I’m back home in Boston after spending the weekend in Sterling, VA (just outside of DC) where Dean Somerset and I had the honor of presenting our two-day Excellent High-Five Workshop at Underground Athlete to a group of 30 coaches and trainers – a few of which traveled all the way from Alabama and Massachusetts.
Giving credit where it’s due, I wanted to thank Underground Athlete owner Justin Case, his soon-to-be wife Cristal (they’re getting married in April, which led to a bit of wedding talk since Lisa and I set our date for late May), and the rest of UA coaching staff for being such gracious and welcoming hosts.
Photo Credit: UndergroundAthlete.com
I know I can speak for Dean in saying that we had an incredibly engaged group this past weekend, and a large reason for that was due to Justin and his staff helping to set the tone and for having such insatiable appetites to learn.
It was two-days chock full of assessments, taking people through the ropes (and learning that things like crawls, deadbugs, and birddogs are, in fact, challenging when done right), squats, deadlifts, talking about fascial lines, and me mistakingly using the word “intercourse” for “discourse” at one point, which made for some good laughs.
Plus, it didn’t hurt that they facility itself was/is beautiful (pretty much an athlete’s or serious weightlifter’s wet dream) and that there was enough beef jerky on hand to feed a small army.
One of the highlights for me – albeit a seemingly random one – was watching Justin and his staff spend a legit half hour yesterday after the workshop trying to one-up one another other with various athletic feats. Vertical jumps, broad jumps, 1-legged broad jumps, back flips, and a host of other shenanigans. Hell I’m surprised they didn’t attempt to run through a pane of glass to see 1) who could do it and 2) who could do it while being set on fire. And juggling swords.
It was just really cool to see the camaraderie and enthusiasm amongst the coaching staff.
Also, it was great to catch up with a few friends.
Steve and Kelsey Reed, two excellent VA/DC based coaches at SAPT Strength, and who some of you may recall got engaged on this very blog, attended this past weekend’s workshop.
I also had the chance to finally meet DC-based physical therapist and Girls Gone Strong contributor, Ann Wendel (and her fabulous shoes!).
She, her husband, Dean and I met up for some good eats.
We….ate….all….the…..food.
Shout out to Mokomandy located in Sterling for their delicious food (particularly their pot roast sliders. UNBELIEVABLE!!!!). I highly recommend checking it out if you live in that area.
Annnnnnyways
As is the case every time I travel, the day after I pretty much want to curl up on the couch with a vat of tea and watch Walking Dead episodes. There’s that and the umpteen million programs I need to write (give or take), in addition to some writing projects I need to get a head start on.
Note to my editors: please be patient…..;o)
Instead of writing a full blog post today, I wanted to share with you a few things that popped up on the internet that I was involved with.
1. PT Prophet Podcast
I had the opportunity to hop on a call with Hayden Wilson, the host of the PT Prophet Podcast, a few weeks ago and had a blast!
The podcast is geared towards personal trainers and fitness professionals who want to learn more about online training, internet marketing, and how to build your own brand/business.
We covered a lot of material, but the gist of it was to cover Cressey Sports Performance (and what I feel separates it from the masses as far as private training facilities are concerned), training athletes, my mentors, how I developed my writing style, and a plethora of other stuff.
Like I mentioned above, I had blast doing it and if you’re sitting there at work bored out of your mind, pop on some headphones and give it a listen HERE.
2. The Ultimate Pallof Press Guide
Anyone who’s read my site for any length of time knows how much I like Pallof Presses. I’d go so far to say that myself and Eric Cressey are the two guys who helped popularize the movement and introduce it to the masses back in the day.
In this article which I wrote for BodyBuilding.com I discuss not only where the name “Pallof Press” comes from, but why I feel it’s one of the best core exercise out there in addition to offering several ways to vary things up.
I’d also like to take this moment to put forth a motion that Jen Jewell – the lovely female model for the article – from this day forward, must demonstrate every exercise I discuss on this website. No excuses.
Can we make it a law or something? Seriously, gun control can wait. Priorities people!
