Categoriescoaching Exercise Technique Strength Training

3 Ways the Kettlebell Deadlift Can Improve Your Barbell Deadlift

Today’s guest post comes courtesy of Providence, RI based strength coach, Joe DeLeo. He discusses the kettlebell deadlift and why it can have a lot of influence on one’s performance with the barbell deadlift.

Enjoy!

3 Ways the Kettlebell Deadlift Can Improve Your Barbell Deadlift

The kettlebell deadlift can help you improve your barbell deadlift and the hip hinge.

I know what you are thinking…. “There can be only one!”

Hopefully by the end of this article I will have convinced you of the value of both and how you can improve your barbell deadlift with the kettlebell deadlift.

Key Benefits & Differences

Deadlifts can be performed two ways: conventional and sumo. A conventional deadlift has the feet placed inside the grip and a sumo deadlift has the feet placed outside the grip.

If this is confusing, I highly encourage you to go back and read Tony’s blog “The Deadlift: Beginner Basics” as well as his E-Book Pick Heavy Things Up which can you get for FREE by subscribing at the bottom of this article.

Note from TG: I agree. They’re both life changing. And come with a lifetime supply of hugs.

There are three main differences between the kettlebell and barbell deadlift: Grip, Stance, and The Path of the Handle.

1) Grip

In the barbell deadlift you maintain an overhand grip (palms down, knuckles up) for as long as you can maintain perfect technique or until you get to a heavy enough weight. At this point you will switch to an alternate grip. In the kettlebell deadlift you maintain an overhand grip the entire time.

One of the limiting factors in being able to deadlift heavier weight is your grip strength. Usually a person’s grip will fatigue before their posterior chain does. As Boston based coach, owner of Iron Body Studios, and Xena herself, Artemis Scantalides, notes in THIS article:

“As kettlebell sizes increases so does the thickness of the handle. A thicker handle requires more muscle activation!”

Another added benefit is that when performing the double kettlebell deadlift you will be training the grip of each hand independently while simultaneously learning to maintain equal tension through the left and right sides of your back and latissmus dorsi. You can easily monitor this, by noting if one of your shoulders becomes unpacked or you have greater difficulty maintaining control with one hand over the other.

This really helps to develop the mind/body connection or in scientific terms the neuromuscular connection.

2) Stance

In the conventional barbell deadlift your feet will be about 12 inches apart and toes pointed at about 30 degrees. The handle of the barbell should align over your midfoot as seen in the pictures below.

In the kettlebell deadlift your stance will fluctuate depending on whether you are deadlifting one or two kettlebells and the bell size. The kettlebell deadlift by nature is more similar to a sumo barbell deadlift as your hands are going between your legs and you’re in a wider stance (picture below).

One of the most difficult aspects in the barbell deadlift is finding the correct back position and making sure the chest is ‘up’ (I should be able to see the logo on your t-shirt!).

Mark Rippetoe makes a great point in Starting Strength: Basic Barbell Training:

“Everything else can be wrong with the deadlift and nothing really bad will happen but if your low back is round under a big load, safety will be compromised.”

It is very difficult to round your back with the kettlebell deadlift because the weight is behind you. If you round your back you will shift weight to the balls of your feet and tip over.

3) The Path of the Handle

This is probably where the greatest difference lies and the biggest benefit as well.

The path of a barbell deadlift should be vertical, always. It is the most efficient way to get the bar off the floor.

With the kettlebell deadlift that’s not possible due to the placement of the bells level or behind the malleolus.

The path of the kettlebell takes the shape of a “J” as it travels from the ground through full hip extension.

Now this actually works to one’s advantage because it elicits a stronger stretch reflex in the glutes and the hamstrings. This is because the weight is traveling behind our center of mass. This helps to really groove a solid hip hinge for the barbell deadlift and build some serious strength in the posterior chain, not to mention it makes for a lot of fun picking heavy things up!

Focus on really building control and coordination with the kettlebell deadlift and see your barbell deadlift improve as well.

References

  1. Jones, Brett. Cook, Gray. Kettlebells from the Center: Dynami. Functional Movement Systems. 2010. Print.
  1. Baechle, Thomas R; Earle, Roger W.Essentials of Strength Straining and Conditioning; Page 327. National Strength and Conditioning Association. Human Kinetics. 2008. Print.
  1. Rippetoe, Mark. Starting Strength: Basic Barbell Training 3rd Edition. Page 108. The Aasgaard Company. 2013. Print.
  2. “Scantalides, Artemis. Why I love the Single and Double Kettlebell Deadlift. 12/10/2015. Website.”

About Joe DeLeo

Joe DeLeo is a former collegiate rower turned strength coach. His practice focuses on working with endurance athletes to get stronger so they can perform their best. He also has tremendous experience rehabbing rowing-related injuries and stresses. He focuses on three modalities to train his athletes and clients: bodyweight, kettlebells, and indian clubs.

He is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist through the National Strength and Conditioning Association. He holds certifications as a Functional Movement Specialist, Rocktape FMT II, and is a Level I Girya with StrongFirst.

He lives in Providence, RI, where he can be found both off and on the water helping his athletes get stronger and faster! You can read his blog posts HERE.

Categoriescoaching Exercise Technique Exercises You Should Be Doing

Exercises You Should Be Doing: Hinge Row

Mike Boyle was once quoted as saying:

“Most trainees can never really do enough (horizontal) rowing.”

I tend to agree.

It’s no secret most guys (and girls) are mirror-centric, often training the muscles most easily viewed when staring into a mirror – pectorals, shoulders, biceps, abdominals, and the tranzipidous1

It’s also no secret most guys (not so much girls) often skip leg day

Whenever I audit a program it’s amazing to me the ratio of pushing exercises compared to pulling. I saw one program recently that, when broken down into it’s parts, looked like this:

Push (benching variations): 45 total sets

Pull: 7 total sets. And none of them were horizontal in nature. All were the obligatory handful of sets of lat pulldowns – more glenohumeral internal rotation – tossed in for good measure.

And this person was wondering why their shoulder was bothering them. Weird.

Horizontal rowing variations (think: inverted rows, seated rows, chest supported rows, 1-arm row variations) do a superb job at targeting the upper back – specifically scapular retraction – which often helps to offset or counteract the muscular imbalances and injuries seen with too much pressing.

Moreover, horizontal rowing offers many aesthetic advantages and I’m pretty sure it’s a well known scientific fact it also cures gonorrhea2. And a bad hair day.

For all the accolades and hoopla, horizontal rowing does have a dark side and is not immune from scrutiny or interrogation from the technique police.

As I covered in THIS article a few months ago, I do feel there’s a common flaw in how many people perform their row variations.

More people are rowing: Yay!

More people are rowing incorrectly:

So today I wanted to share a variation I’ve been using with many of my own athletes/clients which helps to address the technique flaw discussed in the link above (<— seriously, you should read it).

The Hinge Row

 

Who Did I Steal It From: This exercise is nothing new (and it is one I’ve used sporadically in the past), but it wasn’t until I watched a video from Jordan Syatt where I had a better appreciation for it’s value.

What Does It Do: The fatal flaw many people make with their rows is that they keep their scapulae (shoulder blades) “glued” together the entire time. They’ll perform their first repetition by squeezing their shoulder blade(s) together (retraction/adduction) – which is correct – but then keep them there throughout the duration of the set.

You need to let those bad boys move.

By not letting them move – think: shoulder blade should move around the rib cage – the bulk of the motion comes form the glenohumeral joint alone (often leading to anterior humeral translation, and hence instability) in addition to leading to rhomboid dominance and the risk of scapular downward rotation syndrome.

A sort of “reverse posturing” if you will.

As a result the shoulder blades can’t effectively upwardly rotate, which exposes the shoulder to a whole host of other issues and makes performing activities overhead difficult.

And makes this kitten sad.

The hinge row allows for more scapular movement – particularly upward rotation.

Key Coaching Cues: You’ll set up as you would for a normal suspension trainer (TRX, Jungle Gym, rings) row with the body in a straight line. Maintaining a straight/rigid torso you’ll pull the shoulder blades together keeping chest up. On the way down, however, instead of maintaining the rigid torso you’ll allow a “hinge” at the hips when your arms are fully extended and lower them to the ground. Basically, you should feel a subtle stretch at in the bottom position.

This allows the scapulae to upwardly rotate, which is money.

Of Note: This can also be performed if you don’t have access to a suspension system, like so:

 

If you notice, I have a pad on the bar to serve as a target for my chest and to prevent myself from going too far into glenohumeral extension.

I like this variation, but I prefer the former because it doesn’t lock me into a pronated (overhand) grip which then locks me into internal rotation.

The suspension system allows for a little more wiggle room with regards to external rotation of the shoulder.

Of Note (again): you can easily make this exercise more challenging by 1) elevating the feet onto a platform (box, bench) or by 2) adding an external load with either a weight vest or by placing chains across the hips.

Don’t be too quick to jump to the progressions. This exercise is every bit about the QUALITY of movement as it is about anything else. And if I catch wind of anyone adding a “kip” to this, I’ll punch you in the face.

Categoriespodcast

Be Strong: Appearance on PT Pintcast

Sorry for my lack of writing prowess this week, but as you know FREAKIN STAR WARS COMES OUT IN THREE DAYS!!!!!!!!!

And that’s pretty much taking up all my physical and mental fuel at the moment. I’ve been going through my various Star Wars apparel to figure out what I want to wear, and when Lisa heads out to work each day I may or may not be practicing lines with my cat, Dagny.

I play Han (of course), and she’s Chewbacca.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWsf9-VXcRE

 

Tell me she doesn’t sound like a cute Chewbacca. Tell me. TELL ME!!!3

At least I didn’t dress her up or anything. I mean, it’s not like I’m one of those real losers who’ve been camping out at their local theater for the past few weeks in their Jedi cloaks.

Okay, in all seriousness I’ve been busy with a few other small projects this week and catching up on some article writing. I promise to have some new content up for you starting tomorrow.

I do have a little something for you today, though: my appearance on the PT Pintcast.

Don’t the play on words confuse you. It’s a podcast directed towards the physical therapy crowd, particularly PT students. The cool thing is that it’s recorded over a pint of beer (hence the name) and the host, Jimmy McKay, brings a very approachable and chill vibe to the show.

The only caveat was that I don’t drink, so we had to settle for me guzzling an energy drink instead.

I was honored to be invited on, and little did know at the time I was the first NON-physical therapy guest (episode #40) to ever make an appearance. No big deal.

It’s a brief interview – running a little over 30 minutes – but one I feel sends a great message to both personal trainers and physical therapy students/professionals alike: Know your role.

Go HERE to listen.

Confirmed 2016 Dates For the Complete Shoulder & Hip Workshop

 

Dean Somerset and I are in high-demand for 2016, and we’re happy to announce two confirmed dates for our Complete Shoulder and Hip Workshop. More to come soon.

TORONTO: at The Wreckroom the weekend of March 19-20th.

SEATTLE: at Vigor Ground Fitness & Performance the weekend of April 9-10th.

Early bird specials apply for both (so act now) and CEUs will be available. And hugs.

CategoriesStuff to Read While You're Pretending to Work

Stuff To Read While You’re Pretending To Work: 12/11/15

I’m taking the day off from training clients tomorrow to head to Ranfone Training Systems (CT) to listen to Dan John speak.

My wife had to re-schedule a glass blowing class she had signed us up for months ago, because I was like “babe, it’s Dan John. Come on.”

And I totally got out of it. Thanks Dan John!

1) A quick reminder that I will be in Frisco, TX on Sunday, December 27th doing a 1-day workshop on “The Athletic Shoulder” at Full Throttle Athletics. I’ll discuss things like upper extremity assessment (static and dynamic), why the term “shoulder impingement” is garbage, how to write effective programs around certain shoulder pathologies, coach up a few exercises, and probably talk about Star Wars. Because, Star Wars.

For more information you can go HERE.

2) Here’s your “Save the Date” for the next Motivation and Movement Lab hosted by Mark Fisher Fitness in NYC: Feb 20-21st.

I had a blast earlier this year speaking at this event, and am so honored I was invited back for 2016’s iteration (also featuring Pete Dupuis, of Cressey Sports Performance, Artemis Scantalides of Iron Body Studios, and Steven Ledbetter of Habitry.com)

For more information you can go HERE.

Also, if you attend, be prepared to stay up late. MFF does not mess around.

Lets get to this week’s list:

Pitch-a-Palooza Brain Dump – Matt Blake

Cressey Sports Performance pitching coordinator, Matt Blake, attended last weekend’s Pitch-a-Palooza down in Nashville, TN and shared some things he learned while down there.

Shut Up and Get Strong – Eric Bach

Talk about a perfect title for an article, right? It pretty much reeks “Tony is going to like it.”

Reminds me of some others I read recently I really liked:

“He-Man is Awesome”

“Bacon Is Delicious”

 “A Research Thesis to Discover’s Ice-Cube’s Good Day”

Unapologetically Powerful – Jennifer Blake & Jen Sinkler

TODAY (12/11) is the last day to take advantage of the generous discount (half-off) of “the Jens” thorough strength training program.

Ladies: it has everything you need.

  • Detailed programming
  • Extensive (140+) video/exercise library and tutorials
  • Jen Sinkler’s famous lip gloss
  • And, I can’t stress this enough: what I LOVE about this product is that it’s not pretentious. The idea is to place a premium on strength, and not send a message of “Get leaner! Get toned! Burn fat! Lose weight!” Although, many of those things will happen. It gets people to work, and as a result a lot of cool things end up happening.

So whether you’re looking for a little direction yourself or maybe have someone else in mind who might benefit, take advantage now because UP goes up in price at midnight tonight.

Categoriescoaching

What It Means to “Pull the Slack Out of the Bar”

In today’s brief video blog I discuss what a coach is really saying when he or she says to “pull the slack out of the bar.”

It’s a common cue, and one I feel tends to elicits looks like this from people receiving it:

A blank, emotionless void.

All kidding aside, it’s a cue that does hold a lot of weight (<– sick pun4) and accomplishes many things:

  • Teaches people to get and maintain tension.
  • Teaches people to get and maintain tension.
  • Teaches people to get and maintain tension.
  • Improves your Spanish.

But for real, it’s a good one.

What It Means to “Pull Slack Out of the Bar”

Categoriescoaching Female Training Strength Training

Find a Winning Community: Spandex Optional. Why More Woman Should Consider Strength Training

People tend to perform best and feel their best when they know they’re a part of a community.

This sentiment is true in almost any context whether referring to AA, drama club, team sports, galactic Empires, or hell, even one of those super secret societies, like in the movie Eyes Wide Shut. But it’s especially true within fitness circles.

It’s in fitness where people can commiserate in unison through a brutal squat session, conditioning circuit, or a random CrossFit WOD of muscles ups paired with running over your right arm with a Prowler for AMRAP.

In short: If you’re part of a (fitness) community you’re more likely to see things through, build an increased sense of perseverance and resiliency, and less likely to give up.

Too, you’re more likely to see the fruits of your labor; I.e., results!

I can attest to this phenomenon via my affiliation with Cressey Sports Performance for eight years, as well as my past experience training at South Side Barbell, a powerlifting gym formerly located in Stratford, CT.

When you train around like-minded individuals (or train with a purpose) great things happen.

CrossFit Gets All the Hype

There’s no denying the overwhelming sense of camaraderie and community that CrossFit has been able to establish amongst its fans and members in recent years. It’s something I commend with vigor.

Nothing has gotten the barbell in more people’s hands – especially women – than CrossFit.

However there’s another fitness “faction” that’s been doing the same thing for years, and one I feel is every bit as motivational and a champion of community as CrossFit.

Maybe even better in several ways.

And it’s a community I wish more people – especially women – would consider.

Drum roll please……..

Powerlifting (But Really, Strength Training In General)

Fear not ladies! I know the word “powerlifting” is often synonymous with “I’m not touching that with a ten foot pole.”

Besides, handstand push-ups and cartwheels look a helluva lot more fun than grinding out a heavy deadlift. I get it.

Plus, the word itself – powerlifting – reeks of intimidation and infers something only advanced lifters dabble in.

Relax. Deep breaths. There’s nothing advanced about it. At it’s base level..all powerlifting really means is strength training.

Besides, what follows assumes that you are equipped with some very basic tools: a working knowledge of gym lingo (you know the difference between a set and rep, can differentiate between a squat and a deadlift, and understand that the word “muscle confusion” is moronic). Also: if you recognize that this picture…..

…is of a dumbbell and not, say, a stapler…we’re good, and you can safely proceed knowing you’re not going to be over your head.

Why More Women Should Powerlift/Strength Train

Okay, I lied. There is a teeny tiny degree of intimidation tied to powerlifting. I mean, I felt it the first time I ever visited South Side Barbell with Eric Cressey back in 2006.

I had just moved to Connecticut (where Eric and I were working and living together) and I tagged along with Eric to South Side to get a lift in. Note: Eric was a competitive powerlifter at the time.

I remember walking through the doors the first time into a room full of 280+ lb giants warming up with my 1RM. Intimidation doesn’t begin to articulate what I was feeling. I was trying every trick in the book not to destroy the back of my pants.

Moreover, as the weeks passed, I had to “wear” the not-so-subtle ball-busting…you know, being the skinny, veiny guy and all. But it didn’t take long for me to be accepted and to feel as if I was part of the group; part of a team.

Likewise, it didn’t take long for me to understand that it was one of the most giving and educational experiences in my lifting career, despite not competing.

To reiterate, though, you don’t need to train AT a powerlifting gym in order to strength train. You can do it anywhere.

Also, on an aside: Spandex (those silly singlets) are only needed to compete.

1) Community

This is very much on par with CrossFit. The powerlifting community is a generous one, and one that will always give back (assuming you’re someone who will show up, do the work, and take a role as part of a team). Basically you need to give too, and not just take.

And like CrossFit, when you’re surrounded by like-minded individuals it’s pretty much impossible not to see results.

Cressey Sports Performance coach, Tony Bonvechio, started the CSP Women’s Powerlifting team a few months ago and when I was still there I saw firsthand how empowering and invigorating it was for the women who took part.

 

It was awesome to see them train as a team, and to watch them coach and cheer one another as they continued to hit PRs.

The “community” element can’t be understated, and I’d encourage anyone reading to seek out a facility or group to work with, even if it’s only 1x per week. It’s worth it.

2) Purpose

Admittedly, not everyone is going to have easy access to a facility or group of people who like to powerlift and/or strength train. But that doesn’t mean you still can’t reap the benefits.

Following a powerlifting/strength-centric program gives people PURPOSE in their training; a goal. It helps to take away the notion that progress (or results) is dictated by what the scale says or what the gossip magazines like to portray as the ideal body type.

Instead, powerlifting (like CrossFit) places higher credence on performance-based goals, which to me has a greater carryover to long-term, consistent progress than anything.

It’s funny: when things start to click and a woman latches on to strength as a positive thing – and not something to be condemned – many of the aesthetic markers she may have be working towards for years with little or no result begin to manifest.

It becomes less about “look at me, I’m hot. Do you think I’m hot? I’m hot, right?” and more about “look at me, and this deadlift PR I just smashed.”

3) Technique

By now some of you may be thinking:

“Well, it seems there’s not much difference between CrossFit and powerlifting in terms of advantages. So, why not just CrossFit?”

This third point is where I feel the two start to separate themselves.

Disclaimer: Yes, CrossFit, I know plenty of coaches and boxes you coach their athletes/clients up well, use intelligent programming, and take the time to properly ramp up or progress individuals based off ability level, goals, and limitations.

But lets be real: that’s the exception and not the rule. Because, CrossFit.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opYj0XICHvQ

 

The overwhelming mentality is “lets do stuff because it looks cool and because it’s hard5” rather than “lets do stuff that will make people better, educate them, and allow them to build some semblance of fitness autonomy.”

As Dean Somerset noted recently:

“The benefits of learning technique for outweigh the benefits of simply doing an exercise. Using powerlifting principles to teach positioning, bracing, and organization to perform a lift helps to limit secondary movement from joints that shouldn’t be causing the movement, and helps reduce the likelihood of problems down the road.”

The principles of powerlifting help to build proficiency in the “big 3,” which makes the learning curve when introducing new movements much less of a barrier.

You learn to become your own coach.

Unapologetically Powerful

Jennifer Blake and Jen Sinkler have constructed a resource – Unapologetically Powerful – I feel will help a lot of women understand the power behind powerlifting. <— See what I just did there. Clever, right?

I mean, why should you have to “apologize” or feel ostracized because you’re strong or want to be strong?

They help to make powerlifting more accessible to women and less intimidating. Here’s what’s in the program

  • A comprehensive training manual that includes Beginner and Early Intermediate 12-week powerlifting programs with a detailed introduction to biofeedback training.
  • An extensive guide on how to compete for first-time powerlifters who want to step onto the platform.
  • A complete exercise glossary with clear-cut written coaching cues and images.
  • A MASSIVE video library of more than 140 exercise demonstration videos. Every movement in the program is in the video library, with detailed coaching cues to walk you through each exercise step by step.
  • A revamped version of Lift Weights Faster geared specifically toward powerlifters.

Unapologetically Powerful is on sale for HALF OFF now through midnight Friday, December 11. For more info, click HERE.

Categoriescoaching Exercise Technique Female Training Strength Training

3 Squat Variations You Haven’t Tried Yet, But Need To

Today’s guest post comes courtesy of Jennifer Vogelgesang Blake – or JVB as she’s affectionately called – a coach at The Movement Minneapolis, competitive powerlifter, and author (along with Jen Sinkler) of Unapologetically Powerful, a new resource designed as a go-to source for learning the “big 3” lifts, and removes the intimidation often attached at their hip.

Or weight clamps in this case.

Anyone can (and will) benefit from this resource – especially beginner and intermediate lifters who are even the slightest bit interested in competing and/or honing their technique.

And, I’d be remiss not to mention I feel this is a home run for any woman who may be on the fence about this whole “lifting heavy things” thing.  

Without further ado, I’ll let JVB take it from here. Enjoy!

3 Squat Variations You Haven’t Tried Yet, But Need To

I’m going to be bracingly honest with you. If I were forced to choose, with my feet to the fire, I would have to own up to liking to squat more than I like to deadlift.

(I can picture Tony Gentilcore’s eyes firing up like Darth Sidius in The Empire Strikes Back and pledging an oath to never host a guest blog from me on his site ever again. This is what they call “going out on a limb.”)

I don’t think it’s unusual for lifters to hold a slight allegiance to one or the other. Both big lifts remind me of a bricklayer laying bricks: strengthening the quads, hams, back, and core are going to construct a house no one is going to be able to knock down. Even so, to me, there’s something really thrilling about loading a bar onto your back and refusing to let it plaster your face into the ground.

 

Squats open up the lifting in a powerlifting meet.

Of the three main lifts (back squat, bench press, and deadlift), squats come first. I’ve come to regard this lift as the party starter—it sets the tone for the rest of the day.

Starting the meet off strong gets your mind in a good place and a great result there infuses confidence into the following two lifts. Feeling strong also improves your mental game.

On that note, make all versions of your squat the same sort of tone-setter.

There are so many riffs on the movement: bilateral variations, such as kettlebell goblet squats and barbell front squats, are excellent for targeting anterior core strength, and unilateral variations such as Bulgarian split squats, skater squats, and pistol squats are key for giving both legs the chance to work, and to even out strength imbalances.

These variations are like the sprinkles on a cupcake, though: while I like to sprinkle that ish liberally, I know that these sprinkles alone do not a great, big, fluffy cupcake make.

I acknowledge that I need to work on my similes, but you don’t have to be a powerlifter to embrace cupcakes and the following three lifts, you only have to be interested in improving your strength everywhere—but especially in your core and in the bottom position of a squat. If you are, chances are good that you could give your current back squat PR a nice bump if you incorporate them regularly.

Barbell Squat-To-Box

First things first: what’s the point of having a big squat if it’s not a big, full-range-of-motion squat? Quarter squats don’t count when you’re going for bragging rights.

Depth issues sometimes come down to a lack of awareness in how low you are actually getting.

Heads up: Don’t confuse the Barbell Squat-To-Box with Barbell Box Squats, a variation in which you actually sit on the box. This is a touch-and-go movement and will help you learn what it actually feels like to squat to proper depth.

 

Zercher Squat

When David Dellanave, owner of The Movement Minneapolis, originally showed me how to do the Zercher squat, I was like, “Really? Why would I want to hold the bar like that?” His answer, “It’s going to get you really f#cking strong, that’s why.”

Zercher squats hammer your quads like crazy, and you’ve never experienced an ab workout quite as intense as a set of heavy Zercher squats. Getting your body strong in weird positions will make lifting in more conventional position that much more lovely.

Zercher squats require that you hold the weight in the crook of your elbows while you complete the movement. The Zercher isn’t just limited to the squat, either: you can also Zercher hold, carry, and deadlift. Because of the position of the weight on your body, this variation is killer for strengthening the upper back.

Hot Tip: Wrap the bar in padding or even a yoga mat for greater comfort.

 

Pause-in-the-Hole Squat

Many lifters rely on the stretch reflex, that rubber-band-like contraction that happens when the muscles stretch at the bottom of the squat, to bounce out of the hole. There’s nothing inherently wrong with taking advantage of this phenomenon, which is particularly handy when attempting to move the most weight your body can handle.

But, there’s something to be said for eliminating the bounce and building strength from a dead stop in the bottom position.

It means you’ll be less likely to stay stuck in the hole.

Pause-in-the-Hole Squats are a favorite for addressing this issue because your position must inherently stay tight from the top position and hold tight throughout the bottom pause (lest you topple) before driving out of the hole. The extra time under tension will fully hammer home the need to keep the upper back tight and entire core braced, as well as build static strength in the lower back, hips, and abs.

Pausing at the bottom is undeniably challenging, even when your form is shipshape, so lessen the weight accordingly.

 

About JVB

Jennifer Vogelgesang Blake’s leggings might be pink but her weights aren’t. A personal trainer at The Movement Minneapolis, she is a powerlifting coach and competitor with a passion for helping her clients discover and grow their strength, inside and out.  She’s here to spread the good word that strong is empowering and because of that, really, really fun.

Unapologetically Powerful is here!

Are you ready to become Unapologetically Powerful? If you’re even just a little bit interested in improving your back squat, bench press, and deadlift, and building lean, beautiful muscle, you’re going to love digging into this program.

Unapologetically Powerful is your go-to resource to learning all about the “big three” lifts, and removes any intimidation from training for and competing, should you decide to, in the sport of powerlifting.

Trainers Jen Sinkler and JVB have teamed up to provide you the answers to all of your powerlifting questions—and get you radically and unapologetically strong. Here’s what’s in the program:

  • A comprehensive training manual that includes Beginner and Early Intermediate 12-week powerlifting programs with a detailed introduction to biofeedback training.
  • An extensive guide on how to compete for first-time powerlifters who want to step onto the platform.
  • A complete exercise glossary with clear-cut written coaching cues and images.
  • A MASSIVE video library of more than 140 exercise demonstration videos. Every movement in the program is in the video library, with detailed coaching cues to walk you through each exercise step by step.
  • A revamped version of Lift Weights Faster geared specifically toward powerlifters.

Unapologetically Powerful is on sale for HALF OFF now through midnight Friday, December 11. For more info, click HERE.

Categoriespodcast

Appearance on the Strength Doc Podcast

I’ve been fortunate enough to be invited onto several podcasts in recent weeks, and all of them have been unique in the sense of their general flow, topics covered, and conversational approach of each host.

Earlier this week I was invited onto the Strength Doc Podcast with Dr. John Rusin.

It only makes sense our world’s would eventually cross paths. Doc and I have a lot in common.

1) We’re both bald.

2) We’re both jacked.

3) And we’re both doctors. He = a doctor in physical therapy. Me = a doctor in being awesome. Same difference.

John’s a very smart guy, genuine, and someone who’s been providing a ton of excellent content over on T-Nation for the past year or so – to the tune of 1-2 articles per week at times.

The two of us had been going back forth about coming onto his show and the stars finally aligned earlier this week. Funnily enough, after recording the show he was like “dude, I’m so back logged and a head of schedule that my plan is for this to go live sometime in February.”

Later on that day he emailed me and was like, “I sent this to my guy (who’s a strength coach and physical therapist too) to be edited, and he’s so hot on it that we’re pushing it to THIS Friday.”

Me: “holla.”

Being invited onto the show was an honor in of itself. But even more of an honor was the unsolicited remarks I received afterward from other coaches who listened in on the episode:

“Tony I cannot tell you how much I am enjoying your interview with John!”

“Great job on the podcast man!”

“Tony, after listening to your podcast it’s safe to say we’re BFFs.”

At the end of the day I just try to come across as someone who’s genuine in his own right, transparent (not pretend I know all the answers), and as someone who gives a shit about this industry.

I seem to be succeeding.

I’d love for you to take a listen, and, if you enjoyed the episode, please give Doc some love on iTunes and toss him a 5-star rating. He deserves it.

iTunes: HERE

Direct Download (non-Mac users): HERE

CategoriesStuff to Read While You're Pretending to Work

Stuff To Read While You’re Pretending To Work: 12/4/15

A few housekeeping things to hit on before we dive into this week’s list.

1) A quick reminder that I will be in Frisco, TX on Sunday, December 27th doing a 1-day workshop on “The Athletic Shoulder” at Full Throttle Athletics. I’ll discuss things like upper extremity assessment (static and dynamic), why the term “shoulder impingement” is garbage, how to write effective programs around certain shoulder pathologies, coach up a few exercises, and probably talk about Star Wars. Because, Star Wars.

For more information you can go HERE.

2) Eric and Chris Martinez – AKA: the Dynamic Duo – who have written for this site several times, just released a FREE 2-week mini course directed towards newbies (or those who are inundated with too much information) breaking down everything from training and nutrition mistakes to how build better adherence.

I think you should check it out. Go HERE.

3) Lastly, I made a recent appearance on The Fitcast where Kevin and I spoke about my recent transition from Cressey Sports Performance to doing my own thing in Boston. And Fast 7.

Take a listen HERE.

And now lets get to this week’s list of stuff to read.

Learn to Grind – Mike Tuchscherer

Mike is known as one of the more analytical lifters out there. The guy is super meticulous when it comes to mapping out his training and he’s famous for saying smart things like “what gets measured gets managed.”

In this article he discusses the “grind.” Good? Bad? What does it mean?

So Now Kale is Bad For You? – Adam Bornstein

Kale. Freaking KALE is bad for you? It’s absurd to think, right? Well, apparently some journalist wrote an article on why it’s bad. Or, rather, what we put on kale is bad. But the damage is still done.

Adam thinks it’s a shame (and I concur) that someone would write this, and here’s why.

6 Ways to Healthier Shoulders and a Stronger Bench Press – Jennifer Blake & Jen Sinkler

In anticipation of the release of Unapologetically Strong next week, “the Jens” have been sharing a ton of excellent information this week detailing the ins and outs of the “big 3” and getting women fired up to powerlift!

I love it.

NOTE: you’ll need to provide your email in order to watch the video above. But 1) I promise it’s worth it and 2) “the Jens” aren’t a-holes. They won’t spam you.