I think the fitness industry has gotten a bit complacent of late and regurgitated words like “broken” or “dysfunction” in order to 1) make themselves sound smarter than they really are and 2) to “trick” (potential) clients into trusting them.
They’re important and a crucial component of attaining our health/fitness/life goals. However, achieving SUCCESS and understanding that that feeling is all around us in unexpected places is just as important; if not more so.
While 2019 saw me writing less due to a multitude of factors (travel, gym expansion shenanigans, fighting crime, and life) it was still a very successful year on the content front.
Here are the most popular posts from the past trip around the sun based off web traffic.
Before we have a discussion on what to smash, thrash, and otherwise demolish when we see a mobility deficit lets pump the brakes and emphasize ALIGNMENT.
Who Did I Steal it From? – My coach, Greg Robins, plugged this into my program this month. When I saw it, at first I was like “tha fuck!?!”
What’s up with this foo-fooey exercise?
But then I performed a few sets and was like “whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat.”
I like it a lot
(cue Dumb & Dumber voiceover).
What Does It Do? – Well, like any single leg variation it challenges balance, core/hip stability, and helps to “temper” any strength imbalances between one leg or the other. Too, it gives the spine a bit of a reprieve from aggressive axial loading.
What separates this variation, however, is the addition of the COIL (or rotation of the upper torso). This subtle tweak offers a bit of a varying training stimulus in that it takes us out of the traditional up/down, forward/back nature of exercise we’re accustomed to and adds rotation into the mix; or transverse plane motion.
The twisting action also leads to a bit more internal rotation of the front hip which feels divine (unless you’re someone with a history of FAI; in that you’ll probably want to avoid this one).
As a quick aside I had my wife perform this exercise the other day after she tweaked her lower back/SI joint and she loved it. As noted in THIS article written by Dr. Erika Mundinger on this site a few years back, introducing rotation can be a game changer for those with chronic SI joint issues.
Key Coaching Cues – This exercise is pretty self-explanatory.
NOTE: Due to space we are limiting this to 35 attendees only. We aren’t saying this to be marketing sleezeballs and to create a false sense of urgency. Like, for real, space is limited. You better jump on this quick if you’re interested.
This workshop is “user friendly” for the masses. Whether you’re a personal trainer, strength & conditioning coach, physical therapist, or just someone who likes to dabble in the lifting of heavy things…you’re bound to benefit and learn something that will help you better serve your clients and athletes.
There’s an Early Bird rate for both of these events, so keep that in mind before you decide to hold off. Dean and I are really excited for this and hope to see you there!
SOCIAL MEDIA SHENANIGANS
Twitter
I’ve had a few clients start experimenting with keto after watching Game Changers.
Know what I did?
I didn’t throw my face into a wall in disbelief. Instead, I said “cool, curious to see how it goes.”
We know mental health problems can affect anyone regardless of profession, gender, age or income bracket. But why do entrepreneurs seem to suffer from depression at such an alarmingly higher rate?
Full Disclosure: I’m an awesome sleeper. I’m awesome at a lot of things – deadlifting, eating eggs, throwing a vicious split-finger fastball, the board game Stratego, coloring – but sleeping is my jam.
My wife often jokes that my side of the bed is my version of the Fortress of Solitude. As soon I’m horizontal I’m like “don’t talk to me” and I’m asleep 49 seconds later.2
To that point, I’m married to someone who isn’t a great sleeper. I’ve learned over the years that, in addition to my wife, some people, including clients of mine, aren’t good sleepers and that often times it behooves us to troubleshoot a few sleep hygiene tactics to see if we can nudge them towards a few more zzzzzz’s (<— see what I just did there?).
I get it: Sleep it not a sexy topic to write about. It ranks somewhere in between the Kreb’s Cycle and smoothie recipes featuring celery.
That said, ample sleep is crucial for a bevy of reasons – especially if you’re interested in getting bigger, faster, or stronger – and if you’re someone who has a hard time with it I hope this article, co-authored by both myself and my wife, Dr. Lisa Lewis, will help.
It’s not mid-town Manhattan, but busy nonetheless, and not devoid of your traditional city ambiance. You know, an orchestra of honking horns, construction everywhere, and drunk college students woo-hoo’ing at odd hours in the night.
Sleep can be a challenge sometimes.
That said, outside the general shittyness of traditional city chaos, it’s not uncommon for me to mutter to myself “go to bed” even if I hear someone shout for their Uber at 6:30 at night. I’ve grown quite cantankerous at 43.
Go to bed.
It’s my go to response to everything.
– “I feel awful/tired/sick.”
Go to bed.
– “I’m not making progress in the gym; I feel weak.”
Go to bed.
– “Tony, do you want steak or chicken tonight for dinner?”
Go to bed.
Encouraging people, particularly my clients, to get more sleep is something I am always aiming to highlight. More often than not, I find, lack of progress has less to do with adopting the latest fitness fad – keto, Jade eggs, gluten free, deer antler hand cream – and more to do with going to freakin’ bed.
Routine is paramount, and is something Lisa highlights in more detail below. For this reason, I always get a kick whenever I am training my high-school athletes and I tell them I start my bedtime magic mode around 8:30 PM.
Based off their facial reactions you would have thought I told them I grew up on Mars.
Truth be told I’ve always been an early-to-bed kind of guy.
In high-school I was consistently in bed by 9 PM.
The same could be said when I was in college; although change 9 PM to 10-11 PM, or if I were living life dangerously, maybe midnight.3.
And even now, as an adult, bedtime hovers around 9 PM…
…and it’s all because I stick to a routine.
But let’s let Lisa chime in.
Lisa
Despite the recommendation that adults sleep 7 to 9 hours per night (1), only 65% of Americans report hitting that mark (2). Getting less than six hours of sleep a night, on a regular basis, is bad news, and is linked to all kinds of negative health outcomes, specifically:
“… weight gain and obesity, diabetes, hypertension, heart disease and stroke, depression, and increased risk of death. Sleeping less than 7 hours per night is also associated with impaired immune function, increased pain, impaired performance, increased errors, and greater risk of accidents (p. 591).”
That’s bad.
But sleeping is awesome! It’s good for you, AND it feels fabulous! So what is the problem?
Why are so many of us sleep deprived?
In a word, life.
Longer working hours, balancing family and work, media and the internet, amazing TV, stress, anxiety, depression, substance abuse, and the Night Owl’s insistence that if they go to sleep, they’ll miss something (never understood that one, but to each their own).
Additionally, folks are stressed out, anxious, and/or depressed.
The National Institute of Mental Health reported that approximately 18% of the adult population will suffer from an anxiety disorder in a given year, and that more than 6.5% of the population will suffer from depression (3). Add the commonality of high stress lifestyles, and you’ve got a culture that’s worn down, strung out, and in need of a good night’s sleep.
But sleep is almost always negatively impacted by stress, anxiety, and depression.
So, whether you’re looking to treat anxiety, depression, or stress, to get stronger or leaner, be happier and healthier, or just be a functioning human being, you need 7+ hours of quality sleep under your belt every night. If you have trouble, here are some quick and easy tips for improving sleep hygiene:
Use your bed and bedroom for sleeping and sex, nothing else.
(Note from Tony: BOM CHICKA BOM BOM)
Make your bedroom dark, cool, and quiet.
Use earplugs, an eye mask, and/or white noise if needed.
Tony’s bedside table. Pictured are his superhero eye mask and current books he’s reading.
Avoid caffeine after noontime.
Avoid alcohol 6 hours before bedtime.
Avoid screens (laptop, tablet, phone, TV) before bedtime.
Create a bedtime ritual (this may include moisturizing, journaling, sex, meditation, and/or other relaxing activities).
(Note From Tony: My normal routine is to turn on both the fan and white noise machine and then grab one of my books and start reading. I’m lucky if I make it past four pages.)
If you’ve tried these interventions but still have trouble, you may have considered medications, supplements, aromatherapy, or banging your head against the wall. However, with so many options, it may seem overwhelming to research and then try something new.
In addition to being familiar with insomnia as a counselor and a psychologist, I also have plenty of personal experience. Since becoming a mom and an LLC, my thoughts, to-do’s, and concerns about the future can make it hard to get to sleep, and more importantly, to stay asleep. During busy and particularly stressful times, I’ve awoken after two to four hours of sleep, and have been unable to return to sleep for three or four hours.
And once there’s one bad night of sleep, a negative pattern can develop, and night after night of tossing, turning, tea-drinking, and deep-breathing leads to exhaustion, grumpiness, and mental-fogginess.
After trying some cognitive behavioral techniques for insomnia, meditation, and melatonin for Lisa, we felt there was “nothing left” for her to try but heavy duty sleep medication…
But then!
We found a supplement that has not “cured” her, but has helped her improve her sleep habits and the overall quality of her sleep on a consistent basis. Thanks to this once-at-bedtime pill, she can stay down once she’s fallen asleep, and if she does wake up, can return to sleep after 10-20 minutes, as opposed to three to four hours.
What is it?
Momentous Sleep
I was sent a bottle a few months ago to try out. But, admittedly, because I don’t suffer from insomnia or ever have any real issues falling (or staying asleep) I don’t use it as frequently as Lisa.
This isn’t to say, of course, I don’t dabble. I mean, we do live with a toddler.
I’ll alternate between Momentous Sleep or one of my other “go to” sleep supplements: a stack of Z-12 and ZMA (Zinc/Magnesium).
It just kinda matters what I’m in the mood for.
The former, though, does include Magnesium and melatonin, and I have noticed an even smoother transition to bedtime magic mode whenever I take it.
And to that end, the people at Momentous have been kind enough to offer $20 OFF any order of $50 (or more) on their site to any of my readers who may be interested in trying their products (they have several).
All you have to do is enter the code GENTILCORE20 (does not have to be all caps) when prompted to do so at checkout. If you’re someone who, despite all your best efforts to improve your sleep hygiene, still has a hard time falling (or staying) asleep…this may be an option to consider.
References
Watson, N.F., et. al. (2015). Recommended amount of sleep for a health adult: A joint consensus statement of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and Sleep Research Society. Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, 11, 591- 592. https://aasm.org/resources/pdf/pressroom/adult-sleep-duration-consensus.pdf.
Granted I’m biased, but I truly feel making a concerted effort to get strong(er) in the gym is the way to go for most people.
Strength is the base for pretty much everything; it’s the “thing” that most all other attributes we strive to improve upon is tethered to
Speed, power, endurance, Laser Tag world dominance, literally, pretty much everything performance based has its “roots” in improved strength. What’s more, there’s also a significant interplay between strength and improved body composition (strong people typically have more muscle), not to mention a high correlation of less risk of getting injured.4
I’m not saying strength is the end-all-be-all-answer-to-everything-and-you’re-totally-going-to-be-the-hero-of-your-recreational-slowpitch-softball-team-and-have-the-stamina-of-37-Spartan-Warriors-in-bed…
But How Can You Tell If You’re Getting Strong(er)?
There’s a lot of nuance as to HOW to get stronger (HINT: lift heavy things consistently) in addition to HOW to measure it.
However, for the sake of brevity I made this handy Cliff Notes graphic to hammer home the key components at play:
The left-side of the graphic is fairly self-explanatory, but in case some people reading are looking at this as if it were written in Elvish let me elaborate.
If you make a consciouses effort to perform either more reps, sets (or both) at a given load…you’re winning.
Example
Front Squat (225 lb)
Week 1: 3 sets of 5 reps = 15 total reps at a total tonnage (volume) of 3,375 lb lifted.
You know you’re getting stronger if you stay at the same weight and you perform either an additional set or more repetition(s).
This is also called PROGRESSIVE OVERLOAD.
So, Week #2 could go as follows:
3 sets of 6 reps = 18 reps completed at a total tonnage (volume) of 4,050 lb lifted.
4 sets of 5 reps = 20 reps completed at a total tonnage (volume) of 4,500 lb lifted.
Likewise, if you add more weight to the bar and lift that once, twice, eleven times, well, the secret’s out…you’re stronger.
Hell, I may as well just hand you the Sword of Grayskull and give you a killer bowl cut at this point.
To simplify things further: You’re going to get stronger if you DO MORE WORK over the course of several weeks, months, years.
To Note: Beginners will have a much easier time with this than advanced lifters. Most beginners can just gaze at a dumbbell and they’re going to get stronger.5 The first year or two of training can easily be boiled down to what’s described above; linear periodization at its core.
The more time under the bar someone has, however, and the stronger they are, the more “fluctuations” in training parameters have to be taken into consideration.
There’s going to be more peaks and valleys in training stress/load throughout the year in order to improve strength, as well as more meticulous attention to things like bar speed, ability to recover, and what accessory work needs to be done to address weak points in technique.
Lets just say more things need to be taken into consideration to take someone from a 400 lbs. deadlift to 500 compared to someone going from 200 to 300 lbs.
The cool thing, though…once you ARE strong (whatever that means to you), while the work to get there is no walk in the park, it doesn’t require nearly as much effort to maintain it. Maximal strength, for example, has a “residual” duration of 30 (+/- 5) days.
Meaning, so long as you remind the body (to be more specific, the central nervous system) that it can do something, you don’t have to do a lot of that something to maintain it.
To summarize the left side of my handy graphic above:
“What gets measured gets managed.”
That being said, where many people seem to miss the mark is that, where strength is the main goal, it isn’t just about always doing more reps, sets, and/or adding more weight to the barbell.
1. Do More Work in Less Time
This is density training 101.
Not only is this indicative of improved strength, but work capacity as well.
2. Get Submax Rep PRs
Dan John is known for a bevy of remarkable quotes.
“The goal, is to keep the goal the goal,” is a popular one.
One of my favorite of his, though, is this:
“Easy training is good training.”
There’s a time a place for training to suck and to make you come close to shitting your spleen.
Here’s a hint: That time is not every…single…workout.
It’s music to my ears when I client says “your pecs are looking awfully pecy today, Tony.” But it’s a goddamn symphonic masterpiece when a clients says “I could have done more” at the end of a session.
This doesn’t imply that they didn’t work hard or that the training session wasn’t challenging (trust me, it was). Rather, what it implies is that they got their work in and will likely show up for their next session feeling refreshed and ready to go.
It’s hard to make strides in strength when you constantly feel like you got run over by a Mack truck.
In short: Make your 3-rep Max your 5-rep Max. Chances are your 1-rep max will improve too. You don’t always have to pursue ABSOLUTE strength in order to get stronger.
3. “Feel” of a Set
I find a lot of people are too quick to add weight to the bar at the expense of their technique.
Sure, you may complete all desired repetitions of a given exercise, but if my eyes start bleeding watching it or I could watch an entire episode of The Mandalorian before you complete five repetitions…
There’s an Early Bird rate for both of these events, so keep that in mind before you decide to hold off. Dean and I are really excited for this and hope to see you there!
SOCIAL MEDIA SHENANIGANS
Twitter
I’ve made a conscientious effort to omit words like “broken” and “dysfunctional” from my vocabulary when interacting with clients.
And speaking the back squat: There aren’t many coaches I’d listen to more on the topic than Travis Mash. Dude builds some MONSTER squat numbers with his athletes.
It was a beautiful Fall day in Boston. My wife and I were walking home one night after running a few errands and she could sense I was a bit “off.”
I hadn’t spoken much, which, in of itself wasn’t unusual. But as we were crossing the street, infant in tow, her Spidey-sense psychotherapist intuition kicked in:
Her: “Okay, what’s on your mind?”
Me: “It sounds silly, but I’m nervous about my lift tomorrow. It’s THE day.”
Her: “The day?”
Me: “Yeah, I’m testing my deadlift tomorrow and making a go for 600 lbs. I’m just really nervous and anxious about tomorrow.”
[SIDE NOTE: The 600 lb deadlift had been a long-standing goal of mine and something that had been alluding me for a few years. I finally hired my own coach – Greg Robins of The Strength House – to take over my programming and it was time to test the fruits of my labor).
Her: “What are you nervous about?”
Me: “That I won’t hit it, that I won’t hit my goal. I’m nervous about failing.”
Her: “Have you worked hard?”
Me: “Yes.”
Her: “Have you followed your program?”
Me: “Yes.”
Her: “Have you hit all your reps leading up to this point?
But what did happen was that my psychologist wife punched my proverbial negative self-thinking asshatedness in the mouth and I went to the gym the following day and did this:
3 Psych Skills for Strength Training
We’re often our own worst enemy. We humans have a knack for playing mental mind-games with ourselves that can ignite all sorts of clusterfuckery into the mix.
It can stagnate and impair progress.
It can suck.
My wife is the shit (<– I’m biased) and she’s awesome at what she does. A meathead and former high-level athlete herself she has a unique way of incorporating her expertise as a mental health therapist and applying it towards enhanced performance in the weight room.
I can attest that this stuff works.
Check out her latest article on T-Nation.com which goes into more detail – HERE.
I recognize this post won’t resonate with some of you reading. For many a post about fitness writing is about as exciting as watching NASCAR or, I don’t know, a documentary about tree bark.
That said, I have long championed the idea that the ability to write – and write well – is an undervalued skill that would behoove many fitness professionals to indulge in.
Why does it matter?
It’s a great way to separate yourself from the masses and to leverage your ability to create additional revenue streams.
Also, everybody knows basic human decency and decorum revolves around the appropriate and valid use of the Oxford comma.
Fear not!
This post will not deteriorate into a diatribe on grammar or any “rules” centered on writing. Instead, the purpose of today’s post is to provide some palatable, bite-sized insights – based mostly off my own experience – on how you can become a better (fitness) writer if that’s something you’re interested in.
Growing up I never thought those words would define me in any significant way. To be fair, when I was growing up in the 80’s and 90’s my goal(s) in life were to beat Mike Tyson in Mike Tyson’s Punch Out, have the ability to talk to animals, and becoming an honorary member of the “Bash Brothers.”
I wasn’t much of a reader, nor writer as a kid.
Sure, I read Encyclopedia Brown and Choose Your Own Adventure books, but the bulk of my reading as a kid growing up in middle-of-no-where central New York consisted of Sports Illustrated and The Source magazine.
“Writing,” for the most part, consisted of nothing more than me curating varying iterations of that year’s MLB All-Star team; going so far as to drum up my own 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Divisional All-Star teams.
I never thought in a million years I’d be a writer, much less get paid to do it. I often joke that if my high-school English teacher, Ms. Davie, ever found out I was a published author she’d likely die of elevated levels of flabbergastedness.
I noted in the caption that I place a lot of value in my growth and maturation as a writer – an adequate one at best – on my proclivity to READ books written by authors on their writing process.
Their thought process, how they structure a sentence (a paragraph, a story), how to better engage the reader, them pontificating on their struggles and subsequent caffeine consumption, and, sure, whether or not they use a semicolon (;)…is fascinating to me.
SIDE NOTE: Kurt Vonnegut didn’t care for the semicolon, noting:
“Do not use semicolons. They represent nothing. All they do is show you’ve been to college.”
Sheepishly, I use the semicolon; I assume correctly.
Anyway, not to bore you with a detour, but my first introduction to Vonnegut was in my mid-to-late 20’s. I went through a hefty “Vonnegut phase” after a break-up.
Long story short: My girlfriend broke up with me, I was heartbroken, and I needed something to take my mind off her. One day I randomly came across a list online titled “Top 100 Ways to Spy On Your Ex and Not Get Arrested” “The Modern Library’s Top 100 Novels of the 20th Century.” I noticed some guy with the last name Vonnegut was on there numerous times – Cat’s Cradle & Slaughterhouse-Five – and that both novels were relatively short (a key factor, at that time, on whether or not I’d even attempt to read it).
I started with Cat’s Cradle.
BOOM.
I was hooked.
That summer I read in the ballpark of 15-20 novels from that same list (including the likes of Hemingway, Steinbeck, Lee, Salinger, and Nabokov).
But Vonnegut’s work was the one that resonated with me most.
I awed in its simplicity and beauty. Too, I was inspired by his uncanny ability to use humor in his writing. It’s not at all a stretch for me to say Kurt Vonnegut’s style of writing helped to shape mine.
To that end, and to get to the point already, I came up with a nifty (yeah, that’s right…nifty) graphic which displays my “formula” to becoming a better (fitness) writer.
1. Write
It’s that simple.
Just like you wouldn’t expect to get better at cooking, making your foul shots, or speaking Klingon without partaking in those activities ad nauseam…
…the same goes for writing.
You have to, you know, do it.
It’s a skill, like everything else, which requires repetition in order to master.
Moreover, and this is a point that’s lost on many people, writing doesn’t mean writing a novel. A Tweet counts as writing. An email counts as writing. Hell, a thank you letter counts as writing.
Take every opportunity, even the seemingly inconsequential ones, to hone the craft.
2. Read
Fiction, non-fiction, autobiographies, graphic novels, comic books, the Kama Sutra.
…read them all.
Immerse yourself in a diverse pool of prose.
Good writing is good writing.
I firmly believe those who are m0re avid (and diverse) readers tend to be better writers because, well, it just makes sense. Reading good writing is a splendid way to inspire your writing.
And speaking about books focused on writing, for those interested, here’s a picture I took from my own bookshelf:
3. Actually Workout and Coach People
One of the most common questions I’m asked from other fitness professionals is:
“Where do you come up with so many ideas to write about?”
See #2.
More to the point, however, there’s a reason why I don’t write about fixing cars, Rococo art, or how to train bomb sniffing dolphins.
None are my area of expertise.
I do, however, like to lift heavy things and actually coach people.
Both provide more than enough “meat” for me to write about.
Plus, and it saddens me I have to say this: I think if you’re going to write about fitness you should actually, you know, practice fitness.
It’s not hard to tell the difference between those articles written by people who actually workout and have experience coaching real people compared to those who do neither.
