CategoriesOff Topic

Day 6: Brekkie, Kangaroos, and Vegemite by Day – Sir Stamford, The Opera House, and Dinner on the Quay by Night

We slept in! 6:00am and feeling good!

I only woke up kicking the Transformer-Kardashian-Wooly-Mammoth Spider of the bed once, so that was good. As I was typing up yesterday’s blog, Tony noticed a little something out of our back door, and BAM! Kangaroos first thing in the morning!

Breakfast was included with our night’s stay, and DANG! The biggest breakfast ever, and very Australian. There were eggs, chipolatas, beans, bacon, tomato, fruit loaf, quiche, bircher muesli, and vegemite!

The Aussie ladies sitting next to us instructed me so that I knew what to do: first toast the bread, then smear some butter, then a little vegemite. They thought I would hate it, but I didn’t.

Salty, goopy, and weird, but not horrific or anything. Kind of like Worchester sauce jam. Except non-horrific.

Anywho, we were so full we did not eat again until after 3. But even then we just had a snack (This is the equivalent of a normal couple saying they did not eat for two days after brekkie).

Off to explore! We checked out of our Tuscan mini-villa and met again with Jayne, who was so lovely and helpful. We got the HOOK UP for a tour at the Tyrell’s Winery, and some other little suggestions about a few to-do’s before heading back down to Sydney.

We checked out the Hunter Valley Gardens shops, and FINALLY found some flip-flops for Tony! Here he is – happy to be freeing his feet:

Then, on to Tyrell’s Winery. It looks gorgeous, it smells gorgeous, and of course, it tastes gorgeous. We were a little early for our 10:30am tour, so they offered us a glass of bubbly while we checked out the beautiful grounds:

That’s Brokenback Mountain in the background; not to be confused with Brokeback Mountain for you movie/Heath Ledger fans.

 

Then Damian provided a 90 minute tour, with the most informative lecture on wine making I have ever heard! I’ve been lucky enough to visit wineries in Sonoma, Napa, Tuscany, the Alsace, and the Winstrasse in Germany, and Damain surpassed all of those experiences. Here is Damian next to some insane smelling Shriaz grapes:

Note from Tony: Lisa totally had a crush on him.

After the tour we (I) tasted a little. Damian provided, “Water for the dry bloke!” (That would be Tony). All along I’ve been thinking I’d FINALLY be in a wine region with my kind of wine! Full bodied, masculine, lots of structure, and a smell like a forest floor.

Unfortunately, it is so hot in the Hunter Valley that the grapes ripen too quickly to produce this kind of wine. So the Hunter Valley Shiraz (to me) is like a Sonoma Pinot – thin, light, and pepper at the finish. I think the positive-sounding word is “elegant”, but to me it is puny.

So Damian and I talked it out, and apparently I’m more of a Barossa valley wine drinker. Tyrell’s makes a few wines with grapes from this region, and I was very happy to take home a shiraz with grapes grown in Barossa, but turned into wine right here at Tyrell’s.

Overall, it was a wonderful morning! I was very happy to learn that Tony enjoyed the tour as well.

Onward to the Hunter Valley Gardens! Just kidding.

When we got there we learned entry was $27 per person, which included admission to a garden which takes an hour to walk through… we didn’t think so. But here is the entrance, isn’t it nice?

We made a few more stops at a few more wineries, but didn’t pick up anything else. I think Verdelho is my favorite in the Hunter Valley, and I picked up a bottle of that yesterday – so we decided we were all set, and started our journey back to Sydney!

Tony was a pro and stayed to the left all the way back to the airport. We dropped off the car, and took a shuttle to the hotel… Wanna hear about the hotel?

I love bargains, so naturally I was looking for a bargain way to stay in the middle of the city. Hotwire has this function where they offer a certain quality of hotel for a rate, but it’s a “secret” which hotel you get. You essentially you can select 3.5 or 4 star, see the rate you’ll pay and what kind of hotel falls in that category, and then go for it! So Tony and I kept our eye on the rates for a few weeks, and then decided we could afford the 5 star for 3 nights if we went this route. We ended up with the “Sir Stamford Inn” right in the Quay:

Our room is lovely!

 

Spacious and cozy with a little Juliet balcony. My favorite is the bathroom. It is H.U.G.E. When you walk in the lights automatically go on. There’s a room on the right that’s the shower, and is bigger than my office back home. Then there’s another room with the toilet inside. Then there is an enormous bathtub.

The rooftop pool and lounge are a fav as well:


We unpacked, changed, and busted back out on the town to find dinner! Once again, thanks to our warrior brekkie, we really didn’t want a big meal, so Tony was in search of a salad, and I wanted to try another new fish. Tony had the folks at “Bar 100” slap some grilled chicken on a “rocket” (aka arugala) and watermelon salad, and I had the Barramundi with a prawn!

We found Tony some ice cream after dinner:

And then back to the hotel we went, but not without taking some candid shots of the our walk back “home.”

We sprung for the expensive internet so that we could get yesterday’s travel blog up, and I am hitting the sack! Tony will be up for awhile so he can catch up on emails and whatnot.

Thanks for reading, and talk to you tomorrow!

Lisa and Tony

CategoriesOff Topic Uncategorized

Day 5: Ballina, Sydney, Pokolbin, Success!

Lisa’s daily dairy of our Australian Adventure continues (cue old-school 1960s Batman music here. Dah-na-na-na-na-Dah-na-na-na-na)….

For no reason whatsoever I woke up at 4:00am and couldn’t go back to sleep. I think it’s because it feels like Christmas every morning since a few days before we even left for the trip! We enjoyed a quiet last morning in our lovely suite at the Ramada, and were the first patrons for a second time at The Bean Bank. Are you tired of admiring my morning flat white?:

I had the “big breakfast”, and Tony had the omelet and the muesli (two breakfasts). As you can see, we hated it:

Sometimes I am a space cadet. For example, Shannan was kind enough to offer a ride to the airport, and I told him our flight was at 10:40am. We made a plan for a pick up, and he asked us to be in touch when we got back to our room and noticed that it was a different time.

Did I look then? Nope.

This morning at about 5:15am, THANK GOODNESS I checked, just in time to see that our flight LANDS at 10:35, and leaves at 9:00am. Should we panic?! I’m sure we made for a stressful start to Shannan’s day, but he was a champ about it and came to pick us up with his delicious family, bright and early at 8:00am.

I’m pretty sure Shannan, Mady, and Sebastian qualify as the cutest family in Ballina. Everyone is smiling and pumped! Sebastian is super-yummy and I almost bit him right on the face while saying goodbye. Even though we’re excited for the next phase of the Australian Adventure, we’re bummed to leave Ballina, and sad to say good-bye to Shannan and company.

Please, for anyone living in or around Ballina visit Shannan and his gym RAW F.A.S.T Fitness. You won’t be disappointed.

Everyone kept telling us we only needed to get to the airport 30 minutes before take off… say what??! We didn’t believe it. I’m not kidding you, from the front door to the gate, it was 4 minutes. For serious.

No ballywho. No waiting for hours and standing in line. The front half of the plane loads through the front door, the back half through the back door. And then you go. It’s a bullshit free system – point for the Australians.

Here’s Tony (with me behind) walking up to the plane:

I was so excited to start part II of our adventure that the top of my head almost blasted off as the plane approached Sydney:

After retrieving our luggage we headed to the rental car dealer. We got a “Holden” – which neither of us has seen before. Check our cute little rental!

This is the point of the show when the anxiety sets in. The driver’s seat is on the other side – the traffic flows on the other side (the left side). We’ve got to drive through some Sydney traffic and about 2 hours north to the Hunter Valley, using the GPS on Tony’s phone… We begin our mantra for the day, “staaaaay to the leeeeft…. Staaaaay to the leeeeft….”

We make it about 40 feet and I notice a red light on the dash, “stop the car! Stop the car!” I exclaim. With a line of other car-renters behind us, ready to start their journey, Tony and I begin with a mini panic while we try to determine what the exclamation mark in parenthesis means. (“I had this on my Jetta when the brakes were whacked” – I think to myself. “Or maybe that was when the oil pressure was shot?” I tried to remember). I leaped out of the car while Tony had to irritate some other car renters by turning around just before the gate. I got one of the attendants to come help, and his very serious, worried face brightened up when he looked at the dash and sighed, “yeah – that’s the emergency brake”…. Did I mention we were anxious?

So essentially, no one in our little Holden took a breath for about 45 minutes. I was in charge of navigation. Me. (For those of you who don’t know, I have the most terrible sense of direction on earth. It is horrendous). Poor Tony was trying to respond to my queues to “merge left”… stay in this lane…. No! Shit! Get over to the right!” And all the while we chanted, “stay to the left… STAY TO THE LEFT!!!!”

Tony was a rock star, and after a few missed turns, a few tunnels with very narrow lanes, and more than a few close calls, we were north of the city and kickin’ it at 100km/hr through some mountains and into the valley!

Did you know I love wine?

I’m a novice, but I love to learn about it – terroir, grapes, the winemaking processes; and I love to try new wines. Tony, on the other hand, has nothing to do with wine. He does not like the taste or even the smell. He cannot even have a glass to humor me.

I mention it here because this part of the trip was 100% for me. The scary driving, the winery visits, and some of the discomforts I’m about to describe – it was all for me. Please, let’s pause here for a little round of applause, just for my wonderful fiancé who signed right on for all of the following just to make me happy J.

Note from Tony: Yeah, I’m pretty much the shit.

The Hunter Valley reminds me of a more relaxed, more remote, less polished and more bohemian version of Sonoma Valley.

It’s not no frills, but it’s mostly no frills. Also, it’s freakin’ hot! I love it, but Tony forgot to pack any flip-flops, so we needed to fix that. We stayed at the Tuscany Wine Resort, which is supposed to feel Tuscan. It did have the stucco, the heat, and some of the plants to approach the look of Tuscany, but this estate was tired and non-fabulous. We had a lovely concierge, Mady, who helped us to get to our room. Here it is!

Upon entering our mini-villa, Tony and I spotted a spider. I don’t think spider is actually the best word to describe the creature. I think Transformer-Wooly Mammoth that looks-like-a-spider is more accurate:

Inside, there were many mosquitos in the bathroom. I had flashbacks of a trip my best friend Susie and I took to Mexico years ago, when we were eaten alive every night while we slept. I started to get nervous about the bugs, and that Transformer-Wooly-Mammoth-Spider.

We dropped off our stuff and set out for lunch. I checked back in with Mady at the front desk, and she was nervous about the Transformer-Woolly-Mammoth-spider too!

A manager came out from the back to ask if its, “Bottom is really big?” Indeed it was. So I guess it is a Transformer-Kardashian-Wooly-Mammoth Spider. The ladies said they would take care of it, and so I took Tony to get some food.

Tony was hungry. Hours of driving (on the left), after flying, after waking up around 4:00am. It was almost 3:00pm and we needed sustenance! We went to the restaurant up the hill from our B&B, and were happy to meet Kylie, who was friendly, knowledgeable, and ready to talk to us about the area. In sticking with the Tuscan theme, we had the antipasti platter, and BAM! It was super delicious and hit the spot:

I have to say, the #1 best mushrooms I have ever had. The meal reminded me of my favorite Tuscan meal, which my friend Leslie and I shared in Sienna. We devoured our meal! Or, to speak Australian, and to quote Kylie, “You smashed it!”

Then we were off to try and find some flip-flops for Tony. There were none to be found, but we did make it to the Hunter Valley’s Smelly Cheese Shop, where Tony got a personalized cheese sampling!! I felt happy that he could have his very own tasting. Then we made it to Sobels Winery:

Audrey Wilkinson Winery (recommended by Kylie):

And Tulluch Winery, which was nice enough to let me taste some wines just a few minutes before closing at 5:00pm

I was focused on trying the Semillon and Shiraz, since that what the region is known for. However, I discovered Vehrdelo! A Portuguese grape with fruit in the front and easy finish on the back.

We came back to the mini-villa, and I’m happy to say the Transformer-Kardashian-Wooly-Mammoth Spider was gone! Inside, our room was like new. The mosquitos were gone, the daddy long legs in the corner had been removed, and the once mosquito-guts-marked walls were white and flawless. Thanks to Mady and Jayne for fixing it up!

We tried not to fall asleep before heading out to dinner. We weren’t that hungry, thanks to our Tuscan lunch, so we headed to the nearby Harrigans, an Irish spot, where we had a few salads, and I had a Magners.

Kylie said she could “almost guarantee” we would see some kangaroos and wallabies, but so far, nothing! We had our eyes peeled all day and night. We better see one tomorrow! They apparently like to hang out by the tennis court… se we’ll see what we can see on the way to breakfast in the morning.

It’s just a few minutes to 9:00pm, and I’m sure we’ll be asleep by 9:03. I’m also sure I’ll be dreaming of Transformer-Kardashian-Wooly-Mammoth Spiders.

Somewhere on the other side of the world, my dad and brother are reading this and shaking their heads, feeling sorry for Tony that he’ll have to stalk and sleigh any imaginary spiders I may be yelling about in the middle of the night…. Spiders were never my strength.

There’s no Internet here, so you won’t get to read this until we get back to Sydney tomorrow evening… But tomorrow, it’s breakfast, the Hunter Valley Gardens, more wineries, maybe a kangaroo or wallaby, and then back (on the left) to Sydney! Wish us luck J. Love and hugs to all of our friends and family,

Lisa and Tony.

CategoriesOff Topic

Day 4: Seminar Sunday

Lisa’s daily dairy of our Australian Adventure continues……

Greetings! Tony and I made it all the way to 5:30am, so our clocks are just about re-set to Aussie time. Since we’re quick to acclimate to local culture, we waited until 7:00am before heading out for brekkie.

As directed by Shannan, we went to The Gallery Café and asked for the “Raw Brekkie” menu. (Shannan’s gym is “Raw Fitness”). As I imagined, a Meathead’s dream menu – Check it out:

Since I’ve been eating non-stop since we got here, I didn’t really feel I had the room (or the need) for four eggs + accompaniments. So I got some home made muesli with fruit and nuts. And of course, a flat white. Did I mention I love flat whites?

Tony on the other hand, ordered a big-assed omelet:

Stavi gave him a pat on the back after finishing, and we were both happy campers. We got our workout clothes for later on and jumped in the car with Shannan to start day 2 of the Because Heavy Things Won’t Lift Themselves Seminar. Here are some pics of the morning, which was part lecture and theory:

And part practice and demonstration:

Just before lunch, Tony and I piloted my being part of the show! As you may know, sport and exercise psychology is part of my educational background, and a major part of my personal passion. Specifically, and as you know if you’ve read my articles on Tony’s website (HERE and HERE), I care very much about motivation and exercise motivation.

Keeping in mind that Tony and I are visitors in a different culture, and speaking to an audience with a broad range of beliefs, orientations, and client populations, my goal was to approach psychological components of working with clients that are universally applicable. Naturally, I started with Ryan and Deci’s Basic Needs Theory, a component of The Self-Determination Theory of Movitation (American Psychologist, 2000).

My hope was to help trainers to consider the impact of their verbal and non-verbal interactions with clients, and how their own personal style, beliefs, and goals intersect with their clients’.

I was lucky to have a ‘first practice’ with an engaged and open audience. I imagine many of the trainers present are highly competent and successful in their practices, so I heard insight and self-knowledge from participants in regards to their relational style. Tony and I wanted to add a psychological component to the seminar, because the psychology of clients and the relational style of the trainer are major components of participation, persistence, and enjoyment of physical activity.

We think today was a good start to addressing this aspect of being a successful trainer!

I learned a tremendous amount about cultural similarities and differences. In addition, I was reminded that although psychotherapy and counseling is a normal, healthy, accessible resource to me, it’s still stigmatized, embarrassing, and indicative of severe psychopathology , or, “being a nut” to many other people in many other places.

When I write for Tony I tend to include some sort of “when in doubt refer to a therapist” recommendation, but today helped me to remember that for some (or many) trainers and their clients, this suggestion could be insulting or feel like rejection or judgment. There may also be less access to professionals, or professionals with adequate expertise and competency to be of service. Although I know the session was not about me, I benefitted a great deal, and was reminded of some things that I’ll cognizant of when I sit back down with clients next week.

After my session we squeezed in a super-quick lunch, and I grabbed a chicken sandwich from a nearby bakery.

After lunch Tony jumped right into the “hands on” portion of the show. Deadbugs, Birddogs, and squats, naturally. The day wrapped up with some discussion of programming, and Tony said thanks and G’day a few minutes past 5pm. Two full days of hard work! Nice job babe.

We were dying to move around and train! We got in a little session with some deadlifts and such. After getting hot and sweaty, Tony took some photos with some of the trainers and they even had him sign the wall of the facility:

After the quickest shower ever, Tony and I walked around a bit before settling on a restaurant called Twenty Nine, just up the street from the hotel. The manager brought the chef out so that Tony could get exactly what he wanted – a big ass salad with some chicken on top. I got to try a new fish! Dory:

Reminded me of flounder.

And here’s the view we had during dinner:

We were fading fast by the end of dinner, so we made the quick trip home, grabbed the last piece of carrot cake from the hotel restaurant, and came back upstairs to pack it up for tomorrow.

We will miss Ballina!

The people are lovely. The environment is relaxed and happy. The food was great, the breeze never ceased to be amazing, and it always smelled like your nose was stuck inside of a Gardina. Man it will be hard to go!

However, tomorrow we’re flying to Sydney, renting a car, and driving (on the left) up to the Hunter Valley!!!! Talk to you then!

Love, Lisa and Tony

CategoriesOff Topic

Day 3: Aussie Sunrise, Turkish Toast, and a Big-Assed Mackrel

Day #3 of Lisa’s diary of our Australian Adventure.

We made it straight to 4:00am! 8 hours of sleep is nothing to complain about, and Tony and I enjoyed a quiet morning while I worked on this little travel blog, and Tony reviewed some of his slides for today’s seminar. We were starving, but forced ourselves to hold on until about 6:30 before venturing out for brekkie.

The very kind lady cleaning up in the hotel lobby notified us, “ummm, Ballina is not an early morning town… so maybe go for a walk until 7 – and then try for some breakfast??”. Good for Ballinanians! We rolled with it, and took an AMAZING walk from the hotel down the river, all the while snapping some photos of the moon:

And the sunrise:

Ballina is beautiful.

And so was our brekkie! The first patrons-of-the-day at The Bean Bank, a coffee shop that came highly recommended by Shan.

We ate like we were heading off to battle. Again, I enjoyed a delicious flat white.

There was plenty of eggs, Turkish bread (which appears to be the “it” bread over here), museli (instead of oats), bacon, fruit, and happiness all around. When Tony’s museli came over he said, “Man, your dad would be all about this brekkie”:

While at brekkie three fit and fabulous Aussie’s came in for breakfast and said, “Hi Tony, see you in a bit!” The ladies had driven about 8 hours yesterday to be here for Tony’s seminar!

Yeah!

We headed back to the hotel so Tony could get ready, and then Shan and his beautiful wife Mady came to retrieve Tony so he could get to work. I on the other hand, have the day off! Given to me by my lovely fiancé, I couldn’t wait to get started doing whatever-the-heck-I-wanted.

This, of course, started with the gym, followed by laundry (did I mention we have our OWN laundry room???), followed by a walk down the river over to the beach.

I walked for awhile and then came to a bridge… it seemed like the ocean was quite a distance away, so I asked a sweet little family walking along the shore of the river. They explained that there were plenty of “beaches” along the river, and a “surfers beach” on the river just there… When I explained I’d like to swim in the ocean the father looked at me like a father does when he knows he’s about to be the bearer of bad news…

Alas, the ocean itself was far, far away. I’d need a car. I took a moment to be sad that I wouldn’t get to jump in the Pacific, and then kept it moving and found a spot right on the “beach” at the river. I’m pretty sure I was the only person without a surfboard, Stand Up Paddle Board, kayak, canoe, or dog. But I had a lovely day, nevertheless. Here is a pic of the river, and the ocean which is just through the opening there and over to the left… maybe I’ll get a chance next time?

After some reading, and a nap, and lots of dog watching, I walked home along the shore. Here are some mamouth pelicans, kickin’ it with some local fishermen.


Back at the room our maid was just wrapping up cleaning. After a little rest and some TV, I walked into town to check out the shops. I grabbed a “detox” fresh juice from this little juice bar along the way:


Then I stopped in “Wooly’s” again for more water and snacks. I asked for some turkey breast at the deli counter, but had no idea how much to order! The lady at the counter was a love, so we talked it out, and I ended up with 300 grams. On the way home I meandered along the water, which reminded me of the Ell river, bordering Germany and Austria, where Leslie and I biked up and down a few summers ago:

Once home and fed, I went back out to the pool for some afternoon sun.

Tony came home around 5:15, tired but enthused. He had a great day and, as usual, didn’t feel he had enough time to get to everything he would have liked to cover. After a shower and change of clothes, we headed out to a local spot for dinner, just a short walk up the river.

The Wharf was delish!

I ordered the mackerel for dinner, and was expecting that oily, small fish I’ve caught back in FLA with my dear friends Lara and Jason in the Indian River… This mackerel was not that mackerel! A pleasant surprise, this was a nice big white fish, almost like a steak.

My surprise lead to a great conversation, and everyone at the table was ready to talk more about Australian animals, food, and jargon. Did you know about Wallabies?! Apparently, it’s a smaller, cuter version of a kangaroo – one of the seminar attendees, Kirby, told us for sure we’d see one in the Hunter Valley… Stay Tuned!! My hopes are high that we’ll get to see a wallaby or two…

Before heading out for ice cream, we were discussing brekkie plans for tomorrow morning. Shannan recommended we go to a different local spot, since he has his “own menu”… What? Yep, Shannan has his own menu. He told us to ask for “The Raw Brekkie” (the name of his gym is Raw Fitness). I’m sure it will be a meathead menu with plenty of protein.

Until then! Tony and I have made it past 9:00pm. Well, I’ve made it; Tony is unconscious, mouth slightly agape, remote in hand.

Talk to you tomorrow!

Love Lisa (and Tony).

CategoriesOff Topic

Day 2: Goonsacks, M.A.M.I.L.’s, and Brekkie.

Lisa Continues her daily dairy of our trip to Australia.

We Made it! Local time 7:05am, out of the plane and hugging our first host, Shannan by 8:00am. (A quick synopsis of who Shannan is: he’s a former distance coaching client of Tony who own his own strength and conditioning facility in Ballina. This trip’s been over a year in the making due to Shannan’s persistence and hard work to help get Tony (us!) down here). Shannan was accompanied by a buddy and personal trainer Matt, equally friendly and fabulous. Here they are with Tony:

Australian lesson #1: Australian’s “Aussies’ like to abrieviate and make cute all kinds of words. Shannan (“Shan”) and Matt (“Mattie”) drove 2 hours from Ballina to come and pick us up, and spent ALL DAY showing us around the area! It was so lovely. Our day moved from Brisbane down the gold coast, to Ballina:

We drove south from Brisbane, down the Gold Coast. Known for its beaches and fabulous surfing, this area is lined with beach towns, resorts, and families and friends on “holiday” (Australian for vacation). I took notice of the big inviting bike lanes throughout the streets and around the roundabouts, and Shan and Matty encouraged us to be on the lookout for “M.A.M.I.L.s” (Middle Aged Men in Lycra). Apparently they’re everywhere, and not afraid to rock their Lycra at coffee shops and all around town.

We stopped at Coolangatta (“Cooly”) for breakfast (“Brekkie”! Who doesn’t love this word? You can also spell it Brekky, but whatever you do, you should start using it immediately). What does every girl need for Brekkie after 20 hours on a plane? An Eenie Menie Greenie Smoothie!

Kale, pear, celery, parsley, ect. Between that and my first (and long anticipated) Australian Flat White, it was just what I needed to recover from our journey and settle in to Aussie life:

We left Cooly and continued down to the coast to Byron Bay. More amazing beaches, more surfers, and lots of gorgeous homes. We stopped a few places to take some photos – Check it! (Please do not judge us for our crusty appearance, and keep in mind we’ve had those clothes on for over 36 hours):

Byron Bay

Rockin our Lulu’s at Byron Bay

Different vantage point at Byron Bay. This is the view some the residents have from their houses.

After Byron Bay we hit up Lennox, another fabulous beach town where many rich and some famous live. Apparently Chris Helmsworth (Thor) has a home around here… but we didn’t spot him.

After Lennox we made our way to Ballina!

One of the beaches in Ballina

In many ways, this area reminds me of home (Jensen Beach, FLA – not Boston, MA). Locals and vacationers, the ocean met up with by the river, relaxed vibe, fantastic air. We are staying at this fantastic Ramada Inn! There was even a bottle of wine waiting for us (me) in the room. Did I mention we love Shan? Please check out our Suite with a view of the Richmond River:

I have to say, Tony and I were champions all day. We felt pretty good, but we knew we would start to fade in the afternoon. It was just after 3pm when we checked in, and once we unpacked, it was time to hit the gym.

It was ugly, but we managed to move around a little bit and sweat out some of the travel funk.

I proceeded to take the most cleansing shower of my life, and then have a glass of wine. After about a half of a glass I felt like I’d just had a “Goonsack” (Australian for the sack inside of a Box-o’-Wine), and I knew Tony and I only had a few hours left before we crashed. We ventured into town and out to Woolworths (“Wooly’s”) for some water and snacks. We were stressed about walking into traffic, which moves in the opposite direction, but luckily, Australians are right on top of trying to keep tourists alive:

Unfortunately, Tony realized he didn’t have his “Dongle”, which is surprisingly not an Australian word, but is an adaptor for Apple computers and projectors. After a mini-panic and a trip to the nearby tech store, Shan made some calls and once again, hooked us up by asking a friend to borrow his dongle.

So we got the dongle, got the snacks, and then went to dinner. We were starting to feel run down, so we decided on the hotel restaurant, The Pointe. It could have easily have been a restaurant at home in Stuart, FL, on the river.

Locals crowded the bar and dining for Happy Hour (Oh how I miss happy hour! An illegal libation celebration in Boston), and we enjoyed watching the river and sitting amongst the local excitement and chitchat of folks just finishing their workweek with a drink and a smile. Here are some pictures of the river and us enjoying dinner:

This pic was taken at 2AM (Boston time), hence Tony look likes he’s falling asleep.

I am proud to say we remained conscious until about 7:58pm. Tony’s excited for day 1 of the seminar, and I’m VERY excited for a day off, by the pool and at the beach. Talk to you then!

Love, Lisa and Tony

CategoriesFemale Training Motivational

Getting Your Female Clients to “Woman Up”

Today I have an excellent guest post by CT based strength coach, Erika Hurst, covering a topic I’m very passionate about: Encouraging women to lift heavy things.

Before we jump into the article:  We made it safely to Australia, and if you’d like to keep tabs on our trip Lisa is writing a daily blog. You can check out the first entry, Day 1: 20 Hours On a Plane HERE.

Time to Woman Up

In my six years of coaching mostly women, I can count on one hand the number who were able to walk in the gym and mercilessly attack their workout without a hint of self-doubt, protest or fear….along with pure admiration for the amount of Pantera I subject them to, but that’s another story.

Most women are totally unaware of the brute force that exists within them and the extraordinary feats their bodies are capable of. It is completely unknown to them how harnessing their strength can earn them the lean, vibrant bodies they desire and an indestructible mental fortitude that will benefit them far beyond the gym.

From the get go, these things just aren’t appealing. The idea that men and women should train differently is preposterous. Everyone needs to push, pull, squat, lunge and hinge, but women unquestionably approach exercise with different cultural, sociological and psychological motivations.

(Source): Me!

It’s up to you as a coach, mentor or friend to challenge those motivations and provide them with the right tools to develop a mindset powerful enough to propel them forward towards a healthier approach to changing their bodies.

Note that I’m not referring to us broads who already thoroughly enjoy rolling around in a bucket of chalk, covering our shins in bruises and waging personal warfare against heavy shit for fun.

I’m referring to the average female client who just wants to lose fat and gain confidence. Women in this population have been utterly misinformed on how to change their bodies and usually lack belief in their selves.

What holds this population back is what goes on in between their ears.

They’ve been lead to assume all their lives that they can’t be physically and mentally strong. They live an existence of self-loathing because they’ve been heavily influenced by dramatically false photoshopped images, girly fitness mags that treat them like weaklings, and an industry that constantly tells them they should forever be toning, fixing and punishing their bodies.

It’s you, as a coach who trains women, versus all the BS they are inundated with on a daily basis once they step outside of your gym.

Fortunately, the physical strength we gain in the gym expresses itself in other parts of our lives through strength of mind, character and greater sense of self. If we give our female clients the extra tools to really harness that expression we can truly help each of them discover how strong and powerful they are, how to filter through the nonsense and in turn incite some really meaningful, lasting changes in their lives.

Below, I’ve laid out a few of the strategies I use to accomplish this with my female clients.

1. Listen To and Educate Them.

If you are an introvert like me, you probably already have the whole listening thing nailed down. As with any mutual relationship where trust is integral, listen to their concerns, wants and needs. Let them know each is perfectly valid, dispel any nonsensical fitness beliefs they may be attached to and simply educate them.

Knowledge is empowering and the better your female clients understand proper strength training and sensible nutrition, the less inclined they’ll be to fall for quick fixes and other baloney like Piloxing or 30 day squat challenges.

2. Revamp Their Perspective.

The more positive of an existence and mindset one creates, the more power they have over themselves and actualizing their own realities.

Help the women you train understand that a sustainable, effective nutrition and training regimen should add value to their bodies and make them feel good. Chasing fatigue and soreness in the gym, and restricting themselves in the kitchen doesn’t make anyone better and usually backfires.

Teach women to view exercise as a means to become more able, powerful and bold – rather than a never ending battle against their bodies to be less. Teach them that striving for performance is more fruitful than chasing calories burned.

I have my clients set and strive for realistic strength goals like performing 10 real push-ups or deadlifting 200lbs. This helps them approach their workouts with eagerness and embrace fueling their bodies properly to achieve these goals. Momentum and confidence then builds each time a small strength goal is reached, they feel more energized from eating better and begin to see the physical changes that result from doing both consistently.

3. Believe In Them.

Women have been conditioned by circuit training, wimpy exercise DVDs, and believing they need special exercises. The thought of doing a real chin up or deadlifting 1.5x their body weight has probably never crossed their mind, therefore most have zero confidence in their ability to perform either.

It’s up to you to show them these are not only great endeavors to chase, they are also very attainable and effective ways of reaching their goals. Most women are full of self-doubt and “I can’ts”, so they usually need a subtle push to add an extra 10lbs to the bar, grab a heavier dumbbell or push harder behind the sled.

Let them know you have full confidence in their abilities, provided it’s honest. Their belief in themselves will grow and they will eventually start asking to go heavier.

4. Encourage Self-Awareness.

As a society, it’s of the norm to be constantly rushed and on autopilot. Stopping to think about what you’re doing or why you’re doing it., who has time for that?

It’s pretty obvious how detrimental this can be to any goal.

My female clients are fairly high strung and need encouragement to tap the brakes, introspect and put their conscious brains in charge. This helps them to be more in control of their actions, able to make more informed decisions and realize the power they have over themselves.

Before each session, I do an informal readiness assessment where I ask about soreness, energy, what they ate that day, how they slept, etc. For some of them, this is the only time they’ve paused to really think about any of those things. No matter what, always encourage them to be compassionate and non-judgmental about what they discover about themselves.

5. Motivate Through Self-Love.

It is very important for women to understand that if they are using negative perceptions about their bodies as their sole motivation for wanting to change, their efforts will not be viable or purposeful.

However, it’s not as easy as simply telling them to love their bodies first.

Often, the dislike they have for their body stems from another deeply rooted issue. This is why many women under go phenomenal body transformations, yet are still unhappy with their bodies. What we can do is discourage negative self-talk and self-neglect, help them view setbacks as learning experiences and guide them towards taking care of their bodies rather than fighting against them.

Most importantly, keep them haulin’ iron!

Although most female clients may need convincing otherwise and a slightly more complex approach, they are not delicate flowers. There’s nothing more rewarding than helping women fall in love with discovering their strength and in turn cultivate a sense of empowerment and self-worth through their bodies’ capabilities.

If you would like additional female-specific fitness advice, please feel free to reach out to me: [email protected], or visit my gym’s website/blog or Facebook page.

CategoriesOff Topic

Day 1: 20 Hours On a Plane

What follows is Lisa’s daily diary of our musings and doings while visiting Australia.

Hello Friends!

Tony and I just spent 6 hours in a plane from Boston to LAX, and then 14 hours from LAX to Brisbane.

The journey has begun. Thanks for joining. Here’s Tony, as excited as can be as we boarded our first flight in Boston.

Two hours into our 6.5 hour flight to LA, Tony and I wondered if we’d gotten in over our heads. Once we felt the full effect of the narrow seat, barely reclining chair, and turbulence, we couldn’t even imagine landing, and then doing it all over again, but for double the amount of time…

But here we are.

At this moment, Tony and I are 34,000 feet over the Pacific, with a little over 3,000 miles and a little less than 6 hours to go – just over half way through our 13.5 hour flight. It sort of feels like traveling through time. When we boarded the plane around 11:00pm (pacific time), we fell right asleep!

Both of us pumped and thinking we’d sleep for 7 or 8 hours, we each discovered the other peeking out from underneath our blindfolds less than 5 hours later (when it was 7:00am, eastern time). Luckily, I sprung for the emergency exit row seats, which actually ended up being right in a break in rows, so there is a good 10 -15 feet of open space in front of us! Here’s the space, with my TV in site:

So much room for activities!

… and then here’s Tony trying to get some sleep:

Tony’s disappointed the Ambien our generous Dr. gave us didn’t put us under for most of the flight – he’s just watched Fury, and I’ve just finished Birdman (What in the heck was that?).

The highlight so far? The international terminal at LAX. At 10pm, that place is Grand Central Station for the Universe! Everyone was going somewhere amazing. It’s hard to be sleepy and calm when we’re in for the trip of our lives!

In a few hours there will be breakfast, and then time to get ready for the day to start. We’ll land in Brisbane at 7:00am and hit the ground running! Breakfast in the city, drive to Ballina, maybe go to the gym, and check in to our hotel.

Stay tuned!

CategoriesExercise Technique Program Design

Are You Part of the Resistance (or the Assistance)?

T-minus eight hours before Lisa and I hop on a plane and make our way to Australia and never come back.

It’s a 20-hour long trip from Boston to Brisbane (where we land), and then a bit of a car ride to Ballina where I’ll be conducting the first of TWO workshops while there.

One 2-day workshop in Ballina.

One 1-day workshop in Sydney.

If you live in Australia and this is the first you’re hearing about this 1) what the hell? and 2) you can go HERE if you’re interested in attending either of the two.

I wanted to thank everyone who chimed in on Facebook for their suggestions on how to best prepare for the marathon flight. You’ll be happy to know that in lieu of the suggestion to “swim in a bottle of Tequila,” I contacted my doctor and I will be sufficiently drugged up to ensure that I get some sleep.

A few housekeeping points to hit before I sign off:

1. While I’ll be trying my best to update the blog while away (Read: pissing Lisa off that I’m on my computer), I’ve lined up several excellent guest authors to fill in during my absence.

2. For those interested – and why wouldn’t you be? – Lisa will be writing a (hope to be) daily diary on this website highlighting our trip. She’ll be sure to include a lot of pictures – especially of me tweaking out every time I see snake or attempt to enter the ocean – in addition to writing about places we eat and stay.

You can keep tabs on us HERE (<— the Miscellany section of this blog).

On that note I’m out. bitches. I’m done with this snow.

Today’s guest post comes to you courtesy of personal trainer, Travis Pollen.

Are You Part of the Resistance (or Assistance)?

Maintaining a website is a big responsibility. That’s why with Tony headed down under for the ‘Because Heavy Things Won’t Lift Themselves 2-Day Workshop,’ I asked him if he needed anyone to website-sit while he was gone.

If you’re not familiar with website-sitting, it’s about as pointless as house-sitting. Basically, the sitter logs onto the traveler’s website each morning while they’re gone and meticulously checks each post to see if any fitness celebrities have left a new comment.

This task is akin to checking for burglars. There’s rarely anything valuable enough in your house or on your website for anyone cool to actually give a crap.

As with house-sitting, the sitter continues to check in on the website periodically throughout the day, though perhaps more frequently when website-sitting, since ‘refresh’ is never more than a few clicks away.

Additional website-sitter duties include removing negative reader feedback (i.e. “whacking the trolls”), sharing recent posts on various social media outlets under assorted aliases to create the illusion of viral content, and obsessively checking the mailing list for new subscribers.

Depending on the sitter’s virtuosity, they may even perform these tasks sporadically over the course of the night, as well. The Internet doesn’t sleep, you know. Tony has fans all over the world, OKAY?!

Unfortunately, when I asked Tony if he would like me to take on this big job, his response was a little disappointing. He replied, “No, Travis… they actually have Internet in Australia, so I’ll be sitting for my own site remotely.”

Not only do they have internet in Australia, they also have censorship

Thinking back now, disappointed, I console myself by remembering that I made this entire interaction up in an attempt to make the guest blogging process sound more exotic.

The boring, naked truth is that Tony once called me a “one-legged pirate,” and for this he owed me an opportunity to share some knowledge bombs on his website.

Note from TG: [jaw drops] I did!?!?! OMG, that’s embarrassing. It had to have been a Halloween joke. Right? RIGHT??

Well, Travis didn’t send me a bomb in the mail so I guess he wasn’t offended….;o)

For those not privy to the inside “joke,” check out Travis’ Facebook Page or watch the videos below and you’ll immediately understand my reaction, which went something like this:

RIP Spock

Lifting Heavy Things with Bands

Just like Tony, I’m a firm believer in the “because heavy things won’t lift themselves” doctrine. As such, we meatheads must do so ourselves.

But not all of us will be doing every gym movement the same way, at least not a first. That is, some of us may require exercise regressions (i.e. lat pull-downs on the way to pull-ups), and others may require progressions (i.e. pull-ups to front levers).

Here I am showing off a pull-up/front lever hybrid I stole from Max Shank:

 

While every coach has his go-to progressions and regressions, one particularly handy tool is the giant rubber band known to the exercise world as a resistance band. Resistance bands come in all shapes and sizes (and colors!) and have endless applications to both assisting (regressing) and resisting (progressing) movements.

The best part about bands is that they require little to no change to the way in which the exerciser sets up and executes a movement. This feature makes bands highly specific to the target movement — even more so than the above example of lat pull-downs for pull-ups.

A strategically placed band basically works like magic. For a regression, it can provide maximal assistance in the most difficult phase of a lift and decreasing assistance where the lifter is naturally strongest. For a progression, it can add “accommodating resistance,” whereby the tension in the band increases during the phase of the movement that would normally be easier.

This last part is especially good news if you’re cheap like me, since it means I can simply throw a band onto an exercise and avoid having to purchase heavier weights.

Below are some of my all-time favorite band assistance and resistance techniques. The setup can be tricky on some of them, so be sure to pay close attention to the placement of the band.

Goblet Squat

Band-Assisted

 

Execution tips: Push back into the band as you squat, and strive for an upright torso position.

Band-Resisted

 

Execution tips: Load the bell into the goblet position at the bottom of the squat, then stand and rep away.

Kettlebell Deadlift

Band-Assisted

 

Execution tips: Like a rack pull (elevated deadlift) the band-assisted deadlift allows for the use of a heavier than normal load in order to develop lockout strength.

Whereas the rack pull simply eliminates the bottom portion of the deadlift, the band provides just enough help to break the bell off the ground. The lifter then handles progressively more of the load as he or she approaches lockout. The advantage of the band-assist over the rack pull is that it includes the entire range of motion of the hip hinge movement.

Band-Resisted

 

Execution tips: Like the band-assisted deadlift, the band-resisted deadlift also overloads the top portion of the movement. If the band-resisted deadlift still proves easy, try your hand (and hips) at a band-resisted kettlebell swing:

Barbell Bench Press

Band-Assisted

 

Execution tips: Double loop the band around your upper arms just above your elbows. If you’re a girl, watch out for the girls. Or just leave these for the men to inflate their egos by using heavier loads than they could otherwise handle.

Band-Resisted

 

Execution tips: Un-racking the bar tends to be the biggest challenge here. When working with heavy loads, always use a spotter. Alternatively, forget the bar and grab a set of dumbbells instead.

Barbell Overhead Press

Band-Resisted

 

Execution tips: Due to the longer lever arms, these get challenging in a hurry. Practice with just the bar at first, and leave a little slack in the band in the bottom position.

(Sorry, there’s no band-assisted version of the overhead press. Deal with it!)

Pull-Up

Band-Assisted

 

Execution tips: Knee or foot in the band will depend on what band thicknesses you have available and which position you find more comfortable. In my experience, knee tends to be easier logistically.

Band-Resisted

 

Execution tips: Secure the band to a heavy enough dumbbell on the floor that it doesn’t flop around as you pull-up.

For all of the following row and push-up variations, the position of the band (chest/upper back versus hips/lower back) will be a matter of where the assistance or resistance is desired.

Inverted Row

Band-Assisted

 

Execution tips: Positioning the assistance higher up unloads the upper body to a greater extent. Assistance lower down provides more support for the core but less for the pulling muscles.

Band-Resisted

 

Execution tips: Place the resistance closer to hip level to challenge the hips to remain in extension. Place it higher up towards the chest to really tax the upper body.

Beware: if your spot pins tend to pop out when an upward force is applied, make sure you secure them down!

Push-Up

Band-Assisted

 

Execution tips: Feel free to use a thick band and really go to town with these, even going so far as to incorporate a plyometric component (i.e. a clap).

Band-Resisted

 

Execution tips: Two options are shown for these, depending on where you want the resistance and how crazy you feel like going with the setup. The band-around-the-upper-back option is quicker but does tend to chafe a bit.

As with the resisted inverted row, be very careful if your spot pins pop out when an upward force is applied.

If you’re still looking for additional uses of bands, you can always make a giant ball.

About the Author

Travis Pollen is an NPTI certified personal trainer and American record-holding Paralympic swimmer. He is currently pursuing his Master’s degree in Biomechanics and Movement Science at the University of Delaware. He maintains a fitness blog and posts videos of his “feats of strength” on his website, www.fitnesspollenator.com. Be sure to like him on Facebook at www.facebook.com/fitnesspollenator.

 

CategoriesStuff to Read While You're Pretending to Work

Stuff to Read While You’re Pretending to Work: 3/3/15

Before I get into this week’s list I wanted to share with everyone a cool event coming up in the very near future that I’ve been invited to participate in. No, it’s not the NorthEast Regional Star Wars Geek Fest Extravaganza.

But it is something just as nerdtastic……..

Movement and Motivation LAB

Let my good friend and MFF coach, Harold Gibbons, explain….

On Saturday, April 25th, the Mark Fisher Fitness team is hosting our first Motivation and Movement LAB (M/M LAB) for fitness professionals. 

Our take on the fitness conference is a laboratory — one that lets health and fitness professionals like you explore progressive strategies to enhance your life and the lives of your clients.

We’re building a learning experience that’s better for trainers. Long lectures can work for some, but we’d like to try something we think can be more effective.

Instead, we’re focusing on power 30-minute presentation, followed by 45-minute workshops where attendees and presenters work together to build action plans that can be smoothly implemented in their personal practice. It’s the “Monday Morning” take home, with a personal system to make it a success.

You’ll gain insight into just how Mark Fisher Fitness built a multi-million dollar fitness business in less than three years. We’ll be joined by guest star, Jedi Knight and fitness super hero Tony Gentilcore and together we’ll explore strategies to improve your coaching and your business in an innovative format.  Each speaker (four total) will offer a 30-minute lecture and a 45-minute interactive work session to allow for a more complete integration of the concepts covered.  

You’ll leave with a clear list of actions steps for Monday morning and the M/M LAB effect will lead to immediate positive impact on your clients and your career.

You can learn more at the M/M Lab website, and ENROLL to join us on April 25th for new ideas, new results, and a new you.

NOTE from TG: Early bird registration ends on March 8th, so there’s only a few days left to take advantage of the savings. Not only is it more expensive to wait to sign up, but in order to gain access to the party all non-early bird registrants have to either lip sync a Lady Gaga song (in full, with dancing) or wear a leopard print leotard during my presentation.

Now lets get to this week’s list:

Female Fat Loss Hierarchy – Stacie Schaedler

Stacie is a local trainer here in Boston who’s about as diverse as they come. She’s has an extensive background in yoga, but is also an accomplished kettlebell instructor and loves to lift heavy stuff.

She and I have crossed paths several times in recent years, and it was recently, at Chad Wesley Smith’s Juggernaut Workshop that we connected and talked some shop.

In short, she’s the shit.

I think many people who read this blog will enjoy Stacie’s work and tone. And I think many people will especially enjoy this article.

The World We Live In…Man Has It Changed – Curt Schilling

Curt trained at Cressey Sports Performance briefly back in 2008 when he was contemplating a comeback. I don’t think I have to tell everyone reading that it was an awesome opportunity and experience.

Yes he’s opinionated, and yes he likes to talk (a lot), but it’s hard not to respect someone who isn’t afraid to stick to his guns and stand by his word.

The story is now national news, but for those unaware Curt shared an experience on his website recently regarding a disturbing “incident” on his Twitter page. In short it goes like this:

1. Like any proud father would do, he posts a congratulatory Tweet about his daughter being accepted to college where she’ll also be an athlete on the softball team.

2. Several young men go on to post vulgar, sexual, abusive, disturbing messages about his daughter.

3. Curt “ousts” the culprits on his website.

I felt it was a VERY well written article by Curt and more than warranted. Kids nowadays have grown up behind a keyboard, and it’s unfortunate that because of this, many have grown up with a sincere lacking of a social filter…to the point where some feel immune to any consequences of their words and actions.

This is a mantra that we try to instill with our own high-school and collegiate athletes at CSP. I can count numerous times where we’ve seen “questionable” posts and Tweets by athletes of ours to the point where we felt it necessary to sit them down and tell them if WE see this, who’s to say that a future coach or employer won’t see it?

In any case, it’s a vital message that needs to relayed to today’s Millennials…their words matter and have consequences whether said to someone’s face (which, not coincidentally, never happens) or on the computer screen.

Three Rotational Movements to Give Your Conditioning a Twist – Jen Sinkler

In anticipation of the release of her updated version of her popular Lift Weights Faster program, appropriately titled Lift Weights Faster 2.0,1 Jen Sinkler is releasing a treasure trove of FREE videos this week to help wet the palette of those looking to, well, lift weights faster.

The title is misleading because it’s NOT about twisting and contorting your lumbar spine with rotational movements like med ball throws and the like. Boooooooooooring.

Rather the video breaks down three baller movements which help improve your hip and t-spine mobility to battle things like back pain and SI joint pain.

You’ll have to provide your email address to watch the video, but 1) it will be worth it and 2) I can vouch for Jen and assure you she’s not an asshole and will up using your email to spam you incessantly.

She’s good people…you should (nay, need) to listen to her.

CategoriesExercises You Should Be Doing

Exercises You Should Be Doing: Core Engaged Active Straight Leg Raise

Many people are familiar with the active straight leg raise. For those who aren’t, it’s exactly as it sounds.

You know how when you look at someone’s last name, it’s spelled weird, and in your head you’re all like “nope, not even going to try to pronounce that,” and then the person looks at you and says, “it sounds exactly how it looks.”

Come on, use your big words, try it. S.M.I.T.H. 

That’s the active straight leg raise. Try not to overthink it. You’re actively raising your leg. It’s science.

Conventional wisdom will tell you that the active straight leg raise is a great way to test for hamstring length and to see whether or not someone is stiff or short in that area.

And you’d be correct.

Conventional wisdom will also tell you that sticking your finger in an electrical socket “just to see what happens,” is pretty dumb. And you’d be right in that context too. People still do it, though.

The active straight leg raise IS NOT (technically) a test for hamstring length.

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

 

While I understand why most people would opt to graze on that side of the fence, it’s overlooking the big picture. That, and as the saying goes…“the grass is always greener on the other side.”

The active straight leg raise is really a way to test one’s ability to control their pelvis. Can they flex one hip (the leg raise) while maintaining hip extension on the non-moving side? And can they do so without any major compensations and/or asymmetrical measurements (I.e., one leg is far better than the other)?

The active straight leg raise is actually one of the “Big 7” of the Functional Movement Screen, and it’s the first one that will be attacked if someone either scores a “1” or an asymmetrical “2/3 – right vs. left” on it.

Long story (20 course hours) short: if you can clean up someone’s ASLR, chances are you’ll be able to clean up many of the prominent movement patterns up the functional chain.

Core Engaged Active Straight Leg Raise

 

What Does It Do: this is an excellent drill to help “groove” the active straight leg raise and to teach people to extend/flex their hip while simultaneously dissociating hip movement from lumbar movement.

Moreover, adding in the band for additional core engagement helps “stiffen” things up and get the anterior core to fire to better place the body in alignment. This is especially helpful for those who live in a more extended (anterior pelvic tilt) posture.

Key Coaching Cues: lie supine with your feet together and toes pointing up while grabbing a band placed over your head. It’s important to NOT pull the band too far towards the floor. The idea here is to maintain tension and to keep everything “engaged” throughout the set; if you pull the band too far you lose this advantage.

From there it’s all about pacing: pull, leg up, leg down, reset, pull, leg up, leg down, etc. Get the motion through your hips and learn to dissociate from the lumbar spine.

Go SLOW!

This isn’t a race and it’s crucial to do this drill correctly in order to reap the benefits.

This would be an excellent drill to include as part of an extended warm-up prior to training, or as a “filler” exercise within the training session itself.

Reps of 6-8 PER SIDE would suffice.

Now I’m just going to sit back and wait to see how long it takes for someone from CrossFit to put this into some kind of METCON finisher where the active leg is dragging a Prowler or something.

Just kidding.

But I’m not.