Gentle reminder fellas: I Love You, Even Though Sometimes I Think About Drop Kicking You In the Face. Here Are Some Flowers and Lets Go Eat An Expensive Steak Dinner Day Valentine’s Day is this weekend.

It’ll be mine and Lisa’s first V-Day as a married couple.

Since this year the actual day falls on Sunday, Saturday night is unofficially the real Valentine’s Day. Lisa is going wine tasting with a friend, and I’m going to go see Deadpool at IMAX with Kevin Larrabee.

Who says romance is dead when you put a ring on it?…..;o)

No worries: I’ll figure something out. A box of chocolates¹, a foot massage, maybe a little Netflix and chill.  BOM CHICKA BOM BOM.

Quick-n-Dirty Updates

1) Be sure to peruse my upcoming speaking schedule. Dean Somerset and I will be kicking off our Complete Shoulder & Hip Workshop (2016 Edition) near Toronto in a few weeks, and then it’s off to Seattle, WA.

And then EUROPE (Prague and Oslo, respectively).

I also have several solo gigs in the works in NY, PA, and MA as well. For more info and to register go HERE.

2) Eric Cressey’s $30 OFF sale on The High Performance Handbook ends this weekend. Oh snap, did I mention Valentine’s Day is this weekend? (Hint, hint, nudge, nudge).

What better present than 16 weeks of one of the world’s best strength and conditioning coaches showing your loved one the ropes?

Or you could buy it for yourself and tell your loved one their present is deadlift PRs, better hip mobility, and pecs/glutes for days (retroactive in 16 weeks).

Don’t miss you, go HERE.

3) Check out one of my new favorite back exercises…the Seal Row.

Seal rows. Per my coach’s (@thestrengthhouse) instruction I had these in my program today. These are great for upper back development, particularly the lats. Some key things to consider on the set up. 1) be sure you use a bench or any elevated surface that allows you to fully extend your arms (ideally the shoulder blades should be moving around the rib cage). 2) brace your abs and squeeze glutes (this will help with preventing hyper-extension of lumbar spine). 3) try to keep neck packed. 4) pull elbows towards hips (barbell will gravitate towards belly button). 5) don’t wear too tight of a shirt because you’ll likely rip through it you’re so jacked.

A video posted by Tony Gentilcore (@tonygentilcore) on Feb 11, 2016 at 9:34am PST

Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

Should You Foam Roll Your IT Band? – Kevin Neeld

The topic of foam rolling – and foam rolling the ITB – has always been dichotomous in fitness/health circles. Some coaches love it and see great results, others hate it and deem it pointless.

There was an article that came out a week or so ago by Andrew Franklyn-Miller on why you SHOULD NOT use a foam roller on the IT band.

As you might suspect, the internet shit itself.

Kevin wrote a perfect response above. Read it.

37 Fitness Experts Share Their Biggest Workout Mistakes – compiled by Gareth Jones

This one is a doozy, but it’s full of awesome tidbits and insights from many of the top trainers and coaches around.

The Curious Case of Why People Fear Protein – Adam Bornstein

Does eating too much protein cause cancer?

Will eating too much protein cause your kidneys to malfunction?

If you eat a burger, does a baby seal die?

Adam has some insights and facts to share.