I was invited back by the crew at Mark Fisher Fitness to participate in round #2 of their Motivation and Movement Lab. I, along with Mark Fisher, Michael Keeler, Harold Gibbons, Michael Littig, Steven Ledbetter, Pete Dupuis, and Artemis Scantalides spoke over the course of two days to a group of 80+ trainers, coaches, therapists, and gym owners from around the country on a variety of fitness-related topics ranging from business and behavioral change to program design and assessment.
What’s more…there were roughly 17,459 f-bombs dropped, 245 references to unicorns/dildos, and this Pulitzer Prize worthy picture.
It’s hard not to appreciate the sharp contrast and symmetry between the lighting, Jackie Chan’s facial expression, and my biceps.
Much like last year, I left the event feeling energized and thankful for being included in such an amazing event. I’m a better human being after having been immersed in the infectious MFF culture. Their passion and proclivity at helping every person pursue and amplify the best version of him or herself possible is unparalleled.
It’s quite an honor to see and be a part of it.
On that note: I got back into Boston somewhat late last night, and am in the throes of email purgatory. However, I do have something cool for you to check out.
Trainer Critique 2: The Deadlift
Last year, both Bret Contreras and Nick Tumminello were part of a video series hosted by ProShapeFitness.com called Trainer Critique “Live” I felt was pretty neat.
The premise was simple: the two of them watched a video of someone performing a lift (in this case, the squat) and they would each provide real-time, “live” feedback on what they saw.
For the second go-round, I was asked – alongside Jordan Syatt – to critique two different deadlifts. Here’s what transpired. Enjoy!
Jump to each critique section:
– Jordan Syatt critique 1: 0:56
– Jordan Syatt critique 2: 3:59
– Tony Gentilcore critique 1: 7:12
– Tony Gentilcore critique 2: 14:07
It feels so weird to be typing the numbers “2016” doesn’t it?
Time truly does fly.
This year will mark a full decade living in Boston for me.
In that time I’ve survived living with Eric Cressey1, helped co-found Cressey Sports Performance, never used the phrase “wicked pissah” once in a sentence, and have had the luxury of witnessing the RedSox win two World Series, the Pats play three SuperBowls (and win one), the Celtics win one NBA Championship, and the Bruins with one NHL Championship.2.
2016 also marks the 30 year anniversary of when ten year old Tony vowed he’d become an honorary member of G.I. Joe.
That didn’t happen. But only because my Mom wouldn’t let me.3 Thanks a lot Mom. You RUINED MY LIFE!!!!!
[slams door]
Anyways, it’s 2016…and I h0pe everyone’s year has started off with a bang; or at the very least some arbitrary Resolution that you’ve already dismissed eight days in….;o)
A Few Things First
I’m a minimalist when it comes to supplementation. I’d tend to fall into the same camp as Alwyn Cosgrove whenever I’m asked about them and generally respond as follows:
“Supplements are progress enhancers, not progress starters.”
If your current nutrition and training regimen isn’t getting the job done or inching you closer to your goal(s), then taking Gogi Berry Extract laced with diluted unicorn tears and belly button lint from a post-menopausal dragon fire roasted over a live volcano isn’t going to be the “x” factor.
This isn’t to say supplements don’t have a time or place and that there’s little efficacy in their use. That’s just crazy talk.
However, if you click the links above (DO IT!), you’ll note I don’t recommend anything too out of the ordinary or quack(ish). Actually, nothing is out of the ordinary or quack(ish). Namely, because I’m not an a-hole.
On the same topic, one supplement and company I can’t recommend enough is Athletic Greens.
Ingesting a high-quality greens product daily is just about one of the the best “cover your bases” healthy habits you can implement – outside of the Dan John staples of flossing and wearing your seatbelt.
Real food is going to trump any supplement, but at least here you ensure you ingest a cornucopia of good ingredients for your body in a convenient, quick-n-easy manner. And the best part is that this greens product doesn’t taste like seaweed blasted out of a whale’s rectum.
It actually, you know, tastes good as a stand alone thing.
Nevertheless, it’s something I take daily – as does my wife – and it’s also something I recommend to all my athletes and clients.
As it happens, Athletic Greens is running a special sale at the moment where you get a FREE trial (some travel packets to test the taste out yourself) in addition to a generous discount off the original price.
I finally posted all of my upcoming speaking engagements in 2016 onto my website HERE.
Two that are right around the corner are:
Motivation and Movement Lab (hosted by Mark Fisher Fitness) – I had a BLAST speaking at this event last year, and if it’s any consolation I was up until 3AM the night of. Those people can party.
Lets give it up for my wife on being featured on Girls Gone Strong last week. Woo-hoo!
I am incredibly proud of this, and it goes without saying I feel Lisa is someone who has many, many positive and encouraging things to say to help better prepare and empower women on the benefits of strength training.
As a licensed psychologist, Lisa is pretty much a Jedi when it comes to helping people better understand and change their behaviors. Too, she’s very much a champion of peeling back the complicated onion when it comes to each individual’s mindset and why, sometimes, they’re their own worst enemy when it comes to progress in the gym.
This article is just the tip of the iceberg and keep your eyes peeled for her name – along with Artemis Scantalides – as they combine forces for a handful of I Am Not Afraid To Lift Workshops.
A quick heads-up before I toss this week’s list your way.
We’re excited to announce that Cressey Sports Performance will be hosting an upcoming 1-Day seminar with Alex Viada titled An Introduction to Applied Hybrid Training Methodology on June 28, 2015.
Alex is the owner of Complete Human Performance and author of The Hybrid Athlete. If there were a WikiPedia page made for “Badass Motherf******,” I’m pretty sure Alex’s grill would be plastered next to the definition.
This is a guy who’s not only an elite level powerlifter with PRs of 705 (squat), 465 (bench press) and 700 (DL) raw w/ wraps in the 220 class, but also competes in triathlons and ULTRA marathons (100+ miles) with a mile time of 4:15.
Oh, and he also dabbles in bodybuilding. And arm wrestles grizzly bears. In fact, he’s the guy The Avengers call when they need help.
He’s an impressive human being and he’s someone who challenges people to push their bodies to levels and places they never thought possible. I’m really looking forward to listening to him speak, and I know the rest of the CSP staff is as well.
I know the title comes across as a bit conceited, analogous to me writing something along the lines of “Hey Internet, My Biceps Are the Best Biceps in the History of Ever. Get Some!“4
But I didn’t think the title was conceited at all, and felt it was very fitting.
This is actually a really good video and demonstrates pretty much how everyone performs their ab wheel rollouts.
I concede that even I’m growing tired of all the anti-Dr. Oz and Food Babe diatribes that are drowning the internet right now.
While at a base-level I enjoy it – because both are assholes. A little more assholey than someone who clubs a baby seal, but not quite as assholey as Kanye West – none of it really accomplishes anything.
Why?
Because even the negative commentary – which is often backed by facts and droves of scientific research that clearly debunks much (if not all) of the pseudoscience they spout – still draws attention to them.
Which, in a sick, backwards way, gains them supporters.
This was a nice outside-of-the-box way of addressing the issue.
Today’s guest post comes from a very good colleague of mine, Jordan Syatt. Jordan actually interned for us at Cressey Performance a few years ago and since has gone on to do some pretty fantastic things in the industry.
Not only is he one of the more passionate coaches I’ve ever met, but he’s just an awesome human being. There aren’t many people who are more genuine and gracious than Jordan.
I sincerely mean that.
Oh, and he’s also one strong son-of-a-bitch (no offense to Jordan’s mom. She’s wonderful, too). My man deadlifts over 3x bodyweight, and he’s also an IPA World Record holder in the squat.
No big deal.
Jordan’s Elite Performance Squat Seminar went on sale this week, and to speak candidly…..it’s awesome. It’s two hours of anything and everything you’d need to know about the squat from someone who knows a thing or two about squatting.
Jordan was nice enough to write up some unique content for the site regarding some (not so common) tips that will help to increase/improve your squat.
Enjoy!
I struggled with the squat for years.
No matter how hard I tried or how much I read, I just couldn’t pin-point which style worked best for me.
To make matters worse, I was beyond confused with the programming aspect. Some coaches were telling me to squat once per week while others told me to squat every day.
I was lost.
As the years went on, though, I eventually figured it out. Following my internships at Westside Barbell and Cressey Performance, I learned not only how to squat but, more importantly, how to adjust my technique and programming based on biomechanics, goals, and preferences.
Fast-forward 3 years and I’m currently an IPA Powerlifting World Record Holder, I raw squat 2.9x bodyweight, and have helped countless lifters improve their squats by hundreds of pounds.
In this article I’m going to share with you four little-known tips to help increase your squat as quickly as possible.
By the end you will understand the squat better than most strength coaches and be armed with four new tips to help you achieve your ultimate strength potential.
1. Drive the Floor Away From You
We’ve all heard popular squat cues like:
“Head back!”
“Chest Up!”
“Knee’s Out!”
Cues like as these are known as internal focuscues because they force the lifter to focus on how the body moves in relation to itself.
While they aren’t completely useless, internal focus cues have been shown to be drastically less effective than their counterparts: external focus cues.
Note from TG: For those interested, and who want to explore the rabbit hole a bit further, you can check out THIS article I wrote on internal vs. external cues.
Contrary to the former, external focus cues force the lifter to focus on how the body moves in relation to its environment. Take, for example, one of my all-time favorite cues:
“Drive the floor away from you!”
Rather than trying to move your body in relation to itself, this cue allows you to focus on moving your body relative to the environment.
On paper it might seem arbitrary, but research has consistently found external focus cues to be drastically more effective than cues with an internal focus.
So what does this mean for you?
When squatting, think about driving the floor away from yourself as hard and fast as humanly possible.
Don’t think about pushing into the ground or pressing as hard as possible.
Instead, try to push the floor away from you so forcefully that you leave a foot-print in the ground.
2. Nix the Box Squat
The box squat is overrated.
It’s great for geared lifters and doubles as a fantastic teaching tool but for intermediate & advanced raw lifters it’s a waste of time.
With my Westside background I know I’ll get a lot of flak for this but, in my experience, the box squat will not only do nothing to improve your squat…it will actually de-train it.
First and foremost, sitting on a box takes the stretch reflex out of the equation. While geared lifters don’t need to worry about this, raw lifters depend on the stretch shortening cycle (SSC) to rebound safely and explosively out of the hole.
Second, box squatting often changes the mechanics of the lift. Since geared lifters predominantly depend on the posterior chain (hamstrings, glutes, erectors), sitting back to a box is in their best interest. For raw lifters, however, it’s of the utmost importance to squat using a more knee-dominant approach that includes the quads. When performing box squats, though, most lifters focus entirely too much on maintaining a vertical tibia which reduces quad involvement and makes it less specific to raw squatting.
Plain and simple, if you aren’t a beginner and/or a geared lifter…nix the box squat.
3. Grip the Bar As Hard as Humanly Possible
Try it.
Next time you un-rack the bar and let it sink into your traps I want you to grip the bar as hard as you possibly can.
Tony has a great cue for this which works extremely well: “Try to melt the bar in your hands.”
^^^ Yep, I do use that one a lot.
Dean Somerset uses another good one: “Squeeze the bar so hard it oozes through your fingers like play dough.”
I’m more of a simpleton and stick with “Choke the bar,” but they all work.
Regardless of which cue you use, I guarantee if you squeeze the bar as hard as you possibly can you’ll immediately squat more weight.
Don’t believe me?
Give it a shot. I’ll be the guy laughing in the back of the gym saying “hate to say I told ya so!” even though I really love saying it.
4. Grip the Floor with Your Feet
Many powerlifters and coaches advocate squatting with all of your bodyweight centered directly under the heels. Some lifters take this to such an extreme that they literally pick all of their toes off the floor and visibly rock backwards to make sure they’re only on the heels.
I think that’s excessive.
While it’s important to keep some weight on the heels, it’s also important to create a stable base of support through using what’s called an “active foot.”
Watch this short clip to see what I mean: CLICK ME!
As you saw in the video, an active foot only works if your bodyweight is centered on three points of contact: the knuckle under the big toe, the knuckle under the pinky toe, and the heel. This creates a tri-pod, of sorts, from which you can “grip the floor” with your feet.
To grip the floor, imagine centering your weight on the tripod while trying to pinch the floor in the middle of each foot. Done properly, you’ll stimulate the nerves of the feet while improving overall foot position to give you a stable base of support off of which you can squat more weight.
Wrapping Up
I hope you enjoyed this article and were able to take away some valuable information.
If you’re still looking for more information to improve your (or your clients) squat performance, my Elite Performance Squat Seminar covers all the topics mentioned above in more detail…..and then some!
In just under 2 hours I cover everything including:
Self Assessment and Correction
Technique Analysis
Progressions and Variations
Programming Considerations
And much more!
I legitimately cover every single thing you could ever want to know (and then some) related to the squat.
The best part?
For this week only the seminar is on sale for just $29! The sale only lasts until Friday (2/21) at midnight at which point the price will nearly double so if you really want to learn the secrets behind optimal squat performance don’t miss out – download your copy today!
It’s been a few weeks since I’ve added a new exercise to the Exercises You Should Be Doing arsenal, so here you go. How’s that for straight and to the point?
What Is It: Seated Kettlebell Curl to Bottoms-Up Overhead Press
Who Did I Steal It From: It just so happens that former CP intern, Jordan Syatt, stopped by the facility for a cameo yesterday and I noticed him performing this deceivingly challenging exercise towards the tail end of his training session – so all credit goes to him.
What Does It Do: As is the case for every exercise I throw onto this list, for me, the biggest determining factor is whether or not it provides a lot of bang-for-one’s-training-buck. A huge reason why I rarely (if ever) include machine based exercises or “isolation” exercises is because, for the most part, I view them as a waste of time.
Granted if you’re a bodybuilder, have an aesthetic bias, and you’re looking to bring up a lagging body part, it makes sense to include those types of exercises in your weekly training repertoire. I don’t feel they should make up the crux of your training, but they do have a time and place.
Outside of that, since most people who read this blog aren’t stepping up on stage anytime soon, lets just move on.
Oh, and least I forget (because I know someone will inevitably get their panties in a bunch and mention it): I should make note that isolation or machine based training does have merit with regards to people who are post-surgery or who are woefully deconditioned.
With respects to the former, take ACL repair as an example. Motor control will definitely come into play, and it’s often advantageous to introduce “load” in a more controlled, predictable manner. So things like leg presses, leg extensions (and the like) will definitely come into the picture.
As far as the latter: you can bet that if I’m working with an obese client or someone who’s just really deconditioned my main focus is going to be on getting them moving and eliciting some semblance of a training effect, and less on whether or not they can do an ass-to-grass squat, deadlift 2x their bodyweight, or beat them into submission and have them perform burpees until they can’t feel the left side of their face.
If I have to resort to a pec deck or utilizing a Cybex circuit – so be it.
But just so we’re clear: the bulk of my time is still going to be on working on improving certain movement patterns like the squat pattern, hip hinge, push-up, core stability, and not to mention I have yet to meet anyone who can’t push a Prowler.
But I’m getting a little off-track here.
Today’s exercise is a bit sneaky. It looks simple and nondescript enough that I wouldn’t be surprised if many who watched it probably dismissed it right off the bat.
I mean, seriously TG…….a KB curl? I thought you just said you don’t like isolation-type exercises? What’s next….crunches on a BOSU ball?
Fair enough. But lets break this badboy down before everyone grabs their pitchforks and storms the castle.
Yes, there’s a curl involved. But in the grand scheme of things it’s not like I’m expecting this exercise to add four inches to your arms in two weeks. In fact I could care less about the curl component. The curl in this sense actually serves as a sorta “self-pertubation,” forcing you to fire your entire core musculature synchronously so as to PREVENT any lateral flexion or rotation.
I’ve expounded on my preference for one-arm training in the past, so I won’t belabor the point here. But because I don’t want to leave any new readers hanging, simply put, performing more off-set loaded exercises (where you hold a DB or KB in one hand only) places a HUGE challenge on your core because everything has to fire so that you don’t fall or tip over.
Moving on into the bottoms-up position and performing the overhead press, while the action itself still offers a significant core challenge, it also forces the rotator cuff to fire like crazy through a process called irradiation.
Basically you MUST grab the handle of the KB with a death grip (I like to tell people to melt the handle), so that it doesn’t fall over. In doing so you send a signal to the rotator cuff (irradiation) to “pack” itself which makes the joint more stable.
Moreover, because holding the KB in the bottoms-up position makes it more challenging (unstable), you force the muscles of the rotator cuff to do their job in a more “functional” manner, which is to center the humeral head in the glenoid fossa.
What’s more, it’s an unparalleled scapular stability exercise to boot!
In short, with this exercise there’s a lot more going on than meets the eye.
High five for the Transformers reference!
Key Coaching Cues: You won’t need a whole lotta weight in order to do this exercise, so be a bit conservative with this one. I believe I was using the 17 lb KB in the video and I was struggling. Take that for what it’s worth.
Glue your feet into the ground, and brace your abs. Your torso should be completely upright and you want to avoid any HYPERextension of the lower back.
From there I think it’s pretty self-explanatory. This is more of a CONTROLLED movement, so try not to rush.
I’m more inclined to think of this as a nice finishing exercise to complete a training session, and I’d shoot for 2-3 sets of 6-8 reps per side.
Also, if you wanted to make it more challenging you could do the same thing in the standing position.
And that’s that. Give it a try to day and let me know what you think!
Okay, before I jump into this week’s list of stuff to read, I had to share THIS video I came across on the homepage of Yahoo! this morning.
Basically it’s a video of a Miami based teenager – who’s incarcerated for drug possession – acting very flippant (in every sense of the word) with the judge sentencing her.
Not amused with her shenanigans, the judge hands her the smack-down and doubles her fine (the reaction is priceless), and then, sentences her to 30-days in county jail. BOOM!
I think Miami should give this guy a ticker-tape parade, the key to the city, or name a street after him or something. A free ticket to an all-you-can-eat-buffet? Anything!
Those who enjoy my writing style and sometimes “tough love” approach will appreciate this article by Hamilton.
I’m sorry, but “going for a walk” is not working out. Nor is going to the gym to casually putter away on the elliptical while watching The Real Housewives of Whogivesashit (or where ever the current season is filming).
You actually have to strain a little bit, and maybe even break a sweat! I know, weird.
But trust me: it’s for you’re own good. If you need a little motivation, this column may be exactly what you (or a friend, or a family member, or a colleague) needs.
I thought this was a bang-on job by former CP intern/coach, Jordan Syatt, explaining this often confusing concept on cleaning up one’s squatting technique.
It’s a very subtle differentiation, but something that many people make the mistake of doing, oftentimes leading to injury.
Check it out and show Jordan some love!
The guys owns a 3x bodyweight deadlift, so he knows what he’s talking about.
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If you’re still looking for more information to improve your (or your clients) squat performance, my
