CategoriesFemale Training Motivational Strength Training

Hey Ladies, Lift Something Heavy!

The term passion is defined as “an intense desire or enthusiasm for something,” or as a “strong and barely controllable emotion.”

Everyone reading (I hope) has a passion for something.  For some it’s their children and loved ones. For others it may be the charity work they’re involved in.  And even for others it may be something more tangible or finite such as their car or their collection of un-opened Star Wars action figurines.

Hey, I’m not here to judge

Passion is a great thing, and we should all be so lucky as to have a little passion in our lives.

I’m passionate about a lot of things:  my family, my girlfriend, movies, deadlifts, caffeine, my ever growing collection of vintage t-shirts.

A bit closer to home, however, and as a coach in particular, I’m passionate about fitness and helping others attain their goals.

I spend a great portion of my day training athletes, but what’s often glossed over is that I also train a fair number of regular “Joes and Janes,” or people who, like many of you reading, aren’t paid to jump higher, throw harder, or run faster. But rather just want to feel better, possibly shave a few lbs off their frame, lift some heavy things, and maybe not think twice about getting nekid with the lights on.

BOM CHICKA BOM BOM.

To that end, I often go on tirades when the topic of women and training pops up.  Speaking a bit more colloquially – and excuse my language – there’s a lot of shit information out there in the mainstream media, and it’s exponentially shitty with regards to women and strength training.

So I guess you could say I’m also passionate about doing my part in dispelling common myths and fallacies that’s regurgitated by the media.

Below is an interview I did for Marco Berardi and the people over at CrossFit LaSalle located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

Marco Berardi: Tony, I know it is probably weird to ask one of the top strength and conditioning bloggers on the web to chat about women and lifting heavy things but your opinion on the subject has been one of my favorite parts of your blog. 600 pound deadlifts and big bench presses are great but for a large majority of coaches, we have many more women clients who want to get “toned” rather than athletes, so the topic of women and weight training is a great interest to me. Thanks for agreeing to answer some questions.

I know you just went on vacation and spent some time at a Globo Gym. What was the experience like? Especially when it comes to how women train? I bet you saw lots of isolated bicep and tricep work with those cute pastel colored weights.

TG:  I live in a fairly secluded “bubble,” because in my world – especially in the realm of strength and conditioning – I control every component of training with my clients. I tell them what to do, how to do it, and most important of all….I coach them and make sure that everything (everything) is done correctly.

So, it’s always interesting when I stumble outside of my little bubble and make my way to a commercial gym to train, as I really have to prepare myself for the massive number of epic fails I’m going to see.

Note:  this isn’t a slight against all commercial gyms – just most of them.

If my thought process offends you – particularly if you’re a trainer and you fall into the camp that’s described below – it’s probably because the truth hurts.  Sorry I’m not sorry. 

Now, to be fair:  I’m not some cynical bastard who just likes to poo-poo on people. Who am I to judge what people do in the gym and how they do it?  At the end of the day, at least they’re doing something, and that should be commended.  Wholeheartedly.  All the time.

Whether it’s Zumba, Yoga, CrossFit, Jazzercise, Prancercise (look it up on Youtube), traditional weight training, or mimicking the dance from Napoleon Dynamite, anything is better than sitting on your ass.

But I’d be lying if I said that I don’t walk away a little let down about the industry whenever I happen to train at a commercial gym.

I’m a coach, and as such, it’s really hard for me not to observe what others are doing. Now, with regular patrons I’ll give the benefit of the doubt.  Sure, I can face palm myself and wonder why that woman who is 30 lbs overweight – and woefully de-conditioned – is wasting her time performing bicep curls on a BOSO ball.  She doesn’t know any better.

What really grinds my gears – and, if I may, makes me absolutely bat shit crazy – is when I see a fitness professional (who should know better) has their client perform the same thing.

Really?  She’s paying you $50, $60, $70 $80+ per hour so that she can stand on a BOSU ball and then follow that with tricep kickbacks and arm circles?  I kid you not:  that’s EXACTLY what I saw while I was away on vacation.

Moreover, it was readily apparent that none of the trainers felt the need to “push” their female clients – treating them as if they were these delicate snowflakes that couldn’t (or shouldn’t) lift anything heavier than their Prada handbag.

Not once, in the four days (FOUR days) I was at this gym training with my girlfriend, did I watch a trainer coach his or her client (whether male or female) through a compound, free-weight movement.  Not once.  I did, however, see a lot of poorly done push-ups, lunges, planks, and a bevy of other exercises that made me want to swallow a live grenade.  It was really sad.

MB: On a side note, how the media portrays training to women it is almost not their fault they are so confused. I mean they can look around their Zumba class and see that no one has improved in the last 3 years but I digress.  Is there anyway to change what is being marketed to women as “exercise”?

TG:  Completely true, and it’s something that I do see changing – albeit at a snail’s pace. Walk down any aisle at your local grocery store, and you’re bound to see numerous “women’s” magazines with a teeny-tiny (airbrushed) actress or model on the cover holding a pink dumbbell underneath some innocuous title like “10 Tips for a Bikini Body” or something equally as nauseating.

In reality, it’s not even the title that’s most annoying – it’s the trivial, almost offensive workouts that are attached. Much like to what I described above at the commercial gym, many (not all) of these so-called “workouts” aren’t even remotely challenging.

I mean, come on:  recommending a workout based solely around a can of soup (which I saw one magazine publish) – how to curl with it, squat with it, lunge with it, throw it at the editor’s face who decided this was viable fitness information – is a bit of waste of everyone’s time don’t cha think?

But this is the type of stuff that’s marketed towards women.  As you noted, can you blame women that they curl up in the fetal position whenever you ask them to perform a deadlift?

As far as the mainstream media is concerned, I don’t think their formula is going to change anytime soon.  While it’s changing somewhat – they do still have to sell magazines, and what sells magazines are articles with Kim Kardashian on the cover telling the world that performing strength training with high heels on is the key to badonkadonkness.

Thankfully, we have women out there like Nia Shanks, Molly Galbraith, Jen Comas Keck, Neghar Fonooni, Jen Sinkler, the rest of the Girls Gone Strong crew, as well as many, many others fighting the good fight and trying to empower women on the benefits of (real) strength training and to step away from the elliptical and treadmill.

Likewise, I too try my best to provide information to women that goes against the norm of what they’ve been spoon-fed for decades.

Like THIS one on The Myth of Female Specific Training, or THIS one on Should You Use Scale Weight as a Measure of Success, or THIS one on The Fitness Double Standard.

I try to debunk as many myths as I can – lifting heavy things WILL NOT turn you into The Rock, endless hours of cardio IS NOT the key to fat loss, Yoga WILL NOT make your muscles long and lean, Tracy Anderson IS NOT a credible source of fitness and health information and is about as intelligent as a ham sandwich.

There’s still a very long battle a head, but I do see the tides turning, and it’s a beautiful thing.

MB: Obviously, the women who come to your facility (I’m guessing) are already sold on the Cressey Performance values. They probably want to lift heavy things and achieve a chin up without assistance. How would you convince a woman that is scared to “bulk up” and feel they need endless amounts of cardio to drop their body fat?

TG:  Yes and no. While it’s true that most people who walk through our doors kinda already have an idea of what they’re getting themselves into, there’s still a fair share that need to be “de-programmed.”

The best thing I can do as a coach is listen.  I try to ask as many questions as possible and do a little digging.

– How often do they train?

  – What has their training looked like?

    – Are they happy with their results?     – If not, how come?

    – What is their ideal body type?

    – Why?

    – What do they feel is holding them back?

So on and so forth.  Once I’m done listening, I then go into a little (not a lot) of what I feel would be the best approach to take.  It’s not about me being confrontational, forcing information in their direction, and trying to convince them that what they’ve been doing for the past five years has been a complete time killer (although, for many, that’s exactly what’s happened).

At this stage it’s about comfort zones and showing them success right out of the gate.

Almost inevitably, once I start throwing out words like squats, deadlifts, chin-ups, Prowlers, hell even if I toss out the word strength…….I’ll starting getting a little push-back, and many of the same myths and fallacies I described above – things many of these women have been regurgitating for YEARS, with limited (if any) results mind you – rear their ugly heads.

Once that happens, I have one more question for them:

“How’s that working for you?”

Clearly, if your way is the superior way, and it’s the approach you’ve been using for the past 5-10 years…….why have you seen NO results?  Zilch.  Nada.

To that end, all I ask is that they give me two months.  Give it their all for 60 days and see what happens.  Almost always, after three weeks they’re hooked.

Once they start to see (and feel) the confidence they gain, it’s always a done deal.

Once they realize that putting an extra ten pounds on the bar won’t turn them into a roided out she-man, and they start noticing small, incremental changes to their body, the sky’s the limit. It’s a beautiful thing.

MB: When you begin to train women do you have specific goals you would like to help them achieve? If I can get a woman to do 5-10 proper push ups on their own, a chin-up, and deadlift better than 99% of the men in the gym, it is safe to assume they will achieve their body image goal. Is that an ok thought process?

TG:  Sure.  With any client – whether I’m working with a male or female – it’s usually my job to tell them what they need to do, and not what they want to do.  Big difference.

With any client, it’s about getting them outside their comfort zone.  With women in particular, their Kryptonite is the free-weight area.  Can you blame them?  Who wants to train around a bunch of dudes who reek of Axe body spray and scream as if they’re passing a kidney stone?  Hell, I don’t want to be around that.

That notwithstanding, I think you’re on the right track.  Having clear and defined (not to mention realistic and attainable) goals is an important component many trainees fail to grasp.

As a trainer or coach, I think it’s crucial to sit down with your client and come up with goals to strive for – whether it’s to perform an unassisted, body weight chin-up, “x” number of lbs on the deadlift, or to lose ten lbs of fat by summer.  Having something to work for gives people a sense of purpose and holds them more accountable in the end.

With the women that I train, they’re going to get coached on all the basic movements – squats, deadlifts, push-ups, etc. Much like you, it’s not uncommon for many of the women I train to train on their own “x” number of days per week at the other gym and to boast that someone complimented them on their deadlift form, and I totally dig that!

Even cooler is when they come back with stories about how they were waiting to “jump in” on a certain exercise at their commercial gym, and they warmed-up with the weight that the guy leaving ended with on his last set.

In the end, though, it’s about coaching the basics.  There’s no need to make things more complicated than they have to be. This isn’t NASA.  If your female client can perform ten picture perfect push-ups – despite push-ups being as exciting as watching grass grow – then they’re leaps and bounds a head of 99% of other females out there.

Sadly, this doesn’t happen too often.  Trainers (and trainees) are more concerned with looking cool and doing something unique than mastering the basics.

CategoriesFemale Training Strength Training

Train the Same: Women Should Train Like Men

I’ll be honest:  I was thiiiiiiiiiiis close to taking a slight “blogcation” the rest of the week. I figured since I’ll be bit preoccupied with stuffing my face with anything I can get my hands on for the next 48 hours, that most people would be in the same mindset and not really give a second thought to signing onto my site.

– Eating copious amounts of turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, and apple pie?  Check.

– Watching football till I can’t feel the right side of my face? Check.

– Check out Tony’s blog?  Come on…..isn’t there more apple pie to eat?

Don’t worry, my feelings aren’t hurt.  I know where I stand in the grand scheme of things.  You know, there was a time when you used to compliment me, tell me I looked nice, and used to be excited to see me. Made me feel special. But now, it’s like….it’s like I don’t even exist anymore.  It’s like I’m a ghost.

*tear rolls down cheek*

LOL – I’m just messing with you.  Thanksgiving is about family, friends, and turkey legs……the last think I expect you to do is check out my blog.  Have fun!  Be safe!  Enjoy!

But seriously, you used to compliment me.

I wasn’t going to write anything today (or tomorrow), but then I realized that Thanksgiving isn’t a universally celebrated holiday and that I’d be a huge jerk-face if I deprived the rest of the world my sage words….(Poop!).

Luckily enough I just had a new article go up on BodyBuilding.com that’s already gaining some steam (and I haven’t even publicized it yet!).

It’s on a topic that write about quite a bit – women and training.  This article has more of a “soap box” feel to it and is more of a rant than anything else, but I feel it sends a great message nevertheless.  Give it a look and let me know what you think.

Train the Same: Women Should Train Like Men (<—- Snaps finger in z-formation, Mmmmm-hmmmm)

PS: And on a (real) serious note:  I just wanted to say THANK YOU to everyone for their support over the past year. TonyGentilcore.com wouldn’t be what it is without the continued support of its readers and fan base and I wish you all a safe and happy Thanksgiving.

CategoriesUncategorized

Train Like a Woman, Look Like a Woman

Back in 2002 I was contemplating becoming a teacher.  A health teacher to be more precise.  As an undergrad I was studying Health Education with a concentration in being awesome Health/Wellness Promotion, and as many of you can probably guess, a major part of the requirement for completion was to spend a semester student teaching at both a local middle and high school.

In my case “local” meant driving 50 miles (both ways) to Binghamton, NY.  And while I could easily sit here and bemoan some aspects of the experience – driving 50 miles through the lake effect snow capital of the world during the dead of winter comes to mind. As does teaching human sexuality to a bunch of 7th-graders. Hey, you try to explain “nocturnal emissions” WITH A STRAIGHT FACE – I have to say, all in all, it was an amazing few months.

I learned a lot about myself during that time (like, how to properly tie a tie), and it was a wonderful opportunity to, as Chip and Dan Heath describe in their book, Decisive, get an “ooch,” or “taste” as to whether or not teaching was the right fit for me.

 

Turns out it wasn’t.

When it came down to it:  I decided it was way cooler to spend my time hanging out in a gym making people stronger than it was hanging out in a classroom teaching kids what cell-mediated immunity was.

Still, I was reminiscing the other day about my student teaching experience and amid my thoughts of lecture plans, pop quizzes, and the differences between boy-down-there-parts and girl-down-there-parts (seriously, try to keep a straight face!), it brought me back to the day when I was asked by one of my students if I’d be willing to attend his poetry reading that he was organizing after school in the cafeteria.

While the Jaws theme music immediately started reverberating in my head as soon as the word “poetry” left his lips, being the good trooper and responsible teacher that I was, I gladly accepted.

Hopefully without sounding too mean, there’s Broadway, off-Broadway, off-off Broadway, the two homeless guys fighting over an empty Coke can in the park, and then there’s the poetry reading/one-man monologue/play that he put on in front of a group of 20 or so people.

I feel like a major a-hole for saying it (more than ten years later), but it was face palm bad.  But I survived.  And well, giving credit where it’s due:  it’s not like I’ve ever done anything remotely as ballsy as that.

And because I really don’t have any other way to segue into what I actually wanted to talk about today, want to know what else is face palm worthy?  The following story………..

It’s a Doozy

After linking on my site THIS post she wrote on why she doesn’t believe in barre classes anymore, last year my friend Emily Giza Socolinsky wrote a stellar guest post on this site titled A New and Better Butt? Why Not a Stronger Butt?

Note:  before you continue, I’d HIGHLY recommend you read the actual post(s) because what follows won’t be nearly as vomit in your mouthish if you don’t.

Finished?  Okay, good.

Great message, right?  I felt Emily hit the nail on the proverbial head with that one.  Any message which empowers and encourages women to not be afraid to lift appreciable weight, as well as any message which debunks the notion that lifting something heavier than a 3 lb dumbbell, bar, or purse will turn them into a Highland Games competitor overnight is alright in my book.

Apparently someone felt otherwise and took offense to Emily’s “tone.”  Well, to be more precise they originally took offense that, unbeknownst to Emily, the photo she used in her original post was of an actual owner and instructor of a Barre class (that she snaked off of Google Images).

Emily gladly took the photo down. But it was the snide comment that the owner left in the comments section of Emily’s post which really grinded her gears:

” You have used the photo of barre class with out permission … Please remove it. This is a photo of my instructors at a barre studio and myself.. It is not stock for public consumption.

Separately, you are completely wrong about barre class. I don’t know what kind of class you taught at your studio but our clients are much stronger, much more confident, ski better, play tennis better, etc and aren’t just there to tone their thighs. Perhaps they can not pull their husbands out if a burning building – not sure whose overall goal that would be anyway – but they are not looking to build enormous muscles and look like a man either.

Remove the photo immediately.

Thank you.”

OMFG – when will this ever end??????????????

Excuse me while I go face palm my face into a cement wall.

Emily responded like a champ:

“Thank you for your comment. I apologize for using your picture. I will remove this out of courtesy to you and your instructors.

However, what I cannot and will not do is apologize for my post. I am not completely wrong about barre classes and if you actually read my post, I am all for women doing what works for them and makes them happy. But I want to deliver to my female clients what I believe to be a better program for getting stronger and gaining confidence.

While I am sure that your clients have gotten stronger from your barre classes, I believe that my clients are served better by actually lifting weights that will challenge their bodies, minds and spirits. None of my ladies look like a man.

In fact, all of my women have dramatically changed their bodies into curvaceous, strong and fit women. Your comment implies that my goal is to make women look like men. Women can be strong, have muscle, lift heavy weight and still be women.

I want to deliver the best program to my women and for them and for me, this includes picking up weight that weighs more than 3 lbs. Sure, you can get stronger by doing anything….but in my world (and many others) building a stronger body means actually lifting weights.

And for me, I DO want to know that if I had to, I could pull my husband out of a burning building.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TAryFIuRxmQ

 

The absolute best response I saw on Emily’s Facebook Page was this:

“Ski better, play tennis better” is the bougiest response to anything I’ve seen in a while. “

Our clients can handle many pottery barn shopping bags.” “She has the strength to open the hood of her own 3 series.” “Our clients look great in their cocktail dresses when they attend philanthropy luncheons.”

Well said by whoever said that!

I don’t feel I need to add any fuel to the fire here since most of you reading know my stance on this topic.  I just find it disheartening that this is still the pervasive attitude which dominates much (not all) of the female psyche.

For the love of all that’s holy can you blame some of them?

I have a female client who’s a personal trainer on the side and she mentioned how she wanted to ween herself out of the commercial gym setting, and start working with younger athletes (particularly female) at the local high school where her son goes.

As it happened, she sent out an email to all of the girls athletic coaches at the high school telling them that she’d be in the weight room this summer to help out, and she asked the coaches to encourage their athletes to come.

She heard back from TWO coaches, one of which is the female PE teacher who also coaches the field hockey team.

This is what the coach wrote back:

“One issue is the lack of user friendly equipment for the girls. They are not interested in the heavy lifting machines. I wrote a grant for strength training circuit machines and cardio machines, but it did not get funded.

Well no shit they’re not interested if this is the mentality that’s being engrained from the get go!

For the record:  my client noted that the “heavy lifting machines” this coach is referring to are the TEN squat racks in the weight room.

Since when do females need user friendly equipment?  Since when do they need to be pampered with cardio machines?

It’s all BS if you ask me.  Worse still, it’s a disgrace and woeful fail in judgement on the coaches’ parts.  Way to go!  You just pandered to the fears that every girl has towards lifting weights by telling her she needs to head to elliptical row!

 

If females are being “programmed” by their elders and coaches at such a young age to think that boys and girls need to train differently and that the squat rack isn’t “user friendly,” is it any wonder why this seems like a losing battle at times?

Why not, I don’t know, encourage young, impressionable women that the squat rack isn’t Mordor. That they don’t need to train any differently than the boys?  That lifting appreciable weight can be a key to unlocking a treasure trove of beauty, athleticism, and maybe even more importantly, confidence?

Can we turn the page sometime in the near future?  Please?

CategoriesFemale Training

Should You Use Scale Weight as a Measure of Success? Hint: No

There’s certainly no shortage of articles, blogs, and rants out there in the digital world decreeing, loudly, that using a scale to measure success is kind of pointless.

SPOILER ALERT:  this is going to be one of those rants.

I’ve been working as a trainer and coach for well over a decade now working with various females – short, tall, skinny, overweight, athletic,  blue-collar, white-collar, Team Jacob, Team Edward – helping them achieve “the look.”

What “the look” entails I’m not exactly sure, as different women have different goals and different viewpoints on what they’d prefer to look like.

More often than not, though, for most, it just comes down to feeling and looking better, and not being bashful at rocking a strapless dress whenever the time calls for it.

Or, to put it more succinctly (and a tad less narcissistic):  just becoming the best version of YOU that you can be regardless of sexiness factor or societal standards.

If I had to narrow it down to one celebrity who gets the most “Yeah, I want to look like her” nods it would undoubtedly go towards Mrs. Justin Timberlake (AKA: Jessica Biel), circa whenever it was she did that redunkulous spread in GQ Magazine.

Don’t shoot the messenger!  I’m just stating that in my experience this is “the look” which many women I’ve worked with have gravitated towards.

But again, it’s just one example and doesn’t represent a universal mindset – so please, please, PLEASE don’t mistake this as me saying “hey ladies, this is what you should look like!”

Because at the end of the day, it’s about you, not me.

But here’s the deal: it’s a fairly well known fact that Jessica is a very active person who routinely lifts weights, plays sports, and leads a healthy lifestyle.  Or, at least that’s what all the magazine articles and interviews tells us.

Her celebrity status aside, I look at her and see a full-figured, athletic woman who doesn’t look frail, weak, emaciated, or the second coming of that creepy skeleton looking guy from Tales of the Crypt.

Unfortunately, many (not all) women are under the impression that in order to achieve said look they have to diet for months (if not years on end), do copious amounts of long-duration, steady-state cardio, and avoid lifting weights like the plague.

To justify my point – especially with regards to the dieting side of things – Elizabeth Walling had an amazing guest post over on Nia Shanks’ blog the other day on the stress and damage caused by chronic “dieting.”

To steal a quote:

We’re often given the impression by the diet industry and mainstream media that dieting and metabolic health go together like peas and carrots. But in reality, most diet plans that claim to boost your metabolism are really just low-calorie deprivation diets in disguise. Just a quick internet search reveals a disturbing trend: these diet plans that promise to raise your metabolism often recommend eating as little as 1000-1400 calories a day.

I don’t think it’s wrong for me to say that many women fall into this trap (guys do too, by the way) and often end up stuck in this never ending cycle of dieting, feeling like poop, not getting ideal results, dieting some more, feeling even more like poop,  not getting results, and well, you get the idea.

They’ll hop on the scale – as if that’s somehow the end-all-be-all panacea of health – and see that they’ve made little (if any) headway in terms of the number going down, feel even more desperate and frustrated and repeat the cycle over and over and over again.

Why doesn’t dieting typically work?  To steal another quote from Elizabeth:

Because the body views dieting as a famine (it doesn’t know what a bikini is or why you’d want to starve yourself to wear one). The body detects a lack of energy coming from food, so it turns to alternative energy sources to cope with the shortage. And how does the body access alternative energy sources? By releasing stress hormones.

And while it’s much more complicated than this (I’m going to refrain from going into the actual physiology), the body will go into “preservation mode” and start storing fat to stave off a perceived threat.

As such, many women will continue this perpetual cycle, jump on the scale expecting that all their suffering will somehow lead to weight loss, only to be disappointed, pissed off, frustrated, and thiiiiiiis close to punching a kitten in the mouth.

True story.

On the training side of the equation, we typically have the treadmill/Zumba class/step-aerobics/ avoid lifting weights at all costs camp.

Listen, I’m not here to bash “cardio.” I recognize that it’s part of the equation and that any well-rounded fitness/health routine will include some (key word: some).

That said, 100% of the time I feel it’s drastically overemphasized and could be more deleterious than beneficial.  While I don’t want to go into the semantics here and start WWIII, I’ll just defer to an excellent (albeit controversial) article that John Kiefer wrote a while back titled Women: Running Into Trouble.

With that little song and dance out of the way I’ll admit it:  I’m biased.  I’m a strength coach, so of course I’m going to be adamant that women actually lift weights.  Appreciable weights.  None of this soup can/pink-dumbbell high rep nonsense.

Listen: If you want to change how your body looks – like, in a “holy shit, did I go to high school with you?” kind of way – you actually have to put forth some effort.

You need to actually provide enough of a stress to make it change.

Deep down, do you really think that lifting a weight that weighs less than your purse is going to do anything as far as body composition goes?

Come on, really?

No seriously, really?

You get out of it what you put in. If you lift light weights, your body is going to represent that fact: You’ll look frail and weak.

Maybe that’s what you want.  And if so, more power to you. I guess.  But I doubt that’s the case.

Now I’m not saying women have to lift weights so that they can win a knife fight in a back alley or challenge The Rock to an arm wrestling match, but I can’t stress enough how crucial it is to, you know, actually challenge the body and work.

Only then will you see the fruits of your labor.

Which is why I’d much rather see women focus more on strength/performance based goals rather than the scale to gauge progress/success.

Without getting overly technical, one lb of muscle weighs the same as one lb of fat, albeit takes up 25% less space. This is why you will often see contestants on the television show “The Biggest Loser” weigh the same as many professional athletes, despite being the twice the size.

Following a resistance training program helps build muscle which increases strength and firmness. Aside from that, muscle is also metabolically active tissue which will also helps you burn more fat. In essence, someone might see very little overall weight loss or even GAIN weight in order to achieve “the look.”

The latter is especially true for petite women.

As an example, a 5 foot 4 ,140 lb woman with 25% body fat wants to look leaner and achieve that “toned” look. I just threw up a little in my mouth using the word toned, but I’ll run with it to get my point across.

She wants those flabby arms to go away and she wants to fit into those pair of jeans that she used to wear back in college. To do so, this particular woman feels she should lose weight and get down to 110-115 lbs through restrictive dieting and copious amounts of cardio. If she takes that course, she may look thinner, but at the expense of looking like a smaller, weaker version of her original self.

Conversely, let’s take the right course instead.

Six months later the same 5’4” woman has followed a resistance training program (which is also great for strengthening bones and preventing osteoporosis), changed her diet to include more healthy fats (fish oil, nuts, avocado, olive oil, butter, coconut oil, etc) protein (ie: chicken breast, lean beef, eggs, cottage cheese, whey protein shakes) and less refined carbohydrates (ie: cereal bars, bagels, 100 calorie snack foods), and most importantly, she threw away her scale.

She made more QUALITATIVE goals and challenged herself to work up to being able to do five, un-assisted chin-ups as well as deadlift 200 lbs.

Mind you:  when she started, she wasn’t even close to doing ONE chin-up, and could barely deadlift 100 lbs without shitting a liver.

Now she’s 135 lbs with 18% body fat. She lost eleven lbs of fat and gained six lbs of lean muscle, for a net loss of only five lbs.

But she looks like she lost 15 lbs. She’s not “skinny-fat.” She’s stronger and healthier. And she can fit into those jeans no less!

Using a more real life example, here’s a before/after pic that’s made its way around the internet which I feel gets the message across pretty concretely:

Most women would faint at the notion of GAINING nine lbs, but try to tell me that the after picture doesn’t look like she LOST weight?

You see:  the scale only measure QUANTITATIVE progress.  For some, especially those who are morbidly obese and need to lose weight for health reasons, it makes sense to track weight using the scale.  For everyone else, however, it’s nothing more than mind f***.

Seeing the number on a scale go down doesn’t really tell you the QUALITY of weight being lost. As noted above, many will sacrifice muscle – which I’d argue you want to keep as much of as possible – in lieu of just seeing a loss. Any loss.

Hell, losing weight is easy.

1.  Don’t drink any water for a day.

2.  Go to the bathroom and drop it like it’s hot.

Problem solved.

See what I mean? Seeing a number dip on the scale doesn’t tell you the quality of the weight being lost.

And just to save face, as I noted above, for some, using the scale makes sense. Those who need to lose weight for health reasons would be high on the list.

Likewise, I’d even go so far as to say that those who take more of a Curious George approach and are very inquisitive or “in tune” with their bodies (think: physique athletes) would fall into this camp as well.

For most, they just want to see what variables – following a certain diet plan (low carb/high carb, intermittent fasting, Paleo?) or exercise routine (5/3/1, body part splits)  – will do as far as fluctuations in their body weight.

This even applies to those who don’t compete, too.

As an example, I was having this conversation with one of my female clients, Claudia, who mentioned not too long ago how if she has a heavy salted meal the night prior, it’s not uncommon for her weight to go up 5 lbs (or more) the following day.

She likes to fiddle with “stuff” and see what affects her weight.

But she knows better and won’t jump in front a mack truck if she sees the scale go up a few lbs. She understands that if she gets back on task, the weight will go away after a few days.

To her credit, Claudia, who’s 48, always (and I mean always) stresses performance based goals over the scale.  Here she is crushing an EXTRA set of softball grip pull-ups after performing four sets prior:

And you know what?  I garner a guess that there’s plenty of women HALF her age who would kill to have her body.

Did I mention she’s 48?

She’s 48.

[And yes, I had permission to divulge her age]

Closing Up Shop

Many women make the mistake of equating progress with the number on the scale going down. If they don’t see the number going down on a weekly basis, they feel they’re failing. Let me make this simple. The scale can be very misleading and in a lot of ways, invalid.

How do you know the weight you’re losing is fat and not valuable muscle?

You should be more concerned with what the mirror is telling you. Are you losing inches around the body? Do your clothes fit better?  Are you lifting more weight now compared to two months ago?  Can you bang out ten crisp push-ups whereas before you could barely do one?

Perhaps these results are less quantifiable and harder to notice, however, the sooner you realize that these are better indicators of progress, the better off you will be.

This isn’t to say the above is an all encompassing mentality either.  I realize that there are extenuating circumstances, and that utilizing the scale does have some merit. But for 95% of the women who are reading this post, it doesn’t correlate to much.

Actionable Item

Do yourself a favor:  for TWO months ditch the scale.  Give yourself a goal. It could be squatting “x” weight for “y” reps, improving bench press technique, performing your first chin-up, doing a handstand!  Anything!  Whatever you do, just focus on that instead.

Don’t let the scale dictate your mindset.

Two months. Thats it. (<======= DO IT!!!)

CategoriesFemale Training Motivational

Want To Really Earn Your Cake?

My sincerest thoughts go out to all of those who live in the NorthEast (particularly New England), and it’s my hope everyone made it through Snowmeggedon 2013 safely and without much incident.

I’m not going to sugarcoat anything: Boston got its butt handed to it, with roughly 30+ inches of snow. We woke up Saturday morning, looked outside, and both Lisa and I were like “whoa!”  After a few cups of tea, about a lb of bacon, a pep talk, and Lisa dressing me up like the little brother from A Christmas Story (I can’t move my arms!!!), I eventually made the trek out to do my fair share of the shoveling.

But being a central New Yorker at heart, and having grown up in the lake effect snow capital of the world, the storm paled in comparison to some of the doozies I experiences growing up.

However, just to give a bit more scope of how much snow we actually got, here’s a picture we snapped of someone’s car completely buried.

I spent a good hour digging out my car, and also did the good samaritan thing and shoveled out the two cars parked next to me as well.  It never hurts to earn some quality karma points in my book!

Anyways, the city was pretty much shut down for two days – no public transportation as well as a ban on driving (and parking) – while plans were made to remove all the snow.

By late yesterday morning (Sunday), all the main roads were cleared, or at least drivable, and most of the side streets were passable (albeit most were one-lane only), which is a testament to the city and all the folks who worked tirelessly to clean things up.

Well done, everyone.  Well done.

My only point of contention – and I realize I’m setting myself up as the ornery jerk here – is that I really wish the recreational runners of Boston would have some freakin common sense.

Now, I have absolutely nothing against runners, and I think any form exercise is better than nothing.

Having said that, while driving to work yesterday, on more than one occasion, I had to swerve to avoid someone running IN THE MIDDLE OF THE STEEET!!!!

As it was, the roads were narrow enough due to the mountains of snow everywhere. And it certainly didn’t make things easier to have to maneuver my car Jason Bourne style around human beings.

What really irked me was the borderline cavalier attitude many (not all) of them had. As if it was perfectly normal to be running in the middle of the street the day after one of the biggest winter storms in more than 20 years.

Okay, more power to them. And I respect anyone who will still go out of their way to not skip a workout.

But have a little feel!

La-la-la-la-la-dee-de-dum-la-la. Oh look!  I-95 is clear!!!  Fartleks!!!!!!!!!!

Likewise, the sidewalks weren’t much better.  Most were very narrow and very icy, yet when walking to the store to get some needed items, both Lisa and I (as well as all the other pedestrians out) had to dodge all the various runners zipping past as if they were getting any benefit for being out there in the first place.  I mean, it seemed like most were attempting to NOT break an ankle rather than trying to maintain a specific tempo.

Would it have killed them to skip one day, or, if they really needed to get their heart rate up, to I don’t know, shovel a sidewalk???

Okay, I’ll step off my soapbox now. Just talking about it makes me want to jump through a window.

Switching gears, the snowstorm served as an impetus for something else, too. Something a little less irritating.  It gave me the opportunity to catch up on some much needed reading.

I was sent a copy of Dan John’s latest book, Intervention, a few weeks ago and unfortunately it was relegated to my “to read later when I have time” pile.

Since I wasn’t going anywhere for the foreseeable future, I decided to hunker down and read a few chapters.

Not surprisingly, I loved it!  I pretty much love anything Dan John writes, and this was no different. And why not:  he has over 30+ year of coaching experience.

While I still have a ways to go before I finish it, there was one passage I wanted to share that really resonated with me and helped feed into my incessant campaign on why I continue to encourage women to turn to strength training in lieu of those lame cardio-pump classes.

And yes, sometimes even running.

Here’s the passage:

Recently, a woman told me her friends can’t make a mistake.

What? Well, what she told me was this: Since they were attacking fat loss with aerobic work and strict dieting, they didn’t have any wiggle room. The woman, who holds herself nearly year-round at a very impressive 19% bodyfat, told me she enjoys desserts, cocktails, BBQs and fine food. But, and this is a big but, she can also do 10 pullups. She is very strong in the weightroom. In other words, her glass is so big, she can afford to cheat a little here and there.

That made no sense to me. Then I watched her train and thought about some other women I work with. When she presses an impressive kettlebell overhead (half her bodyweight with one hand!), her entire system has to gather up resources, and then adapt and recover from the effort. When little Edna at my gym thinks the five-pound dumbbell is heavy, she isn’t going to tax her body very hard.

Edna can’t eat cake.

Ladies: read that again and let it sink in. I’ll explain a few things in a second.

I’m not kidding, read it again.

Now for most, you may be wondering what the whole ” her glass is so big, she can afford to cheat a little hear and there” means.

What kind of glass are we talking about here?  A standard 8 oz glass?  A wine glass?  An Optimus Prime collectors mug I got in a Happy Meal circa 1985?

Well, any glass really. The idea, though, is to make the glass bigger!

This is an analogy I first heard from Eric Cressey in his Ultimate Off-Season Training Manual, and again later on from Master RKC instructor, Brett Jones.

Think of strength as a glass, and the water inside the glass as all the “qualities” we train for:  endurance, strength-endurance, power, agility, speed strength, strength speed, having the ability to somehow take F.O.R.E.V.E.R in the bathroom getting ready, you know, those types of things.

The smaller your glass, the less “qualities” you’re able to express, let alone at a high level.  That said…..

Strength is the basis for everything. 

You can’t be “fast” without having some semblance of strength (or horsepower) in reserve.  You can’t improve your timed mile, or taking a bit further, your marathon time if you can’t generate more force into the ground to propel yourself forward.

The larger you make your glass, the more liquid your’re able to place inside said glass, and the likelihood your performance improves.  Whatever your endeavors may be.

If you’re weak, the glass is almost filled to the brim, and there’s little room for improvement.  And, I’d even argue for those more aesthetically minded:  you can’t even come close to getting as lean as you’d like if you’re weak in the first place.

If you’re someone who’s idea of “working out” is performing endless repetitions of arm circles, curls, and extensions with those cute, 5 lb pink dumbbells – and it’s hard – guess what?

You can’t have cake.

And that sucks.

Conversely, if you’re someone who places a premium on getting stronger (maybe working towards being able to perform ten solid push-ups, or one dead hang bodyweight pull-up, or maybe 1.5x bodyweight deadlift, or something as simple as learning how to squat properly), and you actually place a stress upon your body and force it to, you know, do something…… and do it hard……

……the more “wiggle room” you have when it comes to your nutrition.

While not a concrete train of thought, I think most people reading can appreciate the general tone I’m getting at here.

For example here’s Lisa this past Saturday afternoon while we were snowed in.  While she could have just as easily watched The Notebook or forced me to watch a Julia Roberts marathon, she didn’t.  Instead she spent part of the afternoon randomly walking up to the chin-up bar and busting out some reps.  Here’s her third set of five:

 

Not to brag, but I don’t think there are many women out there who could just casually walk up to a chin-up bar and start busting out reps.

Wanna know what else she can do:

– Bench press 160 lbs.

– Deadlift 225+ lbs for reps.

– Perform 10+ flawless push-ups.

– Teach 4 spin classes per week.

– Read the Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy in one week (true story).

– Leap tall buildings in a single bound (less true, but I wouldn’t be surprised if she could actually do it).

Wanna know what else she does:

She feels no remorse when we go out to eat on the weekends and orders a steak (with potatoes) and dessert afterwards.

She also eats out of the bread bowl.  GASP!!!!!!!!!

To her credit:  she works her ass off, and has put in A LOT of hours in the gym to look how she looks.

As Coach John alluded to:  she doesn’t necessarily have to be as “on point” with her nutrition (even though she is) and can get away with a few cheats here and there because she’s STRONG!

This isn’t to suggest that every female reading needs to rush out to their nearest gym and commandeer the squat rack (although, that would be pretty cool).  All I’m suggesting is that it wouldn’t hurt to turn the page, turn off the Tracy Anderson DVD, and start lifting some appreciable weight.

I’m not saying all of this to be snarky, and I hope it’s not coming across as such.  In every sense, I’m saying all of this to EMPOWER you.

For some this should read as a profound epiphany.

At least, I hope it is.

CategoriesFemale Training Motivational

A New and Better Butt? Why Not a STRONGER Butt?

Today’s post comes courtesy of my internet buddy, Emily Giza Socolinsky. Some of you might recognize her since I’ve linked to several of her articles in the past. She sent this one my way last week, and after reading it (and doing a few cartwheels down the street because 1) why not? and 2) this article was the bees knees and deserved it) I asked if she would be cool with me slapping in on my site for your viewing pleasure.

I mean, what’s not to love?  She talks about badonkadonks.  More specifically she discusses the outright pervasive attitude that much of our mainstream culture has towards women and how they “should” look, as well as its meager attempts at offering training advice.

To be blunt:  I trust the mainstream media with giving fitness advice towards women about as much as I trust a barber with a mullet.

To that end, this one is a doozy and sends an absolutely wonderful and positive message.  It’s my hope that you’ll read it.

I don’t get women into my gym by promising them a great ass. They acquire their awesome asses as a result of doing goblet squats, split squats, kettlebell swings, step ups, reverse lunges, deadlifts…you get the picture.

I don’t promise them “toned” arms. But they end up with awesome arms from push ups, rows, chin ups, face pulls, presses….you get the picture.

In fact, I don’t promise them anything. They come to me because they want to get stronger. They come to me because they want to move better. They come to me because as one of my clients said to me today, “Because I don’t want to be in pain. Because I want to be able to keep moving this way when I am 90.” And of course, I will not deny the fact that many of them also want to look better too. I am not going to ignore the fact that most women wish they had ______. (You fill in the blank.)

I just want other things to take priority.

Because if you promise a woman a better butt or if you promise weight loss or toned arms and after weeks of exercising, it doesn’t happen as fast as they like, she will be left feeling worse about herself than she did before she started.

I think that these type of promises encourage negative thinking in women. I think that when you focus on body image, you put a woman’s body image before performance, before health, before confidence.  These empty promises encourage a woman to feel bad about herself, not better and honestly, she has enough to feel bad about as a woman. Remember, it is hard enough just being a woman (I wrote about that recently here.)

So in my mind, these types of promises should not exist. It is easier and WAY more satisfying to build a woman’s confidence by introducing her to the deadlift (by the way, a great ass exercise), boost her self-esteem by teaching her how to do a proper push up (toned arms anyone?) or a barbell squat (another great ass exercise) than just help her fit into a pair of pants. Women do not need to be reminded of what they don’t have. They need to be reminded of what they DO have and they need to be coached how to use the body they DO have.

Just ask my ladies.

The other night, after watching one of my clients bang out a set of 10 push ups, my husband asked her if she started off at my place with such good push ups. “NO way,” she said. “This is what I am most proud of too. My push ups.” She told me that she has also been getting compliments right and left from friends about how awesome she looks and these friends just cannot wrap their heads around the fact that all she has been doing is squatting, pressing and rowing.

No running? They ask. No cardio, she tells them aside from a few ball slams and rope slams here and there.  Of course, she said, she would rather them ask her how much she can squat these days than how she got her body.

This past summer, I wrote an article about my ladies and their feelings about strength training. You can read it here. The women speak about the empowerment they feel as a result of strength training, how much more confidence they have in their daily lives, how they are able to do things they never thought was possible.

They talk about the focus and concentration that goes into training, why they do it, what they get from it. And yet, I still find it difficult to get some women to believe in the power of the iron. I was recently on my Facebook News Feed and I saw a post by a friend of mine (a dancer) who was talking about building a new butt for the new year at Pop Physique. I had heard of this place (it’s a chain) and knew that it was just another type of barre class (They are popping up like mad all over the city. You can read about my feelings  in regards to barre classes here.)

Note from TG:  I actually linked to Emily’s article above in a recent Stuff to Read While You’re Pretending to Work segment, and the feedback/response that it received was nothing short of awesome.  If you’re someone caught in the “dancing/yoga/pilates/pick your poison trap” and think such classes are the key to lean, toned arms, I HIGHLY encourage you to read it.

I checked out the website and the first thing staring at me was some woman’s ass. Ugh. Seriously?

Right there, I knew what this place was all about. With a little more digging, I found a YouTube clip from one of the classes. Take a look.

What bothers me the most (I was face palming so much I turned my forehead red – it was like hearing nails on a blackboard), was the fact that the woman interviewing the instructor in the video is seen at the beginning of the video standing in front of a squat rack with a loaded barbell. Loaded with 45lb plates and a couple of smaller plates.

A squat rack people.

The clip then goes on to show women pulsing with 3lb dumbbells and then humping a ball. WTH? Where did the squat rack go? Why was it there in the first place? To tease us women who believe in the power of the rack? For the love of…..where the hell did the squat rack go??? NOOOOOO!

Okay, okay….I get it. The point of these classes is to  build a better butt. How do you do that when you use no resistance?

Do you want to see what a butt looks like from a barre class? Cue picture to your right. Whoa. Now, mind you, during this time, I was also teaching cycling and doing some machine work at the gym. But this is my butt after two years of barre classes. Flat as a pancake. Non-existent. Is it even there, you ask? I just see wrinkles.

Yes, there is something beneath the pants. Not much though. And look at my chicken arms too. Hell, look at my breast. Where is the muscle????? Where is the butt? I thought I looked great…..until I saw this picture and saw my body and realized how pathetically weak I looked.

I had recently lost weight too (due to not eating as a result of my back injury – in too much pain to eat. This was the year I had my relapse.) But all the time I was teaching my barre class. I was squeezing and pulsing, squeezing and pulsing. Where was my ass to show for all that work??

Fast forward one year. ONE year.

Take a look at my ass now after a year of squatting, deadlifting, pressing, benching, doing chin ups, push ups.  Uh, big difference, wouldn’t you say? I was still teaching my barre classes (this was the year before I opened my gym), but what had I added into my program that was not there before? You guessed it. Heavy squats, deadlifts, glute bridges.

More specifically, weight. Weight, people. Weight. None of that 3lb bullsh**.  Real weight.

And more weight. And more weight. My goal was a stronger butt, not a “better butt. Hell, my goal was to just get stronger. The butt came as a bonus from all the hard work.

And I continue to work on getting stronger each and everytime I train. And consequently, my glutes get stronger too.

So, ladies, if you are looking to build a stronger, more able backside, please for the love of all that is humane in this great world, give up humping the barre while squeezing a ball between your thighs and grab a freaking dumbbell and start doing some goblet squats.

Or teach yourself how to do a kettlebell swing. Holy backside Batman! Or roll a barbell over your hips and thrust away! Your glutes will thank you and will appreciate the work. Because the work you do in your “build a better butt class for the New Year” will only work for some time then it stops working because nothing has changed. No resistance has been added. If you stick with 3lb dumbbells, you will end up looking the same. The body adapts. So, instead of working towards a cute ass, why not do yourself a real favor and work towards a stronger body and consequently, a stronger, maybe cuter ass.

Author’s Bio

Emily is a certified Starting Strength Coach, AFAA certified, USA Weightlifting certified Level 1 Sports Performance Coach, and cycle certified through Madd Dogg Athletics. Emily holds a Masters degree in Education and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Dance from the University of Maryland at Baltimore County. As a fitness coach and mentor, she has helped many clients explore their true potential through hard work and persistence. Emily has also been active as a professional dancer and teacher for over 20 years. During that time, she has focused on strength training and a variety of cross-training methods that helped her grow and develop as a dancer and athlete.

For more information, visit her website HERE.

CategoriesStuff to Read While You're Pretending to Work

Lift Like a Girl?

I know I seemingly talk about my girlfriend a lot on this blog (what can I say:  she’s the shit), but today I have a story that I think a lot of the ladies reading will appreciate.

Lisa (said girlfriend) is a fitness enthusiast who likes to train, eat dead animals, and who also teaches a few spin classes throughout the week for the heck of it (and for the free gym membership).  It’s serious business for her.  The night prior to every class she’ll make a new playlist, figuring out which songs should be used for sprints, seated climbs, as well as which ones she’ll use for their general awesome factor.

Not surprisingly, as someone who talks the talk and walks it, Lisa’s classes are routinely jam packed and she has her own “cult following” of spinners who follow her religiously. Rain or shine.

She also has a fair share of newcomers who sporadically attend her class, and she’s always welcoming and more than willing to offer feedback and advice.

As it happened – and this actually happens quite a bit – last week Lisa was approached by a woman who attended her class for the first time and asked whether or not she (Lisa) also teaches an “arms class.”

For a visual reference, see picture below.  Lisa is the one who’s not wearing blue.  And has hair.

Looking somewhat perplexed, Lisa was like “excuse me?”  The woman then said, “you know, an arms class…..kickbacks, bicep curls, etc.  What did you do to get your arms!?”

Always playing the modest card, Lisa said “thank you,” and matter-of-factly stated that she lifts weights 3x per week and got her arms by doing a lot of chin-ups and push-ups.

Probably not the answer the woman wanted to hear, but such is life.  If you want to actually look like you lift weights, or even if you don’t and all you want is to give your body some semblance of shape, contour, or definition (I can’t bring myself to say “toned”), you NEED TO LIFT APPRECIATE WEIGHT!!!!!!

There are no ifs, ands, or buts about it.

Which is why I’m STOKED about Nia Shanks’ new product:

Lift Like a Girl Guide

 

Nia and I have been friends for a few years now, I respect the hell out of her, love everything that she represents, and I consider her the ambassador for female training.

Like myself Nia has long been telling women that they should focus more on training for PERFORMANCE, even if their goal is fat loss.

Even if you want to lose fat, setting achievable, measureable goals like being able to perform ten push-ups, deadlifting 1.5x your bodyweight, or working up to your first-ever unassisted chin-up, is the key.

If you want that toned (there I said it), athletic look, you need to drop the pink dumbbells and Zumba class, and lift real weights.

***And not view food as your enemy (which Nia also addresses)

The Lift Like a Girl Guide is Nia’s opus, and something I feel is going to open the floodgates for a lot of women with regards to learning HOW to train and eat the right way.  Not to mention set them up for a world of confidence moving forward.

Funnily enough, Nia sent me an advance copy and as I was listening/watching her first presentation last Sunday afternoon out on the patio, Lisa was within earshot doing some food prep in the kitchen.

Repeatedly I kept hearing her belt out “AMEN!!!!!” in response to everything Nia was saying. After about 20 minutes Lisa walked out to where I was sitting and said, “this is such a wonderful message to give women.”

I think of Nia were in the room at the time, the two of them would have shared a Thelma and Louise moment for sure.

So if it’s any consolation to anyone reading, Lisa gives it a HUGE thumbs up.

The objective here is simple: to get stronger, leaner, and healthier in the shortest amount of time possible.  That way there’s more time to do stuff that girls like to do.  You know, stuff like watching clips of Ryan Gosling being Ryan Gosling, and talking about “feelings” and what not.

Okay, just kidding (but not really).

What’s more, not only are you going to learn how to lift like a girl, but Nia also discusses how to EAT and THINK like a girl, too.

And, to throw a cherry on top: Nia says that if anyone who follows this program gets “big and bulky,” you can go to her house and personally Sparta kick her in the kidney.

It’s really a win-win. What have you got to lose?

—> Lift Like a Girl Guide <—

 

CategoriesUncategorized

Chin-Up Progressions for Women (The One Rep Hump) – Part II

Okay, before I continue with second part of this post, two things need to happen:

1.  If you haven’t already, you need to check out PART I. I’m not going to sit here and say it’s the best thing ever written on the internet (although it’s pretty close), but it definitely sets the tone for the entire piece as a whole, and well, not reading part I before reading part II is kind of like watching The Empire Strikes Back before A New Hope.  It’s just crazy talk!

2.  And since that was an obvious attempt at a segue for me to briefly talk about the Oscars last night, I’m rolling with it.

  • It was great to have Billy Crystal back hosting.  The man is a class-act. Sure, there were some awkward silences when a joke or two (or seventeen) didn’t work; but whatever.  I was entertained, and that’s all that matters.
  • Angelina needs to eat something for the love of god! In fact, while watching the show, both Lisa and myself commented on how Skeletor skinny many of the women appeared.  Granted, she’s now spewing out nonsensical dieting tips like eating apples only grown underneath rainbows or anything like that, so who am I to judge? But is it any wonder why there’s an on going image war in our society on what’s the ideal “look” for women to aspire for?
  • I was really happy to see that Hugo won for Best Cinematography as well as Art Direction.
  • J-Jo was bringing it last night.  Like whoa!

  • In general, 2011 was a pretty weak year for movies.  I mean, sure, The Artist was a good film, and I’m “okay” with it winning for Best Picture, etc.  But lets be honest:  come this time next year, NO ONE is going to remember that it won, and it’s certainly not going to linger in people’s minds.  When they showed one of the numerous montages of past films, I couldn’t help but feel that NONE of the films that were nominated for Best Picture this year would ever be included in such a montage alongside classics (and not necessarily Best Picture winners) like GoodFellas, The Godfather, Jaws, Shawshank Redemption, Forrest Gump, so on and so forth.  Here’s hoping that 2012 is a little more spectacular.

Okay, on to matters at hand:  how to rock your first chin-up.  Unfortunately, not every woman is like Linda Hamilton in Terminator 2 busting out chin-ups in a psyche ward.

Then again, not everyone banged a dude from the future and is preparing for the end of the world run by machines. To each his own, I suppose.

Nevertheless, the point here isn’t to necessarily compare yourself to John Connor’s mom (although that’s pretty badass), but rather to show you some strategies you can implement to help take yourself from from Point A (you want me to do what now?)…………

……to Point B (I can do a chin-up, bitches!).

As you may recall, in part one, I went out of my way to suggest that having a little attitude is a good thing, as well as described some unique TRX progressions one can use to help “grease” more of a vertical pulling motion.

Of course, this begs the question:  what happens if you don’t have access to a TRX unit?

Well, you could always purchase one (hint hint, wink wink). For what it would cost to buy a knock-off Coach bag, you can get a TRX.

Just sayin……

In addition, you could also try these other modalities that we like to use with our female clients at Cressey Performance.

Eccentric Only Chin-Ups

Put in simple terms, the eccentric (or the yielding/lowering portion of the movement) is a fantastic way to help build specific strength within that ROM.

Getting geeky for a second, in terms of the actual mechanism, the muscle lengthens while under tension due to the opposing force (body weight) being greater than the force produced by the muscle. Unlike a concentric contraction, where the joint is pulled in the direction of the muscle contraction, in an eccentric contraction the muscle acts to decelerate the joint at the end of a movement.

What’s more, and this is pretty cool:  the body is a shit ton (<– that’s a lot) STRONGER eccentrically than it is concentrically.  Put another way, it’s much easier to lower yourself (controlled) from the chin-up bar than it is to lift yourself from a dead-hang, where you have to “overcome”  the weight of your own body.

Depending on one’s height, you may have to play around with how high of a box you use to stand on to jump to the bar.  A little piece of advice, however:  set the box a little more forward so that when you do jump up, the body won’t sway back and forth as much.

From there, the concept is pretty self-explanatory.

  • Jump up to the bar so that your sternum touches the bar.  Remember, too, to keep your shoulder blades together AND depressed (shoulder blades in the back pocket).  No shrugging.
  • As controlled as possible, lower yourself until your arms come just short of locking out. The “controlled” part is what’s important.  This shouldn’t be a dive bomb towards the floor, but rather a nice 5+ second descent.  Don’t worry if you can’t get a full five seconds – again, it’s the controlled part that’s important.
  • Hop down, jump back up to the bar, and repeat.

Now, of course, how many reps one can do is going to be highly individual.  Grip strength is going to be a limiting factor, not to mention one’s strength levels from the get go.

To that end, I like to use several options.

1.  For the stronger females (one’s who can easily control the eccentric), I’ll shoot for straight sets.  Typically sets of 5-6 reps.  Eight if I really feel like being a masochistic bastard.

2.  Another option I like is to shoot for a specific number of repetitions.  For instance, I may say in their program “25 reps.  Get it done.  No complaining.” Which, if that’s the case, they have to hit that number regardless of how many sets it takes.  If I’m feeling really ambitious, I’ll go as high as 40-50 and I’ll just pair their chin-ups with something else (preferably with a exercise that won’t challenge the grip).

A1.  Chin-Ups (50 reps) – sets of five
A2.  Goblet Squats (x8), Push-Ups (x8) – alternate between sets of chin-ups.

***Meaning, they’ll perform a set of five eccentric chin-ups, and pair it with a goblet squat.  On their next set of chins, they’ll perform a set of push-ups.  From there, they’ll alternate back and forth until all required reps are completed.

3.  For those who are a bit weaker and can’t really perform five (controlled) reps, I’ll utilize more of a rest/pause approach.

So, in this case, I’ll still have them perform sets of 3-5, but with a little “break” in between each rep.  It may look something like this:

Perform 1 Rep
Rest 10-20 seconds
Perform 1 Rep
Rest 10-20 seconds
Perform 1 Rep
Rest 10-20 seconds
Perform 1 Rep
Rest 10-20 seconds (most likely give Tony the look of death)
Perform 1 Rep
Rest 2-3 minutes (flip Tony the bird)

4.  Another point to consider – and this is something that a female reader brought up in the comments section on Friday – is the whole “embarrassment factor.”  Understandably, some females are just intimidated and feel like the spotlight is directly on them when performing anything in the weight room.

As such, sometimes it’s more prudent to give them “homework” and have them perform “x” number of eccentric only reps throughout the day…….on their own……at their own discretion…..in the comfort of their own home.

I’m completely cool with that.

That said, go HERE and buy an Iron Gym.

With this option, again, the objective is to shoot for “x” number of reps throughout the day – 5, 10, till you can’t feel the left side if your face, whatever.  So, whether you allot a specific time to train, or you just happen to walk past the bar on your way to blow dry your hair, and you want to bang out a rep or two, it’s your call. The bar is there and no one is watching.  Have at it!

I’ve used this “homework” approach with several of our female clients, and they LOVE it.

Okay, that should keep the palette wet until tomorrow where I’ll discuss a handful of other options I like to use to get over that one rep hump.  Till then, as always, feel free to share your thoughts below.

CategoriesUncategorized

Chin-Up Progressions for Women (The One Rep Hump) – Part I

I’ve noted in the past that, outside of maybe a handful (who are working their tails off to get there), every female client that trains at Cressey Performance (above the age of 16) can do a real, dead start, arms fully extended, sternum to the bar, non-spastic looking, legit chin-up.  Usually for multiple reps.

In recent months it’s been almost epidemic. Seemingly every female client is on a mission to conquer the chin-up, and the fruits of their labor are blossoming like never before with teenage girls as well as 50+ year old women – some of which who have been training for more than half their life – achieving something that they never thought possible.

You see, they had always been told by friends, family, the bulk of women’s magazines (or more than likely, told themselves) that they could never, not in a million years, do an actual chin-up.

Oh no you didn’t!!!!!!!!

As you can imagine, I think that’s a bunch of silly talk, and nothing is more satisfying than proving each and every one of them that they’re flat out wrong.

Truth be told, it’s amazing what can happen when you cut through the BS, stop making excuses, hold people accountable, and place them in a training environment that doesn’t cater to their fears.

That latter point is something that really bugs me sometimes.  How often have you heard a woman say she’d really love to perform a chin-up, and then her trainer points her in the direction of one of those counterbalanced chin-up apparatuses, or worse, the seated lat pulldown machine.

Full disclosure:  I’m not entirely opposed to those machines.  There’s a time and place for them, just as there’s a time and place for a leg press (hahahahahahaaha.  Just kidding).

But in all seriousness, if I’m starting with someone who’s woefully weak – to the point where gripping a bar and holding their body weight is too challenging – and relatively inexperienced in the weight room, I have no issues whatsoever introducing them to exercises like lat pulldowns or counterbalanced chin-up/pull-up variations to help build strength within that movement pattern and “grease” proper technique:

  • Keep chin tucked
  • Pull through the elbows
  • Keep shoulder blades together and down (retracted and depressed).  Another cue I like here is to keep the shoulder blades in the back pocket.  This helps prevent any shrugging.
  • Finish at the sternum and squeeze!
  • Lower controlled, and come juuuuuuuuuuust short of locking the elbows outs (maintain tension).
  • Repeat and when done, cue Goose and Maverick high five.

Moving forward however, if you want to get more proficient with chin-ups (or pull-ups) it stands to reason that, eventually, you need to gravitate towards the actual chin-up/pull-up bar.  And, if I am to speak frankly, I really feel that utilizing the lat pulldown and counterbalanced machines, exclusively, is just putting a band-aid over an obvious strength issue, if not something more relevant altogether.

To me, serving as the umbrella of all of this – and certainly not to be understated – is the mentality that a vast majority of woman carry heading into such a task.

That they just can’t do a chin-up. Period.

STOP THIS!!!!

It’s counterproductive and all the negative self talk isn’t going to help matters.

[Takes deep breath]

I tried to figure out a way to say what I’m about to say in a more PC fashion, and after fiddling with a few different sentences, talking it over with several other females, and letting my thoughts stew for a few days, I just decided to go with it.  Here it is:

If you have the ability to grow a human being inside your body and push it out, you undoubtedly have the ability to bang out a chin-up.  And might I add:  in MUCH less time than nine months.

Understandably, I recognize how the statement above may rub some the wrong way (but hopefully most of the people reading “get” the context) – but it’s high time we stop making excuses and stop sugar coating things. Quit with the excuses.

That said, what follows are some of the exercises (and progressions) we like to use at Cressey Performance with many of our female clients to help them get over that 1-rep hump……….

TRX Progressions

Giving credit where credit is due, I actually “stole” these from Ottawa based strength coach Elsbeth Vaino, after a distance coaching client of mine directed me in her direction.  I thought these progressions were brilliant and rather than reinvent the wheel, I thought I’d pass them along and share them with you.

A few things to note beforehand:

1.  Before attempting these, it’s assumed that you can perform a regular TRX inverted row flawlessly.  If not, please don’t try these as it’s probably not going to look pretty.

2.  There’s a bit of trial and error involved in setting up the apparatus as you have to wrap the TRX around the bar in order to get the handles at the proper height.

3.  In the videos, I realize that Whitney is using more of a neutral grip rather than a standard supinated (underhand) grip while demonstrating the exercises.  It’s okay, I understand the difference between a chin-up and pull-up, so for those who were inevitably going to get their panties all up in a bunch and call me out……..relax.  I called myself out.  So there!

TRX Chin-Up Progression I

The main point to highlight here, is that Whitney is starting from her knees and then pulling herself up while using her feet to kinda “assist” herself up towards her chest. I don’t mind a little bit of “rocking” at the bottom as all I’m really concerned about here is grooving a more vertical pattern which carries over very well to the actual chin-up.

All the same rules apply in terms of proper technique:  shoulder blades in the back pocket, pull through the elbows, keep the chin tucked, control the eccentric (lowering) portion of the lift, increase your general level of awesomeness.

From there, we can progress the exercise into a more seated variation.

TRX Chin-Up Progression II

This does two things:

1.  Increases the range of motion.

2.  Forces Whitney to pull more of her own body weight.

Still, the objective is to grease more of a vertical pulling pattern, which can’t necessarily be down with a conventional inverted row.

TRX Chin-Up Progression III

Kicking it up a notch, we can then elevate Whitney’s feet onto a box (or stepper) and increase the ROM even further.

Simple, albeit very effective.

Among much else, these variations serve as an awesome way to get the ball rolling and to help better prepare the trainee for pulling her own body weight rather than relying on a machine to do so for her.

Of course, there are numerous other progressions (and even regressions) I like to implement, such as  band assisted variations as well as eccentric only variations, but those will have to wait until next week when I dive into part II.

Till then, feel free to share your thoughts below and offer your own insight into the matter.  I’d love to hear them!

CategoriesUncategorized

Tony Takes a Yoga Class – Part II

For those who missed it, yesterday I rehashed some of my (admittedly early in my career, albeit I still agree with 95% of it) thoughts on yoga.  And, what’s more, I left everyone in a bit of cliffhanger, stating that I did, in fact, attend my very first yoga class this past weekend.

To recap:

1.  Much of my “beef” with yoga is how it’s incessantly marketed towards women as the end-all/be-all of health and well-being.  It plays a part, but some of it’s claims are grossly embellished.

  • Long, lean muscles?  Sorry, but unless you’re Professor Dumbledore (which would be awesome) and can somehow change the attachment points of a muscle on a bone, you’re not lengthening anything.
  • Getting less fat?  Probably.  Lengthening a muscle?  Muhahahahahahaha.  That’s a good one.

2.  Given what most (not all) women are looking to accomplish with their bodies – lower body fat levels, increased bone density, increased LBM, to name a few – strength training trumps yoga in every aspect.

3.  I’m a strength coach, and as such, I’m going to advocate that people strength train. Well, duh!?!  Still, I’d be remiss to turn my back on the many benefits of yoga, and I’ll come to a compromise and state that it’s a component of a well-rounded routine……..

…..but not a whole.

4.  While I didn’t state this originally, I’d like to point out that as much as I may poo-poo on some aspects of yoga, much of the same can be said about any realm of fitness – whether we’re talking about massage therapists, manual therapist, strength coaches, or “celebrity” trainers.

There are plenty of personal trainers out there who don’t know their ass from their acetabulum that have their de-conditioned clients jump around on a BOSU ball.

5.  And finally…….WTF! I took a freakin yoga class!  That’s saying something, right? I mean, there are plenty of internet warriors out there not using their real names who talk a big game while sitting in their parent’s basement that never do or take part in whatever it is they’re trashing.

I don’t want to be one of those people.

Today, to change the pace, I’d rather steer clear of any bashing or anything else that may be misconstrued as “anti-yoga.”  Instead, I want to discuss – in an informal and conversational manner – my overall experience taking a yoga class.

A little back tracking is in order, however.

In a lot of ways a large reason why I took a yoga class in the first place was because my girlfriend, Lisa, happens to be a member of the website Groupon.com.  For those unfamiliar, it’s essentially a website that offers discounted “groupons” from local restaurants, taverns, spas, etc.

In a nutshell here’s how it works: a local restaurant offers a $25 “groupon” for $50 worth of food.   Assuming “x” number of people (group) purchase it, the deal is accepted, and everyone walks away happy.

We’ve used Groupon.com (as well as sites like LivingSocial.com and BuyWithMe.com) to eat at numerous restaurants around Boston we otherwise would never check out.  Likewise, last fall, Lisa jumped out of a plane and went sky diving using a similar service.

I skipped that one.

Nevertheless, one day Lisa saw that there was a Groupon for ten Yoga sessions at a local yoga studio.  She looked at me, hesitantly, and asked if I’d be interested?

I remember an article Dan John wrote awhile ago on how he and his wife took a yoga class every Sunday.  He loved it.  In addition, he noted how amazing he felt and how it was something that he and his wife looked forward to doing together after a stressful week.

“Sure,” I said, while thinking to myself, “If Dan John can take yoga classes, I can too.”

Besides, much in the same vein, it would be an excellent way for the two of us to do something different and “active” together other than just going to the movies or making a cameo appearance at Target.

Upon further reflection, though, it’s not like I’ve NEVER done yoga before.  Speaking truthfully, many (if not all) of the movements we include in our dynamic warm-ups have their foundation in yoga.

So in a sense, I have done yoga – albeit indirectly.

That said, like everyone else, the holiday season was chock full of parties, social gatherings, and being dragged – sometimes kicking and screaming – shopping.  So, up until last weekend it had been a challenge to find the time to actually go to a class.

Early last week, though, we checked the schedule online and noticed that there was a vinyasa class at 10 AM Sunday morning.

We marked the calender, committed ourselves (ie: Lisa bribed me with an omelet brunch afterwards), and waited for Sunday to arrive.

Sunday Arrives

With my testicles cupped in my left hand, Lisa and I walked 20 minutes to the studio.  Once there, I took this picture before heading up.

If there was ever a time I felt like I was going to shit a yoga block, this was it.  I was completely out of my element.

At the top of the stairs, Lisa and I turn the corner and are immediately surrounded by a raging fume of estrogen.  Not that it was a bad thing, I was just the ONLY dude, and felt like a bull in a China shop.

Comparing by contrast, I couldn’t help but think to myself that this must be what it feels like for women to walk into a weight room full of dudes who smell like rotten Ax Body Spray grunting, breathing heavy, and making any number of innumerable noises.  To say I was a wee bit intimidated and outside my comfort zone would have been an understatement.

Where do I put my shoes?

Am I supposed to grab a mat?

Do we have to pay for it?

What happens if I sweat all over the place? 

Am I going to be judged?

Jesus christ…..where do I put my hands!?!?!?!

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.  *jumps out a window*

Lisa slapped me across the face (actually, that didn’t happen), told me to chill, and to just follow her lead.

We walked into the studio and I observed that most of the women were lying on their back, feet together, with their heels up towards their tushes and arms spread out to their sides.  Lisa mentioned to me that this was called the Goddess pose.

Needing to elevate my testosterone levels in some fashion, I jokingly referenced the movie 300 and said “well, what’s the Sparta pose?”  She turned, gave me the look of death, and I sat on my mat and did the Goddess pose.

We laid there for like five minutes before the instructor – a youngish, tall female – made her way towards the front of the room.

As I noted yesterday, she started the class by asking if there was anyone new to yoga.

I sheepishly raised my hand, and that was about the extent of her interaction with me.  But more on that in a bit.  She then proceeded to ask the class if there were any injuries she needed to be aware of, blah blah blah, so on and so forth, and class began.

What followed was, to my knowledge, your typical vinyasa class.  Unlike hatha styled classes – where you hold specific poses for an allotted time – vinyasa incorporates more movement and you learn to “flow” with your breath.

I have to say, I liked it!  I was glad that we weren’t just sitting there in one spot holding our poses while twiddling our thumbs.  If anything, and as I alluded to above, many of the movements we used I was vaguely familiar with.  We performed a TON of warrior poses, which are right on par with a few dynamic drills we like to use at Cressey Performance

Furthermore, one of our “home base” poses was very similar to what would be considered a goblet squat in strength and conditioning circles:

Of course, I avoided those poses I deemed either too advanced (for me) or simply knew my spine would throw me the middle finger if attempted them in the first place.

The wheel pose, for instance:

For me, the wheel is just asking for trouble and would turn any spine into a walking ball of fail.

The strength coach in me couldn’t help but observe how many of the women moved, and at the expense of coming across like a douche, that pose would have been the LAST thing I’d have any of them perform.  But I digress.

At one point, the instructor grabbed one of the other students to have her demonstrate some random pose that, while impressive, was equally as likely to make my eyes bleed. Not wanting to miss the show, I just held my goblet squat pose and observed.

As the class came to a close, the latter ten minutes were spent lying supine on our backs, breathing deeply and letting our thoughts drift while listening to some dude chant over the stereo. I was thinking about the omelet I was going to dominate, but nevertheless, it was a relaxing way to end things.

And that was it. The music was shut off.  The instructor got up, and the students followed.

All told, it was DEFINITELY worth going.  Shocker right?  I bet you didn’t think I was going to say that, huh?  I left feeling refreshed, rejuvenated, and ready to seize the day.

Moreover, I don’t think my hips have felt that “open” since I was like 23, as evident by the picture I took upon leaving class.

My only issue was with the instructor. And this is something that bothered Lisa as well.  While the class was well taught, as I mentioned above she didn’t acknowledge me ONCE. Not a “hey how are you doing?” or a “is there anything you need further explanation on?” or a “excuse me, but can you please put your shirt back on?” Nothing.

She walked around, correcting various students.  She corrected Lisa, who was seated to my right. And she corrected the random girl who was seated to my left.  Me? Unless I’m the world’s most baller yoga newbie, I was a little taken aback by her lack of interest given I openly admitted – to the entire class no less – that I had never performed yoga before.

I mean, how would it come across if someone walked into my facility and I didn’t give them one second of my attention whether it was correcting their technique on a deadlift or simply asking how they’re doing?

What would that say about me as a fitness professional? They’d probably not think too highly of me, and the likelihood they’d come back would be fairly slim.

Now, I realize not all yoga instructors are like that, and maybe my experience was just an anomaly and she wasn’t used to working with men. Either way, it was disconcerting to say the least, and I doubt Lisa and I will return to that specific class in the near future.

We WILL be returning, however.

And that’s saying something.

In the grand scheme of things, I lift heavy stuff upwards of five times per week. In addition, I work in an environment that immerses me in a vortex of constant stimulation – coaching, cuing, yelling, listening to Rage Against the Machine all……the……..time – and I’d be lying if I said that spending a solid hour every week just relaxing and being in the moment doesn’t sound blissful.

I’m going to attempt to make a yoga a weekly “diversion” for myself.  I still believe it’s an over-hyped phenomenon that caters to the fears and negative connotations that a vast majority of women have towards strength training; and I do feel it can put people into compromising positions that can be dangerous.

Concurrently, as it relates to ME, it would be ignorant to turn my back on the obvious benefits it has to offer.

So with that, all I can say is……….yoga doesn’t mostly suck anymore.