CategoriesProgram Design Strength Training

What Being An Army Ranger Taught Me About Getting Strong Using Only Bodyweight Exercises

SPOILER ALERT: I didn’t write this article.

The closest I’ve ever been to calling myself a “ranger” was when I used to watch Walker, Texas Ranger growing up and pretend to roundhouse kick unsuspecting (and imaginary) bad guys in the face.

Oh, and there was that one time I dressed up as the Green Power Ranger for Halloween.1

I am not, nor have I ever been, an Army Ranger.

I did stay up past midnight the other night, though. That’s kinda badass.

A big “thank you” to ACTUAL Army Ranger, Tom Coffey, for pinch-writing for me today as I make my way to Los Angeles this weekend to present.

Enjoy!

Copyright: supernam / 123RF Stock Photo

 

Fate whispered to the warrior ‘you cannot withstand this storm.’ The warrior whispered back, ‘I am the storm.’

For thousands of years, before comfortable fitness centers dotted every corner, the world’s greatest warriors relied on a steady dose of bodyweight exercises—from building high levels of superhuman strength, to increasing cardiovascular conditioning, and even developing mental toughness bodyweight exercises accomplished it all.

In the rest of this article I want to briefly share with you what my experience as an Army Ranger taught me about getting strong, using only my body.

Life as an Army Ranger

The life of an Army Ranger is quite busy.

Between endless training and extended “business trips” to lands far away there is often more to do than hours in the day. Yet the job requires a certain level of what we’ll call “real world strength.”

Let me give you an example of what I mean: I weighed about 250 pounds in full military gear (+80 pounds above my bodyweight). Do you think you could also throw on 80 pounds of your own gear, pick me up, throw me over your shoulder, and sprint full out for 100 or 200 yards?

That’s what I’m referring to when I say real world strength.

But, no matter what elite military unit you’re talking about there is always a high premium placed on being functionally strong. Admittedly, as much as possible my Ranger buddies and I tried to workout in an actual gym. However, life liked to throw us curve balls and often times we were in situations with no iron around at all.

But not having access to a gym simply wasn’t an excuse to not workout and get weak. So, how did my Ranger buddies and I keep getting stronger when we didn’t always have access to a gym?

The answer: using the best only gym we had available—our body.

Are Bodyweight Exercises Better for Building Strength Than Barbell Exercises?

Ok, before we dive headfirst into this rabbit hole I know someone is going to ask if bodyweight exercises are better for building strength than barbell exercises.

The word “strength” can mean a lot of different things. And, depending on who you ask you’ll likely get a lot of different answers.

Listen, if you want to get strong AF there’s no arguing that picking heavy shit up and hoisting it over your head is the way to go. Unless you’re humongous, green, and your name is Hulk, you very likely won’t be joining the 1,500 pound club by using bodyweight exercises.While you probably definitely won’t build world class powerlifting strength with bodyweight exercise, they do offer tremendous value in building real world strength.

Bodyweight exercises strengthen the body and allow you to express that strength in ways which the barbell can’t.

They can humble even the most experienced of lifters.

I’ve seen, with my own two ocular receptors, guys who can easily squat four wheels crumble like dust when attempting a simple pistol squat (one legged squat).WTF?

How is that even possible?

Ok dude I get it, but how do you build strength using only your bodyweight?

I’m glad you asked.

And, I’m making the assumption here that you’re stranded on a desert island with no gym equipment in sight. This is only to hammer home the point that you literally need zero equipment to make this stuff work.

Obviously, if you start adding gym equipment back in the mix your strength building options skyrocket.

But, that’s easy.

If you learn how to manipulate your body for strength building purposes you become bulletproof. You can literally get strong from anywhere in the world.

Pretty cool, right?

Anyway, below are four ways you can turn lowly bodyweight exercises into serious strength builders.

Did someone order a serving of humble pie?

NOTE: I chose to demonstrate each of these ideas using the pushup. However, you can apply these principles to any number of bodyweight exercises.

1) Remove a Limb (Or Two)

Removing a limb (or two) creates a very unstable environment. Instability causes your muscles to tense harder, and tension is good for building strength. That’s just good science.

Also Useful For:

– Pistol squats
– Single leg hip bridges
– BW romanian deadlifts
– Free standing handstand pushups…if you dare.

NOTE FROM TG: For those watching Tom perform a 1-arm, 1-leg pushup and thinking to themselves “that’s a whole lotta nope,” I’d encourage you to check out THIS article by Nick Tumminello on how to progress towards it.

2) Remove a Limb, Slow Down the Rep, and Add Pauses

Speaking of tension, another great way to increase it is by slowing down your repetitions. This is also known as time under tension (TUT). Pausing at certain points in the rep ensures that you kill all momentum.

Again, this makes the exercise much harder because you have to be stay tense and in control through the entire rep.

There is an inherent difference between taking 30 seconds to perform 1 pushup vs. cranking out 30 pushups. Try a 30 second (or 60 second) pushup and you’ll see what I mean.

 

Also Useful For:

– Frog holds
– Human flag hold
– Single arm/leg planks

Be Explosive

To be explosive you must be powerful. And power is more or less strength expressed over a very short time. Paradoxically, you must first be strong before you can be powerful. Explosive bodyweight exercises are great for training you to express the strength you’ve built.

 

Also Useful For:

– Jump squats
– Jump lunges
– Muscle ups

4) The Kitchen Sink Approach

Have you ever opened the drawers under your sink only to find soap bottles, cleaners, yellow gloves, old sponges, bleach bottles, leaky pipes…etc.

I mean, it’s chaos.

The kitchen sink approach is our version of controlled chaos by combining many different strength building elements together. In the video below the spiderman pushup involves using slow reps, removing a limb, dynamic movement, abdominal bracing, and re-distributing weight.

Pro Tip: Make sure that if you’re doing Spiderman pushups in a field with fire ant hills that you don’t unknowingly place your hand directly on top of one. I did this once, and can safely say I’d rather get stabbed by a Nazgul (like twice) than ever do that again.

Desert Island Strength Building Workouts

Ok, now you know how to use bodyweight exercises for strength building. So, my challenge to you is try it.

Below are examples of two ways you can spin basic bodyweight exercises into tough little workouts. And the best part, you can literally do these anywhere, anytime—no equipment needed.

Sample Routine 1- “Destroyer of Legs and Core”

(1)

Three rounds of:

5 pistol squats, per leg →  Pause for 1 second at the bottom of every rep
8 single leg hip bridges, per leg → After the 8th rep hold the top of the bridge for 8 seconds (ouchy)

(2)

Five rounds of:

15 air squats
20 walking lunges steps
8 jump squats
8 jump lunges

(3)

Three rounds of:

20 second plank w/ left arm lifted
20 second plank w/ right arm lifted
30 second hollow hold

Sample routine 2- “Pushups Seem Harder Today”

(1)

Three rounds of:

3 explosive pushups→ focus on being fast off the ground

(2)

Three rounds of:

2 single arm/single leg pushups, per side

(3)

Four rounds of:

1 thirty second pushup w/ a leg lifted → take 10 seconds to lower, pause above the ground for 10 seconds, take 10 seconds to raise

*On sets 1 & 3 keep your left leg off the ground
*On sets 2 & 4 keep your right leg off the ground

Final Thoughts

Building strength is certainly a noble and worthy pursuit of one’s time. Yes, you’ll make the fastest gains when you have access to all the bells and whistles of a fully equipped gym.

However, when life throws you the inevitable curveball and you don’t have access to the iron, it’s an invaluable skill to be able to bust out a strength workout anywhere, anytime.

I appreciate your time, and I hope you enjoyed the read.

About the Author

Tom Coffey is a former Army Ranger, certified nutrition coach, and currently pursuing a master’s degree in Exercise Science.

Due to his last name, he is on a lifelong quest to brew the absolute “perfect” cup of coffee. You can follow Tom’s quest for coffee brewing perfection, or just read more of his other work, over at his blog: https://tomcoffeyfitness.com 

 

 

CategoriesMotivational

Limit Your Mistakes

Learning from our mistakes is what we do as humans.

Like that one time I was a teenager taking my driver’s exam and I forgot to put the car back into “drive” after the “reverse” part of my 3-point turn attempt.

Oops.2

Or that other time I wanted to warm up my previous night’s dinner and forgot to take off the aluminum foil before placing it in the microwave.

My bad.

Failing, as a standard practice, is what makes us better in the long run. We fail, we learn, we (hopefully) don’t make the same mistake again.

Today’s guest post by Shane McLean delves into this concept as it relates to health/fitness. He’s made some mistakes so you don’t have to.

Copyright: oskanov / 123RF Stock Photo

Limit Your Mistakes

Starting your fitness journey when everything is shiny, and the gains are coming thick and fast is exciting. You feel like you can’t do anything wrong because every weight you touch turns to muscle.

OR

You’ve been in this game a while and you still enjoy working out, but the gains have slowed, and you’re frustrated by your lack of progress.

Any errors made at the start are covered up by newbie gains and these slip ups become more magnified the longer you’re in the lifting game.

How do I know this?

I’ve been there.

After training clients for 10 years and training in gyms for longer than I care to remember, I’ve witnessed or experienced these blunders myself that can hold back progress.

And while making mistakes is all part of the learning process, minimizing them while you’re under the bar will help keep you safe, keep you making gains and keep the doctor away.

Think of this as all gain and no pain.

1) Program Hopping

It’s natural to think the grass is always greener on the other side. After all, you’re saturated with new exercise fads and their results look incredible and besides, your program isn’t doing squat.

Change is not a bad thing.

Change is required when you plateau and or when your routine has become stale. However, too much change doesn’t give your body a chance to adapt to your current program because not everything in the weight room happens straight away.

It’s a fine line.

My general rule of thumb is finishing the program first and then evaluating whether it worked or not.

For example, loss of body fat, smaller waist or bigger muscles.

Or if you see no changes after six weeks, then it’s okay to try something new. Which brings me to the next point.

2) Not Tracking Progress

How do you know if a program working when you’re not tracking progress? That’s a rhetorical question.

Look that up, if you don’t know what it means.

If you’re not recording your sets, reps, weight lifted or taking measurements of your waist, hips, arms and legs before, during and after your program, you’re guessing and not assessing.

Because going by what you see in the mirror and the scale shouldn’t be your only measurement of progress. And occasionally testing yourself to see if you can lift more weight than before, never goes astray either.

3) Not Working on Strength

No matter what your goals are in the weight room, whether it’s muscle building or fat loss, all goals are easier by being stronger in the core lifts.

Which are:

By getting stronger, you’ll have more gas in the tank, and the ability to more work without constantly burning yourself out. And while there’s a whole bunch of strength standards in cyberspace, concentrating on adding more weight to the bar or performing more reps with the same weight is all you need to worry about.

 

Working in the 2-6 rep range in the core lifts for cycles of 4-6 weeks will get you where you want to go sooner.

4) Not Asking for Help

There’s no such thing as perfect form in the weight room because we’re all put together differently.

You can take a deep dive into cyberspace and find out how to do certain lifts, but nothing beats a trained professional (like me) to pick up on any major technique issues

For instance, I deadlifted incorrectly for years and ended up herniating three discs. If I’d asked for help sooner, I would have saved myself a lot of pain and money. So please, if you’re unsure about a lift, please ask for help.

I wish I did.

5) Ignoring Pain

Common complaints heard in gyms around the world.

“ My shoulder hurts.”

Then he goes straight to the bench press without a warm up.

“Squats hurt my knees.”

Goes back to the point #4.

“My back hurts.”

Then they go straight into their crunch routine.

There are times when stuff hurts, and you feel the need to push through it because you feel you’ll be left behind, or you need to work off the hamburger you ate last night. However, ignoring pain and exercising through it over a long period never leads to anything good.

Please remember the adage ‘if it hurts, don’t do it’.

It will save you from a ton of pain and your wallet from despair.

6) Groundhog Day

Have you seen this movie?

If you haven’t, check out the clip below:

 

Doing the same routine over and over, for weeks on end when you’re starting out is okay if you’re still making progress.

However, if you’re experience, doing the same program repeatedly and not making gains, then you need your head read.

This goes back to point 1 and 2. Finish the program and track your progress. If what you’re doing isn’t doing it for you, it’s time for a change.

Finishing Up

Yes, mistakes happen along the way but learning from them and limiting them will help you progress in the safest possible manner. Because lying on a Physical Therapist table wrapped in resistance bands is not the definition of a good time.

Author’s Bio

Shane “The Balance Guy” McLean, is an A.C.E Certified Personal Trainer working deep in the heart of Louisiana with the gators.

CategoriesExercise Technique

Squat Down, Not Back

vadymvdrobot@123rf.com

What follows is what works for ME and MY clients. This shouldn’t be taken as a personal attack against YOU, your favorite coach, or any methodology that’s seemingly at odds with my point of view.

By all accounts you’re still a decent human being, even if you happen to disagree with what I’m about to say.3

Here goes.

I prefer people to squat down rather than back.

I want the squat to look like a squat.

I Can Hear the Cacophony of Moans Now

But, “moment arms!“

And, “hip extension torque!“

“Biomechanics, Tony. WHAT ABOUT THE FUCKING BIOMECHANICS!?!U?!!!AHHHHH!??!JUMPSOFFCLIFF“

via GIPHY

Relax: In no way, shape, or fashion am I discounting any those things, nor turning a blind eye to science or evidence-based approaches and modalities.

I’m on your side my fellow anthropometrical nerds.

What I AM discounting, however – but not necessarily turning a blind eye towards (maybe tossing some shade?) – is the fact that, while all those things mentioned above – moment arm lengths, hip extension torque, biomechanics – can be used to make a solid case for squatting the most amount of weight possible, as coaches we often forget two things:

1) Many people could give two shits about squatting the most amount of weight possible.

2) Most people aren’t powerlifters.

Don’t get me wrong: I am all for people training with intent, striving to get strong(er), and pushing some appreciable iron. The tagline for this site is “Because Heavy Things Won’t Lift Themselves” for crying out loud.

That said, I’m also very much interested in the long-game. I want to keep my clients/athletes healthy and set them up for the most long-term training success possible.

One such way I accomplish this is how I prefer to coach the squat. Again, what follows is what works for me and what I feel fits the needs/goals of the bulk of MY clients and athletes.

If you disagree you’re wrong hopefully we can hug it out if we ever meet in person.

Squat Down, Not Back

 

The video above demonstrates me initiating the squat by pushing my hips back, but specifically getting a lot of motion via the lumbar spine.4

This won’t bode well for most lifters.

Is it wrong?

Well, no.

Plenty of lifters do this and move a lot of weight. However, what often works for powerlifters, wearing squat suits, won’t be the best fit for “natural” non-powerlifters, not wearing squat suits.

Plus I’m pretty sure a a piece of my soul dies every time I see it.

Instead, I prefer this approach:

 

Take in your air at the top, create a flexion moment (clamp down abs to prevent excessive lumbar movement), and squat DOWN by breaking with knees and hips simultaneously.

For most lifters, most of the time, this will be the better long-time fit in terms of being able to 1) not only squat a decent amount of weight, but also 2) make it less likely your lower back will hate you.5

CategoriesAssessment Program Design

The Inundation of Corrective Exercise In Strength and Conditioning Makes Me Want to Throw My Face Into a Brick Wall

Just to help calm the waters: I am not anti “corrective exercise.”

And I am not really going to throw my face into a brick wall.

I respect and can appreciate that, sometimes, our jobs as fitness professionals require us to pump the brakes and to venture down the corrective exercise rabbit hole.

Some people require a bit more TLC with regards to improved movement, motor control, and/or, and I’m paraphrasing here…”just learning to turn shit on.”

Some people will require a laundry list of additional mobility work, stretching, or positional breathing drills to point them in the right direction and to help them feel better.

What I am against, though, and what drives me bonkers, is when coaches and personal trainers go out of their way to:

1) Overstep their scope of practice and end up performing really shitty physical therapy with their clients and athletes.7

OR

2) Highlight every minor “dysfunction” with a client/athlete – excessive anterior pelvic tilt, kyphotic posture, left eye is lower than the right (you freak) – making him or her feel as if they’re walking ball of fail.

Copyright: alexytrener / 123RF Stock Photo

Training Is Corrective

Here’s another gleaming example of how TRAINING is corrective and how, if we do our jobs as coaches, we can often accomplish a lot sans the brick wall.

My client, Emily, who’s a trainer herself, has been dealing with some left shoulder issues. I had her come in the other night to see if I could offer some insights and to listen to some sick EDM beats.

The latter has nothing to do with anything, but whatever….give THIS a listen.

Emily showed up and I took the picture below. It shows something clearly awry and that some sort of shoulder clusterfuckey was at play; namely lack of shoulder flexion on the left side.

What was the culprit?


It could have been a few things:

  • Capsular issue
  • Lack of scapular rotation (namely upward rotation).
  • Soft tissue restriction.
  • Lack of lumbo-pelvic control.
  • It was a Wednesday.
  • I don’t know.

What I do know is that I had to respect my lane and understand it wasn’t my job as a strength & conditioning coach to diagnose anything.

I could, however, assess her general movement capacity, use my knowledge of anatomy, and perform a little trial and error to see if I could improve things.

What follows is more or less a brain dump and an attempt to explain my thought process as I worked with Emily for the next hour.

I’m not gonna say that what ended up happening was on par with some Matrix level shit, but I will say I basically know Kung-Fu.

via GIPHY

I Know Kung-Fu

To start I thought to myself:

“What actions have to happen at the scapulae in order to get the arms overhead?”

– Upward rotation
– Protraction
– Posterior tilt

Emily wasn’t getting much upward rotation on that left side. When I asked her to bring her arms overhead it was as if her left arm hit a massive speed bump and came to an abrupt stop. She could push through it, but not without pain.

So I had to think about what muscles help with that action (upward rotation)?

– Upper and lower traps
– Serratus

 

Too, I noticed she also had a more depressed shoulder girdle as a whole; her clavicular angle was more horizontal rather than having a slight upward grade.

HERE‘s Eric Cressey discussing this in a little more detail.

I surmised her UPPER traps needed some attention.

The upper traps often get a bad rap and are avoided like a Coldplay concert. In certain populations (think: desk workers) and instances, the upper traps are OVERactive and can play a role in increased shoulder elevation as well as superior migration of the humeral head, and hence an increased risk for shoulder impingement.

In this scenario, it behooves us to not go out of our way to increase upper trap activation.

However, we often forget the upper traps are a major player in UPWARD ROTATION, not to mention help with scapular elevation…both of which, in my eyes, Emily could have used some more of.I didn’t get over corrective with Emily and start having her perform some voodoo like tapping her pinky finger three times while flossing her teeth with a strain of hair from a Hippogriff.

I didn’t have her perform a laundry list of “correctives” that, for all intents and purposes, would have likely made her feel like a patient and bore her to tears.

Nope, I had her TRAIN and just modified a few things.

We did:

1. Landmine Presses with a Shrug/Reach

 

2. Face Pulls in an upwardly rotated position (so the upper traps were more engaged)

 

3. And, instead of performing movements that would pull her into more shoulder depression and downward rotation (deadlifts, farmer carries, etc) we opted for Landmine Squats, Zercher RDLs, and Hip Thrusts.

 

In short: We turned shit on (upper traps) and trained movements that (likely) wouldn’t feed into the root causes of her symptoms.

Here’s the picture I took at the end of her session:

I’m Gandalf.

CategoriesStuff to Read While You're Pretending to Work

Stuff to Read While You’re Pretending to Work: 11/2/18

Copyright: wamsler / 123RF Stock Photo

BUT FIRST…CHECK THIS STUFF OUT

1. (Even More) Complete Shoulder & Hip Blueprint – Los Angeles, CA

This workshop will piggyback on the material Dean Somerset and I covered in the original Complete Shoulder & Hip Blueprint.

We just returned from Slovenia where we taught the course to 40+ fitness professionals from across nine different countries. We received amazing feedback

With this iteration, though, we’ll be going a bit deeper into the coaching and programming side of things:

  • How to program around common injuries.
  • How to “connect” the appropriate exercises to the client/athlete.
  • How to squat and deadlift like a boss.

All who register will:

1. Receive free access to the digital version of the first series.

2. Receive 1.4 continuing education credits via the NSCA.

3. You also get a super secret bonus we won’t reveal until the weekend of. HINT: Attendees are blown away by how cool is is.1

To register and for moe details go HERE.

 2. Coaching Competency Workshop – NYC

I’ll be back in the city that never sleeps this Fall to put on my popular Coaching Competency workshop. Albeit this will be condensed version (five hours instead of seven); a fitness amuse bouche if you will.

Honestly a better title for this workshop would be: From Assessment to Clients.

I’ll go into detail on how to create better “buy in” with potential clients, in addition to creating a better (current) client experience starting with the assessment to programming suggestions.

Full details (itinerary, location, and cost) can be found HERE.

SOCIAL MEDIA SHENANIGANS

Twitter

Instagram

 

View this post on Instagram

 

Here’s another gleaming example of how TRAINING is corrective. . First picture shows a clear asymmetry and lack of Shoulder flexion on the left side. What’s the culprit? . It could be a few things: capsular issue, lack of scapular rotation, soft tissue restriction, lack of lumbo-pelvic control, it’s Wednesday? I don’t know. . I have to respect my lane and understand it’s not my job as a strength & conditioning coach to diagnose. . I can, however, assess movement, use my knowledge of anatomy, and perform a little trial and error to see if I can improve things. . What actions have to happen at the scapulae to get the arms overhead? . – Upward rotation – Protraction – Posterior tilt . Emily wasn’t getting much upward rotation on that left side, so I had to think about what muscles help with that action? . – Upper and lower traps – Serratus . I noticed she also had a more depressed shoulder girdle as a whole; her clavicular angle was more horizontal rather than having a slight upward grade. . I surmised her UPPER traps needed some attention. They often get a bad rap and are avoided like a Coldplay concert. We often forget the upper traps are a major player in UPWARD ROTATION, not to mention help with scapular elevation…both of which, in my eyes, Emily could use some more of. . I didn’t get over corrective with her and have her start performing some voodoo shenanigans like tap her big toe three times while flossing her teeth with a strain of hair from a Hippogriff. I didn’t have her perform a laundry list of correctives that would likely bore her to tears. . Nope, I had her TRAIN and just modified a few things. We did: . – Landmine Presses with a Shrug/Reach – Face Pulls in an upwardly rotated position (so the upper traps were engaged) – And instead of performing movements that would pull her into more shoulder depression and downward rotation (deadlifts, farmer carries, etc) we opted for Landmine Squats, Zercher RDLs, and Hip Thrusts. . In short: we turned shit on (upper traps) and trained movements that (likely) wouldn’t feed into the root causes of her symptoms. . The second pic was taken at the end of her session. I’m Gandalf.

A post shared by Tony Gentilcore (@tonygentilcore) on

STUFF TO READ WHILE YOU’RE PRETENDING TO WORK

4 Best Compound Sets For Size – Lee Boyce

Are compound sets the same as super sets?

Nope.

Is this is an awesome article by my boy Lee?

Yup.

Assessments You May Be Overlooking: Installment 6 – Eric CresseyEric possesses a keener eye than most when it comes to assessments.

He sees stuff many of us mere mortals overlook. I wouldn’t be surprised if he can see SOULS.

Nonetheless, per the usual…Eric is smart and provides some great insights in this latest installment of Assessments You May Be Overlooking.

And, you totally are. Me included.8

Should You Fear Lumbar Flexion? – Sam Spinelli

I’m a little late in getting to this article (it was written in August), but that’s par for the course when you have a toddler at home.

EXCELLENT stuff by Sam here.

CategoriesExercises You Should Be Doing

Exercises You Should Be Doing: Band Resisted Hinge Row

Copyright: realstock / 123RF Stock Photo

 

This edition of Exercises You Should Be Doing puts a little spin on a similar iteration I stole from Joel Seedman a few years back.

Or maybe it was John Rusin?

Either way, my brain doesn’t work the same way their’s does and I gladly borrowed the idea.

It involved adding resistance bands to KB/DB Rows while in the hinge position. The pull of the bands really (and I mean REALLY) added another element to the exercise I wasn’t expecting.

Because I had to resist the anterior pull of the bands, the exercise hammered my lats, and I loved it.

Well, here’s the same exercise, albeit with a little bit of a twist.

Band Resisted Hinge Row

 

Who Did I Steal it From? – Doug Balzarini of Iron Village Strength and Conditioning in Beverly, MA.

What Does It Do? – A lot.

As Doug noted in a recent post of his:

“This one checks off a lot of positive boxes. The accommodating resistance of the super-band, the constant tension from the active hinged position, the big range of motion from the scapula, the muscle squeeze at the top…goodness.

And the wall support allows you to “sit back” a bit and really focus on the squeeze of the mid/upper back.”

Key Coaching Cues – It may take a little trial and error to get the setup juuust right, but when you do:

  • Make sure to push your hips back INTO the wall. It’s still important to feel a fair amount of hamstring tension, though.9
  • With pretty much any row variation I like to tell people to think about allowing their shoulders blades to move AROUND the ribcage; you should feel a reach/slight stretch when your arms are extended out in front.
  • In playing around with this exercise myself, I think it bodes best to do it for high(er) reps, in the range of 12-15 reps.
CategoriesProgram Design Strength Training

30 Days of Deadlifts: Days 11-20

There are many things in life I enjoy:

  • Dead animal flesh.
  • A good Jason Bourne fight scene.
  • Making my two-year old laugh.
  • Filling my wife’s love tank by making the bed every morning.

Few things give me as much jubilation as deadlifts, though. I like performing them, I like coaching them, I like dreaming about them, and I like writing about them.

I did a series on Instagram not too long ago called “30 Days of Deadlifts.”

Each day, for 30 days, but not necessarily in a row, I provided a quick 60 second programming note, technique consideration, and/or general piece of advice on the deadlift.

It was a big hit.

So much in fact that T-Nation.com asked to repurpose the whole enchilada to use on their site; albeit I’d expound on things a bit more in exchange for them tidying up my prose.

Here’s Part II (or Days 11-20).

—> BOOM, Shaka-Laka <—

CategoriesProgram Design Strength Training

Favorite Movements For Athletes and Modifications For Adult Athletes

I’m always asked what’s the main difference between training professional athletes and those who think they’re still an athlete.

Not much, really. 

I still very much prefer to treat my general population clients like athletes – encouraging them to lift, hoist, push, toss, and drag things every which way – if for no other reason than they can.

However, part of my job as their coach is to know when to pump the brakes and to keep their ego in check. In today’s guest post, California based strength coach Scott Hansen discusses some subtle nuances and tweaks that can be made to a strength & conditioning program catered to the more “mature”” crowd.

Enjoy.

Copyright: spotpoint74 / 123RF Stock Photo

Favorite Movements For Athletes and Modifications For Adult Athletes

When I was 20 years old, I could do just about anything.

Squat 10×10, sure.

Hell, we did that a for a few months out of each year back then.

Deadlifts so heavy you could feel your soul cracking?

Check.

And with ugly technique that would make the Diesel Weasel blush.

 

Note From TG: 10 points to Gryffindor for the Diesel Weasel reference.

With time, experience, injuries, and spending a solid percentage of my yearly income over the last decade plus on learning from people smarter than me, I’ve come to realize a few things:

1) Young athletes need load and stress to build strength and physical resiliency.

I.e., Full ranges of motion and big lifts that require a lot of work. Cleans, snatches, barbell bench presses, chin ups, front squats, deadlifts, etc.

Planet Earth is trying to make you small, frail, and weak from the time you turn about 20 years old onward

Unfortunately, after you’ve spent a couple of decades on the planet, you’ve accumulated some wear and tear.

It’s kind of like an apartment: You might take pretty good care of it for the most part, but every now and then you throw a ripper and the carpet gets stained. Over 20 or more years, there are lots of little stains and dings on the walls.

The stains and dings aren’t necessarily bad enough to knock the building down, but it’s certainly not in the kind of shape it was in when you first moved in.

Well, that beat up apartment is more or less your body.

The way we trained when we were young might have been the best possible way to train then, but we probably need to make some modifications to it as we get a bit older. I’m not saying to train solely with resistance bands and shake weights in group exercise classes. I’m just saying that we can train hard and more intelligently to respect how our bodies have changed over time.

The same qualities still have to be trained, mind you. We still need to get strong and train to build and maintain muscle. We need to be mobile, athletic, and not gas out walking down to the mailbox. As a matter of fact, we can still thrive and be better than we were in our younger years, as long as we’re smart.

Here are my favorite lifts for each movement pattern/quality for those under 25 years old, and how things should be modified for the slightly more, uh, mature crowd.

Power

Athlete: Hang Clean

Adult Athlete: Box Jump

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xbg7sxs_Auc

 

I love Olympic lift variations.

From creating power to absorbing force on the catch, hang cleans can be a great tool for a younger athlete. They also require a ton of wrist and thoracic mobility, and an awkward catch might just make you have to call out of work the next day.

Replacing cleans with box jumps means you get a huge percentage of the pros, and none of the cons, so I use it as a main power exercise in my adult athlete programs.

Just make sure to do them right!

Squat

Athlete: Front Squat

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xzNc–18as

 

Adult Athlete: Double Kettlebell Front Squat

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bx9IP49B-w

 

I’m a big front squat fan.

You really can’t do them wrong, you have less shear stress on the spine, and you get a ton of good stuff expressed: thoracic spine mobility, upper back and core strength, hip mobility, and of course lower body strength.

Similarly to cleans, you need solid wrist mobility, and since the majority of adults have spines that look like question marks, I don’t love front squatting for most adult athletes, most of the time.

Rather, I like hammering double kettlebell front squats.

Similarly to box jumps and cleans, I feel like you get a huge chunk of the benefits of front squatting without the learning curve or discomfort on the wrists, and you can keep the spinal loading down.

Deadlift

Athlete: Trap Bar Deadlift

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_1CdItspHk

Adult Athlete: Trap Bar Deadlift/Kettlebell Deadlift

 

Note From TG: That time when I thought it would be cool to grow a beard.

Trap bar deadlifts are a great full body lift, and I tend to prefer them over conventional pulls. With the weight evenly distributed around you, you can load these up pretty heavy and get a huge training stimulus without having such high prerequisites as barbell deads.

I certainly employ these for my adult athletes, and heavy, but I’m even more diligent on technique than I am with any other exercise, which means I tend to progress it a little more slowly. Wendler’s 5/3/1 works great here, just stop on the top set at 10 at the most.

Otherwise, you’re liable to take a nap for 3 days.

For the much older athlete, I just go back to the question “how strong is strong enough?” If I can get that with a kettlebell instead of a trap bar, then I’ll go with that, but that might come down to how heavy your bells go.

Split Stance

Athlete: Rear Foot Elevated Split Squat with Front Foot Elevated

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_4AoHwncBI

 

Adult: Rear Foot Elevated Split Squat OR Double KB Front Rack Split Squat

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJxBWyfc1Iw

 

RFESS have a special place in my heart after coaching them at Mike Boyle Strength and Conditioning for so long, and because getting brutally strong on these is vital to being able to perform on the court, field, ice, or mat.

By elevating the front foot as well, you get an even bigger range of motion, and moving big weight through big ranges of motion is how you get strong.

Adult athletes can certainly do these as well, but sometimes are a bit limited with ROM for the front foot elevated version. I also like to keep them with split squats to allow for some extra big toe mobility work built into the lift, as so many people tend to get stiff there over time, and stiff toes lead to balance issues and falls.

By front loading it, we can get more core work in and reinforce thoracic extension as well.

Horizontal Press

Athlete: Close Grip Bench

Adult Athlete: Low Incline 1-Arm DB Bench

 

I’m a big advocate on narrower grips on presses for most people, so naturally I love close grip benches. They’re a little easier on the shoulders and you still build the same upper body strength as with a wider grip.

I like index fingers on the edge of the smooth part of the bar, so not crazy close.

The wrist and shoulder issues with the aging athlete play a role here, and I prefer to see them doing more one-arm pressing, and on a low incline. This is more shoulder friendly, brings a bigger core component into the mix, and allows for asymmetries to be worked through, rather than around.

I know, I kind of copped out here and picked two.

Sue me.

Vertical Press

Athlete: Standing DB Press

 

Adult Athlete: Landmine Press OR Half Kneeling 1-Arm Bottoms Up Kettlebell Press

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ev9yVuAfeiY

I know a lot of people love the press done traditionally with a barbell, and I do too. If you put a gun to my head and ask me what my favorite vertical press for athletes is, I’m going with the dumbbell version, though.

Again, I don’t have any problems with barbell pressing, I just like the more natural rotation in the shoulders with dumbbells, and as we see more and more young athletes developing nasty forward head postures and stiff thoracic spines from all the phone and video game time, the dumbbells just seem to be a better fit.

Most adult athletes would benefit from spending the majority of their “overhead” work in a more “high incline” space, which the landmine allows. It all comes back to shoulder and thoracic spine health, and life just tends to cause us issues over time.

One caveat to this is the half kneeling bottoms up kettlebell press. The bottoms up bell triggers the rotator cuff to work to a greater degree, and the half kneeling position keeps from being able to use lower back extension as a replacement for the arm to move overhead.

I’ve seen a lot of people who couldn’t go overhead without pain, but the bottoms up press felt great, so it’ll depend on the individual here.

Chalk this up to cop out number two.

Horizontal Pull

Athlete: 1-Arm DB Row

Adult: TRX Inverted Row

 

DB rows should be a staple in every program, and especially so in those of our athletes. Building a big, strong back helps us obviously in sports, and helps to keep our shoulders strong and healthy as well.

I have no problem with doing these with adult athletes at all, I just like to slow down the tempo and try to get more out of less load. Body English tends to be a factor in these as the weight goes up, and even a little bit with someone who’s got a history of lower back crankiness can cause issues.

This is why I love TRX inverted rows for this population. They allow for a natural rotation on the shoulders, you can load them up with vests or elevate the feet, and people can generally do them more frequently than more traditional heavy rows.

Vertical Pull

Athlete: Heavy Chin Up

Adult Athlete: Ring Chins

 

Mike Boyle has talked in the past about how he likes athletes to have at least a 1-1 strength ratio of chin up strength to bench press strength to mitigate shoulder injuries, and I concur on that wholeheartedly.

When we start getting older, though, shoulder issues can lead to elbow soreness on chins, so if people have the ability to go overhead, I prefer they do their chins on rings for better shoulder mechanics, and if that’s still too much, X pulldowns are a great solution.

Much like landmine presses, they aren’t 100% overhead, but still get a lot of the benefits.

Core Anti Extension

Athlete: Medicine Ball Rollouts

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

 

Adult Athlete: Bodysaw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ON54UuYBycc

 

Loading rollouts takes some creativity.

Sure you can use a vest, but eventually, when you’re wearing 2 or 3, they can get cumbersome and they’re a pain in the ass to take on and off between sets. I’ve found that using a heavy slam ball is a great way to continue challenging rollouts and it’s become my favorite variation.

Much like a lot of the other modifications, the overhead movement for the aging athlete can be problematic, so hammering bodysaws is my preference.

Locomotion

Carries are great, and there are a ton of variations on these, all of which are great. Farmer’s walks, suitcase carries, overhead walks, and the like all have their benefits, but I don’t think any of them quite give the same bang for the buck as heavy ass sled pushes.

There’s no eccentric component, so they’re great for people with knee issues, and give a huge single leg strength benefit. And since there’s no eccentric, they don’t need a ton of recovery, and can be used more frequently.

I’ve found that farmer’s walks, when done really heavy, can kind of fry people’s nervous systems more, so, while I use them frequently, if I had to choose, I’d go sleds.

Obviously, the issues that tend to limit our adult athletes are things that we want to address in our programming and improve upon, but we can still be safe and train hard given the circumstances, and not be relegated to endless hours of correctives and foo foo exercises.

Don’t stop challenging yourself or your clients, but keep them challenging in ways that make sense so they can keep excelling for many years to come.

About the Author

Scott Hansen is a Bostonian transplanted in Southern California, a strength/fitness/wrestling coach, educator, sub par surfer, and die hard New England sports fan.

He works with adult athletes, as well as an assistance wrestling coach and strength and conditioning coach for La Costa Canyon high school wrestling in Carlsbad, CA.
Instagram: Hansen_performance
CategoriesProgram Design

3 Quickie Programming Notes On the Pullup

Today I wanted to share some quickie thoughts with regards to pull-up/chin-up programming. I firmly believe possessing the ability to perform a pull-up, if not multiple pull-ups, is one of the most rewarding and worthwhile achievements to accomplish in the weight-room.10

  • Pull-ups are a fantastic way to measure and gauge relative strength; I.e., your strength relative to your bodyweight.
  • Pull-ups are great for overall shoulder health; I.e., help to offset muscular imbalances and/or strength asymmetries from pressing too much.
  • Pull-ups make you look yoked.
  • Pull-ups don’t require expensive equipment to perform.
  • There are an infinite number of variations you can play around with.
  • Uh, if you ever find yourself climbing a mountain, pull-ups help you from falling off it.
  • Let’s see.
  • They’re just good for you, alright. Trust me.

Copyright: vertolet / 123RF Stock Photo

 

When it comes to programming the pull-up/chin-up here are some things to consider.

1. All Rows Count

I think where a lot of trainees (and even coaches) go wrong is falling into the trap that in order for someone to perform their first pull-up/chin-up that they have to do pull-ups/chin-ups.

My friend Meghan Callaway did a great job of extolling why this is not necessarily the case in THIS post.

That said, I think all rowing movements count and should be utilized in this scenario.

Yes, specificity matters and takes precedent.

However, building pulling strength in general – incorporating row variations from varying angles with varying implements with varying set/rep schemes – is going to have a profound carryover for pretty much everyone.

 

What’s more, and as my other good friend, Bryan Krahn, has noted on several occasions…building a muscular physique can take years (if not decades).

As such, “its best to use joint friendly exercises as your training “cake” with other effective yet potentially problematic moves serving as “icing.”

When it comes to back training:

Cake: Rows (ALL FORMS <— seriously, use them all)

Icing: Pull-ups

Pull-ups can (not always) beat up people’s elbows – particularly when volume is cranked up and someone’s not prepared for it.

To that end, be intelligent and don’t downplay your rows.

2. Do More

Now, forget what I just said about volume.

I think one of the biggest mistakes I see most people make with their pull-up/chin-up programming is that they simply don’t train the pattern enough.

Most people will train their pull-up once, maybe twice per week.

This isn’t enough.

Strong First coach and pull-up badass, Artemis Scantalides, will often advocate a frequency of 4-5x per week.

To mirror what I mentioned above, though, when Artemis says 4-5x per week that includes a hodge-podge of ground based drills like push-ups and hollow holds, pull-up assistance drills such as band-assisted pull-ups, eccentric pull-ups, and flexed-arm hangs, in addition to TRX row variations or even hybrid drills like a Rack Pull-Up.

 

So, not just pull-ups/chin-ups.

Starting to catch a theme here?

One day may include nothing but Hollow Hold drills; the next Flexed Arm Hangs for time; and the next Band Assisted Pull-Ups.

Later in the week you toss in some high-rep TRX Rows.

All told that’s four separate “exposures” during one training week that either hit the pattern itself or have a favorable carryover. You can bet this will be a far superior and time efficient manner to finally conquer that pull-up/chin-up conundrum.

3. Easy Training Is Good Training

I’ve championed this saying before, but it bears repeating. I’d rather my clients leave the gym feeling refreshed and wanting more than feeling like the lost an arm-wrestling match to a tank.

That doesn’t even make any sense, which is precisely my point.

Neither does it make sense to train to failure every…single…set…of…every…single…day.

Missing reps routinely does you no favors. Straining, fighting, and clawing for every rep does you no favors.

By contrast, hitting your reps helps you. Ensuring the bulk of them are clean, “fast,” and performed with pristine technique helps you.

With regards to increasing the total number of pull-ups you can perform this is key. It’s called greasing the groove, and it works.

Lets say you can currently perform four pull-ups and you want to be able to do more. Stop TESTING the total number you can do and actually BUILD it.

Every few hours, perform HALF that number; in this case two.

This will ensure each rep is textbook. Jesus himself will weep because these reps will be so immaculate.

  • If you do this 4-5x per day that’s 8-10 immaculate pull-ups.
  • Over the course of a week that 56-70 immaculate pull-ups.
  • Over the course of a month that’s 216-280 wet dream inducing pull-ups.

You will be able to perform more than four pull-ups after all that.

And you won’t feel like a bag of dicks either.

The Ultimate Pull-Up Program

If you’d like more similar insights on the topic I’d encourage you to pick up Meghan Callaway’s fantastic resource.

It’s impressive, thorough, and something she put a ton of work into. I can’t say enough good things about it.

Whether you’re a male, female, beginner, or elite lifter…this manual will have something to offer you. It’s currently on SALE for half-off the original price and the sale ends TONIGHT (10/27) at midnight.

Soooo, you need to act fast.

Go HERE.