CategoriesStuff to Read While You're Pretending to Work

Stuff to Read While You’re Stuck at Home Not Wearing Pants: 6/12/20

Copyright: maglara / 123RF Stock Photo

THE WEEKLY BRIEF UPDATE

1. I’ll start with a brief #achillesgate2020 update.

It’s been a little over a week and a half since my surgery and things seem to be progressing nicely. I mean, I’m not really doing anything:

NOTE: don’t show my surgeon THIS.

But for all intents and purposes I’m doing my best to keep weight off my affected side and to not be too (too) stupid. I have zero pain, which is excellent, and the only thing that’s making me go mad is the splint & bandage around my leg. I want nothing more than to rip them off, but I am under strict orders not to touch them until I see my surgeon this coming Tuesday.

I’m hopeful he’ll take a peek and recommend I can start physical therapy as soon as possible. If not, I may have to do all I can to restrain myself from tossing my face into a brick wall.

Updates to follow!

2. Oh, hey, have you checked out my new CORE @ Home platform yet?[footnote]No? Fine, whatever. I didn’t want you to check it out anyway. No biggie. See if I care.

I HATE YOU, YOU’RE RUINING MY LIFE!!!

(slams door)[/footnote]

It’s designed so that I can deliver workouts you can perform at home – pants optional – using minimal equipment.

You have two options:

1. Subscribe for FREE and receive one workout per week.

2. Subscribe for $29.00 and receive three workouts per week (in addition to special content).[footnote]In-depth coaching tutorials, exercise deep dives, and shadow puppet shows. You know, the important stuff.[/footnote]

My hope is that it helps take the thinking out of things and keeps people more accountable to workout more consistently.

For more information go HERE.

SOCIAL MEDIA SHENANIGANS

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I’m really, really, really, REALLY trying to respect this initial two week window of healing post surgery. . I was told, and I’m paraphrasing here… . …”stay the fuck off your foot, Tony. ZERO weight bearing for two weeks.” . Well, I’m technically following orders…😉. . I gave myself three full days of couch planks (via @benbrunotraining ) AND waiting till I was a full 24 hours off pain medication before moseying over to the mat to move around a little bit. . 1️⃣ A simple hip mobility drill that covers all the bases: IR, ER, flexion, making a small part of my soul cry, everything. . 2️⃣ 3-Way Band Around Knees Hip Abductions. Bands via @acumobility . 3️⃣ Hamstring Curls off Foam Roller. . 4️⃣ Supported 1-Leg RDL (taking balance out of the equation). . 5️⃣ Same as 4, but modified for affected leg (BOOM SHAKA LAKA: still not weight bearing…😉). . Sick beats courtesy of @takeitpersonalradio . No diggidy, no doubt.

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STUFF TO READ WHILE YOU’RE AT HOME NOT WEARING PANTS

Inequality is a Public Health Issue: 10 Examples – Kamal Patel

Competition Is Toxic For Me – Jay Ashman

I appreciated this piece from Jay.

I’m actually quite the opposite from him. I have never been the super aggressive type or overly competitive with myself in the gym. The most aggressive thing I’ll do is put on Rage Against the Machine when I deadlift.

That said, I know a lot of guys who are similar to Jay, who place a lot of pressure on themselves to adopt the “training is life or death” mentality.

Hogwash.

Coaching Female Athletes Plyometrics: Stop Making Them Sore – Erica Suter

Slow clap goes to this article.

Excellent stuff.

CategoriesStuff to Read While You're Pretending to Work

Stuff to Read While You’re Pretending to Work: 1/13/17

It’s Friday the 13th.

Copyright: tang90246 / 123RF Stock Photo

 

I don’t know about you, but I never understood the Friday the 13th urban legend. Where did it come from? It can’t be all that bad.

Speaking of Fridays, guess what? Lisa got the “thumbs up” from her OB the other day and our little guy is good to go for his “launch” in two weeks. This time two Fridays from now I may be calling myself “Dad.”

Holy shitballs.

Stuff to Checkout Before You Read Stuff

1. I Am Not Afraid to Lift: The Retreat

Save over $300 off registration with the Early Bird rate for I Am Not Afraid To Lift® – THE RETREAT with Artemis Scantalides, Julia Ladewski, and (my wife) Dr. Lisa Lewis on May 5-7, 2017 at the Arizona Grand Resort & Spa in Phoenix, Arizona.

Designed BY women FOR women this weekend retreat is sure to be a treat (<– HA, get it?) covering anything and everything with regards to lifting things (bodyweight, kettlebells, barbells), nutrition, and mindset training.

I’ll be there too, albeit on Daddy Day Care duty with a then 4-month old. Or should I say doody? Anyways, it’s going to be an amazing weekend and a lovely opportunity to surround yourself with other positive, powerful, intelligent, and unabashedly strong women.

Go HERE for more details.

2. Complete Shoulder & Hip Blueprint – Vancouver

hipandshoulderfb-banner

Dean Somerset and I will be in Vancouver, BC, Canada the weekend of April 1-2nd, 2017 putting on your flagship workshop.

It may be the only time we’re on the west coast of North America all year so whether you have to hop on a plane, drive a few hours, or take a hovercraft….get there.

Go HERE for more info and to take advantage of the EARLY BIRD rate.

3. I helped contribute to THIS article via BuzzFeed News on Surprising Weight Loss Tips.  Lots of other smart coaches and trainers chimed in as well.

Lets get to this week’s list…

The Top 17 Nutrition Myths of 2017 – Kamal Patel

It’s the start of a new year, and with it comes an avalanche of information overload and hyperbole when it comes to what you should and shouldn’t be eating.

Kamal Patel of Examine.com sets the record straight on many of the more common myths circulating out there.

7 Lifting Rules That Actually Don’t Matter Much – Travis Pollen

“Rules” are meant to be broken. You know, like that one my wife makes about cleaning my dishes when I’m done with them and to not leave them in the sink. Pffffffft, whatever.[footnote]I love you babe. Just kidding. NO, REALLY, I was just kidding. Put down the knife, PUT DOWN THE KNIFE. Ahhhhh.[/footnote]

Motivation vs. Dedication – Tanner Neuberger

I had a gentleman reach out to ask me to read his article and to tell him what I thought. Well, I thought it was good enough to post on this week’s list.

Sha-ZAM.

In short: YOU are in charge of your own change.

Social Media Highlights

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Band assisted front squats. Many might utilize this variation because it looks badass (which is as good of a reason as any), but there actually are some legitimate benefits. 1) It allows trainees to “feel” what it’s like to hold heavier loads, so there’s a great CNS potentiation window involved, and a little confidence booster to boot. The accommodating nature of the band coincides with the force-velocity curve in that you’re getting more “assistance” in the ROM where you’re weakest and less where you’re biomechanically stronger. 2) In my client Mike’s case the bands also help him to stay more upright and not fall forward with the heavier load. We do make sure NOT to rely on the bands too much. In this block there’s another day where no bands are used and we utilize more sub-maximal weight. 3) It looks soooo badass. Creaky pegs aren’t mandatory: FYI….?

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CategoriesStuff to Read While You're Pretending to Work

Stuff To Read While You’re Pretending To Work: 10/30/15

I kid you not, as I type these words I am sitting in my apartment waiting for the delivery guys from Sleepy’s to drop off the new mattress Lisa and I bought the other night.

Not that any of you reading are in any way interested in mine and Lisa’s sleep quality[footnote]If you are, that’s creepy[/footnote], but she’s had the same mattress for about a decade (and we’ve been together for six years), so it was time to upgrade.

We walked to the local Sleepy’s down the street from our apartment and spent a good two hours test driving a few mattresses[footnote]BOM CHICKA BOM BOM. Kidding.[/footnote] and narrowed it down to the one that’s supposed to be arriving between 8-12PM today (or when hell freezes over, whichever comes first).

We’re totally going to be asleep at like 6 tonight. Can’t wait!

A few things before I get to this week’s list of stuff to read:

Last weekend marked my official “start date” for my new solo venture.[footnote]I’m basically Justin Timberlake[/footnote] I’m sub-leasing space from Run Strong Studio in Brookline, MA (Boston) and training people out of there. Here’s a little flavor for what it looks like:

A little flavor for what the new studio space looks like. Meeting clients for first time this AM. Hope they like 90s hip hop.

A video posted by Tony Gentilcore (@tonygentilcore) on

Rebecca – the woman who owns the studio – has been awesome. She’s a doctor who trains people on the side (mostly runners) in a rehab setting. When we met for the first time in person I saw she had a copy of Gray Cook’s Movement on her desk and she also dropped a few Mike Boyle and PRI references. I knew right away she was eating at the cool kids table.

Since our first meeting to now she’s allowed me to “vomit” strength and conditioning and bring in a bunch of equipment into her space. The result is what you see above.

It’s nothing fancy pants, but it’s perfect for what I’m looking to do: coach people, write awesome programs, and make them into badasses.

The first week has gone well and I’ve already had several people perform their initial assessment and are primed to get after it. If you’re in Boston and want to check things out for yourself you can go HERE.

ALSO

As a reminder: Dean Somerset and I will be in Los Angeles (Anaheim) at CrossFit 714 for our Complete Shoulder and Hip Workshop the weekend of November 14th.

 

That’s in two weeks, yo. For more information you can go HERE.

[Cue obligatory “this is why Tony & Dean are the awesome” testimonial here]

“Being cynical of the workshop frenzy in our industry has made me extremely picky with how I spend my time and money with my educational efforts. Tony and Dean presented our group with simple and concise information that will be easy to implement into my business’ daily operations.

The assessments and corrective strategies that I learned this weekend will be very useful in any size setting which translates to me being able to spend more time growing my business while delivering an effective product. If you value your time and the quality of your work, this is a must-attend event.”

5 Pitfalls (and Fixes!) for the Barbell Back Squat – Jennifer Blake (via JenSinkler.com)

We like to get overly technical when it comes to the big lifts, often to the detriment of looking past other commonly made mistakes.

This was an excellent watch from Jennifer and I recommend you watch it too.

Scientists Just Found That Red Meat Causes Cancer…Or Did They? – Kamal Patel (Examine.com)

It’s articles like this as to why I consider Examine.com one of my GO TO resources for un-biased nutrition and supplementation information.

They rock.

Last week (another) major story broke reminding everyone that red-meat is going to kill us all. It happens every year, it’s nothing new, really, it’s not, and the mainstream media latches onto it and apocalizes (<– Yep, I just made up a word) it.

RUN EVERYONE. BACON IS GOING TO KILL YOU. AHHHHH……….

Deep breaths, relax, and read this.

We Waited 7 Years to Open a 2nd Location…Here’s Why – Pete Dupuis

Cressey Sports Performance business director, Pete Dupuis, explains why we waited seven years before pulling the trigger and opening a second location.