Happy Holidays everyone!

 

I hope all of you have a safe and happy Holiday this weekend.

Stuff to Check Out Before You Read Stuff

1. COREssentials

Beginning in mid-January 2017 I’ll be offering a new 6-week “beginner course” at CORE, called COREessentials. Get it?

The idea is to champion FOUR things:

1. Building Autonomy
2. Building Accountability
3. Building Competency
4. Building Community
5. BONUS: to build you into one sexy motherfucker.

Okay, that’s five things…but hopefully you get the idea. The program is going to target beginner level lifters who may either be lost in their training – just kind of haphazardly piecing together workouts with no rhyme or reason – or who may be intimidated altogether with the idea of strength training. The umbrella goal is to build focus and purpose with training.

The Deets

START DATE: Mid-January, 2017. Likely Monday, January 16th.

1. Groups will meet 2x per week at CORE (250 Cypress St, Brookline, MA) in predetermined AM and PM time slots.

2. Sessions will be 60-75 minutes in length and each one will be supervised by strength coach Jarrod Dyke, CSCS (I’ll be making cameo appearances as well and will be involved with the programming). The course will stress the basics – teaching participants various bodyweight, kettlebell, and (sometimes) barbell based movements designed to set the stage for continued success and growth (you know, that autonomy thing mentioned above).

3. There will also be a nutrition/mindset component as well. Shannon Wheel, a Boston-based Registered Dietitian, will be holding a few sessions throughout the course of 6-weeks covering nutrition as well as helping participants develop behavioral-based habits to compliment the training.

Too, my wife, Dr. Lisa Lewis, a behavioral and exercise psychologist, will be offering a mindset component designed to augment the process. She’ll tackle what goes on in our heads, and how to best curtail the roadblocks and negative self-talk that often hampers progress.

4. Weekly “homework/reading” assignments will be part of the process, along with email correspondence from the coaches to help keep participants on task.

5. There will also be a lot of EDM and 90’s hip-hop played (if I’m coaching anyways), and the likelihood of spontaneous dance or rap battles breaking out will be very high.

If you’d like more information or you know someone in Boston who may be a good candidate for this program please use the “Contact” function HERE.

On to this week’s list of stuff to read

So You Want My Advice For Avoiding Holiday Weight Gain? DON’T Avoid It – PJ Striet

Yes, yes, and yes.

This is the EXACT message I relay to people during this time of year. The fear mongering and demonizing involved with having the audacity to indulge in yummy food this time of year is absurd.

Awesome read from PJ. Loved how he broke down the “math” and explained things.

Strength Coaches Opinions of Physical Therapists – MyRehabExpert.com

I had the opportunity to offer my opinion in this compilation article – also featuring Eric Cressey, Mike Boyle, Dan John, Bret Contreras, Alwyn Cosgrove, and many others – describing:

• Scenarios where we felt a physical therapist dropped the ball on a client.
• What we tend to look for in a quality physical therapist.

20 Strength Coaches You Should Follow on Instagram – STACK.com

Looking for some new coaches/trainers to follow on Instagram, and not just those “fake” ones that have a 717:1 (Selfies:Actual Content) ratio? This was great list compiled my STACK.com and I was very honored be included. Kinda surprised, actually, considering all the cat pictures I post.

Social Media Highlights

Twitter

I’m always amazed at people who ask for FREE training to try out my services. Would they ask a dentist the same question?

— Tony Gentilcore (@tonygentilcore1) December 21, 2016

Instagram

Lisa will be 35 weeks pregnant tomorrow. Forget the idea that we’re quickly approaching the “shit is now getting real” window and that I’m equal parts excited and trying not to destroy the back of pants. How cool is it that Lisa’s still getting after it in the gym? Strength training through pregnancy can be a tricky thing and I always default to how the woman feels and whether or not anything makes her feel weird. Prior experience plays a key role here. In Lisa’s case: 20+ years of strength training prior (and the load used in this video – 155 lbs – is no where near her 1RM). All that said I do find there’s still a lot of stigma with training through pregnancy and unfortunately many women are told to stop lifting weights. Of course no pregnancy is the same, but assuming one is healthy and has experience there’s no reason not to keep up with it. Modifications need to be addressed as a woman progresses (in the case of the video above we elevated the trap bar, even with high handle setting, to accommodate for her belly), but we need to do a better job at relaying the message that pregnancy is NOT a disease and doesn’t mean you have to be relegated to the elliptical and pink dumbbells.

A video posted by Tony Gentilcore (@tonygentilcore) on Dec 22, 2016 at 12:00pm PST