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
Dear high school athlete:
Please, please, please, please, PLEASE:
1. Stop using the excuse “you don’t have time in the morning to eat breakfast.” Get up 10 minutes earlier and get it done.
2. Start your off-season training IMMEDIATELY, not two weeks before the season starts.
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’m excited because Lisa and I are hosting our Strong Body-Strong Mind workshop here in Boston tomorrow and we’re expecting 30 fitness pros to attend and get their nerd on discussing things like the Transtheorhetical Model of Change, intrinsic vs. extrinsic motivation, how to build competency & autonomy, and, you know, deadlifts.[footnote]If you’re interested in hosting Lisa and I for this workshop we’re not afraid to travel…;o) I can say unequivocally there’s no workshop like it around for fitness professionals.[/footnote]
Because I’m a big jerk and always wait till the last minute to get things done, I’ve still got a few things to tweak on my presentation and need to hightail it out of here to get that done.[footnote]As my friend, Ben Bruno, always says “If you wait till the last minute, it only takes a minute.[/footnote]
Our Vancouver shindig in April sold out, but Dean and I have recently announced a stop in Orlando, FL later this year, October 21-22nd at Spark Fitness.
I’ve never been to Orlando. There’s no way in hell I’m visiting Disney World.
HEADS UP: We’ve also added Boston into the mix later this year. Not Burlington Boston or Beverly Boston, two cities that are lovely, but not that close to Boston.
No, this is IN Boston…in the heart of the city Boston, at AMP Fitness.
If you’re super excited and want to sign-up early you can go HERE.
2) Lisa on the Lift the Bar Podcast
Lisa was invited onto the Life the Bar Podcast recently discussing what she discusses best…the psychology behind personal training.
I couldn’t use an actual image from Julie’s post because it’s a PDF and I want to encourage you to check it out for yourself. She’s very talented and has an uncanny ability to draw awesome pics of anatomy peppered with witty commentary.
For those who are more visual learners this is for you.
This one resonated with me, especially now that I’m out on my own and oftentimes have people stop by unannounced or randomly and I may need to “temper” my sales pitch.
Pete nails this one, as usual.
Social Media Shenanigans
Twitter
Calories. THAT’s the best “supplement” for getting jacked.
Today’s the last day to save $100 off this 10 DVD set.
Mike and Joe are two of the most respected coaches in strength and conditioning, and there’s a reason why there is a 3rd edition of this seminar.
Lets put it like this: The Godfather III? Horrible. The Matrix Revolutions? Uhg. EAD 3.0? Baller.
If you’re a S&C coach, personal trainer, physical therapist, athletic trainer, or just someone who likes to toss heavy things around this is a must have resource.
I have high doubts the coach in question who’s commentary sparked this article written by Bret did so with ill intent or had some sort of nefarious “game plan” to bamboozle people.
I 100% believe he gets results for his athletes, and does so in a safe manner.
HOWEVER – when something sounds too good to be true, it usually is. Thanks for writing this Bret.
Max is a freak of nature. He’s the guy who can deadlift 500 for reps, follow that with a few back flips and splits, and then follow that with tapping out a gorilla.
He possesses quite the eclectic training background, and isn’t afraid to use a variety of tools and methods. In this post he explains why he continues to gravitate towards the KB.
Today I have a killer guest post by strength coach, future Dr., good friend, and specializer in all things glutes, Bret Contreras.
Getting good (or even adequate) at designing effective training programs takes time. There are a lot of theories and opinions out there on the topic, and in today’s post Bret shares some insight on what he feels should be some common denominators.
There’s a TON of useful, easily actionable information involved (and I went a head and embedded numerous videos from Bret which could serve as excellent resource themselves).
Also, as an FYI, Bret released his new program yesterday called 2×4.
Bret was nice enough to send me an advance copy last week and I had the opportunity to read through it while I was stuck at O’Hare airport in Chicago over the weekend.
I liked it. A lot.
Watered down to the essentials, the title 2×4 means 2 (big, compound, movements) performed 4 times per week.
It’s a 14-week program designed to get people STRONG (and gunny) by integrating strength work in conjunction with sub-maximal training and assistance work.
I think what I appreciate most is that it’s a no-frills program. You vs. the barbell.
While Bret suggests which exercises you should focus on, you do get the opportunity to choose which eight exercises you’d like to have as your “indicators” to gauge progress.
What’s more the program can be modified to fit your preferences (strength vs. hypertrophy), so it’s far from a one-size-fits all program.
He also includes a bunch of sweet bonuses, all of which only sweeten the pot.
In fact, as of today, I’m doing the program myself! I can’t wait to see what kind of results I get.
Is your training still stuck in the 1990’s? If so, let me help you out with some common program design tips of highly effective trainers and lifters.
Necessary Components
First of all, your training will need to be comprehensive. While I personally prefer 4 full body training sessions per week, other training splits can certainly be effective too. Just make sure that every week (and preferably twice per week), you’re performing exercises from the following categories of movements:
1. Hip + Knee Extension Movement – these include bilateral and unilateral squatting exercises. Examples are goblet squats, back squats, front squats, Bulgarian split squats, walking lunges, and step ups.
2. Straight Leg Hip Extension Movement – these include bilateral and unilateral hip hinging movements. Examples are deadlifts, good mornings, horizontal back extensions, 45 degree hypers, reverse hypers, single leg RDLs, and kettlebell swings.
3. Bent Leg Hip Extension Movement – these include bilateral and unilateral bridging and thrusting movements. Examples are hip thrusts, barbell glute bridges, single leg hip thrusts, and cable pull-throughs.
4. Upper Body Pressing Movement – these include bilateral and unilateral vertical, 45 degree, and horizontal presses. Examples are barbell or dumbbell bench press, barbell or dumbbell incline press, and barbell or dumbbell overhead press.
5. Upper Body Pulling Movement – these include bilateral and unilateral vertical, 45 degree, and horizontal pulls. Examples are chins, pull-ups, seated rows, one arm rows, inverted rows, and bent over rows.
6. Core Stability Movement – these include anti-extension, anti-lateral flexion, and anti-rotation exercises. Examples are RKC planks, side planks, ab wheel rollouts, hollow body holds, suitcase holds, and Pallof presses.
Base your training around these exercises and you’re bound to succeed.
Balanced Hip Extension Exercise
Unless you’ve been hiding in a cave for the past 50 years, you’ve undoubtedly heard about the merits of hip extension exercise. Simply put, it’s the cat’s pajamas.
However, some hip extension exercises stress the flexed-range position, while others stress the extended-range position.
Flexed-Range Hip Extension Movements
Squats, front squats, conventional deadlifts, sumo deadlifts, good mornings, lunges, Bulgarian split squats, trap bar deadlifts.
Note from TG: Who wants to bet that Bret’s not wearing any pants in this video?????
Extended Range Hip Extension Movements
Hip thrusts, barbell glute bridges, single leg hip thrusts, horizontal back extensions, cable pull-throughs.
The exercises in the former group are staples that have been popular for quite some time. The exercises in the latter group have recently emerged onto the scene and are very important for ensuring that full range hip extension strength and maximum glute development are realized. Every good program should include exercises from both groups.
Daily Rowing and Glute Work
Not all volume is created equal. Some exercises heavily tax the CNS, whereas others don’t tend to create much soreness or fatigue. Performing maximal deadlifts multiple times per week is usually a recipe for disaster, but the same cannot be said for rowing movements and most targeted glute exercises.
You may perform 2-3 sets of inverted rows, seated rows, one-arm rows, chest supported rows, or face pulls every training session.
You may also perform 2-3 sets of band seated hip abductions, monster walks, sumo walks, banded clams, band hip rotations, side lying hip raises, glute marches, or RKC planks every training session as well.
Sub-Maximal Training Methods
In the old days, we thought that we had to max out or take every set to failure in order to see results. These days, more and more coaches and lifters are realizing the benefits of sub-maximal training methods.
I like to perform what I call super-strict reps, or dynamic-effort reps, or pause reps, each for around 3 sets of 1-5 reps. This allows for greater training frequency without compromising recovery, which leads to greater strength gains over time.
Personal Record (PR) Opportunities
Pick 5 of your favorite compound exercises. If you consider a 5RM, a 3RM, and a 1RM, that makes for 3 different “PR opportunities” per exercise.
If you perform 3 sets of 1, 3 sets of 3, or 3 sets of 5 reps, then this makes for 3 more “PR opportunities” per exercise. With 6 PR opportunities for 5 exercises, this equates to 30 different PR’s. Week in and week out, you should be setting PR’s.
Do you know what you can max close grip bench? Do you know what you can front squat for 3 set of 5? Do you know what your 3RM sumo deadlift is? If not, you should.
Deloading
I know you love training balls-to-the-wall (or ovaries-to-the-wall if you’re a female lifter), but you simply cannot train all-out 52 weeks out of the year.
I like to go hard for 6 weeks and then deload for a week. Some coaches prefer to deload every 3 or 4 weeks. It all depends on the lifter, but suffice to say, you need to plan built-in easy weeks that allow for proper recovery.
Conclusion
Hopefully these suggestions will revamp your training and help you reach new levels of strength and physique development. They’ve worked well for me and for my clients, so I think they’ll work for you too.
About the Author
Bret Contreras, MA, CSCS is currently studying to receive his PhD in sports science at AUT University. Find out more about him by visiting his blog at www.BretContreras.com.
Before we get into this week’s stuff to read, if you would be so kind as to allow me to take a few moment to tell you how much I hate Dan Trink that would be lovely.
Now, to clarify: I don’t mean “hate” hate Dan Trink. Hate’s a strong word and I generally reserve it for things like Tracy Anderson, seafood, people who don’t turn right on red, or whenever my girlfriend wants to talk about our feelings.
Dan’s actually a good friend and someone whom I’ve collaborated with on several articles on T-Nation as well as the Greatist Workout of the Day – GWODs – back in the day.
In fact Dan and I trained together a few weeks ago when I was down in New York City visiting and I made a cameo appearance at Peak Performance (where he’s the fitness director). After taking a group of their trainers through a staff in-service on shoulder shenanigans/assessment, Dan pretty much bullied me into putting on a pair of shorts so that he and I could lift some heavy stuff. Not that he had to pull my arm or anything, but after speaking for close to two hours I wasn’t exactly in the mood to work up to a few sets of heavy triples on front squats.
Then again, are you going to say no to this guy?
Excuse me while I go clean the back of my pants.
It was during our session, however, that I confided in Dan that I was in a bit of a training funk. A few weeks prior, while training through a fairly aggressive deadlift cycle (in my seemingly never ending quest for a 600 lb pull), I tweaked my back (more on this below), and as a result I admitted I was just going through the motions with my training. No real goal or purpose, which sucks donkey balls.
As such I asked Dan if he’d be willing to take over my programming for the next few months, to maybe place a little more focus on a hypertrophy/bodybuilding split and to give my joints a bit of a break – something, admittedly, I haven’t done in years – and he graciously said yes.
He said yes!!!
And it just so happened that this past weekend Dan sent me my first month of programming – and I hate is effin guts!
Yesterday, for example, included 3×12 on deadlifts with timed rest. 3×12.
Like, what the hell!?!?!?
I honestly can’t remember the last time I’ve ever done a set of twelve on deadlifts. Let alone time my rest. I championed through, though, and on my last set, while still playing the “conservative card,” I performed 365lbs x 12. And then I counted the black spots and purple unicorns I was seeing before I passed out.
Needless to say, it’s going to be an interesting month.
Breathing is a topic that is catching the fitness industry by storm in recent years. And while I realize that for some it’s a topic that’s about as exciting as watching an episode of Downton Abbey, I can tell you from firsthand experience that it’s something that can (and has) had a profound effect on people’s movement quality AND performance in the gym.
With his new resource, The High Performance Handbook, coming out next week, Eric Cressey shares another FREEvideo on the importance of learning how to breath properly (0r more to the point: learning to use our diaphragm more efficiently) and some drills we incorporate at Cressey Performance on a regular basis.
I don’t want to spoil anything, but the guy in the video demonstrating the drills is one sexy bastard……;o)
Outside of bringing back some fond memories of internet legend Diesel Weasel, this article really hit home for me (and not because Bret used me as one of his examples).
As I alluded to above, my on-going quest to hit a 600 lb deadlift has been, well, on-going. How’s that for wordplay?!
Thing is, I also like to stay lean – year round. Much like Bret explains, every time I start ramping up my DL training, I’ll hit a certain “threshold” (the 550 lb mark) and inevitably my back then tosses me the middle finger.
Of course if I were to just throw my hands in the air, crush some PopTarts and donuts for months on end, and just tack on 20-40 lbs to my frame I’d probably hit that number in no time flat.
But that’s just not an option.
Kudos to Bret for writing such an honest article, as well as helping me see some light at the end of the tunnel. I’m by no means giving up, but it’s definitely helped to put things into perspective.
Whether you refer to them as supine barbell bridges, barbell glute bridges, barbell hip thrusts, or what some of our pro-baseball guys like to call “slump busters” (give it a sec), there’s no mistaking that whatever your iteration, in recent years the exercise in question has grown in popularity and should be considered a staple in any well-designed strength training program.
Championed by strength coach Bret Contreras, and later highlighted in his book Strong Curveswhich he co-authored alongside the lovely Kellie Davis, the hip thrust has become a mainstay and often very popular exercise at Cressey Performance – and for good reason.
You’d be hard pressed to find any other exercise which targets the gluteal muscles, not to mention trains them in the often neglected anteroposterior load vector than the hip thrust/bridge.
Thing is: a lot of people tend to butcher technique, akin to watching Jillian Michaels attempt to coach someone through a proper KB swing. Which is to say – she’s not even close.
As much as I love the barbell hip thrust/bridge, I still have to be cognizant of implementing proper progressions when working with certain athletes and clients. For many, throwing them in the gauntlet and forcing them to place a loaded barbell over their pelvis and asking them to thrust up may be a bit aggressive and altogether a raging catastrophe.
In the end, without taking someone through the proper progressions, I may be doing them a huge disservice. Which is why I generally like to start people off with your garden variety 1-legged hip thrust .
While some will scoff at the notion (dude, I squat 300 lbs, eat beef jerky for breakfast, can grow a beard in three days, and drive a Chevy, trust me, I don’t need to do these! ), I’ve seen my fair share of strong peeps have to take a larger than expected piece of humble pie after trying these for the first time.
That said, I don’t want to sit here and discuss the benefits. For that you can head on over to Bret’s blog. Rather I want to discuss some common mistakes people make when trying to execute the exercise.
In the brief video below I give a handful of coaching cues that I’ve found very useful in helping to clean up exercise technique. I hope you find them useful!
Hey peeps – I gotta keep this one short today because I’m heading down to Providence, RI for the Perform Better Summit. I’m excited because I wasn’t able to attend last year, and on top of easily being one of the best weekends of learning on the planet, the Summit also serves as an awesome networking opportunity to meet up with colleagues, listen to some really smart people make me feel dumb, and to interact with a lot of people who read my stuff and go out of their way to introduce themselves.
Fingers crossed this is the year that Matt Damon shows up!…..;o)
That said, I’m going to be heading out the door shortly but I wanted to make sure I gave you all something to read to help pass the time today.
I’ve long been a fan of the saying, “you need to learn to make lemonade out of lemons.” When you lift heavy things – for fun no less – you’re bound to get some aches and pains along the way.
This was an excellent article written by Ben showcasing some simple and effective strategies on 1) how to train smart and limit injuries, and 2) understanding that even if you have a setback (large or small) you can still find a way to train.
This has nothing to do with stuff to read, but the picture above was taken yesterday afternoon at the facility. It’s a brand new game…Instead of Where’s Waldo, we’re playing Where’s Tony Tebow-ing?
Bret hits the nail on head here. The #1 pet peeve of mine when it comes to watching trainers, and the #1 thing which results in a trainer to lose all credibility in my book is how well he 0r she coaches their clients.
If their client is performing a rounded back deadlift and it looks like said client is going to shit their spine, and the trainer does nothing to fix it.
FAIL.
By contrast, those trainers who actually give a hoot, take pride in their work, know what good form looks like, and will take the necessary steps and precautions to hold themselves and their clients accountable, are generally the ones who do very well for themselves.
I know what you’re thinking: This is either the title of an archived Robert Ludlum novel or the name of an old-school hip-hop album.
Both are wrong – but wouldn’t it be awesome if either of the two were true?
As someone who’s read every Ludlum novel, I’d kill to have access to another one of his masterpieces. While there are a few authors today who write really good espionage fiction, in my opinion Ludlum is the Godfather and everyone else is just Fredo Corleone.
And as far as hip-hop is concerned, lets be honest: today’s hip-hop pales in comparison to what I grew up with in the late 80s through the 90s. I distinctly remember the first time I listened to Wu-Tang Clan’s Enter the 36 Chambers and thinking to myself, “Holy fuck balls. This is amazing.”
Likewise, I can’t even begin to tell you how many times – much to my mom’s chagrin – I listened to A Tribe Called Quest’s The Low End Theory. Since that was a more PG-rated album, I literally played it everywhere.
I blared it in my bedroom, outside while playing wiffleball, and even, sometimes, when she allowed it, in the family caravan.
Momma Gentilcore used to head bop to a little Scenario back in the day!
Here we go, yo! Here we go, yo! So what so what so what’s the scenario.
I literally wore that tape out playing it so much.
But alas, like I said, neither of the above is the topic at hand in today’s post. Instead what I want to dive into is a little discussion on posture.
More specifically swayback posture.
But we’ll need to give a little anatomy lesson first
When looking at one’s posture, the first thing I typically look at is their pelvic positioning. The pelvis will tell you a lot as far as what’s going on up and down the kinetic chain. In a way, much of the postural imbalances, dysfunctions, and asymmetries that we see on a daily basis have their impetus at the pelvis.
Keeping things (very) watered down and simple, you generally have three presentations:
1. Those who are in some semblance of (excessive) anterior pelvic tilt: typically indicative of stiff/short hip flexors, weak anterior core musculature, short/stiff erector spinae, and weak/inhibited glutes and hamstrings.
You’ll see this present quite often in the athletic population:
2. By contrast, another common presentation are those people who are in (excessive) posterior pelvic tilt, which is typically indicative of the polar opposite of the above: hip flexors are lengthened, anterior core musculature is shortened (due to sitting in flexion too much), erector spinae are lengthened, and the hamstrings are short/stiff.
All told the lumbar spine tends to be flattened, which can lead to an increased incidence of disc herniations.
Not surprisingly this is most common those who sit in front of a computer for large portions of the day.
Again these are just gross generalizations and I understand that more can make it’s way onto the canvas when looking at compensation patterns (and their root causes).
With all this information in our back pocket, we can then set out to write an appropriate training program that will address the underlying issues.
Speaking in generalities it may look something like this:
For those in anterior pelvic tilt: we want to emphasize protocols which will encourage a bit more posterior pelvic tilt and help get the pelvis back to a more neutral position.
1. Lots of glute activation drills and strengthening. While your garden variety glute bridges are fantastic option, one variation I really like is the Posterior Pelvic Hip Thrust highlighted here by Bret Contreras:
2. Emphasizing more posterior chain work – deadlifts, pull-throughs, GHRs, squats, etc (but making sure to cue a brace rather than an excessive arch).
Cueing is key here. Tossing in deadlifts (RDLs) and squats and then cueing someone to arch (and thus falling into more APT) defeats the purpose and just feeds into the overriding problem.
It’s important to teach someone to brace – and maintain as much of a “neutral” spine as possible – rather than arch. Mike Robertson does an awesome job of being Mike Robertson (dropping knowledge bombs left and right) and explaining the rationale HERE.
3. Dedicated (long-duration) stretching for the hip flexors. 30s second stretches aren’t going to cut it here, as all that does is increase one’s tolerance to a stretch and does nothing to increase the number of sarcomeres (which is what’s needed to lengthen a muscle).
Maybe some dedicated stretching for the erectors – although I’m not a massive fan of this.
DO NOT stretch the hamstrings.
Think about why: if someone is walking around in APT all day long, the hamstrings are already lengthened, and the only reason why they “feel tight” is because they’re firing like crazy. Stretching them will only make matters worse.
Of course, this needs to be taken on a case-by-case basis as some will inevitably have “tight” hamstrings. But most of the time is a pelvic issue, not a hamstring issue.
4. Placing a premium on addressing tissue quality – especially in the hip flexors, external rotators, etc.
5. Lots and lots and lots of anterior core work (but not crunches or sit-ups. At this point, I don’t feel I need to go out of my way to explain why).
For those in posterior pelvic tilt: we want to emphasize protocols which will encourage a bit more anterior pelvic tilt and help get the pelvis back to a more neutral position.
In short, those in PPT need to strengthen the hell out of APT.
1. Honestly I’m still going to hammer posterior chain work here (glutes and hamstrings) because most people are woefully weak there anyways.
I want all of my male clients to be able to deadlift a mack truck (female clients too, for that matter), and I want all my female clients to actually have a pair of glutes that they can be proud of and rock their “sexy” jeans (and, if that’s your bag, you too fellas. I don’t judge).
Much of the difference is how I go about coaching and cueing everything, as I’ll need to make sure that they don’t compensate and excessively posterior tilt when deadlifting or squatting – especially when going into hip extension.
2. I won’t include much (if any) dedicated anterior core work here as the rectus abdominus (which aids in posterior tilt) is short and stiff already.
Instead, I’ll focus mainly on STABILITY based exercises and emphasize length (staying tall) on things like Pallof Presses, chops/lifts etc.
In addition we’ll also probably rock out with some planks.
Watch most people do a plank and they’ll inevitably curl up/round their back which just plays into the dysfunctional pattern. Instead, try to coach/cue your spine to get as long as possible – without exhibiting a forward head posture and allowing the lumbar spine to “dip.”
Ideally it will look something like this:
Along those same lines we can consider the RKC Plank, which is a bastard in of itself. Again, stealing from Bret, here’s the nuts and bolts:
3. As far as any dedicated stretching is concerned, I’ll hammer the hamstrings, but in all likelihood will defer to more multi-planar mobilizations, or what’s also referred to as 3D stretching.
That’s just the tip of the iceberg on both fronts, but hopefully helps people understand the big picture.
The red headed step-child of posture: the sway back
Sway back is rarely discussed in fitness circles probably because it’s seemingly so rare. But it IS becoming more prominent and it’s something that was brought to light while watching Mike Robertson’s Bulletproof Back and Knee Seminarrecently.
FYI: It’s a fantastic resource, and I’d highly recommend it to any fitness professional reading.
As noted by Mike, sway back is simply a posterior pelvic tilt albeit with the hips pushed forward.
While a bit rarer in the general population, one demographic where it’s becoming more and more prevalent is….drum roll please……
Vikings? No
Boy Bands? Not quite.
Bomb sniffing dolphins? Nice try, but no.
In actuality, it’s PERSONAL trainers and coaches.
As a coach and trainer myself I can commiserate. I spend roughly 6-8 hours of my day standing – in extension – coaching people. And while I don’t rock a sway back posture I do possess some APT sumthin fierce.
To their credit many have recognized that APT is an issue, and have done a remarkable job at trying to alleviate it.
To that end, many have been placing a premium on cleaning up glute and hamstring issues by strengthening them, only to disregard and neglect the other crucial component of the equation…….
External obliques!
Tossing a little more anatomy into the fire, the external obliques have a few important functions:
3. Posterior pelvic tilt without a pull on the rib cage! Meaning, unlike the rectus abdominus – with prominent attachment points on the rib cage – the external obliques also posteriorly tilt the pelvis sans all the postural ramifications.
So, for those in a sway back, placing more of an emphasis on the external obliques can be of great benefit. You still have to be somewhat careful here, though, because you don’t want to promote too much PPT.
My first choice would be reverse crunches, but you may need to use these on a case-by-case basis depending on how much PPT someone is in:
Not far behind would be Offset Farmer Carries.
I love offset (1-Arm) farmer carries because they absolutely destroy the obliques as you have to fight to stay as upright as possible throughout the duration of the set.
The first progression would be your standard suitcase carry where you hold a DB or KB at your side:
There should be NO compensating in any form. No tilting, rotating, leaning, NOTHING.
From there, I’d progress to RACKED carries:
And then the grand daddy of them all would be overhead or WAITER carries:
I should also add that with all these variations the goal is to keep the rib cage locked down and to wear the coolest t-shirt ever (like the one in the videos).
Just sayin.
Tall kneeling Variations
I’ll also add tall kneeling variations onto this list too. Whether we’re referring to chops, lifts, Pallof Presses, or the plethora of landmine exercises out there, these are all excellent ways to target the external obliques and to help alleviate the sway back posture.
And That’s That
WHEW my brain hurts – I said a lot there. Hopefully within all my rambling I made some sense and was able to shed some light on some simple (albeit not all encompassing) ways to fix/address the sway back posture.
The Dynamic Duo – Chris and Eric Martinez – are back! This time with a vengeance, as they set their sights on the glutes (or lack thereof).
In this lighthearted, “investigative” report, Chris and Eric discuss some of the top reasons why your glutes aren’t growing.
Enjoy!
Have you heard the breaking news about people’s glutes plateauing and not growing? Well, word on the street and from the media is they are known as the “Top 5 Glute Killers”. Reports say that they are going around destroying people’s glutes and restricting further muscle growth and strength in today’s modern era.
We have heard certain reports saying the investigation is top secret and the authorities have no clue whether it’s one person or multiple people committing these glute crimes. All we know is that these criminals have been leaving messages saying “Glute killers are on the rise, glute hypertrophy will not be allowed and we will not be stopped, MUHAHAHA!”
Not many people seem to be doing anything about these glute killers, so we will have to take matters in our own hands. We will solve these crimes ourselves and be known as the “Glute Slayers!” Along this investigation we will have the help of the one and only Bret Contrerasaka “The Glute Guy.”
In this investigation we will be using some of The Glute Guy’s awesome articles, research, and of course good ole anecdotal evidence to catch these monsters. We promise we will find these “Top 5 Glute Killers” and put them to rest at once. Each glute killer will be exposed for their crime and will be sentenced with a solution, so they can never harm one’s glutes again…Get ready!
Glute Killer #1: Too Much Sitting!
Crime: Recently we just caught our first suspect. This criminal has confessed to us that he has been advising people to sit around all day long. We asked the suspect why they would do such a thing to one’s glutes? The suspect replied, “I want more and more people to live a sedentary lifestyle with no exercise, that way by them sitting all day they will accumulate chronic back pain, tight hip flexors, and tight hamstring muscles. I want to create more inhibitory consequences to excessive sitting, as compression slows down vascular function and interferes with nerve function.”
Sentence/Solution: Try your best to get up as much as possible and move around. We understand people have to work desk jobs for 8 hours. But this doesn’t mean you shouldn’t get up from time to time to stretch, walk, and keep your blood flowing in your body. Try getting up every 1-2 hours to walk for 5-10 minutes, do some dynamic stretches, do some body weight glute bridges, practice your hip hinge, use the stairs when going places. Main point is to keep your glutes firing throughout the day.
Glute Killer #2: Glute Imbalances
Crime: When we caught the next glute killer, the suspect had a little more sympathy than glute killer #1. But the suspect still confessed to causing glute imbalances in harmless people’s glutes, so we still had to nail him. Glute killer #2 said “there are 3 main causes of Gluteal Imbalances,” he heard this from a man by the name of Bret Contreras, we didn’t believe the suspects allegations but we still let him state his 3 main causes:
1.) Asymmetrical Human-Nature: By nature, we are asymmetrical beings; our anatomy itself can be asymmetrical. Therefore, it comes as no surprise then that one glute or region of the glute might be stronger and more coordinated than the other (1).
2.) Inactivity: When considering the human body, we know that some muscles are more prone to inhibition than others, and the glutes are one of these “easily-inhibited” muscles. Neural and mechanical inhibition involving opposing muscles can interfere with gluteal activation, and therefore could shut them down. Gluteal inhibition can negatively impact posture, and poor posture can further inhibit glutes, thereby creating a downward spiral in gluteal function. Probably the biggest reason why the glutes shut down is due to inactivity (1).
3.) Pain, Prior Injury, and Structural Issues: Pain is a huge inhibitor of the gluteus maximus, which is a pretty big deal at the end of the day. Research shows that glutes can become inhibited with just about any lower body or spinal injury. The glutes are major propulsion muscles. They produce powerful locomotion. Inhibiting the glutes will cause an individual to slow down so they can heal. The problem is that the glutes don’t necessarily turn back on automatically. They must be reactivated, restrengthened, and recoordinated back into every day movement and activity. Following injury, most people continue to keep working out, and their movement patterns suffer and other muscles will then compensate for others (1).
Sentence/Solution: This suspect was being very hard headed when we asked him for a solution to Gluteal Imbalances. He pretty much said you have to read this blog on how to correct Gluteal Imbalances or else they cannot be fixed.
Glute Killer #3: Improper Glute Activtion
Crime: Luckily Glute Killer #2 made our investigation a bit easier and turned in the next glute killer on our list. When we found out who this was, we were not surprised. This is a very common mistake many people make and it doesn’t help when you have criminals like our glute suspect showing you the wrong way to activate your glutes. For those that are not familiar with the term “glute activation,” it’s just a fancy way of saying warming up your glute muscles properly.
So we asked this suspect why he had been showing people the wrong way to warm up their glutes. The suspects reply was “glute activation is not important in my book, when people don’t activate their glutes properly they have a higher probability of getting injured and not gaining strength and muscle MUAHAHA!”
This was quite a disturbing answer by the suspect but we found a solution.
Sentence/Solution: Incorporate various glute exercises in your dynamic warm-ups for 15-20 minutes prior to a lower body session. Mainly glute exercises that target the glute medius, minimus, maximus, and even your TFL. These are all extremely critical muscles to activate and are often over looked.
Some examples are Monster and Sumo Walks with resistance bands:
X-band walks:
Glute Bridges:
And a ton more. For more glute activation solutions read here. Always remember your glutes are the steering wheel to your lower body, they deserve a proper warm-up.
Glute Killer #4: Not Working Your Glute Muscles Directly
Crime: After Glute Killer #3 testified, in order to reduce his sentence he was willing to give up our next suspect on our list. We caught him red handed in a big box commercial gym, we definitely thought he was smarter than this. We wanted to know his reasoning for not having people work their glute muscles directly.
The suspect said “there is no need for direct glute work; all you need to do is squats, deadlifts, a little Zumba, and the Brazilian butt lift videos.” While we wanted to chuckle at his answer, we knew this was a serious matter and this is a very common mistake many make when it comes to resistance training. While squats and deadlifts are awesome and do help build the booties, but at the end of the day it’s not enough direct work to the glute muscles to increase hypertrophy.
These are all considered horizontal loading exercises (2).
Also, one must not overlook the importance of mechanical tension, metabolic stress, and muscle damage to promote hypertrophy in a muscle. Brad Shoenfeld says “hypertrophic benefits associated with eccentric exercise may be due to a greater imposed mechanical stress compared with concentric or isometric actions. Indeed, muscles are capable of generating greater absolute force when contracting eccentrically vs. concentrically. Despite this fact, however, muscle activation during maximal eccentric actions is generally less compared with those performed concentrically (4). So try and use different methods of resistance training: eccentric, concentric, or isometric when training the glutes. You never know which method your glutes are going to respond to best.
Glute Killer #5: Disuse of glutes in general (Flatassitis)
Crime: To wrap up this grueling investigation we caught our last suspect. Needless to say, this suspect was very easy to find. The suspect was relatively easy to find do to the disuse and inactivity of the glute muscles in general. There really was no reason to ask this suspect any questions, it was plain and simple that the suspect was trying to get people not to use their glutes overall.
Sentence/Solution: As the old saying goes “If you don’t use it you will lose it.” Well our new version is “If you don’t use your glutes, you will lose your glutes.” So get out there and put those glutes to use or else you will never fill out those expensive jeans you buy and you will always envy another big booty Judy when they walk by.
Investigation Conclusion:
Wrapping up this very intense investigation, we are pleased to say we caught all of the “Top 5 Glute Killers” that were going around harming people’s glutes. We would like to give a huge thanks to “The Glute Guy” for helping us out with this one, not quite sure we could’ve done this on our own.
The mayor of our city has presented us with the key to the city for our duties. We are now known as the “Glute Slayers” around town. All we ask is that we hope you put all of the solutions to use from now on. These solutions are great tools and will only benefit your training and help you achieve the goals you are after. Until more glute killers break loose, we leave you with this, “If you don’t use your glutes you will lose them.”
References:
1.) Bret Contreras (2013). How To Fix Glute Imbalances
2.) Bret Contreras (2013). The Science of Glute Training. NCSA Conference 2013
3.) Brad Schoenfeld. Potential Mechanisms for a Role of Metabolic Stress in Hypertrophic Adaptations to Resistance Training. Sports Medicine (2013) 43: 179-194.
4.) Brad Schoenfeld. Does Exercise-Induced Muscle Damage Play A Role In Skeletal Muscle Hypertrophy? Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research (2012) Volume 26: number 5.
About the Authors
Chris and Eric Martinez, CISSN, CPT, BA, also known as the “Dynamic Duo” operate a world class personal training and online training business “Dynamic Duo Training.” They’re also fitness and nutrition writers, fitness models, and coaches that love helping people reach their goals. Their philosophy is “No excuses, only solutions.”
