CategoriesStuff to Read While You're Pretending to Work

Stuff to Read While You’re Pretending to Work: 8/24/21

Copyright: conneldesign / 123RF Stock Photo

STUFF TO CHECK OUT FIRST

I don’t have anything important to share other than a hilarious story involving my wife.

Anyone who’s had experience moving knows what an utter abysmal experience it can be. To me, moving is about as fun as diving into a ravine full of broken glass.

The boxes, the labels, maneuvering the calendar around, the figuring out what stays and what goes part, everything, it sucks.

Alas, it’s going to happen.

We move in a week and have been packing up our things the past several days. As it happens, there’s been no shortage of “ooo’s and ahhh’s” coming across things/items we haven’t laid eyes on in quite some time.

As an example I came home last Saturday and noticed Lisa (my wife) had a few of her MVP plaques from college (volleyball) on the dining room table.

Me (looking at the plaques): “Huh, I see 2000 and 1998. Who was the MVP in 1999?”

Lisa: “Me, I already put that one away.”

(cue uproarious laughter from me).

My wife could kick Sarah Connor’s ass…;o)

SOCIAL MEDIA SHENANIGANS

Twitter

Instagram

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Tony Gentilcore (@tonygentilcore)

STUFF TO READ

Strength Training Program Design Manual – Pat Basil

Pat Basil is the head S&C coach at Hamilton College and I have been really digging his content of late. He and I have crossed paths several times on social media and I love his perspective and approach to coaching. So much in fact that it prompted me to check out his stuff and I picked up a copy of his manual recently.

Full Disclosure: I get zero kickback for directing you toward this manual. I just genuinely enjoy pointing people toward excellent content.1

Flex Diet Podcast Episode #112: A Tribute to John Meadows – Dr. Mike T. Nelson

It was sad news to hear of John Meadows’ passing recently. I never met John in person, but it was unequivocally obvious how much of a genuine and kind person he was.

The world of bodybuilding and strength & conditioning will forever be in debt to John’s teachings and expertise. My good friend, Mike T. Nelson, recently dedicated an entire episode of his popular podcast to John.

Give it a listen.

The Only 5 Reasons You Are Not Losing Weight on a Diet – PJ Striet

Another gem from one of my internet man-crushes.

CategoriesStuff to Read While You're Pretending to Work

Stuff to Read While You’re Pretending to Work: 12/23/16

Happy Holidays everyone!

Copyright: bravissimos / 123RF Stock Photo

 

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

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

CategoriesUncategorized

Stuff to Read While You’re Pretending to Work: FST is Back, Personal Training No-No’s, and Bruno’s Top Training Tips

Before we dive into this week’s stuff to read, I wanted to give a genteel reminder that we’re closing in on the final days to take advantage of the early bird special for mine and Dean Somerset’s Boston Workshop at Cressey Performance.

As it stands we’re a little over half-way to capacity (30 seats) and we’re expecting a major influx of signees as the end of June approaches.

Dean has updated the website to showcase the general itinerary for the weekend, as well as highlight that we have a special guest speaker lined up for that Friday evening for those who actually do arrive a day early.

No it’s not Optimus Prime.  And no, sorry, it’s not Macho Man Randy Savage.  But I promise it will be someone whom all of you know and will want to listen to…..;o)

Click HERE to view the updated details and to register.

Functional Stability Training for the Lower Body – Eric Cressey and Mike Reinold

And they’re back!!!

It’s hard not to get excited when these two collaborate, because when they do it’s a win-win for everyone.

It was roughly a year ago that Eric and Mike released Functional Stability Train for the Core which dived into the “umbrella topic” surrounding the interplay between the “core” and upper extremity function and performance.

Now, I know what some of you may be thinking:  the industry needs another “functional training” product like we need another Kardashian spin-off.  To that I say….fair enough!

But come on: these two aren’t your run-of-the-mill trainers here.  Combined they’ve worked with over a billion dollars worth of Major League arms, not to mention Eric’s pulled 660 lbs and Mike, well, he hasn’t pulled that much.  But regardless, these two not only talk the talk, but they walk it.

This time around they’re setting their sights on the lower body.  While covering all the topics would be impossible here, the main point to consider is that “by addressing alignment, strength, mobility, and dynamic motor control, you can maximize your rehabilitation and training programs to reach optimal performance.”

The whole series is more of “system” in the long run, and it’s a system that will undoubtedly help any trainer, strength coach, or manual therapist take his or her knowledge base to the next level.  This one definitely gets the TG thumbs up of approval.

For more information you can go HERE.

Sure Fire Ways to F*&k Up Your Personal Training Career – PJ Striet

I think the title pretty much says it all.  This is some sage advice from a good friend of mine who’s been in the industry for 18 years, twelve of which have been running his own facility.

Basically – he know’s what he’s talking about.

21 Practical Ways to Improve Your Training Today – Ben Bruno (<== not a link)

Ben’s a good friend of mine, and when he asked if I’d be willing to help spread the word on this awesome resource I didn’t even blink an eye before I said yes.

For everyone who goes to his site HERE and signs up for his newsletter, you’ll receive this FREE report which offers a gulf of insight/tips/opinions on how you can go about increasing your general level of awesomeness today.

And don’t worry:  Ben’s assured me that if you sign up for his newsletter he won’t use it to spam the shit out of you or do something lame like send “selfie” pictures of himself.  Except for on his birthdays, of course.

CategoriesUncategorized

Stuff to Read While You’re Pretending to Work: 1/13/12

It’s been a busy week in both my professional and personal life.  We’re seemingly bursting at the seams at the facility getting everyone ready for the upcoming baseball season.  Many of the college guys who are home on their breaks will be heading back to school starting next week though, so it should slow down a bit and allow us an opportunity to come up for air.

Likewise, in a few short weeks, many of our pro-baseball guys will be making their way south (or west) for Spring Training.  It’s hard to believe that it’s only like four weeks away, but there’s still plenty of intense work and sweat to be had.

What’s more, many of our high school and general population clients are working equally as hard.  Yesterday alone we had a few people set some deadlifting PRs – Congrats to Lisa V!

On a more personal level, I have some pretty cool things in the works:

1.  In about a week or two, you should see some changes to the website.  Now, I’m not going to go all Facebook on you and add some lame scrolling ticker that everyone hates  – RELAX!! Rather, I’m just making some aesthetic changes to site while upgrading some of the social media, in addition to………..DRUM ROLL PLEASE…………….

…….implementing a newsletter!

EC, Smitty, Kevin Neeld, and pretty much everyone else I know has been busting my chops for eons for not having a newsletter in place, and I’ve finally decided to put my big-boy pants on and run with it.

2.  It seems that my resolution to do more speaking engagements has caught fire.  Currently, I have 3-4 events tentatively lined up, and more in the works.  Sweet!  I’ll keep you posted.  Or, better yet, once it’s available, you can sign up for my newsletter (hint hint).

3.  I’m going on vacation!!!!!!  Lisa and I booked a flight for Florida in March, and it can’t come soon enough – I’m about as white as a Coldplay concert right now.

There are some other things going on as well:  I started a creative non-fiction writing class earlier this week (Note to my editors: I can’t promise less grammatical errors), I pulled 500×4 last night AFTER eight hours of coaching, my cat is sitting on my lap as I type this post (such a cute kittie!!!), and I brushed my teeth like ten minutes ago.  So there you go. You’re caught up.

On that note, here’s this week’s stuff to read:

 Are You Making This Critical Corrective Exercise Mistake – Nick Tumminello

Coaches need to coach, and NOT get too caught up in this whole concept of “corrective exercise.” Too often, trainers and coaches get cute with their assessments and programming and fail to do the ONE thing that’s most important:  cue and coach their clients!

I thought this was a fantastic video blog by Nick, and is something we try to instill on our interns at Cressey Performance on a routine basis.

Assessments are mandatory, no doubt.  Corrective exercise – when indicated – IS important, obviously.  But more importantly, having the ability to demonstrate, cue, and coach a client through any given exercise is kind of a big deal, and is a characteristic that’s often overlooked.

Keep it simple people……COACH!

The Recovery Day Workout – PJ Striet

You can’t be a rock star everyday.  Sorry, it’s just the truth.  This is never more evident than in the weight room. For a vast majority of trainees out there, many are under the impression that “more is better,” and that even if they feel like they’ve gotten run over by a mack truck of fail, they should still train through it.

This is dumb.

I’ve touched on this topic before in the past, but here, my good buddy PJ elaborates a little further and provides some killer circuits to boot. Check it out!

Why Do You Train Your Clients – Lee Boyce

WOW.  Just wow.  Amazing article by Lee which asks the question:  do you educate your clients or just collect their money?