Will have an update up later on today. Promise. Actually, I interviewed Leigh Peele, and will post that as soon as I have some free time to edit it. In the meantime, here’s a picture of Olivia Munn dressed up as Princess Leia:
Toodles…..
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!
CategoriesUncategorized1. 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.
To summarize, you can’t be a hero all the time.
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:
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……..
Q: Hey Tony,
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.
Nevertheless, I hope this helps and good luck!
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.
What Is It: Quadruped Rhythmic Stabilizations
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 Reinold is 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:
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.
