CategoriesNutrition

Glutton Free: No, That’s Not a Typo

Today’s guest post comes courtesy of San Antonio based personal trainer, Jonathan Acosta. Some of you may remember a previous post Jonathan wrote for this site – Carbohydrate Rotation Revamped – which was big hit.

Today he covers gluten. But not in a way that’s going to wave his uppity, yoga class going, Prius driving, Whole Foods shopping, I-made-these-delish-gluten-free-chocolate-peanut-butter-brownies-sprinkled -with-fat-free-fairy-dust-that-you-just-have-to-try finger at us.

He understands that Celiac Disease and gluten intolerance does exists, and that for some, avoiding gluten at all costs is kind of important.

However, he also recognizes that for most people, like 99% of us, gluten is not the evil stepchild it’s made out to be…and that there are other, more incendiary culprits in play when it comes to our growing waistlines.

In short: just a little tough love. Enjoy!

Glutton Free

Have you seen the movie This Is the End? You know the one with all the funny comedians and the end of the world.

If you haven’t, there’s a part in the beginning where Seth Rogan is explaining to Jay Baruchel about how he’s eating better and they can’t go to Carl’s Jr because he’s staying away from gluten. Jay then proceeds to make fun of him because of how ill informed he is of gluten and they end up at Carls Jr.

Why am I telling you this?

Because,

1 – EVERYONE needs to see that movie.

2 – Most people are ill informed about gluten and automatically assume they are allergic to gluten and think its clean eating. Even most docs are ill informed about it.

People going on a “health kick” assume that this is it. This is the magic piece they’ve been missing in order to reach their goals.

Eureka! Its gluten!

Im gonna go gluten free and get so (ripped, toned, sexy, insert any diet-related adjective here) because Dr. Oz said so.

The problem is most people don’t even know what gluten is. I really don’t want to go too in depth with gluten because its not the main topic of this post, and a simple google search can explain it better than I can.

 

In a nutshell a gluten is a protein that’s naturally found in wheat and other grains. Not every grain has it (quinoa and rice are the first two that come to mind).

People with Celiac disease are the main population that should be avoiding these as they cause a whole heap of health problems including low immune system, pain and bloating, fatigue ect. I’ll admit that some people who don’t have celiac disease can also benefit with removing gluten from their diet as well.

But those are few and far in between.

Note from TG: For those interested in reading more about gluten – what it is, what it isn’t, who should avoid it, what effects it may have, etc – I’d encourage you to read THIS article from Precision Nutrition.

Disclaimer: Im not a doctor nor do I pretend to be. But in my opinion, unless you have legit, genuine, and aggressive celiac disease, I see no need to be anal (A friend dared me $5 that I couldn’t use this word in a post, cha ching!) and go through the trouble of removing gluten from their diet.

Will it help a bit if you feel bloated and have some G.I. issues? Maybe. Will it help you get amazing fat loss or muscle building results? Not likely. You see gluten isn’t the really the culprit.

Even gluten free foods can be “bad”.

Contrary to popular belief many food items that are “gluten free” are still processed and refined.

Not to mention that gluten free doesn’t automatically mean healthy for you. Just the other day my wife and I were at a restaurant when I overheard the table next to us tell the waitress “let me get the gluten free pizza, I’m eating healthy and that’s the only gluten free item on the menu”.

I glanced at the menu and saw tons of lean protein and veggie options that would’ve been a better replacement for her goals.

Here’s the thing and my point of all this: Gluten isn’t the problem. The problem is it’s homonym. The problem is glutton.

Glutton – To over indulge, over eat, over drink, or too much wealth to the point of extravagance or waste.

Maybe we got it wrong. Maybe when the nutrition gods sent down the Seven Deadly Nutrition Sins we misinterpreted them.

Maybe we were like “What does that say? Gluten? Oh I get it, thou shall not eat gluten duh!”

I’m no expert, but maybe you shouldn’t be getting on a gluten free diet and get on a glutton free diet instead.

Maybe the real problem is the over indulging.

Food portions have become so crazy and well, disproportionate, that what was once considered one serving in any typical restaurant can now, technically, feed two (sometimes more) people.

Without realizing it, you’ve doubled your serving size every time you eat out. Pay attention to what you’re eating. Be mindful of the portion size you’re eating. You don’t have to eat like a baby bird, but you don’t have to eat like a gluttonous T-rex either.

This is why one of my favorite go to tips to revamp results with my clients is to have them weigh and measure their food.

I get it, its all the rage right now to revolt against weighing and measuring and counting macros and calories. It sucks, and it sucks the enjoyment out of eating food. But the truth is…even if you don’t weigh or measure food, your body does.

Here’s what I propose: For 99% of people, 99% of the time, including YOU, all you really need to do is pay more attention to what and how much you’re eating vs. if it has gluten.

What would be a better choice for your fat loss or muscle building goals? A steak, jasmine rice, and veggies? Or a gluten free pizza?

Yeah, yeah, yeah….calories in vs. calories out (and portion sizes) matter – so you technically could make a case for both – but lets cut through the BS and act like adults here.

Change gluten free to glutton free and watch things change.

CategoriesStuff to Read While You're Pretending to Work

Stuff to Read While You’re Pretending to Work: 6/19/15

Okay, so, before we get to this week’s list of stuff to read I wanted to address some housekeeping items first.

1. Elite Training Workshop – Boston

There’s less than two weeks left for early bird registration for the Elite Training Workshop here in Boston featuring myself, Mike Reinold (his facility, Champion Physical Therapy & Performance is hosting), Artemis Scantalides, and Ryan Ketchum.

It’s going to be an awesome day for fitness professionals to learn from some of the best minds in the biz and CEUs are available. Click HERE for more information.

2. The Complete Shoulder & Hip Workshop

My brother from another mother, Dean Somerset, and I are excited to announce our end of summer into early fall series: The Complete Shoulder & Hip Training Workshop.

 

The idea is to discuss and breakdown anything and everything as it relates to shoulders and hips, obviously. Including but not limited to Anatomy, assessment, corrective exercise, performance, programming, etc, in addition to analyzing World of Warcraft strategies. Because, why not?

Like I said, we’re excited about it and we feel everyone who attends will be excited too. Like this excited:

CEU’s will be available for all workshops here as well.

EDMONTON (in August, so it won’t be cold as balls).

ST. LOUIS (in September, maybe catch a Cards game?)

CHICAGO (in October, Wrigley. Nuff said.)

Lastly, promise.

3. The SUMMER SALE ($40 off regular price) for Lift Weights Faster 2.o ends TODAY.

This is a resource I use often, and my wife Lisa LOVES it. Whether I need something quick for us to do on the weekends or if I’m scratching my head trying to figure out a 10-30 minute “finisher” for a client, LWF2 is always there in the clutch.

With hundreds of exercises, dozens and dozens of workouts, and some pretty stellar videos and photography you can’t go wrong. Check it out HERE.

Disordered Eating and The Rise Of the Competitive Fitness Model – Nardia Norman

This article brought up a handful of tough questions as to the REASON why some women opt to participate in fitness modeling, figure competitions, etc.

What I do have a concern with is when the “wrong” type of woman decides to participate and is given the wrong advice by a misinformed PT/Coach who still relies on out dated methodologies (low calorie diets, cutting of macronutrient groups, and excessive training).

So what constitutes a “wrong” woman for competition? The word wrong probably isn’t the best description, as that implies that this situation is black and white (which it isn’t), so a better word to use would be “qualified.”

An important article to check out if you or someone you know is thinking about stepping on stage.

4 Exercises to Eliminate Back Pain – Matthew Ibrahim

Matt does a good job of highlighting some basic, simple, actionable items that anyone can implement TODAY who may be dealing with a cranky lower back or any form of long-term back pain.

The 10 Most Underrated Exercises From 10 Different Coaches – Nate Palmer (& Company)

I helped contribute to this article alongside many other excellent coaches you’ve all probably heard of.

CategoriesMotivational

I Encourage You To Fail

I’m going to fill you in on a little TG trivia from back in the day. And it’s something I’m not too proud of.

I failed my driver’s license exam…twice.

Yeah, yeah…..ha, ha, ha. Laugh it up.

I deserve it.

I didn’t get my license until I was 18. Which, in hindsight, wasn’t the end of the world because there wasn’t much to do in my hometown in the first place, in good ol’ Groton, NY. Driving down Main St. took all of about 30 seconds, and outside of the local bowling alley the “hang out” spots were the parking lot of the local Sunoco station or any number of various corn fields.

There’s that, and I was pretty much a tool of teenager anyways. My idea of fun was staying at home lifting weights, thumbing through my baseball card collection, or watching 90210.

Chicks loved me.

And it’s not like I was in any hurry to be seen driving around in my parent’s car. Because nothing says “sexy mofo” than a 1992 Chevy minivan. With wood paneling on the side. Holla!

But yeah, I failed my driver’s exam twice. The first time was because, after successfully parallel parking the car (which was/is every teenager’s Mt. Everest), I was then asked to perform a 3-point turn. I put the car in reverse, and then kept it in reverse…and nailed the curb.

Oops. Mulligan?

I don’t even remember what happened the second time. I think it had something to do with failing to use the blinker, following the speed limit, not hitting pedestrians, whatevs.

The third time was the charm, though. I passed with flying colors, and no civil lawsuits were filed.

I’ll tell you what: I prepped my ass off for that third test. I was determined to pass, and I made it my mission to bug my mom every chance I got to let me drive to the store with her. I’d pop in my Tribe Called Quest cassette tape, and off my mom and I went…in the minivan. Like two bosses.

I practiced my parallel parking, made sure my 3-point turns didn’t involve any roadside curbs, and kept my hands on the steering wheel at ten and two o’clock at all times.

I used my past failures as a woefully inept driver to get better and to help prepare myself for future success.

And not to brag or anything, fast forward 20 years later, I can say I’ve never been issued a major traffic ticket (parking tickets don’t count, especially when you live in a large city) or have been in any major accidents1

Moreover, my wife – Lisa – and I survived driving in Australia back in March where everything is ass-backwards.

So What Does Any Of This Have To Do With Anything?

A lot, actually.

Not long ago I read a fantastic book titled The Up Side of Down: Why Failing Well Is the Key to Success.

In it, the author, Megan McArdle, discusses why we shouldn’t fear failure or think of it as our enemy. More specifically she describes the concept of “normalcy bias,” which explains why so many people freeze when confronted with a crisis or why once successful companies like General Motors find it so hard to get out of their own way and learn from past mistakes.

Failing, in her opinion, and I agree, is the only way to get better.

Leaving alone the current debate over youth athletics and the “no one gets cut from a team, and everyone gets a trophy” mentality (which is grossly absurd, and a discussion for another time), people often forget that failing is what often builds resiliency.

If everyone wins all the time, or never faces adversity, or always gets the girl…how does that help better prepare him or her to change their ways, adapt, or grow?

It’s doesn’t. It leads to stagnancy, narrow-mindedness, and an inability to not stop sucking.

And that’s unfortunate, because there’s a lot everyone can learn from failing, and learning to fail well. Better yet: there’s a lot everyone can learn from understanding that failing is normal. It’s going to happen. How you interpret and handle it is going to be what helps separate you from the masses.

Take the fitness industry for example.

I can go back and look at programs I’ve written five years ago and chuckle. Actually, cringe. They’re that bad.

I can remember a time when we used the Sleeper Stretch on every baseball player that walked into our facility. We’d test them for GIRD (Glenohumeral Internal Rotation Deficit), and if we saw they presented with it (generally: a lack of internal rotation range of motion), we’d have the athlete implement more Sleeper Stretches into their arm-care routines.

Fast forward a year or two later and we soon came to realize that GIRD was, holy shit balls, a normal adaptation of the throwing shoulder! It’s when there’s a lack of IR in conjunction with a lack of TOTAL ROM where more of a red flag exists.

All those Sleeper Stretches we’d been programming were probably making the issue(s) worse, not better.

We learned from our “failure,” and subsequently overhauled or approach to not only assessing the throwing shoulder, but how we went about programming for our overhead athletes in general.

And this speaks to writing training programs as a whole. I don’t think I’ve ever written a “perfect” program.

I’ll assess someone both statically and dynamically (watching your clients MOVE will give a gulf of information), ask all the relevant questions with regards to training history, injury history, favorite Mutant Ninja Turtle, and then write a program I feel will be the most efficient, effective, and safest way to get them from Point A (sucky) to Point B (less sucky).

Almost always I’ll have to re-arrange stuff, cross things out, or scratch certain drills or exercises from their program altogether. Sometimes stuff works, and sometimes it doesn’t.

Basically, I fail all the time.

But I use those failures to “correct my wrongs,” to learn, to get better, and to hopefully not make those mistakes again down the road.

So, what about you?  How “well” do you fail?

CategoriesFemale Training speed training

4 Strength Goals For a Beautiful Body

I make no secret my disdain towards the mainstream media (magazines, newscasts, infomercials, pop culture, fads) and how it relays fitness information to women.

Wait, what? You mean women can lift weights heavier than 3 lbs????

Most of it – mind you, not all of it – is predicated on the notion that women are these delicate flowers who shouldn’t (or worse, can’t!) lift appreciable weights, and that their fitness needs are better aligned with cardiocentric modalities and/or buzz words like “toned,” “sleek,” and “sexy.”

You know, cause deadlifts will make you grow an Adam’s Apple overnight.

The tone (<- forgive the pun) has changed in the past five years or so with the growing popularity of CrossFit. Women, now more than ever, of all shapes and sizes, backgrounds, and ability-level are hitting the weights and recognizing (and reaping) the advantages of setting performance based goals.

There’s still a lot of work to be done, though.

It’s a never ending upward battle to change the mindset of a society that places more “value” in something as arbitrary as what the scale reads in lieu of someone’s push-up prowess.

In my latest article on BodyBuilding.com I discuss why strength is the key to pretty much everything, including aesthetics.

Continue Reading……..

ALSO

Since we’re on the topic of performance, one of my all-time favorite resources for conditioning and general badassery – Lift Weights Faster 2 – is currently in the midst of a stellar summer SALE.

Not only do you get to learn from one of the best coaches I know, Jen Sinkler, and get bombarded with literally hundreds of different circuits and finishers ranging from 10-30 minutes, but you’ll also have the opportunity to follow workouts written by guest coaches such as myself, John Romaniello, Jill Coleman, Ben Bruno, Bret Contreras, Molly Galbraith, and a host of others.

Frankly, LWF2 is my default resource whenever I need a quick circuit to use myself or with any number of my own clients.

And you can get it for $40 off the regular price the rest of this week.

Check it out HERE.

CategoriesStuff to Read While You're Pretending to Work

Stuff to Read While You’re Pretending to Work

I’m getting braces today. I don’t want to talk about it (except, you know, for blabbering on about it on the internet).

But this is pretty much what I feel like is going to happen.

Lisa had hers put on a little less than a year and a half ago, and had them taken off a week before our wedding. I elected to wait until AFTER our wedding (for obvious reasons).

And now it’s game time. In less than an hour. Shit.

Anyways, I’m sure I’ll be in a better mood about them at some point…but as of right now I feel like a pouty 13-year old kid who wants nothing more than to stomp his feet up and down.

No, no, no, no, NO!

Strength First: Ditch the BOSU Ball For the Barbell – Charles Staley

In this article, Coach Staley breaks down why unstable surface training make about as much sense as a poop flavored lolly pop (for NON-INJURED individuals).

I Went Paleo and Now I Hate Everything – The Everywhereist

This was, no shit, the funniest blog I’ve read on Paleo ever.

[Note to Self]: Lisa and I should quit our jobs and start a travel blog like this one. We could totally make it work. And, probably win a Pulitzer.

How To Do Anything (even the hard stuff) – Krista Scott Dixon

Whether it’s anything fitness related or trying not to make fun of a 38-year old grown ass man getting braces in front of his face, the reason most people fail is because they miss certain steps.

Here Krista tells you how not to do that.

FYI

Only two weeks left for early bird registration for mine an Dean Somerset’s Complete Shoulder & Hip Training Workshop in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada this August.

 

For more information, including itinerary, location, price, and reference to my favorite Arnold Schwartzenegger movie, you can go HERE.

ALSO:

We’re doing the same workshop in St. Louis (HERE), and Chicago (HERE).

Hope to see you at one of them. It’s going to be amazeballs.

CategoriesExercises You Should Be Doing

Exercises You Should Be Doing: Bulgarian Split Squat to RDL

I’m always intrigued on why certain exercises are called what they’re called. Take the Turkish get-up for example.

I understand there’s a bit more panache in naming the Turkish get-up the Turkish get-up than say, “hold a cannonball looking thingamajig in your hand and stand up,” but seriously: why is it called the Turkish get-up and not the Cambodian get-up or Floridian get-up or the Elvish get-up?

Okay, elves don’t exist. You got there.

There’s actually an answer to this question (and is something I’ve written on before), courtesy of Dr. Mark Cheng:

It seems back in the day, and I assume present day too, the Turks were kind of badass. I forget what term Mark used, but he described the form of grappling they typically trained their warriors in, and how they used to do so all oiled up.

You know how hard it is to grip or grab something that’s all wet or sweaty, right? Well imagine that, only 100x more challenging and 1000x more filled will sexual innuendo.

Anyways, waaaaaaay back in the day, in order to even be considered “man enough” to train and to learn how to fight the Turks made it a prerequisite you had to perform a get-up with close to a 100 lb kettlebell (give or take a few lb’s). While fighting a grizzly with your free hand!

Okay, I made that last part up….but still. WTF!!!!!

And that’s more or less the back story of the Turkish get-up.

So what’s the deal with Bulgarian split squats?

I’m sure there’s some legit reason with a very rationale and simple explanation, but my suspicion is that the reason why Bulgarian split squats are called what they’re called is because your mom doesn’t love you.

Or, I don’t know, maybe some meanie head Bulgarian was a bully and not only stole the lunch money from the person who actually invented the exercise – most likely from a neighboring country like Macedonia, Greece, or, in the ironies of all ironies, TURKEY – but stole the exercise too!

Whatever the case, while there’s the Rear Foot Elevated Split Squat camp (doesn’t roll off the tongue so easily), most people refer to the exercise as Bulgarian split squats. It is what it is.

Which brings us to today’s Exercise You Should Be Doing.

Bulgarian Split Squat to RDL

 

Who Did I Steal It From: renowned coach and fitness educator, Nick Tumminello. I “stole” this exercise during his presentation at the SUNY Cortland Strength & Conditioning Symposium this past March.

What Does It Do: This is a “hybrid” exercise which combines two exercises into one and makes you hate life 4x as much.

I like to use this exercise with clients who are in more of a “time crunch” with their training sessions or for those who just want to perform something challenging and smoke their legs.

Key Coaching Cues: As is the case with any single-legged exercise, I operate under the assumption that most trainees go too heavy and sacrifice quality for quantity.

While quality of movement should always be stressed, with single leg work in particular I find many people go too heavy and fail to reap any real benefit from the exercise other than to say “wow, that was really, really, really hard.”

I could wax poetic and bullet point any number of benefits to single leg work: hip stability, pelvic control, core stability/strength, addressing strength deficit between limbs, “sport specificity,” so on and so forth.

But lets just assume I’m preaching to the choir.

Because this is a 2 for 1 type of exercise you’ll need to go lighter than you think. You’ll want to stay cognizant of rib position during the set (limit rib flair, maybe a slight forward lean on the split squat portion), and the torso should stay as rigid as possible (no leaning to one side or the other).

Perform a standard BSS where the anterior surface of the thigh dips below knee level, and when you return back to the top position perform an RDL, where you hip hinge into the standing leg. The RDL portion will feel a little wonky to start, but with some practice you’ll get the hang of it.

I prefer to keep repetitions fairly low, in the range of 4-6 reps PER SIDE (which is really 8-12 reps because you’re performing two exercises).

Give it a try and let me know what you think.

CategoriesOff Topic rant

Twitter Math

People on the internet crack me up. Trolls in particular.

Everyone is a tough guy (or girl) on the internet. The total lack of social filter or any semblance of decency seems to be non-existent when a select few sit behind their computer screens.

It can best be exemplified in this example.

Random guy to Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson on Twitter:

“Dude, my cat’s vomit could have made a better movie than San Andreas. It was that bad. Plus, your mom’s a whore. #smallbiceps.”

This behavior is analogous to the phenomenon of road rage (not so much the busting a cap in someone’s ass because they cut you off on I-95 type of road rage, which is a tad excessive to say the least; but more so the type of “rage” people project when they flip someone off in their car or yell any number of expletives through their car window and then immediately drive off.)

There’s no urgency to “get away” in a car, because, well, they’re in a car.

Someone can tell someone else to fuck off and before the recipient of said “fuck offedness” can respond (with a fist in the other person’s eye) the culprit is either two stop lights a head or illegally swerved into the car pool lane and high-tailed it out of there.

It’s a whole nother ball of wax when there’s less of a barrier.

People react and act much differently when the other person is face-t0-face.

Lets re-visit our random Twitter guy from before, but this time put him face-to-face with Dwayne.

“OMG, dude, I loooooooved your last movie. The way the lighting in the background made the sweat on your biceps glisten was amazeballs. Can I touch them?

No homo.”

When left with the alternative…a six foot, five inch, 270+ lb behemoth of a human being standing right smack dab in front of him, our internet tough guy changes his tune and turns into a giddy school girl at a One Direction concert.

I had a interaction with a troll recently, on Twitter.

The story begins with a completely random, inert, ho-hum, not-so-very-special Tweet on my end.

All I was trying to convey was that, for most trainees, there’s no need to worry about muscle fiber type, rate coding, neural firing patterns, inter and intramuscular coordination, or anything of that nature in order to get strong. While all enter the conversation, the ONE thing that’s most in our control is the size of our muscles.

A larger muscle with more cross-sectional area has a greater ability to produce more force.

KISS – Keep It Simple, Stupid.

See, nothing special. But, you know, train-of-thought information.

Not long after I received a response from someone on Twitter. To the effect of:

“Do u actually train people or just tweet? Most guys I know who are any good, don’t have time for this. Just curious.”

[NOTE: I’d link to the actual response, but in the aftermath, the person BLOCKED ME from following HIM, which is funny, because, I’d rather masturbate with sandpaper than follow this jackass. But anyways].

In Fairness: he did catch me on a rather “aggressive” day with regards to my Tweeting prowess. I think it was my tenth of the day.

So I chimed back, rather innocuously, with:

His response (again, I can’t re-post verbatim):

“LOL, exactly. Tony, stop writing about stuff you never do. Must be in between clients, right? Time waster.”

What I wanted to do was respond with something like this:

And then reiterate to him that, “no, I wasn’t in between clients because…I WASN’T AT THE FACILITY IN THE FIRST PLACE!”

Side Note: Did I mention it was my day off and that I wasn’t training people?2

But I didn’t. I resisted the urge to get into an internet dick measuring contest.

Rather than play into what he inevitably wanted me to do – engage – I just shot back with:

And that’s when he blocked me (which, for the record, I’m not complaining about).

Which begs the question:

If I wasn’t “any good” or he saw no value in the information I provide, why was he following me in the first place?

Which also begs the question:

Why even write this post in the first place?

1. Understandably it serves no real purpose, and I could have just as easily spent this same time writing a training program for a client.

However, writing about it is cathartic in a way and makes it less likely I’ll want to stab someone in the throat.

2. I just wanted to write this afternoon.

Something fun.

Furthermore

Lets do some Twitter math.

According to my profile, I joined Twitter in December of 2010. That’s ~1,580 days. Up until the writing of this post I’ve Tweeted a total of 5,351 Tweets.

That’s an average of 3.3 Tweets per day (95% of which are either links to my own posts or various articles I come across I feel would benefit my followers). Only like 0.8% are LOLCat videos.

Lets say it takes 20 seconds to write each Tweet. That’s a total of 60 seconds out of my day spent Tweeting.

Clearly I need to re-evaluate my time management skills.

Categoriespersonal training Program Design

Bootcamps: Not Just For Crushing People (and doing “stuff”)

Today’s guest post comes courtesy of Cressey Sports Performance’s group fitness coordinator, George Kalantzis.

Enjoy!

Group training is becoming a staple in the fitness industry and people are trying all sorts of group classes to get their exercise fix in.

People want and love group training, and when you can combine a great atmosphere with properly coached exercise that not only produce a training effect, but also address individual limitations/ability level/postural deficiencies/weaknesses/and strengths; it’s a win-win for everyone.

At Cressey Sports Performance (CSP), our strength camps run 3x’s a week, with four classes a day.

Exercise selection is based upon how easily it can be regressed (or progressed). Essentially we don’t dig too deep into our exercise tool box for the sole purpose of “doing stuff,” but rather choose exercises and drills which can easily be “ramped” to one’s individual needs and ability level. For us, it’s all about whether the exercise is coachable, and which can help the client move better as we go along.

Changing too much and making exercises “exciting” for the sake of exciting is a way to keep people from mastering the basics.

Basics are boring, but they work.

And the sooner someone can get a handle on the basics, the sooner their exercise rolodex (which don’t even exist anymore) can be expanded.

Below are some “big rock” themes to how we run our strength camps at CSP.

Density Training Days

Monday is density day. We tend to keep things relatively simple. Meaning, the circuit designed is based upon the time frame allotted. After warm-ups and explanation, we tend to have around 40 minutes to get some work done.

Typically, circuits will range from 10-20 minutes, which allows for a decent amount of work to be done. For the smaller time frame we might use 2-3 exercises in a block, and for the larger time frame we will have anywhere from4-6 exercises in a circuit.

The order of exercise chosen should depict the flow of your gym and the number of clients in a class. Anything from 2-6 exercises with 8-12 reps works best for density training along .

Example Density Day with TWO larger circuits and Finisher:

Circuit #1

A1: Barbell Reverse Lunge 10/leg
A2: Barbell Push Press x10
A3: KB Swing x 10
A4: Pushup x 10
A5: Medicine Ball Stomps to Floor x 10

 

Circuit #2

B1: Dumbbell Front Squat x 8
B2: Renegade Rows 4/side
B3: Prowler Push 40 yards
B4: 1 Arm Farmers Walks 20 yards/side
B5: KB Clean x 8

Finisher:

KB Clean and Squat Ladder

1 Clean, 1 Squat, 2 cleans, 2 squats, 3 cleans, 3 squats. 4 cleans, 4 squats 5 cleans, 5 squats and back down.

Metabolic Conditioning Day

This day is the most popular among clients and runs on Wednesdays. It tends to attract the largest groups and gets the best feedback.

I think clients like the idea that they never know what they are going to get that day. It could be a ten exercise circuit, or four mini circuits of 3-4 exercises. It all depends on the cycle of the program that week.

Here is an example of FOUR mini circuits, with rounds of 35s/15s, 25s/10s, and 20s/10s

Round 1 = 35s work, 15s rest, Round 2 = 25s work, 10s rest, Round 3 = 20s work, 10s rest, Round 4 = death stares from clients

Circuit #1

A1: Donkey Kong Slam Battle Ropes A2: Kneeling to standing Battle Ropes

A3: Sitting Battle Ropes                       A4: Plank Battle Ropes

Circuit #2

B1: Single Leg Hip Thrust Off Bench – Right       B2: Single Leg Hip Thrust Off Bench –  Left

B3: Standing Pallof Press – Right                          B4: Standing Pallof Press – Left

Circuit #3

C1: TRX Rows           C2: TRX Pushups

C3: KB Squats           C4: KB Cleans

Circuit #4

D1: Prowler Push    D2: Sledge Hammer to Tire

D3: Sprints               D4: Airdyne Bike

Check out footage from a METCON day

 

Strength Day

These are designed much like density days, except we tend to keep the reps lower and allow clients to lift a bit heavier.

It’s not uncommon to see women deadlift twice their body weight on a Friday morning session.

It is very important to note not everyone will trap bar deadlift.

We have a solid structure in place that allows us to individualize all workouts. There are examples of clients in their late 60’s that require modifications of all sorts and clients who are in top shape that require more advance workouts. What’s great about strength days is that it allows us a better opportunity to customize the flow of the day for anyone who needs it, which gives a sense of “velvet rope customer service.”

People feel they’re being taken care of (which they are).

Here is an example of strength day.

Station # 1 : 15 Minutes

A1: Deadlift Variation x5
A2: Hollow Body 5 Reps
A3: Pull-up Variation 5 Reps
A4: Reverse Sled Drag x 5

 

Station # 2 : 15 Minutes

B1: Dumbbell RDL x 8
B2: Dumbbell Bent Over Row x 8
B3: Dumbbell Single Leg Deadlift x 8/leg
B4: Pushups x 8
B5: KB Swings x 8

Finisher: Break Into TWO Groups

Group #1

Complete every rep/movement on the minute for FIVE minutes

A1. KB Squats
A2. Med Ball Floor Stomps x 5

Group #2

½ the group does prowler sprints for 30 seconds, the other half holds a front plank for 30 seconds Total of 10 rounds for 5 minutes

This is not a see-all be- all approach to group training, but it does produce results and clients keep coming back for more.

I hope this can help you think outside the box when it comes to group training.

Note From TG: a few resources that may help on the topic and that I’d encourage you to check out are Bootcamp in a Box and Group Training Playbook

About the Author

George began his time at Cressey Sports Performance as an intern in the fall of 2013, and returned in 2014 as CSP’s Group Fitness Coordinator, overseeing all Strength Camp coaching and programming responsibilities.

George is a veteran of the United States Marine Corps and was awarded an honorary discharge after eight years of service. He possesses an MBA from Southern New Hampshire University and is currently attending massage school to become a licensed massage therapist.

Outside of CSP, George maintains a fitness-related blog that can be found at www.sgtkfitness.com.

He and his wife Shawna reside in Manchester, NH, with their fur-baby Lola the dog.

CategoriesProgram Design

You Down With GPP?

Everyone together: “Yeah you know me!”

For those of you who picked up on the 90s hip-hop reference with today’s blog post, congrats…you’re cool. For those of you who have no idea, well, I encourage you to open up Pandora, Spotify, Slacker, or whatever your music streaming service of choice and look up Naughty by Nature.

Replace GPP with OPP and set on repeat.

You’re welcome.

Not that I wouldn’t want to take a trip down nostalgia lane and partake in any candid discussion around 90s hip-hop and some of my favorite songs and artists/groups from back in the day3, but we’d be sitting here for awhile if we did and I know you have things to do.

So I’ll get right to the point. The catchy title 1) was a sneaky way to lure you in (gotcha) because, as it happens, 2) I’m going to be talking about steady state cardio today.

“Are you down with steady state cardio?” didn’t have quite the same vibe and pizzaz as the OPP reference. And besides, if I had started with that as my title most of you would have told me to GFY and clicked away.

I promise no more three-letter abbreviations from here on out.

All of this to say……

I’ve Been Re-Thinking My Stance on Steady State Cardio.

As in: I’m starting to include more of it into my own training (and I’m liking it).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1Y73sPHKxw

 

I’m sorry, but Dramatic Chipmunk never gets old.

Okay, “liking it” is a bit of a stretch. I like pizza. I like deadlifts. And hell, on occasion, I like getting a pedicure4 I don’t necessarily “like” doing steady state cardio, and often times would rather throw my face into a brick wall out of sheer boredom.

But I like what it’s been doing to my training as of late – especially in the weight room.

Funnily enough there was a time in my life where I averaged upwards of 15-20 miles PER WEEK of running. Not knowing any better I did it as a way to “build my legs” for baseball. All through high-school and college it wasn’t uncommon for me to go for 5-7 mile runs a handful of times per week to “flush the lactic acid out of my muscles”5 or to punish myself for a bad outing.

Baseball and performance aside, not surprisingly, I was always a skinny kid/athlete. I started lifting weights at a young age to help build my body. However that often played second fiddle to the amount of running I did. I even ran Cross Country one year in high school. I don’t like to talk about it. It was a dark time in my life.

Once I was done playing (competitive) baseball and my career in the fitness industry started to manifest, my goal(s) then switched to getting my bodyweight up to 200 lbs (from 170-175, 180 tops). It was around 2002 when I first started reading the likes of T-Nation and other various websites.

I started nixing the isolation, body-part splits, I started deadlifting and squatting more, I ate whole eggs, and I cut-down the amount of steady state cardio I performed.

Low and behold I gained 30 lbs in less than a year and hit the 200 lb mark.

The internet told me that if I wanted to get jacked I shouldn’t perform any steady state cardio. All I had to do was toss in some sprints here and there, maybe do a few Tabata’s (which weren’t really Tabata’s, mind you), and I’d get all the aerobic conditioning I’d ever need. And besides: who needs aerobic conditioning when all you want to do is lift some heavy ass weights!

It not so many words: you’d lose all your gainz if you even thought about going for a light jog. And you’d lose your dignity if you were caught wearing jogger shorts. It’s science.

It’s a trend we see often in the fitness industry. The pendulum on any given topic – whether it’s debating the efficacy and usefulness of steady state cardio, high-fat vs. low-fat diets, carbohydrates, CrossFit, high-bar vs. low-bar squatting, Paleo, gluten, full-body vs. body-part splits, or whether or not Tracy Anderson is more intelligent than a ham sandwich (<– she isn’t) – swings either too far to the left or too far to the right.

There never seems to be a lack of extremism. You’re either in or you’re out, there’s no middle ground.

Sadly, I’m not immune to falling into the same trap.

It’s been well over a decade since I’ve included any semblance of long(er) duration, steady-state cardio (which can be characterized as a form of GPP – General Physical Preparedness) into the mix. Partly due to personal preferences, and partly due to my own naivete (but really I can chalk it up to 100% stubbornness. I’ve always known better).

So by now you may be asking yourself “Seriously Tony, pedicures? Why the change of heart, Tony?”

The impetus came from two sources.

1. Alex Viada (and by extension his phenomenal book, The Hybrid Athlete).

2. The guy who writes my programs, Greg Robins, told me I have to do it.

To put it lightly, Alex Viada is a freak of nature. The man can deadlift AND squat over 700 lbs, AND he runs a sub five-minute mile, AND he competes in Ironman and Ultra Marathons.

I once parked in the furthest spot possible in a Trader Joe’s parking lot and thought I was the man.

Alex has spent years via trial and error (and even he’d admit it’s been mostly error) in honing the most ideal formula to be able to maintain (and even gain) strength while concurrently improving endurance capacity. Being a “Hybrid Athlete” is all about working hard, but being lazy.

“In other words, do as little as possible to attain the necessary result. Lift less often than a powerlifter, run less than a runner, bike less than a cyclist, swim less than a swimmer… the body has limited recovery, and will quickly become overwhelmed.

Isolate what is truly important in each type of training, focus on those areas, and do them well. Cut out the junk miles, cut out the gym pissing contests, be draconian in how you approach routines – take those articles with the “ten exercises you should be doing” and toss them in the trash. The more you want to do, the less you should be doing.”

To be fair: not everyone wants to do both. For most – myself included – I have NO desire to run a marathon or even a 5K for that matter.

But in recent months I have changed my tune with regards to how incorporating more steady state cardio can help in the weight room and improve my recovery and performance.

To quote Alex:

“Endurance exercise improves energy substrate utilization – being able to more efficiently mobilize and burn fat and glucose will of course improve performance over time (due to more economical usage of glucose and a greater amount of essentially unlimited fat stores to burn). In addition, improved perfusion not only aids in getting oxygen to the cells, but also improves the body’s ability to both buffer acid buildup from lactate metabolism.”

A less charitable explanation of things would be to say “stronger heart = better endurance = better blood flow = more efficient muscles = better utilization of fat and glucose for fuel.”

Also – and this can be considered the Coup de gras of the entire article – steady state cardio (GPP) can help improve recovery!

The key here is to NOT overdo it in terms of volume and to NOT be an asshat and turn something that’s supposed to be low-intensity endeavor into loaded Prowler sprints for AMRAP (or something equally as asshatedness).

If the goal is to improve work capacity (ability to do more work in a given time) it’s crucial to employ modalities that aid and promote general recovery which, as Alex notes, also create positive adaptations in “durability, energy stores, cardiac output and cardiac perfusion, and other general components of overall endurance that essentially provide the foundation for an athlete to train and compete for longer while recovering better.”

Long story short: going for an easy (heart rate of 120-140 BPM) 20-30 minute jog 1-3x per week isn’t going to negate your gainz. I’d make the argument it may help!

And this isn’t relegated to just jogging (something of which I’ve been doing lately). As an example Lisa and I went to Harvard Stadium yesterday to walk up and down the stairs. Nice and easy, nothing hardcore, and just enough to elevate my heart rate into “Zone 2.”

I got a good workout, and I know it’s not going to have any detrimental affects on my squat and deadlift session today.

Elliptical machine, rowing machine, Prowler, bike, a pool, it’s all fair game. Just don’t overdo it.

I implore you to not be so “shallow” in your thinking to OMIT an entire way of training – and something that could very well have a positive net effect on your overall performance in the weightroom and physique – just because some brocentric article told you that running is for pussies.

It took me a while to turn off the noise on my end, but I’m glad I finally did. In the long run (<– LOL, pun intended) it’s going to be for the best.

As an FYI

Alex Viada will be speaking at Cressey Sports Performance on Sunday, June 28th for a one-day workshop. Spots are still available and you can find out more information HERE.

CategoriesStuff to Read While You're Pretending to Work

Stuff to Read While You’re Pretending to Work: 6/5/15

 

Physical Preparation 101 – Mike Robertson

The best coaches are the most efficient coaches. They’re able to assess their athletes/clients and “streamline” the program writing process.

It doesn’t have to be like rocket science or solving long division.

TODAY (6/5) is the last day to purchase this fantastic resource at a significant discount ($100 off the regular price), and learn from one of the best coaches I know.

In addition, there is a 2-pay option, so that’s something to consider for those who are a bit more price sensitive.

That said, I can pretty much guarantee PP 101 will pay for itself 10x over from all the things you’ll learn, not to mention be able to immediately apply on Day #1.

This is not a cost, it’s an investment…….in yourself.

Todd Bumgardner’s New Site – Todd Bumgardner

I’ve featured many of Todd’s articles on this site in the past, so for some of you he’s nothing new. He’s the awesome.

But for the many of you who are new to the site, Todd’s someone whom I respect a ton and he’s someone I feel you should be listening to and reading.

I mean, he’s bald, he likes to lift heavy things, what’s not to like?

He just made his brand spankin new site live and it’s the shiz. I encourage you to check it out and bookmark it, cause you’re going to learn.

Pete Dupuis’ New Site – Pete Dupuis

Cressey Sports Performance’s business director and Vice President, Pete Dupuis, has finally stepped into the 21st century and started his own website.

You won’t find articles on the best set/rep schemes or how to measure glenohumeral internal rotation deficit or anything of that nature here.

What you will find is real advice and logic on how to run a fitness business, sans the cheesy buzz words (TOP SECRETS!!!!) that many internet gurus like to use.

If you’re a current business owner or an aspiring one, I’d bookmark Pete’s site too if I were you.