There was a time – from 2007-2015 to be exact, my coaching years at Cressey Sports Performance – where I listened to a lot books on cd as well as podcasts.
I had a 45-60 minute commute both ways and used that time to try to make myself smarter. In the years since, however, there aren’t many shows I listen to, because now my commute is an eight minute walk.
Nevertheless, one show that I do listen to is The Movement Fix Podcast hosted by a friend of mine, Dr. Ryan DeBell.
Whoa – who was the a-hole this week and barely wrote anything for the site?
And by “anything” I mean “zero, zilch, nada.”
My bad.
But it was for good reason. I travelled to Colorado Springs this week to film some stuff with the National Strength & Conditioning Association (NSCA) for their upcoming 2019 (Virtual) Personal Trainers Conference, as well as made a cameo appearance at T-Nation headquarters.
Man, between those two establishments AND the National Olympic Training Facility AND The Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs is one buff and beautiful city.1
Also, as it happens, I’m off to Edmonton (<– that’s in Canada by the way) tomorrow to go film the (Even More) Complete Shoulder & Hip Blueprint with Dean Somerset this weekend.
So, yeah, it was a busy week. SO GET OFF MY BACK YOU BIG JERK
Melbourne, Australia: July 19-21st and Melbourne Strength & Conditioning. (<— Includes bonus “Psych Skills for Fitness Pros” pre-workshop with Dr. Lisa Lewis).
Luke (Worthington) and I did this workshop last summer in London and figured it’s only fair to bring it State side.
Combined we have 30+ years of coaching experience (I.e., one Mike Boyle or Dan John) and this workshop will be two days where we uncover every nook and cranny as it relates to how we assess our clients/athletes and how we best prepare them for the rigors of every day life/sport.
Upper/Lower Extremity Assessment
Technique Audits (how to coach common strength training exercises)
Ways to integrate PRI (Postural Restoration Institute) strategies that don’t make your brain hurt.
This will be a unique opportunity for people to learn from myself, but especially Luke, who is one of the best and brightest coaches I know. This will be his first time teaching in the States.
For more information and to register you can go HERE.
This will be the only time Dr. Lisa Lewis and I will be presenting this workshop together in 2019. In previous years we’ve presented it in Boston, London, Toronto, Bonn (Germany), and Austin, TX.
This 1-day workshop is targeted towards fitness professionals and digs a little deeper into what really “bogs” them down and stresses them out….
…their clients!
Click THIS link for more details on topics covered as well as date/cost/location.
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I still find one of the hardest things for me as a coach is to remember to keep things simple.
I get in my own way overthinking things. The best programs I write (and not coincidentally the ones clients tend to like the best) are the “simple” ones.
Fun Tony Fact: I can count on one hand the total number of times I’ve ever attempted to skate on ice. I say “attempted” because I believe the longest I’ve ever stayed upright before crashing to the ground (and taking someone with me) is nine seconds.
That said, despite my lack of skating skills I know a great program when I see it. Kevin and Travis have produced an outstanding resource here, and if you work with hockey players this is an absolute NO-BRAINER.
Speed Training for Hockey is currently on sale at a very fair price, but it only last through this weekend.
Luke and I did this workshop last summer in London and figured it’s only fair to bring it State side.
Combined we have 30+ years of coaching experience (I.e., one Mike Boyle or Dan John) and this workshop will be two days where we uncover every nook and cranny as it relates to how we assess our clients/athletes and how we best prepare them for the rigors of every day life/sport.
This will be a unique opportunity for people to learn from myself, but especially Luke, who, along with traveling over from the UK, is one of the best and brightest coaches I know.
For more information and to register you can go HERE.
3) Strong Savvy Cyclist & Triathlete Podcast
I was invited onto the Strong Savvy Cyclist & Triathlete Podcast recently hosted by my good friend Menachem Brodie.
Whenever he and I start chatting we tend to lose track of time. We covered a litany of topics in this episode, but we tried our best to stick to shoulder training for endurance athletes.
I’ve been putting in more (supported) Hip Airplanes into my client’s warmups. Great closed chain drill that allows the acetabulum (hip socket) to move about a fixed femur. Try em before a squat session.
But seriously, John and Ryan very much mirror my sentiments with regards to squat assessment and squatting technique. Except, you know, they’re way smarter than I am. So, it’s more appropriate to say I mirror THEIR sentiments.
The adage “you can’t out-train a poor diet” is very much true.
Exercise doesn’t burn as many calories as you think it does. So, does this mean you should chalk exercise up as a pointless endeavor with regards to hitting your body composition goals?
I’ll be making my first appearance – ever (<— how’s that possible?) – in the wonderful state of North Carolina this coming March to put on my popular Coaching Competency Workshop.
Full details (date, location, itinerary, how to register) can be found HERE.
EARLY BIRD rate is currently in effect ($50 off regular price), so make sure to take advantage of it while you can.
3. I Was Memed
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Sport specific, schmort schmerlific
The better term is PERSON SPECIFIC training. Athletes don’t need to emulate their sport in the weight room. They need to use the weight room to address THEIR unique injury history, THEIR goals, and THEIR ability level. Just like everyone else.
Not many people know this but I almost dodged out of my first public speaking event. It was back in 2009 and I was slated to speak at a local college here in Boston to a bunch of incoming freshman on “better nutritional choices in the cafeteria.”
I woke up at like 3 am that morning terrified, telling my girlfriend (now wife) that I was thinking about calling in sick.
Can you even do that?
Anyway, she talked me out of it and no one died.
Since then I have spoken well over 50+ times all over the world and I’m 100% convinced that it’s helped me grow my business.
Mark Fisher is THE best public speaker I know and you should read this.
….It’s the (Even More) Complete Shoulder & Hip Blueprint.
A bunch of wordsmiths we are.
With this iteration, though, we’ll be going a bit deeper into the coaching and programming side of things:
How to program around common injuries.
How to “connect” the appropriate exercises to the client/athlete.
How to squat and deadlift like a boss.
Ljubljana, Slovenia – October 20-21st. (<— EARLY BIRD ends THIS WEEK)
Los Angeles, CA – November 17-18th. (<— EARLY BIRD rate still in affect)
All registrants to this course (as well as future dates in 2019 in Detroit, Philadelphia, Minas Tirith) will receive a free download of CSHB 1.0 so that you’re up-to-speed on the content Dean and I will be covering.1
The line-up is spectacular and I’m honored to be included amongst such esteemed company – Pat Rigsby, Mark Fisher, Molly Galbraith, Kellie Hart, Craig Ballantyne, and Scott Rawcliffe, to name a few.
I’ll be speaking about shoulder assessment.
If you’re a fitness professional looking to take his or her’s career to the next level this is an event you won’t want to miss.
This was a fun (written) interview I did with the people over at Exercise.com who asked questions pertaining to my start in the industry, what services I offer (and why), and my training style, among other things.2
Much like we always say everyone will squat and deadlift differently based off individual variances in hip anatomy, the same can be said when it comes to the upper body.
When most guys talk about their man-crushes they’re quick to gravitate towards movie stars like Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson or professional athletes like Cam Newton.
I can’t say I disagree with those picks. Both are really good at what they do and both are really good looking.1
I have some fitness-industry man crushes too. Plenty of them, actually. One of my most current crushes belongs to Ryan DeBell of The Movement Fix.
He’s smart (earned a doctorate in Chiropractic).
He’s successful (has built several business, released several successful products/resources, and travels the world speaking to fitness professionals).
And he fucking crushes wearing a bowtie.
I mean, who can get away with that and not get punched in the face within 0.7 seconds?
Ryan. That’s who.
I’ve been a big fan of his work and the information he provides for awhile now and I HIGHLY recommend heading to his site to check it out.
Anyways, I’ve appeared on his show before and we’ve actually made several attempts to meet up in person the few times he’s been to Boston to present. Alas, it was always a case of bad timing and nothing ever transpired.
A few weeks ago, however, he reached and said he was going to be in town again and that we should hang out, get a lift in, and maybe record a live podcast.
I didn’t make it nearly as awkward as all of this probably makes it seem like it should have been.
After a quick bro-session at the gym we headed to a local Starbucks to record an episode of his podcast. We discussed what it’s like running a business, training gen pop clients, how to grow a blog and brand, and how I was able to juggle being a new Dad last year.
I had a blast recording it, and I hope you give it a listen.
No big surprise as I am sure many of you reading are in the same boat, but I am in rough shape today. Lisa and I are heading to the gym at some point so we can work off some of the excess calories from yesterday. I’m pretty sure I’ll be sweating pumpkin roll.
I’m going to get right to the point today. Here’s this week’s list to stuff to read…
It’s Black Friday and this is the first time in my life I actually have something to offer for it. It’s cliche, I know. But you better be sure as shit I’m going to take advantage. I have a baby on the way after all…;o)
Complete Shoulder and Hip Blueprint is on sale for $30 off the regular price today through this weekend. It would be awesome if you’d check it out.
This whole article is very quotable, but one of my favs:
“On a completely unrelated note, I’ve noticed that the people who often spend the most time bickering on social media aren’t simultaneously the ones with the most impressive physiques, lifting numbers, or industry accomplishments.”
