CategoriesStuff to Read While You're Pretending to Work Uncategorized

Stuff to Read While You’re Pretending to Work: 5/26/17

My cat is adorbs.

But lets get to this week’s stuff.

Copyright: urfingus / 123RF Stock Photo

 

Check This Stuff Out First

1. Updated Speaking Gigs – Bath, UK and Boston, MA

I’ll be in London in two weeks for the Complete Shoulder & Hip Blueprint with Dean Somerset. Unfortunately it’s a “closed” event for Third Space employees only.

However, I will be making a cameo appearance in Bath on Friday, June 9th at Lift the Bar to put on a quickie 4-hour lecture/hands-on workshop titled The Shoulder: From Assessment to Badass. If you happen to be located in that neck of the woods you can go HERE for more information.

ALSO.

My wife, Dr. Lisa Lewis, and I are excited to announce we’re putting on our Strong Body-Strong Mind Workshop in our home turf in Boston.

It will be a small, intimate affair, so spots are limited. No joke.1 Early bird price is now in effect ($199), and CEUs will be made available via the NSCA.

To purchase you can go HERE.

***As a reminder, Lisa and I will also be in Toronto, ON in three weeks for Strong Body-Strong  Mind, and early bird rate is still going on for Complete Shoulder & Hip Blueprint – Orlando in October. You can go HERE for more details on both.

2. Last Chance for Some Free Meat

The peeps over at ButcherBox are hooking my readers up.

I wrote about my experience with them earlier this week, but to summarize: they sent me some meat, I like meat, so now they want to send you some (free) meat too.

All this week readers of TonyGentilcore.com can get $10 off their initial order AND receive two additional, 10 oz. Ribeye steaks at no extra cost.

What’s not to love about that?

It’s a great service –  I mean, come on, meat, delivered to your door – and it’s soooooo good. The taste is readily apparent. Treat yourself. Go HERE and thank me later.

Stuff to Read

A Sound Mind in a Sound Body – Dr. Lisa Lewis

For some reason, especially in the fitness industry, people have this notion you have to persevere and “power through” when you’re feeling depressed or down.

If you hurt your knee or back when you train you attend to that right away

Your mental health is no different and is serious business. In her latest article for Girls Gone Strong, Dr. Lewis sheds some light on a very powerful topic.

3 Drills That Will Fix Your Power Clean – Michael Anderson

I don’t do a lot of OLY lifting, but when I do, I listen to Mike. He’s an excellent coach and this was an excellent article.

Understanding Pronation and Supination (and How it Relates to Overcoming Plantar Fasciitis – Rick Merriam

I thought this was a very interesting read and a nice reprieve from the “oh, your feet are fucked, might as well wear orthotics” diatribe.

Social Media Shenanigans

Twitter

Instagram

Here’s an example of how paying meticulous attention to details and using the right coaching cues can make the most seemingly simple looking exercise more effective. Last night I was guiding @therealalexandrashow through one of @bretcontreras1 booty circuits. We got to the Quadruped Band Glute Raise and I noticed Alexandra was getting a bit more movement though her lower back than I’d like (top video). This defeats the purpose of the exercise (which is to bootify the glutes. Kinda hard to do when someone sacrifices hip extension for excessive lumbar extension). I told Alexandra to engage her abs more and to ONLY get movement from the hip (bottom video). She immediately felt a difference and noticed waaaay more booty. Pay attention coaches. Even the most subtle tweaks can make a huge difference in how an exercise feels and where someone feels it.

A post shared by Tony Gentilcore (@tonygentilcore) on

Categoriesmindset Motivational Uncategorized

If You Want to Improve, You’re Going to Have to Deal With Some Shit

Today’s guest post comes from regular contributor, Justin Kompf. It’s a personal story, but a story many of you reading will either appreciate or commiserate with.

I hope the former.

Copyright: photoman / 123RF Stock Photo

 

If You Want to Improve, You’re Going to Have to Deal With Some Shit

There was once a young man who was enrolled at West Point; he found himself absolutely miserable at the academy. Luckily, at the time his mother was friends with a smart dude. This smart dude happened to be the 16th president of the United States. He wrote the cadet and said:

“Allow me to assure you it is a perfect certainty that you will, very soon, feel better-quite happy- if you only stick to the resolution you have taken to procure a military education. I am older than you, have felt badly myself, and know, what I tell you is true. Adhere to your purpose and you will soon feel as well as you ever did.

On the contrary, if you falter, and give up, you will lose the power of keeping any resolution, and will regret it all your life”

I highly doubt Abraham Lincoln would have thought those particular words he wrote to the West Point cadet would have an impact on a young man trying to figure his life out over 100 years later. How could he know that those words were exactly what I needed to hear at the time?

In the Summer of 2016, I was in a predicament; for a while, I had intended to apply to doctoral programs to study health behavior after completing my Master’s degree. But when push came to shove, I got scared. Irrational thoughts flooded my mind.

“My life won’t start until I’m done, and I’ll be 31”

“I’ll be so far behind everyone else”

“What if I find out I don’t want to teach and do research when I’m done?”

A PhD program would involve me devoting four more years of my life to school when all I really wanted to do was get my life going.

So, I panicked.

I found myself exploring different career paths.

I would drive down to a health and fitness center in Ithaca to talk about becoming a dietician. I drove to Syracuse to talk to my Aunt about nursing. I called my cousin in California to talk about her job as a physician’s assistant. I had meetings with Cortland faculty members to get information on how to get into PA school. Then I was calling friends who were physical therapist to talk about their jobs. PT sounded right for me; I started observing a physical therapist in town and began the application process to physical therapy school. These all seemed like safe, high paying jobs, with clear career trajectories.

I was all over the place.

via GIPHY

 

Every time I thought of a new career path I diverted myself from the fear of four more years of school and an uncertain career future. There was always an instant sensation of relief from that fear.

But then a few things gave me a sense of insight.

Aside from reading sage advice from historical figures I was also exercising my ass off.

One night I was trail running to clear my head. It got dark really quick and rain started to come down, an appropriate metaphor for how I felt at the time. It was hard to see any more than a few feet in front of me. But somewhere towards the end of my run I was hit with some clarity.

None of those career paths I was looking into would give me the voice I wanted to make a positive impact on the world. If I didn’t have my voice and pursued a career I wasn’t passionate about just to be safe, I would be miserable.

And rather than the temporary misery I was feeling now, I knew the misery of not pursuing my passion would be permanent.

Fear is just an emotional construct, something that can’t really hurt you. I knew I couldn’t control that I felt it, but it was my responsibility as to whether or not it controlled my actions.

I knew that if I didn’t adhere to my purpose I would regret it the rest of my life. All those other careers wouldn’t fulfill the passion I had.

Winston Churchill once said “to change is to improve, to perfect is to change often”

What he didn’t say is that change is a scary and uncomfortable process. My modern interpretation of that quote would be:

“If you want to improve, you’re going to have to deal with some shit”

When faced with the decision of what shit sandwich I wanted to eat, I knew I could either (A) take the leap and accept fear and discomfort, or (B) live with regret but have comfort, I chose to accept the fear.

I applied to PhD programs, was accepted, and am heading to the University of Massachusetts Boston in the Summer to their Exercise and Health Sciences Program.

Whether on social media, or in real life, when people announce an accomplishment, others might look on in awe and wonder how they got to where they are now.

Well, more than likely, the answer is that they dealt with some shit.

They worked hard, stepped out of their comfort zone and got comfortable feeling uncomfortable. For me it was an eight-month process of dealing with uncertainty and fear. It was also putting in years of extra work to be a good candidate for a program like this.

In the end I wrote this because, a simple, “hey I’m going back to school” Facebook update didn’t seem justifiable and I think my experience can help people. Taking a leap is scary but I am looking forward to the next chapter in my life.

CategoriesUncategorized

MASS Appeal: Greg Nuckols and Monthly Applications in Strength Sport

Greg Nuckols was nice enough to stop by and talk shop about MASS – Monthly Application in Strength Sport – his new monthly resource that just became available today.

An athlete or coach who knows and truly understands the latest research has a huge advantage over his or her’s competitors. MASS is a shortcut that earmarks all the greatest and most recent research and is curated by some of the most respected coaches out there – Greg, Eric Helms, and Mike Zourdos.

Coaches who actually, you know, lift weights.

Greg offers some great insights below. Enjoy.

Copyright: flybird163 / 123RF Stock Photo

 

TG: Who’s geekier: you, Eric (Helms), Mike (Zourdos), or Gilbert and Lewis from “Revenge of the Nerds?”

GN: I’d say they’re geekier, but we’re nerdier.  It’s an important distinction.  Basically, nerds are geeks who are actually really good at whatever they nerd/geek out about.  We kick more ass than they do.

TG: What was the impetus behind starting MASS? Also, what do you feel separates it from other research reviews out there?

GN: It was the logical solution to a set of problems we saw:

#1 – Most people are still quite uninformed about the science behind hypertrophy, strength development, and body composition. We’d never argue that science is inherently better than in-the-trenches experience, but we think science and experience work together much better than having either in isolation.

#2 – A lot of people who try to communicate science to the masses do so poorly.  This can take several forms.

A lot of people just read the abstract, which is generally incomplete or misleading.

Some people read the full text, but can’t digest studies well enough to spot some of their bigger (and more important) details – stuff like methodology, the tools used to take measurements, or the statistical analysis can dramatically alter what you can take away from a study, but those things are often glossed over.

Finally, there’s the issue of contextualization and communication.  Simply understanding a study doesn’t guarantee that you’ll be able to get the results and practical takeaways across to the reader, and it doesn’t guarantee that you’ll know how the findings can fit into day-to-day practice if you don’t actually have any coaching experience.

#3 – Trying to keep up with the research on your own can be absolutely overwhelming.

There are at least 50-60 journals that publish research that’s relevant to us at least semi-frequently, and they churn out 1000+ articles per month.  Going through all those journals, picking out the relevant studies, and reading all of them takes me (conservatively) 40-50 hours per month.

Note From TG: The only way you’d get me to spend 40-50 hours per month reading research is this:

After that whole process, there are generally fewer than 10 new studies that materially affect day-to-day practice for strength and physique athletes/coaches, but it takes a ton of back-end work to track them all down.

Once those pieces came together, starting MASS (Monthly Applications in Strength Sport) was a no-brainer.  It gets science out to the masses in a clear, understandable format, and it saves people massive amounts of time and money (journal access isn’t cheap, after all).

We’re different from other research reviews in two major ways:  scope and presentation.

Scope is probably the most important distinction.  MASS focuses solely on science that’s relevant to strength and physique athletes. It’s not for people focused on general health. It’s not for S&C coaches or team sport athletes. It’s not for rehab professionals.

If your primary goal is to pick up heavy things, get jacked, or improve your body composition (or you train people with those goals), MASS is for you. 

Since we have such a relatively narrow focus, we do the best job providing information that’s highly useful and relevant for that population.

With regards to presentation, we have a mix of written and video content, depending on what a given research topic best lends itself to, whereas the other reviews I’m aware of are solely written.  We also have mobile-friendly versions of all of our articles, which is helpful for people trying to read MASS on the go with their mobile device.

TG: How much of a balancing act is there between being an “evidence-based coach” and respecting research and anecdotal experience? Is there a balancing act? In other words: Is there a percentage breakdown between how much we should base our training/program design/methodologies off research and how much of it comes from “feel” and anecdotal shenanigans?

GN: There’ll always be a mix.

Scientific research is the best tool we have to tell us what works better or worse on average for a given population, and it’s also the only tool we have for discovering the physiological underpinnings of training practice (not just “what” works, but “why” it works).

With that in mind, science helps give you a fantastic starting point for your own training or coaching, and it helps you avoid a lot of nonsense fads because understanding physiology helps tune your bullshit detector.

After you use the research findings as a starting point, you always need to do some self-experimentation and troubleshooting to optimize your approach for yourself or your clients, because what works best on average may not be what works best for each individual.

Understanding the basic physiology helps guide that troubleshooting as well, though, by helping you understand what tweaks are more or less likely to be helpful.

TG: What are you favorite, most referenced, or “go to”strength & conditioning studies of all time? 

There are too many to list!  Here are a few I find myself referring to a lot, though:

A meta-analysis of periodized versus nonperiodized strength and power training programs

The role of FFM accumulation and skeletal muscle architecture in powerlifting performance

Effect of squat depth and barbell load on relative muscular effort in squatting

A three-dimensional biomechanical analysis of sumo and conventional style deadlift

MASS Spread: I.e., what an issue looks like on the inside.

TG: Any studies you feel people use or gravitate towards that are complete BS or bunk?

GN: There’s a decent amount of supplement research I’m pretty distrustful of.

When a supplement is independently tested in a bunch of different labs and shows pretty “meh” results, and then it’s tested in a study funded by the patent holder and it suddenly looks like a legal replacement to steroids…I get skeptical.

TG: Okay, short and sweet: why should people consider MASS. How will it help them?

GN: If you’re already sold on the value of keeping up with scientific research, MASS will save you a massive amount of time and dig into the research that’s relevant to you in a lot more depth than you’ll find elsewhere.

Since all three of us are athletes and coaches as well, we know what sort of information you’re looking for, and what will directly improve your results or the results of your clients.

How to Get MASS

I gotta be honest: Greg sent me the first copy of MASS a few weeks ago and it’s really, really, really good.

I hate reading research.

I’d rather do any of the following than peruse PubMed on a Friday night:

  • Light my face on fire.
  • Go to a One Direction concert.
  • Talk about my feelings.

Greg, Eric, and Mike have done the industry a solid by putting together this amazing resource that will not only help you stay sharp and on top of the most recent research…..

……but you’ll save a TON of time to boot.

The initial launch of MASS starts today (5/1) and runs through this Friday. Here are the introductory prices:

  • $25/month for monthly
  • $249/year for yearly
  • $799/lifetime (one-time purchase)

These prices will go up 20% after this week. It’s a steal for the amount of information you’re getting.

—> Get MASS <—

CategoriesUncategorized

Two Upcoming Speaking Engagements

Wanted to update everyone one two speaking engagements I have coming up. If either of the two happen to be in your neck of the woods, you should totally come. I’m cool.

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1. Advanced Performance Coaching Seminar – Palmer, MA

Date: Saturday, May 13th, 2017

Where: AP Academy, Palmer, MA

Speakers/Presentations:

Pamela Proulx (Baystate Rehabilitation) – Dynamic Stretching

Austin Wasserman (AB Athletic Development) – The Negative Step in Sports

Nick Esposito (AB Athletic Development) – Training Today’s Youth Athlete

Tony Gentilcore (CORE) – Why It’s Still a Travesty Shakespeare in Love Won Best Picture Over Saving Private at the 1998 Academy Awards The Deadlift

Scott Leech (Merrimack College) – Programming Around Culture in Collegiate Athletics

Michelle Boland (Northeastern University) – Stress & Adaptation – The Central Role of the Brain

NOTE: I’m slated to speak right after lunch (you know, when pretty much everyone is in a state of insulin coma and has about ten minutes before they fall asleep) so the Vegas has the over/under of 11 f-bombs within the first 15 minutes of my talk.

2) Strong Body-Strong Mind Workshop – Toronto, Ontario, Canada

 

Lisa and I had the pleasure to presenting this workshop twice last year in both Austin, TX and London. We’re excited to be coming to Toronto, which, coincidentally, will be Julian’s first plane ride.

It’s a quickie, only 75 or so minutes, so it shouldn’t be too bad. I hope.

In short I’ll take part of the day and speak to things like program design, assessment, and how you can pwn anyone who makes the argument that deadlifts will destroy everyone’s backs/spines.

Lisa, to her credit, offers the more unique aspect of the workshop and something I feel is an underserved topic in our industry: how to help foster mindset strategies with your clients and build more competency and autonomy.

CategoriesUncategorized

Modified Reverse Hyper: An Exercise You’ve Never Heard of to Help Build Speed and Athleticism

Today’s guest post comes from strength coach, Travis Hansen. I respect Travis a ton because 1) he actually works with athletes and gets results and 2) he’s not scared to think outside the box (which you will read more about below).

His amazing resource, The Speed Encyclopedia, rocked my world a few years back when I read it the first time. He’s revamped it and has placed in sale at 30% off the regular price. If you work with athletes and want to make them into sprinting, jumping, and turning on a dime freaks….definitely give it a look.

Copyright: mezzotint123rf / 123RF Stock Photo

 

The Modified Reverse Hyper

The title may sound a bit cliché, especially this day and age, but I truly believe that the exercise I’m about to share with you is still relatively unique as far as speed and athletic development is concerned.

And it’s definitely not a gimmick, it works.

The amount of evidence to date to support glute-ham strength and its powerful impact on athletic performance tasks such as running, jumping, cutting, and sprinting is incredibly vast. Every single athlete and client for that matter should be performing several posterior chain dominant movements, like squats, deadlifts, swings, sleds, lunges, split squats, etc. at some point during their training program.

However, to my current knowledge the “Modified Reverse Hyper” has not received a lot of attention and publicity throughout the athletic training mainstream and scientific community. Moreover, I would be very curious to see any study that attempts to identify how well the reverse hyper and sprinting would connect?! I’m confident the results would be favorable.

Louie Simmons was a mastermind in not only powerlifting, but his training concepts permeate into athletic and speed development as well!

The initial thing I like about the exercise is that you are training the target muscle groups at long lengths throughout the muscle contraction spectrum. This situation can help stimulate the addition of sarcomeres and result in increased hypertrophy to the muscles responsible for increasing acceleration and running speeds. What athlete wouldn’t want that?

Secondly, you are provided a very stable foundation in which to exert high amounts of force and energy from resulting in greater strength production limits. Recall that the less stability you have in an exercise the less involvement of the prime movers, which in this case are critical to health and athletic performance potential.

Last but not least, is that this exercise truly emphasizes the development of specific muscle and joint actions that occur during high speed movements such as maximum effort sprinting.

Strength has been found to be very specific to range of motion/training angles in research, and it obviously makes perfect sense. What doesn’t make sense is that there really isn’t a wealth of potential exercises in the weight room that do a sufficient job in bridging the gap for both strength and speed during the common act of hip hyperextension. Sled marching, hill runs-sprint progressions, and quadruped work are great, but the room for loading is questionable and hard to manage, except for perhaps the quadruped variation.

Even if this is the case, there is still reduced hamstring contribution due to the knee being bent (Active Insufficiency) in the quadruped exercise.

Moreover, the Modified Reverse Hyper is very versatile. You can perform the drill bilaterally with a plate, or dumbbell if you don’t have a partner. And then unilaterally with a plate or ankle weights.

Please Note: I’m not a big proponent of ankle weight drills at all, unless they are performed in a prone position. They provide a distraction force at the knee that really creates a lot of unnecessary pull and tension at the surrounding ligaments.2

Here is an actual video of the exercise. As a disclaimer, the weight bearing pressure of the weight can be brutal on the calves initially. And make sure the middle of the plates sit close to or directly behind the knee joint to prevent too much shearing and stress to the ACL and lower hamstring muscles.

 

I like to train this movement 1-2 per week at opposite ends of the week if your goal is to get faster and more athletic. 2-4 sets of 6-12 reps work great as the hamstrings are comprised of a lot of fast twitch muscle and respond to high force/velocity efforts.

Summary

Really focusing on working the backside from a hip position of neutral, and another 20-30 degrees past neutral, just before the lower back starts hyperextending is very valuable for athletes.

For one, it’s not too common, and also it really prepares the hamstrings for propulsion (take-off) when you are sprinting. Many people who are ailing from hamstring problems will report a twinge or tweak when they go to drive off.

By performing this exercise, you are supplementing them with some of what they more than likely lack, prevent and rehab the ailment depending on your approach, and get them faster in the process.

The Speed Encyclopedia 

Want to nerd out on a Saturday night and read about speed development, joint angles, and torques? Travis has got you covered.

Okay, there’s all that AND you’re going to get the inside details on a system that’s been proven to work, including and abyss of exercises and drills Travis uses with his athletes in and outside of the weight room.

It’s the real deal. Check out The Speed Encyclopedia HERE.

CategoriesStuff to Read While You're Pretending to Work Uncategorized

Stuff to Read While You’re Pretending to Work: 3/17/17

Julian just went down for his morning nap, I don’t know how much time I have. Lets do this!

Copyright: urfingus / 123RF Stock Photo

STUFF TO CHECK OUT BEFORE THE OTHER STUFF

1. Just Announced

Complete Shoulder & Hip Blueprint – Orlando

Our Vancouver shindig in April sold out, but Dean and I have recently announced a stop in Orlando, FL later this year, October 21-22nd at Spark Fitness.

I’ve never been to Orlando. There’s no way in hell I’m visiting Disney World.

You can go HERE for more details and to sign up.

[SPOILER: Dean and I also in talks to bring the Complete Shoulder & Hip Blueprint to London this summer. Stay tuned……..]

2. SUNY Cortland Health & Wellness Conference – Cortland, NY, April 8th.

I’ll be at my alma mater the weekend of April 8th speaking at what I believe is the 4th or 5th annual SUNY Cortland Conference. Other guest speakers include my wife, Dr. Lisa Lewis, Mark Fisher, Brian St. Pierre, and Dr. David Just.

For more information you can go HERE.

3. The Principles of Nutrition Coaching

If you’re a fitness professional you know full-well one of the best things you can do for your athletes and clients is to help them hone in on their nutrition. THAT’s often the key to helping them look and feel better.

Exercise alone won’t get the job done.

But what kind of nutrition advice can you actually give?

(Is it even LEGAL to give nutrition advice?)

And if you CAN give nutrition advice, how should you give it?

Find out in this FREE Nutrition Coaching Course put together by renowned coach, researcher, and pioneer in the field of exercise nutrition — Dr. John Berardi.

Just click the link below and you’re all set:

http://mbsy.co/precisionnutrit ion/28316815?url=http://www.pr ecisionnutrition.com/nutrition -coaching-free-course

4. Examine.com Turned 6-Years Old

And to celebrate they’re giving everyone a free sponge bath! Kidding.

However, they have reduced the price on everything on their site by 40% until midnight (3/17). I don’t feel there’s a huge need to be pitchy here. They’re the largest database (50,000+ references), they’re 100% independent, they’re trusted (2 million+ visitors/day), and they’re simply the best.

No ads, no consulting, no coaching – just an education company 🙂

  • General Products Page: HERE
  • Supplements Goals References: HERE
  • Stack Guides: HERE
  • Examine.com Research Digest: HERE

4. Recent Podcast Appearances

RippedBody.com Podcast w/ Andy Morgan

SoundCloud, Stitcher, iTunes

The Fit Clique w/ Chris Doherty

Stuff to Read While You’re Pretending to Work

The 12 Best Ways to Build Shoulders – T-Nation

T-Nation asked a bunch of coaches how to put boulders on someone’s shoulders and I happened to be one of the coaches they asked.

Some great content and ideas in this one.

Conscious Coaching – Brett Bartholomew

We’re always quick to gravitate to the latest and greatest trends in the weight room without taking into consideration something more relevant: how to motivate our clients & athletes and meet them where they are…both psychologically and emotionally.

It’s not always about sets, reps, and PR’s.

Cool Factoid: Tom Hanks (yes, Forrest Gump) is going to be narrating the audio version of this book. Awesome.

A Comprehensive Guide to Preseason Baseball Training – Andy Haley (STACK.com)

You can’t squeeze an entire offseason of training into two weeks before the season starts. Don’t be that guy.

Social Media Shenanigans

Twitter

Not my strongest week. Gotta pick up my game.

Instagram

405 lbs felt like speed weight today. No diggidy, no doubt.

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Categoriescoaching fitness business Uncategorized

Why an Online Training Business Might be Right For You (and 3 mistakes when building one)

I have a special treat for you today. Jon Goodman, the Godfather of online training, emailed me to ask if he could write a guest post for the site. I was like, “does Dolly Parton sleep on her back? Of course you can.”

Jon knows online training and he’s painstakingly built one of the best online training resources in existence that’ll help anyone build a successful business: the Online Trainer Academy. Enrollment is sparse and only happens twice a year. Tomorrow (3/2) is the LAST day to jump on the train for the foreseeable future. Hell, I’m on the train – come join me in the caboose for a good time.3

Why an Online Training Business Might Be Right For You

ONE DAY I GOT SICK, and I didn’t get paid.

I wanted to see the World, but I knew that if I did, I wouldn’t have a job when I got back.

Soon after turning 26 I decided, much to my surprise, that babies weren’t weird and gross and that maybe one day I’d like to have a few. If I did want a family at some point, I knew that something would have to drastically change.

It became apparent that I had to figure out how to build a business in the fitness industry that works for me even when I’m not around and that I control.

Conventional personal training doesn’t lend itself well to a balanced life. When I was in my early twenties I wanted to train 10-14 clients a day. I made a lot of money — much more than my friends at the time — but the hours were arduous.

By 24 I’d reached my income ceiling.

  • I was charging $97/hr and booked 40hrs/wk. If a client cancelled I’d have another on call with as little as 45 minutes notice.
  • I received a small salary as the senior trainer in charge of the hiring, training, and development of the rest of the team.
  • I received commissions for referring new trainers to the club in addition to referring my overload of clientele to other trainers.

Things were good for a while, but then I got that itch.

I wanted to see the World and I desired to meet a girl (smart, kind, and with legs that scream, “I squat, bro”). With my schedule that just wasn’t going to happen.

Something needed to change. I love the fitness industry and I loved my clients but conventional wouldn’t work. Conventional training in a gym doesn’t work.

Early Mornings, Late Nights, and a Lack of Control

You must avoid spending your life in a reactive state.

Reacting to things like your clients schedules, your gym’s rules, and the economy.

It might seem like you’re busy and I get it, there are only so many hours in the day, right?

Well the CEO of a Fortune 500 company has the same number of hours in a day as you. The difference is that he or she has better systems for making the most out of those hours. With these systems the business works for the CEO, not the opposite.

Most good trainers hit a wall. You can’t possibly work anymore. Look, I get it; I’ve been there.

My wife and I a month ago in Thailand where we lived for two months. We had to come home because she’s now 7 months pregnant. Photo credit: Tida Cha Photography]

If you want to work smarter, not harder, in fewer hours, while still providing your clients with an exceptional service there used to be 2 or 3 potential solutions:

1. You Could Start Your Own Gym.

The dream right? For some, this is a good option. However starting a club is difficult. You’ve no idea the hidden fees. There’s a reason why your gym might appear stingy or has protocols in place that you don’t necessarily agree with. I’m not saying that you can’t do it better. But to be a businessperson is a completely different skillset than being a trainer.

Note from TG: HERE’s a post explaining why this exact “thing.” Why it’s a BIG mistake to think the holy mecca is gym ownership. It’s not.

2. You Could Rise Within the Ranks of Your Club Into Management.

The Peter Principle states that, “in a hierarchy every employee tends to rise to their level of incompetence”.It goes on to state that, “employees only stop being promoted once they can no longer perform effectively”.

Similar to starting a gym, becoming a manager sounds good at first (the power, the ego-drive, etc.) but approach the position with caution. Managing other people is an incredibly difficult job and an entirely different skill set than training and managing a client load.

3. Multi-Level Marketing or Similar.

I’ll take a passage from one of my books, Ignite the Fire, here:

“The idea is attractive but very few are actually successful. You’re often forced to purchase the product yourself and it can be costly. Most people don’t have the requisite hustle, network, or marketing acumen to make a legitimate go of it. Not only that, the supplements are almost always poor-quality.

Read the ingredients carefully and look for independent third-party studies. Even if the supplement is of good quality, I’ve found that multi-level marketing companies sell supplements that are overpriced. It makes sense, and in fact providing such an attractive commission structure requires it. Finally, you’ll feel pressure to involve your close family and friends and this is not a position that I’d want my worst enemy to be in.”

In order to be successful and live a long, prosperous life as a trainer you must become proactive, and in order to do that, you must innovate. You need a new model.

The New Model i.e. The Best Solution That I’ve Found:

Imagine if there was a solution to every problem that is stopping you from turning your job into a prosperous and fulfilling career with ample freedom.

Imagine being in complete control of your schedule, to be able to charge less, make more, and offer just as good (or an even better) service.

Well it exists. But before I discuss it, I want to say something.

I’m not married to any idea. I’m about to discuss why online training or meshed online / in-person training is the best solution. When done right, it’s the solution that you might be looking for.

I came into this search for a solution with an open mind looking for whatever worked best and online training hit all-important points. What followed was 2.5 years of developing, testing, tweaking, and more testing of the best systems for delivering an exceptional online training service.

Since 2013 I’ve been teaching trainers how to either supplement their in-person training with online training or train clients online full-time. The Online Trainer Academy is the most current evolution of this process. Complete with a textbook, workbook, digital portal, and all scripts, worksheets, templates, and anything else that you’ll need, the Academy is the world’s first certification in online training that doubles as a business development course.

 

The physical Online Trainer Academy materials. Not pictured here are all digital materials.

Imagine creating a reliable and consistent source of income — one that you can depend on month-to-month. Or, if you’re a gym owner, imagine being able to attract and keep trainers by offering something different in addition to adding another reliable monthly income stream to your bottom line.

Online training is still relatively new and, like all new things that have tremendous potential, some have already jumped on the bandwagon without much thought.

Whether or not you enroll in the Academy, I want to help you get started with online training. Here’s the 3 biggest mistakes unprepared, yet well intentioned, trainers make when making the transition.

3 Biggest Mistakes (well-intentioned) Trainers Make When Starting or Growing an Online Training Biz-ness

 3 is actually the perfect number.

They are: 1) bad support systems 2) offering too much and 3) taking on the wrong type of clients.

I’ll go into detail on each below. Before I do that, let me say that building an efficient and effective online training business is akin to what we teach our clients: build a strong base and grow from there. Don’t slap on extras before you’ve got your foundation.

Right, here’s a bit more on each of the 3 mistakes and what to do to avoid them:

1) Bad Support Systems

Email will drive you crazy. It sounds nice to offer “unlimited email support” but that doesn’t help the client and wastes your time. It doesn’t help the client because it creates dependence and it doesn’t help you because it takes away your control and freedom – the two reasons why most add online training.

You need to establish a precedent. My suggestion is to tell your clients that they can send you one email a week. That email has to be point form. Each point is one question. And each point is no longer than 3 sentences. They can send as many points as they want. You pick one day to answer all emails – say Sunday morning.

The reasons for this tightly-controlled system are numerous, but here’s a few:

  • Most people aren’t writers. Forcing point form avoids the wall of words.
  • Forcing clients to create a list and send you it at once means that only the important questions get asked.
  • You can block off your time. Setting aside an hour or two once a week to do all email support adds back a level of freedom and control into your life.

You can always offer additionally support if needed on an off-the-cuff basis.

2) Bad Program Offerings

In a similar vein to my point above, online trainers need to think critically about what they are going to offer as part of their training packages.

Allow me to illustrate this with an example:

The first systems I built for online trainers were given to 24 beta participants. One day I got a message saying that a trainer was worn out. He was working more and making less – not what online training is meant to do. We got on the phone. Here’s what he was offering:

  • 1 hour Skype check-in call/week
  • Program design
  • Nutrition design
  • 24/7 email support
  • $199/month

Steve charged $75/hr for in-person training. When we spoke he told me that it takes 3hrs for him to design the program and nutrition. Ignoring the email support, he was offering 7hrs of his time for $199/month, or $28/hr.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ytCEuuW2_A

 

Because Steve didn’t think critically about his systems he was training at a loss of $329 per client each month. Just because you’re working online doesn’t mean that you’re working smarter. No wonder he was burnt out!

My advice to you is this: when deciding about your program offerings base the pricing off of how much time it will take you per month to deliver the service and go from there.

3) Taking on the Wrong Type of Clients

Maintaining a high quality service online requires more proactive and lateral thinking than training in-person does. The reason is simple: in-person you can be reactive. Online you have to anticipate problems and plan for them so that they never happen.

To do this requires an in-depth knowledge of the client you’re going to train. It means that you need to be a lot more selective of your clientele. It’s also why I don’t recommend trainers who have less than a year’s experience working in-person invest in the Online Trainer Academy.

For example: If I train a 30-35 year old working professional male with no serious injuries I can predict that he probably works at a desk. If I work further down the chain it’s likely that he will have some troubles with the bench press (shoulder impingement). Obviously there are exceptions, but bear with me.

For this client I might substitute an incline neutral grip dumbbell press for the bench press in anticipation of a problem that may arise.

It all comes down to knowing your client. High quality online training is possible but only if you take on the right type of clients for you.

My suggestion is to identify the 2-3 key client avatars that you deal with. Be specific.

Female, aged 30-40 with one client less than 6 months post-partum.

Male 40-55 was a college athlete but let things slide and has some lingering knee issues.

Whatever.

Figure out who you know best and only take them on as online clients. In-person you can take on a wider variety.

Tomorrow is the LAST Day to Enroll

Everything is laid out for you. All the tools you’ll need to help you build a legitimate online training business is here. Nothing shady, nothing nefarious. What have you got to lose?

I don’t point people in the direction of things I don’t believe in or that I don’t believe works, and I get it, some of you may be thinking……”this s*** is expensive!” And you’re right. But:

1) This will easily pay for itself (and then some x a bazillion jillion) if you put in the work.

2) You can write it off.

3) It’s gluten free.

4) Scrumptious.

—-> Online Trainer Academy <—-

CategoriesStuff to Read While You're Pretending to Work Uncategorized

Stuff to Read While You’re Pretending to Work: 2/24/17

Lets get right to business….

Copyright: urfingus / 123RF Stock Photo

STUFF TO CHECK OUT BEFORE THE OTHER STUFF

1. 2 Workshops Coming Up

Complete Shoulder & Hip Blueprint – Vancouver, April 1-2nd.

Dean Somerset and I will be in Vancouver that weekend to talk shoulders and hips and to start a tickle fight.

For more information and to sign up you can go HERE.

SUNY Cortland Health & Wellness Conference – Cortland, NY, April 8th

I’ll be at my alma mater the weekend of April 8th speaking at what I believe is the 4th or 5th annual SUNY Cortland Conference. Other guest speakers include my wife, Dr. Lisa Lewis, Mark Fisher, Brian St. Pierre, and Dr. David Just.

For more information you can go HERE.

2. CORE Online Coming Soon

In a few weeks I’ll be offering a new service…CORE Online.

It’s basically the closest you’re going to get to training with me at CORE without actually stepping foot inside the facility. Each month I write programs that’ll help give you structure and purpose with your own training. You log on with your own CORE Online app, watch me demonstrate exercise, and you get diesel.

If you want to get stronger….this will be for you.

If you want to get leaner or bigger….this will be for you.

If you want to move better…..this will be for you.

If you want to beat Channing Tatum in a dance-off….hahahahaha. Good luck.

4. Registration Now OPEN for Online Trainer Academy

 

Enrollment only happens twice per year and you only have a few days to act before it closes. If you’re having a hard time developing your own online training business and frustrated by your lack of systems, oh man do you need to check this out.

With a curriculum that includes some of the most notable names in the industry – Dr. John Berardi, Molly Galbraith (of Girls Gone Strong), Pete Dupuis (of Cressey Sports Performance, John Romaniello, and Alex Viada – you cannot go wrong.

Go HERE and start building a valid and legit revenue stream with your integrity still intact.

Stuff To Read…

It’s All Been a Big, Fat Lie – Dan Trink

This is the best article I’ve read this year so far. Dan NAILS it.

You know all those bootcamps, spin, and group exercise classes that advocate long, lean, and toned muscles for women?

1. Inside scoop: many of the most popular classes/brands that are popular with women only allow women of a certain body-type to take those classes. Also, some people pick the right parents. They look how they look because that’s how they look, not because of some class.

2. Many of those same classes follow the same ideas and principles of successful bodybuilders. GASP! The exact opposite of what they stand for.

Do Foam Rollers Actually Work? A Review of the Evidence – Sonja Ristevski (HealthybutSmart.com)

Foam rolling probably isn’t doing what you think it’s doing. Good, balanced, fair, article.

Lets Be Honest – The Body You’re Going For, Doesn’t Exist – Lee Boyce

The entertainment industry has warped our sense of reality and what’s actually attainable in real life. A-holes.

SOCIAL MEDIA SHENANIGANS

Twitter

Instagram

Was supposed to hit some heavy front squats today but felt like a bag of d**ks today and opted to do some arm a glute shenanigans instead. One exercise I played around with was this gem I picked up from @kelliedavisfit – Band Reverse Hip Extension w/ Abduction. Since most people don’t have access to a reverse hyper doing them off a bench works well. Hold onto bench with hips hanging off edge with band around the knees. Perform a “frogger” (abduct the hips, keep feet together) and then straighten out legs using the glutes to lock out. Hold for a 2-3s count and repeat. Aim for 10-15 reps. Or 87. I don’t care. Your glutes will feel the buuuuuurrrrrnnnn. I suspect my ladies at CORE will want these in their next program…? Props to my mother-in-law for the camera work…ha.

A post shared by Tony Gentilcore (@tonygentilcore) on

Categoriescoaching Exercise Technique Program Design Uncategorized

Box Jumps: You’re Not Jumping as High as You Think You Are. And, You’re Doing Them Wrong

Thump, thud, thump, thud.

“What’s that noise?” I thought to myself. “Thor whacking people’s faces with Mjolnir or a T-Rex break dancing to It Takes Two.”

I turn the corner….”please let it be a T-Rex. PLEASE!”

Nope, just some asshat performing box jumps.

Copyright: ammentorp / 123RF Stock Photo

 

Now, before anyone gets their panties in a tissy….I am not against box jumps. I implement them into my training as well as into the programs I write for other people and think believe they have a time and place (as does most any other exercise in existence4).

I mean, any strength coach or trainer worth his or her weight in paleo brownies understands their role in helping to train explosiveness and athleticism. And, if we were to peel back the onion a bit further, we’d note the REAL benefit(s) of box jumps are:

  1. Force summation, Rate of Force Development, or learning to put force into the ground.
  2. Landing mechanics: or, learning to absorb force.

It’s not to try to jump onto a box at the highest height possible or to perform them for endless repetitions.

Dumb

 

Really Dumb

 

Dumber

 

Commentary on Video #1

Before the record button was pressed you know those two guys were thinking to themselves “Dude, if you hit this jump it’s going viral and you’re totally going to get laid tonight.”

He’s lucky he didn’t break his back or neck.

Commentary on Video #2

Considering the number of banged up knees and scraped shins I’ve come across I really wish CrossFit would begin to understand that box jumps aren’t a great conditioning tool, and that there’s an abyss of better options.5

Hell, running over your right arm with a Honda Civic would be better than high-rep box jumps.

Commentary on Video #3

Yeah, yeah, I get it: It’s JJ Watt, it’s an old video, he’s an elite professional athlete, he nailed it, quit belly aching Tony.

Admittedly that was a baller jump and I too would have full confidence in JJ’s ability to jump over Mordor and then some. However, from a cost-benefit standpoint…..as a coach who’s worked with plenty of high-level athletes myself, I wouldn’t touch that with a ten-foot pole.

I have to wonder, though, did the coaches in that video prescribe or allow this to happen because they felt it would make their athlete better, or because they were chasing YouTube views and likes?

Not worth the risk. Refer to video #1.

My Real Beef: Not Box Jumps, But HIGH Box Jumps

A few months ago I watched a stellar video by Nick Tumminello where he went into detail on why he didn’t like HIGH box jumps, and he made a brilliant point I had never thought of before.

High box jumps reward those people with excellent hip mobility, particularly those with great hip flexion. Here’s an example:

The distance from the bottom of your foot to top of box is the “real” distance you’re jumping. Not so impressive now, huh?

And this is what the same jump looks like when someone doesn’t have the ability to clear ample hip motion:

They start cranking through their lumbar spine, over and over and over and…..”awwwww, goddamit I blew out my back again.”

“Ma, meatloaf! We want it.”

And speaking of the lumbar spine, how many times do you watch someone perform their box jumps and it ends up looking something like this:

Box Jump: Poor Landing

 

Happens all the time right?

Yuck.

If your box jumps look like this you’re using too high of a box and are reaping ZERO benefit from doing them.

How you start (chest up, knees slightly bent and not caving in, athletic position) is how you should end. Like this:

Box Jump – Good Landing

 

Another not so great thing thing many people end up doing is landing too loud on the box. Remember: one of the main benefits of the box jump is absorbing force.

Box Jump – Loud Landing

 

If someone can hear your box jumps in Idaho you’re doing them wrong.

Instead, you want to make sure you land softly, or what I like to tell my clients “like a ninja.”

Box Jump – Who’s the Ninja? You Are That’s Who

 

A Few Other Random Thoughts

  • Even with a (seemingly) low box height, the idea is to cue your clients to jump as high as they can (and then to land soft). External cueing works wonders here:
    • Try to hit your head on the ceiling.
    • Jump away from the ground.
    • OMG, there’s a snake!
  • I like to program box jumps for low reps. Sets of 1-3 are ideal.
  • Moreover I LOVE performing box jumps on lower body days prior to squatting or deadlifting as it serves as a nice way to potentiate or wake up the nervous system.
    • Perform 3-4 sets of 1-3 reps and you’re good to go.
    • Quality over quantity.
Categoriesmindset Motivational psychology Uncategorized

Healthy Living Is Hard: Accept It

Today’s guest post comes courtesy of SUNY Cortland head strength coach and lecturer, Justin Kompf. And speaking of SUNY Cortland, the annual Health and Wellness Conference is this April 8th featuring myself, Dr. Lisa Lewis, Brian St. Pierre, Mark Fisher, and Dr. David Just. For more information go HERE.

It is the easiest thing in the world to sit down after work, turn on the television and eat whatever food is most convenient.

Copyright: phafanwangthaphan / 123RF Stock Photo

 

This convenience is inherently pleasurable; for most people, alternative behaviors such as exercise and cooking for 30 minutes are not. There is no immediate reward to experience from this type of behavior.

In fact, the exercise session may actually elicit what is perceived to be painful bodily experiences, especially when compared to sitting on the couch. The chicken and broccoli meal certainly isn’t going to excite your taste buds in the same way that burger, fries, and milkshake would. Thus, there is potential for painful experiences such as bodily discomfort and future soreness when a person exercises and they are also giving up the pleasure associated with unhealthy food.

Change Is Difficult

Due to the general difficulty of change, lifestyle modification to adopt healthier behaviors will certainly result in struggling with some intrinsically negative emotions. Struggling to suppress or avoid thoughts such as “I won’t eat the cookie” or “I won’t sit on the couch and watch television after work” might actually make these thoughts more accessible in the mind and ironically more likely to occur. Additionally, if you are trying to eat healthier and exercise more and happen to have a normal human mind, you will inevitably have negative self-thoughts.

“No matter how hard I work, I will never look like her”

“Exercising every day is challenging with my schedule, is it even worth it?”

“I can’t do it”

“I can’t change”

“I’ve failed at this before, why should now be any different?”

“I didn’t lose weight this week, I’m a failure”

If we are to avoid the suppression of these thoughts, which will bubble into our heads regardless of how strong our willpower is, the logical converse is acceptance. To quote Russ Harris in his book ACT made simple: An Aasy-to-Read Primer on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy:

“Acceptance means opening up and making room for painful feelings, sensations, urges, and emotions. We drop the struggle with them, give them some breathing space, and allow them to be as they are. Instead of fighting them, resisting them, running from them, or getting overwhelmed by them, we open up to them and let them be. (Note: This doesn’t mean liking them or wanting them. It simply means making room for them!)”

When these negative thoughts appear in your head ask yourself the question, “Can I work with these thoughts?”. It is not a question of whether these thoughts are true or false since this is all a matter of perspective.

For example, “I didn’t lose weight this week, I’m a failure”. Whether or not your truly are a “failure” is irrelevant. What is relevant is how this thought will guide your behavior. If you let the thought of being a failure guide your behavior will it enable you to reach your goals and help you become the kind of person you want to be?

Copyright: wollertz / 123RF Stock Photo

Acceptance and commitment based strategies may be useful in promoting physical activity. Pilot research on the topic demonstrated that after an acceptance and commitment based intervention college aged women visited the school athletic center to exercise significantly more than those in an education only condition (Butryn, et al., 2011).

Further, after a 10-week study designed to promote increased walking in sedentary individuals, Martin and colleagues found that when participants were taught skills to enable the acceptance of negative feelings and unpleasant sensations that come with physical activity there was a significant increase in cardiorespiratory fitness, estimated VO2max, and a decreased avoidance of the negative internal experiences related to physical activity (no control group for comparison).

One weight loss study showed that after a 12-week acceptance based intervention participants lost 6.6% of their body weight. More impressively, at a six month follow up participants had continued to lose weight (9.6% of body weight) (Forman, 2009).

Two of the most practical tips to practice acceptance and commitment are to identify higher order values and to examine if thoughts are workable.

Let behaviors be guided by values rather than ruminating on negative thoughts                  

Acceptance and commitment therapy is based on the understanding that people will only continue to engage in behaviors that bring about distressing internal experiences only if these experiences are occurring at the service of some higher order life goal or value.

In their 2009 Pilot study Forman and his colleagues had participants list out the top 10 reasons why they wanted to lose weight. They were then taught to recognize the connection between the values they listed and their eating and physical activity behavior (Forman, 2009). Once higher order values are identified, meaning is now attributed to daily behaviors that once lacked importance.

I believe that this connection between behaviors and values is best exemplified by Hall of Fame pitcher Tom Seaver:

“Pitching…determines what I eat, when I go to bed, what I do when I’m awake. It determines how I spend my life when I’m not pitching. If it means I have to come to Florida and can’t get tanned because I might get a burn that would keep me from throwing a few days, then I never go shirtless in the sun… If it means I have to remind myself not to pet dogs with my left hand or throw logs on the fire with my left hand, then I do that, too. If it means in the winter I eat cottage cheese instead of chocolate chip cookies in order to keep my weight down, then I eat cottage cheese.” (Duckworth)

A value system establishes that low order daily behaviors are in service of higher order long term goals. If you need more help finding strong values to strengthen your resolve for daily behaviors try asking yourself why each stated goal is important to you. For example:

Goal level 1: I want to start exercising more consistently. Why?

Goal level 2: Because I want to improve my health. Why?

Goal level 3: Because I have seen unhealthy relatives lose their independence with age and I want to be able to do all the activities I love for a long time.

Exercising consistently is thus linked to being able to maintain one’s independence throughout a lifetime.

Ask if your thoughts are workable

Whenever a negative thought or feeling comes into consciousness ask yourself if this thought is workable. Specifically, you can ask yourself the following:

“If you let this thought guide your behavior, will that help you create a richer, fuller, and more meaningful life? If you hold on to this thought tightly, does it help you to be the person you want to be and do the things you want to do?”

Copyright: gajus / 123RF Stock Photo

If this thought is not workable, try practicing an acceptance based skill called defusion. Defusion is the process of observing thoughts and feelings from a ‘distance’ without acting on them or trying to change them. Thoughts and feelings do not need to be believed, acted on, or even suppressed. A negative emotion is not something that will be solved analytically or with scrutiny.

For example, if you are hungry because you are trying to lose weight, that hunger is an inherently negative feeling. However, this negative feeling does not necessitate harmful action such as binge eating. You also do not need to pretend as if this feeling is not currently with you, accept that it is there and recognize that you are in control of how this feeling guides behavior.

Who can use acceptance and commitment strategies in their practice?

It is important to not overstep the boundaries of professional practice. I believe it would be important to consider acceptance and commitment as a paradigm shift in a person’s thinking process. In his book, Russ Harris states that:

“I hope to make ACT accessible to the broadest possible range of professionals- from coaches, counselors, and mental health nurses, to social workers, psychologist, psychiatrist, and all health professionals”

I would recommend that anyone who is trying to change their lifestyle start with working on identifying higher order goals and linking them to their daily behavior. Furthermore, attempt to practice defusion skills if negative thoughts or emotions well up as a result of lifestyle change. Ask if these thoughts are workable for long term goals. If they aren’t, recognize that they do not need to be accepted as truth and do not need to be acted on.

Author’s Bio

Justin is the head strength coach at SUNY Cortland. He is also a lecturer in the kinesiology department at the university. Cortland hosts a health and wellness conference each year, this year on April 8th. Speakers will include Tony Gentilcore, Dr. Lisa Lewis, Brian St. Pierre, David Just and Mark Fisher. For more information go HERE.

Note From TG: The conference linked to above is $60 to attend. That’s a steal considering the quality of presenters coming in and the information that will be shared. Students: you can’t use the excuse of “that’s too expensive” because I know full-well you’re spending that much (if not more) drinking on the weekends. Fitness Pros: this is Cortland, NY, in April, for $60. Shut up and get your butt there…;o)

References

Butryn, M.L., Forman, E.M., Hoffman, K.L., Shaw, J.A., & Juarascio, A.S. (2011). A pilot study of acceptance and commitment therapy for promotion of physical activity. Journal of Physical Activity and Health, 8(4), 516-522.

Duckworth, A. Grit: The power of passion and perseverance.

Forman, E.M., Butryn, M.L., Hoffman, K.L., Herbert, J.D. (2009). An open trial of an acceptance-based behavioral intervention for weight loss. Cognitive and Behavioral Practice, 16, 223-235.
Harris, R. ACT made simple: An easy-to-read primer on acceptance and commitment therapy.

Martin E.C., Galloway-Williams, N., Cox, M.G., & Winett, R.A. (2015). Pilot testing of a mindfulness- and acceptance- based intervention for increasing cardiorespiratory fitness in sedentary adults: A feasibility study. Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science, 4(4), 237-245.