I’m heading back to my old stomping grounds this weekend in Upstate NY.
Tomorrow I’ll appear at my alma mater – SUNY Cortland – along with Mark Fisher, Dr. Cassandra Forsythe, Dr. Spencer Nadolsky, and Dr. John Brand for the SUNY Cortland Personal Training Conference.
[If you’re in the area – Syracuse, Rochester, Ithaca, Hoth – you should totally stop by. Day of registration is super affordable.1]
And then on Sunday I’ll head down to Elmira, NY to hang with my boy Jim “Smitty” Smith for a 1-day workshop I’ll be doing at New York Sport & Fitness.
Introducing new exercises to people is all about building context. This was a brilliant idea from Harold on how to use a hamstring bridge to better build context for the bent-over row.
I had the pleasure of recording an interview with Harold Gibbons, a fitness writer and trainer at Mark Fisher Fitness in NYC yesterday.
The word “interview” is used loosely here, because it wasn’t so much an interview as it was two intelligent and uncannily witty dudes sitting down to talk shop on things ranging from coaching and program design to more rabbit hole topics such as the Postural Restoration Institute and “corrective” exercise.
And, of course, there was Star Wars.
Not to mention Harold’s epic beard!
Nevertheless, if you’re sitting at work and need something to keep you occupied until lunch time or want something to listen to while you drive your car or ride the train, just press play.
Fair warning: If you’re listening to this in a public place or work, you may want some earphones because I cuss like a sailor at several points throughout. If, however, you have the coolest boss ever, and he or she doesn’t care, then by all means turn up the volume. It’s been said I have the voice of an angel.
Before I get into today’s meat and potatoes I wanted to take the opportunity to suggest some new movies I think some of you will like.
As most of you who read this blog consistently understand, I’m a huge movie nerd. I’d venture a guess that if I wasn’t a strength coach I’d probably try to figure out some way to become Kate Beckinsale’s cabana boy watch movies for a living.
Sort of like a more jacked version of Robert Ebert – except instead of something mundane like a star system or something trademarked like a thumbs-up/thumbs-down review (ALA Siskel & Ebert), I’d rank movies using a ” loaded” barbell system.
A barbell with no plates = god awful (Pain and Gain,The Hangover II, anything with the word Twilight in it).
From there, the more plates added onto the barbell dictates its level of badassery.
Ahhh, a guy can dream right?
Anyways, two movies I’ve watched recently that I felt were fairly decent and worthy of 3-4 plates were:
The former stars Brad Pitt as a hitman for hire and has some of the best cinematography I’ve seen in any film this year. Coincidentally, there was a movie that Pitt did a few years back with the same director called The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford which I felt was another highly UNDERrated film that didn’t get much fanfare despite being nominated for two Oscars (Best Supporting Actor – Casey Affleck, and Achievement in Cinematography).
A fair warning: It’s more of a dialogue based movie and doesn’t really have a lot of shoot em-up scenes despite the title. All I’ll add to that point is that I LOVE good dialogue and Pitt’s closing monologue is epic!
The latter movie – A Place Beyond the Pines – is one that Lisa and I have been meaning to see for a few weeks now. I mean, it’s Ryan Gosling – the man can do no wrong after Drive.
We finally had the chance to go see it yesterday. This film teams Gosling with director Derek Cianfrance, who also directed Gosling (and Michelle Williams) in a Blue Valentine (arguably one of the most depressing yet unflinchingly real films on the heartache of relationships), and while I wanted to really, really like this film, I had to give it a solid B- because it’s so freaking long.
The acting was superb – kudos to Bradley Cooper by the way – but there were a few plot points I felt didn’t jive, and while I appreciated the storyline (the first act focuses on Gosling’s character, the second on Cooper’s, and the third on their two sons, I don’t want to give away the “twist”), I felt it was a teeny tiny bit far reaching.
Nonetheless, if you’re looking for two non-Iron Man 3 movies to watch relatively soon, maybe these will be up your alley?
Talking Shop: Video Interview with Tony Gentilcore – Harold Gibbons
I had the pleasure of sitting down for a Skype video interview with my pal Harold Gibbons last week where we discussed everything from why Yoda would make such an amazing strength coach to the fitness writing process. And lots of other stuff in between.
If you’re looking for an hour to kill while you’re sitting there at your desk hating life and think listening to my sultry voice would help pass the time, then I’d highly recommend slapping on a pair of headphones and give it a listen.
This was easily of the funnest interviews I’ve ever done.
And look! There’s a dragon in the background. Sweet!……;o)
I’m about as adept at olympic lifting as I am at playing poker. Which is to say, I’m god awful. Speaking truthfully I don’t have a lot of experience with the OLY lifts which is why I generally steer clear of them and point people in the direction of guys like Wil whenever someone is interested in dabbling a little bit.
Even if OLY lifting isn’t your bag this was a fantastic post which digs into some common mobility restrictions. Check out the t-spine drill!
On an aside, for those who are interesting in OLY lifting, I’d highly recommend Wil’s Complete Olympic Lifting DVD.
Research will tell you that people tend to gravitate towards articles or blogs that are enumerated. People love numbers, which is why some of the more popular articles you’ll come across – at least those that get circulated the most – are ones with a number attached.
I’ve written a few with this in mind, and I can attest that the number theory works:
In the article linked above, Todd does an amazing job of dissecting another article written by one Ann Marie on why she’s not a fan of going Paleo. Just to give you a small taste of her train of thought:
Paleo is a fad diet.
This despite the fact that humans have essentially been eating “Paleo” since the beginning of time. Sorry, but we didn’t eat Pop Tarts back in the day.
While I agree that the term “I’m eating Paleo” gets a bit overplayed by some people and many take it to the extreme to the point of coming across as elitest doucheholes (okay dude, I get it, you like butter), to say that it’s some “fad” akin to something like the Baby Food Diet, is a bit misnomer.
Paleo is here to stay, and I view it as more of a lifestyle than a fad.
Bread isn’t all that bad and humans thrive on it!
Um, no, we don’t.
But whatever. I’m not here to sway anyone one way or the other. I like the Paleo approach, but I certainly don’t adhere to it 100% of the time. If you want to eat bread, eat bread. But please don’t play it off like it’s some kind of panacea of health, when we certainly know otherwise.
Either way, I felt Todd wrote a very well written article and basically pwned this Ann Marie person. Well played, sir. Well played.
I agree with Harold. Yoga is great for mental health and can undoubtedly help improve one’s flexibility (when applied correctly). But to say that yoga is also great for building strength as well as providing a metabolic stimulus is a bit of a stretch.
HA! Pun totally intended!
Here, Harold breaks down a few common yoga poses and transforms them into something a little more palatable for those interested in getting stronger (while still reaping the benefits of increased flexibility and mobility).
I received an email not too long ago from someone asking me whether or not there was another way to go about tracking one’s workouts without having to keep one of those mundane hand-written training logs.
Coincidentally enough, as of the past two months or so, I’ve been tracking my own training sessions on WeightTraining.com, and I LOVE it.
In an ever evolving digitized world (who needs pencils anyways?) WT.com is perfect for keeping track of your workouts, and what’s more, provides a fun and supportive “network” that will definitely help keep you more accountable.
Moreover, they provide one of the more extensive (and growing) exercise databases on the web along with various programs to follow written by their very own personal trainers, many of which are absolutely free.
