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The Perfect Warm-Up?

When most people think of what a well-rounded, bullet proof program encompasses, many will undoubtedly think of optimal set/rep schemes, rest intervals, what exercises to include (and in what order), and, of course, how many days per week they should train given their goals.

Admittedly, all of the above components are important things to consider, and rightfully deserve their time under the program design microscope.  It’s interesting, though, that the last – and arguably the most important – thing to enter the discussion, is the first thing that most trainees tend to dismiss altogether:  the warm-up.

Yeah yeah yeah – I get it. You’re busy, and warming is up is about as exciting as watching NASCAR. Truth be told, we all know we should warm-up, but for most of us (namely, you), the warm-up is usually nothing more than an afterthought; or, something we half heartedly do because our 8th grade gym teacher told us we had to.

Even if you are one of the rare few who actually performs a warm-up, chances are it entails a few arm circles here, a couple of hamstring stretches there, a couple of minutes on the treadmill, maybe a fist pump, and you’re off to the bench press.  Sound familiar?

Yeah I Thought So

Much like you wouldn’t walk out to your car in the middle of winter and take it from 0-60 MPH on the highway and expect it to run optimally, the same can be said about your body.

Moreover, when’s the last time you actually felt good?  I mean reeeeally good?  Can you remember the last time your lower back didn’t feel stiff, or your knees didn’t ache every time you attempted a squat?

Better yet, when was the last time you consistently made appreciable progress in the gym?

The question, then, is what should a warm-up do, and more importantly, what should it look like?

While not an exhaustive list, a good warm-up will (or should) provide the following:

– Increased body temperature.

– Improve joint lubrication.

– Engage the nervous system to a greater degree.

– Improve extensibility/flexibility of muscles.

– Groove movement patterns.

– And, better prepare you for a back alley fight against a pack of ninjas.  You know, just in case.

More specifically, given that many of us spend an inordinate amount of time hunched over in front of a computer on a daily basis, the warm-up should target the areas of the body which tend to be most problematic:  namely, the glutes, hips, thoracic spine, shoulders, and core, to name a few.

Standing in one place, holding a stretch for 30 seconds does nothing in terms of preparing you for the more dynamic nature of what you’ll be doing in the weight room.

We need to take the warm up more seriously and view it not as a necessary evil, but something that will undoubtedly help you not only feel better, but lead to unparalleled performance in the gym.

Carry Your Ass Off

Giving full disclosure, I didn’t come up with this idea on my own. Dan John was the first to really bring carry variations into the limelight, and more to the point, utilizing them as part of an extended warm-up.

As far as bang-for-your-training-buck exercises are concerned, you’d be hard pressed to trump carries.

For those looking for proof, it’s in the pudding:

  • When performed unilaterally, they’re a fantastic way to train core stability – specifically anti-lateral flexion.  But even when performed bilaterally, they’re still an awesome “core” exercise.
  • They obviously help improve grip strength.  Taking it a step further, however, they do an amazing job of “activating” the rotator cuff through a process called irradiation.  In non-geek speak, all this means is that when you squeeze something with a death grip, the RC turns on, and as a result the shoulder “packs” itself.  In a sense, carry variations are a great exercise for those with chronic shoulder issues.
  • Farmer carries do an amazing job at challenging hip stability – especially when performed unilaterally (one arm at a time).
  • They condition the shit out of you. The next time someone asks you whether or not weight training has any cardiovascular benefit, have him or her do a few rounds of carries for 50-75 yds.
  • Without question, carries are also a great way to get a “yolked up” back.  For those dudes looking to build some traps, farmer carries can help.
  • And lets just state the obvious:  they do a superb job of increasing one’s overall sense of badassessey.

To that end, here’s the actual warm-up I’ve been following for the past few weeks.  After a thorough foam rolling session, I’ll head over to the turf and alternate between a carry variation paired with a specific dynamic drill.

A few things to note:

1. When performing ANY carry variation, it’s important to think to yourself, “spine tall, shoulders back.”  In addition, there should be as little deviation as possible in terms of leaning to one side or the other.  The objective is to stay in as much of a straight line as possible – if you compensate in any way, you’re using too heavy of a load.  Also, since this is part of a WARM-UP, you shouldn’t be too aggressive with the loading anyways.  Just focus on perfect technique.

2.  In case you’re wondering, yes, I’m wearing a t-shirt of a lumberjack punching a grizzly bear in the face in all of the carry videos.  I’m not going to go so far as to say that it’s the most awesome t-shirt in the history of the world. But, it pretty much is.

A1. Suitcase Carry (35-40 yds/per arm)

A2.  Wall Hip Flexor Mobilization (x8/leg)

B1. Racked Carry (35-40 yds/per arm)

B2. Half Kneeling Adductor Dips (x8/leg)

C1. Waiter Carry (35-40 yds/per arm)

Note:  be sure to maintain a neutral wrist position on this one, and to “set” the scapulae (you shouldn’t be shrugging the weight).

C2. Rocking SUMO Squat Mobilization (x10)

D1.  Crossbody Carry (35-40 yds/per side)

Note:  Hold the heavier KB (or DB) like a suitcase, and the lighter weight above your head.  Like the waiter walk above, be sure to maintain a neutral wrist position.

D2. Scapular Wall Slides (x10)

E1.  Goblet Carry (35-40 yds)

Note:  having the load anterior to the body really helps to activate the anterior core musculature which has both an anti-flexion, and anti-extension component.

Anti-extension in the sense that it’s really hard to OVER arch the lumbar spine with the anterior load.

E2.  Supine Bridge with Reach (x8/side)

Note:  be sure to maintain hip extension throughout, and yes, that’s Eric Cressey riding a foam roll horse across the screen.  HEE-HAW.

F1. Heartbeat Carry (35-40 yds)

F2. Yoga Push-Up Complex (x5/side)

And there you have it.  Is it really the perfect warm-up*?  Tough to say, but it’s a far step above what most people are doing. As I mentioned above, this is pretty much the exact warm-up I’ve been doing for the past couple of weeks and I’m loving it. Try it out yourself and let me know your thoughts!

* = yes**

** = because I said so.

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Stuff to Look At, I mean Read, While You’re Pretending to Work

I don’t know if anyone reading happened to watch the ESPY’s last night, but if you didn’t, you missed an absolute show that Serena Williams put on with her outfit.  Seriously, look at that (<=====) and tell me that that’s not one impressive specimen of badonkadonkness.  I mean, I know J-Lo and Kim Kardashian tend to get all the attention, but this just takes it to a whole new level.

How the moon wasn’t somehow set into a new orbit from its gravitational pull, I’ll never know – but suffice it to say, bravo Serena.  Bravo!

In all seriousness, though, I happened to turn it to ESPN when I got home last night and right when Serena appeared on screen to introduce the Female Athlete of the Year award, both my girlfriend and her friend, Carolyn, simultaneously stopped in mid-sentence whatever it was they were tallking about, paused for a few seconds, and went “DAYUM.”

Like a moth to a flame, both were mesmerized and in awe of Serena’s physique, and essentially gave one another a girl power high-five, while I proceeded to slow clap like I’ve never slow clapped before.  And who could blame us?

My girlfriend, as some of you may know, is currently in the last stages of wrapping up her PhD in Sports Psychology, and for her dissertation, she’s concentrating her efforts on young, female athletes and the factors that determine whether or not they stay physically active through their teenage years.

As you can imagine, she’s a fan of Serena Williams.  In an age where the likes of Miley Cyrus and/or stick figured cover models are more likely to leave a lasting impression on what body image is “socially acceptable” for young, impressionable girls, it’s refreshing to see Serena demonstrating that not only is it okay to have curves, but you can absolutely kick some ass to boot!

And now, some good reads for the week.

Why Weight Training is the Beauty Prescription Women Need Most – Clare Rooney

Coincidentally, this article ties in very well with the conversation above, but more importantly – it bashes Tracy Anderson.  WIN!!!

Eat Like a Warrior King – Dan John

I know this a bold statement to make considering his body of work, but this is arguably Coach John’s best article yet.  In fact, here’s a direct quote from the article:

Someone recently asked me about “the secret to nutrition.” Seriously, you don’t know what to do about food? Here’s an idea: eat like an adult.

Stop eating fast food, stop eating kid’s cereal, knock it off with all the sweets and comfort foods, and ease up on the snacking. And don’t act like you don’t know this: eat more vegetables and fruits.

Really, how difficult is this? Stop with the whining. Stop with the excuses. Act like an adult and stop eating like a television commercial. Grow up.

What he said.

So You Wanna Be a Trainer??? – Dean Somerset

I know this is going to come as shock to some of those reading, but being a trainer isn’t all about puppy dog kisses and rainbows.  Here, Dean gives some amazing sage advice to those looking to enter the industry.

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Are You As Advanced As You Think?

With both EC and Pete away on (a much deserved) vacation this week, to say I’ve been running around like a chicken with its head cut off would be an understatement.  Between checking e-mails, scheduling clients, taking phone calls, tracking sessions, and babysitting the high-school kids who are supposed to be here helping out, the last thing on my “to do list” is updating the blog.

Alright, that’s it!  Tyler and Tish:  put the scissors down!  You’re both going into the timeout corner. Goddamit, who tied Chris to the pole?  hahahahahaha.  Wedgie!!!!!  Weeeeeeeeeeeeee.

With that being case, today I’m going to re-post part of an interview I did for NYC-based trainer Mike Arone a few weeks ago on his site (mikearonefitness.com) – mostly because I sound really smart, which is a rarity.

What do you feel defines someone as ‘advanced’– if there is such a thing?

There’s definitely a fine line between what separates someone who’s a beginner, from someone who’s an intermediate, to someone who is  considered more of an “advanced” lifter.

Beginners, with few exceptions, are those who have never really followed a structured training program in the past.  Sure, he or she may have stepped into a gym once or twice in their lifetime, and did a Cybex circuit here and there; but for all intents and purposes, they’re pretty wet underneath the ears.  Jazzercise gets them sore.

Intermediates, on the other hand, are a bit easier to define.  These are the people who, in one way or another, have been training for a while, and read sites like t-nation.com or maybe follow the monthly Men’s Health workout.  Generally speaking, they know their way around the gym, know the difference between a supinated and pronated grip, can perform a proper push-up without making me want to pour gasoline into my eyeballs, know that squats/deadlifts should be the foundation of any decent training program, and heck, they may even be able to name all external rotators of the hip.  But I doubt it.

In short, intermediates tend to be those you see at your local commercial gym on a consistent basis.

Lastly, are the advanced trainees, which are a little (okay, a lot) more difficult to define.  It’s funny, though, EVERYONE thinks they’re advanced.   I’m always perplexed as to why a lot of people follow advanced training protocols when they can’t even perform one simple bodyweight chin-up, or do a lunge without tipping over.

They think just because they can load the leg press up with all the 45s (and piss everyone off to boot), and do those partial range of motion thingamajigs, that they somehow know what the hell they’re talking about.

Lets put it like this:  you’re not advanced if you can’t deadlift at least 2x your bodyweight. (as an example).  More to the point, I was listening to Dan John speak a few weeks ago at Mike Boyle’s Winter Seminar and here are the MINIMUM number for his HIGH SCHOOL varsity requirements:

Power Clean: 205 lbs
Front Squat: 205 lbs
Back Squat: 255 lbs
Deadlift: 315 lbs
Power Clean and Jerk: 165 lbs
Military Press: 115 lbs
One-Arm Bench Press: 32 kg Kettlebell (5 right, 5 left)

I’m sure many reading right now would be hard pressed to hit a lot of those numbers.  Still think you’re advanced?

What’s more, I just walked out and looked at the CP High School Leaderboard, and just to crack the bottom, you’d have to hit a 285 lb front squat and a 250 lb 3-rep chin-up (bodyweight + external load).

I’m sure I could go on and throw out specific numbers that I feel defines someone as “advanced;” but the truth of the matter is – it depends.

There are plenty of people out there who can’t squat 400+ lbs, but they can pound out picture perfect one-legged pistol squats like it’s their job.

Who’s to say they’re not advanced?  Likewise, watch any of those Cirque du Soleil shows.  Are you telling me that they’re not advanced because they can’t bench press 1.5x their bodyweight?

I think many of us in the industry are quick to ONLY use quantifiable numbers to label someone as advanced.  While that’s a nice starting point, and I feel those are good measures, there’s so much more that goes into it.

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Carry, Carry, and More Carries

One of my favorite authors, Robert Ludlum (author of the Bourne Identity trilogy, most notably), always had an uncanny ability to paint a scene, in almost vivid detail.  Known for his meticulous research, Ludlum would take his protagonist (and the reader) across the globe, describing car chases in Prague, double agent debauchery in Moscow, breaking people’s faces in Paris, and anything and everything in between in terms of spy and espionage thrillers.

He did this all while keeping the reader engaged with pristine imagery from what the buildings looked like to how narrow the streets were.

I say all this, because nothing can describe the look on Chris Howard’s face when I turned around early Saturday morning and saw him standing there in the middle of the office with a WTFAIDH? (WTF Am I Doing Here?) look on his face.

To give a little background, we generally train before clients show up to CP during the week.  So, while we open our doors at 12 PM for business, we arrive around 10-10:30 to train beforehand.  Except for Saturdays.

On Saturdays, because we open earlier (9 AM), we typically wait till later in the afternoon to lift heavy objects off the floor.  The thing is, though, waiting until 3 PM to train (which means I don’t get back home till 5, sometimes 6 PM) on a Saturday kinda puts a damper on the whole “spending time with the girlfriend, lets make dinner reservations, so I GUESS THIS MEANS WE’RE NOT GOING TO IKEA TODAY!!!!! ” scenario.

In short, she’s not a fan  – neither am I.

So, long story short, I made an executive decision last week that I was going to try a little experiment to train earlier on Saturday.  For a little incentive, I recruited both Chris and Pete (Dupuis) to come in as well so I’d held accountable to them.

Accountability.  I really wish more people would take that word to heart.  We’re always so quick to push blame on someone (or something) else, when the truth of matter is – it’s the person looking back at us in the mirror that’s the real problem.

YOU – no one else is the culprit.

To that end, I certainly didn’t want to be “that guy” who decided not to show up when everyone else got their ass out of bed – talk about the ultimate case of douchebaggery.

So, there I was, sitting in the office at 7:45 in the morning when I heard the front door open and Chris was standing there with a “FU Tony look.”  It was priceless.  Fifteen minutes later, after foam rolling, going through our dynamic warm-up, and firing up fratmusic.com “Broin Out” station, and it was go time.

Taking a page from Dan John, we’ve been dedicating Saturday’s as “Carry” day.  Basically, all we do is carry heavy things back and forth – pretty simple.  It kind of looked like this:

A1.  Kettlebell Crossbody Carries (Suitcase and Racked position) 3×2 trips
A2.  Kettlebell Swing 3×10

B1.  HAS (Heavy As Shit) Farmer Carries 3×1 trip (1 trip = 40 yds)
B2.  Hate Life

***Here, on our final set, we worked up to 210 lbs in each hand for a total of a 420 lb carry.

C.  Farmer Carry + Sled Drag

All told, I had 240 lbs of weight + a Matt Cooney (another 220 lbs) on the Prowler while carrying 110 lbs in each hand.  I’m not saying it’s the most manly thing I’ve ever done at 8:30 in the morning, but I’m going to somehow incorporate a live grenade in the mix next week.

Finishing up, I think the main point I’m trying to make is this:

1.  Holding yourself accountable to other people (training partners) goes a loooooooong way to keeping you on task.

2.  Farmer Carries are the shiznit

3.  My biceps are huge.

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Exercises You Should Be Doing: Kettlebell Suitcase Carry with Rope

Alright I’m not gonna beat around the bush today, I feel like poo…..again.  My first clue was when my alarm woke me up this morning.  I always wake up before my alarm –  it’s like some hidden Jedi talent of mine.   If, on the off chance my alarm does wake me up (like today), then I know I’m in for a doozy of a day.   It just rarely happens.

My second red flag hit me when I had absolutely no appetite for breakfast.  Normally, I’m ravenous in the morning, but today, no dice.  I still ate, but I definitely had to force feed myself.

Thirdly, and probably the biggest factor of all, I just finished with the ladies group about fifteen minutes ago and about half way through their session, The Time by The Black Eyed Peas came over the stereo and that pretty much set me over the edge.

Jesus, what a shitty, make my ears bleed, nausea inducing, worthless piece of crap song that is.  Seriously, I’d rather listen to a whale pass a kidney stone.

Anyways, as of late we’ve been experimenting with more carry variations at the facility.  As a frame reference, this past Saturday, thanks to a little inspiration from Dan John, we toyed around with 110 lb farmer carries while dragging the Prowler behind us.  It was awesome.  Essentially, the only way it could have any manlier was if we replaced the Prowler with a tank and then had Katy Perry on top of it singing the National Anthem.

Anyhoo, back in reality, since many reading don’t have access to the same type of equipment that we have at CP, another carry variation that I’ve been toying around with as well is the kettlebell suitcase carry with a rope.

Who Did I Steal It From:  To a large degree, as noted above, I owe my infatuation with carries to Dan John, but with regards to this particular exercise I have to give props to strength coach, Martin Rooney, who trains a ton of MMA fighters and is the author of Training for Warriors.

What Does It Do:  I really like offset versions because it forces the contralateral side (external/internal obliques, quadratus lumborum) to fire and force the body to brace itself.  Adding the rope, however, adds an additional grip component that I feel is benefical for many trainees.  And, obviously, it looks cool.  Nuff said.

Key Coaching Cues:   Simply grab a rope that you would normally use for tricep rope pressdowns and loop it through a kettlebell.  From there, grab the rope with one hand, and you’re off. There should be absolutely no deviation with regards to posture on these – chest should be tall, shoulder blades back, and there should be no lean to either side.  Also, if you happen to have Matt Blake make a cameo appearance in your video acting like a jag-off, feel free to swift kick him into the abyss.  Zing.

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Miscellaneous Miscellany Monday: 2/7/2011

1.  Well, congratulations to the Green Bay Packers for a crushing win last night.  And an EPIC fail goes out to me for falling asleep in the fourth quarter – I think I fell into food coma by the middle of the first half.

It goes without saying, though, that this was by far my favorite commercial of the night:

2.  I made a cameo appearance at Mike Boyle’s 5th Annual Winter Seminar on Saturday, which featured Coach Boyle (obviously) and the one and only, Dan John.

To say that Dan John as been a huge influence on my career would be an understatement., and I’ll be the first admit that I felt like a giddy school girl when I walked in and saw him standing there in person. 

Of course, both his presentations were brilliant – I mean, how can you not listen to a guy with well over 30 years of coaching experience under his belt?

I plan on covering the seminar in more detail later on this week, but I had to share the funniest line of the day.

We all know those guys who walk around with very impressive physiques, but ask them to do something as simple as skip, and it’s readily apparent that they don’t move very well – not a hint of athleticism.  In fact, I’d pick them last if I were picking a kickball team.

Dan John shared a phrase that I felt hit the nail on the head:

Looks like Tarzan, moves like Jane.

I got a laugh out of that one. 

3.  And speaking of Dan John, after reading his latest article on t-nation, I decided to dedicate a day to ONLY carrying heavy things.  Saturday morning, I got to the facility early to get a training session in before clients arrived, and I did the following:

A1.  Kettlebell Racked Carries:  3×2 trips (1 trip = 25 yds)
A2.  Overhead Sledgehammer Hits 3×8/side

B1.  Kettlebell Crossbody Carry (suitcase carry in one hand, bottoms-up carry in the other):  3×2 trips
B2.  Kettlebell Windmills 3×5/side

C1.  Farmer Carries w/ Sled Drag:  4x 1 trip (1 trip = 40 yds)
C2.  Shit a kidney

I felt really good after this session, and it’s going to be interesting to see if it will help boost my deadlift up a little bit.  To be continued………

4.  While at the seminar I was able to catch up with a lot of friends and colleagues whom I haven’t seen in a while, but it was also nice to have a lot of new faces introduce themselves to me and know that people actually read my stuff.  Surprisingly, one question that I was asked quite a bit was:  “how do you write/blog so much?” 

Truthfully:  I’m just uncannily awesome, witty, and intelligent.  But all kidding a side (even though I’m not kidding), I just make it a priority.  As it stands now, I generally get up anywhere between 5-6 AM every morning to do work before I go to work.  Generally speaking, I arrive to the facility around 10 AM every day, so getting up earlier in the morning allows me a few hours to catch up on programming, emails, reading, and blogging. 

Even talking with Jim “Smitty” Smith over the weekend, puts things into perspective:  he said that he stays up till 1-2 AM every night doing work.  And this is AFTER coaching all day. 

So, again, it comes down to priorities.  Do you want to write or watch Amercan Idol?

5.  Cressey Performance athletes have been getting a lot press recently.

HERE is a nice piece on both Omri Geva and Micah Goldberg as they attempt to re-build and eventually represent Israel in the Winter Olympics in the 2-man and 4-man bobsled team.

And HERE is a great feature on CP athlete, Tim Collins, as he makes a bid to earn a spot on the Kansas City Royals roster this spring.  It’s a really great story, and Tim deserves all the success coming his way.

 

6.  For all of you Born to Run fans out there (and I’m one of them, too), I watched a really great presentation in between slices of pizza yesterday by author, Christopher McDougall titled “Are We Born to Run?”.  The guy is obviously a fantastic writer, but he’s also a very engaging speaker as well:

 

7.  And lastly, as many of you know, I like to read, but one of the things that I regret most when I look back at mistakes I made as a trainer, is not reading more books on personal development.  As it stands now, whenever I get emails from upcoming trainers asking me for advice, I tell them that for every book they read on blasting the biceps, they should also read a book on personal development/psychology/business.

To that end, I started another really fascinating book titled Predictably Irrational by Dan Ariely. 

Why do we make certain decsions despite knowing better?  I’m only about half way through, but this is easily one of the most interesting books I’ve read in a while.  For those geeks out there that like behavorial economics, this book is legit.

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Stuff to Read While You’re Pretending to Work (Or, Stuck At Home – Snowed In – *Grabs Staple Gun*)

Everything You Know About Fitness Is a Lie – Daniel Duane

YES!!!  Kudos goes out to Men’s Journal for running thie piece.  It’s always a good thing when the mainstream media isn’t afraid to give people a little dose of “tough love.” Here, the author is basically told he’s weaker than a baby’s fart, and that all the time he’s spent doing his “sport specific” training on a BOSU ball has been, well, worthless.  In a nutshell, he has his “come to Jesus moment,” calls out the fitness industry, and it’s glorious.

Cliff Notes Guide to Hamstring Strains – Here’s an older post I wrote last year that I felt needed some extra love.   

The Secret of Loaded Carries – Dan John

It’s no secret that I’m a huge fan of Dan John, and this article is yet another gem by the man himself.  So, the question remains:  will I or won’t I act like a screaming 14 year old girl at a Justin Beiber concert when I go see him speak this weekend at Mike Boyle’s annual MBSC Winter Seminar??  HINT: