CategoriesMotivational Strength Training

Shut Up and Lift

I had the pleasure of doing an interview for Jon-Erik Kawamoto’s site last week, and without tooting my own horn, I have to say it’s arguably one of my best ones, like, ever.

To read it in its entirety, you can go HERE.

But since I know a lot of people never click on the links (jerks), I wanted to post one of the questions – and my answer – here because I think it’s a message that a lot of people need to hear.

JK: From stalking you on Facebook and your blog, I know there is nothing more important in your life than deadlifting and bacon (and your new cat). There are a kagillion articles on deadlifting out there. In your expert opinion, what’s the best method/program to deadlift two ton Tessie?

TG: That is true, I do love bacon. And, it’s funny: if you would have told me five years ago that I’d eventually own a cat, I probably would have 1) laughed in your face, and 2) make some kind of joke that I was more likely to listen to John Mayer while eating tofu in my Prius on my way to a yoga class.

But it’s true, my name is Tony Gentilcore, and I own a cat (Dagny).

Who’s the most beautifulest pretty Princess on the planet???? You are, that’s who.

So bringing this to a more manly discussion, lets talk about deadlifts! What’s the best method/program to pull over two ton Tessie?

1. For starters, I really wish people would just get off the freakin internet, go to the gym, and actually lift some heavy shit. There are countless “internet warriors” out there that all they do is talk and talk and talk, and speculate, and argue, and brag about how many posts they have on any given forum, and any number of other things equally as dumb, and yet forget one key component: you need to actually lift some damn weight!

Stop talking, get your ass to the gym, place some weight on the bar, get angry, and then lift it……sometimes repeatedly.

2. Speaking more colloquially, it really comes down to one simple concept:

PROGRESSIVE OVERLOAD

Here’s a personal reference. I didn’t start deadlifting until 2004. I shit you not, you can probably find posts on T-Nation where I’m asking people “what are these deadlifts you speak of?”

Like a lot of people I started out lifting weight at a young age and followed more of a body part per day split. Chest day, back day, blah blah blah. Trust me, a little piece of my soul dies just thinking about it. I can’t even begin to tell you how much I cringe looking back at how I trained as a high school and even collegiate athlete. If I ever had the chance to take a time machine back to 1994, I’d totally go back and Sparta kick myself in the face.

While I laugh and make fun of it, you know what? I always, and I mean ALWAYS had it in my mind to consistently try to lift heavier loads – whether it was adding a rep here and there, or incrementally increasing the load. That just made sense, ya know? I didn’t need anyone to tell me otherwise.

Anyways, so I started reading a few things here and there and slowly but surely started to understand that, for lack of a better term, I was training like a moron. I started incorporating deadlifts into my weekly training. I nixed the leg press, and started learning to squat to depth (a very humbling experience I might add).

One day I decided to test my 1RM deadlift. Mind you, I had NEVER tested my 1RM before. On day one I hit a 420 lb lift. Not too shabby. The kicker? I didn’t even train for it. All I did was focus on progressive overload. I wasn’t on internet forums arguing about foot placement or set/rep schemes or whether or not Han shot before Greedo (token Star Wars reference there). I was in the gym. Training.

Shut up, and train. It’s that simple. If more people did that…….they’d see marked improvements in their lifts.

I know that that wasn’t the “x’s and o’s” answer you were looking for, but I just feel that we’re living in an age where people are so inundated with information, that they’ve become paralyzed. It’s literally gotten to the point where people over-think things so much – should I do 5×5 or 4×4; So and so said I should wait 47 seconds between sets in order to elicit optimal growth hormone elevation; For max strength, this article said to use a 212 tempo, but my best friend’s brother’s second cousin’s Little League coach said to use a 311 tempo – that they forget one crucial thing.

Fucking lift!!!!!!

To read the rest of the interview (it’s pretty awesome) go HERE.

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Miscellaneous Miscellaneous Monday: 1/23/12

It’s been a few weeks since I’ve written one of my miscellaneous posts, so I figured this would be the perfect way to start what I hope will be a full week of blogging.

1. It’s no secret that I heart movies. I’ve always joked that if I were ever independently wealthy, all I would do is train, finance my own gourmet omelet restaurant/bowling center, and hang out with Matt Damon and give each other high-fives while we watch movies – like, all the time.

There are only a few shows on television that I like to watch:  The Daily Show, the Red Sox (when it’s baseball season), Top Chef, and House Hunters.  Namely, with regards to the latter, Lisa and I just like to have fake arguments with the couple’s that are on the show.

I mean, how asinine is it that someone walks into a room, and can’t look past the color of paint on the walls?

Anyways, I don’t watch a lot of tv, and would much rather walk down to the theater and catch a movie.

In the past few weeks alone, we’ve seen Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol (awesome), The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (I read the books AND watched the original foreign films, too, but the American version was like whoa); Sherlock Holmes (first one was better); A Dangerous Method (Keira Knightely shows her boobies); Melancholia (Kirsten Dunst also shows her boobies, but it was the worst movie I’ve ever seen); The Descendants (good, but overrated); and lastly, Haywire, which Lisa and I saw yesterday.

I’ve been anxiously waiting for this movie to come out since I first saw the trailer back in November. Directed by one of my favs, Steven Soderbergh – of Erin Brockovich and Ocean’s 11,12,&13 fame – and starring Gina Carano – of MMA, she can totally kick your ass fame – Haywire, in simplest terms, is basically the female equivalent of the Jason Bourne films.

While Carano won’t be winning any Best Actress awards anytime soon, she more than held her own, and it was clear, from the start, that the film was all about showcasing her fighting skills.

What I liked best was that the movie wasn’t enhanced with silly sound effects or over-the-top music during the fight scenes. Instead, it was raw, unadulterated, awesomeness.

What was interesting, and this was something that Lisa brought up on our walk back home, was that Carano’s physique was covered up.  There was no doubt that the film makers showcased Carano’s, um, assets. But you couldn’t help but think that they were purposely holding back and blatantly covering up her pecs, shoulders, and upper back throughout. Possibly to make her seem more feminine?

Either way, like I said, it was great to see a (believable) female character kick some ass. I get so tired of watching female characters who weigh like 87 lbs toss around dudes three times their size like a paperweights.  Conversely, Carano looks the part. And she ain’t too shabby on the eyes either.

All in all, when you combine the action, writing, directing, as well as the supporting cast (Michael Fassbender, Michael Douglass, Antonio Banderas, Obi Wan Kenobi Ewan McGregor), it was definitely worth seeing.

I gave the movie a solid B.

2.  Speaking of strong female characters, HERE is an awesome interview done with MariAnne Kane from the Girls Gone Strong crew.

I LOVE what these women are doing for the industry. Guys have always had the likes of Arnold, Ronnie Coleman, Dave Tate, and numerous others to look up to. Now, thanks to Girls Gone Strong, women have someone to look up to for inspiration. And it’s a beautiful thing.

3.  Here’s a question that I received in the mail the other day:

Q: Tony is it ok to switch from doing regular deadlifts and do deficit deadlifts as a different variation for training deadlifts?  What are the benefits of doing deficit deadlifts… do they still work the same muscle groups ?

A: It’s definitely okay to switch from “regular” deadlifts to deficit deadlifts.  While there are a few benefits, the main one to consider is that deficit deadlifts help to increase the ROM, which for those who are slow off the ground, can bode in their favor.

In short, when you return back to standard height, the weight should feel lighter.

The key thing to remember, though, is that you DO NOT need a huge deficit to perform these.  Anything from 1-4 inches is plenty.  Placing a plate underneath each foot should suffice for most.

Additionally, and maybe even more important, is that deficit deadlifts aren’t something you’ll want to include in your programming for a prolonged period of time – ESPECIALLY if your technique isn’t up to par.

As noted previously, you’re going to increase the ROM of the movement which by default, will make it more challenging.  And hence, maybe more deleterious to the spine (if done incorrectly).

Having said that, even if you’re technique is flawless, I’d still be reluctant to do this for more than 3-4 weeks at a time.  Honestly, four weeks is pushing it in my eyes.

 To that end, deficit deadlifts are a worthwhile variation to include in your programming – I just wouldn’t use them exclusively for a long period of time.

4.  On January 2nd my girlfriend, Lisa, started a little experiment on herself. She’s always been interested in nutrition and the effects that certain foods can have on the body. After doing a little research and talking to a few people, she picked up The Paleo Diet.

 

It really resonated with her (she read the entire book in a day), and so, she decided she’d give it a try for 60 days.

Now, I understand that there are a lot of detractors out there who will chime in and say something along the lines of “Tony, Tony, Tony…..you do realize that we have no idea what our Paleolithic ancestors ate, and it’s all based on speculation and not fact, right?”

Indeed, I do. Who cares!?! I also realize they didn’t eat Dunkin Donuts for breakfast.  To each his own.

Nonetheless, it’s not like Lisa cowers into the fetal position every time she encounters a carb.  She has her allotted “off” meals on the weekends.  But all told, she’s been following the diet verbatim, focusing her efforts on lean meats (beef, buffalo, chicken, ground turkey,etc), tons of greens and various fruits, and limiting her salt and sugar intake.

After three weeks, she feels amazing! She’s more energetic and it takes her waaaaaaay longer to get pissed off whenever I leave dirty clothes on the couch.  It’s a win-win if you ask me.

Being the supportive boyfriend that I am, I’m doing a Paleo’ish type diet, too.  Albeit, I’m still allowing myself more wiggle room like oatmeal, sweet potatoes, yogurt, Ezekiel bread, and grass fed dragon.

So far, I really like it, and it definitely supports my lifestyle.  I can’t say for sure whether or not I’ll follow it long-term, but for now, it seems to be working.

I’ll keep everyone posted.

5.  And lastly, sitting sucks.  Read THIS article if you don’t believe me.

CategoriesUncategorized

How to Set-Up to Deadlift Properly

I’m throwing you a curve ball today, and starting what I hope will be an on-going series of video blogs here on tonygentilcore.com.

My hope is that:

1.  I’m able to better convey the information I’m trying to relay to the masses. Writing is one thing, and I feel I do a decent job of not sucking at that. For many, though, they’re more visual learners, and this is the perfect medium for those types of people.

2. 2012 is looking to be the year where I put on my big boy pants and start doing more speaking engagements. The way I see it, video blogs will help me hone my skillz and hopefully teach myself to not swear like a sailor, stop saying “um” every other sentence, and to stop USING MY HANDS WHEN I TALK FOR THE LOVE OF GOD!!!!!

3. And, more importantly, save my fingers from all of this damn typing!

Anyways, the catalyst for today’s video blog stemmed from my incessant (maybe un-healthy?) obsession with deadlifts. But more to the point, it stemmed from various questions and comments I’ve received on articles and blog posts I’ve written in the past concerning how to set-up for the deadlift properly.

Sometimes, things are just lost in translation, and I figured a video would help elucidate my thoughts more clearly and showcase some simple coaching cues I feel will benefit a lot of people.

The tipping point, however, came when an online client sent me a video of his deadlift set-up and I had to do everything in my power not to face plant into my keyboard.

It was bad. Like, “how is his spine still in one piece?” bad. And with that, I knew I had to do something other than write back “Um yeah, you need to stop doing that.”

The result?

How to Set-Up to Deadlift Properly

A few things to note:

  • I feel the set-up is something that many trainees take far too casually.  Let me be blunt:  deadlifting success and performance starts and ends with the set-up.  Foot placement, bar placement, learning to activate the lats, as well as hip placement all come into play. With the latter point for instance, people tend to set their hips either too high, where their lower back takes a beating, or they set up too low, and it turns more into this weird, squat/deadlift, hybrid thingamajig.

Hopefully this video clears some of the murky water.

  • Thanks to Kyle for being my model (and for the sweet Presidential-like wave in the background when being introduced).  Also, thanks for Marco for being Spielberg’esq with the camera work.
  • My goal was to do this sucker in one take. I succeeded. In re-watching it, though, there were definitely some “did I just sat that?” moments (did I just say “finger Kyle?” Dammit Tony!). Trust me, I’ll get better. Promise.
  • I’d love to get your feedback, so please feel free to comment below.  In addition, I’d also be interested in ideas for future installments. Is there anything you’d like to see covered?

Okay, I’ll shut up now.  Here’s the video:

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Stiffen Up Your Deadlift

There are many things in this world that I love.   My family, friends, and girlfriend come to mind first and foremost, obviously.  But, since I’m on the topic, I might as well take the opportunity and throw in a few more things to boot:

My readers – seriously, I can’t thank you enough

Omelets

My fan that I sleep with everynight as background noise

Puppy dog kisses

The perfect pump – you know, when you ‘re pumping gas and you stop EXACTLY on the number you want.  Yeah, that’s awesome.

The Daily Show

Turning on the tv and randomly coming across a Star Wars marathon

When some idiot cuts you off on the highway and then speeds off, only to pass him five miles down the road because he’s been pulled over by a police car.

Beef jerky

Alicia Keys

And, not that I even need to say it – considering how often I blabber on about them – but I also heart deadlifts.  I love talking about them.  I love writing about them.   And I especially love coaching them.

The latter, of course, is where I want to direct my attention towards today.   You see, amongst other things – building overall strength along with general badassesery for starters – deadlifts are arguably one of the most valuable exercises in existence.  I mean, not only do they carry over to a multitude of real lift qualities (everything from picking up a bag of groceries to explosive power and strength for sport), but deadlifts also serve as a fairly powerful corrective tool as well.

Name me another movement that simultaneously targets ankle dorsiflexion, strengthens the glutes and hamstrings (which in turn helps reduce the risk of ACL injuries and helps counteract things like anterior pelvic tilt), teaches neutral spine and helps alleviate sheer forces, works grip strength (which can have an influence on rotator cuff health), not to mention forces people to learn how to “hip hinge” and stiffens the upper back?

And those are just the things I thought of at the top of my head!  All by myself!

Not to toot my own horn (okay, maybe a little), but I can pretty much guarantee that you’ll never walk into Cressey Performance and see an athlete or client performing a deadlift with less than suspect technique.  A few reps might fall through the cracks here and there, but for the most part, there’s always a coach standing right there to offer cues when necessary.

Chest up, hips down!

Lock your shoulder blades!

Get tension in the hammies!

Big air!

Get your hips through at the top, and squeeze those glutes!

Sit back!  Push your hips back on the descent!

In addition to the above popular cues (which work for 90% of trainees out there), as I noted HERE, it’s also beneficial to be a little more hands-on with clients and “mold” them into the positions you want them to be in.    For some, they just don’t have the kinesthetic awareness to “feel” what their body is doing in space and they just need a little nudge here and a little prodding there to give them some feedback to get into proper position.

That said, however, sometimes you have to think outside the box and recognize what one’s weak link is in order to remedy the problem.  Using an obvious example, lets take someone who just can’t seem to prevent their UPPER back from rounding during a deadlift – especially on the descent.

While verbal cueing and positioning will work nine times out of ten, sometimes it’s just a matter of recognizing that their upper back is weak and we need to build some stiffness in that area.   Sure, grooving deadlift technique and getting quality reps in will help, but in addition to that, I’d be more inclined to really (and I mean, REALLY) hammer some horizontal rowing.

Look at it from this point of view:  some trainees have been sitting in front of a computer screen for 20 years.  So, if you think about it, many trainees have been sitting in flexion ever since McGyver started saving the world with duct tape and a pair of tweezers.  It shouldn’t come as any surprise, then, that many have really short pecs and really weak/inhibited scapular retractors.

It goes without saying that a healthy dose of dedicated t-spine mobility work would be in high order, as would some additional soft-tissue work for the pecs.

For a lot of trainers and coaches, it stops there.  That’s not a bad thing, and is certainly a step above what many would do in the same situation – but what about taking it a step further and throwing in some additional rowing movements?

HINT:  you should throw in some more rowing movements.

Honestly, much like thoracic mobility, I feel people really can’t get enough horizontal rowing movements into their repertoire.  I’m actually not opposed to throwing in some form of it into every day programming for some individuals.

One day I may have someone perform some light seated rows.  The next, I may have him or her toss in some heavier 1-arm DB rows.

Likewise, later in the week, I’m not opposed to other variatios such as chest supported rows, TRX rows, face pulls, t-bar rows, whateve, being thrown into the mix.  The point is, for most trainees, increasing upper back strength – and subsequently, upper back stiffness – will undoubtedly help improve not only their deadlift technique, but their performance as well.

Make no mistake about it:  there are NUMEROUS things that come into play when trying to clean up someone’s deadlift technique, but I feel that this is one (blatantly obvious) component that’s often overlooked.

Are you feeling that or what?

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Random Training Thoughts (Yes, I Stole This Blog Title from Mike Robertson)

Normally I save these type of posts for Miscellaneous Miscellany Mondays, but I’ve got a few things rocking around in my brain at the moment that I needed to just throw out there.

Deadlifts are King

Everyone knows that I have an affinity for two things:  Alicia Keys and deadlifts.  But that goes without saying.

The more I think about it, though, the more I realize that deadlifts truly are the most versatile exercise in existence.  I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: what makes the deadlift so unique is the fact that you can fit (or tweak) the movement to the lifter and not vice versa.  Meaning, if someone walks into my facility on day one and has the hip mobility of a crow bar (read:  they’re tight), I’m certainly not going to have him or her attempt to pull straight from the floor.  That’s just a disaster waiting to happen.

Instead, I may opt to use an elevated trap bar setting; or maybe even have them perform rack pulls. Who knows?  Either way, they’re STILL receiving all the benefits of deadlifting – engraining the proper hip hinge pattern, strengthening the posterior chain, increasing core stability, etc – without all the drawbacks that would otherwise arise if had them pull directly from the floor.

Of course, as they become more proficient, we can start to experiment with other variations – but ONLY after they have proven they’re capable of doing so!  It may take one session, one week, or one month, it’s hard to tell.  But as I noted previously, having the ability to progress AND regress our clients is a skill that’s often overlooked.

So, in short, I don’t have to “mold” the lifter to the exercise. Rather, I can “mold” the exercise to the lifter depending on their postural deficits, current mobility restrictions, injury history, so on and so forth.   And, while we can say the same for just about any exercise, I feel the deadlift is easily the most adaptable of the bunch.

Programming Logic

And, speaking of deadlifts – here’s a quick programming tip.  Whether you’re following a 3x-per-week, full body split, or a 4x-per-week, upper/lower split, on the days you deadlift, make sure your single leg movement for that day is more quad-dominant in nature.

As an example, if your main movement for that day is SUMO deadlifts (more hip dominant in nature), a good single leg movement to implement would be something like a dumbbell split squat, or maybe some Bulgarian split squats – both of which are more quad-dominant.

Conversely, on the days that you squat (which are more quad dominant, excluding box squats, obviously), it would be a good idea to include single leg work that’s more hip (hamstring/glute) dominant – like dumbbell (or barbell) reverse lunges, or 1-legged RDLs.

This isn’t something that’s necessarily set in stone, but one “rule” that I have found works pretty well when discussing program design with younger or less experienced trainers and coaches.

Really?  No, Seriously, Really?

I’m definitely going to expound on this in more of a rant style post sometime next week, but suffice it to say I saw an article on Yahoo’s homepage the other day titled “Top FOUR Exercises to Tone Up Your Arms,” written by some celebrity trainer (not who you think) who used all the cute, warm, and fuzzy buzz words you would expect to see in such an article.  The same words used time and time again that play into women’s fears of lifting “real” weight.

Words like tone, sleek, shape, and anything similar that is just as likely to make me want to set my face on fire.

What’s more, the exercises shown – shadow punches, tricep extension, rear delt flies, and bicep curls – all done for 15-20 reps no less, are about as likely to get your arms “toned” as brushing your hair.

It’s bullshit when you think about it.  Oh man, I’m getting fired up just thinking about it.

1-Arm Farmer Carries

Are definitely growing on my list of exercise that everyone needs to be doing.  Think about it:

  • You have to brace the contralateral side as not to tip over – great for overall core stability.
  • Depending on which side you’re holding the DB, kettlebell, barbell, whatever, there’s a pretty significant hip external rotation component as well.  So, if you’re holding a DB in your right hand, the right posterior hip musculature must fire in order to prevent internal rotation, which in turn stabilizes the hip.
  • They’re fantastic for improving grip strength, as well as overall conditioning
  • And, this goes without saying, they’re just badass

On that note, for those who celebrate it, have an awesome Easter weekend.  For those that don’t, you can still eat lots of dead animal flesh for the hell of it.

Oh, By the Way

Mark Young’s How to Read Fitness Research is still on sale until MIDNIGHT tonight (4/22) for the low price of $37.  After that, it jumps up to $77, so make sure to take advantage of the discount while you can.  As an added aside, Mark has informed me that there’s NO RISK.  You can try the product for eight weeks and if you don’t like it, you can get every penny back with no questions asked.