I’m not going to lie people: I’m in hunker down mode as I type this. I just walked down to Staples and dropped off all the presentations for the Boston Workshop and also have an assortment of odds and ends to get done before the big weekend commences in less than 48 hours.
Grab a bunch of waters? Check.
Make sure all the chairs are at the facility? Check.
Projector? Check.
Adapter for said projector? Check.
Confirm Dean’s flight info? Check.
Pick up the Dragon jumping castle (because what fitness workshop is complete without a jumping castle)? Check.
Pants? Check.
The point is: I’m all over the place right now, and am trying my best not end up in some random corner somewhere sucking my thumb.
On that note, here’s some stuff to read that I think you’ll enjoy. Toodles!
Earlier this week Mike released a video on mobility and stability training in anticipation of his upcoming product, Bulletproof Athlete, which is being released next week.
Today he’s releasing another FREEvideo on strength and power training which is basically a product in of itself.
Mike’s a super smart guy with a ton of real world experience coaching, and you’d be crazy not to take advantage of any opportunity to listen to what he has to say.
In light of a recent “study” which came out connecting fish oil (specifically omega-3 fatty acids) to prostate cancer, and the subsequent media shit storm that followed, I felt the need to share this short, succinct, and excellent article retorting all the claims made by the researchers of said “study.”
Note from TG: I try my best not to come across as someone who overhypes stuff to my readers on a daily basis.
I mean, it’s not really THAT big of a deal that The Wolverine opens this weekend. You’d think based off how excited I am that I’d be walking around all week with toy Wolverine claws on or something. That’s just silly talk. Nope, not me. That’s just absurd.
The Wolverine!! Arrrrrggghhhh%@*!*!*^$*@!!
Okay, now that I’ve gotten that out of my system. I like to think that when I do go out of my way to promote something on this site that it’s something I know works and that I KNOW will help a lot of people.
It just so happens that today marks a unique instance where two things deserve your attention.
You know the pivotal scene from Raiders of the Lost Ark when that evil Nazi Gestapo agent’s, Arnold Ernst Toht, face was melted off his, um, face?
Well I just had a similar experience from all the knowledge bombs that were thrown my direction after watching a sneak peak of Mike Robertson’s Mobility, Flexibility and Stability Training presentation.
A (40+ minute) presentation, mind you, he’s offering for FREE in anticipation of the release of his brand spankin new product, Bulletproof Athlete, next week.
Yeah, yeah I get it: mobility schmamility. We need another mobility presentation about as much as we need another Tracy Anderson workout DVD.
Fist pump for that one, right?
But this is Mike freakin Robertson we’re talking about here. The guy trains his fair share of professional athletes and world record holders in powerlifting. Not to mention the numerous physique athletes and average Joes and Janes who trust him to keep them healthy, kicking-ass, and taking names.
There aren’t many coaches out there I trust more than Mike, and you can rest assured that whenever you have the opportunity to listen to him, you’re going to learn at least one thing. Or in my case, 20.
In this presentation you’ll learn:
The three BEST methods for improving mobility from head to toe.
A definition of what mobility really is (as well as what it isn’t!)
Why mobility and stability are critical components of smart training, and why you need both to dominate in the gym or on the field.
How improving mobility can help you get rid of aches and pains in your knees, back and shoulders.
And most importantly how mobility training can help take your performance to the next level – whether that’s running fast, jumping high, or lifting heavy things for fun, Mike can help you out.
Again, this video is totally FREE, but only for the next couple of days.
Something else I think many of you may find valuable and will want to check out is Examine.com’s Supplement Goals Reference Guide.
As a strength coach, and as someone who works with numerous high-school, collegiate, and professional athletes myself, on an almost daily basis I get asked “dude, is it customary to coach with your shirt off?” “dude, what supplements should I be taking?”
I’m not one to bag on supplements, as there’s a mountain of evidence to back their use. But more often than not I fall into the camp which views supplements as progress enhancers, not progress starters.
Put another way: if you’re current training and/or nutritional approach isn’t garnering the results you wanted, whether it’s to pack on mass, finally get rid of that ‘muffin top,’ or squat a rhinoceros (just go with it), taking a pill or adding a powder to your drink typically isn’t going to amass to much other than an empty wallet.
Nevertheless I do feel (s0me) supplements have their place, and serve a purpose. I believe things like fish oil, vitamin D, and protein powder, to name a few, should be utilized if for nothing else than their health benefits alone.
Where things get murky is when walk into your local GNC or open the latest MuscleRag and are inundated with supplements left and right that will claim to give you a six pack in three weeks, increase your testosterone levels by 217%, and make you shit rainbows (if that’s your bag).
The main monkey wrench is finding a reputable resource which doesn’t have an ulterior motive other than to give you evidence based research; something which will either confirm or dispute said claims.
Well here it is:
Supplement Goals Reference Guide
Some of you may recall a guest post that Examine.com’s very own, Sol Orwell, wrote earlier this year titled Supplements That Suck, Supplements That Work, and Supplements That Are Underrated – Part One, and Part Two, which you can think of as the Spark Notes version of the reference guide.
And that really isn’t giving it its due diligence. We’re talking about a 700+ page manual that’s taken over two years to put together, encompassing over 20,000 individual studies, for only $29!
Needless to say, these guys know what works and what doesn’t.
Anytime you need to find out what a particular supplement does (creatine, for example) or are interested in a particular health goal (lowering blood glucose levels) this guide should be your go to source. And you can feel confident that you won’t be misguided with smoke and mirrors or disingenuous intentions.
It’s just solid, evidence based information all around.
I know what you’re thinking: This is either the title of an archived Robert Ludlum novel or the name of an old-school hip-hop album.
Both are wrong – but wouldn’t it be awesome if either of the two were true?
As someone who’s read every Ludlum novel, I’d kill to have access to another one of his masterpieces. While there are a few authors today who write really good espionage fiction, in my opinion Ludlum is the Godfather and everyone else is just Fredo Corleone.
And as far as hip-hop is concerned, lets be honest: today’s hip-hop pales in comparison to what I grew up with in the late 80s through the 90s. I distinctly remember the first time I listened to Wu-Tang Clan’s Enter the 36 Chambers and thinking to myself, “Holy fuck balls. This is amazing.”
Likewise, I can’t even begin to tell you how many times – much to my mom’s chagrin – I listened to A Tribe Called Quest’s The Low End Theory. Since that was a more PG-rated album, I literally played it everywhere.
I blared it in my bedroom, outside while playing wiffleball, and even, sometimes, when she allowed it, in the family caravan.
Momma Gentilcore used to head bop to a little Scenario back in the day!
Here we go, yo! Here we go, yo! So what so what so what’s the scenario.
I literally wore that tape out playing it so much.
But alas, like I said, neither of the above is the topic at hand in today’s post. Instead what I want to dive into is a little discussion on posture.
More specifically swayback posture.
But we’ll need to give a little anatomy lesson first
When looking at one’s posture, the first thing I typically look at is their pelvic positioning. The pelvis will tell you a lot as far as what’s going on up and down the kinetic chain. In a way, much of the postural imbalances, dysfunctions, and asymmetries that we see on a daily basis have their impetus at the pelvis.
Keeping things (very) watered down and simple, you generally have three presentations:
1. Those who are in some semblance of (excessive) anterior pelvic tilt: typically indicative of stiff/short hip flexors, weak anterior core musculature, short/stiff erector spinae, and weak/inhibited glutes and hamstrings.
You’ll see this present quite often in the athletic population:
2. By contrast, another common presentation are those people who are in (excessive) posterior pelvic tilt, which is typically indicative of the polar opposite of the above: hip flexors are lengthened, anterior core musculature is shortened (due to sitting in flexion too much), erector spinae are lengthened, and the hamstrings are short/stiff.
All told the lumbar spine tends to be flattened, which can lead to an increased incidence of disc herniations.
Not surprisingly this is most common those who sit in front of a computer for large portions of the day.
Again these are just gross generalizations and I understand that more can make it’s way onto the canvas when looking at compensation patterns (and their root causes).
With all this information in our back pocket, we can then set out to write an appropriate training program that will address the underlying issues.
Speaking in generalities it may look something like this:
For those in anterior pelvic tilt: we want to emphasize protocols which will encourage a bit more posterior pelvic tilt and help get the pelvis back to a more neutral position.
1. Lots of glute activation drills and strengthening. While your garden variety glute bridges are fantastic option, one variation I really like is the Posterior Pelvic Hip Thrust highlighted here by Bret Contreras:
2. Emphasizing more posterior chain work – deadlifts, pull-throughs, GHRs, squats, etc (but making sure to cue a brace rather than an excessive arch).
Cueing is key here. Tossing in deadlifts (RDLs) and squats and then cueing someone to arch (and thus falling into more APT) defeats the purpose and just feeds into the overriding problem.
It’s important to teach someone to brace – and maintain as much of a “neutral” spine as possible – rather than arch. Mike Robertson does an awesome job of being Mike Robertson (dropping knowledge bombs left and right) and explaining the rationale HERE.
3. Dedicated (long-duration) stretching for the hip flexors. 30s second stretches aren’t going to cut it here, as all that does is increase one’s tolerance to a stretch and does nothing to increase the number of sarcomeres (which is what’s needed to lengthen a muscle).
Maybe some dedicated stretching for the erectors – although I’m not a massive fan of this.
DO NOT stretch the hamstrings.
Think about why: if someone is walking around in APT all day long, the hamstrings are already lengthened, and the only reason why they “feel tight” is because they’re firing like crazy. Stretching them will only make matters worse.
Of course, this needs to be taken on a case-by-case basis as some will inevitably have “tight” hamstrings. But most of the time is a pelvic issue, not a hamstring issue.
4. Placing a premium on addressing tissue quality – especially in the hip flexors, external rotators, etc.
5. Lots and lots and lots of anterior core work (but not crunches or sit-ups. At this point, I don’t feel I need to go out of my way to explain why).
For those in posterior pelvic tilt: we want to emphasize protocols which will encourage a bit more anterior pelvic tilt and help get the pelvis back to a more neutral position.
In short, those in PPT need to strengthen the hell out of APT.
1. Honestly I’m still going to hammer posterior chain work here (glutes and hamstrings) because most people are woefully weak there anyways.
I want all of my male clients to be able to deadlift a mack truck (female clients too, for that matter), and I want all my female clients to actually have a pair of glutes that they can be proud of and rock their “sexy” jeans (and, if that’s your bag, you too fellas. I don’t judge).
Much of the difference is how I go about coaching and cueing everything, as I’ll need to make sure that they don’t compensate and excessively posterior tilt when deadlifting or squatting – especially when going into hip extension.
2. I won’t include much (if any) dedicated anterior core work here as the rectus abdominus (which aids in posterior tilt) is short and stiff already.
Instead, I’ll focus mainly on STABILITY based exercises and emphasize length (staying tall) on things like Pallof Presses, chops/lifts etc.
In addition we’ll also probably rock out with some planks.
Watch most people do a plank and they’ll inevitably curl up/round their back which just plays into the dysfunctional pattern. Instead, try to coach/cue your spine to get as long as possible – without exhibiting a forward head posture and allowing the lumbar spine to “dip.”
Ideally it will look something like this:
Along those same lines we can consider the RKC Plank, which is a bastard in of itself. Again, stealing from Bret, here’s the nuts and bolts:
3. As far as any dedicated stretching is concerned, I’ll hammer the hamstrings, but in all likelihood will defer to more multi-planar mobilizations, or what’s also referred to as 3D stretching.
That’s just the tip of the iceberg on both fronts, but hopefully helps people understand the big picture.
The red headed step-child of posture: the sway back
Sway back is rarely discussed in fitness circles probably because it’s seemingly so rare. But it IS becoming more prominent and it’s something that was brought to light while watching Mike Robertson’s Bulletproof Back and Knee Seminarrecently.
FYI: It’s a fantastic resource, and I’d highly recommend it to any fitness professional reading.
As noted by Mike, sway back is simply a posterior pelvic tilt albeit with the hips pushed forward.
While a bit rarer in the general population, one demographic where it’s becoming more and more prevalent is….drum roll please……
Vikings? No
Boy Bands? Not quite.
Bomb sniffing dolphins? Nice try, but no.
In actuality, it’s PERSONAL trainers and coaches.
As a coach and trainer myself I can commiserate. I spend roughly 6-8 hours of my day standing – in extension – coaching people. And while I don’t rock a sway back posture I do possess some APT sumthin fierce.
To their credit many have recognized that APT is an issue, and have done a remarkable job at trying to alleviate it.
To that end, many have been placing a premium on cleaning up glute and hamstring issues by strengthening them, only to disregard and neglect the other crucial component of the equation…….
External obliques!
Tossing a little more anatomy into the fire, the external obliques have a few important functions:
3. Posterior pelvic tilt without a pull on the rib cage! Meaning, unlike the rectus abdominus – with prominent attachment points on the rib cage – the external obliques also posteriorly tilt the pelvis sans all the postural ramifications.
So, for those in a sway back, placing more of an emphasis on the external obliques can be of great benefit. You still have to be somewhat careful here, though, because you don’t want to promote too much PPT.
My first choice would be reverse crunches, but you may need to use these on a case-by-case basis depending on how much PPT someone is in:
Not far behind would be Offset Farmer Carries.
I love offset (1-Arm) farmer carries because they absolutely destroy the obliques as you have to fight to stay as upright as possible throughout the duration of the set.
The first progression would be your standard suitcase carry where you hold a DB or KB at your side:
There should be NO compensating in any form. No tilting, rotating, leaning, NOTHING.
From there, I’d progress to RACKED carries:
And then the grand daddy of them all would be overhead or WAITER carries:
I should also add that with all these variations the goal is to keep the rib cage locked down and to wear the coolest t-shirt ever (like the one in the videos).
Just sayin.
Tall kneeling Variations
I’ll also add tall kneeling variations onto this list too. Whether we’re referring to chops, lifts, Pallof Presses, or the plethora of landmine exercises out there, these are all excellent ways to target the external obliques and to help alleviate the sway back posture.
And That’s That
WHEW my brain hurts – I said a lot there. Hopefully within all my rambling I made some sense and was able to shed some light on some simple (albeit not all encompassing) ways to fix/address the sway back posture.
1. I’m in Florida as I write this – Jensen Beach/Stuart area in fact – and since my girlfriend and her mom decided to have a little mother-daughter “lets shop till we drop” marathon today, which I absolutely wanted no part of, I’ve had a nice, relaxing day to myself where I went to a local commercial gym to get a lift in, and now I’m sitting here in the outdoors area of a Panera in 80 degree weather loving life.
As it happened, I wore my Cressey Performance t-shirt to train this morning and was approached by a random woman who had nothing but great things to say about us. I had just completed a set of squats and happened to make eye-contact with her when she looked at me and gave me a hearty thumbs up.
Acting all cool, at first I thought she was giving me some kudos on my squat technique, which would have been awesome, and a boost to my ego. But really it was the shirt she was impressed with.
I should have known better.
We chatted for about five or so minutes and she mentioned how she always tells people to read our stuff and that, despite being a regular ol’ kick-ass general fitness enthusiast and someone who just enjoys to train (ie: not a trainer), she really appreciated all of the content we provide.
It was just a really nice experience and simultaneously surreal. It always amazes me how much of a reach we have at CP that a random person in Florida knew who I was.
2. And, for those who are reading and inevitably going to give me flack (maybe rightfully so) for doing some work while on my vacation, yesterday, per Lisa’s request, we spent the ENTIRE day out on the open ocean on our friend’s boat doing some serious fishing.
As you can see from the picture above (the one where I felt compelled to do my best Zoolander impersonation, and failed miserably) I wore what I felt was the most appropriate fishing shirt ever. Who says guys never accessorize!?!?!
The game plan was to catch a great white shark, and get myself on the local news, but all I caught were a few measly Spanish mackerel.
Not quite Jaws, but close enough.
All wasn’t lost, though. We caught so many (20), that we all went back, cleaned those bad boys out and ate them for dinner.
So today has been a “lay-low” day. Like I said, Lisa and her mom are off shopping somewhere and doing whatever it is that women do when they shop, and I’m just sitting here outside getting some writing done and taking care of some email correspondance.
Tomorrow we’re heading to Port St. Lucie to check out the Mets spring training complex and to hopefully check out some of our CP guys in action. Then, we’re off to Miami to visit some if Lisa’s friends and to REALLY get the party started.
Speaking of which: this will be my first trip to Miami since I was a sophomore in college playing baseball. I’ve never really had an opportunity to explore the city itself and know both Lisa and I will want to check out some sights and sounds, as well as eat at some fancy schmancy restaurants.
For those in the Miami area – any suggestions???
3. As a quick reminder, I’m going to be speaking at my alma mater, SUNY Cortland, on April 1st. I’m really excited to head back to my old stomping grounds and speak to the student body. It’s a huge honor to be asked to come speak, and it’s my hope that those who attend will remember my name walk away with some newfound insight on assessment, anatomy, and program design.
While the talk with be geared towards undergrad and graduate students, it is OPEN TO THE PUBLIC! And it’s FREE.
For those looking for more information whether it’s directions to Cortland, where on campus it will be held, or taking bets as to what my walk out music will be, please contact Justin Kompf at [email protected]for more details.
4. Looking a bit further down the yell0w-brick road, I’m happy to note that Cressey Performance will be hosting the next Elite Training Workshop on Sunday, April 21st.
This is undoubtedly going to be a huge event as the following people will be speaking:
Eric Cressey
Mike Robertson
Mike Reinold
Dave Schmitz
Steve Long
Jared Woolever
And some joker with the last name Gentilcore.
Additionally, there will be a bonus “business day” hosted by Pat Rigsby and Nick Berry on Saturday, April 20th.
5. I’ve been very grateful in my career to get to the point where I’m now featured in the likes of Men’s Health Magazine on an almost monthly basis. But in this month’s issue (April 2013) I’ve finally weaseled my way into an actual full-length, semi-feature article.
What’s it about you ask? How to Get Tank-Top Arms: 13 Top-Level Moves on the BOSU Ball.
LOL – just kidding.
It’s actually on the one part of a program that most guys dismiss but can arguably be considered the most important:
The Warm-Up
Check out pg. 114-116 for more of the deets. And yes, I’ll be more than happy to sign your issue if we ever cross paths.
5. And finally, I’m really good friends with Ben Bruno, and since he also lives in the Boston area, it’s not uncommon for he and I to get together and train or just go out for some burgers* on occasion.
Of course, like everyone else, I read his stuff and love it. Unfortunately I’m not one of those creative types that can sit in his evil strength coach lair and conjure up sadistic exercises that will make people hate life.
Ben, though, is a pro at it.
He can be a real a-hole sometimes. Check out this single leg variations he posted up on his Youtube Channel today:
BRUTAL. “Might have to give those a try sometime.”
Said no one, ever.
* = and ice cream.**
** = okay, and pizza. What? Don’t judge us. The ice cream is gluten free…..;O)
I just realized it’s been a good 5-6 weeks since I’ve done one of these, which is just completely unacceptable. Part of me feels like I’m doing a disservice to everyone by “wasting” a day to post about random shit.
I mean does everyone really care that I watched every minute of the Golden Globes last night?
Hell yeah you do!
1. If you missed them – all sorts of shenanigans went down. Tina Fey and Amy Poehler did a bang-up job hosting. While I didn’t get my panties all up in a bunch like a lot of people did when Ricky Gervais hosted last year, I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t a breath of fresh air to see that they didn’t go out of their way to “roast” all the attendees.
While on one hand I think if you’re making upwards of $10 million+ to pretend you’re someone else on screen, you should be able to suck it up if someone wants to bust your chops a little bit.
On the other, I don’t necessarily feel someone deserves to be humiliated in front of millions of viewers.
Nevertheless, I was happy to see my boy (as if I know him?) Quentin Tarantino win Best Screenplay for Django Unchained, and was equally as happy to see Ben Affleck (Ben freakin Affleck!) win Best Director (and Best Picture) for Argo.
I’ve had my qualms with Ben in the past. Namely for marrying my long-time crush (from her Alias days) Jennifer Garner, and you know, for making all of us suffer through Gigli.
But I have to say, he’s completely redeemed himself. I was really impressed when he made his directorial debut with Gone, Baby Gone back in 2007. I was dumbfounded when The Town came out.
Many – myself included – felt Gone, Baby Gone might have been some kind a fluke; beginner’s luck if you will.
But when The Town came out two years ago, anyone who loves movies could tell that he had a knack for this directing thing.
With Argo, he’s easily established himself as one of the A-list directors in H-town. And, giving credit where credit is due: the guy’s grown on me as an actor as well.
If you haven’t see it already, I suggest you do it ASAP.
I read the other day that he’s in cohoots with Jason Bourne Matt Damon to make a movie based off the life of Whitey Bulger. Which basically means that if they decide to film in Boston (which I don’t see why they wouldn’t), the entire city is going to go into apeshit mode.
OMGOMGOMGOMG – it’s going to be awesome.
The other highlights from last night: Wolverine can sing! He won for Best Actor in Les Miserables. I haven’t seen it yet (mainly because I pee standing up), but stranger things have happened and I’ll most likely check it out soon.
The Oscars are next. See you in a few weeks.
2. One of the more common questions I receive on a somewhat regular basis is Tony are those your pecs or cinderblocks you have underneath that shirt? Tony, what’s your beef against Olympic lifting?
Presumably many are under the assumption that because I don’t discuss OLY lifting that much – or that I never program it – I’m adamantly against it.
Au contraire mon soeur.
This couldn’t be further from the truth!
For starters, as a strength coach, I’d be the worst one in history if I was somehow opposed to the OLY lifts. I think it goes without saying that they’re an unparalleled tool to help build explosiveness, power, and overall athleticism.
Thing is: I don’t have a lot (if any) experience with them. As such, I don’t really go out of my way to coach them, or include them in any of my programs, because I’d be a walking ball of fail if I tried. If anything, I’m taking a huge bite of humble pie by admitting that I don’t feel comfortable as a coach including OLY lifting in my programs.
This isn’t to say that we don’t have other coaches at CP who have more hands-on experience with them and are more comfortable around them. But for me, I think I’d be doing my athletes and clients and disservice by pretending that I know what I’m talking about.
Besides, we make do with various med ball drills, sprinting drills, and the like, which get the job done.
Considering we don’t necessarily know how long we have each athlete for, it makes much more sense from a time-efficiency standpoint to utilize less “coaching intensive” protocols.
Sadly, there are quite a few coaches and trainers out there who don’t have the same mentality as myself. Instead of admitting their weaknesses, they pretend to know what they’re talking about at best coaching people with god-awful technique, and at worst……hurting someone.
That said, recognizing my weaknesses as a coach, I’ve started to delve a little deeper and started to read and watch various texts and DVDs on Olympic lifting. It’s a whirlwind for sure, but something I feel will help make me a better coach in the grand scheme of things.
As luck would have it, I was sent an advance copy of Will Fleming’s Complete Olympic Lifting DVD a few weeks ago, and it’s been awesome.
The problem isn’t deciding whether or not to incorporate these lifts into our programs. It’s getting your athletes to properly execute them.
And THAT’S what’s helped me the most.
It takes you through the process of assessing, teaching and fixing the Olympic Lifts (and their variations) in a simple, straight forward way you can begin implementing immediately.
No technical jargon. No fluff. No scientific text. No cowbell.
If you’re like me, and the thought of OLY lifting makes you cower in the corner sucking your thumb, I’d highly suggest checking this fantastic resource out.
It’s on sale this week for 40% off the regular price, which is a steal if you ask me.
3. For more of universal flavor, and because bootcamps are now all the rage in the fitness industry, Mike Robertson, along with Jim Laird and Molly Galbraith have just released a 30-minute webinar as a precursor to their Bootcamp in a Box product coming out later this week (Tuesday, Jan. 15th in fact).
This is a product geared towards bootcamp owners that want to run a smarter and safer bootcamp.
I know all you hear right now is blah, blah, blah, just another bootcamp product to throw onto the “not interested” list.
But what differentiates this from all the other similar products there is:
I personally know Mike (as well as Jim and Molly) and know they’re all passionate about the type of information they put out there, and won’t allow themselves to put out a poo-poo product.
This is a DVD and manual which gives you – on a platter – an entire training system that you can use with your bootcamp clients.
It entails 6-months of done-for-you programming, progressions and regressions for all the major movement categories, and they’ve literally taken any guesswork out of the program.
For what it’s worth, many of the principles covered are things we’ve incorporated into our own Excellence Bootcamps at Cressey Performance
Like I said, the 30-minute webinar is FREE, and will give you a better idea of what the system entails.
4. And lastly, I want to touch on the whole training women while they’re pregnant topic. I’ve personally trained a handful of women through their pregnancies, and I’m currently training two as I type this.
Well, I mean not literally as I type this, but you know what I mean.
I definitely have some strong viewpoints on this topic – and I do want to share them in more detail – but I’d be curious to hear what other’s have to say (or think).
For me there’s a massive dichotomy between what I do and what most (not all) of the research says we should be doing.
While it definitely comes down to the individual, their comfort level, listening to their body, as well as their past training history, I find it asinine that there are physicians out there (and even more articles) that suggest that “training” should revolve around light walking and what mounts to arm circles.
For me, when I’m working with someone who’s pregnant, it’s about preparing them for something a helluva lot more significant than lifting pink dumbbells or anything I’ll ever have to do.
In my eyes, if they’re able to grow and push a human being out of their body, they’re capable of lifting a barbell off the ground.
Sometimes even over their head. Repeatedly. GASP!!!!!!!!
But again, this definitely doesn’t apply to everyone. I understand that there are subtle training modifications that should be addressed trimester to trimester, and there are times where extenuating circumstances come in to play as far as complications are concerned.
In my experience, however, these are few and far between and I often feel like we’re being overly cautious.
Now, I’m not insinuating that someone carrying child should go out and try to hit deadlift PRs on a weekly basis or snatch a mack truck over their head. But I’m certainly in the camp that feels we can offer a lot more than “go walk in the treadmill.”
Like I said, I’d like to jump into this topic with more detail, but I wanted to throw out a “feeler” to see if anyone would bite and offer their insight on the matter.
LOL – see what I just did there? I burned Tracy Anderson right from the get-go! Oh man this day is off to a good start already.
The only thing that could make it better is if by some miracle it started raining bacon. And, you know, I drove a tank to work.
But I’m getting a little carried away here.
Tracy Anderson jokes and bacon aside, Mondays generally suck no matter which way you look at it. Personally I don’t mind them that much because I actually love my job. But there was a time, when I first started in this industry (in corporate fitness), where my Mondays consisted of getting up at 3:45 AM to drive 50 minutes to work so that I could open up the gym by 5 AM.
That…..sucked…….donkey……balls.
Even more so when it was the dead of winter, ten degrees outside, and the roads weren’t even plowed yet. For those unfamiliar with central New York winters – it’s essentially the lake-effect snow capital of the universe (yes, the universe), and it’s abysmal weather from December to April.
But at least it’s not Edmonton (sorry Dean Somerset).
Suffice it to say, I’d spend most of my day on Sunday dreading the start of Monday.
But that isn’t really what this post is all about. Things are cool now. It’s true what they say: if you enjoy your job, it’s never really “work.” Mondays now are just like any other day in my eyes.
Except for the day AFTER attending a seminar.
I know I’ve seemingly harpooned the CP Elite Baseball Development seminar this week and have taken it hostage, using it as the impetus for every post.
But what can I say? I learned a lot – and it provided me with some blogging ammo for a week.
Sure, the shoulders play an important role – and it’s no coincidence that they’re a problematic area in many baseball players – but throwing a baseball involves the entire body, and taking the mindset that we should solely focus on the shoulder (and elbow) is a bit, well, dumb.
Having said that, not everyone reading this blog follows baseball, plays baseball, or really cares one way or the other how we train them.
So I’ll do everyone a favor and shut my yapper on that front.
But there is one more gem that I took away from the seminar that I feel applies to any fitness professional reading whether they train professional athletes, high-school athletes, soccer moms, type-A doctors, lawyers, and CEOs, or bomb sniffing dolphins.
And that’s this:
Turn on the brakes!!!
The hardest part about attending seminars – and something Mike Robertson alluded to in THIS fantastic post – is the following Monday, where you want to try all the new exercises you learned, and demonstrate to the world that performing a one-legged squat on a BOSU ball while juggling oranges is EXACTLY what everyone needs to be doing.
I think there are many fitness professionals out there that bombard their athletes and clients with a host of exercises thinking that more is better. Worse, is that they’ll attend a weekend seminar (which should be commended by the way), arm themselves with an endless supply of new and “cool” exercises, and then, without any discretion what-so-ever, include them in every client’s program on Monday.
Throwing a nice corollary into the mix, Dennis Treubig, PT, DPT, CSCS, wrote a nice guest post on Mike Reinold’s site earlier this week where he talked about the same topic, but included something I’ve read about is several behavioral economic books I’ve read referred to as the jam experiment.
Mmmm, I like Jam
If you are unfamiliar with this experiment, here is a brief synopsis (officially titled, “When Choice is Demotivating: Can One Desire Too Much of a Good Thing?”). Shoppers at a grocery store were presented with two different displays of jam – one had 6 flavors and the other had 24 flavors. The results showed that 30% of people who visited the display with 6 jams actually purchased jam, while only 3% made a purchase after visiting the display that offered 24 jams.
So what’s the take home message? Less is more.
Or better yet: refraining from being an a-hole and recognizing that not everything applies to every client….is more.
Don’t go thinking that the more exercises you include (or add) in your programs somehow shows off your superiority as a trainer or coach. All it really demonstrates, with bright, gleaming colors, is that you’re unable (or unwilling) to think for yourself and to properly apply what you’ve learned.
This isn’t to say that you shouldn’t apply new techniques, exercises, or principles into your programming. On the contrary, you should STRIVE for that. I can’t even begin to tell you how much it saddens me when a trainer or coach never grows, cultures, or adapts their training methodology.
All I’m suggesting is that, come Monday, don’t jump the gun and immediately overhaul your programs with an avalanche of new exercises. Take the time to actually dissect and assimilate the information and to see what (if anything) applies to you and your clients/athletes.
Having more of a “filter” and learning how to disregard new information is just as important as learning it in the first place.
Wait a second – my alarm went off this morning. I don’t think I’m dreaming.
*looks out window*
Volcanoes aren’t erupting, the streets aren’t flooded with molten lava, and from what I can tell, everything seems business as usual.
The Mayanpocalypsearmeggedonacaust didn’t happen. We’re all still here!!!!!!
High Five!
But be weary my friends – we’re still not out of the woods yet. The day is still young, and you never know when s*** is going to hit the fan.
If things do get real, and you’re forced to fight for your life, whether it be killing a grizzly bear with your nunchucks for your next meal, protecting your family from evil doers, or I don’t know, something less “doom and gloom” like clicking “next” whenever your Pandora station plays a Coldplay song……are you prepared?
Are you in enough ass-kicking shape to do what you need to do to get s*** done? Can you – WILL YOU – survive if you had to go all Snake Plissken on people’s asses?
Well just in case, earlier this week my boy, John Romaniello, released his latest training program:
I know some reading are going to dismiss this product due to the “less than serious” premise. To that I say:
1. Relax! Don’t take yourself so seriously.
AND
2. There’s actually a legitimate rationale behind it.
John, along with every other well-known fitness professional I know, routinely gets questions asking his opinion on CrossFit (myself included).
It’s a touchy topic to say the least, and something that has caused a rift between strength coaches, personal trainers, and fitness enthusiasts alike.
On one end of the spectrum you have those who swear by it, and literally eat, drink, breath, and LIVE by CrossFit.
On the other, you have those who loathe it, think it’s a fad, and that it’s hopefully going away. Like, soon.
Well, it’s not going away. And while I’ll be the first to admit that I too have my qualms with CrossFit, I also understand that it’s getting people excited to exercise, and there’s a lot to be said for that. How can I possibly poo-poo on that?
Like John I feel the idea of CrossFit is sound – it’s just that its execution is flawed.
To his credit John has been attending at least one CrossFit class a week for the past few months to try to get a better understanding and feel for what the culture is like.
And, not surprisingly, he’s mentioned several times that there are great coaches and absolutely terrible coaches.
The great coaches – and by extension, the most successful CF boxes – understand that it comes down to sound programming. They take the time to properly coach their clients and use appropriate exercise progressions (and more importantly, regressions) to “guide” them through.
By contrast, the terrible coaches – and unfortunately this seems to be the rule rather than the exception – focus solely on the workouts. How can we completely obliterate our athletes/clients and make them hate life? How can we – fingers crossed! – make them cough up their spleen?
The latter is what I 100% disagree with, and what I feel gives CrossFit its bad rap.
So what did Roman do? He started taking CrossFit classes to see if he could fix it.
To quote the man himself:
“I thought to myself, “what if you took the idea of CrossFit–the idea of non-
specification,the idea of having a high level of general proficiency across the
board, and appliedintelligent programming–with a classic Roman twist–to
that idea…what would you get?”
It’s a good question, and one worth exploring. So that’s what I did.
Because really, when you strip away the fun and silliness, that’s what ZAW really is: my take on CrossFit. It’s CrossFit, Roman style, with all of the issues with programming fixed.”
Fittingly, today is the last day of the sale, so if you’re interested you better hurry. The walking dead could be right around the corner……;o)
Along with Bret Contreras, Ben Bruno, Dean Somerset, Tim Henriques, and Dan Trink, I was asked to contribute to this awesome pull-up article that was put up on T-Nation yesterday.
If we were a boy band, we’d totally be the most diesel boy band ever.
I wrote a blog post a while back titled The Perfect Warm-Up? It was nothing revolutionary, but it cemented my thoughts on what I felt the purpose of a proper warm-up is, and then I offered a different spin on it.
Well, in THIS article – which should be titled The FOR REAL Perfect Warm-Up – Mike breaks everything down from what the warm-up should accomplish for each segment of the body to providing videos of all of his favorite drills. This is a MUST read.
Just a quick talking point before I get to the stuff you should read.
1. I definitely plan on writing more on this in the near future (an article perhaps?), but I’d love to get other’s opinion on this. In the past 1-2 months, I’ve taken roughly 80% of single leg training out of my OWN training program and my knees feel infinitely better.
In it’s place I’ve been squatting upwards of 3-4 times per week – with varying set/rep schemes and intensities each day** – and the only single leg training I perform are exercises using the Prowler (with the occasional reverse lunge or bulgarian split squat thrown in for good measure).
I’m not trying to make this into a functional vs. non-functional/organic vs. non-organic/ninjas vs. zombie debate here. This is solely an N=1 example, and I am NOT against single leg training. I still use it with my clients and athletes and understand their efficacy, so anyone about to enter Defcon 1 status because they feel I said something absurd like eggs cause cancer, or I don’t know, Wolverine is the greatest X-Men ever, RELAX!!!!!!!!!
No need to send the hate mail.
I’m just trying to see if there are others out in the world who have similar experiences. I’m in the mentality that everyone is different, and what works for one person, doesn’t necessarily work for the other: single leg training included.
Mike reached out to several other coaches and trainers in the industry and asked if we’d be interested in sharing a story or experience for a post he was writing on motivation. In his own words…..
“I think some people assume that those who are “successful” (however you want to define that) have something inherently special about them.
Maybe they’re smarter, better looking, more well-connected, or they just flat-out got lucky.
Many of us enter the industry for one simple reason:
To change people’s lives via our passion for fitness.
And if you work/live in this industry, you know exactly what I’m talking about. Every single one of us has had one of those times where we feel a little beaten down and question why we do this for a living.”
I was humbled that Mike would include me on such a list, and I thought the end product was pretty cool!
You can’t be an elite powerlifter and elite marathoner at the same time. This isn’t to say, however, that you can’t implement a “system” that allows you train certain fitness qualities simultaneously. You just have to understand that there’s going to be a “give and take” with regards to expected results.
Here, Patrick sheds some light on a VERY interesting topic and offers some sage advice on how to go about programming for different qualities. At the end of the day research is cool, but you still need to be able apply it to your athletes.
It Was The Best Of Times, It Was The Worst Of Times – Anthony Griffith
I saw that Roger Lawson posted this on his Facebook page, and watched it myself. All I have to say is…..Wow.
If you have nine minutes to spare, this is nine minutes well spent. If nothing else, it just makes you feel that maybe your day wasn’t quite as bad as you thought.
** Just to give people an idea of how I’m approaching this squatting experiment, my week has been looking like this:
Monday: Squat, working up to heavy(ish) triples.
Tuesday: Squat, 3×5. Nice and easy reps here. Nothing remotely strenuous or grinding.
Wednesday: Day off. Cuddle with my cat.
Thursday: Squat, 2-3×8. Higher reps here using 10-12RM
Friday: No squatting.
Saturday: Is just a “get-up-early-and-head-to-the-facility-to-move-around-a-little-bit-before-clients-show-up” day. I’ll toss in some VERY light Goblet squats in here.
Sunday: Laundry, grocery shopping, whatever else I’m told to do.
Can you believe it’s almost September!!?!?! I was writing our rent check this morning and I couldn’t help but think to myself, “WTF….September starts, like, tomorrow.”
It seems like yesterday I was excited about summer starting, and now it’s almost freaking over. The worst part? I can count on one hand the number of times I had the opportunity to take my shirt off. That’s just completely unacceptable.
The positive in all this is that 1) I planned a special weekend “getaway” with Lisa and the weather is supposed to be amazing, sooooooooo basically, my shirt is coming off. And 2) Autumn is my favorite time of year. Being from the Finger Lakes region originally (in central New York), I grew up appreciating the contrast of colors that would surround the lakes during this time of year. Luckily New England is just as beautiful in a lot of ways, and I think every person out there with a Y chromosome agrees that nothing beats the smell of college football season right around the corner
Nonetheless, it’s going to be brief today. Here’s some stuff to read to tide you over between rounds of Angry Birds. It’s Friday, I know you’re not working.
This was sent my way via Twitter, and while I know there are parts of this article that could easily be dissected and ripped to shreds by the nutrition nerds out there, I thought this was a pretty thought provoking piece overall.
We get asked quite often about supplements at the facility. While we first go out of our way to instill in our athletes (especially the younger, more impressionable ones) that eating real, whole, minimally processed foods is the best avenue to travel, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that we do view supplements as part of the equation.
Note: We never push supplements onto our clients, but if the topic ever manifests itself, we feel it’s important to provide as much factual, concise, and relavent information as possible.
With our athletes, it usually comes down to helping them filter out the stupid and help them understand that supplements are just that….supplements. They can serve a purpose, but won’t trump a solid training and nutrition plan.
More importantly, with the parents that entrust us with their kids, it’s about educating them that supplements <=> steroids.
This is never more prevalent than when the topic of creatine pops up. While it’s the most researched supplement in all of human history – and yes, it’s safe and effective – you’d be surprised as to how many parents, usually as a result of some bloated cautionary tale from their family doctor, are under the impression that creatine is a steroid and causes global warming.
And to their credit, they should be leery and pessimistic. There’s a lot of shady stuff out there.
I just chuckle and tell them that, no, polar bear farts cause global warming, and that creatine is completely safe and then hand them a very abbreviated version of the link above (which is arguably one of the most thorough reviews you’ll find anywhere).
I was bummed I couldn’t make it out to Indy for this seminar as the line-up was an All-Star cast of who’s who in the industry. Nevertheless, Mike does a fantastic job of recapping some of the highlights from what seemed to be an amazing weekend.
For many the topic of breathing patterns can be about as exciting as doing your taxes, so I figured I’d push the envelop a bit and use a catchy title to entice people to click on the link.
And, it worked! I win!!
Don’t worry. Despite the risque title, the topic below is completely PG.
So, now that you’re here and I have your attention, lets watch this video by the Miami Dolphin cheerleaders:
Okay, so, um, yeah……breathing patterns. It’s a topic that’s gained a lot of momentum (in the mainstream fitness media anyways) in the past year or so, due in no small part to the brilliant life-long work of Dr. Pavel Kolar and the “way smarter than the rest of us” team at The Prague School.
Taken right from their homepage:
The nervous system establishes programs that control human locomotion, which is comprised of posture and movement. This ‘motor control’ is largely established during the first critical years of life. Therefore, the “Prague School” emphasizes neurodevelopmental aspects of motor control in order to assess and restore dysfunction of the locomotor system and associated syndromes.
It’s some deep and innovative stuff for sure, and it’s something that I myself have only just scratched the surface of.
Thankfully there are other fitness professionals out there like Bill Hartman, Charlie Weingroff, Jim Laird, and Dr. Jeff Cubos (to name a few), who have are doing a wonderful job of spreading the knowledge, “dumbing” it down, and exposing people to the why’s/what’s/and how’s of assessing and fixing breathing patterns.
As it happens, one of the major themes that resonated this past weekend at the Spinal Health and Core Training Seminar (of which I was a part of) was the concept of breathing patterns and how there’s a significant interplay between aberrant patterns and how they effect not only performance but everything from posture to dealing with chronic back pain, neck pain, shoulder, or lower extremity issues as well.
As it happens, one of the major themes that resonated this past weekend at the Spinal Health and Core Training Seminar (of which I was a part of) was the concept of breathing patterns and how there’s a significant interplay between aberrant patterns and how they effect not only performance, but everything from posture to dealing with chronic back pain, neck pain, shoulder, or lower extremity issues as well.
In my talk, titled Spine and Core Training: From Assessment to Badass, I dove into some of the general “drills” we’ve been implementing at Cressey Performance to help teach people more appropriate breathing patterns.
You see, most people tend to be chest breathers and completely leave their diaphragm and the other “inner” core muscles out to dry.
It’s kind of like the playground when we were kids: one group of muscles bullies the other, says their dad can kick the other dad’s ass any day of the week, someone gets called a big, fat, poop face, punches get thrown, the moms then get involved, and everything becomes one massive ball of breathing dysfunction.
The key, then, is to get everyone to play nice, and work synergistcally. Ideally, we’d like to see the smaller, inner core muscles – diaphragm, mulitifidi, etc – to work properly, so that the larger, more global muscles can do their job as well and not have to work overtime.
To do so we need to take more of a 360 degree approach to breathing. Meaning, instead of solely focusing on the anterior core (pushing the belly out: which still isn’t a bad place to start for most people), we need to take into consideration the lateral and posterior components as well.
Before we can do that, however, we need to actually learn how to breath into our bellies.
To start, here are some simple drills you can use:
1. 3-Month Pose
This is a drill I snaked from Mike Robertson, and the idea is to lie supine and focus on breathing into the belly and NOT allowing the rib cage to flair out too much. You’ll notice how I keep my fingers at my sides to ensure that I’m not only pushing my belly out, but also expanding the sides (and back, into the floor) as well. Be sure to inhale through the nose and exhale through the mouth.
Of note: a regression would be to start with the feet on the ground, and then once that’s mastered, elevate the feet in the air.
2. Prone/Alligator Breathing
Lying prone on your stomach, the objective here (again) is to breath into the belly and try to get the lower back to rise. Make sure to inhale through the nose, push the belly into the ground, and exhale through the mouth.
For many, those two drills alone will be a fantastic starting point.
Now, for years (YEARS I tell you!) I’ve always been engrained to “push the belly out” or to “make myself fat” when getting ready to lift big weights – particularly when wearing a weight belt. Bill Hartman had a fantastic post on this very topic not too long ago, and he noted that when people push out they do so at the expense of going into excessive anterior pelvic tilt which can be a lower back killer.
Below is a longer video where I go into a bit more detail on how we can go about re-grooving these patterns using a weight belt (correctly) and/or regular ole tennis balls (which was an ingenious idea that Jeff Cubos brought up this past weekend). Moreover, it isn’t JUST about anterior expansion. Rather we want to start grooving more of a 360 degree expansion to help increase stability.
A Few Things to Note:
1. Yes, I’m wearing a gray t-shirt with gray sweat pants. Whatever. I’m bringing gray on gray back, baby. Recognize!
2. Clearly this is something that Rob – my demonstrator – can work on. Not to throw Rob under the bus or anything (although I kinda am…..sorry Rob), but this would be a fantastic drill for him to utilize more frequently. If for nothing else to give his body the kinesthetic feedback it needs to learn how to breath properly. Ie: through his belly and NOT his chest.
I purposely chose him for the video because it allowed me to demonstrate how most people look when you tell them to take a deep breath. With a little practice, I think he’ll be able to get it down.
3. As far as when and where to implement these drills. I’ve been doing more of them at the start of a training session, as part of an extended warm-up. I may lie down for a good 2-5 minutes and just focus on my breathing. Hell, maybe pop in a little Norah Jones and just chillax.
It’s a bit “voo-doo’ish,” but it works, and I’m willing to bet if you take the time to implement these drills into your repertoire, you’ll feel a marked difference in how you feel. Try them out today, and let me know what you think!
UPDATE: for those interested, HERE is the video done by Bill Hartman I referenced above (where he discusses belly breathing and APT). As you’ll undoubtedly realize – if you watch it – Bill is kinda smart.
