In the past week I’ve spent a little more time out of the boot walking around the apartment and occasionally living live dangerously and walking around the neighborhood.
It seemingly took me a week to walk to the bank and back the other day, but it was a nice “win” for me nonetheless. I still have a ways to go before I am doing anything remotely athletic – running seems as unlikely as time travel at this stage – but it feels great to be making progress.
Onward!
2. You can now purchase CORE @ Home for whatever it is you want to pay.
During quarantine I started a platform where I’d deliver 20-40 minute workouts that could be performed in everyone’s living room using minimal equipment.
In all I curated 36 workouts using nothing but bodyweight, bands, and kettlebells and/or dumbbells. With many people still reticent to head back to their regular gyms (not to mention the scarcity of gym equipment out there to purchase) I figured this would be a nice opportunity to help.
Whether you want to spend $1 or $100, the workouts are ready and available to start.
Social media, if nothing else, has amplified the notion that everyone’s life is hunky dory, that nothing ever goes wrong, and that everyone is on cloud nine 24/7/365.
This is especially the vibe in the health/fitness industry.
Everyone hits PRs every workout and looks like a model in their Lulus.
Mental health is not something to scoff at or be cynical about; yet the prevalent thought process – still – is that it’s a taboo subject and that one should just suck it up and deal. I LOVED this post by Chris and how honest, open, and REAL it was.
Give it a read.
Oh, and also check out his Landmine Everything resource he just released. (<– not an affiliate link). It’s pretty baller if you ask me.
Six weeks of being sequestered in a cramped Boston apartment has taken its toll.
My wife and I have decided to pack the car and make the drive to Florida this weekend to stay at her mother’s house. The prospect of having access to a yard, swimming pool, and a grandma are just too enticing.
Now, the longest I’ve ever driven a car is six hours from Boston to my hometown in New York. The drive from Boston to Jensen Beach, Florida is 22+ hours.
And this is with a toddler in tow.
What the hell am I thinking??
(Any Audible recommendations? Cocaine maybe?)
SOCIAL MEDIA SHENANIGANS
Twitter
Someone tells me I look lean I’m feeling pretty good about myself.
For those of us who are creatures of habit, especially if part of your daily routine is heading to the gym, the past several weeks have suuuuuuuuuuuucked.
This is a great read from Chris on how to better handle our anxiety during this trying time.
Admittedly, today’s “Exercise You Should Be Doing” doesn’t highlight anything visually badass like, say, deadlifts vs. chains, recoiled sled high pulls(<– seriously, check that out), or, I don’t know, juggling chainsaws while balancing on a BOSU ball.1
Nope, today’s exercise recommendation is very plain looking and is about as vanilla as they come. It’s not flashy and it (probably) won’t win anyone any additional Instagram followers. But oh is it a doozy and one I feel is going to raise some eyebrows and surprise people at how challenging it really is.
Supine Straight Leg Hip Extension with Alternate Hip Flexion
What Does It Do: Not only is this great for glute activation, but because of the alternating nature of this drill (bringing one leg towards you chest at a time) it also serves as a fantastic core exercise as you must resist the hips from rotating to any one side. In fancy schmancy technical terms: you’re working on rotary pelvic control, or rotary stability.
Many people are incapable of controlling their lumbo-pelvic region and it’s no surprise we see a high incidence of SI joint issues, chronic low-back pain, and many other dysfunctions up and down the kinetic chain within this population.
Drills such as deadbugs, birddogs, Pallof presses, and planks are all exercises that tackle this head on. However, I hope this quick post will encourage people to add this exercise to their repertoire as well.
Key Coaching Cues: Place your feet (heels) on an elevated platform (no higher than 12″) and extend (elevate) your hips off the floor. From there place your fingers on the front of your pelvis (ASIS) and slowly flex on hip, bringing your knee towards your chest. The idea is to use the kinesthetic feedback of fingers on the ASIS to keep your pelvis level throughout the duration of the exercise.
For added badassery, you can progress things by place a light band around your toes.
I’m meeting up with two buddies of mine today – Dave Rak and Matthew Ibrahim – at BU to toss around some iron and possibly follow-suit with eating of the dead animal flesh.
Just a bunch of bros being bros.
We’re meeting up pretty early and I wanted to make sure to compile my list this week before heading out. See? My readers come first…..;o)
This is an older post I came across (written in 2014) which I felt was really interesting and brought up some valid points.
NO one – at least within my circles – would ever state that getting strong is a bad thing (or dangerous). To quote Bret Contreras:
“If you think lifting weights is dangerous, try being weak. Being weak is dangerous.”
However, there comes a point in every lifter’s journey where he or she must ascertain “how strong is strong enough?” At what point are the aches, pains, twinges, and incessant DOMS worth it?
Likewise, this is a tough nugget to crack with athletes. Many are drilled into thinking that stronger is always better. To a large degree, it is. However, part of the role as a strength coach is to sometimes pump the brakes and surmise that there’s little (if any) additional athletic benefit in taking someone’s deadlift from 450 to 500 lbs. Is the risk worth the reward?
Anyways, interesting read and nice parameters given for strength numbers for many to strive for – at least to start.
My inner feminist took over after reading this post, and I had to share. The double standard in our society with women and body image is a travesty, and this was a very entertaining read. As a quote-on-quote “writer” myself, I admired this very much. I mean, what’s not to admire with the well placed penis joke?
Reminder
Dean Somerset and I will be at Movement Minneapolis (you know, in Minneapolis, MN) the weekend of October 15-16th presenting our Complete Shoulder & Hip Workshop. It’ll be our LAST live event for this course in 2016 (and the foreseeable future).1
Note From TG: Today’s guest post comes courtesy of Long Island based personal trainer and coach, Chris Cooper. I had the pleasure of meeting Chris in person a few weeks ago in NYC during the Motivate & Movement LAB hosted by Mark Fisher Fitness.
We discussed training, programming, and, of course, unicorns.1
Enjoy. I think you’ll like this one a lot.
6 Unconventionally Simple Exercises
Simple equals easy, right?
Wrong.
Simple almost rarely means easy. When it comes to exercises, simple just means there is a lot less that can go wrong. Which in most cases leads to a surprisingly difficult yet effective exercise.
One look at the exercises below without experiencing them may lead you to believe they are easy. Test them out for yourself – with proper form and focus – and you will change you opinion instantly.
Last year, while presenting at a personal training conference, I discussed with the attendees the subject of simple exercise selection for their clients. The Pallof press was given as an example as the exercise that appears “simple” however not necessarily easy.
I further explained how countless clients have given me odd looks as I demonstrated and explained it, thinking there is no way it has any effect on their bodies.
Low and behold, they end up shocked by it, exasperated, and boasting about how much they felt it.
Fortunately, there were trainers present who had not been familiar with the Pallof press and thus proved my point, exercises that are “simple” may not be easy to perform. Especially, with the ever changing variations that the Pallof press holds.
Notorious BIG
My programming and exercise selection are notorious for having such exercises…the ones that look clearly simple or as though the client has to do absolutely nothing to complete the task.
That is until the client performs the exercise for themselves.
After finishing the exercise correctly, they are then amazed by the intensity and express that it was the hardest thing they have ever done. Such as the Pallof Press above. Those are incredible moments because you have just taught the client something important about their training:
Not all exercises have to be elaborate or complex.
Simple can get the job done.
Circus Tricks Gone Wild
Many of the exercises that you see being performed in the gym or in workout videos are so complicated and involve many moving parts that it’s hard to know what to concentrate on, let alone the benefit.
Take a look at any ‘Gym fail’ type video, you see people attempting to squat and deadlift on Swiss balls.
It looks as though they were taping a submission for the circus.
Now stop and think, Why?
What training effect are you going to achieve from that? How long did it take to setup that exercise and how many sets did he do that for?
That time and energy could have been used more efficiently and safer by taking a simpler approach to their training, even if it didn’t look as impressive for the internet.
Remember: Simple.
Simple is usually more effective and potentially jaw dropping. A deadlift isn’t complex. It’s simple.
Pick the bar off the floor.
Sure there are subtle nuances to a deadlift that will increase your lift and make it efficient. It boils down to the simple act of picking a bar off the ground.
Listen to Yoda
“Control, control, you must learn control” – Yoda
Maintaining core control in simple movements will carry over into core control in other exercises.
Here are some simple exercises to use in your programming that will leave your clients scratching their heads, wondering what just happened:
1) Elevated Quadruped Hip Extension
Take the quadruped position, elevate one of the knees off the ground as though you’re going to crawl with the other on a yoga block.
Then throw in a hip extension drill on the non-supported leg.
Now you have a great core exercise that forces you to control any side to side hip shift.
Want an even bigger test? Put a ball on your back and don’t let the ball fall.
2) Yoga Block Hip Extension
Lay prone with the knees bent at 90°, place a yoga block between your feet.
Squeeze the block with your feet, then lift towards the ceiling. You should feel your glutes all the way.
This is almost like a reverse hyper extension, with limited range of motion.
3) Ring Hold & Tap
A great drill that teaches how to keep the upper back tight, which will carry over into multiple exercises, like the deadlift, pullups, or front/back levers.
The key to this exercise, besides keeping tension through the lats and upper back, is to actively maintain core stability.
When you release your hand from the ring unilaterally, there will be a shift in your weight, core and glute tension will prevent this.
4) Single Leg Foam Roller Bridges
Similar to a single leg glute bridge, which is another simple option, the glutes need activation for many people.
With one leg bent at 90° and the other extended with the calf on the roller, brace your core and press into the roller to elevate the hips off the ground.
Concentrate on the glute firing, and keep the hips from shifting.
5) Rolling Bug
Credit for this one goes to Perry Nickelston. How often are you rolling on the ground? Or better yet, when was the last time you rolled around on the ground? A long time? I thought so. Give these ago, they are harder than they look. Once again, focus on control throughout the exercise.
6) Torsional Buttressing
This a is (Dr. Stuart) McGill exercise through and through.
It is the epitome of simple, yet such a struggle.
The key, much like the other exercises in this list is maintaining core control and not letting the hips shift.
Notice a trend?
Keep the hips from shifting as most of these are unilateral exercises.
Remember, don’t judge a book by its cover. When it comes to simple exercises, looks can truly be deceiving. Just give any of theses a try and you’ll learn firsthand. Complicated exercises leave room for complications. Keeping things effective and simple.
About the Author
Chris Cooper, NSCA-CPT, LMT is a personal trainer with over 9 years of experience in the fitness profession. He is co-owner of Active Movement & Performance, a training facility on Long Island. In addition to being a trainer, he is also a New York State Licensed Massage Therapist, which has allowed him to blend the two worlds to not only get his clients stronger and in better shape, but to also fix dysfunctions to make them better movers overall. His firm belief in education is manifested as an educator for Fitness Education Institute, presenting at their yearly convention, as well as participating as an expert contributor for watchfit.com.
selection for their clients. The 
