Not long ago I had a female client come in for an initial assessment and she divulged to me the previous coach she had worked with, in not so many words, inferred she was “dysfunctional” and that she’d likely never be able to perform a decent squat.1
What kind of BS is that? Within ten minutes of the first session you tell someone how much of a walking ball of fail they are? Awesome business model, dude.
I took it as my mission to use that initial session with her and demonstrate to her success; to prove to her she could squat. Maybe not with a barbell on her back, ass to grass, but I wanted to show her that 1) not many people are able to do that in the first place and 2) there are many different iterations of the squat and it was my job to showcase what her best options were given her ability level, injury history, and goal(s).
The interaction above took place several months ago.
And, not to be too braggadocious, I was able to successfully get her to “squat” within that first session after taking her through a thorough screen and using more of a bottoms-up approach to pattern her squat.3
It all came down to getting her nervous system comfortable in the bottom position and to own it.
Cliff Notes Version:
Perform a hip scour to ascertain general anatomy limitations
Assess both passive AND active squat pattern(s).
See if active “matches” passive ROM (Range of Motion).
If so, do they demonstrate enough motor control to, well, control that ROM?
If not, is it a mobility or stability issue? I find it’s rarely the former. However mobility tends to be everyone’s “go to” scapegoat.
Implement appropriate patterning drills that match the trainee’s ability level and don’t bore them to tears with too many corrective drills that don’t accomplish much of anything.
Using the BOTTOMS-UP approach to introduce specific movements – in this case, the squat – is a foolproof way help build your client’s confidence in the movement and to start to nudge a training effect.
NOTE: a baby dolphin dies every time you default to 30 minutes of “ankle mobilization” drills.
This past weekend I was fortunate enough to attend the Clinical Athlete Workshop in Springfield, MA with Dr. Quinn Henoch, Dr. Zak Gabor, and Matthew Ibrahim.
Quinn brought to light two more drills I’m immediately going to add to my arsenal and I wanted to share them with you here.
Check these bad boys out.
Quadruped Rockback Squat Patterning
Tall Kneeling Squat Patterning
Pretty cool, right?
Play around with them yourself. Use them with your clients. Demonstrate to your clients that they can do stuff, and that oftentimes it’s just a matter of breaking down movements into more digestible parts to show them success.
The movie The Bourne Identity, based off the novel of the same name written by Robert Ludlum, was released in the summer of 2002 and starred one Matt Damon.
Up until that point Damon wasn’t a no-name actor. He was most recognized for his roles in Good Will Hunting, Rounders, The Rainmaker, and Ocean’s 11, to name a few.
I, like many others upon hearing the news Matt Damon was going to be playing Jason Bourne – an iconic, bonafide, badass – had this reaction:
“The fuck?”
Matt Damon?
Matt Damon the same guy who was in The Talented Mr. Ripley and All the Pretty Horses? That Matt Damon?
“Pfffft, no way it’ll work,” I thought. “A piece of french toast comes across as more badass than Matt Damon.”
Clearly I, and everyone else, didn’t know what the hell we were talking about.
15 years and four installments later (five if you count The Bourne Legacy) it’s hard to think of anyone else playing Bourne.
Damon was/is a legit boss.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJz7P1V3_M4
Needless to say it worked.
People didn’t think it would, but it did.
So what does this have to do with anything? Well, I notice the same parallel in the strength & conditioning world.
People think something won’t or doesn’t work, but it does.
Take for instance sub-maximal training.
Sub-Maximal Say What Now?
Loosely described, maximal (or max-effort) training is a load – usually a one, three, or five rep max – that can’t be completed for an additional rep.
For example if you squat 275 lbs for three reps, but attempted a fourth and know you’ll perform the world’s fastest face plant, that’s your 3-rep max.
I.e., you’re unable to complete an additional rep.
Alternatively, sub-maximal training is best described by strength coach Todd Bumgardner:
“Submaximal effort training is simply work done with heavy loads that don’t require maximal effort. The weights exist in the range between seventy-five and ninety percent of one rep maximum and each set finishes with a few reps left in the tank.”
There’s been a shift in recent years of people always training to failure and always utilizing maximal loads, because, you know, #peoplearefuckingstupid.
While I can appreciate one’s desire to want to train hard and at maximal effort, for many, most of time, it’s a less than optimal approach to take (long-term).
For starters, maximal training beats up the body. Now, before some snooty internet warrior chimes in with something like “but Tony, isn’t that the point of lifting weights? To challenge the body and force it to adapt?” let me explain.
Yes, I’d agree with that comment. Most people could benefit from training a little more savagely. Often, when someone says he or she isn’t getting results there’s a convenient correlation to how “hard” they’re working in the gym.
I.e., they’re not.
However, if you’re someone who’s routinely training at “max-effort” and/or training to failure and missing reps all the time I’d garner a guess you’re routinely compromising your ability to recover.
Ergo, unless your name is Wolverine or you’re *cough, cough* taking supplements, sustained max-effort training isn’t a smart choice.
Utilizing loads in the 75-90% range tends to be spot-on for the bulk of trainees. It serves as an obvious option for adding volume, which is an important component to adding muscle.
Moreover, sub-maximal training, when implemented intelligently, won’t brutalize your joints and it’ll allow you to train more frequently.
It’s a win-win.
NOTE: All this is not to insinuate maximal-effort training should be avoided at all costs. Don’t be cray-cray. If that’s how you’re interpreting things please take your face and throw it against a wall.
Training with sub-maximal loads isn’t only great for adding mass, but it’s also a great way to get strong.
Think of it this way: If you make your 3 rep-max your 5-rep max, it’ll also likely result in your 1-rep max seeing a boost too.
Don’t believe me? Here’s a real-world example.
Two months ago I started working with a female client, a coach herself, who walked in on day one with a 300 lb (straight bar) deadlift.
She was already very strong.
She wanted to work with me to help “audit” her deadlift and to help prep for her first barbell competition – not a powerlifting meet.
Some Brief Context: she’s actually a co-owner of a gym here in Boston that specializes in kettlebell training and is StrongFirst certified herself. The name alludes me at the moment (sleep deprivation sucks), but she and a few of her colleagues/co-workers are competing in a StrongFirst “event” that includes some barbell lifts, with the deadlift as the main course.4
Like I said, she walked in on day one with an already impressive pull of 300 lbs. Nevertheless, I was up for the challenge and wanted to see how much progress we could make in two months.
For eight weeks, we never pulled anything heavier than 250 lbs. In fact, I had her perform all sets based off 90% of her 1-rep max.5
This allowed us to utilize a bit more volume (she deadlifted 2x per week: one “heavy” day and one “light” day), albeit under the premise technique was going be at a premium (honing in on attaining a lifter’s wedge) while also ensuring reps stayed snappy.
A post shared by Tony Gentilcore (@tonygentilcore) on
The Result?
This past Monday marked the “ten days out” point from her competition and I wanted to test the waters.
Jessica ended up hitting a pretty damn clean 330 lbs (with more in the tank). We’re hoping she’ll match that number (if not add another 15-20 lbs) when it’s go time.
Remember: she hadn’t touched anything heavier than 250 lbs for eight weeks.
I know some of you reading will clamor for the meat and potatoes of her programming. That’s NOT the point of this post.6
The point is that you don’t have to shit a spleen and hoist max effort loads every time you walk into the gym. More often than not you should focus on quality reps (but strain sometimes), end each session kinda-sorta refreshed, and wanting more.
It may come as a surprise to some reading, but I have a coach, someone who writes my programs and to whom I’m accountable towards. It’s one of the best things I have ever done.
Likewise I have a number of coaches as clients myself, and I feel it’s one of the highest compliments I can receive. One such individual is Shane McLean who’s a personal trainer in Texas.
He took the time to write up this short summary of why he chose to hire a coach and why he feels it’s an important component for anyone to consider, coach or not.
It was the middle of July in the sweltering, unforgiving Texas heat and my football coach was making the team run 200-meter sprint repeats at the END of practice. As you can imagine, we were all thrilled and no one complained at all.
After a few intervals, most of the team was gassed and we still had a few more to go. When my turn came around, I took off sluggishly and the coach was none too pleased. He started to scream a few choice words in my direction.
It was nothing that bears repeating here because what’s said on the field stays on the field, just like what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.
However, among the expletives, he dropped a pearl of wisdom.
“Practice should be harder than the game, so the game is easy.”
That was all the motivation I needed. I sucked it up, dug deep and ran out my final intervals without compliant.
That’s the beauty of having a coach.
The coach picks you up when you’re feeling down and makes you dig deep when you’re spent and can still see the good in you when nothing is going your way.
Coaches Need Coaches Too
Being a personal trainer, I see the value of coaching from both sides of the fence. I coach clients in a one-on-one setting and I also reach out to fellow professionals for advice when I’m struggling with my own progress.
Because there are times when coaches need coaches.
You can benefit from having a coach in your corner at some time in your life, whether you’re already a coach or you’re looking for something bigger and better in your life.
A little of Drill Sergeant Lou (or Tony Gentilcore) can be just what you need.
He’s a thinking man’s coach.
And because Lou was busy, I reached out to Tony (lucky for me he responded) because I was struggling with my own progress. My goal was and still is to deadlift twice my bodyweight.
However, after a back injury and long break from deadlifting, I had no clue where to start.
Tony loves to lift heavy things and I wanted to lift heavy things, so doesn’t this sound like the start of a beautiful bromance?
However, I was in a bit of a pickle because I couldn’t afford to pay him what he’s worth, so we came to another arrangement.
That tells you what kind of person he is.
He’s not only a man who makes people suffer for a living, he has a heart also.
After a year of online training with Tony, I realized what good coaching is and I decided to share this bromance knowledge with you.
Now, if you’re on the fence about hiring a coach, hopefully my experience with Tony will push you over the edge.
1) Coaches Bring Out Your Best
I’m a believer that you already have the tools inside of you to be a success.
You weren’t put on this Earth to be ordinary, you’re put here to be extraordinary. You may feel like this is new age mumbo jumbo but bear with me for a moment.
Like a lawyer who represents himself has a fool for a client, you fail to look at yourself objectively. You’re either too hard on yourself or fail to see the good inside of you. You cannot see the forest through the trees.
This just makes us human and not Sheldon Cooper.
However, do you know who can help you access those tools and bring out the best in you? A good coach, that’s who.
Several times during the year, I got down on myself because I was either injured, not lifting what I thought I was capable of or struggling with certain lifts that I suck at, like squats.
The moment I’d express this sentiment to Tony, he would quickly turn the tone around and offer me encouragement, advice and exercise cues to help me keep crushing my workouts.
Being on the receiving end of a pep talk is very empowering.
2) Coaches Provide Knowledge
After 25 years of lifting and over 8 years of coaching clients, I thought I had my shit together.
However, after being exposed to different programs, philosophies and training techniques, I realized that my way wasn’t the only way of doing things.
Imagine that?
Every new program and interaction I had Tony was like a sponge moment. All I needed to do was soak it all in.
3) Coaches Provide Accountability
One of the reasons why people hire coaches is to provide them with accountability because they’ve made an investment of money and time in the pursuit of better health and fitness. It always helps to have some skin in the game.
However, if they don’t show up, they’re wasting their money and the trainer’s time. This can result in one pissed off trainer. Trust me, you don’t want to upset the person who writes your exercise programs for a living.
Before Tony I had the dreaded case of do as I say, not as I do and I was accountable to no one. Now I feel accountable to Tony because he has eyes everywhere (like a ninja) and I also report in every week.
A good coach will help keep you on the straight and narrow.
Wrapping Up
You cannot go through this life alone. At some stage, you’re going to need some help. That’s what a good coach will do, help you be more awesome than you already are.
And who doesn’t want that?
About the Author
Shane “The Balance Guy” McLean, is an A.C.E Certified Personal Trainer working deep in the heart of Texas. Shane believes in balancing exercise with life while putting the fun back into both.
Anyone see Blade Runner 2049 yet? I heard it’s amazing, which doesn’t surprise me considering the director, Denis Villeneuve, hasn’t made a bad movie yet (Prisoners, Sicario, Arrival).
My movie watching prowess has been slacking of late due to the little nugget, but I think Lisa and I are going to try to make plans to see it this week.
Others on the “to see” list: mother!,Battle of the Sexes, and Brad’s Status. Any other suggestions?
1) Complete Shoulder & Hip Blueprint – Boston (Early Bird Rate Ending)
The Early Bird rate ($100 off) for the Complete Shoulder & Hip Blueprint Workshop in Boston is ending this weekend.
This will likely be mine and Dean’s last hoorah with this workshop. We’ve been doing it for close to three years and it’s time to turn the page and drum up a new topic and curriculum.
Since it’ll likely be our last go we’re not holding back: I hear there will be disco balls, black lights, laser shows, and coffee.
Go HERE for all the deets, and hope to see you there.
I was asked to contribute to this one, which also includes insights for many other heavy hitters in the industry: Paul Carter, Dr. Lonnie Lowery, Mark Dugdale, TC Luoma, Christian Thibaudeau, Amit Sapir, Chris Colucci, Dani Shugart, Akash Vaghela, and Mike T. Nelson.
I’ve been diving into this material and it’s outstanding. Any coach or trainer who’s interested in dialing in their game with regards to shoulder assessment, corrective exercise, and programming strategies would gain a lot of insights from this resource.
Dan and Dave work with a plethora of overhead and CrossFit athletes, in addition to gymnasts at Champion Physical Therapy & Performance just outside Boston so they know shoulders.
If you’re a human being reading this blog post it’s a safe bet you 1) have impeccable taste with regards to the strength coaches you choose to follow 2) have a pair of shoulders and 3) are likely interested in keeping them healthy and thus performing at a high level in the weight room.
NOTE: If you happened to have come across this blog post by Googling the terms “world’s best tickle fighter” or “The Notebook spoilers”….welcome!
I’m a little biased given my years of experience working with overhead athletes and meatheads alike, but I’d garner a guess that nothing is more annoying or derails progress more than a pissed off shoulder…or shoulders.
My friends Dan Pope and Dave Tilley of Champion Physical Therapy & Performance just released a stellar resource, Peak Shoulder Performance, that’s perfect for any coach or personal trainer looking to help their clients/athletes nip their shoulder woes in the bud. AND it’s on sale for this week only at $100 off the regular price.
Guess what most people think is the cause of their shoulder woes?
The rotator cuff.
Guess what’s likely not the cause of their shoulder woes?
The rotator cuff.
It’s lost on a lot of people that the “shoulder” isn’t just the rotator cuff.
I mean, N’Sync back in the wasn’t just Justin Timberlake, right?
JC, Lance, Chris, and Joey (<— didn’t have to look up all their names) deserve our respect and admiration too. They all played key role(s) as individual entertainers to make the group more cohesive, successful, and relevant.
The phrase “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts” has never rang more true than right here and right now, reminiscing on long past their prime 90’s boy bands.
[Except, you know, we all know Justin was/is the only one with talent. He can sing, he can dance, he can act, he’s got comedic timing. He’s a delight.]
The rotator cuff is Justin Timberlake.
It gets all the credit and accolades and attention with regards to shoulder health and function. However, the shoulder consists of four articulations that comprise the entire shoulder girdle:
Glenohumeral Joint (rotator cuff) – Justin
Acromioclavicular Joint – JC
Sternoclavicular Joint – Lance
Scapulothoracic Joint – Joey and Chris
I’d make the case, and this is an arbitrary number I’m tossing out here (so don’t quote me on Twitter), that 80% of the shoulder issues most people encounter can be pin pointed to the Scapulothoracic area (shoulder blades) and what it is or isn’t doing.
The shoulder blades, since you have two of them, are Joey and Chris.
Think about it:
Justin, JC, and Lance were generally considered the heartthrobs of the group and were always taking center stage, in the forefront, and amassing Tiger Beat covers.
Conversely, who was in the shadows, taking a back seat, presumably doing all the heavy labor, regional Mall appearances, and B-list talk shows the other guys didn’t want to do?
That’s right…..Joey Fatone and motherfucking Chris Fitzpatrick, son!
Lets Give the Scaps Some Love
All of this isn’t to insinuate the rotator cuff alone is never the culprit or that pain in that area should be shrugged off, ignored, and not addressed directly.
However, when lumping shoulder pain and the rotator cuff into the same sentence we’re often referring to something called “shoulder impingement.”
Shoulder impingement is a thing – loosely defined: it’s compression of the rotator cuff (usually the supraspinatus) by the undersurface of the acromion – and it is a nuisance.
There’s even varying types of shoulder impingement – Internal vs. External Impingement. Moreover, just saying “shoulder impingement” doesn’t say anything as to it’s root cause.
Many factors come into play:
Exercise Technique
Poor Programming
Lack of T-Spine Mobility
Fatigue (rotator cuff fatigue = superior migration of humeral head)
Faulty Breathing Patterns
Wearing White Past Labor Day
And Scapular Dyskinesis…to name a few
Just saying someone has “shoulder impingement” and telling him or her to perform band external rotation drills (oftentimes poorly) till they’re blue in the face doesn’t solve WHY it may be happening in the first place.
Often, the rotator cuff hurts or isn’t functioning optimally because something nefarious is happening elsewhere.
And on that note I’d like to point your attention to the shoulder blades.
Release, Access, Train
I have a lot of people/athletes stop by CORE because their shoulder(s) don’t feel great. Many have gone to several physical therapists prior to seeing me frustrated they’re not seeing progress, and if they are it’s often fleeting.
Full Disclosure: I know my scope and am never diagnosing anyone or anything.
Actually, Things I Can Diagnose = poor deadlift technique, poor movement in general, and epic poops vs. average poops (#dadlife).
Things I Can’t Diagnose = MRIs, musculoskeletal injuries/limitations, gonorrhea.
I find it amazing, though, whenever I do work with someone with shoulder pain, how much of a rare occurrence it is anyone ever took the time to assess scapular function.
If the scapulae are in a bad position to begin with (maybe in excessive anterior tilt or downwardly rotated) and/or are unable to move in all their glory (upward/downward rotation, anterior/posterior tilt, adduction/abduction, elevation/depression), or altogether move poorly…is it any wonder then, why, possibly, maybe, the rotator cuff is pissed off?
Photo Credit: EricCressey.com
While not an exhaustive list or explanation – everyone’s their own unique special snowflake – the following approach covers most people’s bases:
Release
Scapular position is at the mercy of the thorax and T-Spine.
Those in a more kyphotic posture – think: computer guy – will tend to be (not always) more anteriorly tilted and abducted.
Those in a more extended posture – think: athletes/meatheads – will tend to be (not always) more downwardly rotated and adducted.
In both cases the congruency of the shoulder blade(s) and thorax is compromised often resulting in an ouchie.
“Releasing” the area is often beneficial:
Access
Now that the area is released we can then gain “access” to improved scapular movement by nudging the ribcage/thorax to move via some dedicated positional breathing drills.
Think of it this way: if the ribs/thorax are unable to move because they’re glued in place, how the heck are the scapulae going to move?7
A few of my favorites include:
NOTE: Which one you use will depend on an individual’s presentation. A good rule of thumb to follow would be for those in a more extended posture to include breathing drills that place them in flexion and vice versa. There are always exceptions to the rule, but for the sake of brevity it’s a decent rule to follow.
All 4s Belly Breathing
The Bear
Supine 90/90 Belly Breathing
Prone Sphinx
NOTE: I didn’t discuss it in this video but I’d also encourage people to include a full inhale/exhale with each “reach” or repetition on this exercise.
Train (and Go Lift Heavy Things)
Now that we’ve released and gained access to the area, we need to train. Specifically, almost always, we need to improve one’s ability to move their arms overhead (shoulder flexion) without any major compensations.
In order to do so, the scapulae need to do three things:
Posterior tilt
Upward rotation (which, as a whole, describes the end goal)
Protract
All three entail utilizing the force couples of the upper/lower traps and serratus anterior in concert to help move the shoulder blades into the upwardly rotated position we’re after.
There are a litany of drills and exercises that can be discussed here, and it’s important to perform a thorough screen/assessment to ascertain which ones need to be prioritized.
When friend and fellow Boston-based coach, Lana Sova, pitched an article shedding light on some common mistakes she see’s other women make with regards to deadlifting, it goes without saying she had me at deadlift.
Lana’s a great coach and strong herself, boosting a 300+ lb deadlift. She knows a thing or two when it comes to picking things up and putting them down.
Four years ago, I could spot one or two women in the strength area of my gym doing deadlifts, and one of them was a trainer. Now, the love for deadlifts has increased among women.
As a powerlifter and a coach, I love to see the change 99% of the time, but there is still that one percent that makes me want to throw myself into the wall every time I see someone deadlifting.
These days, it seems like deadlift technique is being preached from every corner of social media. And if you are not a fitness professional, you have no idea whether it’s good or bad advice.
Therefore, in true Wonder Woman fashion, I’m attempting to save the world, or at the very least to save you from getting injured while deadlifting, and potentially help you put 20 to 30 pounds — even 50 —on your deadlift instantly.
Here are four deadlift set-up mistakes I see women make.
Mistake #1. Bar and Shin Distance
There are two ways I see women approach the barbell. They either stand too far away from the bar, like it’s gonna bite them, or they step so close it tickles.
The thing is, in both cases, you end up pulling the bar with your lower back. Why? Because the bar is either set up too far forward or ends up being shifted there.
Feet too close.
Lets see what it looks like in action:
As you can see from the video above the initial set-up is awkward – namely, not allowing for any forward translation of the tibia – which then pushes the bar away, which then makes the DL more “squatty” and pushing the axis of rotation (hips) further away, which then places much more stress on the lower back.
Not cool.
Conversely, here’s what it looks like when the feet are set up too far away.
Feet too far (away)
And here’s what that looks like in action:
Again, not an optimal set-up. And a lower back that will end up pissed off.
So we gotta find the middle ground.
To avoid pulling the barbell with your back, set up so that your middle foot is right underneath the barbell.
Feet juuuuuuust right.
The end result is something that looks like this:
Mistake #2. Slacking to Pull the Slack
Did you know there are such things as Meggings? I might be late to the party, but damn those things are tight.
When you deadlift, you want your whole body to almost explode from the tension you created in your set-up.
Pulling the slack out of the bar means exactly that. Make that shit tight. Just like the meggings.
You want to create tension in your hamstrings, gluteus muscles, and lats.
Here’s how I like to teach my clients to pull the slack out:
We first make sure their heels are screwed into the floor – check.
Gluteus muscles engaged — check.
Then we squeeze the purses in their pits. Lats are tight — check.
And lastly, as they reach the bar, they “bend” it and shift their weight onto their heels. Bend the bar — check.
Impromptu dance-parry prior to set is optional – check.
Mistake #3. Head Position
Your body is like a chain that consists of segments. Your head is the last piece of this chain. If your head is tilted, turned, extended, or, I don’t know, rotated 180 degrees, it will change the position of the next piece of the chain — your upper back.
An excessively rounded upper back is a big no-no when deadlifting. If you’re one of the people who always has to watch herself in the mirror while deadlifting, you might want to stop.
I get you want to make sure your form is right, but you’re making it even worse.
Instead of looking in the mirror, look at the bottom of the mirror. This will help you to put your head in a position that doesn’t force your upper back into flexion, or excessive rounding.
Mistake #4. Mindset
For some reason, when it comes to deadlifting, every client turns on her lady-like operations, and treats the barbell like it’s a kitten.
But if your goal is to deadlift your significant other’s weight (or triple that), you might want to be a little more aggressive.
You want to attack the bar.
So leave all your love for kittens behind the gym doors, and rip that shit off the floor, like you’re family’s life depends on it.
About the Author
Lana Sova is a coach at Shameless Strength Academy and a personal trainer atHealthworks Fitness Center in Brookline, MA. She empowers women to build and own their strength via powerlifting and strength training.
The Complete Shoulder & Hip Blueprint is finally coming to Boston. Not “fake” Boston, either, on the outskirts of the North or South shore, and we end up calling it a Boston workshop.
No, this sumbitch is going to be IN Boston, at AMP Fitness located near Government Center in the heart of the city.
This shindig goes down the weekend of November 11th and will likely be mine and Dean Somerset’s last hoorah presenting this particular workshop.
The early bird rate is currently in effect. Hope to see you there.
Back injuries can be the worst, and if you’re something you likes to lift heavy things it’s almost inevitable.
Telling someone who’s livelihood is the iron to “just stop lifting” isn’t the right approach (not to mention woefully narrow-minded).
I received my copy of this book earlier this week and it’s really, really good. The way it’s written – Brian telling his story, with Dr. McGill chiming in to add his insights and knowledge – makes it an easy and entertaining read.
If you’re a strength athlete or someone who works with strength athletes, it behooves you to purchase this book.
Selecting the wrong diet is not the problem keeping millions of people overweight and unhappy about it. What we need to be talking about is what a person can do other than go a diet to eliminate their weight problems.
Social Media Shenanigans
Twitter
I thought it was a dumb thing to say before, but now that I’ve got a 20lb mobile baby, telling women not to lift over 3lbs is fucktard dumb.
They way I see it when your 8-month old is up most of the night coughing and battling his first cold, and you’re not really that inspired to write something “meaty,” there’s only one direction to take things:
Who Did I Steal It From: Who else? The Glute Guy himself (and the guy that every guys hates because they’re not him), Bret Contreras.
What Does It Do?: Makes your butt feel swole.
In more professional or scientific terms: it’s a fantastic exercise that trains the glutes in a more posteroanterior fashion.
It also serves as a “different” way to train the Hip Thrust with bands if you don’t have access to a Hip Thrust apparatus (or don’t feel like dilly-dallying with a cumbersome setup via a bench, band(s), and a bunch of DBs.
But, mostly, it makes your butt feel swole.
Key Coaching Cues: Using as thick of a band as you want, set it (or them) up by wrapping them around a pair of J-hooks on the squat or power rack. You’ll then reach for the far end of the rack and situate yourself far enough forward so you feel enough tension coming from the band.
Holding on, push your hips back until you feel a nice stretch in the hamstrings and then thrust those bad boys back home making sure to squeeze your glutes in the standing position with each repetition.
For added effect, you can match the cadence of each rep with some sort of quote:
Spar……..ta………Spar…….ta…….Spar……..ta.
Or, I don’t know…..
You……Don’t……Want…….None…….Of…….This.
Depends on how awkward you want to make things.
Nevertheless, I’ve been playing around with these myself and like them. I do prefer to use then for high(er) reps (15-20) and I think they’re best served as part of 3-4 exercise glute finisher.
I’ll just come right out and say it: Feelings are a motherfucker.
NOTE: “motherfucker” in this sense can be used interchangeably here: good or bad.
“Did you just see how far I hit that baseball?
Motherfucker!
I.e., Good. You know, you’re happy and excited you hit the baseball a long ways.
“I had to take my car in, again, to get the transmission fixed.
Motherfucker! (punches the wall).“
I.e., Bad. Sucks, dude.
Hopefully you get the gist.
They (feelings), as we all know, encompass a wide range: from how we feel when we first fall in love to what happened a few days ago in Las Vegas. They cross a spectrum: from warmth, empathy, and unconditional positive regard on one end…to how I feel whenever I see someone perform a kipping pull-up on the other.
Annoyance peppered with spontaneous rage.
Feelings aren’t right or wrong.
How you feel at any given moment, under any given circumstance, is how you feel.
Who am I – or who is anyone, really? – to disregard or question how you feel?
That said, facts matter.[/efn_note]It’s not lost on me, given the current political environment we live in, that this point (facts matter), unfortunately, can (and is) debated. Climate change isn’t real, 3,000,000 people voted illegally, Unicorn tears are an excellent aphrodisiac…whatever. Who needs facts?[/efn_note]
I mean, I feel like leaving the toilet seat up is perfectly fine and no big deal. The facts – my wife’s dropkick to the side of my face – state otherwise.
I feel like early 90’s Mariah Carey and I were meant to be soul mates. The facts – hahahahaha – state otherwise.
Feelings vs. Facts In Fitness
A few weekends ago Lisa and I were in Toronto presenting our Strong Body-Strong Mind Workshop when one of the attendees, a local personal trainer, shared a story.
She went into detail on how a client of her’s, another female, had been giving her a hard time. You see the client was a perpetual pessimist and had a hard time deflecting negative self-talk.
This trainer even went so far to say that her client admitted to her that the only reason why she even signed on to start training in the first place was to prove to her that personal training didn’t work.
That she was a lost cause.
A failure.
As I was listening to the story I couldn’t help but think to myself, “man, that’s horrible. Who’s got time to deal with that? Fire the client!”
Lisa, to her credit, made a beautiful reframe and rebuttal:
Lisa: “How long as the client been working with you?”
Attendee: “Over a year.”
Lisa: “How many times per week?”
Attendee: “At least twice, if not more.”
Lisa: “And she’s making progress?”
Attendee: “Yes, although in her eyes she hasn’t.”
Lisa: “Hmm, interesting. She’s obviously getting something from her time with you. What she’s focusing on are feelings and not facts.
The facts demonstrate your client has been consistently training for over a year despite her initiate “goal” to prove to you personal training doesn’t work.
The facts state otherwise.”
*Smoke bomb, smoke bomb, exit stage left.*
We see this all…..the…..time in fitness and the strength & conditioning world: people allow their feelings to convolute the facts.
Take my client, Alexandra, for example.
I get that we’re all our own worst critic, but she’s made amazing progress since we first starting working together. Back when we first started working together she came to me with some chronic shoulder and low back pain, and was frustrated with her lack of progress in the gym in terms of some strength markers she wanted to hit.
Namely: deadlifting over 200 lbs and performing her first strict chin-up.
She’s been working her tail off.
She no longer has shoulder or back issues, she hit her DL goal (and then some), and she’s thiiiiiiiiis close to hitting her chin-up goal. Yet, sometimes, like everyone, she has a hard time with allowing her feelings to override the facts.
A post shared by Tony Gentilcore (@tonygentilcore) on
The cool part was Alexandra’s response in the comments section:
“Thank you Tony!! It’s so awesome to see this cause in my head I’m not making much progress and then I’m ok like damn okayyy haha. 💪🏽💪🏽💪🏽💦 It’s so close i can taste it!”
Taking things a little further we can see the same parallel in other aspects of fitness.
Some coaches feel everyone should squat the same way – same foot spacing, same stance, same depth, etc – but the facts state otherwise.
Likewise, some coaches feel everyone must squat or deadlift with a straight bar, but the facts – not everyone is a competitive power or olympic lifter, you asshat – state otherwise.
You feel as if you’re 7% body-fat, but the facts, well, you’re not.
You may feel you’re better off jumping into a live volcano than eating any gluten, but the facts are against you my friend.
Feel the Feels
I am not insinuating you should avoid or disregard all your feelings. By all means love your spouse, enjoy that succulent steak, feel anger whenever someone performs a KB swing overhead, don’t be shy to cry it out when you binge watch This Is Us.
Let your feelings marinate.
However, when it comes to you and your fitness/health goals be cognizant of facts and learn to boycott your feelings when necessary. You’ll be better off for it.
One of the biggest honors for me is when other fitness professionals take time out of their schedule to come shadow me or observe what I do at CORE.
Truthfully I don’t feel what I do on a day-to-day basis is altogether revolutionary or going to win me any Nobel prizes in coaching badassery. I mean, I have people deadlift, squat, throw things, and carry stuff, all while listening to some sick techno beats.
No biggie.
However, this was pretty cool and a nice surprise.
Below is a nice write-up by UK based trainer, Stuart Aitken, describing his experience observing me for a few hours a few Saturdays ago.8
I walked into CORE, Tony’s small private gym in Boston, for a day of shadowing a few weekends ago.
Here are a few of things I saw within the first 30 minutes of being there:
Accommodating resistance.
Accentuated eccentrics.
Advanced periodization.
Complicated exercise terminology.
Of course, this wasn’t what I saw and truthfully, there was was nothing special about the way Tony coached, what was special was HOW he coached.
I often think us fitness professionals can be a bit hypocritical.
We tell clients “play the long game,” “stay consistent and good things will happen” and “don’t search for the magic pill, it doesn’t exist,” yet we think we’re one book or course away from solving all of our career issues.
Tony doesn’t programme any differently than I’ve seen him write about, nor does he have a cueing roster that addresses every single movement issue a client has. He still has clients who don’t push their knees out and who need a quick reminder to squeeze their glutes at the top of a hip extension movement.
Perhaps this is what makes Tony, and really any other coach I know, excellent – the basics, done brilliantly.
1) Client-Centered Coaching
I’m a huge fan of constantly checking in with myself about whether I’m being client or philosophy centered.
Lisa, Tony’s wife, talks about this heavily in her work, but for anyone who is reading who hasn’t heard of this before, client-centered coaching would be where you’re taking into the client’s needs and wants into account.
Philosophy-centered would be where you’re putting your philosophies first and forcing square pegs (clients) into round holes (your programming). An example in my career would be when I started to enjoy some gymnastics and started to ‘push’ gymnastics onto the people I work with.
It’s so easy for us to start pushing clients towards what we think is best for them, but when we think about what encompasses effective coaching, this couldn’t be further from how we know clients are likely to respond best.
Think about someone telling you how to do something – how does that you feel? Yes, at times this type of coaching may be necessary, but for the most part, you should be focused on guiding clients towards the decision that is best for them.
Jenny, who is a mum of three and simply wants to feel better, might enjoy doing some deadlifts, but she probably doesn’t want that deadlift to be the only thing she does in her training. Tony loves deadlifting, but not every single one of his clients is going to deadlift, nor will they all “need” to deadlift.
2) Window Coaching
I learnt this off of Tony at a shoulder workshop he ran in the UK earlier this year. Essentially what it means is if you worked in a facility where everyone who walked by could look in and watch, how do you look?
Are you active or are you passive? Are your arms crossed and are you looking disinterested? Is it your tenth session of the day and you look like the last place you would rather be is in the gym?
At one point Tony was dancing to some 90s rap, and at other points, he was either laughing with clients or actively coaching, if you walked past it would look like the kind of environment his type of client would enjoy being in.
Potential clients are always watching.
3) “Move Well, Move Often, Move Under Load”
It wasn’t actually Tony who said this quote but rather my colleague at Lift the Bar, Gregg Slater, but it sums up how I viewed the way Tony has progressed his clients. All of them could hinge, they all knew how to brace, and breath and they all came in early and got on with their warm-ups.
Before you throw a barbell onto a new clients back for squats, do they know how to create tension in their body? Do they know how to disassociate between their hips and upper back so they can hinge effectively? Can they get even MORE out of their sessions by doing their own warm-ups?
Teaching clients how to move well before you start loading them up will not only have a positive effect on their results, but it’ll also decrease the risk of injury.
4) Communication Skills
One of the brilliant things I watched Tony do with each of his clients was the way he related to them. Whether that be in the type of language he used (swearing vs not swearing for example), how much he listened vs spoke, the type of feedback used or right down to the choice of music, his communication skills were appropriate to the client who was in front of him.
I think this is such an under-appreciated aspect of effective coaching; the ability to wear different coaching hats dependent on who you are communicating with.
You know how Susan loves knitting? Make sure you ask about that new scarf she’s working on.
You know how Jonny is a huge football fan (that’s not American football, by the way, that’s good old British football where you kick the ball with your foot)? Make sure you have a glance at the latest football scores.
This kind of stuff matters and to quote Seth Godin:
“A small thing, done repeatedly, is not a small thing.”
If you’re relating to clients, creating an environment that leaves them feeling great, keeping their goal in mind and delivering a quality service, you’ll do well in this industry.
Tony Changed My Life (<– Note From TG: I Wrote That)
Overall I had a fantastic five hours at Tony’s gym, and I can’t recommend doing this kind of thing more often.
There are always others coaches, who are often more experienced, and within a few hours of you, who you could go and shadow.
An afternoon spent with another coach can keep you fresh, allow you the space to level up your coaching and network with other trainers in and around your area, (and it doesn’t even cost anything!) I can’t see any reason why we shouldn’t be doing more of it.
About the Author
Stuart Aitken is the head of member support at Lift the Bar and host at the LTB Podcast, which are both educational services for Personal Trainers. He also works as a Personal Trainer out of Good Health and Fitness in Dundee, Scotland.
