There’s an Early Bird rate for both of these events, so keep that in mind before you decide to hold off. Dean and I are really excited for this and hope to see you there!
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I’ve had a few clients start experimenting with keto after watching Game Changers.
Know what I did?
I didn’t throw my face into a wall in disbelief. Instead, I said “cool, curious to see how it goes.”
We know mental health problems can affect anyone regardless of profession, gender, age or income bracket. But why do entrepreneurs seem to suffer from depression at such an alarmingly higher rate?
I’m writing this from the beautiful city of Chicago.
I got here yesterday because I’m presenting at an Equinox today to a group of their trainers, talking shoulders and stuff.
Lisa and Julian are en route from Boston as I tap away on my keyboard, and it’s her first time flying solo with him.
Remember that scene from Taken when Liam Neeson’s character is talking to the dude who kidnapped his daughter on the telephone and after his epic “I will find you, and I will kill you” monologue, all the kidnapper says is “good luck” and then hangs up.
Remember that?
Well, “good luck” babe…;o)
Copyright: wamsler / 123RF Stock Photo
BUT FIRST…CHECK THIS STUFF OUT
1. Coaching Competency – Dublin, Ireland
This is happening Sunday, September 8, 2019 (save $100 using Early Bird rate)
So what happens when a room full of Irish(w0)men find out I’m not much of a drinker?…;o)
Whether you get paid to tell people to lift heavy things or you just like to lift heavy things yourself, in this 1-day workshop you’ll get the opportunity to listen to me talk about my how I approach assessment and gain a better understanding of how I “match” the exercises I prescribe to better fit the needs, ability level, and more importantly, the anatomy of each individual I work work.
In short, this workshop looks at the “umbrella theme” of my coaching philosophy.
For more information – including itinerary and how to register – go HERE.
3. Strategic Strength Workshop – London, England
This is happening the weekend of September 14-15th, 2019 (save £50, Early Bird rate ends THIS WEEKEND).
Luke Worthington and I have presented this workshop twice. Once in London last year and again this past June in Boston.
We’re bringing it back to London this Fall, my most favorite place in the world.
This two-day workshop is designed to arm fitness professionals with all the tools they’ll need to hone their assessment skills and to make their clients/athletes a bunch of bonafide, resilient, strength training Terminators.
Combined Luke and I have ~40 years of coaching experience (or one Dan John) and bring different perspectives and skill-sets to the table; Luke peels back the onion on PRI (Postural Restoration Institute) concepts and assessment, while I go into detail breaking down movement and how to better “match” the exercises we prescribe to our clients.
For more information – including itinerary and how to register – you can go HERE.
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Woke up to this morning to this message in my inbox:
“F*** you bro, deadlifts are way overrated keep f****** up, your spine I’ll enjoy life at 60 while your in a wheelchair and bedridden you rat.”
Grip (or lack of it) can often be a limiting factor when it comes to making progress in the weight room. Strength and conditioning coach, Jarrod Dyke, offers some simple and effective tips to help with that.
Being a business owner (and running a business) is always a delicate balance between setting rules and drawing a line in the sand and knowing when to pick your battles when someone “breaks” those rules.
Personally, whenever I have someone who’s a beginner (“newbie”) reach out asking me to write their programs online I’ll encourage them to seek out a personal trainer IN-PERSON to work with.
There are just too many other variables and nuances involved when working with beginners.
That said, if you ARE going to do it read this article.
If you work with high-school athletes this is for you.
Friend and colleague, Mike Anderson, who’s a strength coach in Ohio, reached out and asked if I’d be open to sharing a roundtable discussion of several coaches discussing the rigamarole of working with this population.
I always enjoy other coaches riffing and pontificating on this subject and I think there are many perils of wisdom below.
One of the most important populations for strength and conditioning / fitness right now is the high school aged athlete.
Training has become so common amongst this age group that if you even think that you might want to compete at the next level then you need to be in a gym. I myself train a metric shit-ton of high school athletes and it’d be an understatement to say that this population has some unique traits and attributes.
As a strength coach, it’s sometimes easy to forget that not everybody knows the same things you do. I occasionally take some information for granted and am surprised when the kids or their parents don’t know it.
Some recent interactions I had with athletes spurned the writing of this post and I thought it would be really interesting to get some points of view from friends of mine in the industry around the country regarding the two things that they, as coaches, wished that both high school athletes and their parents would really understand about training.
Jarrod Dyke – Owner / Coach, First XV Performance, Brookline MA.
1. Every athlete that walks into a weight room or training facility needs to remember this: you are there to help you get better at your sport, not to set the world record in powerlifting or weight lifting (unless those are your sports). Check your ego at the door.
If your squat doesn’t jump 100 pounds in 3 weeks, it’s not the end of the world.
Put in the work and the weight will go up! You will get stronger and be much stronger on the pitch, field, court, ice, track etc. Just because you tick the room temperature up from 29 degrees to 30 and the ice isn’t melted yet doesn’t mean you aren’t making progress, be patient!
2. In season training is a big must if you want to last throughout the season.
It is very possible to maintain your strength or even gain strength, depending on the circumstance, throughout your sport season.
Not training at all is probably the worst thing you can do; your practices and game aren’t enough to maintain the strength you just put all the work into building up. Then when the off-season comes you are not starting all the way back at square one, but rather you’re still better than you were at the start of the last off-season.
Hilary Lederer – Strength Coach, Force of Nature Strength & Conditiong, Toronto, Canada.
1. The first thing I’d want parents and athletes to understand about strength training is that it doesn’t need to be (and almost always shouldn’t be) something that completely exhausts the athlete. A ton of productive work can be accomplished while still feeling pretty fresh after.
2. The second thing is how valuable a solid coach and program can be for every athlete. You can be talented and successful without, but those athletes tend to be less common and rarely last long.
Injury prevention, weak points, confidence, etc. will all be positively affected in the short and long term, plus you are setting the athlete up for lifelong good habits relating to health and fitness.
Mitch Gill – Head Athletic Trainer at Dacula High School, Private S&C in Dacula, Georgia
1. “Sports specific” training is just practice; it is not the weight room. Strength and conditioning is about building the qualities such as strength and speed to increase the robustness of the athlete’s skills. The goal in the weight room is to create a better all-around athlete who is able to express that athleticism on the field.
2. Athletic development is a long term process; or as I like to call it, “slow cooking the athlete.”
We live in a microwave society that wants to see results right away.
They want their squat to go up 80 lbs in a month or their 40 time to drop half a second in that same time. For long term success, let nature and time in training take its course.
No one cares if the kid is the best 14 year old in their county at their sport if he/she has already peaked or is always hurt.
1.The idea of “Sport Specific training” is a hoax – Athletes and parents need to understand that our jobs as strength and conditioning coaches is to make better athletes (through strength, speed, and power gains along with injury reduction protocols).
The training program that the athletes receive will be very similar to one another (in regards to the movements and speed development). The only thing different will be how they apply their training program into their sport (ex: A swimmer and a baseball player will both squat to develop stronger and more powerful legs.
For the swimmer it’s to have a better start and turns off the walls. For the baseball player, it’s to have a stronger swing and faster sprint to the bases). Leave the specificity to the actually sport coaches who know and understand the sport like the back of their hands.
2. Be patient with your training – Understand that good things take some time to develop.
You actually have to work your tail off to get results.
Some people adapt quicker than others and see improvements much sooner than their counter parts. But that’s the beauty of us being human; we’re all different and react to stimulus and stress differently. This might sound like another point but it goes right along with being patient and that is staying consistent with your training and who you are training with.
Be organized with your training and have a set schedule of when you’re doing it (certain circumstances I understand will pop up but try to stay as close as you can to your schedule). The number of training sessions per week will alter how fast or slow your results will be.
You see that your vertical hasn’t improved in two weeks. Well maybe it’s because you’ve only had a total of four training sessions in those two weeks.
Lastly, jumping from coach to coach will break up and stunt your progress because each coach has a different approach to their training. Your body will not be able to adapt if you are constantly changing the training stimulus with a new program from a new coach each month or even week. The moral of this spiel is that good things will come to those who wait!
1. I need you to understand what it is you want to gain from training with us.
Can some of this be coached? Yes, probably.
However, if you don’t have a clear picture of what you hope to gain from training you will not achieve much of anything in the end. While I can explain what training can do for you, it is not the same as YOU knowing what you want to gain from training.
As parents, you need to understand that from the same level as I do as the coach. You telling your kids what they should get from training is not the same as them expressing what they want to get from training. It has to come from within them…what is it that they want to achieve?
2. I need you to understand WHY achieving that is important to you.
I mean really break it down on every damn level. Why, why, why, why, why?
Why do you want to get stronger? To play on varsity. Why do you want to play varsity…oh snap…now that’s where the ball is usually dropped. Guess what? You’re 16. Your child is 16. Why do you want to play varsity?
Don’t give me the lip service of you want to be the best you can be unless that is really true. Maybe you want to elevate your social status. Maybe you want to be like someone you look up to. Maybe you think it will help you get a date with that girl on the softball team you like. Why you want it is the most important thing you need to understand about training.
WHY ARE YOU HERE?
You are going to be pulled in 6 directions at that age…you will continually have other things you could do. If you understand WHY you are training, and have therefore decided that that “why” is the most important thing to you then you will get it done. Whether or not you’re training with me, whether you’re on the best program or worst program. The kids that know their why and who are supported by parents that know their WHY will succeed.
Mike Anderson – Owner / Coach, Anderson Strength & Fitness, Cleveland Ohio.
1. The real impetus behind this discussion, for me, was that I really want athletes and their parents to understand that getting ready for a particular season takes more than two weeks.
I recently had two different kids reach out to me ready to “get jacked” and “crush shit before season” only to realize that one of them had three weeks to go and the other one was actually in the middle of try-outs.
There is very little I can legitimately do for you in that time frame. If you really want to explore how much you can develop athletically then it needs to be a year round part of your life.
2. The other thing that I’d really want to impress upon both athletes and their parents is that you will directly get back what you put into your training.
If you consistently show up to Saturday morning training after a seven hour Fortnite binge ending with three hours of sleep and no breakfast, then you’re going to have a really shitty training session.
If we are fueling our young athletes with Pop Tarts and Captain Crunch then we should be expecting their development to be reflective of that. Sophomores in high school are rarely in charge of their own nutrition, and thus parents really need to be aware of providing the right things for their kids to make good choices with.
I hope that this was ultimately helpful in some way, and if you found it to be so then please share it so that other athletes and/or their parents can benefit! If you’re in the same area as any of the coaches on this panel please don’t hesitate to find them on social media and get your young athlete in the gym and working!
I’m excited to be heading back to KC this year for The Fitness Summit. It’s always been one of my favorite fitness events of the year.
This year is a first, however.
Dean Somerset and I have been invited to do a Pre-Conference to get the festivities started that weekend.
We’ll be taking deep dive into squat and deadlift technique: discussing ankle, foot, hip and upper extremity considerations in conjunction with regressions/progressions, programming, and breaking down technique flaws.
It’ll be a four-hour glimpse into how we coach.
There’s currently a FLASH sale of $10 off for the Pre-Conference ($90), and then you get to listen to the likes of Bret Contreras, Alan Aragon, Mark Fisher, Susan Kleiner, Greg Nuckols, and many others for the next two days after that.
I’m excited to announce that both myself and my wife, Dr. Lisa Lewis, will be presenting at the inaugural Spurling Spring Seminar at Spurling Fitness in Kennebunk, ME in a few months.
If you live in New England and you’re a fitness professional you won’t want to miss it. Early bird special is currently in effect.
Here’s my thought: Almost always, the reason why most people fail to see consistent progress in the gym is because their sleep habits are piss poor.
It’s not because you’re not taking enough creatine laced with Raspberry Ketones dipped in Unicorn tears. Nor is it because you’re not adding chains to your squats.
The reason why you’re “stuck” is because you need to go to freaking bed.
The picture of Ron Burgandy will make sense. Promise.
I have a lot of clients who travel for work and don’t always have access to a barbell. This article will now be shared with all of them
Excellent stuff from Todd.
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Nutrition Tip to Nutritionist (from a non-nutritionist): Stop saying cheese and peanut butter are good sources of protein. I LOVE both, and they do *have* protein, but calorically dense per/serving. Mediocre, nay, paltry, sources of protein at best.
I took a brief blogcation this past week because I was down in Dallas, TX visiting family (and eating copious amounts of carrot cake). It was cold as balls down there – in the 20’s, what the hell? – only to return to Boston two days ago to be met with even colder than balls weather…something called a “Bomb” Cyclone.
Parts of downtown Boston flooded and now there’s about two feet of ice in the streets. Thankfully none of that affected us. What’s more, with the wind-chills today, it’s reported we’ll see balmy temperatures of -30 degrees.1
We’re hunkered inside with really nothing to do so I figured I may as well cut my blogation short.
I’ve had the honor of presenting at two previous iterations of the Motivate & Movement LAB (the brainchild of MFF’s Harold Gibbons) and it’s unequivocally one of the most unique events in the fitness industry.
Think: TED Talk, but with deadlifts and lots of f-bombs.
Anyways, the next LAB is this coming February, and will feature myself, Dan John, Pete Dupuis, my wife (Dr. Lisa Lewis), and several of the MFF coaching staff including Brian Patrick Murphy and Amanda Wheeler.
I always appreciate the content Brad puts together and the cool things that can be done with some of the ACUMobility protocols.
In this article/video Brad breaks down squat assessment and in particular hones in on both one’s ability to rotate their tibia and adductor length and how they can affect squat performance.
REALLY enjoyed this article from the guys over at The Strength House (Greg and Tony). If you’re looking for some quick-n-dirty ways to add muscle….density sets are a fantastic way to do so.
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Heading into 2018 it stands to reason many are making their fitness goals a priority. Sweat less the details (optimal program, diet, etc) and sweat more on being CONSISTENT with something.
You see there’s a bit of a conundrum if you’re someone who’s an inexperienced lifter.
You have one of two choices:
1. Join your local big box Globo Gym and get lost in the vast abyss of exercise machines and classes that you have no idea does what. Oh, look, that thingamajig that works the whatchamacallit.
2. Join your local CrossFit box and and play Russian roulette as to whether or not you’ll be able lift your arms over head or feel the right side of your face after two weeks.
Going the commercial gym route runs the risk of feeling like nothing but a number and you’re kinda on your own to figure things out.
CrossFit is unparalleled for the camaraderie and community component, but for beginners is often (not always) a bit intimidating, not to mention advanced for someone who’s not familiar with the barbells lifts or eating coconut oil out of the can.
NOTE: Both scenarios are slight over-generalizations, but not too far off from the truth.1
There’s very little out there dedicated to the beginner lifter who IS interested in strength training, but finds many of the options available to him or her either too little or too much. I’d like to fix that.
COREssentials
Your 6-week introduction to everything bodacious and badass.
The Deets
1. The course will be six weeks, meeting 2x per week in a group setting at CORE (~2-4 people per class), where the objective is to learn and hammer the basics, enhance movement quality, instill a sense of accountability and intent with training, and set the framework to make you more autonomous.
Address: 250 Cypress St. Brookline, MA.
The main coach will be Jarrod Dyke, however I will be involved with programming and cameo coaching appearances.2
2. There will also be a nutrition and mindset component, where every other weekend the idea is to sit in on presentations and have questions answered from a Registered Dietician as well as an Exercise/Behavior Change Psychologist.
Shannon Wheel, RD, CPT will take the reigns on the nutrition side of things.
My wife, Dr. Lisa Lewis, will take the reigns on the mindset front.
3. It will serve as a wonderful opportunity to surround yourself with like-minded people and become a part of a community who’s sole purpose is to help increase your general level of badassery (and to not hip-hinge like a jack-ass).
4. Only 12 spots will be made available to start. And I’m not saying this to suggest a false sense of urgency or as a way to lure people in. I’m not kidding, only 12 spots will be made available.
5. Attendance subject to spontaneous rap battles.
The idea is to start around January 15, 2017. If you’re interested, please send me an email via the “Contact” tab (HERE) and I’ll put you on a list to get further information.
better at your sport, not to set the world record in powerlifting or weight lifting (unless those are your sports). Check your ego at the door.
1. The first thing I’d want parents and athletes to understand about strength training is that it doesn’t need to be (and almost always shouldn’t be) something that completely exhausts the athlete. A ton of productive work can be accomplished while still feeling pretty fresh after.
qualities such as strength and speed to increase the robustness of the athlete’s skills. The goal in the weight room is to create a better all-around athlete who is able to express that athleticism on the field.
1. The idea of “Sport Specific training” is a hoax – Athletes and parents need to understand that our jobs as strength and conditioning coaches is to make better athletes (through strength, speed, and power gains along with injury reduction protocols).
1. The real impetus behind this discussion, for me, was that I really want athletes and their parents to understand that getting ready for a particular season takes more than two weeks.
