some really smart people, and Mike is certainly no exception. Not only do I consider him a good friend, but he’s undoubtedly someone who’s had a huge impact on me as a coach, and whom I have the utmost respect for (even if he is a Peyton Manning fan).
Nevertheless, Mike was kind enough to take some time out of his busy schedule to talk some shop. Enjoy!
TG: Lets cut to the chase. People know you’re kind of a big deal. That being said, looking back, what (if anything) would you do differently with regards to making a name for yourself in the fitness industry? I get e-mails all the time from up and coming trainers asking me for advice on this matter, and I’d be curious what your thoughts are.
MR: When I first came up, I had no interest in making big bucks. I easily spent eight hours in the gym training clients, even while taking Masters level courses and spending a good deal of time in the biomechanics lab. Quite simply, I realized I knew nothing and needed to spend as much time around clients and athletes as possible to get better at my craft.
I’m not sure I would do a ton differently, even if I had the chance. I never wrote an article until I’d been training clients for four years or so – and while that might not be acceptable to everyone, it all depends on who your target audience is. There’s a definite cycle when it comes to learning – if you simply learn and keep it all to yourself, it’s not the same.
When you learn something, you need to pass it on. Coach somebody, write an article or blog, I don’t care. But once you think you understand something you need to pass that information on to others.
Just because you “think” you know something doesn’t mean jack -when you can teach someone else that same concept and help them understand it, then you’re starting to wrap your head around things.
TG: Well said. As an adjunct to the previous question; personally, I think the vast majority of new trainers have an overwhelming sense of entitlement to begin with. Many (not all) are so focused on making the quick buck and marketing themselves as some internet guru (e-books, etc), that they often fail to see the big picture. Like, you know, actually making an effort to get better. What’s more, these same trainers often have trouble naming the four rotator cuff muscles, let alone write a coherent program. If they spent more time actually training people, rather than Twittering on their Twitter, they may find that they’ll be more successful. But I digress. Your thoughts?
MR: I’m in total agreement with you here, Tony.
It wasn’t until I’d been in the business six or seven years that I realized I didn’t know jack about business. Now this was relevant to me because I wanted to open a gym someday, and lack of business knowledge would certainly lead to an epic failure.
The problem now is that many trainers come out and think, “I need to learn the business side of the industry,” before they understand the training side of the industry!
The best basic business advice I can give you is that if you get really good at training clients and delivering results, it will cure a lot of ills when it comes to your business. Bill and I are growing each and every day as businessman, but we’re able to get by just fine right now because we’re pretty decent at training clients.
TG:Speaking of your business with Bill (Hartman),last year Men’s Health Magazine named I-FAST one of the Top 10 Gyms in America. Congrats! I made a little cameo appearance earlier in the year, and I can say first hand that you and Bill have done an amazing job with your facility. How’s life as an entrepreneur treating you?
MR: Already, Tony? More business talk?
In all seriousness, the gym is going great. We actually just hired our first full-time trainer this past week, and I’m very excited to have Wayne on board.
So since you asked about the entrepreneurial side of things, here goes – it’s hard. Definitely harder than I would’ve expected. If we’re going all E-Myth on things, I’m definitely a better technician right now than an entrepreneur (or manager).
When it comes to coaching and working with clients, that’s where I thrive. Marketing, creating systems, and the other entrepreneurial stuff definitely isn’t as easy for me just yet. But I’m working hard at it, because I believe 110% in what we’re doing at IFAST. I see it day in and day out with people losing fat, getting stronger, or building muscle. But not enough people know about us right now, and that’s where I’ve got to step up and make a difference.
My goal right now is to really focus on the entrepreneurial side of the equation – I will still coach six or so hours per day, but it’s not going to be the 12, 13 or 14 hour days that I’ve done over the past year and a half. I need to better divide my time between being a technician, and being an entrepreneur if I want IFAST to be as successful as I’ve envisioned it being.
I expect massive business growth in the 2010, but we’ll have to wait and see how that works out!
TG:I have no doubts you’ll be kicking ass and taking names in 2010. Speaking of which, I know you and Bill train a ton of athletes, as well as your fair share of weekend warriors. However, I also know that you recently trained a few figure competitors too. That doesn’t suck! What was that like?
MR: It’s a little known secret that I do, in fact, train physique athletes – not a ton, but I’ve probably worked with a half dozen figure girls over the years.
Side Note: Mike’s being modest here. He recently trained two figure competitors; Brandi, who took 3rd in the Masters division, as well as Alonia, who took 1st place overall, and is currently the reigning Miss Indianapolis.
One thing I’m consistently shocked by is how hard these girls work. I’ve worked with Division-1 athletes, and many of them didn’t have half the work ethic that these girls have.
I’m not sure if it’s something in their DNA or what; they’ve all had a little bit of neurotic, obsessive-compulsiveness that makes them successful. Or, it could always be the simple fact that they have to stand on stage in a skimpy bikini in front of complete strangers!
What most people don’t consider is the rigidity that it takes to be successful in physique sports. Now to a degree I’m talking out my ass here, as I’ve never dieted down and competed in a physique sport myself, but I think I have at least a rudimentary understanding of what it takes.
Imagine eating the same low calorie diet day-in and day-out for weeks. You’re tired, probably a little malnourished, and not feeling all that hot.
In this already fatigued state, imagine training 2, 3 or even 4 hours every day. You’re probably going to have to get up at the crack of dawn (or earlier) to get in an AM cardio session. At some point in the day, you’re going to lift, and at night you’re probably going to get in another cardio session.
You’re not giving your body the energy it needs to recover, and training your ass off, so you fill in the gaps with stimulants.
Basically, you feel like shit every day. Sounds like a good time, right?
Let’s be honest here – this kind of training is brutally hard. Many people I know get worn down by the grind; the same routine, day-in and day-out for months at a time, can test anyone’s mettle.
But if you’re man (or woman) enough to subject yourself to this, then you can bet that you’re someone I want to train. That kind of diligence and work ethic doesn’t grow on trees, making these girls an absolute blast to train.
TG: Great stuff! Moving on, it’s been two years since you released your Bulletproof Knees Manual. As such, it’s no secret that you’re the guy to talk to when people bang up their knees. Lets talk programming. Top 3-5 common mistakes most trainees make with regards to their knee health?
MR:
1 – Not foam rolling
I can’t fathom people who still don’t foam roll, but it’s still the exception versus the rule.
While I wouldn’t ever test this theory in real life, I would imagine I could clear up a lot of cases of minor knee pain by simply having people foam roll. It’s amazing what happens when you improve that tissue quality even a little bit.
2 – Failing to understand that everyday postures add up
Believe it or not, that sitting you do all day really does add up. You lose length in your hip flexors, putting you in a constant position of hip flexion.
This sets off a cascade of events – your femurs internally rotate, your tibiae internally rotate, and your foot sits in pronation far too long.
Then, to make it worse, you take this flawed posture and try to lift heavy shit, play sports, etc. You have to rebuild that foundation first – stretching, foam rolling, mobility work, changing your behavioral habits, it’s all important. Acting like your strength training program design is the only important factor is retarded.
3 – Horrible program design
However, program design is still important
Ian King was talking about balancing hip and quad-dominant lifts years ago. But, yet again, there are still tons of trainers who are oblivious to this basic concept. It’s a little bit more complex than that, but this is a great starting point.
Early on in a program, I’ll often massively skew things in the opposite direction – tons of hip dominant work, and very little quad-dominant work, until structural balance is restored (or at least moving in the right direction).
TG: Lets talk Assess and Correct, the dvd you just released alongside Eric Cressey and Bill Hartman. Why do so many people fail to recognize the importance of an assessment to begin with? It often amazes me how people will just haphazardly follow some program they find in a magazine, and then wonder why they’re jacked up five weeks later. Furthermore, who is this product targeted for, and how can it help people?
MR: I think a lot of people fail to recognize the importance because they’ve never been exposed to the concept. It’s not so much ignorance on the client/trainees part as it is lack of education.
When you tell someone, “Hey, we should see where you’re strong, weak, flexible, inflexible, etc. before we start training you” it makes sense to them immediately. Most people will buy in simple because they’ve never done anything like this before!
Assess and Correctis built for the end-user, or a trainer who is new to assessments in general. It will give you a great foundation for figuring out what’s working well, what’s’ not working well, and how to develop warm-ups that improve your movement foundation.
On the other hand if you’re a high-level physical therapist, orthopod, etc., you’re probably not going to get a ton out of the product. It’s not geared towards the high-level practitioner. At some point in time Bill and I would love to present our entire assessment process as a three-day seminar, but we’ve got a few more projects to tackle first and foremost.
TG:Oh snap, that’s a tease if I ever heard one! Finishing up, lets have a little fun:
1. Favorite movie in the past year?
I’m woefully behind on my movies, but I would have to say The Hangover was pretty damn funny.
If you’re into Michael Jackson, This Is It was pretty good too – dude could still sing, and his movement was effortless. Crazy.
Finally, I just saw The Shawshank Redemption all the way through for the first time this past month. It’s fantastic.
TG: What in the what!?!?! Jesus Mike, that movie is shown like every 17 seconds on TBS for crying out loud. What’s next, admitting you’ve never seen GoodFellas?
2. Who originally gave you the nickname the ass-master? On that note, who has the best badonkadonk out there?
You know, I’m not sure who originally gave me that title – I think it was someone over at T-Nation, probably either Chris Shugart or TC.
As far as booties go, I’ve got a pregnant wife sitting next to me as I write this; do I look like a man with a death wish? Although you typically have some pretty good selections on your blog….not that I look at them or anything.
3. Most overrated exercise?
MR: Anything on a Bosu, but that’s too easy of a target.
I know I’ll probably catch some heat for this next one, but here goes – I think TRX training is a little over-rated. Don’t get me wrong it can be quality, when performed as part of a properly thought-out progression, but I see too many people incorporating it with the wrong people, or at the wrong times. Let me expand a little bit here.
I realize that TRX trainng does an amazing job of hitting the core – that’s one of the inherent benefits. But when you see somebody with horrible core/lumbar stability, and then you use a compound exercise such as push-ups where the core ends up being the limiting factor in exercise performance/technique, you have a hot mess on your hands.
You have to bring that core/lumbar stability up within an easier progression, or using a more stable variation, before getting to the cool/sexy stuff.
4. Who would win in a fight- a ninja or Bill Hartman (who I’m convinced is a cyborg)?
MR: Obviously the ninja – he would realize that Bill is a cyborg and use that information against him.
5. When will Kevin Larrabee realize that in order to bench press 300 lbs, you can’t miss a lift every……..single………session?
MR: On the same day Lance and Kyle (two 20-something powerlifters at IFAST), realize that a 7 RPE doesn’t correlate with max-effort, missed lifts!
BTW – did you know that Lance and KevLar actually have a running bet on who will hit 275 first? Lance did hit a 275 bench in a raw powerlifting meet in November, so as soon as Kev get’s done with Project Abzhe may want to get his strength back up before he gets beat!
TG: Hahahahaha. To be continued, I suppose. Anyways, thanks for your time Mike. How can people find out more about you and your products?
MR: The best place to find me on the web is my site, RobertsonTrainingSystems.com. That’s where you’ll find my blog, newsletter, articles, and my podcasts. The best part, all of that stuff is FREE!
Thanks again for having me Tony – it’s always a pleasure!
